June 10, 2015 on the reef

June, 2015  Musket Cove Reef


Once more, it is my turn to sail.  The day started out quiet but built to a strong wind by the time we were close to Malolo Island.  I did a reasonably good job following the course on the iPad but as we got in among the reefs, I decided that I had had enough.  It was late in the day, the sun was in  my eyes and there was a fairly brisk breeze.   I turned the engine on, turned the tiller over to Alan and went forward to take the sails down.  Just as the jib started to drop there was a loud clunk and we came to an abrupt halt.  looking down into the water, i realized that we were on the reef.  “Reef”, I yelled, “Reverse”, while frantically trying to get the jib the rest of the way down and secured so the wind would not catch it.  Once the jib was down I ran back to get the mizzen down and secure so that at least the wind would not push us further onto the reef. 

What the heck had happened.  I was pretty sure I was on track when I turned the tiller over to Alan but somehow we ended up on the wrong side of the marker and here we were.  It did not seem to be a very big reef, but we were right in the middle of it.  Alan put the engine n reverse and gunned it .  He went one way then the other.  We tried rocking it from side to side.  Nothing worked, we just lay there bouncing on the coral heads.  Just as we were ready to give up and wait for the tide to come in, one of the resort dive boats came by.  It was full of people returning from a dive trip but had seen our plight and came to offer assistance.  After some discussion, we tied our small stern anchor to the bow and passed it to them.  They dropped it off the bow so that we were held into the wind and not swinging around and bouncing so much.  The idea was that we would wait for the tide to come in and then we could pull ourselves off.  Good plan but it was just past the low and would be several hours before it would be high enough to float us free. 

And then another boat came up.  This one as dingy with 2 people aboard, also returning from a dive trip.  The husband jumped into the water to evaluate the situation.  Turns out we were very close to the edge.  They positioned their dingy on one side of the bow to push while I pulled on the anchor line on the other side and Alan gunned the engine and little by little we worked our way free.  With a smile and a wave, they were off.  Slowly we made our way the rest of the way into the anchorage.  Once the anchor was secure, Alan took mask and snorkel to dive down and see how much damage we had done.  Surprisingly, there was very little damage.  Some scrapes and a few dings but nothing that looked serious.  Nonetheless, we kept a close eye on the bilge for the next few days. 

We had thought we would start our cruise of the Yasawas this time, but after our adventure, we decided it would be smarter to go back to the marina and be sure that everything was OK.  Plus, I needed to apply for another extension to my vise, since it is obvious we will not be ready to leave Fiji for some time.