Happily Floating Again
09 August 2008 | Blue Lagoon, Yasawa Islands, Fiji
anne
All frustrations of waiting for a part to arrive are now long forgotten; Magnum was dropped in the water after 12 days on the hard and has been happily floating ever since. The cutlass bearing has been replaced thanks to a fellow yachtie off another Peterson 44, who loaned us one and as usual, improvisation figured the best solution. We sailed off into the sunset, spending the first night anchored just outside Lautoka at Saweni Bay. Our nice clean boat, void of leaves, ants, dust and mud, glistened under the sparkling sun after a detailed polishing of the hull by Uwe. Overnight the deck had transformed into something like a fireplace; the boat was covered in embers swept out from the fire ashore. It would soon be washed off with spray from the salty sea. Early in the morning we made our way north to the beautiful Yasawa Group of Islands in Fiji's north Western coast of Viti Levu. We did the big leap up to Sawa I Lau. Its best to explore the anchorages by going up as far north as you can as the wind is more favorable as you progress slowly south. Also the sun is in a better position moving south to show us where the reefs are hiding under the surface of the sea. Mal de Mer accompanied only me for the entire journey up. We brought our Kava ashore to the village. This is for the SevuSevu, requesting permission to visit the village from the chief. Kava holds a place of prominence in Fijian culture, its mildly narcotic and makes your mouth go numb, it's a root that is turned into a rather foul tasting drink or so we have been told, we have yet to try for ourselves. When visiting the chief, its always a gamble to try and coincide arrival when he's not sleeping. We presented our Kava roots and prepared for the long chant, but we witnessed only a few claps and were told we could now walk through the village if we so wished. A bright young girl was introduced to us, the chief shouted out something to her as we walked off and she promptly told us to remove our hats while walking through the village. She led us around, pointing out each building and divulging a summary of life in the village. She explained with emphasis the contrast between life here and life where we come from, " In the West you work for yourself only, here we provide for the community, a simple life". I silently wondered if there were any rebels who challenged this Che Guevara rhetoric. I would discover the answer later. As she pointed to an acre of Cassava plants, she told us how all crops are cultivated for the inhabitants of the entire village: "The men rise early and fish, the women work in the hut". We walked by the school, and came upon the children on their lunch break, crouched happily by the beach, all chanting the familiar welcome greeting at us: "bula". Lunch is delivered to the children by their mothers who return home afterwards as the children continue their studies. A few tourists are ferried over from nearby resorts to visit the caves of Sawa I Lau. There is a $10 charge to the operator, who resides at the village, but somewhat as an outcast, and therein lies the villain, the rebel to the Utopian communal existence. We discovered from the crew off another sailboat that the so called owner of the caves and benefactor of fees, does not share the same notion of equal dispersion, he prefers to run with a more capitalist vein of thought and retain all earnings for himself and is therefore ostracized by the village. Hmmm! Now, we are lying in the Blue Lagoon Anchorage 10 miles south. We arrived in time to celebrate Uwe's ?? th birthday. There is a small resort at the shore and we thought it was an occasion to splash out and have dinner ashore. Cruising life can rapidly change stages; It can go between good, bad, bloody awful, to just idyllic and here we find ourselves in the idyllic stage. The anchorage is well protected, the water is clear. We are at the exotic location without having to fix the boat! You can swim and snorkel, you can walk around the island, or through it over the hills on a trail. Life is easy and days are organized around the time it takes the bread dough to rise. We grind our grains to flour, and have a selection of bread: Rye, Barley, Seeded, Sourdough. We sprout our mung beans, bake some cakes, prepare creative dinners from our reserves, sit in the cockpit, watch the sun sink down and hope to witness a green flash. The other day a guy came by our boat from the shore, and asked us if we would be interested in coming to a fundraiser for a new generator. "$5 per person, bring your own food and drink, I supply the fire". Sure, yep, we'll come. Only one other couple from another boat turned up. But that did not take away from a most enjoyable evening. We sat and chatted with Sammy, and a little 3 year old kid also called Sammy who Kara played with. Sammy told us about island life and how much better it is to be here as opposed to the big city of Suva where one is bound to get into all sorts of trouble. He also talked about the rise in cost of food staples, and how his oven does not work anymore. The guy from the other boat vowed to return the following day to try and fix it, and sure to his word, he did. Today, we heard we heard that a boat comes from the mainland with some food supplies to the island across here. Our fresh food supplies are running somewhat low, so we thought it might be worth checking out, we might even get some fresh fruit and veggies. We had to dinghy across the reef, the wind was blowing, and the spray splashed over us soaking us through. We were not even sure where we were supposed to go, was it a boat, or a hut on the land? We landed ashore, at what looked like a small backpackers resort, a few guys came out and yes, the rumour was true, we were welcome to purchase some frozen chicken, chalky sausages, bok choy, eggs and butter. No Papayas or bananas though. The ride back was much smoother. So landlubbers, think of us when you get in your car, drive down to the supermarket battling only traffic and rain (and unavailable parking spots if you live in San Francsico). Its amazing how you can stretch your food, be creative and inventive by combining spices, a bit of homemade yogurt and vegetable greens. We have been on a roll of good books, which we acquired while in Europe, an odd movie or two, good wine (imperative), we are reluctant to leave. Should we bother? (Sorry, hope we don't bore you readers)