Tuesday, December 16, 2008
We Made it!
First of all, THANK YOU STEVE AND SUSAN!! You gave not only James and I an incredible journey(not to mention work!), but you also gave my Dad the experience he will never forget! You are amazing people and we wish you the very best! Hopefully we'll meet up again soon!
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Our journey in Mai Miti this season has come to an end, but the new adventure in Surprise begins. Surprise(Schumacher 46) is an incredible racing/cruisingboat that is full of all sorts of goodies, including a blender for ice cold tropical smoothies underway:-) We were fortunate enough to have met the boat owners, Steve and Susan, months ago in Tonga and now we get the pleasure of delivering their boat down to New Zealand for them. We've spent the last week or so with them going through the boat and they've been absolutely wonderful in every way. Now we're just waiting for my dad to arrive here in Fiji as he will be taking the boat to New Zealand with us(whoo-hooo!), and off we go. I think Mai Miti is a little jealous that she's not coming along, but we're going to leave a Sevusevu with the guys here at the harbor so they keep a special eye on her! You can check out Steve and Susan's website at www.sailblogs.com/member/surprise for more info and pics of Surprise. Also new pictures up on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26977831@N04/
Monday, October 27, 2008
Kandavu!
Now we are currently tied to an old mooring chain that James found wrapped around a coral head in about 45ft of water on the southwest end of Kandavu.
Kandavu is about 60 miles from the main land of Viti Levu and is known for it's incredible diving/snorkeling on the Astrolabe reef and for the famous King
Kong surf break on this south side where we are. We planned to only be here for a couple of days but the spot has been absolutely wonderful with the clear
water, colorful corals, & sandy beaches keeping us here for a week already. There is a village near by which we made peace with right away with a Sevusevu
and with the help of a local named Abel. He has been sort of the middle
man between us and the villagers which appears to be the role he has taken on for many years now. There is a small resort on the little island off the shore
which gets alot of tourists for the surf so Abel deals with them. Right now the resort is empty and only two woman stay on the island
for caretaking. James turned out to be their hero for he ended up fixing both their generators, two washer and dryers, binoculars, and speakers! THey were very kind and we were happy to help. Yesterday we took out a couple of our friends surf boards out and had one of the best surfing days of our lives. With only our
friends off of Madeline here with us, we had these perfect little waves all to ourselves. James and I caught the last wave of the
day together and road it all the way into shore before we had to go and attend another kava session with Abel(our 3rd one since our stay:-(, We're not such
kava fans, and sitting for hours cross legged fans) Oh well, all part of the experience. One more highlight of Kandavu was when the only other boat to visit here
in this past week, the mega yacht called Kahala Kai, invited us over for cocktails turned dinner. It was an ironic experience because this boat used to
be in the Ala Wai harbor with us in Hawaii for many years. It had a different owner at the time but same boat now in a little bay of Fiji with us! The American
owner had 2 friends aboard with him and 4 crew working round the clock creating a surreal experience. Even the owner was still in awe about what a great life
and set up he was living;2 jet skies, 2 fast tendors, 12 surf boards, 8 scuba set-ups, kite-boards, bikes, ect... We all sat around the dinner table on the
3rd floor balcony with huge gourmet steak dinners and apple crisp pie ala modes telling old sailing stories and laughing every once in a while when we'd think
about the situation we were lucky enough to be in.
Kandavu is about 60 miles from the main land of Viti Levu and is known for it's incredible diving/snorkeling on the Astrolabe reef and for the famous King
Kong surf break on this south side where we are. We planned to only be here for a couple of days but the spot has been absolutely wonderful with the clear
water, colorful corals, & sandy beaches keeping us here for a week already. There is a village near by which we made peace with right away with a Sevusevu
and with the help of a local named Abel. He has been sort of the middle
man between us and the villagers which appears to be the role he has taken on for many years now. There is a small resort on the little island off the shore
which gets alot of tourists for the surf so Abel deals with them. Right now the resort is empty and only two woman stay on the island
for caretaking. James turned out to be their hero for he ended up fixing both their generators, two washer and dryers, binoculars, and speakers! THey were very kind and we were happy to help. Yesterday we took out a couple of our friends surf boards out and had one of the best surfing days of our lives. With only our
friends off of Madeline here with us, we had these perfect little waves all to ourselves. James and I caught the last wave of the
day together and road it all the way into shore before we had to go and attend another kava session with Abel(our 3rd one since our stay:-(, We're not such
kava fans, and sitting for hours cross legged fans) Oh well, all part of the experience. One more highlight of Kandavu was when the only other boat to visit here
in this past week, the mega yacht called Kahala Kai, invited us over for cocktails turned dinner. It was an ironic experience because this boat used to
be in the Ala Wai harbor with us in Hawaii for many years. It had a different owner at the time but same boat now in a little bay of Fiji with us! The American
owner had 2 friends aboard with him and 4 crew working round the clock creating a surreal experience. Even the owner was still in awe about what a great life
and set up he was living;2 jet skies, 2 fast tendors, 12 surf boards, 8 scuba set-ups, kite-boards, bikes, ect... We all sat around the dinner table on the
3rd floor balcony with huge gourmet steak dinners and apple crisp pie ala modes telling old sailing stories and laughing every once in a while when we'd think
about the situation we were lucky enough to be in.
Mbengga!
Now we arrive at Mbengga only 10 miles off of Pacific harbor. Mbengga was a very beautiful and peaceful island with only a few sleepy villages hidden within the
dense forested valleys. We made the mistake of accidently stumbling upon one of these sleepy villages without our Sevusevu offering, which we found was NOT
a very good idea. The Sevusevu is a traditional custom of bringing a kava offering to the cheif of a village where ever you are staying. The offering
is basically a request to stay in an anchorage, use the water, hike the land, ect...We would have happily complied with this custom had we not given
away all of our kava to the dive boat guys but now we had nothing to give when the village
children basically drug us into the higher elders kava session that was taking place right when we walked through. Of course the men invited us to take a seat
with them indian style around their Taloa(wooden kava bowl), but when they found out we did not have the sevusevu, their eyes went to the floor and they
shook their heads at us in disgust. Awkward minutes of silence passed before we asked if there was something else we could offer them and "cigarettes" was
the answer. We were directed to about four of the different village homes before we were sold a few packs to bring back to the chief. Upon presenting them
the scowls at us had loosened up a bit and after a few coconut shells full of kava, we were told we could stay as long as we liked. We learned a very valuable
lesson about the importance of the Sevusevu!
dense forested valleys. We made the mistake of accidently stumbling upon one of these sleepy villages without our Sevusevu offering, which we found was NOT
a very good idea. The Sevusevu is a traditional custom of bringing a kava offering to the cheif of a village where ever you are staying. The offering
is basically a request to stay in an anchorage, use the water, hike the land, ect...We would have happily complied with this custom had we not given
away all of our kava to the dive boat guys but now we had nothing to give when the village
children basically drug us into the higher elders kava session that was taking place right when we walked through. Of course the men invited us to take a seat
with them indian style around their Taloa(wooden kava bowl), but when they found out we did not have the sevusevu, their eyes went to the floor and they
shook their heads at us in disgust. Awkward minutes of silence passed before we asked if there was something else we could offer them and "cigarettes" was
the answer. We were directed to about four of the different village homes before we were sold a few packs to bring back to the chief. Upon presenting them
the scowls at us had loosened up a bit and after a few coconut shells full of kava, we were told we could stay as long as we liked. We learned a very valuable
lesson about the importance of the Sevusevu!
Viti Levu times
Bula everyone! Once again the time has snuck by us and it's almost been a month since last updating this thing. We left Savusavu shortly after our last entry
and made an overnight passage down to Fiji's largest island of Viti Levu. It is a HUGE city in respect to anything we've seen since leaving Hawaii so walking
along the crowded and conjested streets after not sleeping at all the night before was a little intense for us upon arrival for check in. Despite dodging crazy buses and wheel barrel men flying down the
side walks, it was fun to be in such a booming place again. Our friends off of Madeline also treated us to an Indian cuisuine in town so we were happy travelers.
Once we loaded up the boat with fresh veggies and fruits from the incredible produce market there in town(five pineapples for $2.50 American), we moved Mai Miti
about a mile out of the diesel slicked Suva harbor to a clean water anchorage called Bay of Islands before continuing our way west around Viti Levu to Pacific
harbor.
We had our eyes set on Pacific Harbor to hunt for Rob, the owner of the Nai'a charter boat whose crew we had met in Tonga. We had been in
contact via email for the last couple of months so we were eager to meet the man behind the screen.
Before actually reaching Pacific Harbor we made an overnight stay outside a little town where our highlight was some kid kayakers. Fascinated with seeing a boat,
they circled around us singing and laughing for what seemed like hours. Then with some courage they'd come to the boat and ask James a bunch of questions
before laughing and paddling away again. They wanted us to visit their homes the next day but with Mai Miti bucking like a bronco in the unprotected anchorage
we left the next morning.
With a name like Pacific Harbor you'd
imagine it had just that, a harbor. What we found was quite different. The harbor was nothing more than a very narrow and shallow mouth of a river that the
dive and paanga boats went in and out of. Luckily we did see a couple of run down sail boats side tied to the mangrooves up the river, so we went in to do
the same. However we ended up side tieing to a dive/delivery boat that the Fijian divers on the shore directed us to. After walking around the very
fancy and nice resort right at the end of the river mouth, we were then invited to hang out with the same Fijian divers that night on the boat we were next
to. They all came aboard Mai Miti as well to check out "the little boat" and once inside they must have decided that she needed more color, so they
decorated the entire boat with flower and butterfly stickers! After that night, we were all officially brothers and sisters according to them! Seems like
everybody is related in Fiji!
We did finally meet up with Rob who gave us some good local information. He was a very busy man so we didn't get much time, but it was still nice to
meet him in person and thank him for the wonderful time his crew showed us in Tonga. with that mission accomplished, we stocked the boat with some goods and
left the following day for the outer islands of Fiji, Mbennga and Kandavu. I should mention that before leaving we almost ended up with a furry, slobering,
third member aboard Mai Miti. A third member who only had three legs who we named tripod II(tripod I is my dog Sandy at home in Colorado). This dog took
a real liking to James and I and wouldn't stop following us everywhere we went. She even followed us into grocery stores and the fancy resorts. The workers would
give us the stink eye thinking it was our dog (which was hard to convince them otherwise with the way the dog followed right by our side:-). We felt horrible
leaving her at the dock sitting there staring at us, but we had no choice and we sailed on. We wish you the best Tripod II.
and made an overnight passage down to Fiji's largest island of Viti Levu. It is a HUGE city in respect to anything we've seen since leaving Hawaii so walking
along the crowded and conjested streets after not sleeping at all the night before was a little intense for us upon arrival for check in. Despite dodging crazy buses and wheel barrel men flying down the
side walks, it was fun to be in such a booming place again. Our friends off of Madeline also treated us to an Indian cuisuine in town so we were happy travelers.
Once we loaded up the boat with fresh veggies and fruits from the incredible produce market there in town(five pineapples for $2.50 American), we moved Mai Miti
about a mile out of the diesel slicked Suva harbor to a clean water anchorage called Bay of Islands before continuing our way west around Viti Levu to Pacific
harbor.
We had our eyes set on Pacific Harbor to hunt for Rob, the owner of the Nai'a charter boat whose crew we had met in Tonga. We had been in
contact via email for the last couple of months so we were eager to meet the man behind the screen.
Before actually reaching Pacific Harbor we made an overnight stay outside a little town where our highlight was some kid kayakers. Fascinated with seeing a boat,
they circled around us singing and laughing for what seemed like hours. Then with some courage they'd come to the boat and ask James a bunch of questions
before laughing and paddling away again. They wanted us to visit their homes the next day but with Mai Miti bucking like a bronco in the unprotected anchorage
we left the next morning.
With a name like Pacific Harbor you'd
imagine it had just that, a harbor. What we found was quite different. The harbor was nothing more than a very narrow and shallow mouth of a river that the
dive and paanga boats went in and out of. Luckily we did see a couple of run down sail boats side tied to the mangrooves up the river, so we went in to do
the same. However we ended up side tieing to a dive/delivery boat that the Fijian divers on the shore directed us to. After walking around the very
fancy and nice resort right at the end of the river mouth, we were then invited to hang out with the same Fijian divers that night on the boat we were next
to. They all came aboard Mai Miti as well to check out "the little boat" and once inside they must have decided that she needed more color, so they
decorated the entire boat with flower and butterfly stickers! After that night, we were all officially brothers and sisters according to them! Seems like
everybody is related in Fiji!
We did finally meet up with Rob who gave us some good local information. He was a very busy man so we didn't get much time, but it was still nice to
meet him in person and thank him for the wonderful time his crew showed us in Tonga. with that mission accomplished, we stocked the boat with some goods and
left the following day for the outer islands of Fiji, Mbennga and Kandavu. I should mention that before leaving we almost ended up with a furry, slobering,
third member aboard Mai Miti. A third member who only had three legs who we named tripod II(tripod I is my dog Sandy at home in Colorado). This dog took
a real liking to James and I and wouldn't stop following us everywhere we went. She even followed us into grocery stores and the fancy resorts. The workers would
give us the stink eye thinking it was our dog (which was hard to convince them otherwise with the way the dog followed right by our side:-). We felt horrible
leaving her at the dock sitting there staring at us, but we had no choice and we sailed on. We wish you the best Tripod II.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
