Jackster « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Up To and Up the Tower

by KC2RIY, on August 5th, 2011 (Fiji, Imagine, Jackster, Jarana, Osso Blanco, Sea Mist)

At 9am a group of us (John: Sea Mist, Stuart: Imagine, Jo: Osso Blanco + all of us) headed ashore for our hike up to the top of the hill where the vodafone cellphone tower sits.

The hike took us through some very lush landscape taking us just over an hour to climb the 338m hill. At the top we were let into the vodafone tower complex and shown the equipment comprising a wind generator, a vast array of solar panels, a generator, some power/switch boxes and the tower itself. We were then offered the opportunity to climb the 25m tower which was quite a surprise. Jo, John (Sea Mist), Helen and myself took on the challenge reaching the top of the tower holding onto the lightening conductor for support. The climb was tricky as the tower became narrower and narrower as we reached the top making the space we were climbing in awkward. On the positive side it was good to have something at our back in case we needed to rest. The view from the very top was awesome.

By the time we made it back down and to the boat it was already 1pm. We ate lunch then had a brief nap before going snorkeling. Only it wasn’t so brief and and afternoon disappeared. Unfortunately, earlier hopes of a clearing sky failed to turn into reality. While this was good for the morning hike, we are all beginning to miss the sunshine. John and I prepared for a snorkel but it started to rain so we called it off.

At six, all the boats here headed ashore in our dinghies for a meke – a dance and music put on by the village. We met up in the community hall. Here we were given plates of food that had been prepared for us and some delicious lemon tea. The cava bowl had been broken out and the cava was flowing. We were first entertained by five of the younger men who performed an energetic dance largely sitting down.

After the dancing we mingled with the villagers in the room chatting with them while a group sang Fijian songs. The evening ended with the farewell song Isa Lei.

One surprising thing we learned was that last year the bay had no boats visit and the year before only one. This rare run of southerlies has now brought seven boats into the anchorage which is very rare.

There was mild panic at the end when reports of our dinghies drifting off started circulating. I’m not entirely sure what the problem ended up being. I think one had drifted a short distance. Ours ended up being stuck where we’d anchored it. Because the evening had gone on longer than we’d expected I had a bit of a wade out to it to bring it back to the beach. It had gone nowhere. I towed in Sea Mist’s dinghy who was in a similar spot.

Today we’re hoping to go swimming with the mantas and maybe go for a dive this afternoon. The weather continues to be a bit depressing and the forecasts are not overly encouraging. The villagers are planning to put on music and more dancing this evening so we’re looking forward to that.

Where the wind blows (or doesn’t) – Naqara

by KC2RIY, on August 4th, 2011 (Fiji, Imagine, Jackster, Osso Blanco, Sea Mist)

The day started with a dilemma. The skies were gray and it was drizzling. The weather forecast called for the northerlies to turn into southerlies later in the day and for the weather to improve. However, the northerlies had already turned to southerlies and the anchorage was getting rolly. Perhaps this meant the weather would soon improve. We wanted to see the mantas but not in poor light so we decided to wait for a while and see how it played out.

As the morning progressed the chop picked up but the weather showed no sign of improvement. On the first sign of queasiness aboard we set off heading for Naqara on the north side of Ono. The prediction was for several days of southerlies so this was our best bet. We set off and as Sea Mist and Imagine had much the same idea, off they went too.

Naqara had not been on our list of possible places to go but this is how it goes. The weather often dictates our actions and that can bring surprises. It wasn’t far to go so soon we were anchored in a tranquil bay, protected from the chop and swell.

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Ashore we could see a few buildings but there were hints of more behind. It was now late morning. The three vessels agreed we should do sevusevu but decided to go a little later in the day.

Aboard dignity we rested and relaxed. I did a little handlining and caught a small grouper which was eventually released once all had seen it was possible to catch fish.

After lunch we all (including Sea Misters and Imagineers) all headed ashore to see if there was anyone with whom we could offer our respects via sevusevu.

It turned out there was village of 60 tucked behind the palm trees. We were greeted at the beach by one of the locals, Siwa, and taken to the community hut where we gave sevusevu to the chief via his head man. Here the ceremony was taken quite seriously with long speeches in Fijian followed by the formal welcome into the village in English.

We were then taken around the village by Siwa. The real highlight was visiting the school for the 6-12 year olds. 60% of the students were from Naqara and the remainder from the next village having to board each week. Some of the children were taking a maths exam so we quietly left them to it. In another block the teachers organised the children to give us a presentation. We all shared our names and backgrounds with the children and each of them, in turned, shared theirs. Some were bold, many were nervous. It was all good character building. Then the children sang two songs for us which was a wonderful surprise.

For their efforts Anne handed out the sweeties which were welcomed. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the beach. Along the way we made arrangements for the next day, at least the morning. We have a hike planned to the cell phone tower at the top of the hill. In the afternoon we may go to see the mantas.

Back at the beach the locals were collecting coconuts for us. One chap was up the tree tossing fresh ones down and others were cutting the tops off and giving them us to drink. We’ve not had this done since Tonga so this was all a nice surprise too.

Soon we were off back to our boats. On the beach we met the Jacksters and Ossa Blancos who had just arrived with the same need to shelter from the southerlies. It was nice to greet them again. We’ll be meeting up soon.

Back on the boat Anne and John tried out some fishing. John almost landed an octopus but Anne did well catching three fish with the fishing line. Four if you count the rock fish she hauled in which looked remarkably like a lump of coral.

As the sun was setting I took Anne ashore to give the fish she’d caught the last fisherman to go ashore. The fisherman appeared very pleased with the extra fish as he didn’t have too many himself.

We had a quiet dinner aboard followed by cards which didn’t last very long due to tiredness.

The new day has started with better weather. The water is very calm. The skies are a little cloudy which is perfect for our walk. Should be a good one.

Buliya

by KC2RIY, on August 3rd, 2011 (Fiji, Imagine, Jackster, Sea Mist)

In predawn light we slipped our lines and were off out of Suva. We had light northerly winds and hence had to motor south hoping for something stronger as we got further away from the mainland. Fortunately the seas were fairly light which had been a worry for us with respect to Anne and John and this being their first sail with us. Anne did try reading at one point and found herself very disturbed so had to pull back from that.

The winds did pick up coming from more or less right behind us. We had the headsail out for a while to get a bit more speed while we assessed how much the wind may strengthen. It didn’t get any stronger so we furled Helen’s favourite sail, the Code Zero. That allowed us to shut the generator off but we still used the electrics to make a half decent speed south. Then we were overtaken by some very wet weather with very variable winds so we furled the Code Zero and went back to motoring. By the time the squally weather left us we were close to the pass through the reef so we only used the headsail to carry on to our destination.

The best surprise of the day was to hear Sea Mist on the VHF hailing Jackster (but not getting through). We were soon in contact with each other and soon realized we were heading for exactly the same spot. Not only that, Imagine were not far behind. It didn’t take long before we’d agreed a pot luck aboard Dignity that evening.

Needing protection for the evening against the continued northerlies we had all chosen the southerly side of Buliya to anchor and there we did.

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We heard later from Jackster who were also heading this way but hadn’t the time to make it to Buliya before the light dropped.

John and Stuart had already been ashore for sevusevu so we all piled into the Dinghy shortly after arrival to head ashore to offer our sevusevu. We were taken to the village elders by a big chap called Bill (we learned later there was someone else called Big Bill) who were sitting in a house quaffing cava. They accepted our sevusevu with much formality. I got the feeling they were more into something else, perhaps the cava, but maybe some discussion so our treatment was brief. We told about the mantas they can take us to for which they charge a fee. It’s a little unusual compared to our recent experiences but we can’t deny people a chance of an income. We said if the weather permitted we’d like to see them.

Bill then took us round the village. We were surrounded by about 10 small children eager for the small sweets I’d brought. They held our hands and swung from our arms when we let them. We had to wait out some rain before returning to the dinghy. Kidding around I offered the last round of sweeties to them if they heaved the dinghy into the water. Surprising all of us they managed it. I do like to encourage a good work ethic and they earned it.

By 6 O’Clock we had everyone aboard for a very jolly evening. Except for bumping into Sheila in Savasavu once, we hadn’t seen the Sea Mists or Imagines since New Zealand so it was great to catch up – especially to hear first hand Imagine’s harrowing experience getting to Fiji.

By cruisers midnight we were all pooped and retired to our various vessels.

Overnight the winds have reversed and the anchorage is getting bumpy. The weather is not promising for today. The obvious thing to do is to head over to Ono and take protection on the north side. I think this is where Jackster is. We’ll take a view on whether or not to do the mantas today in poor light or try for later.

Viani Bay

by steve, on June 4th, 2011 (Fiji, Jackster, Stray Kitty, Tahina)

Shortly after 7am we were off out of Fawn Harbour. As we made our left turn into the cut we put out two fishing lines and once out of the cut out out two more. The sea was flat and the westerly wind we’d had forecast was there, but it was just one knot. So we motored all the way to Viani Bay. We had one catch, a small Barracuda, just out of Fawn Harbour which we put back. Despite hearing that other boats caught Mahis we did not.

Viani Bay is famous for it’s encircling reef – Rainbow Reef. Famous for it’s clear water making for excellent diving and snorkeling. As we approached we noticed Jackster exiting the reef so we hailed them. It turned out they had the Tahinas and Garimars aboard and were all off diving with the local guide, Jack Fisher. We asked if we could follow them to their first spot and upon consultation with Jack it was deemed ok.

We were soon anchored on a shallow patch on the outside of the reef and then into the dinghy with our gear following the divers up the reef. We were in 20-100s+ feet of clear blue water with a health reef below us. We had the company of a lone white tipped reef shark and thousands of other fish. At one point we saw a turtle. We had intended to snorkel the reef so this lucky opportunity got us in and wet without having to sort out a guide.

Helen and I made the swim all the way back to the boat getting a little stung at the end by jelly fish larvae. A little irritating but ok once you know it calms down fairly quickly. Judy and Colin stayed near our dinghy allowing the current to take them down the reef.

Back on the boat we headed into Viani Bay and anchored near Stray Kitty where we quickly readied lunch. We shared a bottle of wine with lunch setting the stage for a sleepy afternoon. Later in the afternoon our guests headed off in the kayak. It was funny seeing Judy doing all the paddling for a while while Colin messed with his fishing line. I would never get away with that with Helen.

In the evening Helen cooked up another portion of the mahi we’d caught on the way to Fiji – quite delicious.

Now that we’ve snorkeled the reef here we have the opportunity to press eastwards. We like the idea of reaching Matagi to the east of Taveuni and staying there a couple of nights before heading (and perhaps even sailing) back west to the tip of Taveuni and going for some hikes ashore.

I’ve managed to upload four albums of photos for my regular readers a short trip back through the last few entries will reveal them.

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.

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Up To and Up the Tower

Where the wind blows (or doesn’t) – Naqara

Buliya

Viani Bay

Feet on the ground