Namena, Makogai, Fiji

MAY 30 – JUNE 3, 2015

NAMENA ISLAND, FIJI

Namena Marine Reserve consists of the entire reef that surrounds Namena Island. It is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) which means there is a total ban on fishing. Thank goodness the Fijians had the wisdom to protect this beautiful place. There are over 600 species of fish living here, 300 types of coral, and my favorite… sea turtles. Snorkeling here is like being dropped in the center of the most colorful tropical aquarium you can imagine…and the scuba diving is beyond words. There are too many dive spots to count! We saw pinnacles that shot up from the ocean floor and housed all sorts of life and colors. The reefs were so lovely and mesmerizing that, if we weren’t careful, we could have easily lost track of how much time we had spent underwater. This is diving nirvana…

The boys leaving for an early morning dive

Theo the fish

Has anyone seen Nemo?

Beautiful images of Nemena Reef

As for our winged friends, Namena Island has a very large colony of Red-Footed Boobies. We anchored right by the trees where they were nesting and they put on quite a show. From morning until night we could watch their graceful take-offs and clumsy landings. The nests all seemed to contain one young, white fuzzy chick, and every sundown was time for hundreds of Red-Footed Boobies to soar high above the island as if in some sort of celebration. Ever since we went bird watching in New Zealand, I carry my binoculars with me at all times. I truly love birds!  

The Red-Footed Boobie

A nest with one adult and a fuzzy Boobie chick

We were really excited to scuba dive in Namena. Theo and I do not have an air compressor for dive tanks on board. Instead we had invested in a Hooka. A Hooka is a diving apparatus that does not require a tank or a BC (buoyancy compensator). There is a floating motor that pushes air through hoses that are attached to regulators. I have to say that the Hooka is a bit akward to use. It is big, loud and the hoses are a bit frustrating if they get tangled. Thankfully, for our first dive, we borrowed tanks from Gustaf on the sailboat Caminante. That dive went very well and we were able to observe the two pinnacles that are referred to as The Chimneys. When I dive I feel like I blend in with all of the ocean life…like I belong down there. They don’t mind me and I am in awe of them. Because of this serene feeling and the beauty that I saw underwater, I wanted to dive every day. UNTIL….

The next day, Theo and I hauled the Hooka into our dinghy and headed back to The Chimneys for another dive. There was a stronger current that day and just swimming to the pinnacles was tiring. If we stopped swimming for a few seconds, the current would spit us back where we started in no time! Anyway, we descended down to about 35 feet and everything was going nicely. Whenever I dive, I focus on taking deep, slow breaths because it soothes me. I had just finished a long exhale, but when I tried to breathe air back in… there wasn’t any. The air had suddenly stopped flowing through our hoses.  I looked at Theo, but he just did an underwater shrug and motioned me to surface.  I needed air and the only air available to me was on the surface of the water. I had already exhaled most of the air in my lungs, so swimming up 35 feet was very uncomfortable and seemed to take forever.  I reached the surface and immediately started looking for Theo. I had assumed that he was right behind me, but he was nowhere to be seen. I had my moment of panic and briefly imagined in my mind all the things that might have happened to him.  Once I realized that he was not going to surface, I put my head back underwater…and there he was. He was breathing comfortably through his regulator in about 20 feet of water fiddling with the Hooka hose.  Apparently, while he was swimming to the surface, he found a kink in one of the hoses that was blocking our air supply. Once it was all fixed he came up to where I was floating and said “Why did you swim up?  Just wait next time… I would have figured out the problem”.  My response to him was, “Hell no, I like my life and would rather continue breathing”.

 We tried to dive back down, but at that point, the hoses were getting tangled because of the current and we decided it was not worth it.  Needless to say, the Hooka is not my favorite diving apparatus and we will be investing in an air compressor and tanks in the very near future. Theo continued to dive daily with his friends Mark and Gustaf. In the meantime, I was more than happy to snorkel the gorgeous reef at the surface of the water!

Happy Birthday Theo! We had a small celebration on Et Voila

LESSON:

-If using a Hooka, make sure the hose does not kink and do an easy, shallow dive.

QUOTE:

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing” – Benjamin Franklin

FIJIAN LANGUAGE:

Wasawasa – Ocean

Cakau – Coral Reef

Nunu - Dive

Cegu – Breathe

Vodea – Shallow

JUNE 3 – 5, 2015

MAKOGAI ISLAND, FIJI

We sailed another 25 miles to Makogai Island with our friends on Field Trip and Caminante close behind. As we approached the island, we could see the small village materializing before our eyes and we were certain that the villagers had already spotted our sails approaching from miles away…having visitors is a big deal! Once we dropped anchor, we quickly changed into appropriate clothing and went on shore with our gift of Kava for the chief. As expected, we were greeted as soon as our feet touched the sand. We told him of our intention to visit Makogai for a few days. He then led us to his home for the Sevusevu ceremony. We sat on the floor in a semicircle while he spoke for a few minutes in the Fijian language. When he finished, we sensed that all had gone well and he had accepted us into his village. We exchanged stories for a while and then he took us on a tour of his village. The tour included blood-sucking mosquitos…I hate them.

This is the tool used to pound dried kava root into powder.

The powder is strained and mixed with water for the Sevusevu ceremony.

Theo drinking kava from a cup made out of coconut shell called a Bilo.

The beginning of our village tour.

The village representative that greeted us on the beach...he picked papayas for us.

 There are over 1,000 graves at this leper colony era cemetery.

Makogai Island was once home to the only leper colony in Fiji. It was transformed in the mid 1900’s and has now grown into a quaint village with children and a school. The people of Makogai are also known for cultivating several species of clams, and for their conservation work with injured and sick sea turtles. While we were there, three men carried in a large green sea turtle that was blind in one eye and, for some unknown reason, was unable to dive down into the water.  It was amazing to watch them bring her in.

Transferring the unwell green sea turtle

Her new home for a while

That evening, we dined on Yellowfin Tuna that Mark and Sarah from Field Trip had reeled in during their sail to Makogai. While we were enjoying our dinner, a cruise ship carrying about seventy passengers dropped anchor in our tranquil bay. Its bright white lights against the darkness of the night made it look like we had been descended upon by an extra-terrestrial space ship. Oh well…at least it is good for the village and in the end, they didn’t stay very long.

Theo goofing around on Caminante after our Yellowfin Tuna sashimi night...the extra-terrestrial cruise ship is in the background.

Because of the presence of the cruise ship, the village was hosting a special dance and Sevusevu ceremony. I chose my favorite (comfortable and light) green dress for the occasion, accompanied by my squishy, bright green flip flop sandals. Theo looked handsome in his black Sulu with a tropical shirt. We approached the village in our dinghy and decided to anchor it by the rocky side of the pier instead of the beach. As we approached the shore, I gathered up my dress and stepped onto a rock, but when my squishy sandal made contact with the water it suddenly became extremely slippery and my foot twisted out to the side. I lost my balance and ended up in the water which, unfortunately for me, was filled with sharp coral. I got myself out and slowly limped onto the pier to assess the damage. I was bleeding, but they were not deep cuts…mostly my right hand and my left knee and foot. I wrung out my dress and used a towel to blot the blood. During all of this, Theo was calling me from the dinghy trying to convince me to get back in so he could take me to Et Voila for first aid. I stood on the pier defiantly saying “No, I don’t want to!” I’m sure I sounded like a spoiled child, but I didn’t want to miss the dance show! He ended up bringing the first aid kit to shore and we slapped some bandages on minutes before the performance started.  I was soaking wet and a bit bloody, but no one seemed to notice. I have climbed in and out of that dinghy hundreds of times in the past year. I even managed the truly treacherous dinghy dock back in Niue without a scrape! Oh well, no real harm done…I just felt clumsy, old and silly.

Theo looks handsome in his sulu. My dress is wet here (post fall) and those are the offending bright-green, squishy sandals.

The villagers of Makogai Island

The dance show

Many of the children had never seen such a large group of people, so some stared at us in confusion most of the time.

The lovely ladies...Tina and Sarah

More children from the school. They use this boat to travel from one side of the island to the other.

Leaving the beach

Theo, Gustaf and Mark

A beautiful farewell

Theo and I have found that a life of cruising is more about the people you meet than the destination. It also means saying good-bye… A LOT.  We have spent time with other sailors who have become dear to us, and at some point we must let them go, knowing very well that we will probably never cross paths with them again. For example, we met Gustaf and Tina from the Swedish sailboat Caminante over one year ago while in the Marquesas. When we leave Makogai Island, we will have to say our good-byes because they will be sailing from Fiji towards Indonesia. This is incredibly sad for us… perhaps with time we will grow accustomed to saying our goodbyes. Not all people we meet in life are meant to stay until the end. I guess we will just have to learn what we can from them, hold on to the memories and be grateful that we were with them for that brief time.

Louisa, Gustaf, Corinne and Tina from S/V Caminante

On our last, rainy morning anchored outside Makogai, we were approached by a small boat. It was the chief’s son bringing a mountain of gorgeous, ripe papayas and bananas from the village. We were very grateful, and in return gifted him more Kava. This island was a wonderful cultural experience.

The chief's son bringing us papayas and bananas

LESSONS:

-If the villagers warn you about the mosquitos on their island, take it very seriously….spray on the deet and then keep a tube of Cortisone Cream on the night stand.

-Do not try to be cute and wear bright- colored, squishy sandals. Wear proper shoes…always.

QUOTE:

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% percent of how I react to it” – Charles Swindoll

FIJIAN LANGUAGE:

Lutu – Fall

Mavoa – Injured

Dra – Blood

Dredre - Laugh

JUNE 5-10, 2015

MUSKET COVE AND VUDA MARINA

We sailed on to Musket Cove and stayed for a few nights. Mark and Sarah from Field Trip were with us and we had a very relaxing time together.

Vuda Marina is where we will leave Et Voila while we fly home to Los Angeles for a few months. Once we arrived there, we immediately pulled up to the fuel dock to fill our tanks. The marina is configured in a circular shape and it feels very tight once inside. All eyes were on us as Theo maneuvered to get to the fuel station, and once there, we were greeted with guitars and singing! It was a bit embarrassed to have so much attention on us during our arrival...Oh well.

This is what awaited us as we pulled up to the fuel dock

Theo and I talked quite a bit about the process of docking the boat at Vuda. It is not your typical marina, and we thought we would have to go stern in to our space. Thankfully, when it was time to take Et Voila’ to the dock space, we were told that we would go bow in. We were both relieved, but still asked for assistance on board. A young man named Lulu helped us to get the lines ready. We needed two lines at the stern and two at the bow. We also had a small motor boat helping at the stern and a man standing on shore to get the bow lines....it was definitely a team effort, but in the end it went smoothly with no drama.

Once settled, we hooked up to shore power and had water and electricity. The only inconvenience was the ramp to go from our boat to shore...it was a flimsy, narrow wooden plank that was not attached to anything. We had to keep readjusting it because of the tide...not safe at all, but we managed! Next was dinner and drinks at the sunset bar (just one drink because we had to climb back up the flimsy ramp to our boat afterwards!)

Theo carrying supplies across the flimsy, narrow wooden plank

We are flying to Los Angeles in a few days to be with family and friends and will return in August to continue our sailing adventures in Fiji. I am looking forward to our time at home.