Musket Cove Regatta, Fiji

Hello Everyone,

Well we had a wonderful time at the Musket Cove Regatta.  It was definitely a really long week of so many events that it was hard to keep up.  We seemed to be going from one thing to the next but it was a ton of fun.  I think my favorite parts were the fun sailing races that we participated in with our friends from Shine.  We gathered on Shine's boat with a few other families.  We all brought food and drinks and while the men got to get there racing minds in gear... the rest of the family (crew) were able to sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery as it went by.  I also loved watching Chris and Amaia race the hobie cats around.  I was really surprised at how much fun she had and watching her raz the other competitors a touch, in good spirit of course, was really cute.  Otherwise it was a lot of eating, drinking, sun and dancing in the evenings..  We had a few of our friends arrive a few days ago and they also joined in the fun.  Skyus with their 3 kids and Por Dos with their 2 boys joined Shine, Miss Behaving, Talulah Ruby II, and us for many of the events.  The last day was the dinghy decorating and the kids had spent all day getting the dinghy ready for a circus performance and also getting their costumes put together... they were by far the most colorful and I am really glad that the dinghy didn't sink with 11 kids hanging off of it...

Chris sporting his new sulu for one of our dinners

Amaia so happy sailing with daddy in the hobie cat races

First race was with both girls.. the next races were to early in the morning for Alina..

The kids had a lot of fun spending the day playing with costumes and decorating the dinghy for the show...

Always time for a little play... Amaia and Alina looking for Starfish and Sand dollars.

We are now in Denarau Yacht Club and yet again Chris's Luck has not failed us.  They were completely booked up but he was able to secure a private mooring for us for a few days so that we could get laundry, cleaning (showers), provisioning, and of course picking Oma up at the Airport tomorrow.  All of us are so excited to see her and can't wait.  We all took the bus into Nadi today to go shopping and get some fresh fruits and veggies and then a quick stop at the market... I will have to say that I am not interested in going back.  I was really surprised at how filthy it is.  Now please understand when I say that I have a high tolerance and a very low expectation on sanitary conditions.. going through Mexico to some of the most remote fishing villages... I felt that I have seen it all but... there is nothing more dirty than a large city without a way or care to keep it clean... there was garbage everywhere including all over the floors of the grocery stores, homeless people (which I haven't seen in awhile, and just in general a very dirty town.  Our friends on Shine even found mice droppings all over the canned foods in the store and then found the little guy living in the chip aisle in the bag of chips.. but oh well... I guess I just wasn't in the mood for it today.. I am sort of tired of grocery shopping in the stores that are like warehouses filled with everything you can imagine, in now particular organization, and with dirt and dust over everything... I know that we are completely spoiled and fortunate with our availability of food in the states and selfishly I will so appreciate being able to go into the store and have a choice of more than 2 types of cereal, celery that is actually sold by the bunch and not the stalk for $18 for 2 stalks... and so forth.. I know that I am suppose to purchase the foods that are local and it is cheaper... unfortunately I can't live off Kava, potatoes, onions, eggplant, carrots and cabbage... Take that back... I guess I will be anyway :@)  BULA!  At least the people are incredibly friendly and it is beautiful... and I don't have to work... so I will stop complaining now...

We will be staying here for the Fijian Rugby vs. England game at 7am on Saturday morning and then heading out to catch up with Shine and start showing Oma some of the wonderful Island getaways that we can get to so that she can get a taste of the circus boat life.

We will be checking on the Tsunami warning for Fiji tonight.  With the 8.3 earthquake in Chile it has sent a possible Tsunami our way, and although minor... only 30cm to 1 meter it will still make for an interesting push around midnight tonight.  We are in a really good place and it is well protected but not knowing our mooring and how well it is maintained.. we will need to make sure all is good.

Hugs and love to all...

Heath