South Pacific « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

A little bit of relaxation in Savusavu (updated twice)

by steve, on May 11th, 2012 (Fiji)

But not a lot.

All in all it was a good day but it felt, to me, quite busy.

In the morning Paul and I went ashore to formally clear him off the boat. That means I am no longer responsible for repatriating him if he disappears. To clear him off they needed to see a plane ticket which Paul had sorted out the day before. On the way I dropped off our application for a cruising permit. We should get that soon.

We then went next door to book massages for Helen, Sam and myself. As she was free straight away I asked Paul to return to the boat so I could have the first massage and Helen could return for the second. In the end we all had our turn and felt very relaxed afterwards.

For me the afternoon was spent pursuing parts online and repairs.

I rearranged the pulleys we have on the boom using an old slightly damaged one to replace a low load good one which in turn I used to replace the one that had completely broken. Now the traveller has it’s full complement of pulleys albeit two of them damaged. We’ll be fine for coastal sailing.

I ordered the replacement pulleys and spares as well as the rubber piece I had to cut to remove to jury rig the traveller while at sea. I’ve progressed on ordering the batten cars for the sail. I also had to order a sump drain pump for one of our A/Cs as that went a little mental when we ran the A/C while doing a morning wash. Also ordered is some colour printer ink. Even though I rarely use colour I seem to have to replace the cartridges fairly often. We are in danger of running out of the ability to print. All these items will go to our Florida mailing address and be forwarded to us in Denarau later this season.

We also picked up a voice mail regarding Sam’s passport. They don’t accept payment by personal check. Why they couldn’t have told us the first time around I don’t know. We had a number to call to register credit card details which we did straight away. Hopefully no more snags on that front.

I spent some time with Vodafone support as I have no means to check on my bandwidth availability. I am supposed to be able to send an SMS message but that doesn’t work. I went through two support calls and got nowhere. I now have to take my laptop to someone in town.

Both Paul and Sam took trips out on the kayak. Sam landed on the island beside us and tried to reach the summit. He came back in hurry having been bitten by around 20 hornets.

In the evening we ate out at the Chinese restaurant in town. Average food but an excellent price. Can’t complain. We finished off with some ice creams from another store.

I’ve decided that clearing out of Savusavu today with all these pending items would be a little too hasty. I checked with customs and it’s ok for us to leave the port without clearing out as long as we don’t go past the lighthouse at the end of the peninsular. Paul has booked a dive for himself, Sam and me for tomorrow. After this we’ll head out and anchor off the resort for a couple of nights. We’ll return here on Monday and leave either the same day or on Tuesday depending on how things have progressed.

I’d rather have not had all these things to do on arrival but that’s boating for you. It’s often called “fixing your boat in exotic places”. It’s an apt expression.

Here are some pics from our passage and arrival

Sweating it out

by steve, on May 10th, 2012 (Fiji, Kite, Promise)

We were complaining about the cold in New Zealand so I better not complain about the heat here. But it is hot. Hot enough to make you forget the cold we left behind. And it’s humid too being the end of the wet season. Nevertheless, it’s all good.

Yesterday we got into arrival jobs. Once we’d all woken up (I slept very late) we all went ashore and headed off in separate ways. Paul sorted out his flight home and a local SIM for his phone. Helen picked up some food and the meat we’d had set aside the night before. Sam and I set off on a number of quests. We also arranged a local phone number. We also spent some time in the Courts receiving technical support from their guru to get our internet working. The fix could not have something I could have guessed so I’m glad I went. Now we’re up and running. We then took a long walk to the hospital to pay our quarantine fee. It’s really a tax because all the quarantine guy does is come aboard to let us fill out a form. For that we are charges F$172. I asked. This all goes to the government, not the hospital.

Leaving the hospital we bumped into Paul who’d come for the walk. We headed back to town together picking up some ice creams to cool us down. I checked out the chandlery at the Copra Shed Marina in case they had any suitable spares for our damaged traveller. They didn’t. Paul bought us a beer there which was pleasant. Before returning to the boat Sam and I showered at the Waitui marina with whom we have the mooring we are on.

We had a few hours to relax in the afternoon. Sam got on with his tutorials. With my new internet connection I dealt with what the outside world had backed up over the last week and I researched the parts I need to repair the traveller.

At 5pm we had Jack & Zdanka from Kite and Joy & Gordon from Promise over for sun downers and to share information about Fiji. We’d chatted to both of them on the way up over the VHF. They’re both 2011 puddle jumpers having got to know each other first in Fatu Hiva. We’re all on a similar plan this year so we could well be meeting up again.

After sundowners the crew from Dignity headed ashore for a meal at The Deck. The food wasn’t quite as good as last year and the price had gone up but we enjoyed it all the same. By the time we returned to Dignity we stayed up a little chatting until fatigue washed over us.

It wasn’t long ago when we slept with a sheet and two blankets over us and were still cold in the mornings. Now, nothing is required. Nice.

Landfall

by KC2RIY, on May 9th, 2012 (At Sea, Fiji)

Our last day at sea was less eventful than the forecast had led us to expect. The winds had moved a little to the north so our recent easting was beneficial. There were a couple of times when the wind dropped enough so our ETA went beyond 3pm. Rather than risk arriving late we ran a motor to help us along. In the end we arrived at 1:45pm. Within a couple of hours we’d been boarded by all the officials and cleared into the country, wine cellar and all.

INSERT_MAP

All that was left was to spend the rest of the day decompressing from the trip. We all needed it. We took the dinghy to the Waitui dock and checked out the marina. We visited the butchers and had some meat set aside for today when we can return with cash. Next stop was the cash machine and then a chat with the folks at Courts to get access to the chap who can fix the internet connection on my PC. I had managed to grab and respond to some emails as we passed the resort at the tip of the peninsular but my old Fiji Vodafone dongle is not working. I need some local help.

The restaurant where we planned to eat that night was full up with some function so we retired to the Coprashed Marina to decide where to eat over sunset and some drinks. In the end we all ate burgers there. Great spot.

Today we have to get busy sourcing parts, fixing internets, paying bills back home, etc. No rest for us.

NZ->Fiji: Day 0

by KC2RIY, on May 1st, 2012 (At Sea, New Zealand, Sidewinder)

A quick scan of the morning forecasts was not immediately encouraging. The forecast looked better for the afternoon and pretty light in the morning. Not what we wanted as we were eager to go. Another boat mention motoring up to the Poor Knights Islands to do some sight seeing on the way out. That seemed the basis of a good idea. We could do the same and if the wind picked up along the way we’d switch to sailing for Fiji.

Bruce the customs/immigration guy arrived about 9am and cleared us out. He was as cheerful as ever. We headed off almost immediately and motored out down the river against the incoming tide. Once out of the river we put out our headsail to help us along. About a third of the way up to Poor Knights the wind did pick up so we furled the head sail, put up the main and then put out the head sail again.

We carried on motor sailing for a short while towards Poor Knights Islands before I decided to turn east. “We’re on our way to Fiji”.

The wind still wasn’t too strong and whenever we dropped below 4 knots we put on one of the engines to bring us up to 5 knots. We rarely had the engine on for more than 15 mins before the wind picked up enough to turn it off. The sea was almost flat so the going was easy and noone really felt seasick for too long.

The wind direction was as predicted and took us off nearly east. Also as expected it gradually turned and strengthened over night. We are now on course for our first waypoint which is placed to minimise the swell that works its way around New Zealand. We’re making a respectable 8.5 knots even though we’re running downwind. Not our best point of sail.

It’s been cold and wet overnight making the night watches less than pleasurable. I suspect we have another day of gray weather ahead of us before it clears.

All is well aboard.

Our friends aboard Sidewinder also departed yesterday and we’ve been in frequent radio contact with them. Sam received a call from them during his night watch and learned that David unfortunately has some issue with his leg which has caused them to head back to NZ and check into Opua. We wish them all the best. It means we’re out here on our own this time.

We caught a skipjack tuna yesterday. Not our thing. It got tossed back after a gutting demonstration for Sam.

Departure Decisions

by steve, on April 30th, 2012 (New Zealand, Proximity)

Sunday was our last full day in New Zealand. We brought the boat in early and fueled up. This took a few goes as the first time on the dock the fuel line wouldn’t reach either of our inlets. Second attempt we could reach our starboard inlet but not the port so we had to dock a third time to fill up port side. We then moved over to the Q Dock to await customs and immigration.

INSERT_MAP

As of time of writing the above map shows us in a field. Sooner or later google maps will get a picture from after the marina was built so it will then look more sensible.

Helen, Paul and Sam went shopping while I filled in paperwork and collected the duty free. We all returned about the same time and ran into Rod and Elizabeth from Proximity who are also heading up to Fiji (the west end) later this week. In the afternoon we fixed a missing sugar scoop on the bow and prepped the dinghy. We installed the jacklines and the line around the back of the boat we use to hang on to when moving around in rough seas.

That’s about it.

We had our last meal ashore stuffing down burgers and fries at the local (and only) restaurant. No beer or wine to accompany dinner or lighten the evening as it was our last night before passage.

Bruce, the customs/immigration officer is due to arrive at 8:30am to clear us out but it now looks better to leave this afternoon. We’ll have to discuss our options with him.

Everyone is keen to get going but apart from with Helen, I haven’t broken the news about delaying our departure, mainly because everyone else is asleep.

Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Categories

Archives

A sample text widget

A little bit of relaxation in Savusavu (updated twice)

Sweating it out

Landfall

NZ->Fiji: Day 0

Departure Decisions