July 1, 2013
Today brought us a good lesson and reminder. We make it a practice to close our hatches if we’re leaving the boat for any length of time because sudden, unpredicted showers do happen. There are those days, though, where the sky is so clear and sunny that we feel pretty stupid closing up the boat. The temptation to just leave the hatches open and let the air circulate is strong, but in the end, we always close up. It feels too much like tempting fate not to.
Today Morning Glory, a 43 ft Cat, had volunteered to take everyone on the next group outing. We were going to dive at the Fish Factory again, and then the Cabbage Patch. There were about 19 people on the boat, including Jack. By the time we got to the reef, we had a few clouds in the sky but not enough to be noticeable. We had a couple of terrific dives, while all the kids enjoyed snorkeling nearby.
After the second dive we got back on the boat and noticed the sky had gotten a lot more cloudy and gray. Interesting. Then someone pointed towards Viani Bay and wondered: is it raining over there? Rich and I looked at a thick wall of white that now obscured our view of that area. Not only was it raining over there, it was massively pouring! Mild panic ensued as several people had left their hatches open. They were now desperately calling friends back in the anchorage asking if they could please go close their hatches! (Yea, the friends would get soaked, but better a wet friend then a soaked bunk. Friends can be rewarded with dinners and drinks, but soaked bunks are hard to dry.)
Meanwhile the squall headed our way, the wind quickly picking up to 26 knots and the rain starting to come down heavily. I have to say I was impressed with Morning Glory. A suddenly 26-knot squall coming while anchored out on a reef would be a minor emergency on Legacy. Arthur and Morning Glory took it in stride, and soon we were motoring back to the anchorage without traumas and dramas except for the fact that it was surprisingly cold! By the time we got back in the bay, the squall passed and a couple of people were enjoying freshwater showers.
We were lucky that tonight’s lovo (the Fijian feast thrown by Jack) didn’t get rained out. (Click to enlarge and scroll.)
We were back on our boats, the lovo over, by the time it started raining again. This time the rain was accompanied by some thunder and lightening. The rain lingered into the next morning, but the bright side was the beautiful rainbow it left behind. –Cyndi
