Team DK lands in Suva

After almost 8 days at sea, the salty-ass dawgs dropped their hook in Suva harbor. Couldn't have really asked for a better passage, considering this one can be a scary and testy stretch of water. Not to downplay the reality of wave after wave breaking in our cockpit and keeping us hunkered down under the dodger for protection from the cold and wet dousings. Plus the beamy seas that constantly rolled us from side to side with often intense violent swings for days on end...not the peaceful rocking chair kind at grandma's house. Nikki battled with sea-sickies this run, which is really unlike her, but thanks to my best friend, Stugeron, I did really well.

The good things, however, outweighed the bad multifold: we are still healthy, we slept a lot (always a great thing on a passage), we ate well, we stayed warm, and the DreamKeeper machine came in relatively unscathed, albeit some sail stitching we need to do on our headsail.

Arrived to Suva in some thick clouds and serious rain squalls, but managed to find our way in through the coral reefs and drop our hook in the quarantine area of the bay just after sunrise. We spent yesterday running around in the pouring rain doing our officialdom business shuffling between the health office, quarantine office, customs and immigration. After returning to the boat we celebrated with a huge plate of nachos (what can i say, we miss Mexican food) and a movie in bed before passing out at 6 p.m.

So we find ourselves in a new country, a new culture, and excited for new adventures. Thanks to you all who were thinking about us and sending your blessings to the ocean gods for our safe passage. The love is felt, even if across the sea.

A new year, a new beginning...

Welcome to the Salty Dawgs new blog site. We are creating this space so that we can upload some journal writing and photos from our sat phone data connection when we are in places without the internet. Looking at the reality of being in countries like Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea this year, internet will be a scarce commodity.

Hopefully this will be a smooth process. We are excited to keep you all in the loop when we are in all these remote places. Stay tuned.....