June 28, 2013 at the Fish Factory near Viani Bay, Fiji
We had a great scuba dive at a reef they call the Fish Factory. The fish factory is part of a larger reef that’s called Rainbow Reef and most people dive it on trips leaving from nearby Taveuni Island. Here’s some video…
The video was taken with our GoPro 2 video camera. I’m pretty disappointed with it. While it did a nice job here, it only did so after we took it apart, broke a couple of pieces off the camera and refocused the lens. It seems that as shipped from the factory, they won’t focus underwater in the provided housing. Once they’ve been refocused for underwater, they won’t focus correctly out of the water. There are instructions on YouTube that show the refocusing process. -Rich
The storm had passed, and we had a beautiful day for our first outing with Jack. Today we were going to the Rainbow Reef, first to dive at a spot called the Fish Factory, then to snorkel at a spot called the Cabbage Patch. Gato Go had volunteered their catamaran for the trip, and Jack would take the helm because he knew the way through the reef to the secret underwater moorings the dive operations use.
We had about 15 people on Gato Go. A great benefit of having my dive teacher (Helena on Merilelu) here was getting to borrow the equipment I’d used in my dive course. On top of that, Helena and Kari refilled everyone’s dive tanks while they were here. What a kind and generous thing to do!
It was interesting to get a close up look at the west side of Viani Bay when we picked up some of the other cruisers. Pretty! (Vanua Levu, Fiji)Setting off on our day’s diving adventure. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)At a mooring on the Rainbow Reef. Taveuni Island is not very far away. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)
Our first challenge was to find the underwater mooring. Jack knows approximately where it is, but a good swimmer needs to dive in and actually find it, then run a line through it. Bruce volunteered for this mission and, after some hunting, managed to find the mooring. Tied up at last, it was time to dive.
We jumped in and descended about 30 feet to the Fish Factory. I could not believe all the fish! The soft corals, the colors, and the multitude of fish everywhere made this a magical place! (You can use the link below or simply go to the next post.)
After we finished our dive, we got back on board the boat and motored over to a place called the Cabbage Patch, so called because it has coral that looks like giant cabbages. It was amazing to see, but just as amazing was the reef nearby. So many fish and corals, and shallow enough that dive equipment wasn’t unnecessary. We snorkeled there for about an hour, until it was time to go back to the boat. You can use the link below or see the post after next.
We’d had a wonderful day, and to cap it off we were invited to Gato Go for Craig’s wonderful beef curry and rum drinks. After dinner, Craig suddenly told Bruce to turn out the lights. When he did we saw why: it was one of the starriest nights I’ve ever seen! We could see stars all the way to the horizon, and some were reflected in the glassy water below us. Nights this clear, still, and starry are a rare sight, even on a cruising yacht. Later as we motored back to Legacy, there were bits of phosphorescence trailing in the wake our outboard engine. The combined effect of the stars in the sky, stars on the surface of the water, and phosphorescent “stars” below the water created a magical effect. –Cyndi
We were going to head out for a dive or snorkel today but mother nature had other plans. We’ve been treated (if that’s the right word) to an impressive thunderstorm this afternoon with a bolt of lightning hitting the beach just across the bay from us – less than a half mile away! …
While some chose to cower in the relative safety and dryness of the cockpit…Others… (lets look at this with the super-zoom lens)Others thought it would be a good time to swab the deck (yes, you Bruce!)
We woke in the middle of the night to flashing light and the rumble of distant thunder. We unplugged everything and put our IPad in the oven to protect it in case of a lightning strike. (It’s our backup electronic navigation and chart system). Surprisingly, our laptop doesn’t fit in the oven; so all we can do is unplug it. (Didn’t think about the “fitting-in-the-oven” criteria when buying it!)
The stormy weather was still around when we woke up the morning, and today’s group snorkeling trip would have to be postponed. All there was to do now was sit and enjoy the tropical showers.
In this weather, the winds were light but gusty and all the boats were very slowly turning in circles. For a while, our cockpit was facing the jungle not far from us and it was beautiful sight. Tropical rain poured down, and we’d hear occasional thunder and see subtle light flashes far off enough that it wasn’t worrisome. It felt like being in the Tiki Room at Disneyland! Slowly Legacy continued to turn, and eventually the bay came back into view.
I went to sit outside under the canopy to enjoy the rain. Rich was in the companionway, both of us looking out towards the other side of the bay. All of a sudden, this bolt of lightning came out of the sky and hit the water about a 1/2 mile behind us, doing a double flash. At a speed I didn’t know I was capable of, I was inside the boat as the thunder cracked right over us! Meanwhile the radio buzzed eerily. We looked out and were amazed to see what looked like smoke coming off the land. Someone told us later it was steam coming off the water where the lightning had hit.
There had been nervous chatter on the radio all morning, but it was remarkably silent after the lightning strike. No one had anything to say: I think we were all a bit shocked and subdued.
The thunder and lightning seemed to head away, but for awhile whenever lightning would strike, the radio would buzz, which was unnerving. When I felt it was far enough away, I headed back out into the cockpit. I love a good thunderstorm, but it’s tempered by the possibility that lightning could strike one of the boats and cause severe damage. We were all lucky today.
The thunder and lightning abated, but the rain continued into the evening. It wasn’t too rainy to join some of the other cruisers on Ladybug, though, for one of Rani’s wonderful curries! –Cyndi
A rainy day in Viani Bay. (Viani Bay, Fiji)Legacy’s cockpit slowly turned to face the shore. (Viani Bay, Fiji)Rain pouring down over the hills on shore. (Viani Bay, Fiji)
A Note from the Present (February 21, 2015)…
It’s funny that Cyndi writes this today with hard rain falling here in Coomera, Australia. We’re in between two cyclones as pictured below. The remains of Cyclone Marcia is just now passing over us. -Rich
Cyclone Lam northwest of us and Cyclone Marcia just about over us (what’s left of it).
Tonight almost everyone in the bay got together for a lovo. A lovo is a Fijian feast with the food cooked in an oven made by digging a hole in the ground, building a fire, heating stones, piling up the food in the hole and covering it for an hour or more. The food was excellent and the company was great. -Rich
It was quite a large group that gathered for the feast…
With a lot of people we knew and a lot of new friends who are taking part in the Island Cruising Association Pacific Circuit Rally.
And what a beautiful setting!
We had no idea that we’d have to work for our meal! (Just kidding.)
The food was wonderful…
Everyone thought so! (“Hey fella, are you going to eat all that yourself?”)
It was late and getting dark with a rainstorm approaching before we left the beach. Aaah, another wonderful cruising evening!
