With the new voyage crew on board, we left the port of Lautoka behind yesterday to escape the diesel fumes and container ships that accompanied us at the port. After spending a night on anchor, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise that was followed by the first sail training lesson, swimming, and a short transit towards Bounty Island where the voyage crew was welcomed by the friendly people on this island resort. 

An activity packed afternoon consisted of snorkeling, coconut demonstration, turtle sanctuary, and traditional Fijian choir singing and kava ceremony. Meanwhile the permanent crew have been busy sanding, scraping, painting, varnishing, greasing, rigging, cleaning, cooking, and everything else to make the upcoming voyage safe and sound. What a talented and hard-working group of sailors!

Although everyone is still getting familiar with the ship and each other, there is excitement in the air! Tomorrow we will continue to Denerau Island where we will sign off from Fiji and get ready to set the sail towards Vanuatu on Tuesday morning. Vinaka Fiji – Vanuatu, here we come!