Day 213 More rugby

At 0700 we are in front of the TV at the yacht club to watch the favored New Zealand All Blacks play the French national team. Earlier in the morning, England upset Australia, which was another of the favorites. In a somewhat dubious play (an illegal forward pass that was not called by the ref) the French pull off the second upset of the day. We are looking forward to the 1AM game tomorrow to see how Fiji will do against the other favorite, South Africa.
Sunday is live music day at the yacht club at the end of the point, 200 yards from the boat. The band starts to play at about 1400 and yachties, hotel guests from the resort next door and local residents turn up to sit at picnic tables, drink beer and enjoy the music, sun and snacks. Because of its location on the end of the point, the yacht club enjoys a breeze whereas the marina is in a protected location – good for stormy times but hot as Hades on a day like today.
The scene is like a German beer garden on a Sunday afternoon. People are relaxed and casual and enjoying the day. The only difference is that most of the people are members of a semi-private club – the cruising community. They have in common the experiences of the sea and of owning a boat thus total strangers start animated conversations like they were old friends.
The bar is decorated with Fiji flags because of Fiji Day and in support of the national rugby team. Mark is wearing his Springbock jersey and the bartender tells him that another man on the other side of the bar is also South African. Brian is a “local” having moved to Fiji 4 years ago. He owns a business that does boat repairs and soon Mark has determined that he might use Brian’s services for bottom painting rather than waiting until we get to New Zealand. The cost is probably quite a bit less here and the weather is not right yet for the passage so there would be no loss of time. Brian invites us to his house nearby to watch the 1AM game and promises to come by on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) to provide a quotation on the painting job.