YASAWA ISLANDS UPDATE- PART 2

I just got back in internet range on Wednesday 10/7/09.
Here are my Yasawa Islands note taken since I last made an entry.


TORRID- YASAWA DIARY- PART 2
As I’m out of internet range again, I’ve decided to write these recollections until I can get back on the Net.
　
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Today the winds turned favorable for my return voyage back down the Yasawa group. It was my intention -note, not my “plan”, to sail back to Octopus Bay and enjoy some good food------for a change.
As 3 pm came and went I could tell that if I continued on that I’d be pulling into Octopus Bay after dark. Accordingly I decided to anchor near Manta Ray hotel. I remembered it as a pleasant anchorage.
It was a good thing I made this decision as my roller furling system decided to stop working. I could not roll in my jib.
Being alone on a boat requires one be able to solve problems and this was my PROBLEM DU JOUR.
The solution was relatively simple. I put the boat directly into the wind, turned on the auto pilot, went forward and dropped the jib. Then I had to make sure the jib didn’t flop over into the ocean. I tied up the jib and all was well.
After anchoring I examined the roller furler and diagnosed the problem. Three set screws hold the roller in place. All three were gone, long gone. I retired to a quiet night.
Sunday, October 4, 2009.
I awoke after dreaming all night about how to solve my jib problem. As it turned out, the solution was pretty simple. The hard part was re-raising the jib single-handed. Fortunately there was very little wind first thing in the morning and I managed to raise the jib and test the roller-furling and made sure TORRID was sea worthy again.
I had a very pleasant sail back to Waya island and Octopus Resort. The folks are so very pleasant. I’d say that if you were to come to Fiji and stay only at Octopus Resort you’d get your money’s worth. Many people I talked to have come back to Octopus year after year.
Sunday evening was another “Green Flash” sunset. I think I’m now up to 8.
The Sunday evening movie under the stars was very enjoyable.
Monday, October 5, 2009
I decided to sail over to Navadra Island. It is beautiful despite a fairly “rolly” anchorage. I saw some nice surf at the next island. I went ashore and did a little exploring. As far as I can tell, these islands are unoccupied.
It may be difficult to imagine, but there are literally hundreds of miles of deserted beaches in Fiji. In the Yasawas it is not uncommon to have an entire beach, if not island, to yourself.
As far as I can see, the main impediment to the use of several of the picturesque little outlying islands is a lack of reliable a reliable water supply. The resorts use a combination of river, well, catchment and desalinization systems. These are not cheap. The other problem is energy. Fuel for generators is brought in by boats and is brought ashore in 5 gallon containers . Most food and other necessary supplies have to be brought over from mainland
Fiji by boat.
I plan to do some snorkeling in the morning and will probably stay the day as it is a full day of sailing to get back to Musket Cove.
One of the REALLY nice things about being retired and on my own is that I am beholden to no time schedule. Life is good.
　
Tuesday, October 6, 2009. Navadra Island
This morning I went snorkeling in some very beautiful water. The reef is beautiful and is untouched. Sadly, I did not see any lobsters.
The anchorage here is somewhat exposed to a swell from the northwest. I few wave have rolled in and it is probably a pretty good break on big days with a consistent swell. As it appears the island is uninhabited there would not be any interference from villagers or resorts which specialize in surfing holidays. I have heard that some breaks are “owned” by resorts or villages and access is restricted to guests of the surfing resorts who pay a large fee to be able to surf in uncrowned conditions. As a former surfer myself, I can understand the desire to find uncrowned conditions. However, I cannot abide the idea of someone claiming “ownership” of the waves.
I went ashore and did some exploring. My only company seemed to be two goats which were also beachcombing. I was looking for shells. The goats were looking for ANYTHING to eat.
Tomorrow I hope to make my way back to Musket Cove.