Beginning of the End

Yesterday we cast off the docklines from the marina in Musket Cove and moved with Pesto to Denarau, in Fiji’s mainland.

It was a trivial move, but with a lot of meaning to us.

Since our arrival to the South Pacific, every now and then someone would tell us of Musket Cove in Fiji. A place where one would find a little bit of everything: the beauty of South Pacific anchorages, swimming pools for the kids, bars for the kids’ parents, good shelter for the piece of mind of the skippers, good snorkeling, windsurfing and good surf for everyone …

Indeed we found it all there (except for the surf, we don’t surf, but we heard the surfing is top notch). And yet, it wasn’t all its attributes that made Musket Cove one of our most treasured experiences in all of our Journey.

We stopped in Musket Cove three times since arriving to Fiji. First when my brother visited in July, then with Adriana’s sister in August, and then again with a bunch of fellow cruisers in November. So, we’ve always been there in fine company.

And this last time, in particular, something beautiful happened. Gathered in Musket Cove were friends of old and of new. And there was a special feeling of harmony and togetherness that wrapped the group together, adults and kids. And this is not just me being my usual cheesy … we talked about it in the group and Terrapin and Del Viento mentioned it in their blogs as well. For a while we pretended that time wasn’t passing, trying in vain to perpetuate that special occasion. But cruising plans and weather windows finally made themselves evident, and one by one the cruising families went their own way.

So, yesterday, when we moved slowly away from Musket, gliding over glassy waters and under a sprinkly rain, there was some nostalgic feeling for moving that episode of our lives into the shelf of memories.

Also contributing to the intensity of the moment was that getting out of Musket Cove was a tactical move. The reason to come to Denarau is that our weather window is materializing. In a few days we will depart Fiji and launch into a technical 1,000 mile passage. We came here to make final preparations. My to-do list now has activities spread over four days only. Our clearing out of Fiji is already scheduled. It’s happening.

In some ways, sailing to New Zealand feels like sailing into the unknown. By arriving there, we will have completed the craziest and most meaningful plan we’ve ever made, one which was created the most in-promptu way. Two years ago we made the decision to Turn Right, which we did. We sailed a long way to here. And now we are getting close to the end of this cycle.