The rescue operation to steer Ralph through the reef around the Fiji Islands has begun. Our saviour, Curly, is on his way. If our information is correct we are here talking about no less a person than Curly Carswell (see photo), a striking personality on the Fiji Islands, who has also been called 'the king of deep-sea diving'. Curly sent us a mail from his ship Stella Rosa¹ that he was making rapid progress and will reach Bligh Water around midnight local time. Bligh Water is a relatively narrow strait between the Yasawa Islands and the reef around Vanua Levu, and thus forms a passage to the open sea. Curly's plan is to steer straight for Ralph after passing Bligh Water.

¹ Rectification: The Stella Rosa is not Curly's ship. It's Barbara's ship. Barbara is Curly's girlfriend

You can see the position of Curly's boat in relation to Ralph's position on the chart below. The weather is very bad for both Curly and Ralph. Curly sent us a mail about this: "We have a bad squall, thunder, lightning and much rain, which frightened the hell out of my dog and cats, BUT NOT US!!!" The bad weather also means that Ralph can only get slightly closer. He has even been pushed somewhat more north-eastwards in the last few hours. Curly is however still trying to reach and board the Zeeman Challenger as quickly as possible, preferably before midnight, as he wishes to return to Bligh Water at the crack of dawn. He does not want to run the risk of having to steer through the reef in the dark.

Apart from this, Curly appears to be hurt. He states that he's got a foot infection, so that his foot is twice as thick as normal. The antibiotic on board is not strong enough, so he sent a mail to his partner ashore, David Jamieson, that he needs a doctor on arrival.

This David Jamieson (photo below) is working in the background on the arrival of the Stella Rosa and the Zeeman Challenger. We don't know how things actually work on the Fiji Islands exactly, but if we study the instructions Curly sent to David, then David has to run from a Customs Office to a harbour authority to arrange all the formalities in time. We have great respect for both men.

It all has to happen tonight: the boarding of the Zeeman Challenger is expected.