Hindu Temple

...the community seems to include Hindus as well as Muslims...though I have yet to meet one of them.  Their Temple sits along the road to Abdul's house and I did see someone sweeping the dooway this morning.....the stupa in the background has a painting of Hanuman, the monkey king on it......if I recall my E religion classes.....

Sugarcane train!

If I'm still around when they start cutting the cane and hauling it to the mill in Lautoka, I will get a shot of the cars loaded with stalks of sugarcane.  This is the work crew heading back to town!

Abdul's house

....mentioned to Abdul in passing today that I had a couple of cockroaches scurrying around last night....without missing a heartbeat, he said "well, keel them".....and I responded "I did"!!

Sugarcane train track!

....miles from nowhere....

8:08 Special

So I rode the train into work today!  No seriously!  You might well wonder how that is possible. 

Running parallel to the road to Abdul's house is a small gauge railway track.  It is used by the miniature locomotives that haul the miniature flatbed cars loaded with sugarcane stalks to the mill in Lautoka.  Probably close to par with tourism on the west side of Viti Levu, the sugar refinery is often a bane to cruisers who anchor in front of it to check into Fiji.  The fine black soot from the chimney makes for very messy decks.  

But this morning as I stumbled bleary eyed and coffee less out the front door of Abdul's house at 8:05, running behind my usual scheduled 7AM departure, I found what looked like a caboose with open benches on both sides and the engineer controlling it by a large lever in the center, working its way slowly down the track.  Eyeing an opportunity too good to be missed and thinking how much sooner I could get that long black coffee to go, I waved and gave them the Bula Bula greeting common in Fiji.  I was soon aboard and clickety clacking my way down the track with only one stop and a quick reverse of the engines….to pick up some coconuts that had fallen by the wayside!  These four friendly fellows were a maintenance crew and were examining the track in readiness for the sugar cane harvest that would start later this month and run through to September.  Jumping off at the marina entrance with a friendly wave, I scored my coffee and made my way around to find the crew getting set up for another day on Toketie's decks.  The day went well, lots of sanding and filling and I slipped away in the afternoon for a dip in the pool at the resort, having to buy a cold Fiji Bitter to justify my transgression.

Gecko!

these little fellows love the paper lanterns.....they attract lots of bugs....

Ode to Cat Stevens!

.....or ongoing adventures in Abdul's house

 

If the reference is too obscure, look it up!  No, I have not converted to Islam….yet!  But if these peaceful people are any indication, I can understand why someone might consider it!  Being more of a Hindu, however, in spirit at least, I am finally feeling part of the community.  This morning started at 7, long after the roosters had announced it, and after my daily ritual ablutions, I locked the door and started the trek down the road from Abdul's house.  In no time, a car pulled over and picked me up.  Turned out to be Fayez, Abdul's son.  Abdul 2's son that is, the one who is away in New Zealand at the moment.  Very friendly young man who only drove taxi on the weekends.  Today he was on his way into Nadi to his job selling cars at the dealership.  The Abdul family are definitely movers if not shakers!

A long day at the marina with many ups and downs, not only on the ladder.  The welding job on the bowsprit had been going sideways yesterday so a call to the boss had him show up this morning to see how things were progressing.  A few steps backwards, removing some of the work, and forward again to what we hope is a proper solution.  Interlude on Camdeboo with a screwdriver to check their anodes….seems we will be going ahead with some refitting there as well.

And the Toketie decks were buzzing with bodies but not much seemed to be changing!  Turns out they have been waiting two days for a couple of bags of silica sand to complete the sandblasting (all those spots I found that they overlooked the first round).  A phone call to the boss again, who is in Suva for the week, but still accessible and not satisfied with that, I made my way up to their workshop and found the foreman who was filling in.  More phone calls and the missing sand is on a truck and presto the truck goes whizzing by!  So we hitched up the compressor, grabbed the spare gas can and back to Toketie, waiting patiently in the sweltering humidity of an overcast sky, threatening rain any moment.  But the gods were kind and they blasted away while the welder welded away and they all had to work till dark to get the primer on the sandblasted parts.  So lots got done, we dodged the rain bullet again and all I had to do was make my way back to Abdul's house! 

Recalling how pleasant a walk I described only days ago, I set out again!  The security guard said a bus was due about now but having learnt what 'about now' means in Fiji, I did not wait for it.  Half way down the road, with the bugs chasing me and the darkness all around, a car came up and pulled over….this time it was Ali, Abdul's nephew.  Another very pleasant young man and also in the taxi driving business…but apparently for someone renting Abdul's house, all local taxi rides are gratis!  He pulled over near his house to talk to his friend along the road, a burst of East Indian dialect and the only phrase I caught was 'Temple of Gold'….movie night for the guys….a Bollywood special!

Back in my bungalow, the clink of ice cubes and it's a hot shower and Bounty Rum night before diving into 'Lord Jim' that I traded a spy novel for in the general store.

paradise beckons....

....just beyond the fence!

Abdul's house

For those of you who have been following our blog faithfully these past few years, I apologize for boring you lately with the details of our refit(s)!  I know a couple of you might be interested in the details but the rest of you armchair travellers undoubtedly have been holding your peace and wondering when I would get on with the adventure!  So if you haven't completely given up on me and are still reading this….I will attempt to share a moment or two of cruising life between the cruises.

I have been back in Fiji for 5 weeks now and totally focused on getting Toketie back into sailing trim.  But I realized today on the short walk back to the house I've rented from Abdul the taxi driver, that the refit is just the background to being here.  I won't attempt to describe living on board in the yard.  For those of you who have done it, you will understand, for those of you who have never lived on a boat in a yard…well, I don't think you could imagine what it is like.  You board on a ladder, you can't use the head (that's the bathroom for you landlubbers), you can only run water to brush your teeth if you place a hose and bucket below to catch the water, then of course you have to empty the bucket! 

And it is hot!  Where Toketie sits she very rarely gets much breeze, if there is any in this marina.  A small fan moves air around inside but it is stifling all day and about 2AM it begins to cool off and fresh air falls down through the hatches and I put down my book and breathe it in with relief, hoping at last I might be able to get some sleep.

Twice in these past 5 weeks, I have had to book into the First Landing Resort next door.  It is not outrageously expensive.  In fact, they have a reduced rate for cruisers from the marina next door.  While we painted the bilges, I spent three nights in a bure, that's what the Fijians call a cabin, to avoid inhaling the toxic epoxy fumes.  I enjoyed the luxury of my own hot showers, my own head, and even the odd dip in the swimming pool!  And a week or so later, while sandblasting the topsides, I booked in again and this time they gave me a beachfront with a big soaker tub….I was in heaven!  But like all good things, that came to an end and once more I turned the six volt fan to face me and read my book while dripping sweat onto a towel on board.  I know, it sounds gross….you should try it sometime!

But tonight, after the workers left for the day, I had a bite in the yacht club bar and a couple of cold Fiji Bitters then decided to see how far a walk it was to Abdul's house down the road.  The sun was setting to my left and after ten minutes the hardtop road turned to potholed gravel but the birds were holding forth in great chorus, the smell of the grasses from the fields, the miniature locomotive that hauls the sugarcane stalks to the mill going by and people in their yards doing what people do at the end of the day when the heat of the sun relaxes enough to allow you out to water the garden or burn the rubble.  Several dog packs gave warning but kept their distance as I walked by.

Abdul's house is in a small Muslim village about 25 minutes walk from the marina.  I have taken Abdul's house for an indefinite time, as the work on Toketie's topsides involves sealing all the hatches, removing the portholes, more sanding, and eventually spray painting the decks and cabin top!  Impossible to live on board with that going on so in the interests of economy, I have taken Abdul's house.  Abdul is a fixture at Vuda Point Marina.  He is the source of all things and always there to help anyone find anything they need.  He and his brother, Abdul 2, live about two miles down the road from the marina.  The reason, I discovered, that they are both named Abdul is because their second names, which are really their given names, are difficult to pronounce, so for the 'yachties' convenience, they refer to themselves as Abdul 1 and Abdul 2!  They own the last three houses on the road past the marina.  Actually the road ends just before their houses and the bus makes its turnaround there.  It is a three bedroom bungalow with big fridge and two burner propane stove, living room, some furniture, a fan, lots of windows looking out into the hills, hot water from a solar tank and lots of peace and quiet…which is maybe why I'm writing this.  I surprised a gecko today, one of those little lizards that are everywhere, in the kitchen area.  But they are friendly creatures and have probably seen more of life than mankind.  They also eat insects so we welcome them.

In the five weeks, I have seen friends come and go, mostly go, from the marina.  This is not a place anyone chooses to stay.  It is a place one stays only to get work done or the 'waiting for a part to arrive' syndrome is in play.  No, life is much better out in Musket Cove or any of the hundreds of small islands that make up Fiji.  Barry and Ann on Cat's Paw IV arrived a week ago and are having some rigging replaced that failed on their passage up from New Zealand.  Looked like they got it today so I'll probably be waving farewell to them tomorrow!  John and Linda on Madhatter left a few days ago with three of their children and two partners to cruise the islands for a few weeks.  Then there are the 'characters' you find in every out of the way place!  There is Bob, who is resurrecting an original John Hannah Tahiti Ketch that was going to be burned.  He has it afloat and filled with Fijians.  His plan is to fix it up and charter it.  I hope he makes it!  And Steve just arrived from Samoa where he rode down Main Street taking out telephone poles in Tulak during the tsunami last year.  He has been sailing since the early 70s and is finishing the repairs here.  And the retired criminal lawyer from Hawaii who sits at the bar reading a novel while the beer flows.  And the list goes on….have to be careful or I could end up as one of these colourful characters!

I count down the days till my first mate joins me!  Hopefully I will have most of the dirty work done and we can put things back together and figure out where to go from here.  Our dear friends, Derek and Anthea, on Sukanuk left New Zealand for Australia a few weeks ago but sailed into the teeth of a very deep low and were hove to and blown North and East so ended up in New Caledonia!  Reports are they are enjoying it and with luck we may catch up to them there or in Australia by Oct/Nov when the cyclone season starts again.

So life goes on and I must remind myself that it is not the destination, but the journey that counts….just as well because the destination is a little fuzzy right now!

 

From the Toketie crew 'down under' the equator!

the painted bilge

a shot of the bilge after painting.....major improvement!

progress on refit

Its been a really good week for Toketie.  Deck and cabintop have been sandblasted on all the rusty spots and the topcoat is being peeled away like a layer of onion!  We have a long way to go but so far the weather has been cooperative.

under the big tent!

circus circus brings you death defying acrobatics on the high trapeze.....and sandblasting!  Toketie is cocooned and the dust is flying....."out out danged rust"......

ready to sandblast decks

all hardware removed and everything masked....hope the sun keeps shining so we can sandblast the rustybits tomorrow!

Toketie getting a facelift!

Big day today....stripped all the hardware off the deck and cabintop....including the hard dodger....getting ready to sandblast and paint the rusty bits and give Toketie a much needed paint job above decks!

The Battle of the Bilge!

I believe we have won this one!  From forward to aft, we scraped, chipped and needlegunned everything down in the netherlands below the engine etc.....removing all loose paint and treating the metal, then priming, epoxying and topcoating till everything is clean and new!  Hopefully to stay that way for many years!  And now I have been busy stripping hardware off the topsides as we have decided to repaint the decks and cabintop where the years and ocean passages have not been kind!  RUST BE GONE!! 

It is a hard life, here in paradise!  But the beer is still cold and the people move at their own timeless hypnotic pace so....BULA BULA....and we will get Toketie back into sailing trim!  We still have not decided what lies ahead....but when the first mate returns in June we will look to that....perhaps New Caledonia!  Australia?  So many choices here in the S Pacific!

Meanwhile it is 30 degrees in the cabin and more when the sun beats down...the humidity hovers between high and higher.....but it still beats going to the office!!

"rust never sleeps"

Paradise is not always what it is meant to be!  I have been back in the marina in Fiji for three weeks now and though I have sorted through several issues to get Toketie back into sailing trim, the old girl is looking pretty worn out where the tropics and crossing oceans has taken their toll.  The long neglected bilge area has paint peeling off and the topsides, newly painted when we left Victoria in 2006, are now looking pretty sad with rust streaks and deterioration of the topside paint.  Local resources are scarce and unpredictable so if we cannot resolve it here we are considering another season in New Zealand because we know the quality of work down there.  Meanwhile, the air is stifling and right now the Tropical Convergence Zone is passing over us bringing lightning shows and heavy rain at times.

Fiji refit

This was the condition of the starting battery after water got into the compartment and shorted out the terminals.  Note the brown sludge in the background...this is dirty water!  All terminals and connections had to be removed and cleaned as well as the battery box.

the traveller story

This entry is for my 88 year old dad!  He taught me everything I know about right and wrong and after exploring the world for 62 years; I realize there is not much more to know!

 

……this is the story of a traveller who wandered the world and one day he arrived at the gates to a great city.  Sitting at the entrance was an old man so the traveller walked up to the old man and said:

 

"What kind of people live in your city?"

 

And the old man answered,

 

"What kind of people lived in the city you came from?"

 

The traveller said,

 

"They were terrible people.  They lied and cheated and fought with each other."

 

"The same kind of people live in this city", the old man answered.

 

So the traveller moved on and soon another traveller arrived at the entrance to the same great city.  Seeing the old man, he came up to him and asked the same question!

 

"What kind of people live in your city old man?"

 

The old man looked at him and returned the question saying,

 

"What kind of people lived in the city you came from?"

 

The second traveller looked at the old man and said,

 

"They were wonderful people, full of love and happiness and always kind to each other."

 

"The same kind of people live in this city", the old man answered!

Fiji..again!

The temperature is 35 degrees Celsius in the cabin today. That would
probably be bearable if not for the 95% humidity accompanying it!
But I have fallen under the spell of the tropics once again, the slow
rhythm to life that greets you at every turn.
It took a couple of days to adjust following 30 hours of travel from
Victoria to Nadi. But Korean Air was wonderful and they made the
transition as painless as possible. There are the cruisers who stayed
for the cyclone season and those who have returned. There is the
yacht club bar, the First Landing Resort and all the familiar haunts.
Toketie has survived a direct hit by cyclone Mick and another that
passed nearby. But she is showing her age with the wear and tear of
the Pacific crossing and two passages between New Zealand and the
tropics. The topsides have numerous rust spots and the December
cyclone and its accompanying 100 mph winds drove rain below and
flooded the battery box. I believe I have salvaged the house
batteries, new in NZ, but the starter battery melted down when the
water shorted the terminals. So after two days of cleaning out the
compartment and all the electrical terminals, I am shopping for a
replacement. Sounds simple enough but in Fiji, nothing is simple. It
is difficult to source a new one and requires many conversations and
trips to town. But the house batteries are up and running and
charging so I have a fridge and a light to read myself to sleep.
Fortunately the temperature drops and is almost bearable at night.
Netting is required on all openings to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
The fish on the barbeque was fresh Walu tonight and the beer is cold
and cheap.
So far from family and friends and missing my first mate dearly, I
take a day at a time and dream of people and places yet to be found!

leavin...on a jet plane....

sitting in Vancouver airport waiting to board Korean Air flight 072 to Seoul and then on to Nadi, Fiji!  Five months flew by very quickly but was filled with good memories to carry along on our adventures. 

meanwhile project 'Daydream' continues...good progress in the yard with the mast stepped and the new shaft in place......

S/V Toketie at sea!

A short video clip of S/V Toketie hove-to in Fiji's Koro Sea.  An 'anticyclone' is a localized high pressure system with extreme winds.  We recorded gusts to 53 knots.  The seas were huge and often the crests were blown horizontally!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1W3Q9BaNTQ

"Daydream" gets a bowsprit!

Fitted the new bowsprit on the Tayana 37 'Daydream'!

Toketie enroute to New Zealand

Some more video shot of the passage down to New Zealand from Tonga!  A good 30 knots on the beam makes for good sailing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQFrYRT9bu4

S/V Toketie underway to New Zealand!

A short video of Toketie on the passage down to New Zealand from Tonga.  The 'squash zone' is an area of strong winds sandwiched between a high and a low pressure system.  Makes for 'spirited' sailing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PVpe7_PU2Y

S/V Toketie at sea!

A short video of Toketie after leaving French Polynesia enroute to Niue, the smallest country in the world!  A mild taste of bluewater cruising for all you armchair sailors!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mMoXLj0qQs

Fakarava Atoll

The Tuamotus Atolls in the French Polynesian islands has all the charm of a forgotten time.  In this little anchorage we met these children on the beach and although very shy at first, their eyes grew wide when we asked if they would like to ride out to Toketie in the dinghy with us!  Cruising yachts were a common sight in season so they must have been curious about these people who parked in their front yard!  With lots of laughter, they came on board, had the tour and very politely ate cake and drank juice in the salon.  They then spontaneously broke into song as a way of saying 'thank you'!!  With camera at hand, I was fortunate to capture this 'moment in a lifetime'! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuUtr_k3gXs

Taiohae Bay

The island of Nuku Hiva in the French Polynesian Marquesas is a popular destination and stopover for cruising boats traveling downwind on the famous 'coconut run' across the S Pacific Ocean.  This is a short clip of the entrance to the main anchorage.

Here is a short video of it on YouTube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBdE0DRmzRU 

S/V Toketie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRj5uPz22WU

.....if you enjoyed Toketie's approach to the equator.....you may like the dolphins that accompanied us for part of the journey...

Toketie on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR3KprDrxog

A short video taken when we were enroute from Mexico to the Marquesas!

longing....

I can almost see Fiji!

Vernal Equinox

Twice each year, when day and night are of equal length and the sun being vertically above a point on the equator we officially move into 'summer' in the Northern hemisphere!  In Victoria the event passed with sunshine and warming temperatures!

The Tayana refit project!

....some shots taken in the shed where they are re-glassing the sidedecks....horribly messy dusty environment...the whole boat is covered in plastic...we took the new bowsprit out to do a prefit and mark the holes for attaching it.....

Tayana bowsprit

...with floors attached...

Tayana Bowsprit details

The project takes shape with the tip shaped to which the crans or crance collar is attached to hold the rigging.  The notches will take the floors for the teak grating and pulpit!

Blog news!

This is a note to ask all you loyal Toketie blog followers to link our blog site to any other sites you might use, such as Facebook or Twitter or your own blog.  Seems the search engines like a blog to be active and the more active and connected it is, the better results you get when searching for it!  The whole google search business is a mystery to me and I guess that's the way they want it but I would like to at least get ours to the point where people can find it when they lose the direct link!!! Thank you

The 'DayDream' bowsprit (cont)

roughed out....beginning to take shape...

Update on the Toketie crew!

I guess we usually think of this blog as news for the people back home!  But along the way, we have made friends who may be curious to know how we are faring back in the land of 'plenty'!
Hard to imagine that over three months have gone by already!  Being back in Victoria and connecting with family and friends is wonderful.  The cyclone that hit the marina in Fiji in December caused some anxiety but hopefully no permanent damage to Toketie.
We have been and still are very busy here!  Linda has taken a six month contract with her old employer and David is helping a friend refit a Tayana 37.  The Tayana project is fairly extensive and is currently in a shed having the decks cut up to remove rot that has occurred over the years.  The chainplates are being replaced in preparation for the new rigging and all fittings topside have been removed.  We recently discovered the bowsprit was rotten so I am making a new one as well.
The Blue Water Cruising Association honoured us with an offshore award for our voyages across the Pacific.
But our minds, mine at least, are already beginning to turn to the future and I expect to book a return flight to Fiji in late April sometime with Linda following in June.  The suitcases are already overflowing with new instruments, blades for the wind generator and many other things difficult to find in Fiji.  Not sure where we are going from there!  Toketie has to leave Fiji by November when her visiting status expires.  We had thought of spending another season there but are now leaning towards carrying on West to Australia via New Caledonia and maybe Vanuatu.

In the words of the immortal Bob Marley..."every little thing gonna be all right"!

The Tayana Bowsprit project!

The old bowsprit with rot throughout the center section!

The Tayana Bowsprit project!

Clear, edge grain, quarter sawn old growth fir planks from a mill in Sooke!

The Tayana Bowsprit project!

Laminated with resorcinal to last a 100 years!

Happy 2010 everyone!

Victoria, BC and the year starts in a fog!

tis the season...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

first reports from Vuda Point

Well, first reports are in from friends who rode out cyclone Mick on board their boats in Vuda Point Marina, Fiji.  Winds in excess of 100 kts were recorded in the marina and very heavy rains.  John and Renee on Scarlett O'Hara reported that it was like being at sea, the motion was so rough within the shelter of the marina.  But in spite of this, no obvious damage to any of the boats has been found.  We are having them check to see if any of the heavy rains found its way into the interior of Toketie!  Others apparently were not so lucky.  A cruise ship was blown ashore, two local fishermen never made it home and at least one sailboat in Musket Cove was blown onto the beach.  Another sailboat in the Yasawa Islands group was reported to be in trouble but we do not know which boat or what the outcome was.

Meanwhile, back in Victoria, we have both found employment and will try to top up the cruising kitty so we can carry on with the 'real' life!

And as a special surprise, the Blue Water Cruising Association honoured us at the monthly meeting with a beautiful plaque recognizing our Pacific Ocean crossing!

latest news...

and this just in....winds gusting to 130 kph......heavy rains and flooding....looks like an almost direct hit on Nadi Airport....Vuda Point Marina is very close.....

Tropical Cyclone 'Mick'

The first named storm of the season is now barrelling down on Fiji!  TC Mick with winds increasing to 55 kts or more is passing over Fiji on today.  

For a satellite image try http://www.met.gov.fj/aifs_prods/00sat.html  

Hopefully Toketie is securely tucked into the 'hole'!!!

The treadmill!

Well, we are back in Victoria, BC.  We both have found short term gainful employment so the cruising kitty will be replenished.  It has been below freezing for several nights now and they are forecasting snow this weekend.  The weeks are flying by with family and friends.  All is well and we miss our cruising buddies and lifestyle!  Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

brrrrrr!

Back in Victoria!  Caused quite a stir at airport security in my new duds.....they especially objected to my razor sharp samurai sword but I claimed religious freedom rights and threatened to cut off their heads.....currently hoping to make bail if any of my friends see this.....

Seoul Tower

...not nearly as high as Toronto's CN tower but a lot more concrete stretching all around it.....

Seoul City

...the view from Seoul Tower...the tower is centrally located and the city stretches the same in all directions....

King's consort house

The king's retreat

...only the king can cross this bridge to be alone in comtemplation....

Roof detail at the Royal Palace

The figures on the eves indicate the importance of the building....always an odd number and eleven being the highest

Jogyesa Buddhist Temple

Three aspects of the Buddha.....

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, Korea

Over 600 years of history here.  The king's primary residence.

Seoul, Korea

Arrived in Seoul after 10 1/2 hour flight with Korean Air.  They were very pleasant to travel with, reminded me of when airlines did not treat you like cattle!  Incheon International Airport in Seoul is huge!  Serving a city of over 22 million and acting as a hub to Asia, Europe and N America.  The efficiency was impressive.  We picked up our bags, cleared customs (non event) and boarded a modern bus for the 1 1/2 hour ride into town.  We found our hotel with minimum fuss, people are very helpful though English is sparse.  Leaving our bags behind and a bit weary, we wandered the streets in search of a late snack.  We found a wonderful little restaurant full of locals and had a pile of bar b q chicken and other things I'm sure we'll learn the names of before we leave.  Today we are off to see the town....no small feat!

Toketie to bed!

Toketie has been stripped of all her canvas and much of her gear!  She sleeps comfortably in 'the hole' at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji.  We have packed our bags and fly to Seoul, Korea tomorrow morning where we will spend four nights before flying to Vancouver and Victoria.  See you all (back in BC) soon!!!

gecko!

this is the third guest from the lizard family we have had on board.....they are very cute and cuddly....if you can catch them...and they eat bugs!

Vuda Pt Yacht Club Bar

A wonderful view of the setting sun, Sabrina the shiny black bar cat with the emerald green eyes (must be some Irish there) rubbing against your leg and very politely asking what you are having for dinner and whether you are willing to 'share'.....and the entrance to the marina, at low tide a 10' deep channel cut through the reef.....many happy hours spent here with the sound of the geckos chirping in the beams....

"the grave"

A view of the 'hole' that Toketie will be nestled into next month to sit out the cyclone season in Fiji.  The keel rests below ground and the hull is supported on piles of old tires....

kids on Waya Island!

We met these young pirates when we were walking the beach in the Yasawas!

Back in Vuda Point Marina!

After two tsunami alerts and then the wind going round to the North making our quiet little bay a nightmare, we upped and made our way back around to the marina.....with all those amenities....like hot water, laundry, wifi, the yacht club restaurant....wow!  Now if only there was a bit of breeze and we could breath in this stifling heat!

shakin, rattlin, but still rollin

October 8, 2009

Thursday here, Wednesday back home in Victoria! The rain had passed in the night, washing the decks off for us. So we dragged the dinghy up on the beach and started walking up the hot dusty road to the highway. We were soon offered a lift by the young local Coca-Cola rep. As he turned South at the highway, we flagged down a bus into Lautoka and while making our way from the market to an internet café, we were told by a scruffy looking individual on the street that a 'tsunami' warning had just gone into effect for Fiji. Ignoring him at first, we quickly realized there was something different about the rhythm of the town. Shops were closing down, lots of people on the streets, traffic jams. We were in the grocery store and soon realized that the warning was for real. I told Linda to abandon the cart and we flagged a taxi in front of the store. The radio was blaring with the news that an earthquake in Vanuatu, just 500 miles West of Fiji, had occurred below the sea and was expected to generate a tsunami wave striking the West coast of Fiji within an hour. The taxi crawled along as everyone tried to head for higher ground. Schools were closed and children bussed to safe locations. The wave was forecast to be as high as 8 meters! We had left the hatches open on Toketie and some portholes and were anchored in a shallow bay on the West side of Viti Levu, one of the most exposed and vulnerable coasts in this case. By the time the taxi was free of the town and the traffic jam, there was only 10 minutes left till the wave was expected to arrive on the shores of Fiji. Going down to the boat at this point would be too risky so we got out at a gas station on the highway overlooking the bay. We could not see Toketie from here but had a clear view to the West where a wave was expected to appear any minute now. An hour later, nothing had happened and the alert was canceled. We walked down to the beach and gratefully retrieved our dinghy from the beach and went home.glad to be safe and still have a boat.
Never a dull moment when you live on the edge.of the world!

boat chores!

One more porthole completed! Seems to take two days to get through each one...only two left to do! Weather has gone from bright hot sun to heavy humid overcast with no wind. Feels like just before a heavy rain! But it is quiet in this anchorage and the days slide by.....

tsunami!

We woke up to talk of a tsunami warning in Fiji yesterday! It was cancelled a few hours later with no noticeable surge here. Have heard brief reports of death and destruction in the Samoas and devastation of a village in Nuatoputapu in N Tonga. Reminds us we are travelling in an area of geological instability where volcanos and earthquakes are a reality! By the way, how is that San Andrea Fault line holding up? :)

Sevu-Sevu

This traditional ceremony is still practiced in the remote villages. We were anchored in Yalobi Bay on the South end of Waya Island, which is part of the Yasawa Island chain in the Western part of Fiji. Some of these small islands are uninhabited, many now have rustic 'backpacker' resorts. Yesterday, on arriving, we rowed to shore and asked for the 'Tui Waya' which I assumed meant the chief or headman of the village. The children pointed us to an elderly man sitting on the beach under the palm trees lining the shore. We approached him and were invited to sit on the sand with him. He was sitting with a young woman named Tamma who operated a backpacker resort in the village. This was the first time since we have been in Fiji that we have attempted the Sevu-Sevu ceremony. We placed the bundle of Yaquona root before us on the sand. This plant, sold in most markets in the cities, is ground up and mixed with water to make kava, a mild narcotic that men, traditionally, though western women have been seen to participate, consume socially. Our brief encounter with it in Tonga found it to be very mild. Tui ignored the proffered gift at first and smilingly asked us questions about where we came from, where we had been, our families and Toketie. He told us the village did not have a chief at the moment but after sharing conversation for a while, he agreed to accept our gift, clapped his hands three times and welcomed us to the village. We were now formally under their protection and as guests could wander freely. Tui asked us what we would like to do while visiting and we mentioned hiking, as the island was mountainous, much like some of the volcanic islands in the Marquesas. He said there were many trails and advised using a guide.
Today the sky is clear, the sun is very hot and there is no breeze. It is very peaceful in the bay. We rowed ashore and decided it was too hot a day to attempt a hike. On seeing us, Tui and Tamma waved us into a grass hut with open sides with a long table. He asked if we were interested in any crafts they made and began to spread out before us an assortment of necklaces of amacite, shells, seeds, sharks teeth, as well as some decorative cloth made into sulus or wraps. We picked up a few gifts to take home and walked the length of the beach along the village. Several other families welcomed us, one young man knocking a coconut from a tree and hacking the top off for us to drink. Another older lady took us into her grass hut to show us her crafts, of which we bought a small blue beaded necklace, supposedly mother of pearl.
Later in the day, the wind came up from the South and was blowing directly into the bay. We swung on our anchor close to the reef lining the shore and the swells started to build, foretelling an anxious night on anchor watch and little sleep. Nature had once again intruded into our tranquil paradise.
By first light, we were bouncing in the large swells rolling into the bay and the anchor alarm was going off indicating less than six feet between our keel and the reef. We pulled up the anchor and motor sailed our way back to the big island for the shelter of Saweni Bay where we had been so comfortable before.
So we are back in our quiet little bay and the sun is shining again. We will probably stay here and work on the list of boat chores Toketie seems to endlessly acquire. It is peaceful and sheltered and good holding. There is only one other boat in the bay at the moment but last night several came in for the night and left early in the morning. We can swim here and there is a beach to explore and if really desperate, we could walk up to the highway and catch the bus into Lautoka. But for now we are relaxing and thinking of people and places far away. In November, we will be back in Victoria and that may be a shock to our tropically acclimated systems!
For the moment, we are out of wifi range so we can only be reached via winlink!

September 22, 2009 – Vuda Point Marina, Fiji

After 7 relaxing weeks at Musket Cove, we have finally slipped our mooring and motored in very light air the three hours back to Vuda Point Marina.  Our water tanks were getting low and potable water is a luxury on the outer islands.  Running out of beer and wine had nothing to do with the decision!

The last week in Musket Cove saw torrential tropical rainfall for about 12 hours straight, followed by brisk 30 kt winds.  We had a couple of movie and reading days on board and when the sun came out again, the dozen or more boats in the bay converged on the Island Bar to fire up the barbq pits and share stories about how none of us know exactly where we will go to next!  Musket Cove is a wonderful place and they make it very easy to stay.  A protected anchorage with plenty of moorings, most supplies readily available, reasonable drinks at the Island Bar, and of course the swimming pool.  Not to mention great hiking trails and friendly people.  Our favourite bartender, Vasiti, took these pics of an octopus right at the edge of the bar.  I had seen a larger one in the same area a couple of weeks before, but did not have the camera along.  And we saw the biggest turtle we have ever seen several times out in the bay, not to mention the small fish antics as they ruffle the surface of the water, probably running from barracuda or mahi-mahi.  

But now we are sweltering in the heat in the marina where very little breeze can penetrate.  Yesterday we rode the chicken bus into Lautoka and stocked up on supplies.  Last night was $10 pizza night at the resort next door so a whole gang of people descended on it.  Today, filling water tanks and tidying up!

Only 6 more weeks and Toketie will be 'put to bed' for 6 months while we fly to Seoul for a few days on the way home to Victoria.  Looking forward to family and friends and Mikey's wine!!!!

Octopus at Musket Cove

Our favorite Island Bartender, Vasiti, took these wonderful pics at the edge of the water! (remember that if you click on a pic, it will enlarge it)

Musket Cove Regatta Pirates Day!

After the 'rum' inoculation, things started to get 'out of hand', at least for those who still had their hands!  When this wench tried to steal me, well things just got sillier from there....