July 27, 2024

Floating the Ship and reinstalling lifeboats!

Finally the new rudder stocks have been approved by DNV and both rudder assemblies reinstalled. I was so excited Tuesday to get the video of the dry dock finally filling up with sea water! On Wednesday saw they were floating and reloading the life boats. The next hurdle is passing all the agency inspections and testing, now that we are finally floating. DNV has signed off on 2 generators and 2 more need to get reviewed over weekend. Then they have to do critical test for Transitional Power. Everything needs to go off and switch over perfectly to pass! Anything that goes amiss, will have to tweak to get perfect.  PSSC and MCA are the agencies for all the technical testing. From the Hotel perspective we are all good to go. The PNI Insurance Policy has been approved and to be in place for 7/31, allowing embarkation of residents. YAHOO!  We got these updates this afternoon and Sunday we are to going to get more insights. Based on today's zoom call,  I changed my Aer Lingus return flight to Dublin, from Sunday night to Tuesday night arriving on 7/31. I have learned to always buy fully refundable, no change fee tickets!

 

By Patricia Patrick December 4, 2025
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.
By Patricia Patrick December 1, 2025
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!
By Patricia Patrick December 1, 2025
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!