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American Spirit II - Day 163; Fiji History & Small Repair Day; Tuesday, June 16, 2014



A little bit about Fiji's history. Fiji consists of 332 islands along the International Date Line, where going West you lose a day and going East you gain a day. 180 degrees Longitude. 18 degrees South, or about as far from the equator as Jamaica is in the northern hemisphere. Inhabited for 4,000 years, its early name was called the Cannibal Islands. Guess who's coming to dinner? Discovered in 1643 by Dutchman Abel Tasman, but ceded to the British in 1874. Independent in 1970, but not a 'democratic' paradise, with 3 military coups since then whenever an Indian wins a national election. The population is about 55% native Fijian and 45% Indian, who were brought to Fiji as indentured servants by the British during the colonial years. The islands are volcanic with a lot of rain forests on the windward side of the islands (the east side of the islands). The population is around 893,000. The main crop is sugarcane, the crop responsible for bringing the Indians to Fiji - to work the fields. That and tourism are the two main income producers in the country.



Correction: the bright light from the east referred to in previous logs as the planet Uranus is in fact not Uranus. Uranus can't be seen without a telescope. Possibly its Regulus, a star.



Up at 7:30 AM. Breakfast consisted of eggs and bread.



I called the electrician and rigger at 9:00 AM. The rigger was supposed to get to our boat today and the electrician at 10:00 AM tomorrow.



We emptied out the port cockpit locker, then Joel went 'diving' into the hidden port locker, retrieving some pills for himself, freeze dried dinners as we were running out in the cabin, and towels and water bottles for our new crew coming in 10 days.



We then pulled out the mainsail and dropped it onto the deck; followed by taking out the four battens, then flaking the sail on deck and then rolling it and tying it so it could be carried to a sail maker.



I then departed the boat to go to a Chandlery to get some fuses and relays for Joel and dropped off our mainsail with a sail maker to have new and longer spreader patches put on the sail. We needed longer spreader patches because when the mainsail is reefed there is no protection of the exposed sail against the swept-back spreaders. I also dropped off 3 cloth pouches that needed to be reinforced so we could wear them on our belts. They contained an important man-over-board electronic item.



The rigger, Bruce, arrived at the boat at 12:30 PM; and after looking at our rigging said he'd return Wednesday to take off the broken shroud and put on the new one.



Joel napped from 12:45 PM to 1:45 PM while I made phone calls on my new Fijian cell phone and Sim card. Calling the US was $.10 per minute, versus $1.20 per minute for my satellite phone and $3.20 for my AT&T cell phone. After his nap Joel went to work, wiring a ceiling light switch that had failed for the second time with 2 toggle switches that will probably never fail; installed a mike bracket for our VHF handset cord in the cockpit; installed one binnacle light; moved the SSB speaker to make it more convenient to use; and replaced the salt water galley pump that leaked with a new salt water galley pump that leaks less than the previous one. Maybe they're made in China? Remember when Japanese products were a joke 30 years ago?



I took a nap from 4:45 PM to 6:45 PM, then we went to dinner from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at an Italian restaurant overlooking the water and marina area.



Back on the boat, we watched a Kevin Costner movie titled 3 Days to Kill. The movie was actually a pretty good movie if you're a Kevin Costner fan. I had purchased the movie and 4 others on DVD's for 22 Fijian dollars, or about $11.00 US. What I didn't know when I bought the movies is that they are all pirated. The clerk I paid had to burn copies of them first before giving them to me. So much for the $250,000 fine that you read every time you watch a movie on a DVD in the US.



319 Days until home.



Brian Fox


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