Escape from Savusavu, Act 2

Sorry, been a little negligent in keeping up with the blog lately.

We finally got our Cruising Permit renewed and clearance for other ports completed, and finished our provisioning.

The morning we left, the wind predictions were still for very light winds. We opted not to put our genoa back up. If we got a chance to sail, we could always use our Code Zero. But in less than 10 knots of wind, the relative wind is either on our nose, or from behind and almost zero.

We headed straight for Namena, about 25 miles SW of Savusavu. We planned to hang in Namena for a few days to do some diving.

Namena is a Marine Reserve, surrounded by a thumb-shaped reef, and a tiny island with a small eco-resort in the middle of it. We had heard great things from friends who had dove there. And we met an underwater photographer in Savusavu who raved about how good the diving and marine life was.

We Buy our Tags to Support the Marine Reserve
Note They Still Say 2012!
The weather was absolutely gorgeous--almost no wind and seas, and beautiful sunny skies. We had tracks and waypoints from other people, and in the conditions, going through the reef at North Save-a-Tack Passage was a breeze. As we went through the reef, we scouted for a likely anchoring place, so we could come back and go diving the next day.

We continued on to the single mooring on the NW tip of the island, provided to keep boats from anchoring on the fragile reef.

Nexus Anchored Just Inside of Us in a "Coral Free" Spot
About 5pm, Tobi from Nexus (our u/w photographer friend) came back from diving and taking photos out on the reef, to find us on 'his' mooring. He declined to make us move, however, saying that he knew better where to anchor so as not to damage the coral.

We spent an hour or so with Tobi getting a briefing on where to dive. We already had a pretty complete set of waypoints from commercial dive operators (Korosun, and Naia), but Tobi told us where we could anchor to dive safely from our dinghy.

Tomorrow: Diving Namena!!

Escape from Savusavu, Act 1

As soon as we got a break in the weather and our busy social schedule, we escaped Savusavu to go out to the reef near the Cousteau Resort (about 5 miles away).

We enjoyed 3 gorgeous days, anchored at "Misty's Spot".

The View of Cousteau from Misty's Spot
(at high tide with no beach showing)
The main purpose for getting out of the harbor (besides our sanity) was to scrub the bottom of the boat. For those non-sailors, when we sit in a 'nutrient rich' harbor for very long, all kinds of marine life attaches itself to the underwater portion of the boat. The boat watcher we had hired scrubbed once while we were gone, but because of Cyclone Evan, never got around to doing the 'pre-arrival scrub'.

So Dave and I spent most of one day gently scrubbing the bottom. We hooked one dive tank up to 2 regulators and did it the easy way. (using a modified "Brownie's Third Lung" arrangement made for kayak diving). The tank stays on the boat, and we've got 2 50-foot hoses down to us. Since we are only diving to 6' deep, one tank is sufficient for the two of us to scrub the whole bottom.

It wasn't bad, actually. In Fiji what's growing is mostly soft corals, easy to scrub or scrape off--not like the honking huge barnacles you get in places like Cartgena, Trinidad, or Panama. We also had some silver-dollar-sized clams, but the only place they were hard to remove were the unpainted surfaces like the prop and lighnting bar.

Our maintenance work done, we spent the next day diving on the reef. The Cousteau Resort that we were anchored off of has about 4 dive buoys within dinghy distance. We went in to the resort to talk with the dive shop and ask permission to use their buoys when they weren't. We talked to a very helpful member of the Water Sports team. He offered to come out and show us where the buoys were on his next trip out (which was in a half an hour). So we got a guided tour of the buoys.

Another cruiser had come out and anchored near us the day before. They were divers also, so the 4 of us did 2 dives on the near Cousteau dive spots. I think we dove the two spots called Golden Nuggets and Black Beacon. They were, in a word, terrible. Though we see the Cousteau boats going back and forth to these dive sites a lot, I suspect they only use them for checkout and training dives. The coral is mostly dead, and visibility was not very good. But it was great to get in the water anyway, and at $3 per person a dive (the cost of the tank fill), it was worth it.

It was also great getting out of Savusavu--there's almost no breeze in the harbor this time of year. But out on the reef, there was a nice breeze.

The South Pacific Convergence Zone "Acting Up" Again
We had planned to stay out 4-5 days, but bad weather coming forced us back into Savusavu early.

Unsettled Weather Makes for Amazing Sunsets
We are looking forward to diving Namena Marine Reserve next week. Our friends on s/v Pandion said that was awesome diving.

Misty's Spot: 16-48.93S / 179-16.85E 12' all sand behind the reef

Get Me Out of Here!!

Well, I can't blog about what we're up to now until I cover some of the other things that have been happening in the past few weeks (besides Spider Wars). (It's the law of blogging, doncha know, and what's killed more blogs than you can imagine). Besides, this blog isn't for YOU, my dear readers, but for ME. If I don't cover the mundane, then how on earth will I REMEMBER the mundane 10 years from now?

First off, probably time to mention that I've somehow let myself get elected to the Board of Directors of the Seven Seas Cruising Association. (Mary from IWanda... you are a silver-tongued devil!) The argument had mostly to do with making sure that (a) Real Cruisers and (b) Women were represented on the Board for SSCA.

Well, even though we're 10,000 miles from "HomeBase", I'm volunteering for SSCA... are you??? Have you even renewed your membership this year?? Even for cruisers out actively sailing, SSCA is still a great organization and a great deal. And if you're part-timer or a "wannabe" full time cruiser, if you're not an SSCA member, you are REALLY REALLY missing out. It really is the best cruising organization in the world. (Visit ssca.org and join today--I'm serious--you'll never regret it). What a great organization!

One of the really great benefits of membership is the SSCA Equipment Survey, where cruisers, both coastal and OUT THERE DOING IT, weigh in on what gear works best for them... what things are essential, and what the failure rates are on essential and non-essential gear. In the past, SSCA produced a paper Equipment Survey every 4 years or so. But in 2008, with the help of a number of volunteers (thank you, especially, Mark Cain s/v Magic Dragon), the Equipment Survey was put online. The results have been outstanding, with over 1,000 members responding to the survey in the first year.

The only problem is, when Mark Cain wanted to turn management of the survey over to another Volunteer, no one was there. So though 600 surveys have been taken since August 2009, the survey results on the SSCA website still reflected the last report that Mark did. So, at the Board Meeting in December, after the Melbourne Gam, in a moment of extreme insanity, I volunteered Dave and I to take on the "Equipment Survey". Both to make it live again, and to undertake, with the help of lots of other SSCA VOLUNTEERS (yes, YOU!) massive task of revamping the "2008" survey--tweaking a few things and adding in new equipment and manufacturers. We've been spending a lot of time on this. I'm happy to report that the Survey is live again, and the 600 accumulated surveys that have been taken since 2009, are now online at SSCA. SSCA Equipment Survey

We also managed to "attend" a Board Meeting last week by Skype... from Fiji. Pretty cool. For those of you wondering about logistics and costs.... The Board Meeting lasted an hour. My internet connection was good enough that I could follow the whole thing and contribute where appropriate. For people wondering what it costs in Data to Skype for an hour... the 55 minute Board Meeting took 80MB of Data. At Fijian Pay-As-You-Go rates (~$15US/GB), the call cost 80MB, or about $1.20 USD, plus another $1.50 in Skype fees. Not too shabby considering it was an hour phone call, from my boat in Fiji.

The second thing occupying my time is that our good friends in Fiji--Jim and Kyoko of Also Island (formerly s/v Also II) have asked me to help with their website. Check it out at AlsoIslandVirginCoconutOil.com (still under development). They are into producing Virgin Coconut Oil in a big way now, and want some help marketing what they are producing. Jim has just invented a "coconut dryer" which seems to be revolutionizing the Virgin Coconut Oil business in Fiji. They also have sponsored one Fijian child through high school and college, and now he's headed for Medical School in Suva (with some major sponsorship from another cruising boat). A second kid who wants to be a teacher is up and coming and some sponsorship too. So I'm helping them revamp the website, and set up a second site just for the Virgin Coconut Oil. Coming soon... AlsoIslandVirginCoconutOil.com. More on this as it develops.

I am really feeling fortunate that Fiji has decent internet (we're using Vodafone cellular data). Most of this wouldn't have been possible in Tonga, and may not be feasible in places down the road. Though I am retired and plan to stay that way, it's fun and stimulating to do a few things in my spare time.

And of course, I'm still the "go to" computer person among the Savusavu cruisers... that also takes a fair bit of time... installing OpenCPN and updating charts. Teaching people how to make "Google Earth" charts for those seldom-visited and poorly charted areas.

There's also the plain mundane... shopping, cooking, laundry, and cleaning. It all happens in 3/4 time here in Fiji in the middle of summer. Savusavu is a great "cyclone hole" and a great hidey hole during the "tradewinds" months, but it really sucks in the summertime heat... hot and sticky and wind-less. Think Florida, mid-summer, no A/C, and no swimming.

And of course the social life. One of the best things about Savusavu is the bar at the Copra Shed. Where all and sundry can afford to hang out and have a drink or two. (Note to people in Ecuador... NOT as good as Puerto Amistad in Bahia de Caraquez, but almost). It's a breezy spot (when there's a breeze), drinks are reasonable, and they have both a gourmet and "budget" restaurant. And steps away are 4-5 more restaurants with offerings in the $4-$6 range.

We usually head ashore around 5:30 for a hot shower and a drink, with possibilities for a reasonably-priced meal out.

We obviously love Savusavu, but we are here in Fiji during cyclone season for the DIVING, not the socializing.
-----
Sherry & Dave
In Namena Diving
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com

At 01/17/2013 6:16 PM (utc) our position was 17°06.73'S 179°05.56'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm

The Great Spider War

When we got back to the boat, I anticipated a big clean-up due to mold. You just can't leave a boat closed up in a tropical environment and not have mold develop. Heck, it develops in the boat even when we're aboard.

Icky Spiders in My Cupboard
Amazingly, the mold was not too bad. What I didn't expect was that the spiders would move in while we were gone. Every cupboard had several spider webs. And each web had a large female with an egg sac and a smaller male hanging about. Yuck!!

Mommy Spider Is Very Protective of Her Egg Sac

(Size perspective--the female's body is about the size of a pencil eraser, so they are not huge. Just icky).

It appears that they have been feasting on the small "pantry moths" I already had in my cupboards. Every louvered door had a pile of moth bodies underneath the louvers.

So I spent the last 2 weeks emptying all the stuff out of each cupboard, checking expiration dates, throwing out old or contaminated stuff, cleaning things up, killing the spiders, wiping up the moth bodies, and laying down a light film of RAID. I also bought a few more plastic storage boxes in town, to keep all my dry goods from becoming a moth feeding/breeding ground. Ziplock bags don't seem to keep them completely out of the things they like.

I marked all the cans in Magic Marker with the expiration year on the top of the can, so it's easy to see the oldest cans. And then re-loaded them into the can cupboard with the oldest ones--only a little expired--in the front. We'll use these up in the next couple of months before we reprovision for our trip through Kiribati to the Marshall Islands.

THEN I attacked the mold with a rag and a spray bottle of white vinegar. I am just about finished, and the boat looks pretty good. This has reminded me how much I hate housework!! (My motto: Dust if you must, but don't let life pass you by while you're doing it).

I'm not sure we've totally eradicated the bugs, but we've made a big dent in them. We do a "moth patrol" inside the boat every night with an electric mosquito-zapper (looks like a racketball racket). We get a satisfying sizzle out of every moth we kill.

New Years Eve Flare Report

We had a nice low-key New Year's Eve at the Savusavu Yacht Club, with our fellow cruisers and a bunch of local Fijians and ex-pats. Apparently nothing formal had been planned until our friends on s/v Mambo (our designated social organizers) started asking the marina if we could have a little cruiser get-together.

Sofie from s/v Equinox Examines the Bar Rules
24 hours later, the Copra Shed Marina (aka Savusavu Yacht Club) had a "barbecue" organized, a band promised (didn't materialize).

Jerry and Dave Eating (Dave is already asleep!)
After we ate, and had a few drinks, the music on the sound systems started getting louder and louder. The bar got crowded with people we didn't know. So, I have to admit that Dave and I and Jerry from Challenger sneaked out and went back to our boats at about 10pm.

Jerry Shooting Off A Cheap Flare
Dave had dug out a batch of very old expired flares. So we had fun on trying to shoot them off. They all EXPIRED between 1998 and 2003 (and yes, we've been hauling them all over the South Pacific). We had 10-12 of the small inexpensive hand-held flares, and 3 of the big Paines Wessex SOLAS-grade parachute flares.

Duds!!
The small cheap flares were total duds. With these, you take a cap off, pull a metal chain, and the flare is supposed flare in your hand. We pulled the chains on 12 of these expired flares and absolutely nothing happened.

Dave Gets Ready to Shoot a Big Flare
The SOLAS grade flares (originally costing about $60 each) are rocket flares that shoot into the sky, and the flare goes off, a parachute is deployed, and the burning flare drifts down slowly under parachute--remaining visible for a long time. The rocket part of our expired flares worked OK, but the flare/parachute part never ignited.

So, the moral of the story is--if you're serious about being seen in a rescue situation, make sure you have GOOD FLARES and that they are IN DATE.

A Great New Years Day Breakfast
We had a very nice New Years Day breakfast at the Copra Shed, with a bunch of the cruisers. We had cruisers from Holland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and the US, and Canada.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

We took a break from our boat chores yesterday afternoon to join a Cruiser Christmas Eve get-together. We played "pick a present" ... everyone brings an inexpensive gift, and you pass a dice around the table. When you roll 6, you get to go pick a present from the table. The next time you roll a 6, you MUST swap your gift with someone else's. The hot gift at our table was a hand-written gift certificate from David of s/v Equinox, who promised to come make a gourmet Italian meal aboard your boat. In Fiji, there are lots of restaurants, but none that would come close to "gourmet Italian". That envelope got traded for about 20 times before we stopped passing the dice around the table.

Today we are going to Curly's houseboat for a small potluck.

Chores we have completed since returning to Soggy Paws two days ago:
- Big solar panels mounted back on the arch
- Dinghy launched & outboard on
- Refrigerator & freezer swabbed out and started up
- 4 large suitcases full of stuff unpacked and mostly stowed
- Enough groceries purchased to get us through Christmas week

My next huge task is to tackle the cupboards. While we were gone, we were occupied by a colony of spiders, and they and the 'cupboard moths' I was already struggling with, have waged World War III in my cupboards. They are a mess!! I have to pull everything out, kill the spiders and the moths, and salvage what's salvageable from the dry goods in the cupboards. Everything is covered in moth bodies and spider poop (the moths are losing the war)!! Nearly every spider I have encountered is a big momma protecting an egg sac (ie, 1,000 new spiders), so the sooner I get to this, the better.

Dave's first priority is to track down the source of the fresh water leak. We can hear our fresh water pump come on, when neither of us has been using water, so we have a slow leak somewhere.

The weather here right now is pretty benign--very low wind and hot and sunny (think Florida in June). If we didn't have so much boat cleanup to do, we should be out diving!!! This kind of weather is exactly why we stayed in Fiji for the summer.

On the weather front, there is a new Low showing up in the 10 day forecast, spinning up over the Solomon Islands and heading south and east. Hopefully it will go right on past Fiji--it's still too early to start worrying.

A Slow Boat to Savusavu

Note to self: Never EVER EVER travel just before Christmas! And especially not with too much luggage.

I am sure that my experiences aren't much different from all those travelers in the U.S. trying to get somewhere tonight by air. Except the Fijians are much pleasanter to be with, than Americans, when they are under stress.

The "show time" for the ferry last night was 8pm. We got there at 8pm and found the dock mobbed with people and stuff, and they were still unloading. Fortunately it was a fine evening, not too hot, and not raining. We amused ourselves watching the ship next to us trying to load containerized freight with a giant forklift, with children playing, and people and cars milling all around. Amazingly, no one got hurt, no one got mad, no one told anyone what to do.

We finally got aboard at 10:30pm--another incredible mob scene with no order, but no violence at all. In the U.S., I'm sure a group of frustrated travelers would have just jumped the flimsy line keeping us funneling (squishing) into the one-person-at-a-time gate. For us, it's a nightmare--we're each dragging 2 big rolly bags and wearing a heavy backpack--of boat parts, etc. It was about 100 degrees in ship loading area, and we were all sweating like pigs. There were lots of old ladies and little kids in the crowd, and very few people had regular shoes (just flip-flops). I was worried about rolling over everyone's feet with my bags. There was no crowd control, it was a madhouse. Except, it was Fiji, and nobody was mad, everyone tired, but smiling and mostly polite.

Once we got through the crowd, we had to drag our 4 too-heavy rolly bags up a narrow flight of stairs. Two Fijian guys going the same way grabbed 2 of the bags for us and hefted them up the stairs. (It helped that Dave had grey hair--I think next time I'll wear a grey wig and limp a little).

Even though only half of the people were loaded, every inch of common area floor space was already packed--even outside. Even under the signs in the lobby that said "No Sleeping Here", there were already people with mats laid out and sleeping.

Fortunately, we had paid extra for a cabin. Unlike our previous trip, where we were almost the only ones in the cabin area, all the cabins were full. And *surprise* the walls are paper thin. Last time we took this ferry, there were so few people in the cabins that it was very quiet and very pleasant. This time, most cabins had 4-5 people (grandmas, kids, etc etc). This morning when I opened the door, there was an entire extended family sleeping in the corridor--spill-over from the cabin opposite ours. Having a cabin means that a couple of people get to sleep in real beds, and they have a private bathroom, and access to the cabin-area (shared) shower.

Fortunately we had eaten last night before we showed, because the cafeteria was locked up when we came aboard, and they didn't announce that it was open until about 11:30pm. By then, we were already trying to get some sleep.

Out in the common spaces there were bodies laying on the floor sleeping everywhere. At least no goats and chickens, though :)

I don't think the ship got underway until around 1:30am. The swell as we were coming around the south coast of Viti Levu made the ship roll from side to side sickeningly--leftover swell from Tropical Cyclone Evan, who had only left a few days before. I NEVER EVER get seasick, but I was feeling it a little. (The 2 shots of rum I drank to put me to sleep might have been a contributing factor, though). We could hear someone puking in the cabin next door. Fortunately, when we turned north, the swell was behind us, and the motion was not bad at all. By morning, the sea was almost flat calm.

Our friend who had taken this ferry once below had warned us about the freezing cold cabins. They said they couldn't sleep because the cabin was so cold, even with sweaters and long pants on. On the return trip, they taped the vents closed. Well, typical Fijian non-maintenance seems to have taken care of that problem. The boat interior spaces are hot as heck in general, and our room was just barely cool enough through the night. Sitting in the dining room this morning, it is also warm. I suspect half of the chillers have broken down and have not been replaced/repaired.

The cafeteria was supposed to be open at 7am, so I set my alarm for 6:45 get up and get in first and get a table and make sure we got some food. In typical fashion, the cafeteria was closed when I got there at 0710, and no one knew when it would open. I went back to bed. They finally made an announcement over the PA that it was open at 0830.

Breakfast was overfried eggs, greasy sausage, not-quite-toasted white bread, and instant coffee. Or you could have a soda, cookies, and chips (blech!) But we ate it anyway. Fortunately we brought some fruit with us. I am worried that they will run out of both food and water before we get to Savusavu. Unfortunately, since we were already lugging too much luggage, we didn't "provision" for this trip adequately.

When I got to the dining room I managed to get a table near a window, so I could hook my GPS up and see where we are (our cabin is an interior cabin and you can't see anything). We were "hove to" off a tiny island, lightering a few people and stuff ashore. Now (0930) headed for Koro Island, ETA noon, if I understood the annoucement (in Fijian) correctly. Savusavu is another 2-3 hours beyond Koro, and they'll be (optimistically) unloading in Koro for at least an hour.

In Fiji, Not Quite "Home" Yet

Short Story: We made it to Fiji yesterday.

Long Story: When we realized that we were waitlisted on the absolute last flight we could take and make it to Savusavu before Christmas (and maybe even New Years), we decided to try again and "take the first flight out".

Tuesday morning (America time) we finally managed to get through on the phone to Air Pacific and secure the LAST TWO SEATS on Tuesday night's flight from LAX. So we apologised to Evan (our current host) about changing our plans yet again, and hustled in our rental car headed back to LA. We managed to get away with enough time go part of the way on Pacific Coast Highway. It was a beautiful day and a nice trip--wish we could have stopped and explored more.

However, halfway to LA, we got a text message that said our flight had been delayed until Weds morning. But we were committed at that point and carried on to LA. Worst case scenario, we spend the night in the USO at the airport and best case, we get a room at the Hilton on Air Pacific. I checked our status and the flight status on the computer, and the results were confusing and conflicting.

What ended up happening was that the flight that was ORIGINALLY was supposed to go out Tuesday evening had been bumped to Weds morning, but WE were actually booked on the flight that was supposed to have gone on Monday evening, but was actually flying on Tuesday evening. You can imagine the line and the confusion at the Air Pacific counter when we got there. It took us an hour and half to reach the counter!

However, once we did, we found we were confirmed on that flight, AND they hadn't lost the 3 bags we had checked on Saturday. The flight ended up being delayed about 2 hours, but did finally get off the ground late on Tuesday night. It turned out that Air Pacific, trying to recover from the Cyclone Evan debacle in the week before Christmas, had chartered an Atlas Air plane and crew to try to catch up.

We landed in Nadi, Fiji after an 11-hour overnight flight. We got about 6 hours of sleep--not too bad for a crowded airplane. All our luggage (4 big bags) arrived with us, and we had no Immigration or Customs hassles at the airport. All in all, a very successful flight.

A friend at Vuda Point Marina (near Nadi) had encouraged us to come visit her for a couple of days before going on to Savusavu, but we were on a mission to get home. We were worried about not getting on the last ferry going to Savusavu before Christmas. We had done a little investigating while in LA and found out that the ferries shut down between Christmas and New Years, and also that the short-hop airplanes were all fully booked.

So we took the Express Bus down to Suva right from the airport. This is a 4-5 hour bus ride. The Express Bus isn't supposed to stop anywhere, but it does at a few places. But it is air-conditioned and we saw 2 movies on the way!! All for about $10 US.

We also had to make contact with our friends from Fulaga's family in Suva. We brought back a laptop (a nice new/refurbed HP laptop on Walmart.com for only $256) for Sera, the nurse at Fulaga. After a few phone calls to arrange things, Sera's sister met us at our hostel and paid us for the laptop. Unfortunately Sera and Sikeli haven't made it (by ferry) from Fulaga yet--they also got delayed by the cyclone, and aren't due for another couple of days.

Fortunately, we had made reservations on the Lomaiviti Princess ferry, by phone, with Kong, the agent in Savusavu, while still in LA (thank god for Skype!). When we got to the ferry office today to pick up our pre-paid ticket, they had a big sign on the door "No more space on today's ferry". But we have a confirmed ticket for a sleeper cabin. Thanks, Kong (he told us to just stop by his office and Savusavu and pay him when we get there)!

So, tonight, off we go on our last leg "home"--an overnight ferry to Savusavu.

Next problem: Getting food aboard before everything shuts down for Christmas!

P.S. For a first-hand account of Tropical Storm Evan at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji, see Island Bound's blog.

Tropical Storm Magnet

At least one of our friends (Bruce from s/v Migration) has emailed us from the safety of Thailand "Geez you guys! You seem to attract Tropical Storms!"

It's probably because Dave so actively has advocated in the last 2 years (in person, and on the radio nets) NOT making the difficult and sometimes dangerous trip to NZ to avoid cyclone season, but staying and enjoying the tropics in the calm summer months.

We have yet to hear an "I told you so." from our friends who think we're crazy for staying in a cyclone zone. But I'm sure several are thinking it!! (as they are emailing us happy to hear we are OK).

Some updates from this morning:

From Dr. Jeff Masters Wunder Blog: "According to a database maintained by NOAA's Coastal Service Center, Evan is the strongest tropical cyclone on record to affect Fiji's main island, with records going back to 1941"

We found an interesting YouTube video supposedly taken yesterday from a boat at Vuda Point Marina, before the height of the storm. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh6S9D6Hs8A Crazy guy, eh?

From our friend Linda who's boat-sitting at Vuda Point Marina, on the hard, on first look this morning: "No huge pileup of boats but stuff all over. Not anything like we have seen in the Caribbean. Guava Jelly (in the water) looks o.k. other than ripped cover. Sidewinder (on the hard) looks good if they took the blades off their wind generator (they did). Can't see anything else just yet. There's a big tree down between me and the marina office."

For a more detailed first-hand account of Tropical Storm Evan at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji, see Island Bound's blog.

We have been re-booked as wait-listed on Air Pacific to leave on Thursday night for Fiji. We never did get through on the phone, but got a near immediate response by email, suprisingly. The first flight (last we heard) was SUPPOSED to go at noon today, California time (right about now). Glad we didn't stick around the airport all night waiting for it to go!!

For now we'll hang in Santa Barbara and keep Evan from s/v Java company.

Soggy Paws OK, Thanks to Friends

We are happy to report that Cyclone Evan is receding from Savusavu, and Soggy Paws is OK. We got several Skype calls from Jerry on Challenger today giving us status updates. He reported early that it was still gusty and nasty, but the wind seemed to be starting to abate. Two unattended boats had dragged in the night, but neither was damaged. He and Curly and a couple of other cruisers were out during the day securing these boats.

Late in the day, Jerry called us again and said that he thought Soggy Paws was dragging (but it was then only blowing 15-20 knots). Later we found out that it was friends of ours on another boat, named Mambo, who thought we were dragging, because we were closer to them than before. So Jerry Skyped us once again to find out what he needed to do to start the engine on Soggy Paws... The waters were too murky after the rain to send someone down with tanks to see what was going on with the mooring. He wanted to back hard on the mooring with the engine to make sure we WEREN'T dragging. At the time he called, we were driving in fairly heavy traffic on one of California's 5-lanes-across-in-each-direction highways, so I had to take the call and relay instructions from Dave on the steps to re-commission the engine. (raw water seacock on, engine start battery cut-off enabled, ignition circuit breaker on, ignition key, and cold starting instructions).

Later we got another update from Jerry by email, that when he backed on the mooring, it straightened the chain out (drug a half a boat length and then stopped), but didn't drag.

The problem with our mooring is that the moorings are so close that when the wind drops and the tide changes, we have problems with boats going in different directions and getting too close to each other.

Jerry also reported that the internet (Vodafone cellular data) was out--after being fine during the whole storm. Though he didn't say so, it is probably due to the other half of Fiji being hit by the storm (where the internet trunk line comes in to Fiji).

Anyway, all is fine in Savusavu.

Meanwhile, we are now worried about friends who's boats are in Vuda Point Marina, on the west side of Viti Levu. We know 2 people who are THERE, aboard, on the hard. We also know about 6 other people who left their boats in the water and on the hard at Vuda, and are somewhere else. Several have contacted me by email asking if I had any updates.

The problem is that the cyclone turned south a little earlier than recently forecast, and the "bad" side of the cyclone has just raked the western side of Viti Levu, where Vuda Point Marina is. We haven't heard anything from them yet.

We have heard 2nd hand that Jim on Also Island, on the north coast of Vanua Levu is OK, but has lost both his HF antennas, so is having more trouble than usual communicating and emailing. Our friend Evan on Java left his boat in Jim's care, and finally got an email from Jim. Jim said the winds got to about 70 knots there, but that things weren't too bad. Java was tied up in the mangroves near Also Island, and he hadn't gotten out to check on Java yet, but he was pretty sure that she was OK.

Meanwhile, we are still in Los Angeles. Air Pacific said that they were going to fly 2 flights leaving at 2am and 3am tonight, and we could have gotten on one of those flights. But, frankly, we checked the satellite picture just before we went to the airport and it looks like Evan is going by pretty close to the airport, at 110 knots. We think it is really unlikely that they'll be able to get the airport back in operation by noon tomorrow in Fiji, in time for a flight leaving LA at 2am to arrive.

Air Pacific also said we could change our reservations without penalty. Though we had a nice time staying aboard Capella in Redondo Beach last night, when friend Evan from s/v Java invited us up to stay with him in Santa Barbara for a few days, we jumped on it. So we cleaned up Capella, and took the bus back to LAX this afternoon ($2.00 on the bus for the two of us versus the $30 cab fare it took to get down to Redondo), and rented an Enterprise Rental Car for only $22/day. We can't hang here too long, or we'll run into Christmas slow-down on our arrival in Fiji, and have trouble getting back to Savusavu, but I think we'll stay a couple of days and do some sightseeing.