Cruiser Connections « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Bazaar

by steve, on May 27th, 2011 (Dreamtime, Fiji, Kilkea II, Stray Kitty, Tahina)

After a bit of a lie in my first chore was to top up the starboard diesel tank. I emptied three jerry cans in then dinghied off to fill five leaving them on the deck to complete the fill later in the day. We’d heard from the Kilkeas that there was a bazaar in town with local dancing. We could see something had been set up ashore from the boat so we headed off to town with the Kilkeas to see what was up.

It turned out there was a fund raiser for a women’s community hall. Arts and crafts from villages around the island were on display and for sale. We were considered invited guests and given a shaded place to sit together. Frank from Tahina showed up as did the Dreamtimes and Stray Kitties. After some speeches we were taken to see the local craft work before sitting down again for a hot drink, cakes and to watch the dancing.

As we’ve crossed the Pacific the dancing has always very interesting, in particular how it has changed from region to region. Invariably the dancing is performed by young ladies and men. The male dancing is always warlike and the female dancing expressive and alluring. East of Tonga the dancing always involved a lot of vigourous bottom wiggling. In Tonga and NZ the female dancing was less vigorous and more nuanced. Today we were treated to toothless old ladies dancing randomly on their feet and a little more organized sitting down on a mat. However, they were hilarious at times making gestures that made the local crowd roar with infectious laughter and us in turn. The troup of senior citizens danced through intermittent rain and ended up inviting a few of us to dance with them.

Then the heavens opened big time turning the field into a pond. We sat through the deluge under our shelter. Once the skies cleared we went to the market to pick up some curios and some kava for future sevusevu ceremonies before heading back to the boat.

We relaxed for much of the afternoon. I spent a little while researching alternate advertising possibilities for the website and have kicked off a couple of new applications. For my regular readers here is my request. If you see ads reappear on the site, please only click on them if you have genuine interest in the product or service being advertised. The ad services are ultra sensitive to behaviors that may be construed as attempts to generate false revenue so clicking on ads to give us beer money will ultimately have the opposite effect. The good news is I’ve learned a little more about all this which can only be a good thing. Later in the afternoon I emptied another couple of gerry cans into the main tank before refilling those two and storing all the filled containers away.

In the evening we joined the Tahinas aboard Stray Kitty for grilled Mahi Mahi which they’d caught on the way in. We ended up staying quite late.

We’re beginning to feel very much partied out and are looking forward to taking a break from Savusavu. We’re looking at a Sunday departure so we’ll sort out our coastal clearance today.

Crew Departure

by KC2RIY, on May 25th, 2011 (Boree, Fiji, Kilkea II, Passages, Tahina)

It turned out Tuesday was to be Paul’s last day aboard. I’d promised him a ride up the mast and as I wanted to inspect my rigging and to untangle our shredded NZ courtesy flag we had an opportunity to kill a couple of proverbial birds. While I was up the mast I took a few pics of the area and Paul did the same. Soon, we’ll be posting pics again and we’ll include a few.

Next, Paul and I went ashore to do our various chores. I took an empty propane tank via Taxi to the Fiji Gas station out of town. It took a while for them to figure out how to fill our tank as their primary delivery device couldn’t fit past the plastic handles on our can. However, a means to cross fill from one of their other tanks and we were sorted. I took details of the taxi driver as we have a soon to be needed ride from Fawn Harbour to the east of us back into town.

Meeting up again with Paul we officially disembarked him from the boat and I paid our customs overtime fees. Paul was now officially, though not yet physically off the boat. Paul had sorted out his PADI course and had his books and DVDs to study. We went back to the boat to relax. At least Helen and I did. Paul got busy packing, cleaning his room then studying.

Just before 1pm I received a call from Albert from the Courts store in town who had a tech guy coming. He asked me to be at the Copra Shed in 10 minutes to sort out our internet connection as the tech guy was in town. I quickly packed my laptop and bit n pieces and was off. In the bar I met the Kilkeas who were also waiting for him. It turns out Albert had brought the tech guy over on his day off. Can’t imagine that ever happening at home. We soon had our USB stick working on the internet via the telecoms service. The main problem is that right now the data service is only GPRS which is incredibly slow. In a months time it should go 3G and we’ll see an immediate improvement. It’s incredibly painful using the internet at these speeds and everything takes time. But we’re rich in time right now so that’s less of an issue.

After testing the service by downloading my emails and a quick scan of the news (end of the world postponed and all that) I bought a chip off the guy there and then with the promise to do the official registration paperwork at the store today.

It was now time to take Paul ashore. I returned to the boat and dropped off my gear. Back ashore we walked with Paul to his hotel on the side of the hill as we wanted to explore a nearby path. From the hotel public balcony over the bay we had a great view of the anchorage. At this point Helen spotted something awry. Tahina was adrift and heading out of the channel. We could see folks going to the rescue. I was prepared to run down the hill and join in but it looked like I’d be too late to make a difference so instead I tried to contact Frank to let him know of the problem. It turns out he was in town trying to sort out his phone and had the chip out or something so he couldn’t be contacted. All was well in the end but apparently it was a close shave with a near miss on the reef. It was a fine example of the cruising community in action. We took some pictures from our vantage point which we’ll give to Frank and Karen later today.

After saying goodbye to Paul we set off to find the alleged path up to a viewpoint. We succeeded in wading through lots of long grass but didn’t get anywhere in particular so headed back into town.

Heading back to Dignity we ended up on Kilkea instead and were plied with G&Ts. By now the news of Tahina was spreading and was much the topic of discussion. We understood that the Borees were very much involved with the rescue. John and Pam from Passages soon joined us but eventually we had to tear ourselves away as we needed to shower then go ashore to eat.

Our plan for the evening was to eat at a nearby Chinese on our own. The Borees soon turned up with the same idea and we shared the table with them. The food turned out to be mediocre and the service lousy but the company great. Bert and Ingi persuaded us to come back to their boat for a while. We did not get back till very late.

Back on the boat we were tired but I could not resist catching up on some of our emails. We’d received a great message from Ben about his new job and wanted to reply to that. I’d also learned that our google ads account had been suspended due to inappropriate clicking. No details were provided and seeing as this happened on the day we arrived in Fiji it couldn’t have been anything we did as we were not connected. I filed an appeal.

In the mountain of email was some other rubbish crashing into our world which I need to sort out. It’ll get done but it was nice to be ignorant of all this for a while.

When we first arrived we were told by a few friends of a local salon who did a terrific massage for a very low cost. We’re both booked in on this for this morning. Looking forward to that.

Feet on the ground

by KC2RIY, on May 24th, 2011 (Boree, El Regalo, Fiji, Gerimar, Jackster, Kilkea II, Tahina)

First full day on land after a hefty passage is always a nice experience and Monday was no exception. Shortly after breakfast I dinghied over to the Jacksters who had arrived the evening before to say hello and give them the low down on greeting the officials. Once back on the boat, we gathered our things and we all dinghied ashore. Paul headed off to do his own thing and sort out his next steps.

Helen and I went to the Copra Shed office to announce ourselves and order our Fiji cruising permit. We then made our way down the high street (the only one of consequence) to explore Savusavu and find the various places we had to pay our bills. Helen, as usual, visited most of the Supermarkets to case out what foods are available and the prices. Most items are available at a very good price so once we’ve depleted our vast New Zealand stores we know we have plenty here.

We bought a SIM card for our phone so now we can make local calls. My phone is discharging it’s battery rather quickly so I may have to do something about that but for now it will do. Sorting out an internet connection became somewhat more awkward. The Fiji Vodafone website claims they have 3G services in a lot of places and 2G for a lot of the rest but this is not the case in Savusavu. I can’t use my phone to bridge data services and need a data card for the USB stick given to us in New Zealand. However, the store that sells the data cards wasn’t sure if the stick would work and asked us to wait for their tech guy who will be here Tuesday or Wednesday. No rush on getting connected is ok.

We bumped into Frank on Tahina who was also on similar errands to us and we walked together to the hospital to pay for the health inspection. We parted company with Frank when we reached town as we had different ideas about where to eat. Helen and I ended up eating at a restaurant quite close to the Copra Shed which served an excellent chicken curry. During lunch the heavens opened. May is usually the onset of the dry season and that hasn’t happened yet.

After lunch we explored the high street in the opposite direction before returning to the boat for the afternoon. Not long after, Paul was dropped off at the boat by John and Pam from Passages and we invited them aboard for a beer and a chat. Paul has now worked out his plans for the rest of his stay in Fiji. He’ll be leaving us on Wednesday to start a very well priced Scuba Certification course here in Savusavu before heading to the mainland on the Sunday night ferry. He’s going to sort out his flight today and once those details are ironed out we can officially disembark him from the boat.

Later in the afternoon I went back ashore with Paul to drop off some laundry. The services here are very cheap and we have many loads to do so we’re splitting the effort. It turned out our cruising permit was already prepared (we had been told it could take days) so I collected that and set about obtaining a permit to visit the Lau group to the east. As we were heading back to the dinghy I bumped into Bert from Boree who was not looking overly happy. He mentioned he was having trouble connecting his PC to his TV again (I’ve already helped him out once before with this) and I said I’d be happy to help out again. The real reason for his discontent is he’d just been given an outrageous price for a ventilation fan for his engine room to replace the one that had failed in passage. I looked at the spec sheet he had in his hand and gave him the good news. Ages ago I’d erroneously ordered a wrong sized fan for a spare and had exactly the part he needed. What a coincidence. He dinghied over to our boat to check it out and it was just the right thing. We did a deal which was good for both of us then headed over to Boree to fix his TV. It took about 10 seconds to find the problem.

By the time I was back at the boat it was time to head back to the Copra Shed to hang out. Brian and Jodon from El Regalo were there having just arrived and soon more piled in. After a couple of beers we all headed to the restaurant over the road where Helen and I had eaten earlier. We ended up joining all the tables in one section of the restaurant. Apart from us, we had the True Companions, El Regalos, Tahinas, Garimas, Jacksters and Kilkeas at the table.

The evening turned out cool and dry. Did we just witness the start of the dry season?

We’ll be here in Savusavu for a few more days to sort things out and recuperate from our passage. We need to fill a propane tank and there’s our internet to sort out. We also need to disembark Paul. If we stay too long we’ll get fat, particularly if we keep on eating two meals per day. If the weather stays good we’ll probably hike to the top of a nearby hill where there is supposed to be a good look out.

Landfall: Savusavu

by KC2RIY, on May 23rd, 2011 (Boree, Fiji, Tahina, True Companions)

Our final approach to Savusavu, Fiji could not have been much better. Granted, it was misty and a little wet at times but the wind was just about spot on. The wind angle wasn’t quite right as we approached Lesiatheva Point so we went wing on wing for about 15 minutes to build a better angle. We then went back to a broad reach and rounded the point instantly receiving calm waters. Even though we were now behind the hills we had a brisk close haul to Savusavu dropping the sails just a few minutes out of the creek.

By then Paul and Helen had set the lines so we could attach to a mooring ball. We’d already decided we wanted to be on one of the white balls of the Copra Shed concession as this was a ‘yachtie’ hangout and we wanted use of their dinghy dock. As we passed by the Copra Shed (before 2pm) many of our friends were already sharing beers and gave us a cheer. We’d heard some of their stories indirectly and although our passage was nowhere near as bad we’d had our trials and tribulations. To be welcomed in thus was immensely uplifting.

We were guided to a free mooring ball by a local in a skiff which turned out to be less than good as we almost fell back onto another boat. We moved to another and secured ourselves. The chap in the skiff said he was off to fetch the officials. I asked to be given a little time as I wanted to attend to our shaft seal leak first and then tidy up (ie, put a few boxes away) before we were boarded.

INSERT_MAP

A few of our friends popped by to give us the rundown on how to greet the officials. It all confirmed the ‘intelligence’ we’d gained while in the yard in Whangarei. We put on our best clothes, made everything nice and waited in the sweltering heat for them to arrive. They took a while so we cracked open a beer each and savoured the pleasure of first post-passage quaff. You have to have traveled a thousand+ miles of wild ocean to understand the pleasure.

First came the quarantine guy along with a medical student just about to graduate from 5 years study at the local hospital. The paperwork was a formality and the student performed the ‘inspection’. In reality this was his way of getting to see passage making boats and we were more than happy to let him look around as well as take pictures with us in the boat.

Next came customs and environmental. They were incredibly friendly but had a mountain of forms to fill in. We declared the legal limit of booze as well as respecifying absolutely everything on the boat that we had declared in our prearrival forms sent a month earlier. The environmental guy had a quick check around the boat and informed Helen of what we were to do with our overseas food – ie, eat it on the boat – and our rubbish (where to dispose – not to eat).

After much wrist ache from all the form filling we were done. The skiff took some time to arrive so we begged their leave to get changed into our scruffs so we could work on getting the dinghy in the water. The health official chipped in and soon we had the kayak off the davits, the dinghy in the water and the motor on. It started first time. The environmental guy said this was an excellent omen for our stay in Fiji.

Their skiff came just before we were able to take them in ourselves so we bade them farewell. We were soon in our dinghy and heading to shore. We’d already agreed to eat out with True Companions. We passed them by and borrowed some local currency (repaid later in the evening) had our quick chat then headed ashore to be welcomed by the crowd in the bar. Hugs and shakes all round we were soon into passage stories. It was riotous. We had a brief downpour and all headed inside for shelter. This was good news for us as it meant the salt was being washed off Dignity.

After a few very cheap beers, consensus eventually coagulated and were off to a surf and turf with the True Companions, Tahinas and Borees. It was one of the more expensive restaurants in town but the meal and drinks for three of us came in under US$40. Most of the other joints in town are, we were told, far cheaper and noone bothers to cook for a few days after arrival. We’re looking forward to trying some of these out.

After the meal we all headed back to Copra Shed and our dinghies and partied company. Despite our growing fatigue we cracked open the best bottle of brandy from our NZ duty frees and shared a glass together to celebrate our passage.

Paul has been an excellent crew member. He was competent with the boat but was quick to ask questions when there was uncertainty. There was no false bravado. We felt safe with him on watch and when working as a team on some of the more challenging moments. Above all he was great company.

After a very, very long day we retired. It was cruisers midnight. 9pm.

None of us remember putting our heads down. Sleep was upon us in an instant and we all slept a solid nights sleep.

We’re now ready for a brand new day in Paradise.

All going to plan

by steve, on May 12th, 2011 (Callisto, Kilkea II, New Zealand, Paleides)

As soon as it was light I lowered the dinghy, took off the motor, removed the chain & anchor and raised it back again. We had a coffee to fully wake us off then it was off to the fuel dock. Raising our main anchor took some time as it was particularly muddy and this had to be cleaned off the chain. All this happened in light rain – a precursor to the front coming our way. Refueling was a little awkward and required moving the boat a little more to reach the port filler. Once this was done we rounded the corner and slipped into our slip.

Withing 15 minutes the front hut. The winds picked up and the rain came down. During this I went to the marina office to fill out the paperwork.

Our friend the port seal leak returned for a visit so before relaxing the syringes came out and a lot more grease was applied.

And that was about it for the day. The weather was miserable, as expected. We were glad of our decision to dock for our final two days here.

We kept checking the weather forecast every 6 hours. Last weeks extreme variability is not apparent this week and steadfastly continues to point to a Friday departure. The only changes have been slight and generally improved our outlook.

At 2 in the afternoon I tuned the SSB into the chat between the folks who left last Sunday. They are all in solid and rising north easterlies, a long way from their destination and no easy way to get there. These are our friends and we certainly wish better for them but it doesn’t look good for some time. It reinforces our belief we made the right decision not to go until tomorrow.

In the evening we went one last time to the yacht club for dinner. The number of cruisers were certainly thinner on the ground than last week. Many have left and others were pinned to the boats due to the weather. We shared the table with Callisto, Paleides, Kilkea and Wonderland. The weather, of course, was the central topic and how it affects our decision to leave. The folks heading to Fiji will all be leaving Friday. Those heading for New Caledonia are thinking about Saturday once the winds have clocked round a little more.

Crewman Paul arrived just before 8 and joined us. Once we returned to the boat Paul and I stayed up chatting until nearly (real, not cruisers) midnight.

Today we provision and do a final contents check on our grab bag. It should be generally relaxing as we really can’t do much more to ready ourselves.

I have, of course, checked the weather again this morning. We should be able to leave anytime tomorrow. We’ll be leaving under the cover of the passing front with northwesterly winds propelling us out of here. Saturday may end up being light winds but then we should have a few days of great sailing. We’re excited.

Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Categories

Archives

A sample text widget

Bazaar

Crew Departure

Feet on the ground

Landfall: Savusavu

All going to plan