Robert Hein

Sailor In Paradise Synopsis Max is in his mid thirties and living in Hawaii when an economic tsunami changes him from a middle class striver with a promising future into a floundering statistic in the unemployment metrics. From his remaining cash, he impulsively buys a roundtrip air ticket from Hawaii to Fiji. He had always wanted to visit the South Pacific islands and it seemed like a good time to do so. There he stays in villages and at the Coconut Inn hostel. On a visit to the Royal Suva Yacht Club he is signed on as a deck hand for a yacht delivery to New Zealand. Then he falls in love with a young Maori woman and wants to stay longer but he is denied a visa renewal and returns to Fiji on a yacht delivery. In Suva he makes plans to search for puka shells that are a popular jewelry item. A young English woman he had met at the hostel joins him. They travel by bus and boat to the islands of central Fiji. Max continues on to a village from where he could see the shell island. He goes to the main port in central Fiji and gets on a boat that is traveling to the northern islands of Fiji. On the island of Taveuni he is befriended by a village chief and a British plantation manager. But it is the chief's daughter who is his best friend. He becomes involved with the chief and the plantation manager for a hydroponic gardens project. After a few weeks the chief offers him a piece of land with a house if Max marries the old man's daughter. He is saved having to make the decision when in Suva he is denied another visa. He has only two weeks to leave the country. He goes to the yacht club and sees a crew wanted notice. He is accepted for the position and begins a voyage to Australia. Copyright Robert Hein. All rights reserved.

Robert Hein is a retired sea captain and author.