Pitufa.at

Fortunately cyclone Mal is remaining only cat 2 and passing without directly hitting islands. Even though it’s a small and rather weak system, the wave forecast on windy looks scary enough (see below).

The western side of Viti Levu will get some wind and there’s already flooding from the heavy rain ashore… Here in Suva no strong winds are predicted and the rain has passed, so we went to town to do some shopping today–business as usual everywhere.
The people on the islands in the Lau were waiting for rain with their water tanks almost empty, so it’s good news for them that the rain has finally arrived!
Let’s hope we won’t get anything worse than Mal this season (“mal” means bad in Spanish, linguistic pun intended )

The European forecast model (ECMWF) quite often forecasts the opposite of the American model (GFS) for a week or so ahead, but sometimes even until the last day. Comparing we have found that the European model is often more accurate (at least for our area here). Today they agree for a change that something will hit Fiji on Tuesday–just where exactly and how strong remains to be seen:
ECMWF left, GFS on the right side.

We’re safely tugged in on a cyclone mooring in the sheltered bay of Lami located within the harbour of Suva and busy with indoor projects as the rain has already started (the Fiji met station has issued warnings for floods to come…). Today we’re fixing our water tank: Pitufa’s aluminium water tanks were leaking when we bought her, we fixed one of them with epoxy and simply put a rubber blade into the other one. This rubber has now chafed through on a corner, so we’re trying to glue the hole–not easy in that tricky area.

Our nomadic life-style means that we meet many other cruisers briefly in one place, before our paths go in different directions again. Meeting up with old friends is therefore more precious to us than to other people I suppose. Revisiting the Lau group again with Soraya and Thomas of SY Garulfo we enjoyed our favourite places even more than before–shared joy is twice the joy!

They’ll be off to NZ after a brief visit to Fiji–fair winds and stay safe!

Over the years we have written tons of articles about sailing, DIY, life-style topics, etc. for different magazines. Now I have put 54 of them together in a book, basically a “best of Pitufa”
It’s simply called “Cruising Know-How” and it’s available on Amazon as a black-and-white paperback and in colour as an e-book, paperback and even hard-cover! Prices range from 9,90 USD to 40 USD for the hard-cover, but rest assured, I only get 5 bucks each, no matter which one you buy

If you’ve participated in the Musket Cove Regatta this year, check out our article in this month’s Ahoy magazine on the Downunder Rally page! You might be on the pics

In Fiji it’s traditional to bring a gift when you visit another island/village, not just for foreigners, but also for locals. You present this sevusevu (usually a bundle of kava) and the chief speaks a prayer and welcomes you as a member of the village. In the traditional islands of the Lau group you then get a host family and it’s a very nice cultural insight to spend time with them, do lunch together, go for walks, etc. Our host families have always been very generous with us and willing to share the little they have (veg, fruit, etc.) and of course we want to give presents back in return.

When we were here in Fulaga last year, our host Maika asked us to mend their kayak, but the PVC was broken beyond repair. When we got back to the mainland we started looking for used kayaks and last September we bought one from other cruisers–inflatable, so not quite ideal, but at least a means of transport!

Finally we are underway to the Lau Islands again! The past few days have flown by in a flurry of boat projects, shopping, organising, meeting people, while keeping an eye on the ever-changing weather forecasts… What looked like a nice weather window with NE winds to sail SEwards turned into a nasty front, too short to actually reach our destination. We have postponed our departure for a day and are heading out close-hauled into rough conditions towards Matuku. 95 nm to go!