Yesterday, our morning started with a phone call to Keenan, given that he had just completed his first flight as a fully fledged First Officer for a major airline. It was a very surreal moment for all of us. It just seems like yesterday that he told us he wanted to be a pilot soon after we had moved to England in 1994, then his discovery flight at the age of thirteen, his first solo flight at sixteen and then waiting patiently for his seventeenth birthday so that he could take his final flight for his private pilots licence.
All the flights to Sedona or Ryan Field for breakfast as a Mother's Day gift, all his flights to Las Vegas, Sedona and Payson with Roy to make up his flight time, all the hardwork at university doing a double major while flying as an instructor for KLS, the training flight program for KLM at CAE Global Academy, all the sorrow of loosing friends to air accidents, as well as moving to Puerto Rico to fly for Seaborne Airlines around the Caribbean and finally his regional time at Mesa Airlines, all culminated yesterday. All the money, all the tears, all the tenacity, all the guidance, all the encouragement and all the dreams came to fruition. Truly a special day for our family!
Once all that excitement was out of the way, we enjoyed breakfast aboard before heading ashore for a nice long walk, a swim and a coffee. Then it was back to Paw Paw where Elaine baked a banana loaf using her favourite recipe from her "Cook and Enjoy It" book that she hasn't used since leaving Arizona. There's a reason this is her favourite recipe - Delicious!
We wrapped up the day with a barbecue at the MCYC Island Bar with Georgia (Chris and Paul). A great way to end a memorable day!
This morning we headed ashore again after breakfast for a walk and a coffee, following which we got the opportunity to meet some of the participants of the 2017 / 2018 World ARC rally as many of the yachts had start ed to arrive in Musket Cove for their rendezvous on Tuesday. It was interesting talking to them and discovering that many of the challenges we had faced last year were still prevalent this year and that many of the yachts had decided to leave the rally sooner than they had originally planned. It was also surprising to learn that the event manager from last year was still with the rally this year.
What struck us though, when seeing all the yachts arriving here in Fiji, given that it is the beginning of July, was the realisation that had we not made the decision to leave the rally in Tahiti, we would have missed out on so much. We would not have had the time to explore Tahiti with Olga and Denis, we would not have enjoyed a great time in Moorea with Nina, Do Over and Cattiva, especially our dinghy adventure to swin with and feed the sting rays or our beach barbecues with Nina and Do Over in Huahine or our tour around Tahaa with Nina or swimming with the manta rays in Boro Boro, as well as enjoying the Heiva while we were there. We would not have seen American Samoa or one of our favourite destinations, Samoa, as well as had the opportunity to return to Fiji. We may not have the achievement of finishing our circumnavigation in the 15 months with the World ARC per our original plan, but we have gained so much more, with plenty of great adventures still to come!
Tonight we are back in Port Denarau and just chilled aboard since it'll be another early start tomorrow to get to Nadi for Elaine's followup doctor's appointment and physiotherapy session.
