We left Suva 2 days ago in the rain and light wind heading for
Kandavu, but the wind quickly built to 20+ knots directly from where we were
heading. After a little while we realized we would not get to the islands north
of Kandavu before dark, so we bore off and headed to Beqa. As we approached the
pass at Beqa the rain intensified, so we could not see the 1,500 foot tall
island that was only 3 miles away. We continued a slow approach hoping the rain
would let up soon. Thankfully it did and we could see the island and the pass
and headed in to Malumu Bay. The bay is surrounded by steep, jungle encrusted
mountains and mangroves at the water's edge, making it challenging to go
ashore. So we stayed on the boat, and other than the nonstop rain, we had a
very peaceful night, and enjoyed being out of loud, polluted Suva.
The following day the rain didn't really lighten up, and it was
quite cold, so we got lots of schoolwork done. It has been cold enough for the
past week and a half that we have been wearing pants and sweaters, not the
weather we expected in Fiji. In the late afternoon an American boat,
Malikalilalou, joined us with an 11 year old girl, Taly, onboard. She was
extremely excited to see kids as she had been alone with her parents for 2
weeks. Shortly after they anchored they came over to say hello. Not too long
after that they realized they were dragging and rushed back to their boat to
re-anchor. Axel and Gigi joined them on
their boat, livening up the atmosphere.
By dusk the wind had picked up, and the kadiabatic winds from the
surrounding mountains intensified. All day these strong gusts had come roaring
down the mountains at us from all different directions, causing the boat to
heel and adding to the overall cold grayness of the day. In the evening these
gusts really picked up speed and blasted us at over 30 knots. As we were just
about to sit down to eat dinner, I looked out the window and saw Malikalilalou
moving across the bay. They were at dinner onshore at the resort, so we were
quite concerned for their boat. Gary and I headed over to it in the dinghy and
realized it was quite close to shore, so I went into the resort to let them
know and Gary stayed on their boat to deal with issues. By the time I informed
Katie, Ciro and Taly, and we all got out to their boat, Gary had started the
motor, let out more scope, motored the boat into the middle of the bay and back
it down to set the anchor better. This wasn't a permanent solution, so we
helped them re-anchor, then went back to our boat for dinner.
After dinner I set both the chart plotter and handheld GPS anchor
alarms, then we started a movie. Only a few minutes into the movie one of the
anchor alarms went off and we had dragged across the bay, so we had to
re-anchor. It was all hands on deck, in the rain and 30 knot winds, so I
couldn't hear Gary or vise-versa, making communication really challenging. After
we were secure, we went back to the movie.
A few minutes later I saw Malikalilalou going by our window, they
were dragging again. They spent some time trying to get well anchored. I went
up to check on them and it looked like we swung a lot, and maybe dragged, so we
just monitored the situation. Ten minutes later the anchor alarm went off and
we had definitely dragged, so back on deck for re-anchoring. This time we tried
to get a little closer to shore, but it started to shallow up way too quickly,
so I reversed rapidly out of there. As we were re-anchoring, Malikalilalou was
also re-anchoring again. It felt a little like musical boats. Once we were both
set again, and alarms back on, we started the movie again.
It was the most disrupted movie I have ever watched, but it helped
distract us from just constantly thinking about whether we were dragging or
not. By the time the movie was over the wind had lightened up a little and
there was less concern about dragging, but Gary did sleep in the cockpit. All
of us including the kids went to bed around 1:30. Gigi and Axel were really
valuable crew members in this challenging situation. Sometimes we don't think
they have learned much about the boat, but it is reassuring to see when we
really need their help they know what to do.
Today the wind is quite calm, and the rain has stopped, so we will
stay put in this anchorage and tomorrow we will head to Kandavu as the winds as
supposed to be lighter and from a more favorable angle. We are all praying that
we don't have a repeat of last night.
As a thank you for saving their boat, Ciro and Katie took us to
dinner tonight at the resort. It was a fantastic meal and we are all really stuffed.
Gigi even said that she liked the cooked greens, that her time in the Lau
without vegetables has made her appreciate green foods more. Axel devoured his
steak and ate half of my banana bread pudding with ice cream.
Malikalilalou is joining us tomorrow sailing to the Astrolabe Reef,
just north of Kandavu. We will spend tomorrow night at either Buliya or Ono and
explore the Astrolabe Reef for a few days before heading to the island of Kandavu.
It’s off to bed for me, as we are planning to leave at day break.
Calm winds and fair seas,
Julie
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