Weeks 109-112: Mamanucas to Vuda (93nm)

Our final month aboard included some incredibly relaxed days soaking in all the things we love about sailing life alongside busy work days to prepare the boat for cyclone storage and transfer to her next owners.

First Mate’s Log

Before I dive in, a note on format. This post technically covers the most time of any we’ve ever written (going out with a bang?). For us, this month was both a whirlwind and a waiting game. We had some of the most relaxed and low key days we’ve ever had on board, yet also had days where we were working our butts off. I think these kind of fits and starts are probably all part of the fact that we are closing this chapter of our lives, so it felt right to put these weeks together in one post. Some parts of this timeline we will whizz through, and in others Alec will have the unenviable job of editing down my verbosity. Here we go…

Part 1, A Final “Tour”
13-20th October: Following the Musket Regatta, we decided we ought to take a final trip around the Yasawas, given we still had a few weeks to go before haul out. Plus, there was a resort way up in the north of the chain we’d been wanting to visit in the hope of doing some diving. Its a long way up there, so we first headed to Octopus Bay, on Waya, which is a lovely spot we’ve been to before and a good halfway stop. After just a night at anchor, we decided to push on to try to beat a big weather system, but as soon as we rounded the headland we discovered that there was already 20kts of wind on the nose with a very uncomfortable chop. After 10 minutes of smashing we decided that carrying on was not a Serenity First plan! So, we turned around and, with the weather set to continue for a few days, abandoned our tour plans and returned south. Instead we headed to Mana, an island in the Mamanuca chain we’d visited previously, with its safe enclosed lagoon and lovely flat water. There, we were safe through the swirling winds and once the sun came back had a blissful week just enjoying the little things we love about boat life – swimming, kayaking, reading in the cockpit, a glass of wine watching the sun set… the good life :).

Part 2, Our Last Days in Musket
21-25th October: We were eventually drawn back to Musket Cove for a change of scenery, groceries and more land activity options. Between island walks and kayak outings, we started mapping out the tasks we’d need to do in our final couple of weeks to get the boat ready for cyclone season and sale. It was bittersweet saying our goodbyes to the Musket regulars we’d gotten to know so well over the last few months, but soon enough it was time to head to Denerau Marina to get to work!

Part 3, Thanksgiving in Denerau
26-29th October: We made the short hop to Denerau marina to begin the process of cleaning and packing up the boat, and quickly hatched plans for a jumble sale to shift all the extra stuff on board that was both not included in the boat’s inventory and we didn’t have space to bring home. It was an instant success thanks to a unique advertising campaign. As we were setting up, Alec made an offhand comment that it was a shame we didn’t have any balloons to attract more attention from passersby. I joked that we had the inflatable pool toys, and Alec’s eyes instantly lit up – what better way to attract attention than a giant inflatable pinapple? We propped it up on the back of the boat with a sign detailing our offerings, and before long most of the cruisers on the dock came to visit us!

Though it was technically a month early, the group of boats we’d been cruising with decided to get together here at Denerau for a pot luck Thanksgiving feast. We were all heading off in different directions, so it was a perfect way to say goodbye and celebrate the fun times we’ve shared. While no individual boat would have been big enough to fit the whole group, a local restaurant kindly offered the use of their kitchen and dining room. They also had a delicious local craft beer on tap, so it was an ideal venue! We had fun prepping a savoury pumpkin loaf and green bean casserole in the morning followed by an afternoon eating and enjoying the company of our friends. It made for a great day!

With the rest of our time, we worked hard to cross off as many of our “in water” shut-down tasks as possible (as well as prep for a survey, which we’d arranged to have done just before the haul out). So we inspected and washed the rig, scrubbed the deck and bilges (literally every single one!), and tidied / organised so much stuff! To finish out the week, just before heading to our final spot across the bay at Vuda, we were invited to meet the US ambassador to Fiji (and the South Pacific) at a special breakfast in Denearu. He was a bit of a strange character, but it was a nice pause from our work!

Part 4, Haul Out and Goodbyes in Vuda
29th October – 5th November: For our final move (!) on Serenity, we headed a few miles across the bay to Vuda Marina, the yard where we’d be laying up the boat for cyclone season. But first, we had a survey scheduled to assist with our sales process (a survey is pretty much always required as part of a sale, and we wanted to make sure it could be done while we were there, even if the sale happened later). It was manic and a bit stressful as three guys crawled around our boat inspecting our systems and peppering us with questions, but we survived unscathed and the end result was a glowing review for our girl. To cap off the day, Alec’s last park was a particularly tricky one – backing Serenity into the narrow gap under the travel lift! But as usual he aced it, and the boat was hauled, power washed and set up on stands by the end of the day.

On the hardstand:
We had booked three days on the hard stand to allow us to complete tasks that involved access to the under side of the boat (transmission oil change, flushing pipes, plugging through hulls, etc.) before Serenity would be settled into her cyclone pit. During this time we also cleared each cabin / area of the boat one at at time, separating out remaining things that should stay from things that either needed to come home with us or get added to the “for sale” pile. The pineapple had alas been sold by this point but we still had an inflatable ice cream cone, which became our new advertising prop. Alec turns out to be an excellent salesman (available for rent for your next yardsale) and managed to interest cruisers around the yard and even many of the staff in the remaining goods, including some big ticket items such as our kayak, fishing gear and foul weather clothing, as well as tons of extra parts and consumables. We’re glad it will all go to good use!

In the pit:
After a few days on the stands, we were scheduled to move to our long term cyclone pit. Getting there proved an interesting challenge, as the yard manager discovered he’d not quite got his calculations correct when having the new pits dug out. The first plan was to go into the same pit as our friends Amazing Grace, but unfortunately it turned out to be about a foot too short. So, they next tried to put us in the pit on the port side of AG, but… they’d dug that pit too close to the one AG was in. They managed to inch the travel lift into the gap, but it meant Serenity was hanging to the left of the pit. They briefly tried to tilt her to get her in but it quickly became obvious that this was a terrible idea. So, third time’s the charm, we went into the pit on the starboard side of AG. Thankfully this one was spaced appropriately, so they got us in with no issue!

At this point, we decided it would be better if we moved off the boat, so we could get all our stuff out and do final cleaning. (We also thought it would be helpful to get a bit of space from the boat to start to get used to saying goodbye.) It meant moving to one of the little cottages the marina rents for just this sort of purpose; while the bed wasn’t terribly comfortable, the air conditioning more than made up for it! From our new base, we slowly but steadily whittled down the to-dos as well as the “for sale” pile.

The last of the boat work was mostly “shut down” jobs. This included cyclone prep steps such as securing all the lines where they couldn’t rub on anything or frap against the mast, taking off most of the solar panels (we left one on to keep the batteries charged up), and removing the bimini and dodger. We also had general shut down tasks, such as treating the water tanks and pickling the watermaker. The latter was a new experience that involved dissolving a preservative called sodium metabisulfate in water and circulating it through the system for half an hour. This was easier said than done, but with a bit of extra pipe and jury rigging, we managed to successfully flush all the good stuff through. We also had the pleasure of repeating some of our least favourite boat jobs but this time we knew it was for the last time, which made them substantially less frustrating and meant that we had confidence that we had done all we possibly could to prepare Serenity for the chance of inclement weather.

The day before we were due to fly home, we had a little final hurrah with a few friends that were still around. We all squeezed into our little cottage to watch the US election results and went out for dinner at the marina restaurant. The next morning, we went back to the boat one last time in the early morning light to say our goodbyes. And then, just like that, it was time to go home.

Getting home was an adventure in its own right. Our experience included thirty hours in the air, four legs (Fiji > Auckland > Brisbane > Doha > London), four separate security screenings, many masks and one plastic visor. Its a small miracle our bags didn’t get lost along the way, but perhaps the vast reduction in passenger numbers has helped smooth processes. None of our flights were even remotely close to full. The check in attendant told me our busiest leg (Brisbane > Doha) had 78 people on board (a plane that could carry +350 passengers!). All of our flights were on time or early, and we didn’t have to wait in any queues. Small silver linings?

Parting thoughts

We have a lot of parting thoughts, but actually that is a subject for another post! However, this one does bring us, in timeline, to the end of our journey on Serenity First. Spoiler alert: it was emotional and weird saying goodbye to our wonderful boat who has carried us safely across so much ocean and served as our home the last three years. But we’ll be sharing our reflections, favourite memories, and total stats in a final post soon. For now, we want to say THANK YOU for following us along our sometimes meandering path and reading our stories – we hope it has brought you joy.