July 7 – 13, 2015
Musket Cove is so popular that some cruisers like to base themselves there for the season, which ended up creating some issues this season. The main problem lies in the fact that there are only 25 or so moorings, which aren’t nearly enough. The leftover free area is an anchorage, but it’s deep. When you have a lot of boats in a deep anchorage, it’s inevitable that most of them don’t put out the proper amount of scope (anchor chain), which makes things unsafe for everyone.
The other issue is that this area is prone to having windy afternoons. Those at the moorings will have a rather wet dinghy ride to and fro. Those further out in the anchorage will often get soaked. The moorings do cost money, but if you’re on one you’ll have a much shorter ride ashore, and you can feel confident about leaving your boat unattended when those winds get going. Naturally most people would much prefer a mooring.
It seems the powers that be got the idea that it might be nice to allow some cruisers to rent particular moorings for the season. As far as I understand, this meant that while the renters were here; they got the mooring, but when they went off cruising to other places, Musket Cove could go ahead and rent the mooring out until they came back.
This seems like a workable idea in theory, but there’s a major fly in this ointment. Namely, it’s that people generally don’t know exactly when they’re coming back. It depends on the weather, and a two-week trip can quickly turn into a 2-day trip, or vice versa. No one wants to come back and to find a boat on their mooring, either because the owners might be ashore or worse, just won’t move (some cruisers behave very badly when it comes to vacating a spot). It’s easier just to attach a buoy with your name on it to the mooring and “forget” to tell the office you’re leaving. The result is a slew of empty moorings that can’t be rented and a full anchorage.
Meanwhile, a small group on the front moorings (closest to the resort) had formed what I call the Musket Cove Mooring Cartel. The cartel had a kingpin, a very popular and influential boater in these parts, and his neighbors would guard his mooring like a hawk, yelling out to anyone picking it up, “That’s so-and-so’s mooring! You can’t be on that!”
One windy afternoon some friends of ours arrived. They had gone to several moorings, two of which were unmarked but a worker rushed out to make sure they didn’t pick either up because they “belonged to someone.” Finally the office, knowing the kingpin was gone awhile, granted our friends his mooring just for the night. Sure enough, the neighbor came out and yelled, not really caring that Musket Cove had granted them the mooring.
Things came to a head a few days later. Conditions had gotten windier, and people were coming back to get on their moorings. Someone picked up the kingpin’s mooring. The neighbor yelled, but they wouldn’t leave, saying no, this was their mooring. It seems two boats had rented the same mooring for the season, and somehow had not yet been there at the same time. In came the kingpin, and soon began The Big Fiji Catfight of 2015, which took place on the VHF radio for all to hear. The kingpin demanded his mooring. The other boat would not back down. Things escalated, and the lady in charge was called. Amazingly, she backed the first boat and told the kingpin that, in fact, this was not his mooring.
This was one of those tense moments where everyone knows the shit is about to hit the fan, and hit the fan it did! You do not tell the kingpin that he cannot have his mooring! A tirade ensued, which probably reverberated throughout Fiji. Someone actually offered to move so the kingpin could have a good mooring, maybe afraid this incident might upset the status quo. But it was too late: the kingpin had lost his temper. He anchored long enough to (I assume) get the refund he demanded; then left, probably for good.
In the end, I don’t know how much this incident had to do with it, but this season will be the last for long-term mooring rentals. Maybe without the stresses of managing this situation, the staff will be more easygoing? Who knows.
Meanwhile, we went ashore a few more times and found that when the tide is in, the bay is actually really nice. After seeing it at its worst, seeing it at its best was a pleasant surprise. Below, a gallery of photos that sum of the feeling of afternoons at Musket Cove. –Cyndi
