Tainui Internet Log
September 2000
Recorded by Brian Fairweather
This trip has been a good one for reading - Dan reads every night in bed and has been through almost everything on the boat, while I choose a few key things to read during long passages. My favourites:
Captain Cook - A Biography by Richard Hough - an great
book about an amazing adventurer and navigator!
James A. Michener's Return To Paradise - all about the
islands we are visiting, written 50 years ago and still relevant
Paul Theroux - The Happy Isles of Oceania - also about
these islands, ten years ago - he comments on both Cook and
Michener a lot, which was cool, since I read those two books
first...
Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - you
can tell he's Mormon, there's a bit or religious undertones, but
a good book to read and use
Douglas Adam's The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide To
The Galaxy - I've read this again on this trip, just because
it was so funny the first time. All five books, but only the
first three are really hysterical...
In Michener's book, I found this section about the TAINUI tribe that migrated to New Zealand:
Today each Maori tribe traces its ancestry back to one of the original canoes and takes its name therefrom. For example, the Tainui tribe can relate proudly that the canoe Tainui was 70 feet long, captained by Hotorua, that it sailed on the fourth night of December in 1350 and that "Taikehu was in charge of the great paddle Huahuaterangi." The name of each paddler is remembered, plus the fact that the canoe's priest turned out to be a thieving rascal who ran off with Hotorua's daughter. Even the chant that kept hope alive is recited: "Seek ye the way! Though the distance be great, though the way be long, keep thy course O son! Across the waters is thy path."
I really like this quote and I am more glad than ever that we did not change the name of the yacht when we bought her!
Pictures as always...
September 1 – We are preparing to leave Tonga to sail for Fiji, where Dan's father and Uncle are flying in to meet us. The political situation seems to have calmed a bit and we have spoken to other yachties who have come from Fiji and said that everything is fine, especially outside of Suva. We don't plan to go to Suva, but to check in at Lautoka, further to the West. (As I write this, we are about 50 miles form Suva and no signs of trouble yet!)
Today is our second try at racing - we have recruited Chris, Dan, Louisa, Sophie and Leah as crew and are sure that we will at least make another respectable finish and have some fun! It turns out to be a day with very light wind, which doesn't bode well for us! The race is in the opposite direction to last week, due to the wind direction. We all start off well again, but we notice that one of the Moorings boats still has her engine on as we approach the start line. The penalty is a pelting with our last water balloon, which I happily loft directly into their cockpit! I do like this racing stuff...
We stay even with the big Moorings boat again for a long while, but they get us by the end of the race - at least we beat the dinghy, the 15 foot yellow dayboat and the smaller cruising boat from Fremantle! Gungha II did not race today, denying us a chance for revenge... In the end, we came in fifth again (respectable) in a photo finish that I just happen to have a photo of...
We almost missed the presentation of our prize, as we stayed aboard for celebratory drinks, but made it to Ana's dock in time to shout "TAINUI!" and meet Wendy, who had our certificate for a free bottle of wine. Dave by now had decided to accompany us to Fiji (there goes a promising medical career), so we will be three people on the next leg...
September 2 – Headed out of Tonga at about noon, with our new wind instrument and newly varnished cup holder both working well. Saw some whales by 1700 hours and motored along with no wind...
September 3 – At 10 am, Dave noticed something on our fishing line and FINALLY we caught a big fish! A huge MahiMahi that was at least 6 feet long! Out came the BBQ, as there was no wind and we were just motoring in nearly flat seas... we had fish for lunch and dinner, then again the next day... I even had leftovers for breakfast - nothing like fish curry to start your day!
It was a bit boring after that, so I started polishing all the brass in the cabin - barometer, clocks, lamps, light fixtures... a bit of sandpaper, some polish and a dozen cloths and about eight hours of work and... our brass looks great! Now, how long will it stay this way...?
Finally turned the engine off after 2100 hours and sailed all night...
September 4 – The first land was sighted at 0915 - a tiny white lump of coral that was probably Reid Reef. By noon, we could see Tuvuca and Lakeba ahead. Even once we came near to these islands, we still have several days' sail ahead - Fiji is massive compared to Tonga! From east to west, Fiji spans about 300 miles, while the Vava'u group in Tonga is only 15 miles wide - most of this trip is just getting across to the other side of Fiji...
September 5 – At 0330 in the morning, TAINUI crossed back into the Eastern Hemisphere, crossing 180 degrees of longitude. By 0645, we saw Moda, then Gau, as we approached Suva from the east. Our plan is to go through Beqa Passage and around Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. I am sitting here trying to remember everything we've been up to for the last month, and hoping I didn't miss too much. Hopefully, there is a good internet cafe in Lautoka - the one in the Bounty Bar in Tonga was $2 per minute!!!
September 6 - We arrived at Lautoka in the pouring rain, and anchored off of Queen's Wharf to meet the customs and immigration guys. Dan went ashore with the dinghy and came back with the health inspector, who needed a signature from the "Ship's doctor" - good thing we had Dave aboard... That night, we wanted to go see a movie in a real theatre - fortunately, "Gladiator" was playing at the Village Four cinemas in town. This turned out to be a modern, high-quality theatre, which might convince you that you were back in Sydney, London or Boston! (I thought it was like being in Warringah Mall.)
We went out for a quick curry at the Village Indian Restaurant and then walked over to the theatre - out front, we met four other yachties (as easy to identify as we were, I'm sure) from the catamaran "Endless Summer." Ian and Joanne lived aboard the boat, and their kids, Leanne (Libby) and Dean were visiting. I pointed out to Joanne that I would remember their names, because each name in their family ended with an 'AN' sound; I-an, Jo-an, Le-an and De-an! They had never thought of this and when I suggested some days later that they could name their next child Bri-an, after me, Ian said that there were no plans for more babies, but welcomed me to the family as an honourary member... The four of them had no Fijian dollars, having just arrived, so we bought them some movie tickets and a few beers at a local drinking hole, then went to see Russell Crowe do battle with just about everybody, including the Emperor, as Rome's greatest general/gladiator...
September 7 - I stayed in Lautoka to run some errands, while Dan and Dave took the boat around to Point Vuda (pronounced 'Vunda') Marina, which is closer to the airport and a has some facilities. I arrived at the marina by taxi before they arrived and got on the Web for a while to update things...
September 8 - I went into Nadi to do the provisioning and some more internet stuff - all the connections here are very slow and the marina was getting expensive... we are now fully supplied with fresh food...
September 9 - Today marked the arrival of Dan's father David and uncle Peter, who is known as 'Greenslime', or 'Slime' for short. The origins of this name are apparently known only to a few people, but he makes his living exploring and documenting the kayaking rivers of the world and his friends have names like 'Diesel Dave,' 'Tricky Dick,' 'Woodsy' and 'Wit.' So, I'm sure it's a good story, whatever it is... Slime brought Dan a new inflatable kayak to play with, so we now have a second means of getting ashore - this is a big help, since we are constantly having to ferry each other around.
We headed out for Musket Cove, on Malolo Lailai island, where 'yachtie week' was just beginning - this is a total party, attended by dozens of cruising yachts, with races, contests, barbecues and other events which we did not want to miss! The week ends with a flotilla race to Port Vila, Vanuatu. However, we have just arrived in Fiji, so we plan to miss the race, see the local islands and then catch up to the other yachts in a couple weeks...
Dan's dad was in the Royal Navy and brought with him his signal flags - on the way towards Musket Cove, we saw a convoy of other yachts arriving and so we hoisted every flag onboard, including all our courtesy flags, our Hinano Beer flags that we lifted from the Miss Tahiti contest so long ago, and every signal flag in David's collection. We tried to think of some rude things to spell out, but ended up just hoisting them all. TAINUI would definitely have won 'best decorated' if there had been such a contest...
There were yachts anchored and moored all over the place in Musket Cove, and the entrance to the harbour was tricky, with lots of turns and twists among the yachts.We managed to touch bottom on a sand bar on the way in, but backed off quickly with minimal embarrassment... We took a berth at the pier between the main resort and a small bar on a sand quay. Perfect!
We were just next to "Escapade" - a nice Oyster 55 captained by a kiwi named Paul, whom we had met in Neiafu, Tonga. "Endless Summer" was a few doors down, while "Irene" was five boats over in the other direction - it was good fun to see so many of the yachts that we recognised from other places around the South Pacific - this was definitely the place to be...
September 10 - We had a diesel mechanic out to change to fluids and filters - he noticed some corrosion on a connection in the fresh water system and pointed it out, but there was not much we could do about it that day... I put another coat of varnish on the toe rails, which now look awesome! Dan, David, Dave and Slime all headed off to explore another resort around the corner, taking both the kayak and the dinghy. Dave returned to TAINUI in the kayak, using my extra large Meridien Hotel umbrella as a sail for the downwind run - typical Musket Cove behaviour...
September 11 - Today's the big party day - it all started out with a yacht race to a small island a few miles away, where the local resort had a big day planned for all the yachties - we flew our spinnaker for the second time and it was glorious! Hot sun, light winds and calm seas amongst a fleet of large yachts all flying multicoloured sails... there was the typical water-balloon fighting and I took one square in the chest from another yacht... thankfully, one of their missiles failed to explode and was returned to them with great ceremony later that evening back at the marina...
Once we arrived, there was a big buffet lunch, followed by organised contests, including a 'hair race,' drinking, hairy chest, wet t-shirt, etc. Somehow Dan managed to get into the drinking contest (free beers!), and then was a judge for the wet t-shirt contest, too. Bad luck, my camera ran out of batteries just at the beginning of the wet t-shirt competition! Needless to say, there were prizes in a range of categories, including 'light' and 'heavy' displacement...
We power-sailed back towards Musket Cove and TAINUI was well in front, when the engine began to overheat - sure enough, the corroded pipe had given way and we were low on water in the diesel engine... we sailed at about 1/2 knot towards the marina while the rest of the fleet passed us... once it cooled down, we poured in more water and made it in fine. One more thing to look at. We had a big barbecue with the rest of the yachties and slept well...
September 12 - Spent a good portion of the day in recovery, hanging around the resort and doing a few internet things. David managed to find a guy to weld us a new bit of aluminum pipe onto the fresh-water system, so our engine is quickly back to normal...
That night, I finally set up my telescope on a small hill and tried to see Saturn, which was low in the western sky at about 7pm. Unfortunately, the moon was full and really made it hard to see - coupled with the wind, it wasn't the best night for it... Later on, we had people over for drinks and stayed up far too late again...
September 13 - Young Dave, Slime and I decided to hike from the marina over to Malolo Island, across a shallow causeway and up to the top of a large hill. Why? Because it was there... We did get a nice view of the marina and Musket Cove, and it was good to get active for a couple hours... back at the resort, we rented windsurfers for a while - I'd only tried it a couple times before, but finally got the hang of steering, jibing and tacking - even managed to sail downwind, which I had always found impossible before.
September 14 - Today's the day we set off to explore the rest of the islands - young Dave left us to stay aboard "Escapade" for a while before returning to Tonga and his medical studies - he ended up getting the master suite, so it's a bit of a step up from sleeping in TAINUI's cockpit under a mosquito net! I'm sure he missed us as he relaxed in the luxury of his private, air conditioned cabin on the million-dollar yacht...
We left Musket Cove, and sailed north to Vanua Levu, which is a small, unpopulated, sacred island about 20 nautical miles northwest of Malolo Lailai - Vanua Levu is also the name of one of the large islands of Fiji, but this is a different one! We anchored in a beautiful cove and went ashore to make a sacrifice at the small altar there. There is a tradition of leaving food or other offerings on the altar - there were apparently a couple of yachts that neglected to do this and both ended up on the reef! (Have you heard of Urban Myths? This may be an Island Myth, but we thought it was a good idea anyway...)
We bought a lobster and a large crab from some local fishermen - there were two other yachts in the anchorage, plus the local fishing boat, nobody else for miles...
September 15 - This morning, we left the sacred island to sail to Waya, a larger island only ten miles away. However, to get there, we had to sail through the maze of reefs around the island, in order to make safe passage. There was lots of discussion about the fact that the Moorings yacht rental business here had gone bust, apparently because renters kept running the yachts up onto reefs! We have a chart that the Moorings people used to use - it's pretty bad and not very large scale, but it's the best around... there are huge areas marked 'unsurveyed' and the surveyed parts are more indicative than precise...
In the afternoon, we arrived at Nalauwaki Bay and took an anchorage close to shore. The landscape was very impressive - we were at the base of a waterfall that ran down from the tall peaks of the island. The bay swept around us, there was a little backpacker resort near the waterfall and Nalauwaki village was just up the beach to the right.
When we were in Lautoka, we had purchased a couple kilos of kava root for use in sevusevu ceremonies - it's not cheap, at $30 Fijian for a kilo, but you ony have to use a half-kilo for the ceremony, so you spend about $7/USD for each village you visit. Kava is a local plant that contains a paralytic element in the roots. The locals have used it for ages as part of ceremonies and as a daily habit. The method of getting the drug out of the root is basically to crush the root, put the crushed bits into a cloth and run water through it, creating a muddy-looking drink that is shared by all around a circle. Before Christian intervention in the islands, the natives would gather around and chew the roots, then spit a wad of chewed root and saliva into the cloth, which would then be squeezed into a bowl for the lucky drinker. The missionaries thought that this was disgusting, so they encouraged the natives to crush the roots into a bowl and use fresh water to rinse out the drug... I'm not too keen on the whole missionary mentality, but (along with the end of cannabilism) this seems to have been a beneficial influence! Today, you can buy powdered kava as well, to make the whole thing a lot easier - we had tried kava only once before, at the Tongan feast in Vava'u, and all agreed that it had little effect and tasted like mud. You have to drink gallons of the stuff to really get loaded - it starts with numbness around the tongue and mouth and slowly it spreads until the drinker is largely incapacitated and loses all motor function. The nice thing is, there aren't a lot of fights or bad feelings around the kava circle - this is good, because a lot of the Fijians are really big guys.
Anyway, we went into the village and were greeted with calls of 'Bula' (hello) from the locals - we asked to do sevusevu and a young man named Tom said he'd take us to see the 'old man.' The chief lived in a building in the centre of the village of 300 people - he was an old man and accepted our offering with an incantation in the local dialect - Tom translated, as the elders of the tribe spoke no English. I reflected on the fact that we have arrived in these islands in what may be a transitional time - there are still areas that are relatively remote and unspoiled, where the old people still remember the days before there were tourist boats, marinas and white people coming to enjoy their lands. The younger kids all learn English in school now, and yachts are a frequent sight in the harbours. I think that it is an eventuality that these islands will lose even more of their tribal identities and become 'westernised,' selling souvenirs to tourists for cash rather than relying on subsitence farming and fishing. Even today, the fishermen sell fish in the city markets to get cash or petrol, western clothes and goods, etc. Whether the outlying villages should be protected from these influences or encouraged to modernise is a discussion for the sociologists, I suppose.
In any case, I am glad to be here, sitting crosslegged in the chief's home while he blesses us and gives us permission to walk around, take pictures and enjoy his island. It is good to observe the customs and to pay our respects to their culture - I hope that they can preserve some part of their way of life, in spite of us.
Tom walked us around the village and showed us the community hall, then the church and common area. We stayed for a brief while, then left to walk down the beach towards the backpacker's place. It's better to leave early and not wear out a welcome - islanders are generally polite and won't tell you when you are no longer welcome. We had a beer or two in a little hut on the beach at the backpacker's resort, told the owner, Ingrid, that we'd be back for dinner the next night and headed back to TAINUI.
September 16 - We decided to have an adventurous day and hike around the island a bit. There are three villages on Waya and we intended to hike over a small mountain to Yalombi, where there was another resort, and a rugby game scheduled for today. The climb wasn't strenuous, but it took several hours to get over and back. The rugby had been played the day before and the resort was closed, as there were no guests! We convinced one of the local ladies cleaning up around the resort to make some tea in the restaurant and we all had a relax around the tables. Unfortunately, we hadn't thought to bring kava for a sevusevu ceremony, so we didn't really venture around the village too much and we weren't welcomed by anyone. After we made the long climb back over to Nalauwaki Bay, we found the surf was getting a bit rough - it would be a bouncy night if we stayed in this exposed anchorage. We decided to motor around to Liku Liku, in another bay around the western corner of the island. We had dinner reservations at the restaurant and we still owed a bit of money for the bar tab, so they probably were a bit anxious as we pulled up anchor and left the harbour... however, we did make it back for dinner after yet another walk over (thankfully) a small hill. As we approached the new anchorage off the Octopus Resort, we sighted dolphins jumping - they came and swam on the bow for a short while, then raced away. The "Spirit of the Pacific" schooner was leaving the harbour as we entered. We set anchor near the only other yacht - a catamaran named "Aqua Vitae," populated by a couple, their young child, two friends and a Fijian nanny. As evening approached, the "Spirit" came back into the harbour, with dolphins all around her! We quickly jumped into the kayak and dinghy and went close, slipping into the water to swim with the dolphins - the light was too low, however, so there wasn't much to see underwater, but the dolphins did come close to the small boats.
We made the walk over the hill, through the village and to the small resort. They were just starting to drink kava, so we sat in - this was only the second time that we had tried it - the first for Dan's uncle and father. It was much better than the stuff in Tonga - made from real roots, not powder. The first bowl made my tongue and lips go a bit numb and it tasted much less like mud than the previous stuff! A few bowls and it was time to eat a nice meal of the large fish we had seen them catch earlier that day... On the way back, we stopped in for some more kava at another small resort near our new anchorage...
September 17 - We decided to stay and relax in this quiet anchorage before setting off for the northern islands. At sunset, we invited "Aqua Vitae" to join us for drinks aboard... John and Anna owned the yacht and sailed with their infant son, Johnathan. John is a kiwi and Anna is Swedish - their Fijian nanny was confusingly named Tonga, while I fail to remember the names of the couple who were guests aboard their catamaran... in any case, we had a few drinks and conversation and then a quiet night...
September 18 - We left today to head north to the Yasawa group of islands, specifically to go to Blue Lagoon - and yes, it's the place where they filmed the film! (Now I have to go watch that movie again to see if I recognise it...) We passed through several reefs, using our mediocre charts and basically looking for surf break to stay away from trouble. It wasn't actually that tough - we were always in sight of land and even when we couldn't see the reefs, we were pretty sure where they were. Henry's lure worked its magic again and we caught another fish just off Yaqeta - we think it was a mackerel or a yellowfin tuna or something. No idea, really, but it tasted great!
We entered Matacawa Levu pass and approached the anchorage, seeing that there were two other yachts, "Waxwing" and "Phoenix," already anchored there. (We had been moored next to Waxwing in Vuda Point just a week or so before...) Our Yachtsman's Fiji book said there was room for three, so we were happy - we took a quick run down past Turtle Island (Nanuya Levu), where the Turtle Island resort was visible. This resort is something like $1400/USD per night and they "don't welcome yachts" there. Dan decided to see if they welcomed small kayaks, so we launched him off the stern of TAINUI and he rowed ashore... he conned them into showing him around by saying he was looking for a place to have his honeymoon!
We went ashore on Matacawa Levu and made sevusevu at the small village there - as we approached the village centre, it was obvious that something was on. The elders of the community were all inside an L-shaped hut that had obviously been built for this purpose - it seems that we came ashore in the middle of their Year 2000 celebrations! We were invited inside, where all the older men and women were seated, drinking kava - we offered our kava and were greeted formally by the village - there is a chant, some response from the assembled group, rythmic clapping and more chanting. This time, since there was already kava drinking in progress, we were handed bowls - and this was strong stuff! The proper way to accept a drink of kava is to clap your hands once, say "Bula," then drink the whole bowl at once, then hand it back and clap your hands three times to show your appreciation. We all got it right and there were smiles from the crowd. All the villagers were donating money to the village fund that they would use to build schools, etc., so we dropped in a few dollars and then left again quickly, so as to allow them to continue their celebrations.
We headed across the small harbour towards another landmark - Fanny and Otto's Tea Room. This is just a small hut in the middle of a beautifully landscaped backpacker resort, much like a plantation. The place was desolate, but they had beer, cake and ice cream, which we ate happily.
That night, we ate fish for dinner and listened to the sounds of the night, especially the fish jumping - the place was absolutely swarming with fish, although I couldn't catch one on the hook to save my life. We took a waterproof torch and submersed it, using the spinnaker pole to hold it just below the surface - small fish swam all around it, while larger fish could be seen below and heard jumping all around...
We had spoken to Susan on "Waxwing," who said that they were hiring a boat and guide to take them up to Sawa-i-Lau to see the caves up there - we were invited to go along and agreed that we'd catch up with them on the VHF radio the next morning. This was sort of funny, since they were anchored about 40 metres away and we could have just spoken to them.
September 19 - It was raining in the morning and we listened to the VHF, only to find that the hired boat wasn't responding. We decided to head up to Sawa-i-Lau in our own boat, along with Waxwing, who didn't have a good chart of the place. It was an easy trip, but with the motor on the whole time, as there was little wind. We arrived together and anchored in one of the nicest harbours we had seen. Susan and her husband (from Ireland) came aboard TAINUI or a light lunch, and one of the locals came out, offering two large crabs. We bought them for dinner and cooked them right away.
Susan and I went ashore to make sevusevu, while the others stayed aboard to do set a stern anchor, as there was a fair bit of coral around and we didn't want to swing into it during the night. We met the chief, along with his son, Kally, who was nominated to show us around the cave. The villagers were keen to have us stay and spend some money, so we were pressed to agree to show up for a market after the cave trip. We agreed and set off with Kally to see the cave.
All together, we approached the large limestone island that housed the cave - there was a concrete path built from the foreshore up to the main entrance, then steps down under an overhang into the main part of the cave. It was a cavern with several openings and a pool in the middle. We went for a swim and Kally indicated to me to follow him - we swam to the back, with our flashlights in hand - I was looking underwater for the entrance to the back cave that we had heard of, when Kally started edging his way into a crack in the rock, with just enough room at the top to keep his head above water! I was thinking to myself about how little I liked swimming into narrow cracks in rocks - Kally is a bit skinnier than I am. Once I started through, it opened a bit and by the light of the electric torch, I could see we had swum into a small enclosed chamber, with the outside light coming up up through the water near the entrance. As my eyes adjusted, Kally swam farther along, and the cave started to open up, chamber after chamber, like a small cathedral! At the far end of one chamber, light came in through another opening and at the farthest side, there was a vertical shaft over a narrow ledge. I stood there, waist-deep in the cool water, looking up the 40-foot shaft to the sky above. I told Kally to leave me there and get everybody else - I didn't want to do this one at a time, but to have everybody together. He swam away and I was left alone in the cave, with only the shaft of light and the dark water over the edge of the shelf. Thoughts of tourist-eating monsters flashed through my mind, but I figured I could always leap into the chimney and scramble up, flippers and all, if anything tried to eat me...
After a minute or two, I could hear Susan's voice as Kally led her in and back to the shelf with me. As Kally swam to the entrance again, I followed him to the middle chamber, as my eyes were now adjusted well enought to see in the near-darkness. One after another, everyone entered the cave and I pointed them to the ledge and the other chambers. We swam around inside for a while, then back out through the crack in the rock... what a great place!!!
After we reassembled on the boats, we went ashore to buy some stuff at the markets - in fact, they had set up the area in front of the chief's hut just for us and had an assortment of shells, jewelry, mats, clothes and trinkets all laid out for us. We spent a fair bit buying gifts and momentos and I realised that they had definitely accepted the concept of a cash economy. After our buying spree, we walked down the road to the school and watched the locals playing touch rugby - no shoes, kicking the ball hard and letting the small kids play with the big boys!
It was a peaceful night in this anchorage, which I think was one of the ones I would most like to revisit sometime...
September 20 - We set out early to cover the 60+ miles back to Vuda Point, with a light wind directly on our bow! We were finally using Admiralty charts again, which showed a reasonable amount of detail, but in one tricky place, the inevitable happened. I was watching our course on the GPS and comparing it to the chart (which was surveyed in 1967!) - we were navigating through a channel in the reefs and coming up to a left-hand turn. Everybody had been reading books all day and sitting casually in the cockpit - long stretches had been through relatively coral-free passages and navigation was easy enough, using the autopliot to keep us on a straight course. But, this part was tight and I was getting a bit apprehensive - I stuck my head up and started to comment about the closeness of the reef edges - Dan was standing near the helm. We looked out for a minute and couldn't see any defined reef edge - then, Dan said that the depth sounder was dropping quickly!
Suddenly, BANG!
Right into the reef at six knots!
We quickly put the engine into reverse, backed off and looked for damage - no water inside - I noticed that the fishing line had been snagged, so we quickly put the engine in neutral, aware of how close we still were to the reef. I jumped in the water and saw that the fishing line was, indeed, wrapped around the prop shaft. Fortunately, fishing line is easy to get undone - with a knife! I cut the line that led to the reel and made sure that the slack was pulled aboard. Then, I cut the other end and started slicing through the bit wrapped around the shaft. It wasn't too bad and most came off in a few dives. Only later did I stop and realise that I should have held onto the trailing end of the line - that was our lucky lure! Damn.
I looked at the keel and saw no damage visible - we were actually sailing along a bit, so it was tough to swim alongside the bottom of the ship - I also wanted to be quite sure I didn't end up getting squished between the boat and any other reefs, so I made a quick check and was satisfied. Once again, TAINUI proved her worth by suffering no damage after a bit of a knock.
I love this boat.
But, lesson learned - can't navigate through reefs at six knots using GPS, old charts and an autopilot! We made it back to Lautoka just fine, but without enough time to get to an nternet cafe - Dan needs to find out when Scott Wentzell, our next crewmember, is arriving at the airport tonight! Oh well, Scott will certainly find a place to stay or will figure out where we are and meet us back at the marina at Vuda Point... as it turns out, his plane got in at 9pm and he stayed in a hotel...
September 21 - Scott arrived in the morning, and we decided to try to rent a car for a trip inland to see the mountains.Slime arranged a 4-wheel drive to take us up the off-road track to Abaca village. It was a Suzuki Jimny - suitable for 5 people.
If they're dwarfs.
We squeezed in and drove up the bumpy road to Abaca, where we hiked a decent trail up to a waterfall and back. Nice views of the coast and the islands, although those photos were all into the setting sun, so Malolo and Waya are hard to see...
We had a final dinner for David and Slime at the First Landing Resort, then they took the 4-wheel drive back to the airport and headed home to London... They are taking our HF radio with them, packed in pillows and sleeping bags in their luggage - it's been giving us some problems and we're hoping they can get it fixed in time to give it to Nick, our next crewmember, who comes out from London to meet us in Vanuatu in a couple weeks...
September 22 - I hung out at Internet place for a large part of the day, trying to get emails and do a few online updates to the website - still can't get a fast connection to upload photos! Dan and Scott went into Lautoka, paid our quarantine fees and went to the market.
I was reading my email and saw one from Kath saying that today is her last day in the office, September 22'nd. Hey wait a minute! It's my sister Karen's birthday! I literally haven't looked at a calendar in a half-year and it really hadn't even sunk in that it was September already - just look how far behind I've been on the log!
Tried to call Karen, but could only leave a message - sorry, Kare! Hope you had a great birthday and I'll bring you back something nice... It's been so casual out here that I realise I've missed more than a half-year of birthdays, anniversaries and other special events. Hmmm.. to all who have gotten a bit older or managed to stay married - a delayed congrats!
We decided to have a big Friday night out in Lautoka, so we went into the city for a few drinks, then went to the Village our and saw the movie "X-Men." It was somewhat interesting and very funny in a few bits, for example:
(After a scene where there is an imposter of one of the characters, Wolverine... the real Wolverine runs into Cyclops - they're on the same side, but don't get along well...)
Wolverine: "It's me!"
Cyclops: "Prove it..."
Wolverine: (Pause) "You're a dick!"
Cyclops: "O.K."
After this cerebral film, we went out to get sloshed and have a dance - we went to Coco's, paid a five dollar cover each and went up several flights of stairs. We ended up in one of those local dance clubs with a couple of bars, a small dance floor and a whole bunch of Fijians having a good time. We stood out a bit - floral shirts glowing in the neon light; pale faces and (in my case) a shaved head. This will be a real test of whether Fijians are as soft and cuddly as they look...
After a few rounds, we've been asked to dance by a half dozen of the girls - the first one actually had her friend take a picture with me and her together. We end up talking to a bunch of the drunk guys, dancing with most of the young girls and even got to know a huge guy who played rugby for the Fiji national team! It seems it was USP (University of the South Pacific) night and most of the young people there were college students. Some were very drunk and one or two were slightly annoying, but by and large, they were as friendly and nice as everybody else we met in Fiji so far - I really like this place..
September 23 - We got up late (for some reason) and spent the day lounging, with me typing away on my computer, trying to piece together the last month's activities for this log! I managed to get this stuff updated, but still no luck with the photos - Fiji just seems to have very poor internet capability...
September 24 - Don't think we did much - cleanup and getting ready to sail away...
September 25 - Dan's birthday! We sailed to Malololailai (Musket Cove) again, although we have already checked out of Fiji (shhh - don't tell anybody!). We spent a bit of time hanging out, then that night, had our friends Paul and Christina from Escapade over for drinks, along with a couple from the yacht next door and a few guests of the resort... Scott and I had bought a little cake for Dan and we surprised him by singing Happy Birthday - Slime had left him a gift, which turned out to be an inflatable Tigger. (Yes, as in Winnie the Pooh.) An inflatable elephant also appeared. This party is getting wierd...
Time for dinner, so we decided to walk around to the resort on the far side of the cove - it was an OK buffet, but a bit of a family place, with lots of little kids running around. There was a limbo contest that was organised for the teenage girls, so we did spend a little while there... but eventually headed back to TAINUI for a not-too-late night.
September 26 - Scott and I rented a catamaran at some point - I think it was on the 26'th - the days do sometimes blend together and I'm writing this on October 6'th, so you may have to pardon a few errors in the sequence of events sometimes... I use my digital camera almost every day, so I can look back and see the dates on each photo and remember what we did...
The hobie cat was good fun - screaming along out to sea and back at 12+ knots, hanging off the edge with feet under the straps, leaning just above the water - only lifted one of the hulls out once or twice, but we really did have a good run...
It was movie night on Escapade with Paul & Christina - we watched "Zorro" in the comfort of an Oyster 55 - air conditioning, leather lounges and proper wine glasses. Very nice...
September 27 - Took a few pix of TAINUI in Musket Cove, so we can put an ad in the Trade-A-Boat magazine back in Australia... yes, she is now officially for sale. (Anybody want to buy a nice yacht?) It was time to leave Musket Cove for the last time, but seeing as Dan and I are members of the Musket Cove Yacht Club now, I am sure we'll return someday! We sailed to Mana Island, another small resort island in the Mamanucas - it had a bizarre entrance, with a zigzag channel cut through the reef. We made it in fine and set anchors off the bow and stern to keep us from swinging - it was a lee shore, and we were fairly close to it, but the holding seemed good. Scott and Dan went ashore for a night out, while I relaxed aboard for the evening... we have a big day tomorrow!
September 28 - This is it - the Supermarket dive! We had heard about this place from Wendy, our scuba instructor in Tonga - we are booked to go diving with sharks! They hand-feed sharks near this particular reef, which is full of fish anyway. I did hear that the guy who has been doing it for 20+ years died this week - however, it was a heart attack, not a shark attack that did him in... anybody looking for a job?
We were picked up by a jet boat that came in through the channel, pulled alongside TAINUI to take us aboard and then went gunning ahead - right for the reef! Dan and I looked at each other as we flew over coral heads - this is not something we do in our boat... the jet boat was a big aluminum thing, which skimmed right on the top of the water and crashed through the big surf at the edge of the reef - then we met up with our actual dive team at the site - the jeyt boat belonged to another dive company, but they all seem to help each other out...
It was a fun dive - down the anchor line to about 12 metres - hanging out on the bottom and suddenly seeing white-tip and black-tip sharks swimming around calmly. They were bigger than us, but not much bigger, so we figured that we were OK - there was one great moment when a shark about thirty feet away just turned and Dan and I had a head-on view. I don't really get too anxious about most things nowadays, but my heartrate did speed up just a beat or two as I looked this animal in the eyes... then, it turned and swam away without interest...
We spent a couple hours on two dives - lots of fish and coral, somewhat trod apon in places, but still pretty...
Dan and I returned to TAINUI on the jet boat, and saw that Scott had gone ashore in the dighy - we were already wet, so we swam up to the beach with our shirts held in one hand above our heads. There was a backpacker hotel at one end of the beach and a nicer resort (surrounded by barbed wire to keep the backpackers out!!!) at the other. We walked right in through the gate and ate lunch, spending the very last of our Fiji $$$ - in fact we were $1.30 short and in order to get cash, I had to try to sell my last beer to an aussie bloke who was at the next table...
We sailed away from Fiji having had a really good month there - I think it was one of the best places we've been. From now on, Dan and I have resolved to visit any country that is having a revolution, coup, civil unrest, whatever - the currency gets cheap, the locals are really glad to see you and the problems are usually fairly isolated.
(Just kidding, Mom.)
We had our first dinner at sea for a while and Scott celebrated our departure by having a big puke... the tradition continues...
September 29 - A bit grey later in the day - the log entries vary from "Grey & dull" to "Heavy rain" and finally, "Cloud & drizzle." It's not all romance on the high seas out here...
Just to be clear, with us three guys aboard, it's NEVER romance on the high seas...
September 30 - The roller furling line for the jib got bound up in a winch early in the morning and it parted when I tried to get it out - the genoa ended up getting wrapped badly around the forestay... we managed to untwist it later in the day and rigged up a new way of routing the (shortened) roller furling line. Dan proved himself to be a rain god, because as soon as I came on watch again at 8am, the sky cleared up and it stopped pouring - it had literally been dumping down right up until my turn... At lunch time, we put the genoa out goosewinged and were cruising nicely at 7.5 knots... at this rate, we'll get there on Sunday evening, which is not recommended, as the locals take their Sabbath seriously. It's a well marked harbour, however, so we plan to pull in in the dark and just anchor with our quarantine flag up...
At about 6pm, just as we were starting to think about what to have for dinner, the decision was made for us - we caught another MahiMahi, not quite as big as the last, but still over a metre long! We got it aboard easily, bled and filleted it like professionals and were eating sauteed MahiMahi with rice and tinned green beans in an hour or two... we are trying to use up out tins - some of them are the originals from Sydney! Tinned green beans are not very popular, nor are mushy peas or soggy asparagus. However, tinned mushrooms are pretty well liked...
"This must be a riveting read for them," I think to myself as I type out our grocery preferences...
Out here in the middle of nowhere, a big bird started swooping around as we were carving up our fish on the aft deck... Dan looked at our "Birds of the South Pacific" book and declared that it was a brown booby... My only comment was that we had been waiting to see brown boobies the whole time we have been out here, but we were hoping for the kind that are attached to beautiful young maidens who row out to greet you in every port. Unfortunately, It seems that this particular species must be nearly extinct in the South Pacific, as we haven't sighted any at all - another myth debunked...
Anyways, back to the bird... it made a few passes, even colliding with the fan blades of our wind generator... he was unhurt and on the next pass, landed on the back of the dinghy, which was suspended on davits on the back of the yacht!
We assumed the bird was hungry, so we tossed a few bits and pieces of fish his way, but they were ignored... he just wanted a nice place to have a rest and preen his featers without worrying about getting eaten by sharks, I guess... three hours later, it was dark, but we still had our visitor on board, fish uneaten. Not sure when he left, actually, but he wasn't very tidy - out dinghy will need a good washing...
We should reach Port Vila tomorrow, just in time for a new page in the Internet log....