Countries « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Rained in

by steve, on May 12th, 2012 (Fiji)

The boat is now very clean. That’s the best thing I can say about yesterday. The reality is that it rained all day. Heavily most of the time and lightly occasionally.

Paul, Sam and I had a dive planned with a local instructor but that was postponed until today because of the weather.

We made a few brave forays when the rain looked light – always coming back soaking wet. The main one was to load up on gasoline/petrol for the dinghy and to pick up some groceries and a Fiji courtesy flag.

In the evening we went ashore to eat a BBQ dinner at the Copra Shed Marina. There we saw some Fijian dancing (as we did at the same event last year). Not too many people showed up for the BBQ due to the weather.

Sam went back ashore to meet up with some medical students he’d run into earlier in the week. The dinghy is back so he must be. We’ll find out how he got on later.

This morning we plan to move the boat and anchor out at the resort at the end of the peninsular here. Hopefully the weather will be ok and we can call the dive instructor out for our dive. Otherwise we’ll get a couple of days out of town.

Savusavu has very localized weather. We heard from others who left town for the day that they had no rain at all. Last year we witnessed heavy rain over Savusavu while we were anchored out and had blue skies over us. Hopefully we’ll escape the rain.

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.

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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 7

by KC2RIY, on May 8th, 2012 (At Sea)

Land was first spotted by Paul shortly after 10am. Off in the distance Matuku faintly emerged from the mist. It took sevaral hours before we made our closest approach by which time Totoya and Moala were both now visible too. It gave us a sense of arrival but reminded us we still had a days sailing to go. We are all getting fed up of falling over while putting our underpants on.

Being Sam’s birthday Helen cooked up some treats for lunch and dinner. For lunch we had some steamed pork dumplings and dinner was one of her superb curries.

The seas in this area are subdued compared to out in the ocean, almost certainly due to the islands around us. The winds have died down a bit too. Not wanting to miss our Tuesday arrival we agreed to put on the motors whenever our ETA went beyond 3pm . That resulted in about 3-4 hours of assisted wind yesterday. All worth it. We need to stop.

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Rained in

A little bit of relaxation in Savusavu (updated twice)

Sweating it out

Landfall

NZ->Fiji: Day 7