tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84366864451056239452024-03-06T01:31:10.202+01:00SV Island BoundBill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-9503682505036047252013-10-16T04:22:00.003+02:002013-10-16T04:28:14.729+02:002013, 10-12 One More Passage Behind Us.<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived back to Savu Savu before dawn
yesterday after our Fortuna run which was a “quick up and back” for visa
purposes only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill and I have become
fairly proficient with the whole passage thing but I would be lying if I left
you with the feeling that overnight passages are now –or will ever be- a simple
humdrum part of this life we have chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Multiple day passages mean pre-trip bits of stress with days of
preparation and thought, Passage planning, weather worries and last minute boat
repairs and preparations. Then the passage itself gives us endless hours of watch
to drive the boat, watch the weather, navigate through reefs, meals alone (we
try to share at least dinner together) cooking in rough seas, forcing yourself
to nap when you’re not tired and sleeping in no more than 3:45 minute stretches.
We’ve found a pretty decent rhythm with a four hour watch schedule but of
course while you are on watch you are actually driving the boat so your four
hour off watch time is rarely completely given over to sleeping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There seems to always be a mess to pick up, a
shower to take, fuel to pump or a batch of dishes that need attention. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes time, every time, to get the
rhythm of our watches. With short-ish passages about the time you really find
your rhythm you’re there and it seems you have spent far too much time trying
to sleep and far too little time actually sleeping so often arrive exhausted.
On longer passages there are always external pressures that throw a whammy on
the schedule –bad weather, catching a fish, making a set schedule for talking
with friends on the ham radio, engine or fuel problems or bits of maintenance
or repairs that must be taken care of immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This trip we were affected by fishing, heat
and then in the end weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh and a
repair problem that sprang up on us before we had even left. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were ready to go. Groceries bought and
stowed, check. Chickens roasted, check. Boat cleaned, check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fuel and water tanks topped off, check. Life
jackets out and ready, Epirb tested, jack lines ready check, check, check. We
had just finished our official clearing out procedure and had one hour to leave
Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that was left to do was secure
the outboard, lift and stow the dinghy on deck and let loose the mooring lines
and we would be ready off in time for our 4pm set departure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not so fast…what is that smell and what is
that puddle at the bottom of the companionway steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>&^#$%*&^&%^!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were checking out a sight tube-a
piece of hose that lets us see how full a tank is- had broken and had begun
emptying one of our diesel fuel tanks directly into the locker that houses our
water maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The floor of the passage
way to our aft cabin was awash in diesel and the puddle was creeping under the
companionway stairs and forward into our main cabin and was leaking through the
floorboards and into the bilge. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
clock was ticking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly all of our
focus was on getting the leak stopped and then the hose repaired and the mess
cleaned up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazingly we barely blinked
an eye as we waded through the mess and began the cleanup and repairs. It could
have been worse of course –it could have been an ordinary day where we were off
the boat for hours and come back to a much fuller bilge and a much bigger clean
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead an hour after scheduled we
were calmly motoring out of the anchorage but the stench of the spilled diesel
would be with us for the entire trip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather window we had been waiting for
never really appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had hoped to
have south winds which would allow us to sail the 236 miles but finally settled
for little or no winds and a passage that promised to be mostly a motor
sail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wind and motoring is far better
than winds on our nose and miles of beating into a rolling sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A highlight of the trip was the
fishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill had been busy making
homemade fishing lures. He cuts the top off of a pop bottle cap so all you have
is the mouth of the bottle and the screw on top. Then he punches a hole through
the lid where the line will be strung. He cuts strips of shiny plastic bags
–think lunch box sized bags of Cheetos or chips – folds them over the lip of
the bottle cap and then screws the lid over the bottle mouth. The high test
leader line goes through hole in the cap and then the bottle top gets screwed
down over the mouth of the bottle. We use heavy duty double hooks on a leader line
that’s set off the bottle mouth with a few beads and viola’ a very enticing big
fish hootchie lure for the price of the hooks and line! They look like shiny
squid and the fish love them. Thanks to Chuck on S/V Jacaranda for the great
idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lures have been paying us back in
spades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Midday of the second day we
caught two yellow fin tunas and a short time later a slight coarse shift to was
taking us over a very promising looking shoal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having just finished catching, cleaning and
stowing two yellow tail tuna Bill was below sleeping as I charted our progress
toward the shoal. As we closed in on the shallow patch I could see birds
working the water and soon saw small fish shoaling the surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked each of the lures trailing behind
the boat for seaweed as we approached and was standing on deck in the sunshine
watching behind us as we began passing over the bulls-eyed spot. I could see
more small fish running on the surface and then a few pan sized fish running
towards our lures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in a space of a
minute four big fish were racing across the top of the water towards the three
lures being drug behind the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
watched as a huge fish hit one of the lures and came flying up an easy four
feet. The huge fish hit and flew up and out of the water a good four feet with sparkling
water and bits of cookie bag flying in a huge arc before the fish slammed back
down into the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the blink of an
eye I had all three lines running with very large fish, each big enough to run
and fight and all three crossing back and forth behind us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One fish successfully fought his way to
freedom but with Bills help we soon had two large fish on board –a four foot
Wahoo and a twenty five pound Big Eye tuna!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bravo, bravo! Of course that meant a good hour of work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First the fish must be….dispatched and then filleted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Bill scrubs up the huge mess that always
results from killing and cleaning big fish on deck while I work below in the galley
where a bit of fillet fine tuning gets the pieces portioned and bagged and
ready for meals and the freezer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
dinner we had a taste test of the earlier caught yellow fin tuna and the big
eye –both amazingly delicious but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
big eye won out in the sashimi test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
only bad part of the whole deal is that the freezer was now full and until we
were somewhere where we could give fish away poor Bill was going to have to
stop fishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirty hours after leaving Savu Savu we had arrived
at Fortuna. The anchorage there can be very rolly and uncomfortable with a
south swell and that was just what was predicted for the following day along
with winds on our nose going back so our choices were clear, stay for several
days in the rolly anchorage or leave straight off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to that the fact that we had no French
Polynesian francs and there is no ATM on the island so we wouldn’t even be able
to have a meal off the boat or splurge on baguettes and imported French cheese.
Plus it was astonishingly hot even in the early morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So a quick in and out it would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We dropped the dinghy off the deck and
paddled in to the wharf to a short walk to Customs and Immigrations and then on
to the Gendarmerie. Passports were stamped and papers filled out then right
back to the boat for a quick lunch and in no time we were raising the anchor
and off on our way back to Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole trip so far had been dry and hot
and that’s what we got going back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right
up until I heard Bill say “Kat, come up on deck and look at this sky.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nearly six pm and we had just clearing
the Somosomo straight -the reefy-est part of the six hundred plus mile
passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahead of us was a bank of black
clouds that spread completely across the skyline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the bottom of the line of ink black clouds
was a strip of lighter color clouds that were rolling and boiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The storm front was still many miles away but
within moments the seas were up and Island Bound was rocking and rolling in
short steep wind waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time we
got our dodger/bimini side and door pieces in place the rain drops were falling
and suddenly we were in some of the worst seas we have ever sailed
through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily the winds were not too
bad –an easy 25 knots with gusts up into the mid or even high thirties. The
rain was fierce and the seas were like a washing machine. The soon to set sun was
obliterated and we were suddenly sailing into the night rolling and plunging
and trying our best to stay dry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end out of a sixty hour passage the
last 12 were pretty uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
scary because the winds didn’t get too bad but rough and wet and not much
fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was too rough to really sleep or
move about the boat so by the time we hove too outside of Savu Savu to wait for
sunrise we were both completely exhausted. Our concern as we sailed into this
weather front had been for the reefs between us and Savu Savu and the lack of
anywhere safe to stop and wait out the weather. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As uncomfortable as the end of our passage
had been we had been concerned for friends who had left Savu Savu a day and a
half after us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind us they would be
facing this weather in the open ocean and were likely to see higher winds and
bigger waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leanna and John on Ref Sky
and Charlene and Ernie on Lauren Grace struggled through much higher seas and
winds over 50 mph!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red sky blew out
there main sail and had the fresh water pump on their engine go out leaving
them without an engine and beam on into very high seas while Lauren Grace a cat
had an easier ride of things but blew out the bungee cord that attaches the
trampoline on their foredeck and both came limping into Savu Savu with tales to
tell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was glad we had picked the
weather window we had. Out here you can run but you just can’t hide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fair winds, Kat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-81055698377890196452013-10-16T04:16:00.002+02:002013-10-16T04:16:18.202+02:002013, 09-28 How Far Do We Go?
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are back in Savu Savu waiting for a
weather window that will take us safely and comfortably to the island of
Fortuna.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a boat enters Fiji their
Customs and Immigration allows an eighteen month stay for the boat itself,
after 18 months the boat either has to leave the country or pay import tax on
the value of the boat. Our eighteen months will be up in March of 2014 which is
right smack in the middle of cyclone season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t want to chance a blue water passage in cyclone season and we
don’t want to import the boat -or pay the 36% tax- so we will sail out of the
country on or before 10/16 when our visas are up for renewal. This will reset
the eighteen month clock and give us each six more months on our personal visas
allowing us to move on from Fiji as we plan after this year’s cyclone season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortuna is the closer of two French governed
islands to the NE of Fiji and our closest option for accomplishing a necessary
evil. I call it a necessary evil because it all seems pretty silly when you
think of it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To cross all of our T’s and dot all our I’s we
must complete an official check out then sail away then turn around and come
back in and pay a few fees. Then we are allowed to stay another 18 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But of course that means a 225 nm mile
passage through open-ocean to a place we don’t really want to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortuna is so used to it they check you out
and in at the same time -for free thank you very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know you are not going to stay and in
fact are surprise if you do. The anchorage is open and rolly and there is
little to see or do to entice anyone to stay. So we will go, come back and then
spend our money and our time in Fiji for the foreseeable future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone does it and no one really wants to
go to Fortuna. The Fijian reasoning behind all of this I am told is to insure
that the cruisers here have boats that are seaworthy enough to actually leave
and allows the government to cross all their T’s and dot all their I’s and of
course brings in a second -or fifth- set of fee’s for entering the country. It
also has the side effect of having boats that are less than seaworthy stay in
Fiji and pay a hefty tax to do so. Of course derelict boats are not worth much
so the fees are lower and their owners don’t tend to pump much into the economy
either. Oh well, we don’t make the rules and it still makes Fiji a country where
you can stay for an extended amount of time unlike many spots in the Pacific.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again as cruisers we make our choices
based on immigration and visa policies and of course the weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact once we left Washington every choice
we’ve made has been based on seasons, government policies and the prevailing
winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike many cruisers who spend
weeks or months away from their boats we have chosen to stick with the boat. Other
than a short road trip to California from Baja in 2011, a ten day trip home in
2012 and a couple of weeks soaking up the luxury of condo life in Mazatlan
thanks to the generosity of family and friends we have been full time cruisers
for nearly three and a half years now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Almost everyone we know has spent far more time off their boats than we
have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has been a conscious decision on our
part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve chosen to stay aboard Island
Bound even in the off seasons and in fact some of our favorite experiences have
happened during the “off season” while others chose to go home for periods of
time. It has meant we have stayed around when all of our friends disappeared
for periods of time to visit family, handle work or home responsibilities or do
land based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I am a little
envious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have liked to see my family more. I
would have liked to travel to parts of Mexico that were more than a day trip
away from the boat and I would have liked to have more time to recharge my
personal batteries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no right
way to do this of course but as I think forward to the future I wonder if I
would be …….more enthusiastic if we had taken a few more breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not complaining ….really I’m not. Most
people would give their eye teeth to be able to do what we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But cruising is NOT a 24/7 vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also means Bill and I have been together
virtually every day for three and a half years less the three days I was in
Seattle without him in 2012!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we do
almost everything together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rarely
even go shopping without him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I
have discovered from that is interesting. When you live a “normal” life as a
couple you spend pretty big chunks of time apart and I think it gives you both
something unique to bring back into the relationship. You have stories to tell,
experiences to share and time apart to –maybe- appreciate each more as well. For
us it is a hard choice because if we did as so many others and spent more time
away from the boat we would miss the off season cruising that we have found so
amazing. Traveling separately as many couples do at times means more money and
it means someone is left looking after things back aboard the boat alone. It
also leaves whoever stays behind essentially stuck in one place since Island
Bound is too big a boat to be comfortably single handed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some wives don’t make the open water
passages choosing instead to fly ahead and meet the boat when hubby arrives
with his guy friends or passage crew and some couples choose to always take on
crew for passages rather than manage the rigors of double handed watch
keeping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still admire a couple we met
in Neah Bay right before we left Washington who had just arrived after a 49 day
three hour on three hour off passage from the Marshall Islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully we have never needed or wanted to
make such a long passage because frankly it sounds exhausting beyond belief to
me. But then again for most of you the 23 day passage the two of us made across
the Pacific in spring of 2012 sounds just as daunting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just glad we have not needed to face
anything any longer than that.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which leads us to my next thoughts: when
have we gone far enough?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The farther
west we go the harder it will be to even consider trying to return to North
America. Bringing Island Bound back to Seattle has never really been on our
agenda but as we move west it sometimes feels like we are closing doors behind
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the pirate problem in the Red
Sea still a reality once we get as far as Thailand our options dwindle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If things are looking better in Pirate Alley we
can choose to run the Red Sea but historically things don’t look like they will
change much there any time soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
could ship the boat but that is extremely expensive especially considering the
value of our boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could chose to
stay put in Thailand or the Philippines but that is a complete unknown until we
arrive and find out how we like it in Asia. We could sail the coast of Africa
to get around the Cape of Good Hope in order to make our way to the
Mediterranean with the idea of eventually crossing the Atlantic and making it
“all the way around” or we can turn around and go back across the Pacific. That
idea has its own inherent difficulties including some very long passages indeed
(think 49 days from the Marshalls!!) or if done at our current pace several
more years of full time cruising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truthfully how I think about any of these
choices depends on the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days it
feels totally right to just keep going. We could easily spend ten years out
here. We could stay in Fiji –with the occasionally trip to Fortuna and back-
but it feels like it is nearly time to move on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We could also decide that we’ve had our time and it’s now time to do
something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have no concrete
ties, no home we’ve left rented no storage locker filled with the life we had
back home. Everything we own in the world besides one foot locker full of
pictures and tax records stored at my moms’ house is right here with us aboard
Island Bound which will make starting over anywhere interesting in this
material world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only time will tell I
guess.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I do know is that whatever we do will
look very different from the life we lived before we left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can continue to enjoy life on our investments
–as long as we don’t try to live like most Americans do with a house full of
possessions, two cars and all the frills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Frankly because we retired from the working world so early (I was 48
when we left Bill was 53) we can’t afford to live in the manner to which we
have become accustomed in a large metropolitan area. Not without going back to
work fulltime which doesn’t really entice either of us I can assure you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how do you decide to quite cruising?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if one of you is through and the other
wants to keep going?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> When we left we were hoping for ten
years. Still young enough to</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">travel and enjoy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>life and we would be closer to Social
Security age and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the age of Medicare and have less
time we would expect to need to<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">live out our lives on our
savings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have talked about a day of
selling<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the boat and maybe doing the RV-ing
thing -less strenuous than <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">cruising fulltime, no storm tossed
seas, weeks long passages or making<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">our own water and hauling all of our
groceries by backpack. One day<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">we will decide the work necessary to
keep a sailboat in condition to<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">make ocean passages is too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And heck it’s pretty hard to screw<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">up and sink your RV and end up
floating around in the sea hoping<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">someone is responding to your
distress signal and racing to your rescue. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maybe I am just tired right now to
even be thinking these<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">thoughts. Most days we talk about
what is coming next: cyclone season<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">at Vuda, time in the country of
Vanuatu and then six months<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">meandering through the Solomon Islands
before moving on to Palau,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the Philippines and Thailand. I don’t
regret for a minute the choices<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">we’ve made to get here. It’s exciting
and compelling and always gets<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">me looking forward again to the
people we are going to meet, the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">friends I am going to make and the
miles that will flow under our keel.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And hey, I can’t wait to learn how to
cook Thai food!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy sailing,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kat<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-78383358487636429452013-09-07T07:57:00.000+02:002013-09-07T07:59:20.395+02:002013, 09-06 Rabi Island and the people of BanabaAfter our time in the Northern Lau we stopped back on Taveuni Island for groceries. The one day super stop included a taxi ride into town for the produce market and cash machine, a cart full of goodies from the MH grocery and even pizza dinner off the boat -our first dinner out in more than a month, woohoo! For the trip across Somosomo straight the rain stayed at bay and our autopilot was working -sort of- which made our trip much better than we had anticipated. We even managed to land our first Mahi Mahi since French Polynesia when the new wonder lure Bill made out of a plastic potato chip bag hooked up two back to back big fish. Having the big fish hook up was more fun than usual because we were using a pole and reel instead of our normal set-up of dragging super heavy line and double hook hootchies. Not used to "sport fishing" with rod and reel Mahi Mahi #1 nearly spooled Bill by the time I got us turned up into the wind and the headsail furled in but eventually might won out. Mahi #2 was mine to play with -meat was already on the table and all that- but eventually my bad elbow gave out and when I passed the rod on to Bill for backup the fish finally broke the surface and wriggled right off of our potato chip lures' hooks. Even with the lost fish I topped up the freezer as we motored into Catherine's Bay on Rabi Island.
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<br> Rabi Island (pronounced Rhambi)has an interesting history that makes it stand out from the rest of Fiji. Originally the island was sold by Fijians to Europeans to cover a debt. The Australians then came along as tenants and ran a coconut plantation on the island in the years leading up to WWII. Far away in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati Micronesia) an island called Banaba (also known as Ocean Island) was being systematically destroyed by the phosphate mining being done under the development of the British. The island was being so ravaged that as early as 1940 the British Government began searching for an island to purchase as a resettlement area for the Banabans. The outbreak of war and the occupation of Banaba by the Japanese quickly intervened in the resettlement plans but the British decided that Rabi Island Fiji would be just the ticket and bought the entire island with twenty five thousand pounds that was drawn from the mining profits. Meanwhile the Japanese had deported the Banabans to Kosrae in the Caroline Islands to serve as slave laborers so it was not until December 1945 that the survivors could be brought to Rabi where some 4000 descendants live today.
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<br> In 2000 the islanders voted and passed a referendum to become Fijian citizens though locally they are governed by a Rabi Island Council not the Fijian government. So Rabi lives by a different set of rules than the rest of Fiji, in fact all they really have in common with Fiji is their preferred religion (Methodist,) kava drinking (though they do not practice the ritualistic kava ceremony of sevusevu) their postal and educational systems and their money. They speak Gilbertese, look much more Polynesian than Fijian, paddle outrigger canoes and follow the social order and customs of the Gilbert Islands. It turns out that this isn't a totally unique situation. The neighboring island to the SE Kioa is home to the descendants of some 300 islanders from Vaitupu, Tuvalu. They were relocated here in 1946 when their home island became grossly overpopulated. They too continue to speak their own language and follow their original social order and customs. No man is an island as they say but a big enough group can sure change things up.
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<br> Despite the fact that officially we are supposed to check in at the town of Nuku halfway around the island before visiting anywhere on Rabi we arrived just before a wet and cold weather front and quietly dropped anchor off the village of Buakonikai where we stayed boat bound for several days. During those days we could hear and occasionally see the locals as they whistled or sang their way across the bay in their outriggers but were never approached on our boat. When the weather finally let up we decided to venture into Buakonikai to see what we could find out about bus transportation to Nuka where we are supposed to check in at the police station. So, with no real destination in mind we stashed the dinghy above the high water mark and followed a footpath inland to the single dirt road that circles this part of the island. We fell in behind a handful of pre-school aged kids who smiled shyly and waved but didn't venture too near as we walked along following in their same path. As we walked we passed neat and tidy cement walled houses each with its own garden yard dotted with breadfruit and pawpaw trees, bits of hedge and small vegetable gardens and tubs and old tires filled with flowering plants. The homes had places in their yards taken up with racks filled with drying kava roots or piles of palm leaves laying in the sun to dry. There were chickens wandering and pigs staked out in the back yards or locked into small stick cages. We saw glimpses of adults in doorways or through windows but no one seemed to be paying us much mind. Eventually we turned off the main road towards a church we had seen when we first motored into the bay. We knew from reading that this huge Methodist church had been built in the early 50's with money from the original relocation trust funds from the British mining company. Someone obviously had BIG plans for the place -the church is huge and seemed totally out of proportion to the small village.
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<br> As we entered the church's lower level, obviously a meeting hall and not the sanctuary we came upon three women weaving mats for the fellowship hall floors. Two older women smiled and waved shyly from there spots on the floor weaving but a school aged girl stood up with a smile and "mauri" (hello) said hello and offered to show us around and answer any questions we had. She turned out to be the pastors' daughter and happily took us on a tour of the church showing us the rest of the big fellowship hall, the upstairs sanctuary and the stunning view back over the bay from one of the gallery decks on the upper floor. She too was shy and quiet but spoke enough English to answer the few questions we had with obvious pride.
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<br> After our church tour we went looking for the village generator. We had heard it's low thumbing rumble every evening from our spot in the bay and because we had been told about other village generators that were often decades old we wanted to see if that was what we had been listening to. We never did find the village generator but our continued foray into the village seemed to have broken the ice. Soon we were talking with people all around us. One fellow in response to my questions about the drying palms in many yards took us to his home to show us the weaving his mother-in-law who was working on and then introduced us to his wife. His English was high above my one Banaban word of hello but we were still struggling to communicate. When we asked about the three groceries stores we had been told were in the village he happily set off to take us to the closest one.
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<br> Walking with this fellow was an interesting experience. We of course had no idea where we were heading as we walked along and seemed to keep muddling things up in a cultural clash never quite sorting out who was leading and who was following. Eventually he indicated that we had arrived though I couldn't see a shop -it just looked like another village home to me. Trying desperately to follow his lead and be sensitive to the right thing to do we walked through a yard and into the shop. A lovely woman welcomed me with a big smile on her face but I thought I detected a bit of a strain there too. By now both Bill and I were through the door and walking across the large almost empty room. Now there were even bigger smiles all around and I noticed that our guide was standing outside the shop looking in. Still the unease persisted: I couldn't quite tell what was wrong but I knew that something was not quite right. Finally everything sort of fell together what with the nervous looks and the now silent guide: I had managed to walk right in to this woman's living room. Oops. A bit of back peddling and a lot of nods and apologies and we were out of her living room and standing in her yard again. Aha!
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<br> Just to the right of her front door was a single step up to a small wood platform and a window cut into the outside wall of her house - which by the way looked exactly like any other window in any other house in the village sans the step. But there it was through the window and along a wall a few feet behind were a couple of narrow shelves filled with piled of cookies, chips, Coca-Cola cans, shampoo bottles, lighters, pens, bottles of soy sauce and small containers of vegetable oil. No meat, no bread, no vegetables, not even rice. Honestly we didn't even need anything we just are always looking for stores when we are out and about. Next dilemma: do you buy a few things to support the local economy or decline in the hopes that we are leaving the goods for the people who have nowhere else to shop? We bought a single can of Coke and a package of "ice cream" flavored Oreo cookies from the smiling woman whose living room I had just abandoned. (We later found out that Rabi doesn't have a regular supply ship schedule at all. Everything in the shops here and even in Nuku the largest town on the island is brought in by small boat by the shop owners themselves as is kerosene, diesel and gasoline. If the locals don't bring it in themselves or don't grow it they do without, and they often do without.
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<br> At this point our guide switched gears and set out to show us the generator we kept asking about. Soon we found ourselves in the back yard of yet another family's home. There were half a dozen men working on a long boat doing some fiberglass work, a couple of women working on the weekly wash and more kids than I could count weaving through the grownups and peeking at us. The man of the house looked skeptical and a bit puzzled but charmingly offered to show us his generator and took us across the yard and into a small shed. He told Bill all about the machine and its identical sister in the main house and one sitting in the shed half torn apart and not working. They must have thought us half crazy to have asked our guide to bring us to see the generator but were very polite and welcoming. We by the way were looking for the main village generator the one we thought might be ancient and which surely was a big one cylinder thumper we could hear from the boat. The generator they brought us to and what they were so obligingly and proudly displaying for us was a normal modern day generator that this comparably wealthy Rabi family runs separately from the village. We showed the proper amount of interest to justify this man's need to curtail his work and show us what we were looking for and ended up having a nice conversation about the US Marines and what they did for the South Pacific. He was proud and happy to shake the hand of an ex-Marine and perhaps decided there was more to his generators than he had thought.
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<br> Then once again our guide was off. This time he took us to his sisters' home to meet Ali which turned out to be a very good choice for everyone. Ali is half Banaban and half Indian and was raised in Suva. He is a licensed pilot working on acquiring enough air time to land a well-paying job and immigrate to Australia. In the meantime he comes to Rabi every month to weigh and broker Rabi kava -the best in Fiji- and ship it to Suva for resale. He makes $10 on every kilo which makes it a much better paying job than the piloting work he could find which in Fiji with his experience level only pays about $2.00 per hour! Having been raised in Suva he is much more "worldly." He speaks Banaban, Hindi, English and Fijian and is I think a little bit bored in Rabi. I guide had quietly slipped away which we have seen is par for the course. It has been standard operating procedure everywhere in countries where we don't speak the native language to pass us off on the best English speakers in the groups, easier for us easier for them. We had a lovely first visit and soon made plans to meet the next day so he could teach us how to make curry.
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<br> We met back at Ali's aunties house the next morning. Auntie is the widow of a former Rabi Island Council man who died a year ago. As a high status member of the village she still lives in one of the biggest houses in the village. Most Buakonikai villagers live in the original cement cyclone proof houses that were built in the late 20's with phosphate money from their home island. The village generator runs for two hours each evening to power the lights, cell phone chargers, TV's and DVD players for the households that subscribe to the luxury -many don't. In typical Banaban fashion the front rooms of their homes have no furniture. Personal items are kept in suitcases and trunks and now in 2013 in great big plastic grocery bags. For most the cooking is done outside in thatched huts though Aunties home has a large spacious kitchen with the cooking hut part through a doorway but attached to the main house. Many families have fabric covered cushions that are pulled out into the main room at night for sleeping and which are often seen sitting out in the sun to dry - I think lots of roofs here leak. As in Fijian homes the floors here were covered with decorative plastic sheeting -think plastic picnic table cloth only in large sheets- Fijian wall to wall. Over that are the rectangular woven palm frond mats.
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<br> We were ushered through the main room we had been in previously and on into the big kitchen area for our cooking lesson but first tea time. First in congruency of the day -tea here means food not tea, in this case noodles with butter and spices, boiled breadfruit and breadfruit porridge. As we noshed on noodles I brought out what I managed to stir up in the way of Indian spices and other goodies from the boat. I had brought along onions, two heads of garlic, a big root of ginger, hot peppers and small bags of garam masala, turmeric, fenugreek, fennel seeds, kalonji seeds, a mixed curry powder, a seed I had no name for and cinnamon from which along with a huge pot of pre-cut eggplant from their garden and a few whole cloves Ali planned to teach me how to make perfect curry every time with variations for meat, fish and other vegetables. He also had me bring along a liter of UTI milk that he seemed especially excited to have so he could teach me how to make paneer a semi firm Indian cheese. I also brought along a bottle of orange drink as insurance in case what we were going to soon be eating turned out to be super spicy.
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<br> The paneer was first. Turns out that paneer the Indian semi firm cheese that we find on restaurant menus but have not been able to find in the grocery stores is super simple to make. All it takes is whole fat milk, white vinegar, a stove and cheese cloth:
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<br> -Take one liter of milk (powdered milk works but doesn't produce as much in bulk as regular milk) and bring it to a rolling boil. Add two teaspoons of white vinegar (lemon juice will work too!)and stir. The milk should begin to curd up right away if not add a bit more vinegar and stir until it clumps together in a ball. Put your cheese cloth or other fine mesh type fabric in a sieve or colander and pour the mixture through. Close the fabric around the paneer curd and then rinse and squeeze, rinse and squeeze. If you have the time hang the ball of curd in the fabric to drip off all the moisture or spread it out in a pan and flatten to get blocks that look like thin tofu. Use in place of meat in oodles of recipes. *If you thoroughly dry the paneer it will keep well for several days out of the refrigerator.
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<br> Next up was the curry. While Ali and I went through the spices I had brought trying to figure out what each was and going over what went with what -fish, meat and veggies each have their own combination- Auntie had been busy peeling ginger and garlic and chopping onions. The onions were set aside and the ginger and garlic were smashed up with mortar and pestle along with part of one very hot pepper. Then it was off to the cooking fire. In the small add-on building to Aunties kitchen a wood fire already was burning. There were two metal bars across the fire that would support our cooking pot and an adjacent baking oven made out of cast off corrugated metal sheeting with a thick wooden door. We started with a big aluminum pot where Ali heated up a tablespoon or so of oil in a big aluminum pot. Once the oil was sizzling in went the onions. This was the critical part. You must cook the onions just right before adding the ginger, garlic and pepper mixture and then the spices. Just right meant first to translucence and then until the edges were just perfectly browned, no black edges but well past translucent. The garlic mix and spices set the whole room to delicious and that then was cooked for several minutes. Next came the eggplant into the pot (we were working with twelve or fourteen cups of sliced eggplant. That was cooked for perhaps a half an hour first cooking down and then drying it out to a perfect level. It was stirred and mushed until the eggplant was pretty much a puree rich with garlic and ginger, fennel seeds and Ali's custom curry powder. Finally on to the best part: we sat down to eat our eggplant curry lunch over wedges of freshly boiled breadfruit and cups of orange drink, delicious.
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<br> Eventually it was time to go but we were sent back to the boat with dinner: Aunties best glass bowl filled with our curry with a flipped over plate on top and a small bowl with our paneer to eat later all wrapped up inside a square of satin and lace tied over and around into a pretty parcel. When dinner came around all I need do was make a small batch of rice and pour some sauce over our paneer and dinner was served. A fun day and a whole house full of new friends.
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<br> After our time in Buakonikai village we decided to do some more exploring on Rabi. We had met a couple on S/v Elan from Munchen Germany who had become fast friends with a family living in Albert's cove and had raved about their time there. Since Albert's cove was just an hour and a half sail away AND lies just next to Elizabeth's cove where rumor has it a pod of people friendly dolphins often plays we soon set off for Albert's cove and another opportunity to spend time with the warm and friendly Rabians. We had an instant in when we arrived at the cove because S/v Elan had sent us as bearers of gifts. They had planned on returning to Albert's cove but their visa was quickly running out so they sent us in their place with a bag filled with goodies including a kava bundle, fresh batteries for the daughters radio, cigarettes, tea and a letter with pictures from their friends Dorte and Frank.
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<br> We arrived at the cove apparently during rush hour. We had been expecting an empty cove and a handful of people in a small village. What we found were two other cruising boats already at anchor, a Captain Cook Cruises cruise ship pouring out vacationers, two big aluminum skiffs ferrying people to shore and off to snorkel forays, a pile of starkly white people lounging on the beach looking at the view and a longboat with the name Supersonic God filled to the brim with Fijians and gear who had just arrived for a picnic -and Sam, Dorte and Franks friends shyly paddling by on his way home from fishing. His face broke into the biggest smile when we told him we had a letter and a gift from his friends and we made plans to come in to his home as soon as we got our anchor down.
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<br> Sam's home was a degree of magnitude more spare then the homes in Buakonakai village. As we waded to shore with our dinghy we were instantly in the mix of his whole family and half the neighbors too. We were quickly introduced to his granddaughter Tapita and her grandmother and an aunt while swirling around us were a grown up man with downs syndrome, the usual array of silent "lesser" males, several other women and more kids than we could count. Everyone was interested but once we were settled in Sam's hut they all pretty much went back to whatever task or distraction had been at hand when we arrived. The only exception was the fellow with downs syndrome who sat down near us in the hut but faced the other way and only snuck a peek at us from time to time.
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<br> Sam was thrilled to receive Elan's gift package but was sad to hear that they would not be returning. He welcomed us to the island and told us a bit about his life here. He did suggest we needed to travel to Nuku soon - we had been told he would and that he would be happy to make a trip to town with us as his wife lives there full time and he loved being able to go there in a Yacht or by cruiser dinghy- and seemed relieved when we told him we planned on traveling to Nuku in the next day or two. He explained that the cruise ship would leave in the morning and apologized for all the extra activity. He talked about the history of the island a bit and explained that the locals speak Gilbertese not Banaban as the Banaban language disappeared along with the phosphates on his ancestral island and that the Gilbertese language has only 13 letters in its alphabet then excused himself to go and get some fish for our dinner but returned apologizing saying he thought there was a bucket of Sweet Lip fish but apparently they had already been turned into lunch and eaten. It had been along day though so we excused ourselves to head back to the boat while Sam welcomed us again to the island and again told us to enjoy our time here and make ourselves at home.
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<br> As we left amidst another swirl of kids and goodbye's I was once again awed by the generosity of the people we have met on our travels. Here Sam had essentially given the keys to the city AND wanted to give us fish for our dinner too while the hut they live in is made of wood and thatch, has a dirt floor covered with mats and has mosquito netting hanging in the rafter to be used to keep the mosquitos off come nightfall. Their whole lives here resembles camping with outdoor cooking, an entire large families worldly goods stored in leftover plastic buckets and cardboard boxes, plastic bags and small wooden trunks. Treasured items were a small transistor radio, a swatch of beautiful fabric or a plastic bucket with a tightly fitting lid to safely store the essentials of life here -plastic reels with well-worn fishing line, discarded steel bar weights tied to the end of the line and bare hooks. Sam even explained how he starts every fishing trip by plucking up a handful of hermit crabs that he uses for bait to catch a small fish which then becomes bait for his next meal. And they wanted to give us dinner: humbling.
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<br> Happy Sailing, Kat
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<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-9633806841945302432013-09-06T09:27:00.003+02:002013-09-06T09:29:08.045+02:002013, 08-30 Cooking in FijiOne of the best things about staying in Fiji for the winter months is it's finally cool enough to enjoy a bit of cooking. We're spending days on end at anchor which means lots of meals to cook and I've been dying to start playing with the Indian spices I've seen in piles in market stalls for months now. Every market has a section with bins and bags heaped with Turmeric, fennel seeds and powder, kalonji seeds, garam masala, curry powder mixes and cardamom, cinnamon, whole cloves and nutmegs. Can't you just smell it?
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<br> Now of course yachtie cooking is always sort of an adaptation of home cooking what with the limits on space and gadgets aboard. We run a pretty basic boat with the extent of my appliances being a small electric hand mixer, a toaster and one small and one large pressure cooker so if it can't be done by hand and done without fancy gadgets it's not going to make it to any plate. So with winter bringing cool air it's been a great time to experiment. But winter here also means prime cruising time which brought us to the Lau Group which is far away from major provisioning (strike one,) and since we are spending long days at anchor my access to ingredients is more limited by the day (strike two.) Additionally we have been without internet since Viani Bay when someone who will remain nameless left the cell phone, our only means of accessing the internet (when we can even find it) in their shorts pocket when they jumped out of the dinghy for a trip into Lomaloma town- so we have no access to the internet and hence no access to its infinite trove of recipes (strike three) so my cooking has taken on a sort of seat of your pants style.
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<br> I took a cooking class in Savusavu which gave me some basics and got me revved up and ready to jump in to trying a few new things. There we made prawn curry, coconut fish, vegetable curry with eggplant and potatoes, Kokonda the Fijian equivalent to ceviche and roti the basic Indian flat bread. Nothing entirely new but it was a fun way to link up American spice names with the local names and characteristics and someone to ask some basic questions of. Between the cooking class and our penchant for tasting our way through each new country we visit I've managed to come up with some pretty authentic dishes and have enjoyed the chance to play with my ever growing stockpile of spices.
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<br> One dish which turned out especially good was fresh fish from the Bay of Islands courtesy of Bill, a bag of custom mixed spices that was a gift from Brian of S/v Ursa Minor another cooking class attendee, my last can of French Polynesian coconut cream and part of a box of spaghetti sauce with mushrooms left over from our time in Mexico. Cooked together Fijian curry style along with a pot of the last of my American brown rice with homemade yogurt on top (a yummy way to enjoy nutty brown rice I learned from my daughter-in-law) and a batch of my new recipe home-made garlic naan it was a truly international dish. Since then I have been cooking our way through loads of fresh fish and turning out some pretty interesting curry dishes along with more than 5 kilo's worth of Fijian "Normal" flour turned into roti and naan to scoop everything up with. Add a bowl full of fresh papaya and we've been eating pretty well out here. Kat
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<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-47274612606837224522013-09-06T09:27:00.002+02:002013-09-06T09:28:42.105+02:002013, 08-06 Daliconi Village, Vanua Balavu Island, the Lau Group FijiToday we left Bavatu and motored to Daliconi Village (pronounced dal i thoni.) The village there "owns" the area that encompasses the Bay of Islands our next designated stop. We needed to make the run to Daliconi to offer the Chief our sevusevu kava gift and hopefully catch a bus ride into the town of Lomaloma for a few groceries. We had been pre-warned that we were not to try and anchor anywhere in the Bay of Island without first making the trip to the village and also were told that the Village is rather pro-active at collecting not only their due kava but also a per person charge. Some cruisers reported having the village call them on VHF instructing them that they needed to come in and offer their sevusevu when they were simply passing the village by.
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<br> This would be our second ever sevusevu and we were a little apprehensive. Our only other experience had been at Waya Island in the Yasawa's which had been simple and straightforward. When we arrived in the town of Savusavu we began hearing long tales and dire warning about all the charges and hassles we could expect in the Lau to the point that we were both wondering if a visit there would be worth the trouble. Maybe we should just skip The Lau Group?
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<br> Daliconi village made our visit simple and painless. As we entered their bay we were raised on the VHF which we were expecting and since we arrived early enough in the day quickly made arrangements to come ashore as soon as we had settle in. We were met on the beach by Sam the head of the village Tourism Committee. As we walked towards the Chiefs home Sam explained that he would act as our spokesperson and walk us through the entire sevusevu process, all we need do was follow his lead. When arrived at the small beachfront home we waited at the doorway for a moment as we were announced then stepped into the mat floored main room of the small house. The Chief was already seated on a woven mat that covered the floor of the main room in his home. Sam sat cross legged in front of and off to the Chiefs right, Bill next to him in front of the Chief and finally me to Bills right settled with my legs tucked under me.
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<br> Holding our kava offering in his hands Sam started things off with a solemn speech and a few of the Fiji signature cupped palm claps. Unfortunately the only words I recognized were: vinaka, kai palagi and yangona -thank you, foreigner and kava respectively. He then slid our wrapped gift of kava root towards the Chief who took it and began his own breathy reverent speech and clapping dialogue. At the end there were lots of thank you's and finally Sam said that the Chief had in fact accepted our gift of kava and the village and its surroundings were ours to explore. The whole thing took maybe ten minutes. Neither the Chief nor Sam indicated it was expected that we sit around and ask questions or make small talk so we took that as our cue and said our good byes.
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<br> From there we walked through the village and on to Sam's home to pay our fees and meet his wife Lako. Sam's house sits up on the hill behind the village with a beautiful view across the bay. His wife Lako -the village Tourism Committee's Secretary- was there waiting for us and invited us in and showed us to seats. Their modest home consists of the main 20' x 15' house and an adjacent thatched roof hut with an attached outside kitchen area. The main house with one interior wall contained the living room, a short hall past a stove and sink to the bathroom and a curtained off doorway to area that looks to be separated off in to two or even three small private bedroom areas. There were three doors, several louvered but glassless windows and the typical Fijian hand woven mat on the floor of the main room. There was also a large color TV, family photos on the wall, a framed certificate from The United Nations for service performed in Lebanon, a couple of small wooden shelves that proudly held two large trophies we later learned were with awarded to their youngest son for excellence in math and English and a small table with bits of a weaving project folded neatly away. Outside across from the front door was the main kitchen area with a smoldering fire left over from an earlier meal and an partly enclosed room that is used as a dining area and sitting room -they explained they spend more time there than in the house as it is cooler.
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<br> Lako showed us to seats at the love seat and chatted with us as she gathered the paperwork for taking our fees for the Tourism Council. As the Chairman of the Tourism Committee and its Treasurer respectively Sam and Lako are intent on their village jobs. They brought out a book for us to sign and were proud to tell us that we were the 85th yacht of the year. Last year they saw a total of 69 yachts and there are more than two more months of prime cruising season still left. They then showed us two pre-printed pages which explained what the charge would be, what that included, what additional services were available and what the village was doing with the money they collected. Our $30Fj per person helps the village pay for: building a concrete walkway across the village commons to assist their elders in making their way to church, construction and maintenance of a community center, fuel for the village generator that runs the church sound system (families pay $4/week for 2 ½ hours of electricity each night), salaries for the two teachers and one aid who teach at the 27 student village primary school, assistance for families who have students attending the high school boarding school at the neighboring village of Lomaloma and fuel for the village Tourism boat. We paid our money received a written receipt and later watched as Lako gave Sam their bank book and a pile of cash destined for the village account at the Bank in Lomaloma.
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<br> We now had the run of the village and the Bay of Islands! We were free to fish, swim, snorkel and dive or to walk the beaches and trails as well as full access to the village. Included in our fee was free garbage collection -a great pro-active way for the village to reduce the amount of trash that could otherwise end up left in the pristine Bay of Islands area. Or for the cost of gas we could have a guided tour of the areas limestone caves. As head of the Tourism Committee Sam was available to answer any questions we had and help us with any problems we might encounter. They offered laundry service and had recently opened a small bakery that offered fresh bread for $1 per loaf -when available- and even offered their new Community Center up or for parties -the village would happily put on a feast complete with lovo meal, kava drinking and meke dancing and singing. Friendly, simple, painless, not aggressive or impolite and for the cost of the kava bundle -$10 US and $30 US in fees we had a village contact and the run of the area for the season!
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<br> It's a lesson we've learn over and over again: Listen to everyone's experience, read everything we can get our hands on and file the information away but stay open to our own experience. It has never, I repeat never been as dire as the warnings predicted. From our first crossing of the straights of Juan de Fuca to crossing the Pacific it has always turned out to be simpler and easier than what we were lead to believe.
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<br> The next morning we met on the beach for our trip into town and apparently Sam had decided to come with us. By 8:30 we were loading into the Tourism boat -the typical Fiji open long boat- with eight villagers headed for Lomaloma. This is not a tourist trip. No wharf, no dock. You take off your shoes and hike up your dress and walk out into the sea to an open boat where you haul yourself up and over the side and settle in with your derriere resting on the gunnel of the 20 foot open and shade-less boat, then off across the bay. The regulars know just where to settle to stay high and dry but they were free with their advice for me which was lovely. The trip to the neighboring village took just a few minutes and soon we were reversing the process and wading in towards a small group of buildings surrounded by 12 foot fencing. To our right stood the Minister of Fisheries office and home and to our left was the local ice house. Between the two was a dirt road that headed inland to the village of Malaka. Like neighboring Dalaconi this village was neat and clean and just now coming awake. Everyone seems to know everyone else and there were lots of hellos and waves as we walked towards the waiting bus.
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<br> It is not actually a bus at all but a very large truck with an open but covered flat bed with long benches running down each side and a couple of old tires on the floor between the benches. The truck makes its run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 am for $2 each way. But it is not quite like any bus route I've experienced before. The driver doesn't pull off the road at a stop in Malaka but instead he sits waiting as we walked up the rutted dirt road. The Malaka locals get their prompt from seeing Dalaconi villagers as they walk up from the beach. Everyone does try for the 9:00 am time but if the skiffs from the outer village happen to break down or are delayed everyone waits patiently -Fiji time at its best. It was a surprisingly smooth twenty minute trip over the only road on the island. We snaked up and over and through pine trees and then along the far coast. When we arrived in Lomaloma at 9:20 the truck pulled to the side of the road, shut off his engine and parked waiting for our 11:00am departure.
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<br> There were two small groceries in town both carrying basic staples and little more. Luckily for us the boat had been in recently and we were able to buy a 30 count flat of eggs, two cans of mutton, onions, five kilo of flour and toilet paper. By 9:38 our shopping was essentially completed. The only stop left to make was The Hot Bread Store. Present in every town of size in Fiji the Hot Bread store sells several sized loaves of fluffy Wonder type white bread, cream buns which are the same fluffy white bread with a gob of Twinkie like filling gobbed into a split top and butter by the half kilo block, stick and glob. It was our lucky day, three rows of barely cooling loaves of whole meal bread -pseudo whole wheat- sat waiting on the small set of store shelve. Too hot to slice yet we made plans to return and pick them up -sliced- right before our bus was scheduled to leave for its return trip across the island.
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<br> Besides the two grocery shops and the bread store the center of town seemed to be the raised cement porch running along the front of a small building. One half of the building was home to a small pool hall consisting of one pool table and two short benches and next door was a sometimes there women's clothing store. The clothing store consisted of perhaps 100 pieces of used women's clothing neatly hung along the walls and a half a dozen women busy catching up on life. One of the women graciously offered to watch our shopping for us freeing us to take a town tour with Sam. Following the one street through town we walked back past our bus ride home passed the two grocery stores and on to the Hospital. One of only two hospitals in the Lau group this is where you come for medical care unless you travel all the way back to Savusavu or on to Suva. Sam took us inside to the lobby and showed us the administration wing (one end of the small building) and the patient wing (the other end of the building) which he pointed out has a separate section for men, women and children. From there we walked to the end of town to look at the High School. Two blocks from "downtown" the boarding school here is where areas children come for instruction past the village primary school. From there we turned back and passed the bank/post office -sorry no ATM- where they handle only local banking. As we again passed the Hot Bread Store Sam explained we were about to enter the Tongan side of the Village.
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<br> In the Lau group every village and town has a Tongan roots. Years ago the islands of the Lau were owned and ruled by the King of Tonga. In fact some of the island we'd been visiting in the Lau lie closer to Tonga than to Fiji. In recognition of and by some negotiated show of respect to the Tongan King even the smallest village in the Lau has one Tongan building. Lomaloma town has one entire end of town that is Tongan. The difference by contrast is stark. Divided by a single dirt crossroad that T's at the ocean and the islands main road one end of town is owned by the Tongan King. Suddenly it was as if we were walking a road in Pangai Tonga: the architecture is distinctly Tongan with open Fale's, rounded domed roof lines and picket fencing. We were even introduced to the Tongan headman who wearing cargo shorts t-shirt and flip flops was walking down the road pushing a wheelbarrow. Here just a few feet from a good sized Lau suddenly everyone speaks Tongan. According to Sam every Fijian has at least some Tongan blood. Back in Dalaconi I looked for and found the one Tongan building in the village.
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<br> Our trip back across the island was simple and quick and we arrived in Malaka in time to find our long boat high and dry on a low tide. One of the women we were traveling with laughed and told me it's the Fiji way. So in typical easygoing Fijian fashion we all settled our store bought goods in the grass near the ice house and found a place on a shoreline rock to sit and waited for the tide to come back in. Then with a slightly longer walk through the sea across the low tide water we all climbed back in for the ride home.
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<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-62999909254429087592013-09-06T09:27:00.001+02:002013-09-06T09:27:23.063+02:002013, 08-02 Time in The Northern Lau, FijiBavatu Bay, Vanua Balavu Island
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<br> A few days ago we arrived at Bavatu Harbor in the Northern Lau. The 57 islands that make up the Northern and Southern Lau Groups are by far the most remote in all of Fiji. Prior to 2010 visiting the Lau by private yacht was possible only with special permission and only after first clearing into the country at one of the Immigration offices on the big islands of Viti Levu or Vanua Levu, both of which are downwind of the Lau. In order to be allowed to visit even one village in the Lau you had to present Immigration with a letter from the chief of the island village you hoped to visit. But the only way to get a letter from a Chief was to know someone in the village preferably someone with status. Even if did know someone you then had to make arrangements to get a letter from there to wherever you were which would of course be miles of ocean and a world away. No more. Now all it took was a trip to Lautoka for a renewal of our original six month cruising permit, a three day passage from Viti Levu to Savusavu on Vanua Levu and a decent weather window conducive to making our way 125 miles to the Lau. It was definitely worth the upwind sail.
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<br> The northern end of the island of Vanua Balavu is made of uplifted coral (the southern end which we have not yet visited is mostly volcanic.) Uplifted coral means tall craggy islands covered in lush jungle with the occasional sheer rocky face peeking through. The bottom of the land masses here have been undercut by eon's of trade wind waves leaving the islands and bays with a beautiful sculpted look. Mushroom rocks sprout up on many points and there are beautiful pocket beaches filled with powdery white sand and tall swaying coconut palms. The afternoon we motored into Bavatu Harbor felt like we rounded a corner into wild Fiji.
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<br> Bavatu Harbor is part of a privately owned 800 acre plantation. It is "freehold land" which means there is no village, no chief and no need to plan a day around presenting a gift of sevu sevu kava in the hopes of having it accepted by said chief and thereafter having his permission to anchor, swim, fish, snorkel, dive, walk the beaches or get to know the locals. We are sitting nearly still at one of two moorings in front of the Explorer Islands Yacht Squadron which was originally the homestead of the patriarch of a family that owns among other Fiji holdings the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu, the Vuda Points Marina and the only western style marine chandleries in all of Fiji (where incidentally one gallon of Interlux brand bottom paint is $1000.00 Fj.) After the father's death the family operation renovated the old homestead and transformed it into the Explorer Island Yacht Squadron at Bavatu Harbor.
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<br> There is a small settlement on the top of the island where two families live. They are the acting caretakers keeping a visitors book, mowing the grass, caring for a herd of cattle and sheep and maintaining the two yacht squadron mooring balls. Twice a day six days a week someone from the settlement walks down the 171 steps that cling to the jungle behind their small settlement and boards a small boat before crossing the bay to a small dock in front of the yacht squadron where they climb more steps and then unlock and open the doors and windows for the day. There is no store or book exchange, no restaurant or bar just an empty well taken care of dock and club house. When we arrived there were three other boats in the bay all three of which left by mid-day the following day.
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<br> Bavatu Harbor -Turquoise Harbor in Fijian- is one of the most beautiful places we have ever stayed. To enter the bay you must first thread your way through reefs and around coral bommies then through a small northward facing opening with a small islet in the center. The shallowest waters are a lovely shade of turquoise that deepens to teal as the bottom drops away. It is a nearly landlocked bay with no town, no village, no garbage, no noise other than the rhythmic sounds of the tide as it rises and falls along the steep sided islands edge.
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<br> During the day the air is filled with the sounds of many different types of birds. We saw soaring frigate birds, a mid-sized hawk and numerous times a pair of dazzling white long tailed tropic birds. There is another bird on the island -a barking dog dove- that confounded me for several days. Its call sounds like a deep throated dog bark -exactly like a big old mad dog. Its call is not just a single bark nope, instead it is a relentless ruff, ruff….ruff, ruff, ruff. Ruff, ruff……ruff, ruff, ruff all day long the sound echoed off the walls of the bay. I was sure the settlement had a dog, no a bunch of dogs who endlessly roamed the island barking back and forth to each other. The sound is so spot on that when we were hiking with new friends across the island to a birds' eye view overlook onto the Bay of Islands and we heard the doves I kept looking over my shoulder wondering where the dogs were. I honestly thought they were joking when they told me about the sounds I was hearing was a dove smaller than a Seattle pigeon. Curiously now that I know the noise is doves my mind apparently has assigned the noise to relax mode instead of endlessly wondering why no one is trying to shut up the damn dogs.
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<br> We spent four nights at Bavatu Harbor, two of them we had all to ourselves. There are no electric lights in the Bay and each night when the sun began to set the birds would begin their evening squawk and squabble good nights, the giant fruit bats would begin to spiral up and up and up on the evening thermals catching a lift to their favorite dinner spots and the night insects would begin their thrumming. In the clear night sky the stars began to peek out over the edge of the high island walls and by true nightfall the Milky Way appeared in a long arc overhead so thick and bright that we could see the reflection of their glow across the waters of the bay. Happy Sailing, Kat
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<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-14071658915095314292013-09-06T06:13:00.000+02:002013-09-06T06:14:01.662+02:002013, 07-27 Viani Bay, Taveuni Island and the Legendary Jack FisherAfter an easy one day trip from Savusavu we arrived at Viani Bay. The bay lies on the southern-most tip of the island of Vanua Levu directly across Somosomo Strait from the island of Taveuni. Thankfully the heavy winds and big swell that had been pouring into the bay for the last few days seemed to have subsided by the time we dropped our anchor amidst the corral bommies in 95 feet of water. Already in the bay were the sailing vessels Kahia, Black Jack, Slip Away, Mariposa and Kailani.
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<br> Viani Bay is a favorite with many cruisers in Fiji. It is beautiful large bay with plenty of anchoring room, is close enough to Taveuni island to make re-provisioning easy if you stay for long periods, is close to a number of top dive spots and is the home of the legendary Jack Fisher. Jack is a long time institution in Viani Bay. He makes his living here at the sight of his family homestead guiding cruisers on day-trips. His specialty is to gather up a gaggle of cruisers on one boat and for a $10 pp fee stays with the mother ship while the cruisers dive or snorkel the best nearby reefs and passes. He also arranges shopping trips to Taveuni, trips to island sights like the slip and slide water fall or the National Park at Bouma where there is a grand trail through the woods and up to a series of three waterfalls. He expertise lies in knowing the right tides to ride the passes and reefs, expertly piloting the mother boat and staying aboard to handle any problems while the cruisers play. He holds his captains license here in Fiji and is a retired dive master and takes the helm with both pride and expertise.
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<br> Our first day in Viani we went exploring in our dingy. The head of the bay is home to Jacks family homestead as well as a primary school that serves the families who live here. Unlike most of Fiji there is no village in Viani just the families who live here so there is no need for the usual village sevu sevu gifting of kava.
<br>Just outside of Viani Bay we rounded a corner to take a look at a group of buildings we passed as we were first coming in. There is a large home there as well as a line of burres along the beach and high on the hill over the house is a tiny sparkling white church. Now from the water we could see the primary building -large, also sparkling white and made up of three connected pavilions and and a beautifully designed dock that reached invitingly out into the bay.
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<br> At the head of the dock is a sigh saying Navodo Bay nothing more. We could see into the main building of the house and it looked like a lobby or great room but we couldn't quite tell if it was a resort or if we would be welcomed in. We motored closer hesitant but wondering to ourselves if we might find an icy cold diet Coke ashore. As we got closer a man walked out of the main building and came down the dock to say hello. It turns out that it was not a resort but a private home owned by Bob and Debbie from California.
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<br> Bob invited us up while telling us a bit about his island home. He and and his wife Debbie bought 128 acres sort of on a whim twenty years ago. Ten years ago they began building the house and then decided to add the burres so family and friends would have a place to stay if they chose. They added the chapel next after feeling the property was "missing something" and needed something to "give the place soul." The home and out-buildings have been completed for several years now but amazingly his family has only spent a few one weeks stays here. He offered us tea and fruit and a place at his table to meet his family and the group of people they had brought along for a private yoga retreat. There were maybe ten people sitting around he massive dinning table that sat under the front porch running along the entire front of the three pavilion home.
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<br> It is hard to adequately describe the opulence of the home behind the massive dining table. The interior was filled with gorgeous but casual furnishings and backed by a restaurant sized kitchen filled with staff busy cleaning up breakfast and beginning preparations for lunch. We sat at the table for some time learning about his family and how he arrived in Fiji. He owns some forty jewelry stores in California where he and Debbie raised seven children and now enjoy their ten grandchildren. He is old enough to retire but can't seem to break away from is business affairs but they enjoy traveling the world and hope to spend even more time here in their private compound. After tea and conversation he offered us a tour of the house.
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<br> Calling the place grand is an understatement. The wide steps leading to the dining table are protected by two massive iron lions. The great room and kitchen complex -the middle pavilion- has high ceilings and plantation fans and is lush with heavy carved and upholstered furniture. Numerous portraits filled with generations of family grace the walls and uncountable picture frames covered table tops and credenzas. The kitchen at the back of the room was filled with four or five locals cooking and preparing the coming meal. Off to the right and into another pavilion are two huge bedrooms both with separate baths and private decks. The rooms focus on the views but the ornately carved antique four poster beds and matching dressers and night stands steal the show. These rooms too are filled with family portraits.
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<br> Back through the great room we moved on to the third pavilion which houses the master suite and adjoining office. The carved four poster bed in this room was jaw dropping: carved leather headboard, posters the size of a grown mans thigh and lush and romantic gossamer fabrics swathing each corner. There were two matching fainting couches sitting in front of the doors that open onto the front deck all again graced with thirty foot high ceilings and great slowly rotating fans. Off the bedroom behind perfectly placed screens was an open bathroom with a huge claw footed tub. Through one last doorway we stepped into Bobs office. The round shape of the office and the round woven wool carpet with its center sitting desk reminded me of the oval office -if the oval office where in Fiji.
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<br> The amazing thing about our visit wasn't in finding this wondrous family compound or the half-a-dozen reportedly $350,000 each luxurious burres along the beach or even in the gorgeous chapel built high on the hill here in this remote bay but in having Bob welcome us in and treat us like guests when he could have simply sent someone down to the dock to send us away. The home exuded wealth but Debbie and Bob with his pure white full flowing beard and long hair looked and acted like a California hippies who would have fit right in stepping into an old VW microbus. We said good bye amid an offer for any help they could offer during our stay, permission to snorkel their reef and an offer of a sailing trip if they were interested. Hats off to Bob and Debbie.
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<br> The next day we set off with Jack to Taveuni. Our host ship for the day would be Kailani with Harley, Jennifer and five year old Sophia aboard. All told we had 16 aboard including the crews from Black Jack, Mariposa and Slip away. With Jack at the wheel of S/v Kailani a Deerfoot 63 expertly winding us safely through the reefs we set off for a trip to Bouma National Park about an hours drive from the town of Somosomo. When we arrived at the anchoring spot off the end of the town of Somosomo we were ferried to shore on Blackjacks dinghy Daisy. Three trips and we were ashore and ready to climb into two vans for our trip to the park.
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<br> But first a stop at the neighborhood restaurant for roti parcels -a fresh made roti wrapped around mutton and potato curry all wrapped in plastic wrap for our lunch at the falls. We wound our way NE along the shoreline of Taveuni through five our six separate villages to our stop at the National Park. Fifteen dollars each bought our entrance and we were off to the first falls. The day was cloudy and cool but perfect for hiking into the rain forest. A easy and near flat fifteen minute walk brought us to the first falls. There were bathrooms and changing buildings and an easy path to the pool at the base of the roaring falls. The water plunged 100 feet out of the lush jungle into a large deep pool.
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<br> The second leg of the hike was steep and had us all sweating and huffing along. Near the top was great vista with a view down and back over Somosomo straight with the island of Vanua Levu off in the distance. After a short break to catch our breath and we were off to waterfall number two. Again up, up and more up then a drop-off trail winding deeper into the rain forest. At the bottom of this drop was a river that needed to be traversed but someone had kindly strung a guide rope to help us across. Quick thinking on Bills part got the smart phone out of his shirts pocket and into the top of his pack in time to avert a disaster when he ended up nearly waist deep in a pool he didn't quite successfully navigate. I was pleased to make it not only across the river twice but all the way up and back without a single fall in the damp rain forest despite the touch going and the damp and slippery footing and wet wood that had been placed to help footing and hand holds. The second waterfall was much tougher to enter but stunningly beautiful. The area around the pool was a jumble of boulder sized rocks that were slippery and made it tough to work your way to the pool so Bill and I opted to watch the tourists play and save our swimming for our lunch break back at waterfall number one.
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<br> With a group of fifteen -Jack stayed back aboard Kailani for safety and security- we were running short of time so we missed waterfall number three but since we were all hot and sweaty even in the cloudy cool for Fiji day and number three was reported to be another forty five minutes away we all decided to head back down to waterfall number one. The roti parcels were delicious and the water at the bottom waterfall was cool and refreshing.
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<br> Our two taxi vans were waiting for us back at the park buildings and we were soon all gathered for our trip back to town with a stop for grocery shopping at the MH and the produce market in Somosomo. Bill and I had fully provisioned before we left Savusavu but we managed to find we needed a few luxuries. We went for the ones we usually pass by in favor of staples and left the MH with brownie mix, a packet of Triple chocolate cookie mix, old fashioned oats for molasses oatmeal cookie baking and a litter bottle of diet coke. : ) By the time we had all been ferried back to Kailani we were quite a cohesive group and everyone spent the short trip across Somosomo strait on the large foredeck of Kailani talking and making plans for our next outing. A hike through the rain forest, new friends, luxury grocery items and a sunset trip back to Island Bound made for a great day. Kat
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<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-23422929007862562372013-07-23T05:14:00.002+02:002013-07-23T05:18:42.954+02:002013, 07-23 Boat Chores and Indecision in Savusavu, Fiji. <br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> We’ve been in Savusavu for nearly a month
now busy with boat</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">projects. The nearby islands
are still calling out to us and eventually we will head off adventuring but
timing as always is everything and the cool weather in Savusavu offered us a
great place to work our way down the list of boat chores we had been putting
off. When we arrived we bought an AB aluminum bottom dinghy (or as they say in
the southern hemisphere ‘‘al oo min ium ‘‘). The dinghy was lightly used so the
aluminum bottom and non-skid needed some repair but we knew we could do the job
ourselves –if we could find the right paint. The job stretched out when we were
graced with several days of rain and several more with humidity so high the
paint refused to dry but that gave me time to work on re-sewing the
accompanying dinghy chaps as well as scrubbing up and getting ready for sale
our used 8 horse Yamaha, our Zodiac soft floor dinghy and the Walker Bay dinghy
we bought in Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wet weather meant
the job took us three times as long as we had anticipated but the match up of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>used 15 horse Yamaha that we picked up in
Vuda with the newly refinished AB gave us a dry, fast and roomy new ride for
snorkeling and diving and exploring the more far away reefs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between segments of that project we
heard about a construction company in town with a good reputation for finished
cabinetry work and decided to commission two wood working projects: a rebuild
of the teak shower grate in the forward head that over the 37 year life of Island
Bound has slowly worn away and been washed down the drain leaving the platform
weak and slowly breaking into bits and an insert for our refrigerator/freezer designed
to give a better temperature separation between the refrigerator and freezer
sections. We rebuilt our refrigeration system before leaving Seattle and the
surprise of the century was that the new box is so well insulated that if the
temperature is kept low enough to keep meat frozen and make ice cubes then
everything else in the rest of the box freezes too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new insert allows us to close off the
freezer section and then adjust the airflow between the two sections and
hopefully will keep the frozen things frozen and everything else not frozen
into mush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The refrigerator project
appears to be a success but the shower grate project bid came in at such a high
price that captain Bill decided to do the work himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next project was finding a local with
a sewing machine capable of working on heavy canvas. The stitching on our
bimini and dodger was being not so slowly eaten away by the tropical sun and my
attempts at hand sewing the worst spots had kept disaster at bay but I was definitely
losing ground fast. We stripped the canvas from the stainless steel frame and
carted it into town where for $50<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>-that’s just $25 US!!!!- Hanif re-sewed the stitching hopefully giving us
a couple more years of use before we will have to completely replace the
canvas. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have also been treating some computer
problems – the letters T,Y,U,I and O on my laptop suddenly stopped working
while Bill’s laptop developed the blue screen of death. My missing letters
meant emailing, blog posts and general staying in touch came to a screeching
halt which was a bother but Bills computer runs our back up navigation programs
and is the beginning point for all of the Google Earth charts we use on our
iPad during passage and ~gasp~ runs our only CD player for the occasional CD
movie night. Computer problems take on great shape when you’re in a foreign
country since you can’t just order a replacement to be delivered overnight and
finding qualified technicians is always hit and miss. A twenty dollar plug and
play keyboard has me back in touch and three days and nights of backing up and
reloading operating systems has Bills computer and a replacement Josh brought
on his last visit up and running again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime I’ve been busy trying to
catch up on a few sewing projects –a cover for the new outboard, storm flaps for
a zippered window in our dodger and bits of mending. I also made the rounds of
the local seamstresses and found a woman who for $4.00 US each plus $6.50 cents
worth of local fabric duplicated a favorite sundress of mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve sewn sundresses before but for $4.00 I
will gladly spend a day doing something other than sewing and instead support
the local economy. That’s right for $10.50 US I have an addition to my
wardrobe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between all that Bill has kept busy working
out a few bugs on our battery/solar charging system and equalized our house bank
of Lifeline batteries, made fishing rod holders for the new dinghy, fixed a
blown hose clamp on our water maker that had fifty gallons of tanked fresh
water pouring out of the cabinet that holds our water maker and into the
companionway that divides our main and aft cabins. Oops!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He installed our old dinghy wheel brackets on
the new dinghy, designed the insert the cabinet maker built for our fridge and
oversaw the work being done after the design was finalized. Evenings were spent
having dinner with friends at one of Savusavu’s many curry houses or aboard
using the internet to research how best to ship 200 pounds of anchor chain from
New Zealand to Fiji to replace the horribly rusted and getting smaller by the
drop anchor chain that is currently making a mess of the bow of our boat. Oh, and
hour after hour disappeared while we began researching where Island Bound is
headed next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which leads
me to the next bit of news: we have no idea where we</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">will be going next or what our route will be or when
will be the right<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">time to go there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have I think decided not to stay here in Savusavu<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">for the coming cyclone season as had been our original
plan. Savusavu<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">is rainy –up to 14” a month at the height of the wet
season. Even now<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">in the dry season there is a lot of rain in
Savusavu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town is nestled<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">in close to the mountains which draws in the clouds. In
our month here<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">there have been only two days of clear blue sky the
rest all checked in<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">as partly rainy to heavy rain all darn day leaving me digging
out the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">jeans and fleece to go along with our umbrellas and
rain coats. Our plan<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">had been to use Savusavu as our cyclone season base
from November<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">through April next year as a change of pace from Vuda.
But if it’s this<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">grey in the dry season well, we can only imagine a
very wet hot summer <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vuda is on
the dry side of the island of Vanua Levu and other<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">than the three weeks in March when it rained nonstop the
rain was a<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">manageable
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Vuda we were at most a
tightrope walk away <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">from land and I could come and go for walks or play
cards with the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ladies or take a dip at First Landings pool to beat
the heat. Here the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">town regularly floods and everything is awash in mud when
it rains<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">even now. Laundry doesn’t dry, towels stay damp
between showers<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and the smell of mildew is growing in our hanging
locker –and this is<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the dry season! We could essentially be trapped on the
boat for days at<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a time with everything getting soggier and soggier. Add
to that the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">reality that the size of the cruising community will plummet<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">significantly on or around November 1<sup>st</sup> and
I am afraid I could go stir<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">crazy in Savusavu. Ugggggg. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we are reconsidering
our options at the same time we are trying<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">to decide where we will go next. As always there is
much to consider<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">including the possibility of joining up with the
Micronesia Rally and or<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the Indonesia Rally to work our way slowly towards
Thailand. There are<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">numerous routes to take depending on our preferred destination
and<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">several hot spots to be wary of or avoid completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Rally’s offer<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">strength in numbers both in dealing with safety issues
and working with<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">various government entities during the labyrinth of
check in and check<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">out procedures that are required as we move deeper
into the west.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From everything we have been reading the check in
requirements we<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">have encountered as we moved through Mexico, French
Polynesia,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tonga, the Cook Islands and Fiji will all pale in comparison
to what we<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">can expect in the next couple of years. In fact even
with rally sponsors<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">handling all of the particulars for the check in and
out clearances there<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">can still be snafus. A year or two ago an entire
contingent of rally<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">participants –some 90 boats- were impounded and the
captains<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">arrested on entering one Indonesian port and that’s
with pre-<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">registering and an English speaking representative meeting
the group<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">as they entered the country! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end the boats were returned and<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the captains released but it would certainly make for
a tense bit of<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">cruising life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are multiple
choices to consider and many different routes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">possible to cover the thousands of miles we are
looking at. The saloon<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">table has been covered with reference books and our
computers open<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">to our library of PDF file cruising compendiums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will be crossing the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">equator again, this time going from the southern
hemisphere back to<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the northern<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
we will once again be sailing through the ITCZ, the <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“doldrums” as we leave the southern hemisphere cyclone
zone and<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">move into monsoon country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have choices that include some<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">combination of: the Ellice Islands (Tuvalu), The
Tungaru Islands (Tarawa<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">atoll) and the Marshall Islands (Majro) on to the
Caroline Islands<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">(Guam, Yap and Chuuk) then on to a rest stop in Palau.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OR <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vanuatu<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then up through
the Solomon Islands stopping at or bypassing<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">completely the country of Papau New Guinea then on to that
planned<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">rest stop in Palau. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stop in
Palau looks enticing because it is a country with a<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“compact of free association with the United states”
–ie: a sovereign<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">nation that trades in US dollars” and which allows US citizens
a<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">relatively easy to receive resident status without
which much of the<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">areas cruising grounds are off limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Palau with residency we could<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">pause again and explore some of the most beautiful and
least explored<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">cruising and diving grounds in the world. And as a US
territory we can<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">receive US mail and shipments and there are direct
flights home AND<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">it’s cyclone free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From there it is off across the Philippine Sea and on<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">towards Thailand. Then who knows, Hong Kong? Vietnam?
Japan?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Way too far off to imagine quite yet but it sure makes
for some<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">interesting evening conversations. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once again
write any time we love to get news from home. Happy<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">s</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ailing, Kat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-63625773866490390032013-06-26T01:48:00.002+02:002013-07-23T05:16:39.106+02:002013, 06-4 Crusiing Again:Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re off adventuring again and as always
we find seem to find plenty to keep us busy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had a damp passage from Vuda to Savusavu but anchoring each night
along the way made for an easy start to the new season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Savusavu is the largest town on the island of
Vanua Levu, the other big island of Fiji and will be our jumping off place for
at least the next four months and possibly on though next year’s cyclone
season. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we motored through the
mooring field that runs along the main street waterfront of Savusavu we were
happy to see both a handful of boats that belonged to friends from Vuda Point
and several boats we hadn’t seen since the fleet broker up late last
spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d be exploring Vanua Levu
with friends! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we needed a mooring or at least a
spot to drop our anchor. But it turns out that virtually all of Savusavu was
reserved for a big rally that was due in a few days –The Oyster Round the World
Rally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the Copra Shed and Waitui
Marinas were holding their moorings for the incoming boats and despite the fact
that many were empty telephone calls to both marinas left us dropping the hook in
75 feet of water near the head of the pack in the open entrance to the river
that runs along downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were tired
after the four day passage and just wanted to shower and eat and maybe say
hello to a few friends but Bill decided to call Copra Shed Marina to ask again
about a mooring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing as we already
had a reservation for six months on a mooring for cyclone season maybe they
would give us a spot for a night or two until the Oysters started showing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprisingly they agreed and said to come on
up the river and they would send out a boatman to lead us to one of their moorings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately our trusty 88 pound Rocna
anchor had other plans. We were stuck tight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our anchor has become stuck before –it’s
the nature of an anchor after all- but always with a bit of back and forth and
zigging and zagging we have been able to untangle from coral or rocks or what
have you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time the more we worked
at it the tighter our chain became.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course the anchor couldn’t have picked a time to get hung up while we were in
twenty feet of crystal clear water, nope seventy five feet of brackish dark
water was between us and freedom. Oh and did I tell you that we were tired, and
hungry and that the sun was getting ready to set soon?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was about to cry foul and settle for staying
right where we were but Bill caught the eyes of a group of local men who were
on a flat bottom boat returning from their working day at the local pearl
farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit of negotiation followed –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“how much?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“um, one?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“One what,
one hundred dollars?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hmmm,
well…ummm…. “how about $50 dollars?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span>n about the time it would have taken
us to get the dive gear up on deck and ready to go the local men had us unwound
and chain reeling in: great for us and by the sound of their excited chatter as
they pulled away great for them too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were laughing happily and obviously making plans between them over
how they would be spending the sudden windfall of cash. I think the local pool
hall and grog shop was singing them a siren song. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Savusavu is just a fraction of the size of
Lautoka or Nadi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a sweet small
town feel to the place and everyone seems to be living a slower easier
lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we will base ourselves
ere for the coming months this is where we will do essentially all of our
shopping for the coming months, which means if they don’t have it you don’t
need it! So far it’s looking rather prosperous and well stocked with several
clothing stores, a shoe stores, numerous hardware stores each with a slightly
different base inventory, a barber shop or two, two of the usual fresh bread
stores –one of which sells whole wheat, yea, several places selling fresh fish,
a daily produce market and plenty of restaurants all with prices significantly
lower than for a comparable meal in Nadi town or Lautoka with everything from
surf and turf to curry to pizza and burgers. There are a few upscale resorts
nearby and several members only clubs that welcome visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also have video stores and a library
–the first I will have the chance to use in three years, whoopee! There is even
a six day a week cruisers net on CH 14 to answer all the questions we boaters
seem to have about a new town. The locals seem to include more Fijians and
fewer Hindi’s but are the same mix of happy and friendly people most genuinely
happy to share their town with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On our second day in town we were
wandering through the main street hardware stores looking for two part epoxy
paint when we heard a marching band that seemed to be coming our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out that Suva’s police marching band
was in town performing as a part of a country wide safety campaign and they
were headed our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music sounded
great and we’re always up for a chance to share in a little local
excitement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interesting thing about
this bands parade down the main street wasn’t that they were there in the
middle of the day on a weekday –we’ve learned to expect the unexpected- but in
the way the entire town seemed to put whatever it was that they were doing on
hold and simply stop to enjoy the parade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By the time the band reached our spot along main virtually everyone had
moved out of the shops and were waiting patiently for the band to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they did it was spectacular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowd surged along as they came bringing
with them everyone from further up the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the band stopped in place and broke into a lively rendition of Rock
around the Clock the audience tightened in around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The small mostly brass band was good and
they were hot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The precision music and
choreographed dance steps attested to hours of band practice. They were dresses
in dark blue military style long sleeve shirts complete with epaulettes, gold
braid and shiny gold buttons over crisp white sulu’s with a shark tooth hem
(the shark s tooth hem is typical for all “uniform” sulu’s here in Fiji) and
carried trombones, tubas, drum set ups, cymbals and trumpets. As the band
played the crowds surged and soon women were breaking from the sidelines and
running amidst the members shaking baby powder or flour over every head they
could reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then as the crowd laughed
and clapped several women broke through and were pulling pairs of bright red women’s
panties over several heads as others moved in and began a sort of raucous dirty
dancing with a couple of the members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the song was through they launched into another before quick stepping back into
parade formation and moving on down Main Street along with most of the
crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Middle of the day, middle of the
week and almost everyone who was in town simply stopped what they were doing
and came out to be a part of the show. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then things have been a bit quieter
but we have had a chance to share a meal with each of our friends here and to
learn more about the areas we will soon be traveling in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve almost completed the job of refinishing
the aluminum bottom on our newly traded for dinghy and have completed a small
list of the usual boring boat jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
day or two we will start serious provisioning for the coming weeks in the outer
islands and then will be off for Taveuni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Till then, Happy Sailing, Kat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-32727438288155773292013-06-24T03:38:00.004+02:002013-06-24T03:38:59.912+02:002013, 06-05 Read Your Policy (and then read it again.)
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
F</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">or those of
you who are cruisers grab a pen and write this down so you don’t forget: read
your boat insurance policy being especially careful to look for clauses that
require you to notify your insurance carrier about any changes in your status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends of ours recently learned this the
hard way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> This husband
and wife couple come from our old dock –F dock at Seattle’s’ Shilshole Bay
Marina <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Seattle and bought their Hylas
46 brand spanking new. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They crossed the
Pacific along with us as part of the Pacific Puddle Jump class of 2012 and then
spent the last season in New Zealand. There plan for the next few months was to
sail back to Tahiti (yes they loved French Polynesia so much they decided to
sail BACK to meet friends in Tahiti and do it all over again.) They were in a
boat yard New Zealand finishing up the final bits of provisioning needed for
the long passage east while their new bottom paint dried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were both below when the stands holding
them in the yard collapsed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the stands collapsed the yacht tumbled
over snapping their mast and ripping through the rigging. One of the now jagged
pieces of steel punched through their fiberglass hull ripping through a locker,
tearing through their cabinetry and –ewwww- punching a hole in their holding
tank and leaving pooh to seep out and spread along the now down side of their
hull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully neither of them was
seriously injured but in the blink of an eye their coming season of cruising
plans came to a grinding halt. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After regrouping and working through the
shock they of course contacted their insurance company –Northern Reef.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Northern reef sent out a claims adjuster who
surveyed the wreckage and then informed them that they had NO coverage for of
the accident because they had not notified them that they were being hauled for
work in the yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out their policy
had a clause stating that if they were hauled for more than 24 hours that
constituted a “decommissioning” and they company needed to be notified (and a
charge for an additional rider would be necessary. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprisingly just four days before the
accident one of the cruisers here in Fiji mentioned his policy requires him to
notify and pay a fee for a rider whenever he is hauled in a yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I had never heard of such a
clause and had certainly never read it in our policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we crossed the pacific we had the same
insurance company cover Island Bound but just before cyclone season we spoke
with another cruising friend who had trouble with a claim they had with
Northern Reef.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His trouble was so poorly
handled that he had chosen to change his carrier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our policy was up for renewal and heeding his
word decided to change to another company just a few days before cyclone Evan (a
category 4 cyclone) roared over us in December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we chose Northern Reef we did so
because there policy came in considerably lower than any other company and
because they were one of the few companies that provided coverage for a
cruising couple in south pacific waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have never had an insurance claim on Island Bound but decided that
perhaps there was a reason for their low ball price (they simply find a way to
deny most claims or portions of most claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And since we now had so many ocean miles under our keel that we would
now qualify for most policies at a reasonable price even on big ocean passages.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know insurance companies are all about the money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They won’t cover you if you’re a bad bet and
for cruisers this takes many shapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
we were shopping for coverage we almost bought a policy that said yes they
would cover us as a cruising couple but in the fine print they also would have
required us to never navigate after dark –if your crossing an ocean which is
what the policy was to cover you can’t simply stop sailing when the sun goes
down- and once we arrived anywhere for the policy to provide coverage we would
have to have a qualified sailor aboard while at anchor at all times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In English that means when we arrived we
would have to take turns going ashore leaving one of us onboard at all
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we brought to their
attention that neither of these clauses was possible for a cruising couple they
simply restated their requirement while assuring us they would be happy to
offer us a policy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the moral of the story is if it sounds
too good to be true it probably is and if you make any changes in your cruising
status (hauling, decommissioning, leaving on the hard or leaving unattended at
a marina while you travel elsewhere) be sure to check your policy and comply
with any clauses that allow your carrier to reduce or deny any subsequent
claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy sailing, Kat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-10361379282940680492013-06-24T03:30:00.001+02:002013-06-24T03:30:52.472+02:002013, 06-02 Here and Gone Again
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2013, 06-02
Here and Gone Again<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids visit flew by so fast that my mom
and nieces three week visit seemed like it would be long and luxurious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no matter how much time you have before
you know it all the planning and preparations are behind you and you’re back to
the tears of goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My youngest niece Katie accompanied my 78
year old mother Mary for the 11 hour flight and three week visit with us here
in Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first time we have
ever had guests on the boat for that long and the only time we have had so many
weeks dedicated to visiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their extended
visit gave us enough time to really slow down and meander our way through the
Mamanuca Islands and then northward half way up the Yasawa chain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent three nights at anchor near Musket
Cove Resort and helped re-christen the BBQs at the recently reopened Five Dollar
Bar which had been out of business since cyclone Evan rampaged across Fiji in
mid December. Everyone began to settle in and we soaked up the sun and shared a
few snorkeling lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favorite experiences to share
with visitors is snorkeling and if you have never snorkeled a tropical reef
you’ve missed out on one of the great wonders of our world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie took to snorkeling easily and did
splendidly on two of the reefs right off our anchorage at Musket Cove. Hoping
to see more wildlife and better coral we decided to step things up a bit by
taking Island Bound out to one of the outer reefs for the day but managed to have
a bit of extra excitement thrown in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
and I took off in our Walker Bay dinghy and left mom and Bill on the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plan was to drop our little dinghy anchor
and swim against the tide along the coral that edges the pass. We’d swim
against the tide -the hard part first- and then across and over towards a tiny
island for a simple and easy drift back to the dinghy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately the tide was going out not
coming in and things didn’t go quite as planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did an almost immediate regroup as I
discovered the tide difference but felt safe enough simply working towards the
island straight off then we would work against the tide in shallow water back
to our starting spot at the dinghy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
running tide however had other plans. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was tough going across the tide towards the island but we were not being sucked
out to sea so we kicked and paddled and fought along in about six feet of
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie was doing a great job of
staying right on my tail and I kept a close eye on where we were in relation to
the dinghy and the pass and as we slowly kicked our way along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were making progress but slowly and we
were certainly not fluttering along enjoying any beautiful scenery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point I looked back and saw Bill in
the RIB out in the pass and assumed he was fishing as we just kept on towards
the shallower water around the island. When we finally made shallower water we
stood up and took a break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing up
gave us a place to rest with no worry of losing ground but even that was a
chore so we began walking –in flippers and against the tide back towards the
dinghy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when Bill came roaring to
our rescue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out mom had been keeping
a watch and then lost track of us and sent Bill out to find us. As soon as he
got in the dinghy he discovered the tide mix up so ran the pass expecting to
find us flushed out to open water. I’m not sure how worried he was when he
didn’t find us anywhere in the pass but thankfully he finally spotted us trudging
along in the island surf and came to the rescue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly if we had just drifted the pass into
open water he would have found us straight off but that hadn’t seemed like the
right move to me –and I knew Katie wasn’t exactly comfortable with deep water
yet so was trying to keep her out of the actual pass from the get go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie was a champ, never panicked and simply
followed along trusting her salty Auntie and once Bill showed up she was still game
to give it another try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time Bill joined us and we moved to
the pass proper. He kept a hand on the painter for the RIB and we drifted the
2-3 knot current trailing it along behind us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The water was 15 to 20 feet deep and a lovely crystal clear blue with
tons of fish, beautiful coral structures and even a Moray eel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The warm water rushed us along over the top
like we were flying and we viewed the whole pass in just a few minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second try at a first run was so
beautiful that she must have decided the deep water wasn’t anything to worry
about that when we asked if she wanted to run it again she grinned and pulled
herself into the dinghy for another go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
were never in real danger and in fact did just the right thing of swimming across
the current but it was a bit more adventurous than I would have chosen to do
with a novice snorkeler. For an extra bonus experience when we headed back
towards Island Bound in the two dingies<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>found ourselves surrounded by thousands of reef fish. The iridescent
blue and yellow fish were swimming all around us on the surface for as for as
far as the eye could see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shut off
the engines and watches with wonder as thousands of the fish swarmed around the
boats flipping and wriggling and splashing in the crystal clear water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our next stop was Navandra Island. We had
stopped there once before with cruising friends and I knew mom and Katie would
love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a snug little anchorage
where you feel like you are surrounded on three sides by white sandy beaches
and swaying palm fringed islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is no village there, no residents and no close neighbors so it is quiet and
feels wonderfully remote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The snorkeling
is excellent on pristine reefs that are swarming with tons of fish and colorful
coral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent two full days there lazing
away the heat. The only connection to the real world came when Captain Cook
Cruises dropped their anchor for a few hours to let their guests explore the
reef but by lunch they had moved on again and left us to our deserted island
oasis. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
did however encounter one problem: jelly fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had all jumped in to the deep water surrounding the boat trying to
cool off from the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within minutes I
was feeling the telltale tiny zing that tells you there are annoying
transparent jelly fish about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surprisingly they were only in the deep water around the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we went ashore to walk the beach there
were none in the shallow water right off the beach and none in the mid depth
water around the reefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it only
takes a few zaps to decide that jumping off the boat isn’t quite the experience
your hoping for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different people
experience the after effects of jellies differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom thankfully didn’t get any stings, Bill
also got none or wasn’t bothered by them, Katie had a mass on her legs and I
got them on my wrists and forearms and across both knees. Generally they have
an initial sting and then hours later they develop into hot itchy spots similar
to a mosquito bite. Some (me but not Bill) experience a secondary blister which
can itch and sting for days after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Treating them with white vinegar takes some of the bite out of them and
then topical treatment with an anti itch product like Paw Paw ointment (made
with papaya enzyme) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>helps lessen the
symptoms but once the damage is done it’s there to stay for awhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have experienced them everywhere the water
is especially warm -Fiji in late summer and fall and the Sea of Cortez in the
hot summer months. With my over the top reaction it sure puts a damper on my primary
cooling off technique of spending hours floating around just off the boat
wherever we happen to be anchored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next stop Octopus Resort: my birthday had
arrived and I was hoping for a night off from cooking so the plan was to make
the short hop to their beautiful anchorage. It turned out to be a day filled
with excitement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First a pod of dolphins
came to play in the bow wake, the first in the wild dolphins Katie had ever
seen. They stayed with us for just a few minutes but as always it was enchanting.
Even after all of our years aboard and all the encounters we have had with
wildlife dolphins and whales never cease to thrill me and sharing them with
visitors is always a highlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
just as the last dolphins departed our bow wake we hooked a fish on our port
fishing line and were soon hand over handing a 2 ½ foot Wahoo up to the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few minutes later a glance behind us showed
a second fish, this time on our starboard line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The second fish was an even bigger Wahoo –a lovely three feet of thick
and tasty mild white fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact we
now had more fish than we could eat and my little freezer was already
full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wrapped them in towels and kept
dousing them with fresh cool sea water with the hopes of trading them for part
of our dinner at the resort. When we arrived at Octopus Bill took the dink in
and made a trade with Jojo and Peter the couple who manage the resort: less one
fillet Bill traded the fish for four of the nights curry dinners worth $45
each!!! A night off from cooking and free to boot. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a warm and near breezeless night
ashore and we enjoyed our dinners but offshore there was a lighting storm moving
our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having been caught out off the
boat in a lightning storm before we decided to run for home before any rains or
winds could reach us and so ~sigh~ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>decided to skip desert. As soon as we arriving
back at Island Bound we started preparing for the storm cell still headed our
way -chart plotter, lap top and back up GPS in the oven (a working-mans’
version of a faraday cage) for lighting strike protection –when a local long
boat came charging our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wondering if
there was some mix up with the bill we met them at the rail and watched amazed
three local Fijians circled a small chocolate birthday cake and lit a single
candle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After birthday night we moved northward
again to an anchorage off Naviti Island near Manta Resort where we had heard
the manta’s had returned for the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite three attempts to find them we eventually ran out of time and
headed for Blue Lagoon for more swimming, the Saturday night cultural show at
Coral View Resort and the famed Banoffee Pie at Nanuya Resort. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cultural show was fun and if you contact
the resort they will send a long boat to get you which allowed us to transit
the reefs safely in the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three lazy
and relaxed nights at Blue Lagoon brought a weather report of high winds and
heavy rain so we would weighed anchor and head back for Vuda two days early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But first, finally the Banoffee Pie.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After talking it up with guests the timing
was finally right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For you who have
never even heard of it Banoffee pie it is a banana and toffee flavored cream
pie with a crisp cookie crust and a whipped cream top –sweet but not too and
very cool and light. And even at $15 dollars a slice it’s worth every
dime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We discovered this wonderful treat
at Nanuya resort but alas it is not always available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But finally on our last afternoon in Blue
Lagoon the resort not only had it they had four pieces!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$60 worth of pie later I couldn’t wait to get
back to the boat and google a recipe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
for those of you with a sweet tooth: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Banoffee Pie<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">14 oz of
crushed cookie crumbs or graham crackers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7 oz of
butter melted<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 tin of
sweetened condensed milk (or one tin of Nestles caramel)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 pint heavy
cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 tbsp sugar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 tsp
vanilla <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2 large
bananas (ripe but still firm and pale)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Melt butter and add to cookie crumbs
in pie pan and press into place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bake at
350 for 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a sauce pan boil the can of
condensed milk –being sure to keep can completely covered or you may be
scraping toffee off of your ceiling- for 2 to 2 ½ hours. Set aside to
cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(You may also substitute a tin of
Nestles caramel to save time and trouble.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spread ½ of the cooled toffee over
the crisp cookie crust, top with sliced bananas and the remaining toffee
filling. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whip the cream until fluffy and then
slowly add in the vanilla and the sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spread whipped topping over pie and chill before cutting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may substitute with Dream Whip, Cool Whip
or canned whipped topping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m on a boat
and am ALL about substitutions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If desired you can grate a small bit
of dark chocolate over the whipped topping.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next morning we set off for our return
trip to Vuda Marina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather
forecast was calling for heavy rains and big seas so we made the entire return
trip in one day to beat the worst of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It rained for most of the 50 mile passage back to Vuda but the seas
remained light so at least it wasn’t a rodeo ride for our guests. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I felt bad
robbing Mom and Katie of their last few days on the outer islands but the few
extra days of land based vacation time turned out to be a fine way to spend the
last few days of their vacation. It gave us time for to Lautoka and the
botanical garden and also a few simple days of visiting, swimming and relaxing.
We did manage to work in pizza and pasta night at First Landing Resort as well
as the Friday night BBQ and a native Fijian meke <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-a dancing and singing production put on by
the locals from the village of Viseisei. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
goodbyes are still hard on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
always so excited when guests arrive but there is an end to every visit and yes
I still cry whenever family leaves but I guess you just can’t have the great
hello’s without putting up with the goodbye tears too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A neighbor once told me that having guests
is interesting because you’re so happy the day friends arrive and so happy
again the day they leave because then you get your boat back, your routine back
and your quiet time back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Bill and I
are excited about the next chapter. We will soon sail away from Vuda Point and
spend the next four months cruising around the other big island of Fiji Vanua
Levu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be great to be out
exploring new areas again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
especially excited about the world class diving around Taveuni Island and Savu
Savu and the opportunity to cruise the Lau Groups in the eastern part of the
country where the islands have only been open to cruising yachts for a short
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it’s time to get to work,
laundry and a good boat scrubbing is calling my name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll write soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Till then, write when you can we always love
to hear from you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kat and Bill <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-34066586700365610952013-06-04T04:52:00.002+02:002013-06-04T04:52:59.186+02:002013, 05-12 A Week with the Kids
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2013,
05-12<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Week with the Kids<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 6:20 Monday morning we awakened with a
start to the sound of voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems
that Josh and Dianna’s flight had not only arrived but Customs and Immigrations
had been a flash and they were now standing on the quay waiting for permission
to come aboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both Bill and I had been
dead asleep and it took a moment or two to figure out who exactly was knocking
on our hull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only took a minute
though to bring them aboard and into the chaos of arrival and we were all soon
sitting in the cockpit enjoying the sounds and smells of Fiji and gobbling up
fresh bagels and cream cheese brought all the way from California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh and organic natural peanut butter!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real natural peanut butter with no sugar, no
vegetable oil and no hydrogenated anything, what a treat!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it was off to town for everyone else
while I set about a bit of stowing and cleaning so we could set sail when they
returned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By late morning we had set
sail for Musket Cove and a whirl wind of a visit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids were only here for seven nights
which quickly flew by. We wanted to share our Fiji but seven days is just not
enough time to do the country justice. In retrospect we should have covered
more ground on fewer days and less anchorages in total. Instead it seemed we
were underway every day they were here and we had little time for relaxing and
enjoying the power of the tropics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the end we’d shared anchorages at Musket Cove, Waya and Naviti islands and Blue
Lagoon along with trips to Nadi town and Lautoka.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather was perfect with a week of hot
bright days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even managed to cram
in a bit of snorkeling and two dives at Blue Lagoon but the taxi ride back to
the airport seemed to come in a heartbeat and suddenly set number two of our
guests were here and gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-84113395804727901472013-06-04T04:51:00.002+02:002013-06-04T04:51:26.533+02:002013, 05-05 Travels with Dee
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2013, 05-05
Travels with Dee<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bills sister Dee arrived in Fiji after a whirl
wind of days in New Zealand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her holiday
in New Zealand helped her adjusted to the time difference and jet lag so her
first day here went really well despite the rainy weather. She arrived here at
4:00 pm April 25th but her body was still trying to tell her it was 10:00 pm
April 24th! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right off the bat she showed
her moxie when without fear or frustration she courageously climbed aboard
(from a quay you have no finger pier to step from but must negotiate the tides
with a bit of a tight rope show.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early
the next morning we set sail for the short hop to Port Denarau then on to Nadi
via the “little yellow bus.” Umbrellas in hand we peeked into a handful of
tourist shops to look at carvings then toured the Hindu temple and shopped a
bit for groceries before stopping for curry lunch at one of the local Indian
restaurants and filled up on roti and chicken Korma. Back at the boat I set
about teaching her how to play Baja rummy –an intricate card game I have just
recently learned to play and love- where she proceeded to grandly stomp me into
the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day Bill set off for Lautoka on a
hunt for a gas tank set up for our new outboard motor while Dee and I grabbed
the bus for the botanical gardens at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. The taxi
drivers at Vuda marina wanted $60 to take us to the gardens and wait while we
toured but we took a $1.60 bus ride and picked up a local taxi for a $15
roundtrip visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It poured down rain but
with our trusty umbrellas we thoroughly enjoyed the gardens and loved saving a
chunk of money too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day three came and finally
the clouds lifted, the rains let up and we set sail for the anchorage at Musket
Cove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Musket we stayed several days
at anchor snorkeling and riding around in the dingy and whiling away the
afternoon heat playing cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ended
our cruising with a night at a new anchorage on the NE side of Malolo Island and
a nice sail back to Vuda. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having visitors aboard is always a little
unsettling to the ordinary boat life routine and before Dee’s visit she and I
had never met face to face, in fact we had only spoken on the phone once or
twice and shared a few emails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having
heard many horror stories from other cruising friends who had “strangers”
aboard as crew I had been a little apprehensive about the visit. She turned out
to be such an easy guest and we had so much fun together that when she left I
felt like I had gained a sister-in-law and a good friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She seemed to really enjoy Fiji and its
friendly people and settled right into boat life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My only complaint is that she must be a truly
accomplished card shark because she managed to win far more than her fair share
of the afternoon card games. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-37366290957671273742013-06-04T04:50:00.003+02:002013-06-04T04:52:00.952+02:002013, 04-25 Visiting Season, Opening Day<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2013, 04-25 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visiting Season, Opening Day </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In just a few hours Bills Sister Dee will
arrive –the first of three sets of family who are coming to visit us in
Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are excited to share our Fiji
home but are also shaking our heads at how exactly we managed to schedule them
back to back to back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t set out
to have guests hot bunking the v-birth but we also didn’t manage to plan for
this not to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dee arrives today at
4:00pm and flies out nine days from now on a 10:00pm flight. The next morning
at 5:00 am son Josh and daughter-in-law Dianna arrive on the Los Angeles to
Nadi flight for their six day stay. Then just six days later Josh and Dianna
lift off at 10:00pm while my mom and niece Katie are in the air and set to
arrive on another 5:00am LA to Nadi flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s two rounds of lift off at 10pm and new arrivals seven hours later
at 5:00 am!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oops! Oh well the
reservations are made so here we go. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A guest means preparation. Five and a half
weeks of guests means chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The v-birth
(in the off season the v-birth is our garage) needs a transformation: clean
out, rearrange and repack. I painted and scrubbed and washed guest bedding and
we schlepped provisions home on the bus from town. Oh and where exactly am I
going to put all the goodies that each of our guests have stashed away in their
luggage? We’ve been ordering boat bits and pieces for weeks now and all of
those bits will need to be stored somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Guests also mean filling up with diesel and hauling jerry cans of dinghy
gas to the boat cleaning the boat inside and out with at least a half assed
attempt at shinning up the stainless and rinsing off the graying teak. The
decks need to be really scrubbed and the time out at anchor with each set of
guests means that we will be dragging aboard the sand and salt water stickiness
that only a hose at the marina will wash away again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The inside of the boat will need to be
cleaned before and between –of course- and we will need to resupply with
several loads of general stores. We only have one set of towels and sheets for
guests so between each set of guests I will be rushing to run everything
through the laundry. Please rain stay away –at least till the laundry is dry! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boat life has a good deal of idiosyncrasies so
each set of guests need lessons on conserving water and power, operating the
heads, running the shower and shower drain, opening the fridge, finding the
silverware and opening and closing hatches and ports –and a million other bits
of information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone will want to
see a piece of city life so with each set of guests we will visit Nadi and or
Lautoka -or both- for a taste of the real flavors of Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big town market is a must see for the
sights sounds and colors of all the local fruits and vegetables and of course
the stalls filled with Kava root and spices. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is the beautiful Hindu Temple and at
least a peek in the handicraft shops for a look at carved kava bowls, war clubs
and cannibal forks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every bit of Fiji we
can cram into a few days three times running. By June 2<sup>nd</sup> I will
have cried over all of our goodbyes and we will be busy preparing for our
passage on to the island of Vanua Levu –our first big passage in months. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Kat</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-80221512717248324132013-04-17T02:07:00.002+02:002013-04-17T02:07:22.393+02:00
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">2013,
04-16 Musket Cove, Malolo Island Fiji</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today
we sit at anchor at Musket Cove celebrating a birthday with friends
and the official end to cyclone season. Yea!!!!!!!! Despite Cyclone
Evans wrath just before Christmas we are still happy we chose to
spend the last seven months her in Fiji rather than following bulk of
the yachties in an exodus to New Zealand or Australia. Our home away
from home at Vuda Point marina turned out to be a great choice for us
and our decision to stay in the water rather than putting Island
Bound in a pit and living on the hard played out well. In fact
despite Evan and a single tsunami warning the weather we did have
turned out to be less severe than we had anticipated despite March's
typical heavy rainfall. We learned to pack our umbrellas and played
the dance of open the ports/close the ports and learned to sleep with
an ear out for the beginning patter of rain. Many of the boats in
the water at Vuda never once left their slips but we managed to work
our way up and down the coast several times and wind our way through
the Mamanuca group of islands and the Yasawa's. One long time Fiji
yachtie warned us early on that we shouldn't wander further north
than Waya Island but with diligent attention paid to brewing storm
fronts and the ongoing work of laying down safe passage tracks on our
chart plotter we found we could get out and about with out any danger
at all and in a few days we will begin hosting three sets of visitors
-Bills sister Dee, son and daughter-in-law Josh and Dianna and my mom
and niece Katie will arrive and allow us to show off our Fiji home.
With all the trips we managed during the off season we have plenty to
show them and hopefully we will be able to share bits of both village
life and pristine island hideaways in addition to he towns of Nadi
and Lautoka. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Musket
Cove has been our home away from home here in Fiji. At just 10nm
west of Vuda it has been a convenient and easy break from the heat of
Vuda. There is a safe and easy anchorage, four resorts to visit,
laundry machines and until two days ago a well stocked store and
Coffee Cove resturant for ow priced meal alternatives to the higher
end resort fare. Unfortunately the building that housed the Coffee
Cove and Musket Cove store was hit by a rogue bolt of lightning two
nights ago. The building burned and with it our best source for
groceries short of making our way all the way to Nadi town or
Lautoka. The loss of the store and coffee shop will be a big hit to
the resort as will the loss of the marina docks and access to the
infamous Five Dollar Bar that both sustained damage during Evan.
Everyone is morning the loss but it will be felt by tons of yachties
as begin pouring in for the new season in the coming weeks. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Our
upcoming visitors have gotten us motivated and we've been painting
and cleaning, shinning stainless steel -there really is a bit of a
shine under all that rust- and finishing some left over boat projects
in anticipation of their arrival. Our plan so far is to make three
different loops of the areas waters with the three separate groups
and will try to visit several of the outer island villages, the
premier anchorages, the best of the best in snorkel and dive sights,
the yearly show of the manta rays at Manta Ray Pass and trips to Nadi
or Lautoka for provisioning. Then once everyone has made their
outbound flights we will head north into new territory with definite
plans for Savu Savu, Taveuni, and the Lau groups before deciding
between staying in Vuda again next cyclone season or opting for a
mooring at Savu Savu for a change of pace. Till then we will keep
picking our way through the reefs and anchorages and getting to know
more of our Fiji Home. Kat</span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-4268046243040640802013-01-07T23:10:00.010+01:002013-01-07T23:10:40.105+01:00
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">2013,
01-04 A visit from Barbara and Trip to Yalobi Village, Waya Island</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">After
cyclone Evan we were ready for a little R&R. But between settling
in to our new Fiji home and the cyclone we had not strayed far from
Vuda Point so when my great friend Barbara flew in from Seattle for a
visit it was time to step out and do some exploring. Despite the long
flight she was up for tagging along so off we went on a bus ride to
Lautoka for some groceries and her first real look at Fiji. Then with
the promise of a cooling breeze and a dip into warm blue water when
we arrived she was even up to setting sail for Malololaili's Musket
Cove anchorage. We spent two nights at Musket Cove then had a great
sail north to the island of Waya where we would all get to experience
our first real outer island village. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">First
on the agenda when we arrived at Waya was a trip into the village of
Yalobi. Before we could tour the village or set off to snorkel or
fish we needed to meet the island chief and present our sevusevu.
Sevusevu is a gift of kava -or yagona as the local Fijians call it-
respectfully given to the village chief. Armed with the name of the
village chief from friends back at Vuda we landed the dingy and asked
directions to Tai Toms bure (Grandpa Toms house.) As we walked along
a well worn path through the small village people were up and about
and busy with the days work. The path took us through lines of bures
and past the village church towards the high hills that rise behind
the village proper. We were surprise by how green everything was
despite Evans recent rampage especially since the trees around Vuda
were stripped almost completely bare. Once near the Chiefs bure our
guide went to alert the chief to our arrival. After a brief wait
nearby we were ushered inside his small house and instructed to sit
down on the woven floor mat that took up most of the small room. We
were introduced to Chief Tai Tom who is chief of the largest of the
five clans on Waya Island. Once settled on the floor we passed over
our sevusevu which Tai Tom accepted and then paused to say a prayer
over the kava. Once the gift was excepted he answered a few of our
questions and told us who was in the photographs that lines ceiling
edges of the bure. Then with a nod and a smile he welcomed us again
and gave his permission for us to freely walk the village and to
enjoy the island for the rest of our stay and stated the rest of our
visit was free. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> The</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">village was wide awake and at work getting ready for the evenings New
Years Celebration yet when we stepped out of Tai Toms bure we were
immediately invited into the home next door for tea. This home
seemed to be the main bure for Tai Toms clan and quickly filled with
other clan members and a gaggle of kids. After introductions all
around we were invited to settle once again onto the floor mats for
tea and bread. The ladies of the clan had been busy preparing fresh
baked breads for the celebration and there was a line of platters
along the mat heaped to overflowing with scones and slices of
buttered bread along with tea cups filled with boiling water and the
leaves from something they grow locally. Everyone present welcomed us
and asked questions while passing around the breads and a big bowl
filled with sugar for the tea. The room filled up around us as other
clan members came in to say hello and then slowly emptied again as
our celebrity status faded into the more important duties of the
upcoming party. Finally as we headed out the door to venture further
into the village we ere heartily asked back for lunch and dinner and
of course church. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">After
excepting the invitation for lunch we set off through the village to
explore. Every person we met offered a hearty bula! And everyone
seemed eager to stop their New Years preparations and visit a bit.
We left a trail of balloons for the kids as we worked our way along
the village paths and stopped to talk with a couple of preteen boys
who were playing with their pet iguana who seemed happy to rest atop
one boys head heartily chowing down on hand fed hibiscus blossoms.
Next we were invited into another home to peruse some goodies offered
up for sale and Barbara had her first chance to shop for souvenirs.
We came came away with a salt cellar shaped like a kava bowl, a
handmade rag rug, a green shell bracelet and a cannibal fork. Human
flesh was -for some unknown reason- not to be touched with ones
hands. Go figure. I wish I could be there to hear the conversation at
her next potluck dinner when she brings out the new serving piece. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Next</span><span style="font-size: medium;">
stop the dispensary where the new island nurse was settling in
accompanied by the district doctor and the outgoing nurse. The nurse
was on day one of a three year assignment and Barbara being an
emergency room ARNP helped lead the walk to the village dispensary.
Next stop was a visit with a couple of older gentlemen who were
sitting in the cool shade. Simmi and Api chatted us up for a few
minutes while more kids were lured in by the balloons. Interestingly
Simi leaned in and whispered his wish for three balloons for himself
before suggesting to Bill that they would be happy to teach him how
they fish if Bill would be willing to pick them up in our dinghy the
next morning for a bit of fishing. With a time set up to meet for
fishing the next morning we walked on headed for the islands
elementary school. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The
boarding school was currently empty -closed down for summer break-
but normally is filled with 150 of the islands elementary aged
children. The school is a great asset to the village as most school
in Fiji comes at a price. The governments have been promising free
education for years but apparently the only place that promise has
come true is in some of the islands outer islands. The city folks of
the two big islands still must find a way to afford tuition, books
and uniforms along with room and board for those who must travel.
Unfortunately for we were trying to cross the beach to the school at
high tide and had a choice of wadding in up to our belly buttons or
trying back another time. We decided to stay dry and instead headed
back to the boat for a quick swim before lunch with Tai Toms clan. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
had been told that lunch would be from 12 to 1 which evidently meant
that it would begin sometime between 12 and 1. We arrived back at the
clans biggest house at about 11:45 where we found no one seemed to be
remotely ready for lunch or for visitors. I managed to committed an
obvious faux pas by peeking in the door way and stepping in when we
saw a few of the people we had met that morning. We had returned
with a bowl filled with orange slices and a jug of juice to share and
so I stepped inside with a friendly smile and outstretched hands.
No one spoke and then I noticed the look on Tai Toms face. There
were no words to understand but the look was obvious, a major faux
pas. I should not have stepped inside so we whirled around again and
out the door. We stood there a moment sort of shuffling our feet and
trying to interpret what we had just done. It caused a tiny ruckus
and soon we were escorted across the grass to a nearby home and
instructed to sit on the porch with a one legged man who was sitting
in the shade watching the village go by. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
waited there on the covered porch sitting cross legged on a mat with
our back up against a pile of lumber waiting and chatting with the
man whose porch we were apparently occupying. Eventually lunch began
to appear and clan members turned up. The women began bringing out
big pots of food and someone brought a table cloth nd spread it out
in front of us then brought plates and silverware. Eventually
serving dishes of food appeared. We all three just sat there trying
to read what was expected of us until I couldn't stand it any longer
and went over to offer up the juice and the fruit and offer to help.
Reluctantly they allowed me to carry over a plate of food and then we
were encouraged to serve the food around. Evidently we were eating
with the one legged man and everyone else would be eating across the
way under the porch of the clan house. We were served smoked fish,
rice, curried potatoes with tinned fish, creamed taro leaves and
stems and lobster in coconut milk. Eventually a few other men came
and set at the end f the porch but their only real interaction was to
ask Bill for a jug of diisel to fuel the village generator “to pay
for our nights at anchor.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
left lunch feeling a bit awkward but with another invite to attend
the 4pm church service which it was our intention to attend but back
on the boat we swam and rested from the heat and hemmed and hawed
over whether or not we would go back for church. The night before
while at anchor we had heard the church service in action. The
village generator was cranked up to power a microphone and the
resident pastor was in high form. Between periods of lovely singing
the man spent several hours yelling and screaming at his flock and
quite frankly we were all inwardly hoping to come up with some excuse
for not attending. So once the subject was open it became clear that
since no one had their hearts set on attending we would quietly sit
this one out. We all swam, I managed to whip up some pretty
authentic chicken khorma with rice, roti and chutney and Barbara had
a bit of time to break out her drawing pencils and get a bit of
sketching in. Yes I'm sure the services would have been an
experience but it was one we just couldn't throw any enthusiasm into.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> At</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">
eight the next morning Bill set off to pick up Simmi and Api for some
reef fishing leaving Barbara and I drinking our morning caffeine and
happily chatting away the next few hours while we waited for the
dinghy to return so we could get in some snorkeling. The fishing was
going to take some logistics though with first a pick up of the boys
in town then a trip back for a tour of the boat and some orange
drink some fishing gear and the gift of a baseball hat for Api.
Surprisingly the guys didin't return for several hours but they had
three nice fish with a fourth set aside for bait. We took a fillet
off the walu (Spanish mackerel) put the bait fish in the fridge and
sent the rest home with Simmi and Api with plans to meet again at
dusk for more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Barbara
and I were off to snorkel s soon as Bill returned from dropping off
the boys and we were in or a great treat. The snorkeling at the pass
between Waya and Wayasewa was the best I had seen since Fakarava. The
fish were abundant, the coral was alive and colorful and the
visibility was decent despite Evan kicking things up. I have been
surprised and alarmed at the state of most of the coral reefs I have
seen during this trip. I am no scientist and have little to make
comparison other than Bill and my 2003 trip to Tahiti where we were
enchanted by the colorful coral gardens. But everywhere we have been
the majority of the reefs have been dead or dying. At times it felt
like the whole worlds ocean are nothing but a giant dust storm of
gray covering reefs and rocks. Fakarava being the one exception.
Even the exact reefs we experienced in Tahiti ten years ago didn't
hold a candle to the memory we carried of them. Some of that might
be faulty memory. We remember the Tahitian islands of Huahine and
Raitea being gardens of color swimming with fish. Were they really
that much better then or have we just experienced more of both great
and not so great reef diving and snorkeling? Perhaps some of both
but Fakarava and now Waya renewed my belief that there is still some
amazing places to see. On the other hand sadly it means that our
worlds reefs are being wiped out at an amazing rate by nature -such
as cyclone damage- and by man from pollution, over fishing and too
much contact. OK off my soap box. It was great snorkeling there
even if we didn't see a single reef shark -much to Barbara's relief.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">That
evening after fish tacos Bill gathered up his fishing gear careful to
search out a few lures and flashlights he wasn't going to regret
leaving behind. Simmi nd Api were showing him how they reef fish but
as most Fijians they were not shy in asking for things as gifts. So
he packed up some gift lures he felt we could live without, a couple
of flashlights (torch in Fiji) we could spare to loose and measured
out the gas to be sure we would have enough one for a final morning
snorkel trip and set off to pick up the boys. With torches in hand
they set off to the outer reef at seven and didn't return until ten!
They had a bag full of fish and Simmi and Api seemed happy as Bill
ferried them back to the village with new flashlights in hand and all
the fish. A long day for everyone so we were all off to bed with
plans in mind for a final 8am snorkel then back to the boat to weigh
anchor for our five our trip back to Vuda.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The
next morning suddenly our plans were changing -as plans often do. A
bleary eyed Bill climbed out of bed to go to the loo and was
astonished to see Api sitting atop an odd plastic kayak/raft. It was
7am, Barbara and I are both still in bed ( I have been awake
aproximatly 90 seconds now) when I heard Bill say “ummm do you want
to come aboard?) Api it seems was on a mission. He was patiently
waiting outside for us to wake up so he could ask a question: would
we be willing to take Lucy back to the mainland with us as she needed
to return to work in Nadi. No problem. But almost before Bill could
finish saying yes to Lucy coming with us for the five hour passage he
was asking if we could also bring her daughters. OK, change of
plans. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now
for any of you who don't know all that well I am NOT a morning
person. I have been known to become a little ….umm...grumpy when
changes are thrust on me. So here I'd been awake for about 90
seconds thinking first that company was suddenly coming aboard and
then hearing that we are taking strangers on as crew for the passage
home. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A
five hour passage in Fiji is pretty much paradise for us: but it can
be hot, really hot. We would be sailing for five hours in the blazing
sun with just so much shifting shade available and no groceries put
in for the trip and no juice, no soda, no plans period for doubling
up our crew list. OK, it took me a moment or three but I can get on
board with this but OK, regroup, new plan. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">First
on the list our snorkel trip: a bit shorter maybe but one last chance
for Barbara to experience our Fiji home with mask and fins. Then back
to the boat to gobble down cereal and complete a rush job on
preparing for passage while Bill heads in to the village to pick up
our passengers where surprise, surprise, Simmi has decided he would
like to come along too. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
now have four extra guests for the day none of whom have ever been on
a sail boat and all of whom are soon lounging comfortably in the
cockpit. Simmi settles in with an air of..........entitlement.....as
if it is his castle. He takes one of the two cockpit cushions and
stakes out the shadiest bit of cockpit where he stayed while we got
underway. Once the getting underway work was done -boat tours for
all, lessons on flushing the toilet, dinghy on davits, ladder up,
fenders up, anchor up, everyone settled, gates closed and sails up- I
sit down on the combing with the sweat dripping down my face while
Simmi turns to me and informs me that Lucy needs to be in Nadi by 3pm
for work. But it was 11am and we were still four hours away from the
marina and another hour by bus away from Nadi. I explained that I
was sorry but it would be a five hour trip and that there simply
wasn't anything we could do about the timing. He frowned and scowled
and explained that the power boat the villagers usually make the trip
on only takes an hour! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">With
no shade left in the cockpit I retreat below to the dinette to cool
down and stretch out on the cushioned dinette seat while Simmi sits
staring down at me through the companionway. Once I cool down it's
time to try to pull something together for lunch. An hour or more of
passing things up and down to the cockpit commences as I begin by
pouring cups of orange drink, peeling and cubing a pineapple and
making up a platter of tuna salad sandwiches. Poor Bill must have
winced when he innocently asked me if we had any of those brownies
left while I was trying to juggle the line of dishes returning to my
sink, refill the drink glasses, clean up the pineapple juice on the
counter and grab the last half a tuna sandwich while the sweat poured
into my eyes and I began feeling the telltale signs of being seasick
wash over me. I barked at him and told him the brownies were going to
have to wait I needed to come up for some air! </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After
lunch (and brownies) I looked down to see Simmi stretched out on the
cushy dinette seat below. No problem one less body in the cockpit
was a good thing. A bit later I went below for another lesson on
toilet flushing and Simmi informed me while wearing his own baseball
hat and holding on to my last remaining custom embroidered Peterson
44/Island Bound baseball hat that he would like a baseball hat of his
own since we had given one to Api. I explained he couldn't have
mine it was special to me but scratched one up for him from our
cabin. He accepted it with resignation then napped while I moved
outside. After the nap I found him staring at me again and went
below to find out what he was up to. He explained that he would also
like to have one of our solar panels so he wouldn't have to rely on
the village generator for light. At this one I almost laughed but he
went on to explain that since we were heading for Vanua Levu and the
town of Savu Savu in a few months he would like a ride there with us
and we could perhaps bring the solar panel then. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now
first let me explain that when we leave the island of Viti Levu after
cyclone season it will be our first opportunity to explore Fiji's
other big island. When we go we will want to explore the parts of the
Yasawa Group we can't make it too this season and the northern end of
Viti Levu and so will meander our way to Savu Savu over weeks. Sorry
Simmi you're not coming with us. I will also state that I have no
problem sharing with people and in fact we came to Fiji prepared for
this part of their culture. But as I found myself making a mental
inventory of what we had given away in Yalobi and wondering what I
was really feeling inside about the gift giving experience I started
to understand the fine line between the Fijian normal of asking for
gifts and those who take it far past that norm. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">That
inventory? Two baseball hats, the 2L pitcher I took to lunch filled
with juice, a Rubber Made collapsible bowl, 4 lures, 2 torches, a
tank of premix (plus two tanks for fishing,) all the fish save for
one fillet, lunch, a pan of brownies, five packets of juice and four
free rides to the main land. Plus he asked for the solar panel and
the extra dinghy we have stored on deck. Simmi had the whole thing
down to an art and simply asks for whatever catches his eye expecting
and knowing that if he keeps asking eventually something is likely to
trickle down. I explained that since the panels are special marina
panels and couldn't easily be replaced we simply couldn't do without
them. He pouted and went back up on deck. None of the things we gave
away could we not live without. And yes we were able to say no when
we needed. On one hand it felt good to be able to give something to
people who we know do not have a lot. In fact we had planned for it
with purchases of rice, canned goods, school supplies, hooks, soap,
laundry powder, lolly pops and balloons for the kids purchased just
for our time in Fiji. But when the fine line was crossed giving to
Simmi began to feel..........creepy to use Barbara's term.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
made it back to Vuda without incident and grabbed the center buoy
instead of our spot at the quay so we could offload everyone via the
dinghy to shore. We were worried that offloading people and bags
over the bow to the quay would be too difficult since it often
requires tightrope walking and some pretty big jumps or climbs. SO
pictures all around and lots of waving and they were off to find
their way to Nadi. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">the day turned out to be an adventure. And in between conversations
with Simmi it was a grand opportunity to ask questions and learn more
about Fijian life and village life particularly. All of our guests
spent at least part of the trip napping in the heat (they explained
they had all been up late drinking yagona for New Years the night
before) which opened up time to talk one on one with everyone at
least a little bit. Lucy explained that she likes living in Nadi
and would never consider moving back to her home village. She likes
being a city girl and being able to flip a switch for alight, watch
tv and shop whenever she wishes. Her daughter Tupo lives with her
mom in town, works and has her friends on the mainland. Both
explained they grow bored after a few days in Yalobi. Maggie was
most interested in knowing we were hoping to go to the Lau Group in
the spring which brought tears to her eyes as she explained she
hadn't been back to her village in over ten years. She gave me the
names of people we can look up when we arrive which will be a great
way to break the ice there. Simmi I could do without seeing again
but since we are likely to go back to Yalobi I will have to learn to
love. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At
dinner a few nights later our friend Grant on Lochiel shared his own
experience in Tonga: he had been asked to take one man to the
mainland and maybe one of his friends but arrived to pick him up to
find 12 giant Tongan men waiting for him. They were so big he had to
take five trips to his boat to get them all aboard! I just hope the
next time there is no one floating around our boat for an hour in the
wee hours of morning waiting for one of us to stumble to the loo.
Kat </span></div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-74552731312361637432012-12-19T00:45:00.003+01:002013-04-17T02:04:40.202+02:002012, 12-192012, 12-18 The aftermath
<br />
<br />
"270km/h Tropical Cyclone Evan smashes Fiji"
<br />
"The town of Lautoka resembles a war zone."
<br />
"Strongest cyclone on Record,"
<br />
"No reported deaths,"
<br />
"Ships grounded,"
<br />
"Roofs ripped off,"
<br />
"Winds reach 135mph on Fiji's big island of Viti Levu."
<br />
<br />
I am filled with gratitude this morning as I type along listening to Bill read headlines to me. For those of you not on the metric system 270km/h equals 162mph -at the strongest point of the storm. The Big island of Viti Levu saw reported winds of 135mph and here in the marina we saw sustained winds well over 100mph. Our boat is not only still floating and all in one piece but we have virtually no damage at all. That is not the case for many of the other boats here at Vuda Pt Marina. Looking at the devastation around us and seeing how much damage was done to other boats by the boats around them I am certain that Bill decision to rerun the bow lines of our boat and the unoccupied boats around us made a huge difference in our outcome. We bitched and moaned through the hot work and envied a few of our neighbors who were sitting back drinking a cold one after their own pre-storm preparations but right now every minute of extra work was worth it.
<br />
<br />
I will try to draw a picture in your mind of how the boats are usually tied and then explain the change Bill made. When you moor your boat on a quay -essentially there are no docks or finger piers but rather you are stern in too a cement wall- you usually tie two lines off your stern and two lines off your bow to hold you in place. The two that go to land tie off starboard and port onto big steel rings and those that go to the water side tie off starboard and port to floats in the water that are then tied to something big and heavy underwater. If you look at a line of boats their bows are tied off with rope each forming a v going out into the water. Bill and I ran a second set of lines with chafe gear on both ends from our bow to our neighbor's floats spreading the force out one notch. Then we ran a second set from the boats on either side out a notch to our floats. Essentially we spread out the force and added redundancy while shoring up the holding power for our neighbors at the same time. If you think of it like spreading your legs and taking a more grounded stance, that's what we did.
<br />
<br />
On the quay side we added chafe gear to all four ends of the line already attaching Island Bound to the quay but then also added two more lines. The added lines went out another notch to either side like we did in front and we added not only chafe gear but length of chain on the land side to lessen the potential for a disaster if the lines slowly began sawing away on the rough concrete. During the worst of the storm while boats where laying all over each other crashing back again and again onto the boats next to them our little group of bobbers were heeling over but not grinding in to each other.
<br />
So.........a busy day ahead cleaning up so will say goodbye for now. Thanks for all the good wishes sent our way and we will write soon. Kat
<br />
<br />
!2-18 continued
<br />
<br />
Walking around the marina today seeing firsthand the effects of a category 5 cyclone was a lesson in gratitude. A category 5 cyclone leaves huge amounts of devastation in its wake. There is an odd quietness to the day in spite of the noise of the men already busy working with chainsaw, machete and truck. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone seems at least a little bit shell shocked.
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Early
in the cyclone S/v Wayward Wind -one of the largest vessels in the
marina lost both bow lines AND the anchor chain that was supposed to
be attaching them to the inner cyclone ring. For a time they used
their motor to try and stay pointed forward and off the surrounding
boats but as the cyclone clocked around things got worse. At the
back of the boat they have a large super sturdy stainless steel V
mount for their wind vane made out of 3” pipe which speared the
cement quay and eventually ending up stuck under the lip of the
walkway leaving them unable to move at all. Their weight pressed
against the boat next to them and like dominoes all the boats in that
line began grinding together. Our friends who suffered some of the
worst of the damages of the storm were a few boats down. With winds
so high inflatable fenders were being rolled up onto decks and
useless the boats in that part of the line groaned and ground
together with the sheer weight of the winds for several hours. The
toe rails on several of those boats were turned into toothpicks and
where hull touched hull midships were ground down to bare fiberglass.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
In the morning word came down the line that the marina was hosting us to tea and a dazed but good sized group showed up. Over fruit and pizza we learned about the fate of others on the island and set up some work crews for beginning to clear the debris and open up the walkways and for helping the kitchen staff put on a meal in the evening for everyone at the marina. It was also a time to solidify plans for the marina appreciation dinner we had begun to plan before the cyclone hit. The idea for the dinner we'll hold tomorrow night came from an appreciation for all the hard work the staff put in to help ready the marina for the storm. They worked for days and nights, tirelessly and always with a smile. Many worked double and triple time and most did so while their own families and homes were on their own. We passed the hat and came up with $750 which the marina will turn into food and drinks and a kava bowl and the boaties will serve them for the night.
<br />
<br />
Throughout the day word trickled on about the fate of the rest of Viti Levu and the surrounding islands. The entire area is without power and water and they're saying we'll see about three week pass before we see those services back online. We may have a bit of luck since Vuda Marina sits smack dab next to Blue Gas an import gas company with a pipeline out passed our reef where the tankers unload which is considered vital to Fiji and so their power and ours will likely be restored before anyone else on the island. There is no phone service, no radio or TV broadcasting and thousands of people lost their homes and businesses. There are thousands still in emergency shelters. The local farmers really have it bad with crops wiped out -in many cases a year's worth of crops gone. We're told within days there will be virtually no fresh produce available for many months to come which almost makes me cry thinking about all the mouth watering papaya's, mango's, passion fruit and bananas I'm going to be missing.
<br />
<br />
The multimillion dollar high end super yacht attracting marina at Port Denarau is no more. The docks are completely gone. All the vessels in Port Denarau were sent away but somehow one 85ft super yacht ended up there on the rocks. Musket Cove marina is gone as well as is the cruiser beloved Five Dollar Bar who's bure style bar and BBQ pits -completely annihilated. There is a mangrove swamp not far from Vuda Marina where many of the areas larger vessels retreated to spider web themselves into the mangroves for protection. We're told everyone came through safely but that there are some big tales to be told about breakaway boats and crashing neighbors.
<br />
<br />
It's hard to describe the extent of the devastation. I walked around the ground of First Landing Resort next door and my mouth hung open for most of the tour. Branches as big as a house lay sprawled around. The porch on the spa at First Landing was crushed under one tree and their once lush tropical gardens look like a bomb dropped. Most of their bure rooms surprisingly made it through without damage. The pool looked unhurt but is filled to overflowing with debris and brown sandy water from the storm surge. Their workers had already cleared the main paths with machetes and were joking and laughing with me as I looked around at the devastation.
<br />
<br />
Again it is hard to describe the experience. A hurricane has always been the big boogeyman of my cruising fears yet I was never really afraid -well maybe a teensy bit. At moments I could feel and taste the adrenalin my body was dumping out for my benefit. About the time the storm was reaching its crescendo I repacked our ditch bag expanding the few meager initial inclusion. Next to the small bag with passports, boat papers and laptops I began a new pile. I added Rx eye glasses, prescription medicines, tooth brushes, our backup credit cards and our American dollar cash stash, computer plugs, Kindles and chargers, water, Cliff Bars and one set of clean clothes. At dinner last night Marilyn on S/v Zulu commented that maybe it would have been wise to leave ditch bags high and dry in the office for emergency pickup since no one knew exactly how they were going to get off their boats with big bulky bags in tow.
<br />
<br />
One interesting phenomenon was what happened when the winds began to abate. It sounded so quiet and felt so still in comparison that we were happily discussing how light the winds had become. Then we opened the companionway and boy howdy it was still blowing well over gale force! When you've recently been buffeted by hundred and something mph winds sixty feels like a nothing. I've definitely had my experience and I certainly never want to go through anything similar at sea. I'm now certain that I can live without ever experiencing another one -been there done that. So let's make this the seasons only cyclone for Fiji thank you very much. Then some dumbbell loudly states that having such a roarer on December 18 says that this could be a banner year for South Pacific cyclone activity. Thanks for that update buddy. Will write soon. Kat
<br />
<br />
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<br />
radio email processed by SailMail
<br />
for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com/">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-7058229536695657442012-12-19T00:45:00.002+01:002012-12-19T00:46:05.414+01:00(no subject)2012, 12-17 Tropical Cyclone Evan
<br>
<br>11:00 am
<br>
<br> Gale force winds and rain have just arrived. We had expected the winds to begin building last night but they didn't show themselves until about an hour ago. The expected hours of heavy rains to usher in today's winds also didn't materialize which allowed both Bill and I a good night's sleep to bank against the coming storm. As I type this we are at gale force (35-50mph) but that is light enough for Bill to take a walk to the breakwater for a few minutes where he reported that right outside the marina proper the wind is near 50mph while inside the marina where we sit safe and secure it is blowing around 35mph.
<br>
<br> Unfortunately the surge protecting boom has already failed but the marina staff has a diver in the water and a boatload of workers frantically trying to fix it. Side note: we thought the boom was going to be a giant chain with airplane tires strung like beads stretched across the mouth of the marina but when we were watching them get things ready we could tell they were going to be using heavy lines instead of chain! The winds haven't even reached us yet and already Bills EESP (Engineers Extra Sensory Perception) showed itself by predicting the failure more than half a day before the event.
<br>
<br> Not one of the forecasts we are checking matches any others on predicted wind speeds or path so who knows what we will see in the next 24 hours but regardless it looks like the party is at our door! Kat
<br>
<br>1:45pm
<br>
<br> We are now experiencing heavy rain and sustained winds of 50 with frequently much higher gusts. The eye of the storm is scheduled to come it's closest to us in about 5 hours. So far our most serious problem is the fenders that keep blowing up onto the deck instead of lying at work between us and S/v Sojournor on our starboard. We have a steady set of drips around the main companionway but still have plenty of dry towels.
<br>
<br> Around us things are starting to fray a bit. There is a loose halyard ricocheting around from the big unoccupied Formosa two boats over, the main sail on Turn the Page is unfurling and Relax just reported a large tree fell on them moments ago.
<br>
<br>4:00 PM
<br>
<br> Things are still building. A few hours more and then hopefully things will begin going the other direction. We are unscathed though getting damper by the minute. Beds still dry though! Our wind indicator tops out at 51mph no matter what is blowing so we have no real guess as to the sustained wind speeds but it is significantly more than we have ever experienced before and we have been at anchor with 60mph winds and in a marina at 75.
<br>
<br> Our fenders are still jumping up on the deck instead of staying alongside where they would be of some use but the great news is that our quad stern, quad bow and anchor chain are all holding fast as are those on the boats around us. The two small boats on our starboard side have been hitting the quay and the little wooden finger pier splintering it a bit but are so far doing OK. The big Formosa one over on our port side is also holding fast thankfully since they were our biggest worry. Guava Jelly the 36 footer to our port between us and the Formosa is also doing well though his main hatch cover is gone and his Sunbrella tarp is slowly turning into ribbon. Our Whisker pole came loose and was flying off to starboard at a near 90 degree angle but S/v Lochiel saw it and gave us the heads up over the VHF and Bill was able to cinch it down.
<br>
<br> There are head sails unfurling and fraying on other boats in all directions though none seem to be too threatening to the boats around them. We thankfully completely stripped our boat of sails as is the order of the marina. Those who chose to save themselves the work will be paying for it in the weeks ahead but since right now they are impossible to bring down the real danger is to the boats around with the added windage likely to bust lines and lay boats against one another. Up on land behind us S/v A Go GO sits in a pit and is slowly tilting to port. I'm not sure how far she can go before she tips out of the pit and or into the boat next to her.
<br>
<br> Our friends John and LeeAnn on S/v Red Sky are reporting significant damage to their hull from the boat next door and at the moment are not answering their radio which has me a little worried. Grant and Caroline on S/v Lochiel were losing ground with the quay and are now motoring forward to try and keep the damage at bay. A boat kitty corner across the boat basin lost both their bow lines and the anchor chain that was attaching them to the central ring but seems to be managing fairly well by using their engine but when I look in their direction I assume there is going to be some significant damage to the boats around them as a result of the failure.
<br>
<br> The trees around that I can see are splintered and broken and for as far around me as I can see the foliage is mostly off the trees. Bill is doing most of the outside work but the rain and winds are so strong he keeps getting chilled and the stuff flying through the air is so thick he is now wearing the ski goggles he received as a gift for just such a purpose when we first bought the boat. I appreciate his efforts more than he will ever know but I have to say Bill soaking wet, covered with leaves and tree bits wearing swim trunks and ski goggles is a truly humorous vision.
<br>
<br> I can only assume that everyone is doing relatively well since the airwaves have stayed surprisingly quiet. Which either means all is well or they have no power to run their radios. Our wind indicator continues to read incorrectly but S/v Chrisandaversdream report gusts over 100mph. In time we will learn just how high the winds managed to build but in the end we get what we get and knowing exactly what it's blowing doesn't change things much.
<br>
<br> The report that just came across the VHF said the winds should clock around to come from the north in about 1 hour and then we can expect about two more hours of topped out winds then things should begin to settle down. Oh and we still have no idea if the surge boom was repaired or not but I guess we will know as soon as the winds clock around to the point that the ocean swell is poised to howl directly down our throats. That could be fun in the coming dark. And yes I was a teensy bit scared but feel better now. Kat
<br>
<br>8:15pm
<br>
<br> It looks like the worst of the wind has passed us by. The needle on our barometer dropped like a rock over the last ten hours from 1018 to roughly 960 (the barometric pressure in the eye was reported to be 940 so we were darn close to the center of things) but is on the rise again at an equally fast pace. We are fine and even drying out a bit. The winds are still roaring at about 40 mph with pretty regular gusts into the 60's but in comparison to what we've just been through it sounds downright quiet out there. It will take daylight and much lighter winds before we can really check for damages but all in all it looks like we have fared extremely well.
<br>
<br> We still have the back half of the hurricane to weather but really our only worry is the possibility for surge. The forecast calls for a 4 meter ocean storm surge -the surge is what causes flooding in cyclones- and it remains to be seen how much of that will breach the outer reefs and islands to work it's way to our home. High tide comes in a couple hours and the worst of the surge generally comes after the eye of the storm has passed so the flooding that will hit Viti Levu is yet to come. It is dark out now and it will be much harder to judge what we should do with our lines to combat any swell inside the marina. Bill always looking ahead put 50 foot lines on the quay side for just this eventuality. If we get a 12 foot surge we have 30 feet of line to use for adjustments. Not my fort-ay for sure but we will do our best to finesse the lines as best we can for whatever comes our way.
<br> The water in the marina is now filled with debris: plastic bottles, tree branches, leaves, bits of rope, pieces of wood and at least one 55 gallon drum. So wish us luck in the dark tonight. Kat
<br>
<br>11:30pm
<br>
<br> Thankfully no huge surge made it into our inner sanctum though it looked like the tide was high (the highest we had ever seen it) in our little boat basin several hours after official high tide. We were lucky, extremely lucky. It sure looks as if Bills decision to re-tie the boats to either side of us made a difference in our outcome. I'm exhausted and since the winds have lowered enough that I might be able to get a bit of sleep I'm going to do just that. Kat
<br>
<br>----------
<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-58008204408810674862012-12-19T00:45:00.001+01:002012-12-19T00:46:04.079+01:002012, 12-16 More on Evan2012, 12-16 Tropical Cyclone Evan
<br>
<br> Evans predicted path has now shifted a bit south which means we are soon to experience a bit more than was anticipated at the time I wrote to you yesterday. The models now show us firmly in the 50nmph band rather than the 35nmph that Bill was hoping for. Sometime in the next hour marina staff will drag the surge protection boom across the entrance to the marina and once it is in place the marina will be closed to any more incoming traffic.
<br>
<br> It is hot and humid and strangely still inside the marina right now but we should soon begin to feel the edges of the storm. The winds are forecast to build through the night and by day break our wind instruments should be showing us at least 35nmph. Then Evans true colors will present tomorrow when we will find out just how well all of our preparations will hold up.
<br>
<br> We spent a total of three full days in sweltering heat preparing for Evan. Island Bound is ready and so are we. We took things in steps first taking care of the absolutely must do items, then switching gears in anticipation of sustained 35nmph winds. Then today we redoubled our efforts in anticipation of a full on hit -just in case. The marina staff has been working tirelessly and so have almost all of the residents. In the end it felt like we spent as much energy working on other peoples boats as we did on Island Bound. Lucky us two boats on either side of us are unattended.
<br>
<br> Of the four boats next to us three were well prepared and just needed a few tweaks but one -which should be upwind of us for the biggest hit of the storm- was left basically unprepared despite the fact that all boat owners are required by contract to be left in cyclone ready condition anytime they are left unattended. The boat was covered with very flimsy tarps and once we began unhooking the tarps in order to help the marina staff attach the anchor chain to the central cyclone ring we discovered there was all sorts of junk littering the decks.
<br>
<br> I found life preservers, bits of wood, numerous four foot lengths of four inch hose, six empty diesel cans, lengths of plywood, plastic tubs, two dock boxes with heavy hinged lids left loose with no tie down or locks and a broken wooden oar. Every last bit is a potential damaging projectile in high winds. The anchor chain was not left prepped for attachment to the cyclone ring and and there are only two flat fenders on each side despite the fact that this is a 54 foot, 30 ton giant. Needless to say we were glad we were finished with our own preparation in time to do what we could for our neighbor. Truthfully we would have rather been sitting at the Boat Shed Restaurant drinking an icy cold soda and lime!
<br>
<br> To prepare we added two additional lines with four foot chain segments quay side where the lines touch the concrete quay and added chafe gear -lengths of fire hose- to all the critical spots. On the bow we doubled our lines from two to four and added chafe gear there as well. Thanks again to Doug and Ruth on Angelique who gifted the fire hose to use years ago way back when we all lived on F-dock. I knew I kept packing it around for a good reason! Everything that can come off outside is now inside and everything that couldn't be removed is tied down. I've packed a small ditch bag with passports and boat papers and have room left over to add things as I think of them so we're ready to run for high ground if there is any physical danger.
<br>
<br> Some of you may think we're crazy to plan on staying on the boat during the cyclone but don't forget Island Bound was designed for all that the oceans can dish out. We are far better off on board than we would be any place else on the island. We are fully self contained: we will have power while the rest of the island remains dark for days to come, we have cooking gas and a fridge full of food and cold drinks, we have plenty of water, a library of music and movies to keep us entertained and I even managed to get the boat clean despite the work we had to do. Now I guess it's time to sit back and rest. Talk to you soon. Kat
<br>
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<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-73067824763019457512012-12-19T00:45:00.000+01:002012-12-19T00:46:03.601+01:002012, 12-15 Tropical Storm Headed Our Way.2012, 12-15 Vuda Marina, Fiji
<br>
<br> Hi everyone. Just wanted to touch bases now before cyclone Evan is due to arrive. We've been hard at work getting Island Bound ready for whatever comes. Our plan is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. The most recent computer models show Evan passing to the north of Viti Levu Island where Vuda marina sits but of course all we have is models so we will only know the real path after the fact.
<br>
<br> Vuda is the safest place for us to be in Fiji. The marina itself is the only one in the south pacific to be certified for cyclones with Lloyds of London insurance so this is the place to be. The marina staff is working extremely hard to prepare and the work all around us has the place rocking. The marina sponsored a meeting at noon today to go over what we can expect and everyone is working amazingly well together to prepare and plan. We have a working VHF channel picked out for communication during the storm and as we speak there is a team of extremely hot and tired men working on getting every boat attached to the cyclone ring (the 15 ton underwater mooring in the center of the boat basin.)
<br>
<br> Island Bound is prepared and equipped to handle whatever Evan throws at us and in truth we are much better off than most of the locals since we have an independent power source that isn't likely to fail, 140 gallons of water, cooking fuel and stores of food to keep us comfortable and completely self contained. It is however likely that our usual SSB/Ham communication will be effected by the passing storm and the local cell phone company will be first thrown into turmoil and then will cease to function completely for who knows how long. So, once this thing hits we will probably not be able to email or call to tell you we are alright. We will email as soon as we are able but depending on what cards are actually dealt to us it may be some time before you hear from us. We are probably just laying around watching movies or playing cards while we wait for the world to return to normal around us.
<br>
<br> We've battened down the hatches and laid in a supply of mangoes, papaya's and pineapples. The battery banks are topped up so we can watch movies to our hearts content and now there is nothing left to do but take care of the dinghy tomorrow. Keep us in your thoughts...we'll talk to you soon. Kat
<br>
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<br>radio email processed by SailMail
<br>for information see: <a href="http://www.sailmail.com">http://www.sailmail.com</a>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-39175167952787013422012-12-11T22:12:00.000+01:002012-12-11T22:12:25.675+01:002012, 12-12 Watching for Cyclones in Fiji
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> It's Christmas in Fiji. I
know it is because there are carols on the radio and the stores have
decorations for sale and signs telling me what I should buy to make
my holiday special but it is a little hard to get into the “spirit”
of things when the mercury hits 90 by 10:00am.</span>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Bill was off to the
American Consulate early this morning to renew his passport. It
doesn't expire for months but we have to begin working on our visa
extensions which is multi-step process and they won't extend your
visa unless you have at least 6 months left on your passport. So off
across the island -five hours each way- for a day of bureaucracy. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There are several ways for
us to extend our Fijian visa. First we will apply for the usual easy
two month extension which will get us through late March but then we
have to do something more significant. We can fly out and return
which restarts the clock, we can sail out of Fijian waters and turn
around and come back (or visit any other country for a brief stay) or
we can pay $600 each for another six months. Leaving Fijian waters
sounds simple enough but ahah! it's cyclone season and leaving in
March for an ocean passage might not be the safest answer to the visa
puzzle. The other option -purchasing tickets to New Zealand- would
give us a holiday in Kiwi land but leaves us faced with leaving the
boat unattended for the duration of the trip while cyclone season
still bears down on us. We have already had two cyclone watches this
season though neither has developed into anything to worry about.
Each though has been a reminder that to stray far from the marina
leaves us vulnerable to both the cyclones and taking our boat out of
the only place where we are covered by insurance for any resulting
calamity.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span><span style="font-size: large;">taying close to the
security of the marina has cut down on the travel we were hoping for
in Fiji. We've ventured as far as the island of </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Malololaiai in the
Mamanuca group which lies just to the west of us and will soon be
visiting the southern most islands in the Yasawa group but so far we
have stayed pretty close to home. We had counted on being able to
stray much farther afield but that was based on a history of sailing
in the Pacific Northwest where there are no reefs to sneak up and bit
you in the behind. The reefs around Fiji are numerous and not well
charted which leaves our sailing day shortened with the need to have
the “right” light during travel hours. When you are traveling
unknown waters you need the sun above you and or at your back. If it
is overcast or if the sun is in front of you you can't see the reefs
until your right on top of them. So travel is by where your going
and what time of day it is. We have been laying down tracks on our
chart plotter (a process of keeping a record of our path so we can go
in and out of anchorages safely based on our own previous passage
route) and that will give us a bit more range but then we are also
limited by the miles themselves.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Cyclones. Everything we do
here is based on the most recent weather report. But it is not just a
matter of if there is a storm. A handful of online weather sights
track systems all over the pacific for us, we track them, our
friends track them, the marina tracks them and then it's a matter of
miles and time. The lows that develop into true storms are a living
breathing thing that is frankly hard to read. Some big storms make a
slow and steady trek across the miles and you have plenty of time to
batten down the hatches. Some build and grow astonishingly quickly.
Many look dire and then peter out all together. They all can make a
quick change from nothing to something or something to nothing while
your happily concentrating on something else. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Truly getting ready for a
cyclone is a lot of work and most of us are loath to cyclone proof
our boats again and again only to have the work be a waste of time
and energy. If we go through the drill of preparing for a storm all
the work must be reversed again to make the boat livable in the heat
and ready to sail again to the outer anchorages. The trade off for
staying in the water and being free to sail to the outer anchorages
in order to beat the oppressive still heat of our cyclone safe berth
at the marina means where most cruisers ready their boat once and are
done for the season we will likely run the drill numerous times
between now and May. We've also learned that though we have a prepaid
six month slip at the marina if we lollygag around when a storm is
building somewhere off across the ocean by the time we make it back
to safety the marina could be closed by the surge protecting boom
they put in place at the entrance to the boat basin. So you better
not be late for the party!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the meantime we are
getting out and about to experience the island of Vita Levu. We have
figured out all the buses and know the way to the movie theater
(movies in English again, yea.) We are slowly learning which shops
have the best produce and which have the best prices on groceries. I
am starting to expand my cooking knowledge of the local ingredients
and we are becoming curry professionals. My roti recipe is improving
and I am beginning to be able to differentiate between sweet potatoes
and parsnips, taro and tamarind and walu and wahoo. Oh and the
fishing has been pretty good on our passages back and forth to the
outer anchorages.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Well since Bill is off
gallivanting around the island I am going to get out the Christmas
decorations and see what I can do to get a bit more into the spirit.
Merry Christmas. Kat </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-6928274969746692012012-10-17T06:22:00.003+02:002012-10-17T06:22:42.407+02:002012, 10-17 Persistance Pays Off
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">2012,
10-17 ........Persistance Pays Off in the End.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
arrived in Suva Fiji with plenty of time to check out the marina at
Vuda Point and then make an informed decision about whether to stay
in Fiji for the coming cyclone season or turn north to the Marshall
Islands as we had originally planned. To expedite things at Vuda
Point Bill took a five hour cross island bus trip to check things out
while I remained with the boat in Suva. He was satisfied with the
details and so returned to Suva after deciding to reserve a spot on
the quay for the next six months. Then by chance we were wandering
through Lami town outside of Suva when we met David one of the owners
of the two marine hardware stores in the Suva area and a member of
the family that also owns and operates Vuda Point Marina as well.
The store was actually closed when we arrived but they let us in to
wander around and we started talking a bit. He was friendly and easy
to talk with but more importantly he was able to tell us a more
about the marina and their policies and what their past experiences
had been with cyclones. We shook hands and took his business card and
walked back to the Royal Suva Yacht Club feeling a bit more confident
with our decision decision to stay in Fiji.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">From
my last blog post you know that I was basically instantly taken with
the place when we arrived. The staff is friendly and warm and knew
our names from day one, the town of Lautoka was easy to reach and has
a great market, the buses are cheap and easy to use, they have movie
night tree nights a week and they have two washing machines. What
more could we ask for? Well, a guarantee that our place would be
waiting for us if we traveled out to the nearby islands to beat the
seasons worst heat. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Our
plan all along was to prepay for the spot on the quay -$2500.00
FD/$1500.00 US- then over the next six months spend most of our time
away from the marina traveling around the outer islands. We knew
from experience that the marina would be blisteringly hot for the
coming months. The cyclone protection the marina offers is here only
because the design of the boat basin reduces the airflow in and out.
Which means all the usual cooling breezes of the pacific ocean are
also kept out. Getting out of the marina would also remove us from
the polluted marina water and free us up for swimming, snorkeling,
walking the beaches and diving while we get better acquainted with
some of the local islanders. A perfect solution. </span>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Perfect
until we found out that despite the lump sum payment the marina would
not hold our spot. They did promise to fit us into the marina in case
bad weather threatens which sounds like a reasonable offer but all
things considered not all of the spots along the quay are equal. We
had managed to land in a spot well away from the channel opening
across the reef while also sitting tucked in behind the widest area
of reef, rock, dirt and width of trees that separates the
in-the-water boats from the open ocean and we wanted to be able to
come back to it. Guaranteed. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But
the marina isn't run like that. So despite being done in by several
days of hot temperatures and high humidity our planned jump to Musket
Cove would have to be delayed while we worked on an answer to our
question. In fact we were starting to discuss alternative choices for
the coming season while we persisted in our quest for a guarantee.
The marina has until now operated by moving boats around, a lot. They
want to be able to move anyone (except the commercial boats who have
permanent spots!!!) at their discretion in order to fit in the
comings and going of transient boats and generating the maximum
amount of income from each few foot wide swatch on the quay. We on
the other hand come from a back ground of always renting an actual
space. You're own little 50'x15' piece of real estate that you could
call home. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Next
we tried the general operating procedure, third world approach: small
well placed currency. It was accepted and landed us the choice spot
we are now sitting in and a big smile but it obviously came with no
true guarantee. Then we tried the office manager Maria who smiled and
suggested we talk with Mo. Mo being the man who previously couldn't
give us any real guarantee seemed a dead end so we moved on. Then we
met the marina manager Adam at a kava ceremony and tried appealing to
his business acumen. Adam didn't think it would be any problem at
all. In fact he said he assumed that we had actually rented a
specific spot and it would of course be waiting for us on our return.
He then had to back peddle a bit with surprise when we told him that
the marina was saying no, that wasn't the case. He was positive and
reassuring but also stated that since he had only been working here
at the marina for a week and a half that he would need to talk with
his boss and see what he could find out for us. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">We
re stated what we wanted: a guarantee that if we left we would be
given the same spot that we were currently sitting in. No different
than if like most of the other boats in the marina we simply stayed
put and didn't travel the islands. He came back saying he couldn't
guarantee us anything but a place. Another day lost. Then I asked
Bill if he had Davids card from the Lami Town marine hardware store
-the guy who's family owns and operates this marina and several other
marine bases operations? While Adam worked to get us a better answer
Bill wrote an email to David. While we waited for something to break
loose we told Adam that we were seriously considering heading north
to the Marshall Islands or even possibly going south to New Zealand
for the season if they could not offer us anything better. Adam then
asked if we were interested in one of the pits instead of a slip
-despite the fact that we had been told on previous inquiry that
there were no pits available- and said he would check into that for
us. We told him that we would be willing to buy a pit if he could get
us on for six months so that we could still travel despite the fact
that a pit is about 1/3 more expensive and we would need to manage a
$400 FD/$240 US round trip on the travel lift into and out of the
hole whenever weather threatened. Another day gone waiting to hear
about the pits.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Ah,
but there are no pits left save one that is reserved but the boat is
still in Tonga and they have not paid any deposit and may not be
coming. He had emailed them and would tell us the next day if we
could have the pit. The pits to be clear is a hole in the ground
where they lower your boat after lifting it out of the water via the
travel lift. You are keel deep in the pit with old tires propping
you up all around -the pit area looks like someone has planted a crop
of blue water boats. It's a great choice if you are going to leave
you boat for an extended time away but a less enjoyable experience if
you are going to try and live on it. It is generally hotter with no
water to cool the hull and you have a tendency to get infested with
vermin like rats, ants and roaches. Most people go in the hole here
in October/November and get back out in the spring. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Finally
yesterday Adam tells us that after talking it over with Tony the big
boss and surprise surprise David!!, we could have the pit that has
now been released (we later learned there is in fact a waiting list
of other boats hoping for a spot in a pit but one was offered to us
regardless.) Then after another day and a moments relaxation into
the whole idea of opting for the pit Adam came to us once again
saying after a further discussion with Tony and David we would be
offered the choice of the pit if we wanted it or they would guarantee
to hold our spot. They decided they would give us our guarantee and
proceed with the idea that they would use us as research into what
impact offering guaranteed spots would have on the marina. They did
ask if we thought a guaranteed space would be worth a premium and we
honestly told them that yes we thought it would, we didn't know about
other cruisers but had we been offered in the beginning a choice of a
premium space with guaranteed in and out privileges or a place that
would change every time we came and went we would have chosen the
premium package. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Finally w</span><span style="font-size: medium;">e're satisfied. Never raised our voices or threatened or caused a
fuss. Captain Bill simply kept asking questions until we got the
answer we needed. By the time the final decision was made we were
actually getting pumped about the possibility of New Zealand which
certainly would have given us an entirely different experience and
blown a bunch of friends out of the water -whom we had said our good
byes too -when they saw us sailing into the anchorage next to them.
But Fiji had been the plan and we are still happy with it. We
assured everyone that they are free to put other boats into our spot
when we are gone and we will be gone a great deal. We know if we came
to the marina and were told that we were welcome but that the spot
belonged to another boat and we would have to move if they returned
we -and everyone we know- would be fine with that. So help
themselves, no problem. The marina has promised to make a sign
saying reserved and an email went out saying that “they (we) were
adamant about having a guaranteed place at the quay” so the yard
staff should consider us a commercial account. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Even
Adam kept a smile through the whole process and so far despite the
meetings and emails and discussions I don't feel like it has impacted
how we are thought of by the staff we interact with everyday. For
the moment we may be the squeaky wheel but my guess is that any hard
feelings will disappear into the reality that to them we all look
alike and so in a few days or weeks the whole issue will have
disappeared into nothing at all. Now the laundry is done, the boat is
clean and we've got plenty of TP so we are off in the morning for
Musket Cove. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Kat</span><br />
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-90226825812420485462012-10-09T06:39:00.003+02:002012-10-09T06:39:30.222+02:00Vuda Point Marina, Our Fiji Home for the Next Six Months
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">2012,
10-9 Vuda Point Marina, Viti Levu Island Fiji</span><br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">From
Suva we sailed around the South West corner of Viti Levu Island to
our new home at Vuda Point Marina. The marina sits half way between
Nadi -home to the international airport- and Lautoka the second
largest city on the island. The marina started as a submarine harbor
during WWII and is different from any other marina we have ever been
to.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> When
you enter from seaward you pass first the Boat Shed restaurant and
Bar sitting on the point. Then a big grassy area of picnic tables
and a large outdoor screen where they show movies in the evenings
three nights a week. Next you pass the coffee shop, the marina
offices, a marine store and a small but surprisingly well stocked
grocery store. Attached is a small laundry facility with three!!!
washing machines, the restroom/shower facilities, a taxi stand and
the security gate for the marina. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> For
the marina itself imagine a cement pond in the shape of a “6”
with the tail of the six being a channel that was blasted out of the
coral reef that lines shore here. The circle of the six is the boat
basin where some four or five dozen boats are tied Med Moor style
stern or nose in to the cement quay. There is a cement path running
the perimeter of the boat basin along behind the boats and a boat
yard off to one side. The grounds are filled with tree's and plants
that teem with birds -starlings, parakeets, lorakeets, numerous types
of finches- and bright white long tailed Tropic birds swoop over the
reef. There is a path off one side that cuts through thick
vegetation to First Landing Resort where we are welcome to enjoy five
star amenities including a couple of restaurants and bars, a full
service spa and a pool. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Adjacent
to the boat basin is a section of marina ground that has been filled
with holes dug into the ground. This is cyclone territory and many
cruisers opt to bury their boats keels in a pit, prop tires around
the edges and then climb in and out by ladder. It's funny to see
them sitting here looking like someone is about to harvest a crop of
blue water boats. There are obviously boaters still living in some
and others have been prepared for the worst and then left to fend for
themselves. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> That
is why we are here, Vuda Point is reputed to be the best cyclone hole
in this area of the South Pacific. For those not in a pit the marina
offers some other unusual safety measures. In the event of a cyclone
all of the boats in the marina will switch to stern to on the quay
tying off to the heavy rings and chains attached to the edges of our
little cement pond. From the bow of each boat will run the typical
heavy duty anchor chain sans anchor. Every boats' chain will attach
to a central underwater tie off point, wagon wheel style pulled off
slightly from the quay. Additionally the marina deploys a breakwater
made up of a line of airplane tires that is designed to close off
the channel leading out of the marina and through the reef. This
breakwater is essential in that it should cut down on the the surge
that will inevitably try to work it's way into the marina. Once the
breakwater is in place and we are stern too off the quay it will be
impossible to leave the marina and almost impossible to leave the
boat -we will be much further off the quay in preparation for an
actual cyclone. This is the best that can be found in the South
Pacific and we are betting our boat on it. The obvious problem is
that if any of the boats in the marina have a problem they could and
will effect other boats in the marina -like a pinball in play. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Our
plan is to monitor the weather, cruise when we can and flee to safety
when anything threatens. But getting home will actually be the least
of our concerns. In order to really be ready for what may come there
is a great deal of preparation to be done. Our sails will have to
stripped and stowed and the bimini and dodger will be removed as well
as our four solar panels. Everything that can be stowed below will
be and anything that won't come off will be lashed down. Once the
dodger is off we will be vulnerable to rain coming in through places
we have never experienced before. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Oh
and the rain, it will rain and rain and rain. At the same time the
rain is coming down it will be hot - hot and muggy hot. Black mold
will be growing on the inside of the boat from the heat and the
humidity and during the guaranteed stormy weather every door, hatch
and port will be dogged down tight. A new acquaintance warned me
yesterday that even the cockroaches suffer from the cyclones.
Desperate for dry land they will come scampering up our mooring lines
looking for a dry home. Ewwwwww! But we cruisers are a pretty
tenacious bunch. I have talked to couples who have prepared four
times in one season for a coming hurricane or cyclone. Most have
never seen winds above 50mph! I'm counting on that statistic proving
out.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Again
the upside is that between the weather that is surely coming our
extended stay will allow us to discover a Fiji most travelers never
experience. Fiji's cruising choices are wide -multiple island groups,
huge barrier reefs, vibrant cities and unspoiled beeches, exquisite
snorkeling and world class diving- with enough to do and see to keep
us busy for a years. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Travel
is all about experiencing life in a new way and Vuda Point promises
to give us plenty of new experiences. From the moment we motored
into the cut I've had a great feeling about this place. It felt like
home to me like nothing else has since we first moved into Shilshole
Bay Marina. Already half of the staff knows us by name and we are
meeting our neighbors more every day. We've begun working our way
through the to-do list and Gordon the Gekko seems to have settled
into his new job with us as bug control patrol. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Bula!
Kat</span><br />
Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-39194715105754701112012-10-07T11:52:00.002+02:002012-10-07T12:00:35.671+02:00October 1, 2012 You Gotta Love Fiji. Since the early days of planning for our cruising life people have been telling us not to miss Fiji. They said we were going to love it there, had to visit Fiji, could easily spend months in Fiji, don't miss Fiji!!! They were absolutely right – on our first trip into town I was completely captivated by the sights and sounds around me. Even the bus ride was great. We caught the bus into Suva right in front of the Royal Suva Yacht Club where we had left our dinghy and the 15 minute trip costs a mere 45 cents US. The mostly open air covered buses run seven days a week from sun-up till ten pm and if your feeling flush a taxi ride back will only set you back about $1.80!<br />
<br />
In town the buses converge at the main depot just next to the main market where you unload amidst dozens of other buses and taxis. The platforms are thick with business men and women and the throngs of local women on their way home from the market or grocery shops. Twice a day the place explodes with thousands of school children filtering through either coming or going each wearing their own schools distinct uniform.
<br />
<br />
Amidst the travelers move a whole world of beggars and peddlers typical to a large third world city. There are snack peddlers and shoe shine men, stands selling fruit juice and tiny carts filled with Chinese foods. Rushing through it all are the wheelbarrow men who deliver goods from the area shops directly to your platform. Lining the edges of the depot are small stands in long rows selling curry and drinks, shoe repair and Bollywood D VD’s.
<br />
<br />
The main farmers market is a permanent two story affair the size of a football field. Cement walls and floor filled edge to edge with fruit and vegetable sellers, stands filled with fresh eggs, take away food and prepared portions of fruit. There is a distinct separation between Indian merchants and Fijians but for as far as the eye can see there are things to buy. There are pile after pile of mango, papaya, watermelon, banana, coconut, apples and oranges. The air is filled with the scent of lemon grass and ginger and there are colorful pyramids of tomato and eggplant that vi for attention with pumpkins, squash, sweet potato, new potato and okra. Huge piles of several types of root vegetables who's names I don't know are continuously hauled away strung over wooden poles and virtually everything was picked that very morning.<br />
<br />
Up a long flight of cement stairs is home to the spice merchants and kava sellers. Here is where you find mounds of brown potatoes and huge stores of yellow onion piled in tight with sacks of lentils, popcorn, dried peas and beans, mule sized packages of almonds, cashews, cinnamon sticks and sultanas. There is dried ginger, smoked paprika,dried chili peppers and little bowls filled with tiny green and red peppers along with plastic bags spilling over with a dozen or so separate ingredients each cook uses to fashion their own special curry.
It's here in the second story of the market where we will buy our sevusevu kava for gifting as we travel around the country. <br />
<br />
Kava is a local “grog”made from the pounded mashed root of the kava plant. It produces a slight tranquilizing effect and numbs the lips and tongue. Originally it was made by chewing the roots into a pulp and spitting it back into a special wooden Kava bowl where the resultant grog would be poured into coconut shells and passed around during a kava ceremony. Now days there are kava joints you can go to and spend your day getting loaded, buy it pre-made in take away containers or grind up your own at home. There are “brands” of kava from specific regions with their own reputations but most of the kava is made from powdered root bought by the bagful.<br />
<br />
For the offering of sevusevu which is still practiced mostly in the more remote villages the correct form is still generally a 2 kilo bunch of whole kava ears and gnarly root wrapped up in newspaper with colorful ribbon wrapped round the paper to keep it all in a neat package. Their were maybe 20 different sellers all selling your choice of whole plant sevusevu packages, “ears” -just the wide part of the root severed from the tangle of root and brown paper bags of powdered root. A few of the stands had huge ceremonial sevusevu gifts made up out giant many years old roots. One package had a root and ear bouquet that stood six feet tall! We bought six 2 kilo sevusevu packages, now All I need to do is figure out how to fumigate it before it comes aboard Island Bound.<br />
<br />
Across the street and further into the city Suva continued to surprise us. Past the daily fish market you move into a world of skyscrapers. Walking along the sidewalks feels like New York City with buses blaring past, taxis honking and whistling, pedestrians crossing everywhere with little regard for lights, beggars on every corner and signs and lights everywhere. The scent of warm fresh bread rolls over the sidewalk from the many bread stores, there are Chinese restaurants everywhere, signs advertising nightclubs and cell phone company kiosks everywhere. There is a six-plex movie theater showing Hollywood, Australian and Bollywood films from noon till midnight.<br />
<br />
In the center of downtown there is a big four story MHCC mall with $300 dollar dresses selling next to stands filled with Indian sweets. There are other smaller malls as far as the eye can see and a McDonald selling Big Macs and Fires. Across the river walk from the MHCC mall is “little India” filled with wedding jewelry shops and clothing stores filled with fancy spangled wedding and special occasion clothing and jewel toned sarees that to my eyes looks like they would be fit for a king or queen.
More than half the population in Fiji is of Indian descent and between their dark brown skin and straight hair and the Fijians kinky black hair and dark eyes all around us is a sea of brown. In the big market I was buying bananas from an Indian woman and turned around to find Bill was no longer behind me. I paused searching for my $2 saying my husband was missing and the woman whirled around in a circle then pointed at Bill and laughed saying it was easy “just look for the white, every where is black so he stands right out, see!”<br />
<br />
It's in little Indian where finally we locate the curry shops I've been looking forward to for months now. I'm in heaven as soon as we walk inside the Curry House. The lunch crowd lines are thick but the glass cases on either side of the front counter are filled with delicious smelling goodies. The menu behind the counter has three full rows of curries and accompaniments. Lamb curry, goat curry, chicken curry and fish, roasted eggplant, fried noddles, Masala, tandoori and butter chicken and a whole array of vegetarian yummies and roti: fresh made upstairs roti, yummmmmm. The full meal deal gives you a round metal tray with a small bowl of peas and potato, a serving of lentil soup, a smear of tamarind chutney and a piece of pickled mango along side the matching bowl filled with your choice of main dishes. Bill goes for the goat and I decide on the boneless lamb all for less than $5 US each including a drink! Over our days in Suva we find sit down curry houses, take out curry houses, curry dishes at the Chinese restaurants and curry take away at the grocery stores. There is no “how many stars?” when you order here it comes out as hot, hot and hotter - I don't care.<br />
<br />
Every time we go into town I am struck again by the chaos and the rhythms of Fiji. Such a mix of island time slow down and big city pace. The locals are quick to smile and filled with laughter. We're greeted on the streets with loud hellos, “Bula!” and are often stopped and asked where we are from and how we are enjoying Fiji. Lots of locals guess straight off that we are here on a “yacht” and are always thrilled to find out that we are staying for months instead of days. They show genuine interest in how long it took us to get here and almost always ask why we decided to visit Fiji. When they find out we will be traveling throughout the outer-island groups they are quick to tell us where they are from and where there families are still. The people have been so welcoming and with so many islands to explore and so much to see and do I'm sure we are going to run out of time before we run our of Fiji.<br />
<br />
Kat Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436686445105623945.post-23938265692295617082012-10-07T02:31:00.001+02:002012-10-07T02:31:33.018+02:00Sunday Lunch with Joe and Tiesla, Suva, Fiji
September 25th 2012 Sunday Lunch with Joe and Tiesla Suva, Fiji
Cruising requires a great deal of planning and we gather our information from a variety of sources. First there is the big scale planning: deciding where we want to go and what time of year is best for our passage there, what paper charts we will need and which chips we need to buy for our chart plotter. Then there is the rest, the micro scale of information gathering that for us is usually being done underway right up to the moment we make our next landfall. For that we turn to cruising guides and compendiums, information from other cruisers, Lonely Planet and Moon travel guides and locally published visitor guides. We spend hours on passage pouring over information and now that we are traveling internationally my favorite part of the research is learning the local customs of the country we are about to visit.
I usually end up spending a few hours during our passage pouring over a Moon Guide. These popular travel guides give a good overview of each country from Customs clearance and Visa requirements to how long we can stay and how long the boat is allowed to stay (which oddly is almost always different from how long we are allowed to stay ) along with a list of formalities for checking in and out and for any movement within the country. There is always a section covering the countries history, politics and religion(s.) They chart out the seasonal climates including temperature and rainfall and list information about the flora and fauna of the regions. The country is then further divided into regions for travel. The generally have a good section on what to do and see when we travel with a section on restaurants, farmers markets, grocery stores and other shopping, how to ride the local buses and use the local taxis. If there is a movie theater in town the books even let me know if we will find movies in English. My favorite part of every Moon book is always the section on local customs and culture.
The Pacific Islands have been rich in cultural differences. In Samoa we needed to know that our choice of clothing needed to be modest, that the local churches were a huge part of life there and that is would be considered rude to walk down the street eating or drinking anything. In Tonga we were told we shouldn't take people pictures without their permission and that again the dress was to be modes and also that if we wanted to go swimming in view of the locals we would have to do it basically fully clothed. Here in Fiji we learned about the custom of presenting “sevusevu” -a gift of kava root- to the chief or mayor that gains ones access to the village, its anchorage, roads, beaches or reefs. We also read about the customs surrounding being taken under the wing of a Fijian family and the process and pitfalls of gift giving. We had been warned that if we were invited into anyone’s home we needed to be careful about admiring anything because it would be quickly offered up as a gift. We had read that it was common for Fijians to ask for things that we would need to be careful of being put in a position of giving away things we really can't live without like binoculars, our VHF radios, our outboard motor and even the line off of our boat. Despite the write up and warnings we were still amazed at how quickly we we adopted into our first Fijian Family.
We met Joe and Tiesla as we stood in line at the DigiCell kiosk waiting to buy a SIM card and a data plan. Joe struck up a conversation with Bill and literally in less than five minutes we had plans to spend Sunday lunch in their home the following day. From the moment we met it was obvious that Joe was thrilled to have found us and was excited to be our “first Fijian friends.”
They took their new job quite seriously and immediately abandoned their own Saturday plans to accompanied us through town and back and from one cell phone shop to the next until we had both a working phone and up and running internet too. Once that was completed Joe squired us back through the city to find a doctor -on a Saturday - to treat Bill who now had his own version of my Tongan skin infection. The tropics are tough on skin and we have now both had abscessed skin infections that required antibiotics.
Joe especially took his new job every seriously. On the way to the doctors office we stopped a the bus depot so he could point out the correct bus to take the next day and then at the doctors office he gave us another round of instructions on catching the bus. He kept explaining and we kept reassuring him but no matter what we said Joe seemed pretty sure were were going to get lost. The fact that we had made our way halfway around the world didn't seem to have left us much credit in his eyes but eventually he left us there at the doctors in order to meet Tiesla at the market so they could do the shopping for the next days meal. His eyes were filled with joy when we parted saying “now you will come yes?”
On Sunday morning he called again -we were in town again at DigiCell to try and fix a glitch- to check on us and ask if we could come an hour earlier! When we finally arrived at the parking lot of their home church he bounded up to us and quickly bundled us into a cab and off to their home to meet the family.
The family of five live in a modest neighborhood on a street with rows of carbon copy houses. Theirs is a two room, half of a duplex on a street filled with families walking home from Sunday services. Tiesla was already inside and busy preparing our Fijian lunch while Joe introduces us to Susanne Collins, 8, Joe Jr, 6 and Meme, 4 along with Nana #1 and Nana #2.
There home was tiny but neat and tidy. The main room was roughly 10'x16' and held a single table, three chairs, a small refrigerator, a two burner stove and a separate one burner stand alone cooker, a single counter with a small sink, two wooden hutches one filled with dishes and utensils the other with family photos and boxes of papers and other bits of family life. There were woven mats on the floor and the standard south pacific centerpiece -a large flat screen. We were formally ushered into two of their three chairs (along with Joe) while the rest of the family sat on the floor and spent the next several hours as their honored guests.
We visited and talked and asked questions back and forth while Tiesla finished preparing the meal. She served us fish cooked in coconut milk, a local green similar to spinach, fresh cucumber slices and a chicken and veggie noodle dish. When we were first served we sat quietly watching for clues to try and avoid any social blunders. We waited for the others to begin eating but soon realized that it was only to be the two of us and Joe. Our meals came with spoons as did Joe's which I think he was using as a show of solidarity but he soon abandoned his for the local custom of eating with his fingers. Tiesla and the two grandmothers sat quietly watching us while Joe explained the local custom: everyone else would wait until we had been served, then the children were served and finally we were offered seconds, “please eat you're fill.” Only when we had declined seconds did the women take a plate. Guests get first dibs on everything and if we had eaten every bite they would have gone without.
The three kids were well behaved and also obviously catered too, especially Joe Jr. I brought along a batch of brownies which were a huge hit especially with little Joe who was on fourths or fifths by the time the rest of us finished our meals. Afterward we talked about their lives here and asked questions about the language and then practiced our Fijian. Susanne Collins taught us our numbers and apparently my attempt at twenty something made some hilarious reference to my feet!
We learned about their church, the church's new primary school, the fund raising efforts to build a secondary school and bits and pieces about their lives and their customs. Tiesla's mom, Nana #1 comes every week by bus on Wednesday from Nadi -a five hour trip across island -to stay with the family. She stays through church on Sunday and then returns to her home again. The other grandma is actually not a blood relative. She attends the family's church and though she has three grown children of her own in Suva she spends her family time with Joe and Tiesla.
The afternoon had barely begun when we started to learn our own lesson in Fijian gift giving. Shortly after we had arrived Joe stepped into the second room to get out of his go to church suit and came back out with a mans shirt in his hands. He came to Bill and instructed him to take off his shirt -how do you react when someone stands in front of you and says take off your shirt? Bill did as he was asked and stripped off his own shirt and received as a gift one of Joe's prized button down Fijian dress shirts. He explained that with this shirt hanging in our closet we could never forget him. A few minutes later Bill decided to try to reciprocate the gift. The weather had been cool and wet and he had packed his only pair of still decent Levi's in his backpack as a just in case so he pulled them out and offered them as a gift. At first Joe acted reluctant but beamed and then soon had them on and was strutting around the living room fashion show style showing them off. A few minutes later Bill pulled out a baseball hat that was also tucked in his pack and it too was accepted and worn amidst giggles and grins but then quickly taken off and placed high on the top of a shelf. We later remembered that we had read that as palage (off island white folks) it was considered rude to walk through a village wearing a hat or sunglasses and then realized that in our days wandering around Suva we had not seen anyone wearing a hat.
After our meal we watched rugby, -Suva won, Nadi lost- and gave balloons to the kids. We drank tea Fijian style with milk and sugar and ate “pancakie” a deep fat fried pancake served with a dusting of sugar and nibbled on a typical Fijian snack made up of dried salted peas, peanuts and little crispy noodles similar to the canned Chung King noodles from home. We learned a lot about Fijian life and Joe explained about his plan to buy a piece of property in the spring. He hopes to build a bigger house and start an export business growing and shipping Fijian produce. He said he knew there was a growing community of Pacific Islanders in the states and Australia whom he was sure would buy up all that he could grow and ship. He invited us again and again to come back any time and told Bill he could help with the farm. We could too if we wanted, build a home of our own so we could come and go to the boat and our travels but then would always have a place of our own as part of his family when we return to Fiji.
Then Joe mentioned how nice it was going to be when we all returned to our boat for a little trip. Uh oh, I hadn't prepared for guests or planned any food. Plus our outboard was not working very reliably and ferrying everyone out might be a challenge. Worse, it had been raining with thunder and lightning off and on all day so maybe not the best day for a trip out with the family. No problem, they will wait until the weather has improved and we will all go out for a little turn in the bay.
Eventually it seemed like it might be time to go but it was hard to tell. Were we expected to stay all day? Had we overstaying our welcome? Finally it was explained that it is custom for the guest to ask for release from the gathering. OK time to say our goodbyes. There were short speeches of appreciation from Joe and modest thank you's from Tiesla and finally a tear filled speech of gratitude from Nana #2 before it was time to make our way back to the main road to catch a bus back to the waterfront.
The grandmothers stayed at the house, waving and crying and waving some more while the rest of the family walked with us through the neighborhood -apparently showing us off- and back to the bus stop. At one point on the way Joe said to Bill “let me see that shirt you had on.” So Bill obligingly opened his pack and pulled out the shirt he had worn to lunch. Joe told him how much he would like to have it so that he would never forget us. OK, one shirt, one pair of Levi's and one baseball hat. A few moments later Joe's flip flop broke when Joe Jr stepped on it and poor Bill instantly looked down at his own sandals with a flash of wonder as to just how he was going to make it home barefoot.
What a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday and wonderful to now have someone we know in Suva. We will wait for the weather to turn dry again and then make an afternoon of burgers and chips aboard Island Bound -after we've decided on some appropriate gifts and hid away the things we cannot live without. Kat<strike><strike></strike></strike>Bill and Kat Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09798137898335034412noreply@blogger.com0