Suva is a place of grey skies and much rain. We stayed in port until Saturday morning, all of it under a drizzle – then headed for Kadavu for a shakedown sail to make sure everything was working properly. We had winds of about 20 knots on a reach so made good time. This was only our second opportunity this trip to actually sail – for assorted reasons most of our moves on Raven have been made under power.

More grey skies in Kadavu. We are in departure mode now and it feels like we are just twiddling our fingers and waiting for the pot to boil. There are protective covers on the sofas and dining table and we have unearthed warm quilts for bedding as we exchange Fiji’s tropical weather for New Zealand’s late winter conditions. Systems have been checked over and assorted repairs have been made. Rod was up the mast yesterday in the bosun’s chair examining the fittings up there, so I took a ride to the top as well. The mast is some 20 meters (65+ feet) in the air, and seems REALLY HIGH when at the top looking down. Great view however!

Sunday, using an underwater compass, I took my navigation dive with Anouk, the final requirement to earn an Advanced Open Water Diver designation. We also cleaned Raven’s bottom of accumulated marine growth. One of the disadvantages of our new scuba diving skills is that Mike and I are now well qualified for this ‘fun’ job.

Yesterday we took our last dive of the season on a wall that lines the pass entering the protected bay where we are anchored. It is called the Purple Wall because it is thickly populated with purple and lavender soft corals. We may go back to snorkel there one more time – today the sun is finally shining. Water temperature here in Fiji has been about 82 degrees; in New Zealand right now the water temperature is about 55 degrees. No scuba diving there for me in that cold water, so this is definitely our last opportunity for awhile.

So far our weather reports indicate tomorrow (Wednesday in Fiji, Tuesday in the US) will be an optimum day for departure. Rod is hoping to make the passage in record time (for Raven) – last year’s passage was fast and took 4 days 17 hours. It is exactly 1,000 nautical miles from here to our destination, Opua, which is located on the very northeastern tip of New Zealand’s north island.