Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

In the morning we motored around to the west side of Vanua Balavu and anchored off the small village of Daliconi. We motored almost all the way. For a while we did have the head sail up to assist but this obscured our view of the reefs ahead so we soon furled it again much preferring to see where we were going.

We ate lunch then rested through the hottest part of the day eventually going ashore with our bunch of cava roots around 2:30pm. A lady met us on the beach and took us through the village to the chiefs hut. About 5 of the village elders joined us including the chief to perform sevusevu. In this case an assistant performed the ceremony. (Here they have a local visitor ambassador called Samu who usually greets visitors. He was away so his assistant performed the ceremony). Again, a long speech in Fijian and much clapping which later we learned we could join in. We’ll try next time. We then sat around chatting about where we’d been on our journeys and a little about the island.

We were next invited to have tea with one of the younger looking elders called Isireli at his house. He turned out to be 77 and put his good looks and health down to a cup of squeezed lemon every day before breakfast. We spent a while with him learning more about each other. We learned, among other things, he was with the British Navy for a while and witnessed three of our atomic bomb tests based out of Christmas Island back in the late 50s. We drank a couple of mugs of tea and were given a bunch of ripe plantains.

We were taken back to the beach by Samu’s wife where we were given some bananas. By now the kids were out of school and surrounding us and the dinghy. So out came the back of toffees and they all got once each. They seemed delighted.

Back on the boat we had a very pleasant evening. Outside of high tide the area is very calm but with a slight breeze. The stars were again out in all their glory. The sunset was spectacular.

We hope to go for a walk today although right now it’s pouring down so it may be a bit muddy, we’ll see. We also hope to meet Samu. Some good news is that we now have tracking info on our charger and so far it’s reached Hong Kong. We’ll probably rendezvous with it early July in Savusavu.

As planned we started the day with a trip in the kayak. We ended up paddling all the way around Qilaqila Island to the west of our last stop. The swell was coming in from the North East and we timed it perfectly so that high tide was when we were paddling into the swell coming over the distant reef. We got a good work out. We made one stop for a rest on a tiny beach set into a dark tree filled gap in the rocks.

We rested the remainder of the morning before going for a snorkel just before midday. It wasn’t that good. Although we saw some reasonably sized fish, the coral was sparse and the stinging jelly fish larvae were not. So we cut this one short and headed back to the boat for lunch.

After lunch we up anchored and headed round the corner to Bavatu Harbour. We had received a formal invitation to this island from the plantation owners and we wanted to meet/greet them. The harbour itself is calm and delightful. There are some interesting sandstone cliffs near us giving us clues to the geology of the place. Enormous fruit bats circle our corner of the bay and the deep whooping sounds of barking pigeons echo around us.

The plantation owners house (when they’re there) is set into the NW corner of the bay. Right now there is a splendid ketch stern moored to their jetty. A few of their relatives from Tasmania are over here to visit briefly. We met them when we went ashore to find the owners and/or their representative, Biu. They let us know one owner, David, was up in the plantation in the saddle of the hill which could be reached by climbing the nearby path.

So up we went and it certainly was a climb and a half. In the afternoon heat we were dripping with sweat by the time we reached the top. The plantation itself was a fenced off area that had been more or less cleared of undergrowth and left with palm trees which were the crop. In the field were horses and a small pony. At the far end was a dry stone wall enclosed area with a few small buildings. It really felt like we’d stepped back in time.

After asking one local where David was we crossed the field and entered the smaller enclosed area. There we met David and Biu and signed their guest book. We chatted for a while. They invited back to their home in the bay in the evening and had one of their workers show us the way to the path that took us to a lookout on the west side of the island. We walked this further trail and after another steep climb reached the lookout over the area they call the ‘Bay of Islands’. The view was awesome but being mid afternoon the sun was low down and created a lot of reflection. We decided we must go back one morning. There is an easier trail up to the plantation. We can take that.

Back at the boat we were desperately thirsty as we hadn’t planned on climbing anywhere. We gulped down some refrigerated soda water and then a slow beer. We sat back in the cockpit taking in the surroundings as the bats came out in force.

At 5:30 we headed over to the house and met David and his relatives. We took some wine and beer as gifts and shared some with them. David spent some time with me sharing information about some of the other islands in the Lau group. We have plenty of options. We were invited to dinner on the boat which was a delicious salad and spaghetti bolognaise. When we were tired we headed back to the boat across the bay. With a clear sky and no light pollution the night sky was as clear as it could be.

Mid morning we dropped the dinghy and did the round of the nearby boats to say our goodbyes. We then briefly went ashore to pick up fresh food.

Around 11am we were off. With good light and using our old tracks we picked our way out of the reef and headed north around the fringing reef. For a while we were motoring into adverse wind and current with a very short chop. Soon we were round the corner and had the sails up and sailing nicely.

We didn’t go far, ending up in Naiviivi Bay.

We anchored in deep water in a small bay surrounded by mangroves. After making sure the boat wasn’t going anywhere we put the kayak into the water and rowed ashore with our bunch of kava, camera and bag of sweets for the village kids.

We were met ashore by two small boys playing with toy boats on the shoreline. They helped us put the kayak ashore and earned a toffee each for their labours. They became our firm friends.

They showed us the way to the village. On the way there we met a lady with four children who were removing bark from some sticks which they were preparing for some sort of building. When we reached the headman’s house we learned he was away in Taveuni and wouldn’t be back until 5pm. Our two friends, now with a few more, showed us around the village. We saw where they lived, their school and church.

By the time we returned to the kayak we had about 7 or 8 kids all eager to have one more round of toffees. Once in the kayak we explored the mangroves mainly for some exercise.

We were both feeling quite worn out so the rest of the afternoon we rested. As we approached 5pm Helen wasn’t feeling too well so I went back ashore alone to give sevusevu to the village headman. Here I had a more formal but splendid ceremony. We went into his house and suddenly the room was full of his smaller children and grandchildren. His older son was there too. We all sat down and I offered my kava. He made a speech in Fijiian and in places clapped. When he clapped, all the kids clapped with him. It certainly was a warm welcome.

We chatted for 45 mins or so. We were joined by an Australian whose been living in the village for the last month. He’s involved in a project to rid the island of iguana that were introduced 11 years ago and are aggravating crops and quickly spreading to nearby islands.

When I took my leave his older son walked me back to my kayak and we continued our chat. We were invited back for kava but Helen still wasn’t feeling to good. I must admit, after the nights of parties we’ve had we were both a little worn at the edges and we ended up with a very early night.

We needed it for around midnight the starboard bilge went off. Not because there was water in it. The float switch had failed setting the bilges off and the alarm. I tried to knock it into submission but that didn’t work. I replaced the pump with the spare but that had a different problem – a crack it seemed – so it couldn’t pump out the test water we put into the bilge. The secondary bilge pump took care of most of the water but not enough to stop the switch.

Running out of ideas I put the first pump in to drain the bilge then put the second back in to trigger the second pump should we have a leak somewhere. As I was going back to sleep I came up with an idea to piggy back the two pumps so the good switch is first in the circuit and powers both pumps so we can drain the bilge and have the alarm stop. That will take some work.

Our plan was to leave the anchorage this morning by the light of the full moon. The weather forecast is mixed for our trip east and we can’t yet leave because the sky is overcast. We need more light. So we’re going to have a later start than originally planned and who knows where we’ll end up. In the bay here we have almost no wind but hopefully that’s due to the shelter of the island. If this stays the case out at sea we may have to change our minds. We’ll see.