I’ve posted pictures back to August 12th.  As always, clear your cache/history on your browser or you might not be able to see them.

There are somewhat more pictures at https://www.facebook.com/2Johnson (go to “Albums”) and the resolution is better, but there’s no story.  You don’t have to be a facebook user to access as I marked them as “public”.

First shower in a month for that matter too. We’ve been taking teapot showers in the cockpit and eating fish or whatever veggies we can cobble together from the islands. Today, first thing we hit Fiji Meats for steak and “streaky bacon” (If you don’t order “streaky” you get Canadian bacon. Nothing against Canadians, but that’s NOT bacon). Tomorrow morning, I’m getting a bacon and egg sandwich!

The other highlight from today was just checking in with some of the other cruisers here. A couple of them we haven’t seen since Mexico almost two years ago, but really fun catching up with “the community”.

Our disappointment for the day was that the Vodafone place didn’t get a new internet dongle as promised so we are still “Facebookless” (and “NYTimesless”). But we have hopes that the thing will make it down from Lambasa tomorrow as promised (yeah, right. This is Fiji, we’re on island time. We’ll be lucky if it makes it here before we leave in a couple days)

That’s it for today. Can’t believe it’s “Labor Day” already, but can tell because NOBODY IS RESPONDING TO THIS BLOG. Uh, OK, I’m feeling better now.

😉

Yep, we’re back in Savusavu. I was looking at the weather and thinking, “Do we want to sit in an exposed anchorage (albeit with very good holding) and get beaten up with wind and rain for three days, or do we want to go to Savusavu and stock up from a real market and most importantly in this modern world, replace our broken internet dongle so Ann can play Words with Friends” (OK, and so I can read the NYTimes). Hmmm. That took about 30 seconds of thought when we woke up and saw a break in the clouds.

Well, they fixed the hole in the dock at Waitui. Now about that marina sign...?

So, after 9 ½ hours (at an average of about 7 knots motorsailing) we’re back in the Savusavu. It’s nice sometime to be in a familiar place. Waitui Marina answered on our first call on the VHF said they had a mooring and Isiri came out in a dink to guide us, as he put it “to our old mooring”. Nice to be remembered. We got in around 5:15 local time, very efficiently dropped the dinghy in the water and got the outboard on, so we had time for a Charisma to watch the last of the sunset. Then we jumped in and took said dinghy ashore to our favorite Chinese restaurant, the “Savusavu Chinese Wok”. As we were sitting out on the porch listening to the cars and people we realized it’s been weeks since we’ve heard “noise”. We really haven’t been around either people or cars. It’s comforting in a way to be back here, but we’ll be over that by the time the dogs on shore start barking at 0500. Anyway, we’re here long enough to a) stock up and replace our broken internet thingy and b) wait for favorable weather to head to Koro Island-which is more or less south of here, then on the Nairai. We’ll see when the wind will cooperate. Certainly not for a couple days at the earliest as there is a low bouncing around just to the north.

Stay tuned…

That’s really about all that we can say about today (except that I can’t believe it’s already September!).

A blustery day anchored at Mattei, Taveuni.

We were hoping to dinghy in to the beach for breakfast at a little resort with a very cute, tiny restaurant. We walked by it yesterday on our way to our failed attempt to have lunch at the little pizza place up on the hill. Failed on both accounts that these are literally the only two places on this side of the island worth visiting for a meal. The pizza place, after a 30 minute hike, was closed! Grrr. So we called our friend Wani, the taxi driver (who is also the Chief of his village on the NE side of the island) and he picked us up and took us into Somosomo to resupply. You think a place with a name like that would be at least a township, but it’s not much more than a ferry stop. There’s a couple stores, the only ATM on the whole island, a market where you can get wine, rum and beer (but they were out of reasonable looking meat products, so we’re pretty much going vegetarian for the next “some” weeks until we get to Suva or catch more fish). And there’s a great outdoor market. Actually a series of stalls along the roadside with some of the nicest vegetables you’ll ever see. We stocked up on cabbage (very long lasting), potatoes (ditto), eggplant, bok choy (very short lasting) and some other stuff that will get us through at least a couple weeks of fresh food.

Yesterday we made it into the outdoor market at Somosomo.

Today was a bust of a different kind. We really wanted to go to this little breakfast spot. We walked in yesterday to look at the menu and were taken by how sweet the proprietress was. She was delightful. There were only a handful of tables and it looked out at the water where Charisma is anchored. We had visions of pulling in to their beach on our dinghy and walking barefoot up the path. But…the wind was howling this morning. The reality of cruising sometimes is you just have to stay on the boat. We would have been soaked if we had even made it in without capsizing. “Maybe tomorrow” is our mantra out here. We have nothing else to do, right? We’ll take a look at the weather report tonight and see what tomorrow looks like. Last night’s report showed a brief respite before more rain and wind, so who knows.

Our other highlight for today; Ann called her good friend Chuckie (Charlotte, but she doesn’t like that name-sorry Chuckie) and we called my folks. My Dad was out doing errands, but we had a nice chat with Mom. Good to be able to touch bases from home.

So, that’s my story for today.

(From Ann) Well we repositioned today from Katherine Bay on Rabi Island back over to Mattei on the very north tip of Taveuni. We spent a few days in this anchorage when we tried to go see the triple waterfalls and instead had a blast at a water slide. We are back here to reprovision, especially the basics: chocolate, cheese, beer and wine. And rum if it doesn’t cost too much. Actually even if it does, since we’re down to our last bottle from New Zealand. We awoke to a torrential downpour this morning. With our new funnel rain catcher we managed to catch 3 gallons of water in 20 minutes! No need to run the water maker as we made our anchorage change!

Fish on!

Raincatcher v1.0 (the bucket version) Funnel tied to the solar panel on each side of the boat.

And best of all, as we approached Taveuni that wonderful sound of “zing!” Fish on! Yep, we caught another good sized mahi mahi! And Bob is planning to make ceviche to go with Charismas tomorrow! Such a treat!

(From Bob) Dinner was a treat. Fish doesn’t get any fresher and we took the dinghy in to get a bottle of cold Sauvignon Blanc to go with it since we ran out of wine last night. There’s a little store just up the road from the beach where you land the dinghy. We picked up the wine, some chocolate and next door a little vegetable stand had some fresh green beans. Perfect, since we’re out of everything fresh.

I was hoping to poach the mahi in coconut milk, but when we started cooking we found we had used it all. Darn. Oh well, a very light sprinkle of lemon pepper, sear the fillets in butter-both sides-then add finely chopped garlic in a little more butter for about 30 seconds, then a couple tablespoons of Japanese Fish Sauce. It smells really bad when it’s cooking but you put a lid on it and gently steam the fish while the rice is cooking and oh, boy, it adds some real flavor. Worth a try at home.

We’re sitting in the cockpit after dinner and I’m marveling at this spot. We’re tucked in behind a little motu to windward that’s helping to break the waves/chop. The rest of the way around us are reefs that keep the waves at bay. We’re anchored in 25 feet over soft sand. The anchor set very firmly. The stars are out for now. Nice. The only downside is that because of the reef, it’s about ¼ mile dinghy ride into the beach. BUT, it’s nice to be tucked in a nice spot. The weather’s supposed to be unstable for a couple days. Rain, maybe wind. It’s really nice to know that we have good holding and protection from the worst of the wind/waves. There are many spots you stop in where you really don’t sleep very well when the weather is changing. You hear every creak, groan slap and flap and wonder whether that’s the one where you slide backwards into the reef or rocks. This spot is pretty comfortable although just looking at us you’d think we were just anchored in the middle of the ocean because we’re so far out from shore due to the reef. It’s also nice that we’re the only boat here. No worry that the guy upwind is going to drag anchor in a blow and drag down on top of you. The reef is very low and not too visible from shore, so from the beach Charisma looks like she’s just anchored in the ocean. So, all in all this is a nice spot.

Our plan is to go to town tomorrow and resupply. This means taking the dinghy ¼ mile through the chop (with foulies on to keep from getting soaked), dropping an anchor in the shallow water and timing the depth right so I don’t have to swim out in deep water to retrieve it. The tide will be rising so we’ll watch for that. We have already spoken to one of the taxi drivers and he’ll pick us up, take us shopping and bring us back for $15US. There are resorts on this side of the island so there are some independent taxis like this guy (his name is “Dip”, pronounced Deep). There’s only one road partway around the island-and only a portion of it is paved, so there are a few cars. So that’s tomorrow-rain or shine-because Sunday everything is closed and we want to be fully stocked and ready to go when the wind/conditions are ready for us to head south which could be as early as Monday.

We motor-sailed today from Albert Cove on the north end of Rabi to Katherine Bay on the south side. Rabi is only about 12 miles long, so it was a relatively short trip. In fact, these jaunts are the tiring ones because you have to put everything away (dinghy outboard, dinghy, misc stuff that accumulates on deck, etc, etc) and then get it out again three or four hours later when you re-anchor. Oh well, complain, complain.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was our trip ashore at Katherine Bay. Not because anyone was very friendly. They were not, for the most part. The adults ashore didn’t go out of their way to even say hello which is most unusual. But, the kids were so fun. We were quickly adopted by four little ones between the age of 6 and 13. They escorted us through their village, into the next one and back. They only dropped behind when we walked down the road outside the village. At the point the houses ended the kids said they couldn’t go any further. We thanked them for showing us around and went on our way little knowing they would be waiting at the dinghy to help us back in the water almost an hour later.

Our guides to Katherine Bay.

They were pretty silly...

Very cute!

...and fun...

...and of course, they adored Ann!

The highlight of our time with the kids was when Ann showed them how to “whistle” by putting pieces of grass between your hands and blowing. A couple of them picked it up and were able to do it. We’re thinking we have now forever changed their culture. Cruisers will come here a year from now and be serenaded by people whistling with blades of grass.

Some shots of town:

"Main Street" on Katherine Bay.

A streetlight.

A woman who had been out collecting pandanas leaves for weaving.

Another step before weaving-you have to dry the pandanas leaves

One of the entries into town from the bay through the mangroves.

Charisma happily waiting for us back on the bay.

They start 'em with a machete pretty young here.

So, a quiet night and then we’re moving on another 25 miles down to the south end of Taveuni tomorrow (hopefully, weather permitting-there’s some rain coming but it’s not clear whether tomorrow or later). It’s a place called “Paradise Resort”. From there we can get a taxi up into Somosomo to resupply. We’re out of wine-sigh-and other essentials. I made a green curry tonight with the leftovers from last night and our last carrot. All we have left in the way of veggies is some potatoes that are sprouting. So we hope for paradise tomorrow with all the irony that statement brings.

We’ll see.

I’m in the galley starting a special dinner (more on that below) and Ann’s in the cockpit reading and we’re surprised by a very special delivery. Four, what my uncle used to call “ankle biters” in an outrigger canoe pulled up to Charisma. Mind you we’re a good 100 yards from the village here at Albert Cove, but this outrigger had two older boys (10 and 8 years old) paddling with their younger siblings (3 year old and 18 month old) in it. I heard Ann gasp when she saw the canoe and call out to them. Turned out they had been sent out on a mission by their grandfather, Samuel. We had been with him earlier in the day and he promised limes. We said we would come in early in the morning before leaving tomorrow to pick them up. But being a proactive guy, he sent his grandkids out with a burlap sack full of limes and a guananaba. Very much appreciated. Now we won’t get scurvy. 😉 We returned the favor. Ann gave the kids a beach ball and they headed back to the beach with smiles looking forward to playing with their new toy.

Bula!

Special delivery!

Earlier in the day we went on a tour of the area with Samuel who is the patriarch here. He took us on a hike down the beach to his “plantation”. The plantation consisted of batches of taro and yagona (kava). The old plantation was wiped out by Cyclone Evan last year, so this is rebuilding for them and they are proud of the effort. On our way back down the beach, Samuel told us to keep going as he ducked into the bush. He would meet us back at the huts. So we continued down the beach and spent some time back in the village (it’s not technically a village, but a series of huts that this group of people use as a fishing base. Since the kids were on holiday from school, there were four families here which are more than usually reside here). Anyway, we got to know some of the family while we waited for Samuel. And waited. And waited. We watched Samuel’s wife weaving roof sections for the new house out of palm leaves and another of the women cooking coconut oil that they sell in the larger village down island. Finally we decided it was getting late-the sun was setting-and we needed to get back to Charisma. We were just wading out to the dinghy which was anchored in shallow water off the beach, when we heard a shout from down the beach. It was Samuel. He was smiling and waved us toward him. Off we went and as we got close we realized he had gathered a treasure for us. Real heart of palm. Normally an expensive delicacy in the U.S., here you just chop down a young palm tree. Normally we would be concerned about chopping down a tree, but there are so many young palm trees and so few people living here there was no loss. With great gratitude, we accepted his wonderful gift (not knowing that he was yet to send out the kids with the limes as well). Turns out our gift of a whole bag of rice (among a bunch of other stuff) yesterday was really well received as they have none and won’t have any until they go back to the village in a week or so. Once again, we already regret leaving a place where the people are just so wonderful and kind.

Samuel cutting our heart of palm.

Samuel's wife weaving coconut palms for a new roof for their hut.

Weaving the new roof.

Oh, and dinner. We have been intending to prepare an authentic Fijian dish of fish cooked in a pumpkin, but when we checked our fish supply we realized we had run out. Well, yesterday when we brought some supplies ashore one of the things the folks here gave us was a bag full of salted, smoked fish. OK, we’re in business, so here’s the menu: you take a Fijian pumpkin (actually more like a large butternut kind of squash), you cut a hole (keep the “lid” that you cut) and hollow it out, then fill with onions, garlic, fish, coconut milk and whatever else you want. I added slices of our new heart of palm. Put the “lid” back on with the whole thing in a pyrex dish and put in the oven on 375 degrees for an hour more or less. Oh, my! There’s a whole new set of future recipes coming from this basic treatment. The Fijians of course put the pumpkin in a lovo and bury it in the ground. We don’t have a lovo or ground for the matter, so the oven is it. Anyway, an amazing dish. At Ann’s suggestion, I cut the two ends and turned them up then filled them with the fillings. This left the center of the pumpkin to use in a curry tomorrow night. Yum. Yum. And yum!

The stuffed pumpkin just about to head into the oven.

So there you are. We’re (reluctantly as always) leaving here tomorrow. Probably for Katherine Bay a ways down the coast of Rabi, but we may go over the top of the island and sail back down to Taveuni. We need to resupply on our way south to Nairai to meet the folks who found our bottle that we threw over at the equator back near Mexico. As I might have mentioned in previous posts, we’re now desperately short of wine, nearly out of beer and almost out of rum. We’re down to our last bottle of Kiwi rum. Thank goodness Ann has developed a new rain catcher that involves a funnel attached at the corner of the solar panel so at least we have fresh water and can make tea. (Quick get me to a real store!)

We’re at Albert Cove on the island of Rabi, north of Fiji. Rabi is now actually part of Fiji, but, well it’s a long story and you’d best just look it up on Google. It’s an interesting and sad story about rags to riches to rags. A culture from an island north of here that was relocated after WWII.

The entrance to Albert Cove.

One of the two or three huts on the cove.

Charisma safely tucked inside the reef.

Anyway, while we came in day before yesterday (Sunday our time), we got in late and then spent yesterday on boat projects. It was a windy, cloudy day and easy to just stay on board. Fast forward to today-we went ashore and moments after pulling up on the beach received a hearty; “Bula!” from an obvious “Elder”. Turned out it was “Samuel” who our friends Chris and Rani from Ladybug had told us about. With this info at hand, we immediately told him: “Chris and Rani said ‘Hi’!” Well, that was all that needed to be said. We were now Samuel’s best friend. He told us about Rani’s curry and all the other kindnesses of Chris and Rani. The fact that we knew them even “forgave” the fact that even though we got here on Sunday, we didn’t come ashore and introduce ourselves until today (Tuesday). OK, lesson learned. Respect the local culture and don’t just sit on the boat (well, we WERE working on projects…. You should see how our stainless shines!)

Here's Samuel standing by the copra cooking oven.

These are some of the folks who live at Albert Cove at least part of the time.

One of the larger huts in this little settlement (it's not quite a village)

The interior of the hut.

So, we also made a good impression on our own since we brought some goodies ashore. A glider, balloons and soap bubbles for the kids (which they immediately ran off with and we saw them playing on the beach), a 5 lb bag of rice, some “lollies”, some canned corned beef (all they subsist on here is what they grow and catch, i.e. fish) and sundry other stuff. In fact, they seemed genuinely touched with the gifts. Enough so that we received a bunch of papay and smoked fish in return and the promise of limes and something else we did not quite comprehend. A surprise! We were also invited back in to see a new hut they are building.

Anyway, a fun day meeting the local folks. We also went snorkeling. Beautiful as expected. What we didn’t expect was seeing some coral that we haven’t seen before-in great quantities. We need to get a book on coral so we know what we’re seeing. But the good news is, the coral is very healthy and growing here.

Tomorrow-back to the beach and more snorkeling and a few misc boat projects. I also still haven’t tracked down the mystery electronics bug. The helm instruments have stopped working. Bummer. Electronics are great when they are working but are the biggest waste of time in the world when they are not!

Ann and I were up at 0200 as promised and after putting some last minute stuff away and having a quick bite for energy (and some coffee), we were ready to raise anchor beginning at 0245. BUT, Charisma had other ideas.

As I was raising the anchor (with Ann at the helm), it quickly became clear that the chain was caught on one of the only rocks within 100 yards. I could even see down the 17 feet through clear water in the moonlight. The chain was going right down to the rock. And it wasn’t budging. I tried all my tricks. Back down, go left, go right, let out slack, drive over the top. Each time we tried something, the result was the same. We would come up with a lurch and a thunk as the chain strained as Charisma’s 24 thousand pounds came to a stop. After 45 minutes of absolutely zero progress, I thought of one other trick. I knew that we had swung a full 360 degrees in about an hour’s time yesterday as a squall blew over. I figured that meant the chain might not just be “caught” on an undercut, but wrapped all the way around something. So, last try before giving up and diving on it in the morning to figure out what to do next-I had Ann drive right up above the rock and stop. Then I dropped about 20 feet of chain on top of the rock and quickly cranked it back up again. Darned if it didn’t work. All the slack on the chain freed us and the rest was simple. Almost.

OK, anchor’s up and we’re heading out-in the dark (moonlight helps) following a path on the gps that we made coming in. Easy. Except, just as we got the anchor up and turned toward our first waypoint in deeper water, the instruments all died. Zero data, just lines where the data should be. No course, depth, speed, nothing. What the….? Just then as I’m going in the electronics locker to take a look at things, my headlamp-with brand new batteries died. OK, what the heck’s going on here?

Fortunately the gps down in the nav station was working and it had the key info we needed. We would have to “yell” the course and depth up to the helm, but at least we had what we needed to get going. An hour late.

So, off we went-a nice moonlit night. Ann and I were sad to leave Nagalelevu (and apparently so was Charisma), but we had a lot of fun there, really soaked up the experience and are looking forward to new adventures.

We are presently anchored in Albert Cove on the island of Rabi (pronounced Rambi), just north of Fiji’s north island. It’s a nice spot and we’ll likely stay a day or two at least before moving south. The sail over here was beautiful. A nice 12 knot breeze with little in the way of waves or chop. `It was one of those days that reminds us why we sail.

P.S.-I don’t know why the electronics all of a sudden refused to work, but have isolated the problem to the instrument network that goes to the helm. When I disconnect this line the other ones come back to life. So next step (tomorrow) is to look at the network. I think there might be a loose connection somewhere or at least hope it’s that simple.

As for Charisma, sometimes she’s a naughty girl, but we all have our days. I have found over 40-some years of sailing that every craft has its moods. Some days you just can’t get your boat to do anything you want. Others are a delight. Fortunately we usually have more of the latter than the former and we’ll hope Charisma is over her tantrum.