(by Ann)

Fiji is known for its canoe making. And outrigger canoes can be found throughout the islands. These are the canoes that were sailed by warring parties in the early days. The canoe that was pulled out of the jungle last week will be made into an outrigger canoe .There are several of these outriggers in various stages of decay in Fulunga. But one canoe has been maintained and we have watched Mele and Graham (of Maunie) sail it around the anchorage.

Qele going out fishing in the canoe.

Well today, I participated in the attempted sinking of this very useful canoe. Not on purpose, of course. And we, Qele (appropriately pronounced Gaily) and I, saved it, without alerting the anchorage or the village to our situation.

All of this excitement took place after the morning entertainment -the supply ship from Suva arrived in the anchorage. It was about 90 feet long and belching out smoke as it anchored nearby. I had jumped on my paddleboard and gone to the beach to enjoy the excitement from the villagers’ point of view. Almost all of the villagers were at the shed on the beach, which had been loaded with items going to Suva the night before. Everyone is anxious to send things to their relatives and as I found out today there is no charge for shipping interisland parcels on these boats.

The "Liahona"

There was even a large black pig with its hind legs hobbled, waiting to be loaded on the boat. The pig is a gift from Asena, one of my favorite weavers, to her sister for her wedding. And apparently many local trades were made to attain such a prized gift. Asena was going to Suva too and had many parcels full of goodies for her family. Loads of coconuts, pandanas ready to weave, and many bags of roughly carved kava bowls were ready to ship. It was exciting.

Offloading cargo.

We had been asked to keep watch for the boat and let the village know when it arrived. There were boys up on the highest ridges keeping watch too. But it was the sound of the engines that gave it away. It was loud. It took about an hour to unload the goods for Fulunga, along with passengers. The teamwork that goes into unloading 50 kg sacks of flour, rice, onions and other goods is wonderful to watch. I sat with Tau, Joe and Jasmine on a piece of cardboard and enjoyed the show.

Afterwards I headed back to Charisma on my paddleboard. Qele had pulled away from the shore just in front of me on the canoe. She had no help. Just Qele in her full length skirt with a slip underneath, goggles on her head, woven baskets at her feet, a fishing net on the bow and a pole in her hand with which to propel the canoe through the shallows. She was going fishing. Since I have previous fishing experience I was sure my services would be useful so I paddled up behind her and offered to help.

Qele and Ann setting the net.

Well, they caught one fish that time. Better move the net.

And so started the great canoe sinking adventure.

Qele is one of the most playful villagers and so I have always been drawn to her. I knew this was going to be fun. But this is about dinner too so somewhat serious. So I was doing my best to follow direction, not giggle too much and help sneak up on fish. Our first try netted three fish. And I do mean “net”. You paddle to a likely looking spot and slip off the canoe, in shallow water, with the net, make a semi-circle with the fifty foot net and then splash the water trying to drive fish into the net, all the while closing it. If you’re lucky, there’s fish!

We were set for a great day of fishing. Bob showed up on his paddleboard bearing my goggles and snorkel so now I was really ready to go! Our second attempt netted a 12 inch fish. Yay! Good teamwork. That’s when Qele decided I could ride on the canoe and we could put my paddleboard on the outrigger portion. Sure! If she wanted to pole me around the lagoon I was game. About 5 minutes after we loaded the paddleboard we realized that we needed to reposition it so that less weight was on the outrigger….which was sinking.

Well, we thought it was settled and Qele instructed me to climb aboard and off we went. Until 5 minutes later Qele cried, “We’re sinking!” And we both leapt off the canoe. Too late. The 2 ½ foot deep canoe had started filling, well truthfully – filled, with water. Oh no! Bail, bail! We were near a motu so we tucked under it and took turns bailing and holding the back of the canoe up out of the water. After 30 minutes we were making NO progress.

From our position, I could see the sandy beach where we had burned our trash (and where Mata – octopus woman – was sitting) and the anchorage with Charisma and Bob in his hammock. No one seemed concerned. I finally convinced Qele that we should float the outrigger with my paddleboard and get to the beach so we could get the water bailed. She suggested that I take the net and the fish in the baskets to the beach first. Off I went.

Qele had started trying to swim with the sinking canoe toward the shore as I got back to her. We quickly buoyed the outrigger with the paddleboard and swam across the channel to the beach. Slow going and finally I realized Qele was walking. And laughing because I was still swimming and tugging the canoe. Our plan worked. We pulled the canoe up on the sand and proceeded to bail. And bail and bail. I even went over to Mata and borrowed her bailing bottle (a used plastic bottle with the bottom cut out). As Qele and I pushed the canoe toward shore we called to Mata for help. She just sat and laughed. I think she knew we would be fine.

And we were. We finished bailing– I counted at least 500 scoops of water from each of us before the canoe started to float and we could continue fishing. Exhausting work. We did catch a dozen fish before I could tell both of us were exhausted. It was 4:30 by the time I returned to Charisma after almost six hours of fishing, tired, happy, glad to have had so much fun.

Thanks Qele!