YASAWA ISLANDS UPDATE

Bula,

I've been out of internet range for the past 2 weeks. The connection is fragile at best.

Here are my notes of the Yasawa Islands experiences so far.

I'll try to add pictures later.

Swimming with the giant Manta Rays was just too much!!!!



　
TORRID- YASAWA DIARY
　
21 September, 2009. Octopus Resort, Waya Island, Yasawa group, Fiji.
I have been in the Yasawa Group for several days and have had many fine and not so fine experiences. Since I have not been able to access the internet I have not been able to keep my blog updated. Therefore, I have decided to use this method to record my experiences as best I can recall.
After leaving Vuda Point I had a very easy 5 mile cruise over to nearby Bounty Island. Bounty is a very small island and is a backpacker’s place. I decided to leisurely motor to Bounty so as to test out my repaired transmission and rudder. Everything worked fine.
I had planned to launch my dinghy the following day and go ashore. Fortunately I had decided not to launch my dinghy until the following day.
During the night the weather took a turn for the worse and I was “treated” to strong southerly winds and a lot of rain. I had anchored in a relatively unprotected roadstead and decided to put out a secondary safety anchor. The seas were choppy and uncomfortable. The day was spent waiting for the weather to break, which it didn’t. The night was uncomfortable. I never did go ashore at Bounty Island.
The following day I decided to move on to Waya Island.
The morning started out with little wind and calm seas. However, as soon as I started bringing my anchors up the fun began.
As I was trying to raise my secondary anchor, an anchor called a CQR ( “SECURE”- get it?), I noticed that the line had frayed and was in immediate danger of breaking. Had I continued trying to raise the CQR using my windlass I have no doubt that the line would have parted (broken) and I would loose a very good anchor. Consequently, I decided to put a buoy on the line and hope to retrieve it later.
Next, I had to raise the main anchor using my “repaired” windlass. As you can tell from my commentary, the fun was just beginning.
The windlass was not working properly. The Gypsy is a part of the Windlass which grips the links of the anchor chain and pulls the chain link by link. It seems I have two problems: The first is that the cogs on the Gypsy seem to be worn down and have a hard tome gripping the chain links, the other is that my chain consists of several lengths of chain, most of which are not the right size for the gypsy. As a consequence, although the Windlass has power and turns properly it fails to properly grip the chain and pull it in.
Being on a sailboat alone teaches you quickly to become self-reliant and be able to adapt to different problems in different ways. You learn to get the job done no matter how ugly the solution is.
In this case, the solution was to get two wraps of chain around the Windlass and pull up the chain. It is a messy and tedious task. If there is no wind pushing the boat against the anchor it is not that difficult. In the event there is ANY wind, the boat will be pushed back against the chain and cause the Windlass to work very hard. The solution is to drive the boat forward of the anchor, put the boat in neutral, run forward and bring in as much chain as possible before the boat takes up strain against the anchor again.
With two people, one can drive and steer while the other pulls up the anchor. As a solo however, one must drive the boat forward, pop it into neutral, scramble forward and bring in as much chain as possible before the chain becomes taut again. I can tell you this: it is not the kind of task that is very easy to accomplish. However, one must do what one must do.
I finally raised my main anchor and returned to retrieve my CQR anchor. I planned to grapple the line, pull in enough line until I got past the frayed part and then use the Windlass to haul up the anchor. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
Well after several missed attempts at grappling the anchor line some Fijian boys from Bounty Island came out in their boat and asked if they could help. I gladly accepted.
I must say that I am very impressed by the boundless joy and helpfulness of the Fijian people. It seems to be everywhere, except perhaps in the larger cities like Suva.
The lads raised my anchor and brought it over to TORRID. I thanked them profusely and bid them “Vinaka” (thank you) and “Moce”, pronounced moday which means “See you later”.
I had a VERY pleasant four hour sail over to Waya Island. It is the prettiest Island I’ve seen so far in Fiji. It reminded me of parts of Tahiti and Rarotonga (Cook Islands).
I anchored is a quiet little Yalobi Bay. Unfortunately I anchored a little too close to shore. As I could see bottom and my depth gauge read a scant 12 feet I got nervous. Remember, TORRID has a 9 foot keel. Accordingly I stood anchor watch for quite a while to see how things shaped up.
Sure enough, I felt a solid “Clunk” and knew that TORRID had touched bottom. Instantly I started the engine, put it in forward and zoomed out to deeper water. I had touched bottom once which was more than enough. I had to haul my anchor back up and move out to deeper water. No problem, right? Remember the problem I was having with my Windlass? The problem hadn’t gone away.
I needed to bring up my anchor, stay in deeper water, play the ballet of driving forward, running forward and hauling in chain then running back to the helm to repeat the process until the anchor was raised. By the way, did I mention that the wind was pushing me INTO shore ie., shallow water? No? Well that only added to the fun.
Eventually I raised the anchor, re-set it in deeper water and settled in for the night. The evening turned out to be uneventful.
The following day I remained in Yalobi Bay. It is a very pretty Bay with a small Fijian village. Above the village there is a small waterfall. I got some nice pictures which will be uploaded to my Blog when I get access to the internet again.
The following day I left Yalobi Bay and sailed up the West coast of Waya Island. The scenery was stunning. More pictures for the Blog.
I pilled into an anchorage off Octopus Resort. I must say, if you come to Fiji and have but one place to choose to stay, it should be Octopus Resort. It has everything. Beautiful beach, marvelous snorkeling, stunning scenery and an extremely friendly and helpful staff. The owner, Nick, has made Octopus an extremely Yacht-friendly location. The West-facing resort allows for a beautiful place to watch the sunset. Remember the “Green Flash”? More on that later.
I launched the dinghy the following morning. This is quite a chore single-handed, but well worth the effort.
While sitting in my dinghy alongside TORRID I thought a small length of line had fallen into the water right alongside the dinghy. Before I reached over the pick it up I noticed two things: First, it was moving UP current and Second, it was striped unlike any of the lines I knew I had aboard TORRID. Lastly, I noticed that it was SWIMMING. On more careful observation, I saw that it was a Sea Snake! These little critters are EXTREMELY poisonous and, if bitten, you will probably die. Fortunately, the are very non-aggressive and their mouths are so small that it would be very difficult for one to bite you even if it wanted to. The most likely place they could bite you is in the webbing between your fingers or your earlobes. As mentioned, these little guys are not aggressive and if you simply leave them undisturbed the will not bother you. They are a lot of fun to watch: from a distance.
I went ashore at Octopus Resort and met Josepha, one of the many Fijians from the nearby village of Nalauwaki in nearby Nalauwaki Bay. Practically everyone from the village works at Octopus.
Josepha and I became friends easily and I enjoyed his company a great deal. He invited me to participate in the Kava ceremony that evening with the new arrivals. This is a ceremony that goes on every evening to welcome the new guests.
I declined the ceremony as I felt it was something the guests had paid for and seemed a bit touristy for me. However, after the ceremony and after the guests had left for other activities, Josepha and several of he Fijian men remained drinking Kava and playing music. Josepha saw me and invited me over again. This time I gladly accepted and shared two small bowls of Kava with the Fijians. The evening was pleasant and I had a wonderful time talking with Josepha and his nephew Viri. His name is pronounced with a “roll of the tongue” on the “r”.
The following day I did some snorkeling just outside the resort. It was quite beautiful and I’ve planned to use my underwater camera case again. It is worth the effort.
I met “Nick”, the owner of Octopus Resort. Nick is a true gentleman who treats his guests and employees with care and kindness. He seems genuine in his appreciation for his Fijian employees. Indeed, the labor pool into which he must draw is very limited. Almost everyone in the nearby village works at Octopus.
On the other hand, I have talked at some length with the Fijians who work at Octopus and everyone seems very happy with their jobs, the working conditions and Nick. As I said, you can’t go wrong staying at Octopus.
I met some other “Yachties” whom I’d met at Vuda Marina. They had easily sailed over to Octopus in one day from Vuda.
That night the weather changed---for the worst. Winds had kicked up from the South and it was pretty uncomfortable. Winds up to 35 knots and driving rain made me stay aboard all day and be prepared to cope with any problems.
Because I’d had so many problems with my main anchor and chain I had decided to use my CQR anchor with a good length of chain and a good length of heavy duty anchor line (not chain----this will be important shortly).
The winds continued to increase and, as Octopus is not well protected in a South wind and sea, the stay aboard TORRID was quite shaky. Knowing that I had line out on my anchor and not all chain I became concerned that the line might become chaffed and break free. Sometimes I hate it when I’m right.
In the late afternoon my Anchor Drag alarm went off. My anchor had dragged about 20’-----of course towards shore. It hooked up again but the weather continued to be nasty.
About an hour later my Anchor Drag alarm went off again. I could see on the GPS that my boat was moving----quickly-- towards the nearby hungry reefs and rocks. I raced up on deck and quickly discovered that indeed my anchor line had been severed and I was adrift!!!! I was rapidly being blown towards shore.
Quickly, I started the engine, powered into the wind and regained control of TORRID. I was safely away from the rocks and reefs, but I was in terrible wind and rain. I was also without a reliable anchoring system.
What to do, what to do?
Fortunately, I knew that nearby Nalauwaki Bay was protected from the strong southerly winds. I motored out and away from Octopus and around to Nalauwaki Bay. I was soaking wet, cold and alone in rough seas and unfamiliar reefs nearby. I found myself laughing my head off. I’ve rarely felt so ALIVE!!!!!
Suffice it to say that after a bit of an ordeal I entered Nalauwaki Bay, found a modicum of shelter from the wind and set my main anchor, with ALL of my chain out. I set another secondary anchor. It is a relatively small Fortress Anchor mainly used as a stern anchor on day trips. Remember, I had lost my CQR anchor at Octopus when the anchor line had frayed apart. I felt any secondary anchor was better than none.
Three other yachts pulled into Nalauwaki Bay seeking shelter from the storm. The remainder of the night passed without incident although I was not happy when one of the other yachts anchored a little too close to me for comfort. It turned out to be a non-problem. Just a little etiquette problem was all.
By morning the skies had cleared and the weather was beautiful again. I remained in Naalauwaki Bay for that day and night just to make sure.
The following day I returned to Octopus intent on finding and retrieving my CQR anchor. I had a pretty good idea of the location and plotted it in my hand-held GPS. I donned my skin-diving gear and drove out to the area where I “guest mated” the CQR was. As it had a good length of white line, I felt that spotting it from the surface would not prove difficult----wrong again.
My efforts were unsuccessful so I went ashore and enjoyed the music of the Fijians.
The following day was Sunday and the weather was beautiful and the water clear. I had decided to walk over to Nalauwaki Village to enjoy the Sunday Church services. I was NOT disappointed.
The walk to the village takes about 15-20 minutes. As my ankle was still quite sore, I took my time and made the hike OK. I was rewarded with some stunning views of some of the Yasawa Islands to the North as well as a very pretty view of Nalauwaki Bay and the nearby imposing hills.
The church service was all in Fijian. I had gone in hopes of hearing some beautiful singing. Again, I was not disappointed. The Fijians blend their voices in a truly beautiful manner. I’m just sad that I cannot load the movies, with sound, onto my Blog as the internet is so slow here in Fiji. Perhaps I can do so at a later date---we’ll see.
After church I returned to TORRID and decided to search for my anchor again using slightly different search parameters. Happily, I found my anchor in about 35’ of water. I placed a marker buoy on the anchor and returned to TORRID for my SCUBA gear. I returned, dove to the anchor, moved it and the chain to an easier location for retrieval, attached a buoy and line to the CQR and got it ready to be retrieved. During the dive I remarked as how I was diving alone which is something I don’t usually do. However, one does what one must do.
During the dive I found a seashell, specifically, a Leviathan cowrie which was dead and very clean. It had probably died less than two days prior and had been eaten clean by crabs. It was a nice find.
I returned to the dinghy and tried to pull up the anchor but it was just too heavy. I plan to return to the buoy with TORRID, grapple the line and pull the anchor up with the windlass.
I’ve written these memoirs today on Monday, September 21, 2009 whilst anchored (safely) off Octopus resort. I plan to do some snorkeling later and take some underwater photos.\
Tomorrow, weather permitting, I plan to sail North to Drawaqa Island where I hope to dive with giant Manta Rays. I hope I can get some great photos for the Blog.
BULA,
Mal
UPDATE TUESDAY 9/22/09
This will be brief. All is well. I am just North of Waya Island and have a brief window where the internet can see me from mainland Fiji. I’ll try to transmit this message ASAP. Again, all is well and I’m on my way to Drawaqa Island.
Well……..after drifting in the channel between Waya and Drawaqa Islands I was never able to get solidly thru to the internet. I had a weak signal and every time I would get connected to AOL and try to get my messages I’d get disconnected!!!!! VERRRRRRRRRY frustrating.
Oh well, in any event I had an unremarkable passage over to tiny Drawaqa Island (yes it is spelled without a “q”). The main claim to fame here is Manta Rays. Apparently they like to congregate at the pass between Drawaqa and Naviti Islands. I believe they like to come in on a rising tide. I plan to go ashore at a nearby backpacker’s resort and get the full info.
As I was drifting in the channel another sailboat came by to see if I needed assistance. There is a kind of unwritten code amongst Yachties to the effect that you should always try to help out a fellow Yachtie as you never know when it is going to be your turn to need help.
Drawaqa is not as beautiful as Waya, but I didn’t expect it to be. There are miles and miles of white sandy beaches which don’t get many footprints in any given year. It is beautiful!
Update 9/22/09 1730 hrs.
I went ashore at Manta Ray Resort. It is a backpacker’s place and welcomed me as a “Yachtie”. I walked a pleasant little beach which was teeming with seashells. They were all dead and were washed up on the beach, but there were literally thousands of shells. I’ll try to take a picture of today’s haul.
I found out that the Manta Rays are still around and are expected to be tomorrow with the high tide around 0830.
I cruised by a little reef right in front of Torrid and it looks quite promising.
9/23/09 Thursday 1030 hrs
WOW! I know it sounds corny and trite, but the best word I can use to describe this morning is “WOW”.
I awoke early and waited for the rising tide. As I proceeded in the general direction of where I was told to look for the Manta Rays I realized that I really had no exact idea of where I would expect to encounter these creatures. I relied upon my previous experience with rays in general and thought that if I watched carefully I would be able to spot their wing tips break the surface. I did not wish to sit and simply wait until the Fijian boys brought the tourists out and simply tag along with them.
My previous experience proved fruitful.
A sailor learns quickly to develop his peripheral vision and how to spot something which is just out of the ordinary. I was blessed with a relatively calm ocean and quickly spotted what I thought was the flicker of a wing tip of a Manta Ray just as it broke the surface. I was right! I spotted 3 Manta Rays about 150 meters away and headed off in their direction.
I realized that a very strong current was running and the only way I’d be able to see the leviathans would be to motor up-current then hop in the water and drift back down in their direction.
With a little nervous anticipation, I donned my snorkeling gear, grabbed my camera, threw the anchor over the side and quietly slipped into the water. The water was deep enough that I could not see bottom and knew that my anchor was simply drifting along with me and the dinghy. That was fine with me as it was my intention to hand onto the anchor and swim towards the Mantas.
I poked my head up and spotted 2 Mantas nearby and, fortunately, down-current.
Quickly appearing out of the gloom were 2 beautiful Mantas. Almost instantly I was alongside them and in awe of their size and grace. I began taking several photographs, however I did not feel confident that the photos would be very good as I was not very close to the Mantas and the light was not particularly good.
Just as well I later determined, because in all my excitement I had neglected to turn my camera on! Boy, did I feel stupid.
Not to be undone, I returned to the dinghy, pulled up the anchor and headed up-current from the Mantas again. This time my efforts were rewarded with me getting quite close to 2 Mantas and being able to take several photographs which will show up on my Blog when I can get internet access again.
After my second encounter with the Mantas the tourists from the backpacker sites showed up and the stampede was on! Two boatloads of young people spilled into the water and began chasing the Mantas.
I felt the better course of action was to drift towards the Mantas and hope for a nice encounter. By swimming rapidly towards them I felt that the Mantas may feel threatened. Keeping up with the Mantas required some vigorous swimming as the incoming tide had created a very swift current.
Another group from one of the other yachts showed up and I had to be careful so as to keep my dinghy from drifting into all the divers in the water. I was not about to simply anchor my dinghy as I knew that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get back to my dinghy swimming against the current.
I had three more encounters with the Mantas and decided to start heading back towards TORRID.
Along the way I spotted an area that looked quite nice for snorkeling . I dropped my anchor in shallow water, grabbed my camera and slid into the water. The water was crystal clear and the corals were beautiful.
I had my camera slung over my neck. Or so I thought.
After a few minutes I decided to take a photograph, but my camera was gone!
Realizing quickly that the strap must have come loose I began a frantic search for my camera.
I raced down-current and down-wind figuring that would be the only direction my camera could be. No joy!
I raced back to the dinghy knowing that since my camera and case would float, perhaps I could spot it on the surface from the dinghy. Fortunately as I started to hoist myself into the dinghy I spotted the camera on the surface nearby. I was lucky in that the water was very smooth and flat. I was also glad that I had the sailor’s peripheral vision which scans the surface of the ocean looking for something which is out of the norm.
I retrieved my camera, figured out what caused the problem and remedied it such that it can never recur. Another lesson learned, the hard way.
Heading back to TORRID I was enthralled by a small empty beach nearby. I felt compelled to go ashore, I don’t know why. I still don’t know why.
I explored the beach briefly and took a few photos of TORRID with the dinghy in the foreground.
As I headed back to the dinghy I observed that mine were the only footprints on this little, deserted beach.
Of course many other people have come to the beach in the past, however, today my footprints were the only ones in sight.
I began to think in terms of our meaning in life. Why had I come so far just to leave my footprints on this little spit of sand? What difference, if any, has my being here made in the Universe. None, I reckon.
The fact of the matter is this: We are infinitesimally insignificant in the grand scheme of things. We may plan, scheme, struggle sweat and strive, but in the ebb and flow of the Universe, the consequence of our entire being is less remembered than are the footsteps I left in the sand. They will be washed away by the next high tide or filled in by the shifting sands borne by the next windy day. In any event, it just won’t matter.
I concluded that the best I could hope for would be for me to live my life to the full, however long or short that may be, not deliberately harm another human being and simply be thankful that I have had the opportunity to enjoy as much life as I have.
　
Thursday 24, September 2009 1300 hours.
This morning I got an early start from Drawaqa Island and headed North to adjacent Naviti Island. As the wind was “on the nose” ( this means that the wind was coming directly from the direction I wanted to go) I decided to motor my way up the coast.
I had two VERY SCARY moments when TORRID went over two VERRRRRRRRY shallow areas. At times my depth gauge read 24’. Remember, TORRID has a 9’ deep keel. Suffice it to say that I held my breath.
I must register a complaint: It is against the GARMIN CORPORATION , specifically, the Model 2010C- Color Chartplotter and its associated software. It is simply NOT ACCURATE!!!! Several times I have been at anchor or in a harbor and the display on my Chartplotter clearly showed that TORRID was at least ¼ mile ashore, on dry land. Of course that is impossible. I registered an e-mail complaint to Garmin and was basically brushed off. I was advised to “report” this problem but was given NO HELP WHATSOEVER with a method of coping with the problem. I can only hope that other Yachties can benefit from being able to avoid this problem and enough of my readers can shoot off angry e-mails to Garmin explaining how they are disappointed in this poor service, in a situation where it is perhaps most needed. Maybe enough “squeaky wheels” will get the attention of Garmin.
OK,OK,OK, enough bitching.
I am currently anchored at Vunayawa Bay on the North coast of Naviti Island. For those “Google Earth” people out there the lat/long is: South 17Degrees 04 Minutes and 975 Seconds; East 177 Degrees 16 Minutes, 602 Seconds.
The REASON I’m here is because directly to the East on the other side of the island a WWII Spitfire sits in very shallow water. I plan to get the “scoop” from the other Yachties here and go over for a visit tomorrow.
The story is that during WWII a few pilots who were assigned to Fiji were on patrol in their spitfires. Because nothing was happening and the pilots were bored, they decided to go joy flying. Apparently one unlucky/lucky pilot swooped too low, clipped a coconut tree with his wing and crashed into shallow water inside the reef. He was unlucky because he crashed and had a LOT of explaining to give to his commanding officer. He was lucky because he survived the crash. I’ll take my camera along and hopefully I’ll get some good shots.
I’m STILL stoked at yesterday’s experience with the Manta Rays.