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In our last letter from Tahiti, we said we were going to put the boat "on the hard" in Brisbane during the cyclone season while we returned to Vancouver and Norway. Well, as usual, things don't always work out as planned. The boat is not really "on the hard", nor is it in Brisbane. It is literally sitting in a hole in the ground in Fiji. After losing our passports and credit cards in Fiji we were delayed there so long that we couldn't make it to Australia this season. So we found a marina in Fiji which has invented this primitive, but ingenuous method of storing boats during the cyclone season. The boat sits on a bed of old tires, which are positioned around the rim of a rectangular hole. Last year they had 100-knot winds there but no damage. We arrived in Fiji at the beginning of September after having enjoyed some of the fabulous islands of the South Pacific. This ocean is so large and has so many archipelagos that unless you spend several seasons there, you can only see a fraction. So we picked what we thought was the best. French Polynesia, including the Tuamotus, the so-called "Dangerous Islands", and the Society Islands lived up to our expectations. The Tuamotus were avoided by the old sailing ships and even modern cruisers like us until the arrival of GPS. These hundreds of large and small atolls are difficult to spot, even from a short distance. At night one must be extremely cautious or one could end up on the reef. Most of the pearl farms are in this area and Anne traded some very nice ones, including the famous South Pacific black pearls, for a bottle of old Canadian Club that we have had in the bilge since we left Vancouver seven years ago. Treacherous Reefs & Sheltered Anchorages The atolls enclose shallow lagoons, which are sheltered and provide beautiful anchorages and super snorkeling. Most of them have only one or two entrances. Some have none. These narrow passes can be tricky since trade winds accompanied by heavy swells and strong currents make it difficult and dangerous to enter. But with the sun behind at slack tide and Anne on the lookout in the mast, we made it every time. However, we saw many evidences of boats that had not made it. An English boat we knew went aground when heading into Suva harbour in Fiji, which is also entered through a narrow opening in the reef which, surrounds the whole island. Nobody knows exactly what happened. It was a clear night with almost full moon. The roar of waves breaking over the reef is really loud so they should have been able to hear the surf, especially as they were not motoring. They hit at high tide in the middle of the night, ending up over 100 feet in from the edge. If they had gone aground at low tide, the boat would have broken up pretty fast and they probably would have lost their lives. As it was, the boat was high and dry at low tide and hammered pretty hard every time the tide came in. The tide here is ( 2 meters.
The next day, rescue operations by the Fiji Navy and later, a local salvage company were unsuccessful. The Navy ran out of fuel and the salvage companies boat was too small. By fluke, a wealthy European on his 150 ton ship, a sturdy vessel designed for research in the Antarctic, happened to hear the commotion on the VHF and offered to assist. After several dramatic attempts with sling lines around the sailboat breaking from the enormous stress of dragging a 50 foot full keel boat over 100 feet of coral reef, they finally managed to pull her off with very little damage. The rescuer probably spent between $10-20,000 on the operation. He didn't want a penny. The English couple had no insurance. Their boat would not have lasted another day on the reef. They were unbelievably lucky. Most cruisers in Suva helped with the rescue one way or another. Sadly, the couple didn't offer any thanks, not even a beer in appreciation of everyone's efforts. They really didn't deserve the luck.
The Society Islands were exactly what I expected: Beautiful women (Anne likes the guys better!) and lush mountainous, volcanic and scenic islands. The sailing was glorious but tricky between the islands and inside the reefs. We were lucky to arrive during "Heiva", a one-month festival featuring native arts and crafts, dance, sports and beauty contests. You should just see the girls swinging their hips, bellies and... Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, was fun, Moorea was spectacular, particularly Opunohe Bay, where the musical, "South Pacific", and several other movies were filmed. Even Bora Bora, despite being touristy, was fantastic with its trademark twin peaks and treacherous but great surrounding reef. Being on a sailboat, we weren't really bothered by the tourists. The poor souls had to pay close to US$1,000 per day to eat and sleep at hotels we were anchored nearby free of charge! But it was Tonga, and the Middle Kingdom in particular, that became our favorite. These small atolls called the Ha'apai Group, are strewn between large, shallow and dangerous reefs which are even more difficult to enter than the Tuamotus. Consequently, they are not visited by many sailboats. This was just fine for us and we only saw one other cruiser in the 3 weeks we were there. For this reason, we also got the rare opportunity of getting close to the local people in some of the tiny villages on the populated atolls. We became especially close to one family who invited us home, took us fishing and crab hunting, visited their bush gardens, their schools and churches and the common huts where the women spent all day weaving baskets, mats, trays and other wonderful crafts. The snorkeling was great; you could see the bottom in 30 meters depth and the colour of the water was magnificent. In Vava'u, we met Ron Cherry, an ex chef from Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island, rated as one of Canada's top 10 chefs. He married a Tongan girl and together with her family, they run a marvelous, rustic restaurant. Twice a week, the children put on a native dance and music show - very cute and entertaining. In Tonga, Anne even got me to church several times. Fortunately, the service was in Tongan so I could sleep undisturbed until the famous singing started. The clear voices and rich harmony were most impressive, an unbelievably exquisite experience. We also took part in a couple of Tongan feasts and kava ceremonies. It was quite something to see how they cooked the food wrapped in banana leaves in underground ovens. The food was palatable, the kava drink disgusting and the atmosphere lovely! As luck would have it, the 80 year old King of Tonga visited the Northern Kingdom of Vava'u while we were there. One day when we were anchored at his favorite beach, he came there to exercise - all 300 lbs. of him, surrounded by 6 bodyguards. We could see him clearly as he swam around our boat for almost an hour! We didn't have time to see much of Fiji this time around since it took so long to sort out the mess of the lost passports and credit cards and to prepare the boat for such a long lay-up. But what we did see and experience was very positive. People are friendly and hospitable but very poor. The wages for a factory worker, a laborer or sugar cane cutter is about $2 per hour. Garment workers only earn $1 per hour. A Fijian helping me on the boat was getting $15 per day plus lunch. Although the cost of living is very cheap, we can't see how a family can sustain themselves on this kind of income. Next year, our Christmas greetings will most likely come from Malaysia or Thailand where we expect to be for the celebrations of the New Millennium. Where will you be?
Copyright © Anne Brevig & Martin Vennesland. www.norsiglar.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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