We’re officially Blue Nomads! (Or will be on Saturday). We were about to head to Spain to check out a boat there, but I thought I’d do 
one more, in-depth Google search. Rather than looking at the main boat sales websites, I went deeper, to the 4th page of the search, and found a boat, exactly the model we wanted, available for sale in Fiji. Much more convenient on so many fronts than getting to and starting in Europe. The Australian mobile number was out of service and the owner didn’t respond to emails. So I phoned the local marinas, who all knew him and gave me some forwarding numbers. The first number was a Fiji landline, also out of service, but I got hold of him on the next number and told him he was a hard man to get hold of for someone who was trying to sell a boat. He laughed and said he’d changed his mind after putting the ad up last year and wasn’t going to sell the boat after all, but if we were interested we were welcome to come over and have a look. We arrived on Saturday and had five frustrating days of non-stop rain. The boat looked good but the weather was lousy, so had to wait until today to go for a test sail and do a closer inspection. In the mean time we explored local towns of Nadi and Lautoka, including a welcome ceremony from a local craft store holder and some coconut cups of cava. Finally it has fined up and it’s a glorious day here today; sunny, 27 degrees and a gentle 5 – 10 knot breeze in flat water for the test sail. All went well, it took about 5 minutes (seconds) to convert me from a monohull to a catamaran sailor (it was so nice moving around a boat that stays flat!), the boat sailed and steered beautifully, the essential equipment all works and a closer inspection after the sail indicated the owner has taken good care of her. So now the deed is done! We take possession on Saturday and will try to get as much cruising time in during our remaining fortnight here before we head back to Melbourne for my son’s wedding and some workshops I am booked to facilitate in September. Then back to Fiji again and either stay for another month or two, or maybe head off for New Caledonia. The owner is leaving a fishing rod on board so Richard is happy and he’s also leaving a surf board; not sure what we’ll do with that but I’m sure my sons will enjoy if they visit.
Bright Sea is a Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40 Owner’s Version, 2003. It feels spacious but small enough that we will be confident handling her on our own. The starboard hull is a dedicated owners suite, with large double aft berth, day couch mid-ships and a large bathroom in the forward peak. The port hull has a smaller bathroom mid-ships and a double berth aft and forward. It’s a trusted model that has done many, many blue water nautical miles and of which there have been a few hundred manufactured in the sixteen years since production began.
So now we’re sitting looking at each other, somewhat bemused that all our plans are suddenly a reality. Not sure when it will begin to feel real; probably on our first night at anchor. In the mean time there’s a bottle of Moet chilling ready for a celebration tonight!
