Off to France

We have had a fun and interesting beginning of April down here. Our longtime sailing friends Gord and Jane Shoquist arrived to join us for a couple of weeks and we have taken advantage of the extra hands on deck to travel to Wallis & Futuna which are two tiny islands that are actually part of France.

We left Fiji on a Friday afternoon and sailed the 410 miles to Futuna over the first weekend that Gord and Jane were here. Our thinking was that maybe they would forget that part of the trip by the time they left Fiji.

Getting ready to leave Fiji with our friends Gord and Jane Shouist

This trip takes us northeast of Fiji and so the wind is a bit forward of beam. We motorsailed much of the way and and arrived in Futuna on Monday morning.

Since this was our first international customs and immigration clearance as the new owners of Sophrosyne we were a bit anxious about all the paperwork we may encounter. The duane agent (customs) and gendarme (immigration) were very kind, helpful and efficient and our arrival was straightforward and without incident.

It was interesting to see how different this 'first next' Pacific Island was from Fiji -- it is funny the things we noticed. For example, everyone on the island seems to drive a new Toyota Hilux 4x4 truck (in Fiji everyone -- including us -- walks or takes the bus). The one road around the island is made of concrete and although it is a bit worse for wear it is the nicest road I have seen for several months. And then there were the baguettes and Camembert in the Supermarche. Say whatever you want about Wallis & Futuna -- it cannot be denied that we are a very long way from Paris!

On our second day Gord and I went ashore to find to diesel fuel for the boat. This process had actually started the day before with Maureen making a number of inquiries on our behalf. First stop was the gas station to inquire about the cost of 'gazoil.' The next step was to find the South Pacific francs that we needed to purchase the gazoil. On this score we were in luck because this was the one day every 4 months that bank officials arrive from Wallis island to open the Futuna bank branch. We were on hand right a 8:00 when the bank opened and were amazed to find 50 or 60 people already waiting in line. At first it seemed like we were going to make slow progress because we were outside in the hot hot sun waiting for our turn in line (or so we thought). About 8:15 the bank opened and everyone piled inside to sort through their past 4 months worth of banking details. I think the gal behind the counter took some pity on me and started asking a couple of questions in French. After a few halting replies she asked me again, in English this time, "where is your wife." As soon as she realized that Maureen was not there and that I was 'useless' she took my $200 Fijian dollars and my passport and started the international money transaction. Now we get to the part of the story about banking fees and international money exchange rates... Oh well, no need to relive that pain here, in the end I did get my money and Gord and I and our six 20 litre jerry cans were back at the pump waiting to get our gazoil. (In case you are wondering, or find yourself in a similar situation some day, you may find it helpful to know that the French word for 20 litre jerry cans is -- "jerry can." The pump jockey was very helpful and had an amazing system of collecting various combinations of cash, coupons, notes for fuel purchased on credit. As we began our fill, it became comically obvious that our ambitions of filling six jerry cans were going to be sadly lacking. By the time we had 1 1/2 jerry cans -- all of the south pacific francs were gone gone gone...

Among the many talents that Gordie brings to the boat it turns out
that he is happy and skilled with a fishing rod in his hands. Here he shows off his 40 pound Mahi-mahi.
(Editor's Note, Jane should get equal credit for this catch since it was her who beat the fish lifeless
with a hammer once Gordie got it aboard..)

No matter, the sail back to Fiji was a lovely trip with 15 knot trailing winds in which we made great haste traveling an easy and gentle 7 or 8 knots per hour in glorious warm weather without the need for an engine at any point.

We did have some excitement with a 35 knot squall on our last evening at sea but we managed well and appreciated that the pelting rain was actually quite warm and refreshing (Editor's Note -- next you see Maureen you may ask her for Her version of events during the squall...)

We are in Savusavu now, again enjoying the warmth and kindness of Fiji. For those who may have followed this blog and noticed that I am effusive in my praise of Fiji -- Savusavu is better!

Pinch me.