And I really, really, mean CLOSE!

How close (you might ask)? Well, I’m sitting in the cockpit around 1700 reading a book when suddenly there’s a loud splashing noise and water is starting to pour into the cockpit. My immediate reaction was rough wave and I ducked, but the water kept coming, now like a firehose with a powerful “whooshing” noise. What the hell??!! As I was getting drenched from this mystery “wave” I looked out (actually down) into the water just in time to see a whale almost touching Charisma’s side. As I was watching completely slack-jawed at the wonder and terror of it all I was also getting drenched as its blow hole was spouting so close to Charisma it hit the underside of our solar panel which deflected the water/whale snot into the cockpit and at me. As I was still processing what was happening I watched the dark grey body slide next to us – headed in the opposite direction – and saw its tail come out of the water. Fortunately it was a gentle sway instead of a slap. As many sailors know, sailboats have been sunk by just such an encounter. How we didn’t get hit I’ll never know.

I do know that I think the whale was just as scared as I was (Ann was down below on the radio and didn’t get to see the initial encounter) because the water all around where we “came together” was brown. I think we scared the $%@ out of him too!

Phew, we’ve now had enough of whales for quite some time thank you very much.

Such a unique experience to come to this place. First off there are only two guys who live here and one of those has been gone most of this year. His uncle Mo is the only one living on this tiny island. Mo’s brother lived her by himself before Mo did. There’s nothing here but a couple of old shacks that they are adding to hodge podge as they find old nails and boards. The island is very remote. It is the most Northeast of the islands in the Fiji archipelago and it’s at least 50 miles from any other inhabited land. It’s also tiny. The lagoon is almost 12 miles long, but the island is only about ½ mile long and somewhat less than that wide.

My friend Mo and me on the beach in front of his house.

But, the spirit is so strong here. These two and especially Mo have such a strong belief. It’s just such fun to be around them. And fun that Mo remembered Ann and me from last year including details that he pointed out such as which path we took through the jungle(“Look, remember we went that way last year”) and he remembered that last year we were heading to Nairai to meet the folks who found our bottle. Of course we are only the third yacht that has visited his island in the last twelve months so maybe not so hard to remember. One of the boats we recommended come here last year made up a Guest Book for him to have yachties sign. That’s how we know how many have come – and we’re proud that even though we were here first, our name, a picture of Charisma and a little note are now also in the book.

It’s pretty interesting to see how simply someone can live and still enjoy life. Mo loves his life even though he almost literally has nothing. Except as he will point out, he in fact has a lot. Beautiful sunrises, starlit nights, clear water and plentiful food from the ground and sea. Mo may not have much but he is not wanting.

So, what a treat to be able to revisit for a second time such a wonderful person. I do hope we might meet him yet again.

Such a beautiful place (John and Bob walking the beach)

So long Mo and thanks for the wonderful hospitality. I hope we might be able to come see you next year.

(A postscript:  Mo asked us if we would telephone his brother Leone who lives in Suva and ask him to send a AM Radio when Matea comes back, to replace the one that broke. We called him today and had a great conversation and hope we might get to meet him in person when we get to Denarau in a couple weeks.  How fun to make connections like this from island to island and across the world).

By Ann: One of the joys of cruising in Fiji is attending church services. I know, not everyone would say that church services are their thing, but once you hear the Fijians lifting their voices in song you will agree. They are a treat. The churches that we have attended in Fulunga and Nairai were Methodist. Honestly, I was hoping to see more Catholic churches. I did attend a Catholic mass last year when we were in Suva. And I never would have known about it if our friend Mo, from Nagalelevu had not told me to look for it. Mo used to live in Suva and used to attend daily mass.

Now Mo lives on a small island, sometimes with his nephew, but for most of the last ten months, alone. That’s a big change in lifestyle. When we go ashore in Nagalelevu one of the first things you notice is a statue of the Virgin Mary on a pedestal in the garden. This statue was one of the first things that the guys “reclaimed” upon their return to the island. And today Mo has created a nice bench to sit and pray. And he adorns her with fresh flowers daily. Mo refers to the statue as “Our Lady” and stops to pray twice a day. And he credits “Our Lady” with much of their good fortune. When we asked how it was that they were able to afford a fiber (Fijian slang for 20 foot open boat with outboard), Mo put his hands in together as if in prayer, his eyes lit up and lifted to the sky and he said, “Our Lady provided.”

"Our Lady" (Picture from our visit last year - has since been cleaned up)

Knowing that I would often miss church services during our travels I obtained a daily mass booklet for Catholics. It has kept me in contact with my formal faith as we have traveled. Seeing Mo’s strong faith that he so willingly shared with me I decided to take it in for him. Pleased is not a strong enough description for his reaction. His eyes filled with tears of joy. He held it as gently as a newborn. And he thanked me profusely.

Pray for our safe travels, Mo and I will pray for you in return. Small island, big faith.