Monday 28th June 2010
07.00hrs Another beautifull day in paradise,
The sun was shining down all over us and on " Adelle " the super big classic yacht moored on our starboard side. Following breakfast, we decided to go into " Denarau ", a marina around the corner from where we are anchored. We could see from the AIS that a number of A.R.C. yachts were in there,
09.00hrs we raised the anchor and motored into Denarau, Ohhhh we really landed on our feet here, a beautifull lagoon,with a big marina, and a town centre attached, all very modern and obviously the center of all the resorts around the area. We radioed the marina office and were given a space, which we duly tied up to. We decided we would spend a day or two here..
Skipper went to the marina office and did the necessary paperwork. meanwhile the rest of the crew wandered up into the center, John and Donal went straight to the internet cafe, while the girls explored the shops and in particular the " Ugg " shop... it seems the the Ugg boots and shoes are made in Fiji, so they cost just about half the price of europe, and the U.S. needless to mention, the girls bought half the shop. as girls will do !
Later, we topped up ther water tanks and cleaned up the lazerette. We also connected our shore power. This is interesting because the last place we were connected to a marina shore power was Rodney bay in St. Lucia. British and Irish boats are set up for 220v / 50hz , where as a lot of the places we were in had the 220v, but had 60hz and some of our equipment , like the washing machine , air conditioning, and microwave, are allergic to 60hz
There were 10 A.R.C. boats in Denarau, a number of them having repairs done as there was a big boatyard here. and lots of work shops. A good place to get work done, as this place is very economical in the first instance, and then there are about 2.75 local $ s to the euro, so all round, a great place.
Later, we had a few beers on " Wild Tigris " A Swan 76 , owned by our U.S. friend " Casey Nickerson " then they joined us on " A Lady" for some Rum & cokes before we all went to the local Indian restaurant for dinner, We had a good night, lots of fun and jokes, and of course the two going home next thursday ( margaret & Fats ) are begining to get early withdrawl symptoms
A late night ,, lot more beer on the way back to the boat.. As fats says, " It would take a lot of this to kill you " mind you, if we have much more drink, we will just drown...................
Thats it for now.
Signed :- Stephen Hyde ( Skipper )