Two At Sea

September 16 – September 26, 2013

These photos didn’t make it into the final cut for any previous galleries, but I promised I’d post them somewhere. Here, a hodgepodge of photos from our time in Vanua Balavu.–Cyndi

September 26, 2013

By this point we were having a few equipment problems including our pretty-much-dead Torqeedo electric outboard, one of our two low-pressure watermaker pumps was out, and we’d started noticing that the boat batteries were having trouble, too.

By now, I’d winnowed down the list of possible spots to visit to one island: Matangi. We wouldn’t need a dinghy with an outboard because it was forbidden to go ashore. The main attraction, the snorkeling, was within rowing distance. A visit there could be done en route to Savusavu and seemed like an easy stop.

And so we woke up at 5am to make the trip to Matangi Island. After we were ready to go Rich noticed the low battery light flashing on the inverter. He asked me to run out and start the engine. I tried, and it made that wrrr wrrr wwwwrrrrrr sound that engines make when they when they don’t quite have the oomph to start. Oh shit.

From there, Rich went into Mc Gyver mode and used his drill to help the starter turn the engine over. It should have worked. It didn’t. We’d have to wait to get some sun on our solar panels, then try again. While we waited, I looked at the weather and saw a bout of enhanced trades in the forecast. We’d be relatively protected from the winds in our next anchorage but it might get rolly.

With all these negatives, I realized it would be best to skip Matangi and head straight back to Savusavu before the wind picked up. Rich readily agreed; so suddenly we had an overnight trip ahead. It was a disappointing to reach this decision, but that quickly wore off when I thought about access to groceries, terrific eateries, laundry service, the means to get the boat cleaned up, and the internet. We’d been out in remote areas for a long time and it would be great to be back in town.

The sun came out and soon we had enough solar power to charge the batteries and thus start the engine. We motored out around 10am, heading back over the top of the island and though the pass. Good-bye Vanua Balavu. Below, a gallery of miscellaneous Mbavatu photos (click to enlarge and scroll).

A Note About the Mbavatu Yacht Club: We weren’t the only boat to have the frustrations of not knowing the rules for the yacht club. When we climbed to the top of the hill we saw a catamaran enter the harbor. First it went and motored around the yacht club area trying to figure out if they could take a mooring or anchor. They probably tried to call the other boat in the harbor, which was us, but of course we weren’t aboard. Deciding the whole thing was too dicey, they went to the first anchorage we tried and found the same mooring in the middle. No success there, they gave up and actually left the harbor.

Weeks later we met the yacht club owner in Savusavu, and he told us the moorings are kept in good condition and we would have been welcome to pick one up. Well, that horse had left the barn. It would sure have been nice if they’d let people know about it (post a sign at the yacht club, put it in the free Fiji guide handout, etc.). Of course they wouldn’t want people there close to arriving rallies; so maybe it’s easier not to publicize the moorings at all. I will hasten to add that this all happened in 2013. I have no idea what the protocol is now but it’s probably the same.–Cyndi

September 25, 2013 in Vanua Balavu, Fiji

These $100 West Marine folding chairs have been GREAT! We use one at the nav station on passages, in the cockpit for morning coffee and evening sundowners and up on the foredeck when we need more breeze.

This is our second set. The gravitational effect on my slightly elevated mass took it’s toll on the first set after about a year of constant use and 7000 cruising miles. No complaints. We love these. -Rich

September 25, 2013

In the evening we headed out to the cockpit for sun downers, watching the green of the water deepen under the small island next to us. Swallows flitted about in the evening light, and at dusk fruit bats began flying overhead on their evening commute. Our feeling: it’s beautiful here. Tomorrow we’d be heading on, but we very much enjoyed the short time we had here in Mbavatu.

Below, a some photos from both evenings we were here (click to enlarge/scroll).–Cyndi

September 25, 2013

The head of Mbavatu harbor had a rocky shoreline, but a small boat dock made landing there easy. We were able to step off the dock onto a large swath of well-manicured lawn surrounded by trees and a vertical hillside. (You can click to enlarge and scroll through any galleries in this post.)

The hillside was too steep to climb, but someone had built quite an impressive series of stairs that went all the way to the top of the hill. The promise of beautiful views from the top gave us the incentive to climb, and so we headed up. It wasn’t easy, but the view into the treetops provided a nice distraction and lots of excuses to stop and look (aka rest).

At the top, we found ourselves in large coconut palm plantation. It was relatively flat, subtle slopes covered with palm trees, the grass kept well-trimmed by the wandering livestock. We took a guess as to which way to go and made our way among trees and scattered cows. I worried about bulls (on walks like this you want to keep an eye out for them), but luckily we had no problem.

Soon, we came across an area of cottages, the caretaker “village” we’d heard about. No one seemed to be around. We continued on and spotted two nice-looking small houses that we assumed belonged to the yacht club owner. We’d heard they may be rental places, but today no one seemed to occupy them. After knocking in the doors to ask permission and finding no one there, we walked around them.

One house had a view over to the sea on the west side of the island, where we’d previously been. Straining to look over an area of bushes, we still couldn’t see all that much. We did, however, get an unwelcome view of the same species of god-awful spider we’d first spotted in Tonga. Below, some photos of our walk from the stairs out to the small houses including a photo of one of the spiders (palm sized, long spidery legs, big yellow abdomen and lots of inscecty-looking parts—bleh.)

We then headed to another small house overlooking the bay. Again it was vacant, so we walked behind it and found a stunning view of Mbavatu Harbor. Even under the current gray sky and drizzle it made a beautiful picture.

Rich now hoped to find a man named Bui, the caretaker, to make sure it was OK that we were walking around here (although at this point it would be more like asking forgiveness than permission). And so we set out to look for him. A man riding horseback directed us down the path, and we followed it until we came across an outbuilding and heard the sounds of people working (they process coconut products from the plantation). There we met Bui, a nice guy who told us it was fine if we wander around. Good news since we’d already been “wandering around.”

We now decided instead of going back to look for the stairs, we’d head down a long sloping path that led from here down to the shore. In the end, it might have been easier to find the stairs.

We finally ended up at the dinghy landing. In all it had been a successful day: no bull attacks, no spider attacks, successful “sneaking through backyards,” successful view-finding, successful “orienteering” (the NZ term for finding your way around without proper direction), and no caretaker verbal spankings. Plus some beautiful scenery.–Cyndi