Week 7, Thanksgiving in Musket Cove

Nov 26, 2014, week 7
Thanksgiving and more


I keep thinking we are going to leave today and everyday there is some reason why we cannot go, usually the weather looks too rough.  Alan is really worried about the cyclone season and is f studying the weather reports, grib files, null school map, etc  diligently.  Unfortunately Fiji weather service almost always concludes their reports with the warning of strong winds and rough seas in the passes.  Sort of like the traditional “late night and early morning low clouds and fog along the coast” that we grew up with in LA.  The problem is we don’t know what that really looks like.  Rhapsody sails quite happily in 20 knot winds.

Finally, finally we left Vuda Marina on Thursday..  There were the usual waves from the staff and “see you soon”  The wind outside the marine was strong with lots of whitecaps but not horrible.  Just enough to get Rhapsody going good.   We hoisted our new sail to see how it works  Smaller than our main jib but bigger than the staysail, it seems to be just fine.  It was given to us by another sailor who heard that we needed a new jib.  It will be a good sail when the wind is strong but not so strong that we want the little staysail.  Since it is not big enough to replace the main jib we now have 9 sails to find room for.  As usual, it is good to be back out on the water again with the sails up and a good wind.  We pull into Musket Cove about 4:00 and grab a mooring.  Almost before we are tied up a man comes by in his dingy to make sure we know about the potluck.  We had decided on popcorn as our contribution, so as soon as that is done we head ashore. 

We love this place.  The staff at the bar greets us by name and remembers what we like to drink.  There is a fabulous array of food laid out.   Pickles and olives and cheese and crackers and all the traditional sides, mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry and several chickens and a turkey and lots of desserts.  The turkey was smoked on one of the boats in a smoker made from a discarded beer barrel.  And so, in traditional fashion, we spend the rest of the day and most of the evening eating and drinking and talking and singing, barefoot in the sand with a stunning sunset, warm wind and warm water lapping at our toes.  No football.  Friday was spent being lazy.  We  finally went ashore in the afternoon to buy bread and have a swim in the resort pool followed by a long hot shower.  then we decided that there was no point going back to the boat for dinner so we picked up a chicken some potatoes and onions at the store and once again took advantage of their coin operated barbecue.

Saturday morning, recovered from the excesses of Thanksgiving, we are ready to go.  Moondancer comes by with a flash drive with routes and waypoints for us and Alan spends an hour getting it all loaded onto the computer and then onto the iPad.  You can never have too much navigation info.   We drop the mooring line and are off to explore the islands.  The weather is supposed to be good until the end of the week so we will see how far we get. 
Generally speaking, we get in about 3 hours of sailing in a day at about 5 knots.  That means we stop will be stopping every 15-20 miles.  Luckily there are hundreds of islands here within a few miles of each other.  Not all of them have anchorages but most of them do so we can just wander along and stop where we want.

Beautiful, beautiful.  I think what I like about Fiji are the bare brown hills, so much like the Southern California hills.  I was never very happy with all those green trees that cover everything in the Pacific Northwest.

Sailing is tricky, with narrow passes amongst the sandbars and coral reefs.  Alan steers and I keep a lookout and hold the iPad so that he can see it.  The water is so clear that we can see the bottom 30 feet down when we get to the shallow spots.  We pass several small islands.  One of them i think is Castaways where the TV show was filmed.

Just after noon we pass Mana Island.  We had not intended to stop here but it is at least 3 hours to the island where Alan had planned to stop which means it will be too late to go snorkeling by the time we get there and get anchored.  So I talk him into making a left turn here. 

The entrance is narrow and twisty but well marked with buoys.  We get in and drop anchor next to throne other sailboat in the bay.  No sooner is the anchor down and set than the ferry comes zooming in the channel right towards us blowing it’s horn for us to get out of the way.  Obviously we can’t move but as he passes almost within touching distance we yell promises to move out of the way.  So instead of lunch we have to hoist the anchor which has gotten caught on a piece of coral.  We are barely free when the ferry comes back again on his way out.  Now comes the search for another spot to anchor.  It is a wide bay but full of coral.  Every place we try goes from sandy bottom to shallow coral too quickly to get an anchor down.  Add to that the fact that we are still having very high tides so we need a spot that is at least 5 fathoms at high time (now) to be sure we will not be left high and dry when the tide goes out.  We finally find a spot just off of the channel and after several tries get the anchor to hold.  This is the first time we have had so much trouble anchoring and I was almost ready to call it quits and move on to the next island.  Luckily we stay because it turns out to be an enchanted evening.

The water is crystal clear.  As we head ashore in the dingy I can see brilliantly colored fish among the grasses just a few feet down.  The restaurant on the beach has a wide porch and very cold beer in large bottles.  As we sit an relax and sip our beer, the restaurant starts to fillip with young people from Europe.  It turns out that we have landed in a backpackers hostel.  There are dormitories just behind the restaurant and beyond that is the Fijian village. Alan opts for another beer but I wander off to see the village.  It seems much like the villages in Tonga.  paths winding through large trees.  Open houses of cement block and corrugated tin.  Kids running around, the occasional dog although no pigs that I see.  I come to a church and sit down on the grass beside a young man with a guitar and we have a lovely conversation.  His name is Harold, he is 13 and he wants to go to the mainland to go to school to become a doctor, or maybe a pastor.  It is interesting how many of the kids out here say they want to be a pastor.  They must see it as a prestigious profession with not a lot of work involved.  Religion does not seem to enter into the equation since none of them tell me about how much they love God and want to serve him.  Anyway, Harold and I stand talk quietly until it is time for church to start and I wander back to the beach and the restaurant where a couple of the locals are singing and playing the guitar.  The kids are being served beef curry but we order from the menu.  Alan has prawns in coconut juice and I have prawn salad.  Both are wonderful.  For desert Alan has banana fritters with ice cream and real coffee, quite a treat. 

Just as we are finishing it is announced that there will be a dance performance followed by a fire dance on the beach.  There are just 3 performers but it is quite good, especially the young man who is tall and muscular and beautiful.  His fire dance is the best we have seen so far.  And just as the evening is winding down a skiff pulls up onto the beach and about 20 people pile out with their luggage.  It is a Chinese fill crew here to make a movie.

And so finally we push off into the dark and back to the boat.  It is calm, warm, peaceful, with a half moon.  Just another perfect night.  I think I might want to just stay in Fiji forever, or at least for another year or two,