Working the fire in our anchorage!
August 12, 2014

Kadavu Area Fiji

We had a fast, good sail from Suva to the island of Dravuni in the Great Astrolabe Reef area of Fiji. Ben skippered the boat the whole way, always under the watchful eye of Larry of course. He has been able to take on more and more responsibility and really hone in on his sailing skills this season. It has been exciting to watch! I, however, was in bed with a terrible cold. Ugh! I don't ever remember a cold knocking me out like this! And the timing of this is particularly bad as the Astrolabe Reef is the fourth largest in the world and we have been dreaming of scuba diving on it. In case you don't know, clear sinuses are key to a happy dive!

We were happy to be buddy boating along with Buffalo Nickel, and Larry and Ben were able join up with them for the sevu sevu ceremony. (I declined on stepping foot on this island as I did not want to read in the history books someday about how some foreigner had brought this terrible disease and had wiped out a number of people). This was the first small island we have come across that had a small, working generator that was connected to all the bures (small homes) of the village. A cruise ship visits here monthly, and the quickly assembled dock that is put up to get the tourists on shore is stacked neatly by the water. The island just had a different feel to it, like they had it together a bit more - more in touch with civilization.

After two nights and a great snorkel on the reef by the village we all decided to lift our anchors and look for a more comfortable anchorage "sans roll". It's never any fun to rock back and forth from the ocean swell to the point that you start to become seasick!

Next stop, Nagara Bay on the island of Ono, and here is where we stayed for the next ten days or so. What a sweet stop. What a sweet village. As a matter of fact, I have to say I think it has been one of my favorites in all of Fiji. You couldn't help but instantly fall in love with the children, some who would run to you when they saw you and jump in your arms, wrapping their arms around your neck. The village even came with a talking dog, and one of the coolest cats we've ever seen! The chief told us that they only see about 8 - 10 boats a year.

Our second night there we were invited to a fundraising dinner, raising money for the students who had traveled to Suva to play in rugby and a boy scouting trip. All the women in the village cooked all day for our traditional Fijian feast and it was really nice to have a low key meal and discussion. As usual, the men/women/children, watched us eat as their tummies grumbled I'm sure. This is a hard tradition to get used to. Having an actual fork to eat with was a huge treat though!!

Feeling better and better each day we started planning for our dive, contacting a local resort and watching the weather conditions closely. By now we have become quite accustomed to seeing the large plumes of smoke that drift up from the various villages as garbage piles or crops are deliberately burned. But one day the smoke pattern looked alarmingly different. Larry and Ben, going to shore to investigate, ended up going into high gear as an unintentional fire had been started and now threatened several homes. We, along with several village men and children, cleared fire breaks in the dense vegetation, chopped dead limbs off trees, and in a few places Larry started some backfires in the hopes of widening the fire breaks we had cleared. With a very slow trickle of water from the only water source nearby, we were able to set a few buckets strategically around if really needed. It was quite a day, and provided for spectacular viewing from our boat for many nights as the fire spread through the pine trees planted all over the island. It was never quite clear whether the villagers really understood or not, that this was Larry's career for thirty years. They were actually quite apathetic to the fire, or at least we perceived their behavior to be that way.

We fell in love with the chiefs daughter, Joanne, who was eighteen and obviously quite smitten with Ben. She took good care of us and in turn we had her on board for an afternoon movie and brought her along for a wonderful, but cold snorkel. Seeing a giant moray eel was real highlight of this under water experience. Thank you Iris, our good friend on Alaeris, for your keen eye on all things aquatic! Cold you ask, yes - even though we are in Fiji, the air temperature has been quite cool, which makes for even cooler water temps, and the wind has been blowing like stink! I mean howling! Ugh!!

So, after a day of two dives at the pass of the reef we felt like we had accomplished what we had come to do. The corals really were amazing and the experience was great. Once again it was time for a painful goodbye with Fijians who had touched our hearts...and the beat goes on....

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