And we’re bored. OK, life in paradise can sometimes have its drawbacks. One of them is when the weather pins you down as it has us for the past several days. And we’re running low on water, so the lack of rainfall EVEN though we have a fancy new rain catcher is a pain since it’s cloudy and the solar panels are just keeping even with the refrigerator AND we’re low on diesel so I don’t want to run the engine more than we have to.

Sooo, we really hoping to catch some rain. It’s forecast tomorrow through Saturday, but the forecast changes every day and I don’t have today’s yet. But…we did get a couple small squalls and the raincatcher did admirably. We were so excited to see drops of water sliding down the fabric into the little spout that Ann sewed into the bottom where it enters the bucket. During the short rain event Ann was so excited she was out IN the rain taking pictures of the rain catcher gathering rain.

Such is life here in the tropics when you’re pinned down by weather on a smallish boat. Little things give great joy. Making a cup of tea in the afternoon is a grand event. You’d think the Queen was visiting. “Would you like one biscuit or two?” “I think I shall have two!”

Anyway, pray for some rain if for no other reason as we’ll be thrilled that the custom-made rain catcher is a success. 😉

Yup, we’re down to getting creative with stuff that lasts a loooong time.

Today we made Smoked Salmon Alfredo. Funny how dried peas come to life almost as good as fresh. We’re tried canned and they are terrible, but dried are actually delicious. You just have to boil them, then simmer them for about 10-15 minutes. I used the last of our fresh garlic (“fresh” after three weeks or so being a relative term, but the cloves hadn’t sprouted), butter, aseptic packaged cream, butter that’s been under the freezer and is still fine and parmesan which never goes bad. Oh and our last package of smoked salmon from New Zealand. Wow, it was delicious!

We always judge our meals by whether we would share them with friends or not. Good thing there aren’t any close friends around ’cause we didn’t want to share! Actually there are five other boats tucked in here waiting out the weather like we are. Noone moved off their boats today. The wind was smoking. You couldn’t really stand up on deck without holding something to keep from being blown off the side. It’s high twenties gusting to mid-thirties. The gusts make the wind look like it is dancing across the top of the water. Sometimes the top of the water is almost being blown into the air. Some of the gusts are healing Charisma over such that you have to hang on when down below. I even let the stove gimbal while I was cooking because stuff was flying all over the place as the gusts would hit and nothing would sit still.

The gribs (weather charts) say two more days of wind including some strong rain as a low approaches. Then as the low passes, we have a nice window to leave and go back up to Savusavu to resupply. Probably three days from now.

I keep thinking I’m going to jump in the water and go snorkeling and then a huge gust hits and I think; “maybe tomorrow”. What I ended up doing was reading all day. That’s nice too and something I haven’t done in a long time. It was actually very relaxing. Ann finished the rain catcher which is now rigged up waiting for rain and then she did some quilting, but the big Sailrite sewing machine is made for thick fabrics and doesn’t do so well with simple quilting material. She’s roughing out some stuff to bring back to the US during the holidays to finish but no quilts are going to get made on our hulking boat sewing machine unless they are made from six layers of Dacron with leather trim.

Life in Fulanga.

That’s the best I can say.

Actually, Ann got a lot done today. She did laundry and started a really cool project to create a rain catcher. There’s a fairly major “rain event” due day after tomorrow if you can believe the forecast. We’re low on water and fuel, so need sun to power the watermaker. Guess what? With this wind comes clouds. There’s not a lot of sun. So…Ann spent part of the day working on a canvas tarp-like thing to funnel rain water down the deck plate where the connection to the water tank is.

Back in the day before watermakers this is how folks would fill their tanks. Many still do -but watermakers are so much easier and more predictable. However, now that we’re in the deep, deep wilderness, it’s useful to have some extra survival skills- such as the tarp rain catcher thingy. We’ll report on how well it works. Other cruisers have said that they have been able to fill their 100 gallon water tanks in very short order in the heavy rains. We’ll see.

Speaking about wilderness sailing. We emptied our jerry jugs of diesel into the tanks today. We figured the weather’s not getting better, so we should do it while we have some fairly benign conditions. It’s windy, but we’re tucked in where there are no waves, so it was fairly easy. I’m now estimating we’ve got 18 gallons of fuel left to get us back up to Savusavu where we’ll resupply and pick up the engine parts that have arrived that we can give back to Bright Angel who so kindly lent us what we needed to get our engine working. We used a lot of fuel coming down here since we wanted to test the engine, but we’ll sail all the way back. At this point the fuel is just for charging batteries when the sun doesn’t cooperate and for the last 1/2 hour of the voyage to get into the anchorage or mooring, so 18 gallons should be plenty.

Speaking of resupply, we have absolutely no more fresh fruit or produce. We used the very last of our supply tonight when I made a Waldorf Salad with the last half head of cabbage and the last apple. I added Ann’s homemade yogurt, blue cheese and walnuts as well as left over corn fritters Ann made yesterday, and we had a great meal. After this we’re into our “long term” supplies. Actually we still have some eggs, some bacon and some smoked salmon so we have some good meals planned for the next couple days including bacon and egg scramble tomorrow morning and probably smoked salmon pasta in alfredo sauce tomorrow night. So, we’re biding our time right now for an estimated departure from Faluga on Friday. Tomorrow is supposed to be very windy and Thursday (remember we’re a day ahead of the US) is forecast to bring heavy rain. Friday looks more settled and good for a departure. The rain catcher is in the “refinement phase” and almost ready to be deployed and then Ann may start working on a quilt! In the meantime if we have a little sunshine we’re going to try and go for a snorkel.

(By Ann) Okay, so not every day is warm and sunny but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy them!. So yes, Bob did ask for his coat (I already had mine) and we jumped in the dinghy to go explore after lunch. We motored along the shore, in and around incredible “cupcake” islands (so nicknamed because of the way the volcanic rock is eroded by the water) over water that kept looking way too shallow to negotiate. I figured that if it got too shallow Bob could pull us over the shallow spots! Luckily it was not necessary. After an hour or so of investigating/exploring the shoreline we rounded a mushroom rock and saw our old anchorage in front of the path to the village! Now we know the short cut. But more exciting was when we came back to our current anchorage and realized that the outgoing tide was creating the sand spit that we are so protected by. It was very cool to walk out there as the water was receding. Sometimes we feel like we walk on water …this is one of those times. Suddenly we are out in the middle of an area and it looks like we needed to walk on water to get there. It is always a religious experience when you are cruising! While exploring today Bob found another coconut that was calling to him. I try to keep him to a one-a-day limit. But…today we decided he would chop it up on shore. The other day he made a mess all over Charisma …and he was only in the cockpit! But pieces of coconut were launched everywhere! So we came back to Charisma, got Bob his machete and chopping board and sent him back ashore. Oops – he came back without the cutting board and had to go back for it before the tide claimed it! And as I type this he is making fried coconut strips a la-Big Mama’s in Tonga. I sure hope they turn out! Tomorrow the winds are really supposed to pick up as a “Convergence Zone” event passes over us over the next couple days. Could be rain too. So tomorrow we plan to pull out the sewing machine and make a rain catching device! And then maybe I will do some quilting! PS – Joanne commented on our cheese making implements referred to in our blog last night…I had panty hose on board for those social events that called for more than a sulu (the wrap around sarong that is necessary when visiting the villages). No, honestly the pantyhose were on board to put my bar of soap in while showering under way. I put my bar of soap in one leg and tied the other one to the hand rail so there was no concern about losing the soap over board (thanks to my son, Greg for the great idea!). So now I don’t lose my soap AND I can make cream cheese! It’s all about using everything to its fullest potential!

Cheese making on Charisma. You put the yoghurt in the cheese cloth and let it drip overnight. Then salt and seasoning and you're set.

Mixing in the herbs

Done!

A new word in Charisma’s lexicon. Fivesies is the Kiwi word for cocktail hour. You get invited to a Kiwi boat for Fivesies. So there you are, your lesson for the day and our new concept of “Charisma Time”.

Speaking of new concepts for stuff, the new concept for social hour when you’re sailing in the wilderness as we are is the 0800 social hour….on the radio. The shortwave. It’s essential for keeping up with people. We have two nets we are checking in with. The 6212 MZz 0800 social net where a few friends including Bright Angel, Gato Go and Ladybug chimed in this morning for a delightful chat. Then there is the 0830 “official” net called “Drifter’s Net” with a Net Controller where all our friends check in and update their status of where they are, what they are doing etc. It’s a great place to hear about other islands, anchorages, dive spots, hikes, etc, etc. So, while having breakfast and a coffee, we listen to the “net”. Fun and informative and how we keep up with where all our friends are.

Also, today was Sunday. That meant Huevos Boberos day. We haven’t celebrated that particular holiday is a while but discovered that in Fiji there is an Indian product called Roti that is suspiciously similar to flour tortillas. So, add a can of refined beans, marinated serano peppers, topped with sunny side up eggs and some shredded cheese all baked in the oven and…there you have it…Huevos Rancheros a la Fiji! A good start to a cloudy, windy Sunday.

Then, not to be topped, Ann whipped up corn fritters. Why you might ask? Because in opening a can of corn for last night’s dinner, we discovered that we bought a can of creamed corn. No bueno- at least for our intended dining use of corn/black bean salad. But, Ann quickly realized we could use the leftover black beans, serano chiles, and creamed corn combined with pancake mix for-waIt for it-corn fritters. I was slightly horrified even thinking about it, but have to admit that it made a delicious lunch.

So, after all the good food for breakfast and lunch, we went minimalist (more or less) for dinner with Waldorf Salad a la Charisma. That is blue cheese/yoghurt dressing with cabbage/toasted walnuts/carrots and apples. We’re down to our last and most hardy veggies. It was great though.

And, talking about food and invention- Ann has about perfected cheese making. Not quite artisanal, but absolutely delicious! She makes yoghurt, then strains it overnight and in the morning adds spices to the solid whey. Refrigerate and voila, the best cream type cheese you have ever eaten. Several cruiser friends have partaken and loved it. We don’t have the heart to tell them the product is strained through some old (but clean!) panty hose- not having enough cheese cloth on board. That’s on our list for the next shopping expedition in the real world.

In the mean-time, we’re reporting from the wilderness where it’s starting to blow really hard. Gusts into the 30’s but we don’t care, we’re tucked into a nice little sandy cove. No waves, no rocks, just wind.

This guy was just cruising the shallow water-where we were walking!

Our new anchorage on the other side of the lagoon.

“There we were…”(as these stories always go). We were exploring the beach at our new anchorage when there was a section where we had to wade into the water to get around a large rock blocking the beach. There was some eel grass in the water and Ann half jokingly said; “keep a watch for eels”. As I rolled my eyes, threw caution to the wind and took a step, there not two feet away in the water staring at my toes was a deadly coral sea snake. This is a snake with one of the most venomous poisons on earth. One bite and you’re dead in minutes. Uh, oh.

Fortunately the deadly coral sea snake also has one of the smallest mouths of any deadly snake. My toes are big enough that I’m relatively safe from coral sea snake bites unless he were to catch the skin between the toes. Not that I’m testing the theory mind you. I gingerly stepped another foot or two away so as not to disturb him, took a couple pictures and we moved on only to discover just a few feet away the fierce Fijian land crab blocking our way. And so the day went.

We moved our anchorage this morning. The wind came up last night and turned a bit south. The combination made our old anchorage a bit rough with two foot waves setting down from the far end of the lagoon driven by the 15-20 knot wind. So, we moved. About ¼ mile to the south into a pristine little bay with a beach at the south end where we are anchored, that also curves around to our east with a sand spit to the north. We are virtually covered-completely actually when you consider that the only winds we have seen in the last two weeks have been between south and east, northeast. And we’re only about 50 yards off the beach. Even though it’s still windy -although we’re protected a bit more from the palms fringing the shore, there’s no chop at all. We’re very comfortable and it was worth the effort to move. We’re in between 14 and 19 feet of water over sand (depending on the tide) and I have a little over 100 feet of chain out expecting some higher winds that are forecast in the days ahead. We’re tucked in a sweet spot.

Even though we like where we are, the first thing we do after we anchor is create a route on the gps to get from here, out through the bommies and the reef to open sea in the case that everything goes wrong and we need to depart. Since we came in with the gps turned on and the “tracking” function set to take a reading every 10 seconds, we have a pretty accurate track to go out on. All I have to do is put some waypoints on top of the track and name it and we’re ready to depart. With this set up, we can theoretically follow the route we took to get here, back out in the middle-of-night darkness -although I’m not keen to try it. But, that’s just part of sailing in the wilderness. You have to be ready for anything.

So, that’s it. An easy day -well after I finished with my machete, cutting the coconut we collected while on the beach and then cleaning up the mess in the cockpit when I was done. I need a little more practice. I still have ten fingers though and the coconut milk is sooooo good and refreshing after a hike on the beach and fighting off deadly sea snakes. Then to really make a mess you split the coconut in half and scoop out the soft meat inside for a little snack. Ahhhh -I think it’s time for a nap.

(By Ann) The winds stayed away and the sun came out at just the right times today. It was a lovely day in Fulaga.

We had only hoped to get a good paddle in but were gifted with a delightful party hosted by the villagers. But that was after the paddle.

Spear fish, place over fire...

Mouth-watering...

Palm frond floor, lean-to roof...

...and, oh, you weave your own plate.

We took off from Charisma and headed toward the shore that we explored on foot a few days back. We were paddling into the wind, about 8 knots of wind, but very little chop so we plowed through until we were in the protected lee of the land. It was wonderful! We glided in water that was anywhere from 3 feet to one foot below our boards. The color of the water went from varying shades of turquoise to the warm browns of the bommies. The sun was behind us and so everything was lit up perfectly for pictures. And then when we turned around it was downwind on the return trip! So fun! Prior to taking off on the paddle boards we had been invited by the villagers to join them in a good-bye fish roast on the beach. We were not really expecting to go but they even sent a dinghy around to personally invite everyone. We are so glad we went!

The villagers had built a sheltered area with a palm frond roof and floor and invited us to come on in! The men had been spearing fish and diving for crabs while the women caught fish in nets. There was jack trevally, barracuda and some other fish I was unable to identify. The fish smoked on sticks over the open fire. No seasonings, just fish cooked the old-fashioned way. And the crab melted in your mouth!

Of course there were a variety of side dishes too: baked bananas, coconut and the ubiquitous cassava in the case, cooked by simply putting it on the coals of the fire. All simply made with loving hands. And to serve the food the women taught us to weave plates out of a banana palms.

We’re going to stay here another couple days as there is still much to do and explore, but we’ll probably plan to move on sometime next week. In the meantime there are some fairly high winds predicted starting tomorrow or the next day, so tomorrow we’ll move Charisma about 200 meters closer to shore to tuck in out of the wind and waves.

Did someone say party!

Dinghy raft up cocktail party.

Bring your own chair.

Add a little sunset and we're good to go.

So, there are seven of us yachties here in one of the more remote places in the world. What do we do? Dinghy party. How do you do that? Just before sunset, you make your favorite beverage, and a snack, jump in your dinghy and motor up into the shallows and throw out an anchor in about four feet of water over sand. Seven dinghies, 14 people sitting in their dinghies watching the sunset, drinking various boat drinks (in our case, Charismas of course) and telling stories of sailing daring do. Really fun.

Food wise, there was humus, popcorn, fresh baked bread, tahini, nachos. Yum!

We also went snorkeling today. We dinghied around the windward side of the island and inside the reef. It was a bit of an adventure getting there and back, but the snorkeling was fantastic. The water is exceptionally clear. We saw a white tip shark and tons of coral and the associated fish that congregate among the coral reef.

The wind was down today for a change and no squalls, so tonight we have unbelievable stars with no clouds in sight. Tomorrow is supposed to also be light wind before picking up again in a day or so, so we’re planning paddleboard adventure for the day and maybe some more snorkeling.

We’re getting some amazing pictures and can’t wait to post them when we’re back in “internet country”. The blue sky, turquoise water and incredible undersea world are fantastic. We’ll likely be here at least another week just enjoying being in a place this clean, clear and beautiful.

By the way, if you’re reading and enjoying this blog, let us know. It’s good to know whether anyone is following or whether we should just take a break and not post so often 😉

Adios for now.

“That was great! Could be the flavors, but maybe it’s the banjo music”.

Ah, Spam or Taj Mahal. That’s the existential, question for today.

Our anchorage.

Some pretty sweet snorkeling here.

Ann's turning into a fish!

So, we finally got a nice sunny day where we could see the reefs (bommies) under the water and avoid them on our 1.8 mile move over to the other anchorage. We’ve now got a 7:1 scope out in 18 feet of sand. Nice. And the bonus is that this part of the lagoon is completely different from where we’ve been for the last 10 days. We moved 1.8 miles and are in essence in a completely different place. Nice.

Once we got anchored and had some lunch we went out with some of the other folks “over here” to snorkel the pass. Gypsea Heart, Blue Rodeo, Evergreen and Slip Away are over here and it was nice to hook up with them again. Anyway, to “snorkel the pass”, you get your gear in the dinghy and motor about ½ mile around some rocks and outside the reef where you jump in the water just after low slack when the tides coming in. In theory the new tide washes you into the lagoon with clear fresh water. That’s pretty much what happened. We got just outside where the waves were breaking, slid over the side of the dinghy (with it tied to my waist) and then I swam to keep the wind from blowing it to the other side of the pass onto the reef while the tide pushed us in. At a couple points we were moving pretty fast. It was exhilarating. We saw a lot of fish and coral and clear water. Just what we expected. Tomorrow I’m hoping to go further out and jump in where the pelagic fish are. Reports are that the large fish further outside are stunning to see, but we wanted to take it easy the first day here and not get too crazy. One of our friend’s dinghy flipped over onto the reef two days ago-everyone’s OK, but it could have been bad. We want to avoid that kind of problem and be conservative.

So….tomorrow, we’re thinking that we’ll tow the two the paddleboards with the dinghy about 150 meters toward the island into the calmer water and tool around. It’s blowing about 18 knots in the area where we’re anchored which is a bit much for paddleboarding, but in toward the beach looks really nice. We’ll see and report back. There’s also talk about taking the dinghies into the shallow water near the beach for a sunset raft up cocktail party. That would be nice 😉

Hallelujah, the ship came in.

Waiting on the beach while the supplies unload.

The longboats go a mile out past the reef where the ship waits to unload, then they bring the supplies back to the beach to be unloaded.

Eventually everything has to come off the beach and be carried (or wheelbarrowed) into the village. There are no land vehicles on the island.

And the shelves in the island store are now stocked.

Last evening around twilight, a longboat from the village came out to Charisma and essentially begged us to give them some of our extra petrol so they could go across the strait (about 10 miles) to the other island where the supply ship was anchored. Its tender had engine trouble and there was a lot of concern that it would just skip Falunga . Of course we would donate our gas to the cause. We hope to get it back once the ship comes in, but even if we don’t it’s a small price to pay for all the hospitality that the villagers here have shown us this past week or so.

Fortunately the longboat expedition seemed to have worked and the Falungis made an impression because the ship came today. Even though the tender wasn’t working, the Falungis used their longboats to unload cargo and passengers. We were fortunate to have been here to see it as it was fascinating to witness.

We walked into the village about 1000 to pick up a carving that one of the villagers was doing for us. Once near the water near the village we could see the commotion. There were at least 50 people sitting on the beach and in the palms just off the beach, among stacks of their possessions that were leaving with them for the trip to Suva. There were literally stacks of boxes all along the beach. Some had already been delivered via longboat to the beach from the ship and most were yet to be transported along with their occupants to the ship and onward to Suva.

The effort to make all this happen is huge. You have to picture a 150 foot ship sitting ½ a mile offshore outside the reef going up and down in 10 foot waves waiting for the little 18 foot longboats to come alongside to load and unload cargo. They use a crane with a cargo net to drop the supplies (boxes and sacks of commodities-we saw 50KG bags of rice, flour, boxes of canned corned beef, crackers, etc as well as 50 gallon barrels of petrol). The longboats then leave the large ship and have to navigate in toward the reef where they have to time the pass just right as waves are breaking over it. Once inside the pass, they have to go slowly for another 150 meters picking their way over the shallow reef. Once inside, they are then able to motor quickly the last 200 meters into the beach where a dozen folks would swarm the boat and offload the supplies. Everything from commodities to petrol to the new village nurse to grandmothers back from Suva were brought ashore. Some looking happier to be back than others.

Then the “tide” of people and supplies turned the other way and folks from the beach started loading onto the longboats for the harrowing ride out to the supply ship. Ann took one look at it in our binoculars and said: “uh, uh…I wouldn’t go anywhere near that….”. It’s a two day ride into Suva and you pretty much sleep on the deck on your own mat. Not fun.

So, we said our goodbyes to all our new friends from the village and now we’re back on Charisma by ourselves in our little bay in the lagoon. We were hoping to get across to the other side of the larger lagoon where several other “yachties” are anchored (about two miles away) by the pass enjoying the snorkeling and diving in the clear water-but the weather had other ideas. It’s been squally and cloudy all day. Not conducive to moving in a reef strewn environment. You only move the boat around here when it’s sunny and you can see the “bommies” that lurk under the water waiting to tear the bottom of your boat apart. OK, we’ll wait ’til another day in paradise. We feel privileged to have met and spent time with the villagers on this island and hope to connect with them again someday in the future. They are such wonderful, sincere people. While we’ll be here in Falunga at least another week, we’ll be across the island and out of touch with the village. What fun we’ve had, but we’re looking forward to a new kind of fun snorkeling and beachcombing on the other side of the lagoon a couple miles from here.