We’re in Nairai. Back to where we met the wonderful folks who found the bottle we threw overboard at the equator (with a note in it) and after 4500 miles and 15 months at sea ended up here. That story is in our archive from last July/August.

Anchored off the beach (or rather reef).

So, we’re sitting here at anchor. It’s not a really friendly anchorage. If the wind goes at all south of east we are totally exposed. You have to time it here. But when the wind is east this little spot off the village of Lawiki on the island of Nairai is lovely.

Right now the stars are out, the wind is just barely north of east gusting to 15 knots. We hear the rumble of the gusts in the rigging and the splashing of the waves on the dinghy that’s tied just behind us, bouncing on the waves. Splish, splash. Then a few hundred meters away over in the dark toward the village, we hear, “Thud, thud, clank, thud, clank, thud…”. Those who have been in Fiji immediately recognize the rhythmic sound of kava being pounded in preparation for a long night of ceremony and celebration. The thud is the six foot long steel bar being lifted high above the head and brought down into the cast iron bowl containing the root. The clank is the steel hitting the side of the bowl as it’s brought back up above the head. The really good pounders have a syncopated song they play. The less talented sound more like a diesel engine that’s just thrown a rod.

We left Oneata yesterday morning at 1030. The sail over was uneventful and even mostly nice. With the wind dead on behind us, it was a bit rolly, but mostly 10-15 knots with no squalls. The water was a bit confused given all the islands in the Lau we were leaving behind, but when the sun was out it was so blue it was almost purple. The night brought stars and a waning moon although a little chilly – Ann put on socks and I had a hoodie over my tee shirt and shorts. That’s the definition of Fijian Chilly.

This morning delivered a nice sunrise at 0558 and then promptly clouded up. Damn. You really need some sun to get in through the reef. Without it you can’t see the coral lurking just below the surface. But, it turned out the clouds moved through just a little faster than Charisma and by the time of our arrival at 1200 it was gloriously blue water and blue sky. Entry through the reef was a non-event.

Didn't take long for the kids to find us.

Turns out word of our arrival got here before we did! By the time the anchor was set in the little patch of sand between bommies and reef that define this anchorage, there were people on the beach waving. They had heard from friends at Fulunga and from a relative in San Francisco that we were coming in. Wow. How to feel appreciated. By the time we got the dinghy launched and made our way to the beach our friends Esther and Able were waiting to give us a hand and they announced that lunch was waiting. Oh my. Fijian hospitality knows no bounds.

The village of Lawaki on Nairai.

The Chief of the village was out fishing, so his son took care of the sevusevu.

So great to see Epeli and Esther again.

After a delightful time catching up a bit and enjoying Esther’s fantastic cooking (which both Ann and I had been eagerly anticipating) we begged our way back to Charisma to catch up on lost sleep and put the boat away from the trip (fold sails, store lines, etc).

The plan tomorrow is to spend the entire day reacquainting ourselves with these fantastic people that we had so much fun with last year. We hope to take lots of pictures to share with the islands relatives in the Bay Area who we have also come to know. We’ll stay here as long as the weather cooperates. That looks to be Saturday or Sunday when the wind shifts into the south and we’ll have no protection.

Back in Nairai…issa…..