Saweni Bay, Viti Levu Island, Fiji
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 2 Jul 2008 02:15
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17:38.477S 177:23.661E
Thursday (6/26) after we got all the groceries
stowed, we made our way down the coast of Viti Levu to Saweni Bay. When we
arrived, there were about six other boats including Lady Kay, who was just
putting the anchor down. Wait a minute. What's this? People on
a nearby boat are calling to us as we slowly motor by. 'Stay to the
right! See that catamaran? They're on the reef! Don't go over
there!'. Oh no - that's not Lady Kay calmly putting down their anchor,
that's Lady Kay in panic mode grounded on a reef. Ugh. We looked at
our electronic chart. Sure enough, the reef wasn't where the chart said it
should have been and the angle of the sun wasn't high enough such
that the change in water color could be seen.
We anchored safely, quite a ways away from reef
trouble and hopped in the dinghy to see if we could lend a hand to Lady
Kay. When we arrived, Roger from the French trimaran Branec IV was there
with Lady Kay's incredibly muddy anchor and chain piled up with him in his
dinghy. The tide was coming in, so Lady Kay had floated off the reef, but
then had trouble with the windlass and couldn't get the anchor up onto the
boat. Don and I boarded Lady Kay where Jackie was understandably freaked
out (not knowing if the reef had done damage to the rudders and undersides of
their catamaran's hulls or not) and Michael was covered head to toe in muck from
wrestling with the anchor chain (and losing). Don walked over to the
windlass area, told Michael he couldn't see anything wrong, and the windlass
immediately started working again. Problem solved and all it took was one
look from Don. We don't call him the miracle maintenance man for
nothing. Michael got the anchor aboard, Jackie piloted the boat to a safer
area where the anchor went down again with no trouble this time, Roger dove
under the boat to look for damage and Michael the mud man jumped in fully
clothed in an attempt to clean up. All reports came back 'no damage' and
the crowd dispersed to get ready for dinner and our date with Ravine the trusty
taxi man on the beach at six.
Now this was a new experience - beaching the dinghy
in our going out to dinner clothes (which included a skirt for me since we were
in trousers-averse Fiji) in the pitch dark with no lights. This involved
riding the waves in, then hopping out at just the right moment so only your
feet would get wet (yeah, right). Where are those crumbling concrete
wharves when you need them? We all made it to the beach
without having to swim and lugged the dinghy high up on the sand so it
would still be there when we returned. Roger and Sabine (sp?) from Branec
IV were waiting for us, as was Ravine the trusty taxi man. All six of us
plus Ravine piled in the taxi and it made its tortured way one mile up
the dirt road to the main 'highway'. Once we hit the highway, Ravine the
trusty taxi man turned right. Huh, we thought the town of Lautoka was to
the left. No one said anything, but we were all thinking the same
thing. Wow, we never did ask Ravine where he made the dinner
reservations. We have no idea where we are going. At this point we
are too embarrassed to ask so we all just sit back and continue chatting.
Ravine the trusty taxi man continues to drive. It's very dark.
We are on a side road with no apparent outlet or end. There are no signs
and no lights. Finally, here's something - a Mobil sign. Ok, we are
near the oil tanks, which strangely enough, is not too far from some of the
resort hotels. Another sign, it says 'First Landing Resort'. Ok
then, Ravine the trusty taxi man has brought us to one of the resort
hotels for dinner. Very nice.
And it was. An excellent dinner followed by,
you guessed it, Fijian dancing. You might think that since the Fijian
culture seems to be even more conservative than that of the Tongans, the dance
would reflect the same. Not so. There were skimpy costumes and
definitely some butt wiggling going on. We're not sure if the resort
setting meant the dance style was changed to be more appealing to the tourists
or if Fijian dance is truly more like Tahitian than Tongan. Either way it
was good and we enjoyed it.
As did the other guests, which included one New
Zealand couple who were celebrating their forty-fifth wedding
anniversary. When they stopped to talk to us, the husband said 'We came to
Fiji for our honeymoon! But my wife had to fly back to New Zealand after only
two days for an emergency appendectomy! We always said we would come back
and here we are forty-five years later!'. After making this pronouncement,
the happy couple wandered off to their room and we were left in the happy
afterglow. It took them forty-five years to do it, but at least they were
able to fulfill their dream.
After dinner Ravine the trusty taxi man was
waiting for us and we piled back in the taxi for the trip back to the
beach. Once there, we hauled the dinghies back down to the water and
completed the more challenging launch the dinghy into the waves (which were
quite small, thankfully), hop in and push off routine in the dark with no lights
and without anyone having to swim or wade more than knee-deep (which isn't fun
for the guys with long pants on, but this is boating, after
all).
Anne
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