day 145: from wave to grave and back again: a hobbits tale
Jamie here. Today we were awoken by our surfing friend Magnus who took us in his dinghy out to cloudbreak for another sesh on the waves. Great morning and awesome way to start the day. Breakfast, nap, then out again just after lunchtime for afternoon surf. This was a highlight surf with not too many people out (12-20) and plenty of waves. Some really fun ones were had. After being in the water for a couple of hours we noticed a squall coming. Dark clouds and a big cloud bank of rain rolling in from the big island. Thunder and lightening started as it got closer and excitement rose in the lineup of surfers. Everyone was anticipating sitting in the ocean amongst the waves as a storm rolls through. And it began. Winds shifted and got stronger, offshore direction, sending spray behind the crest of each wave as it broke. Suddenly all hell broke loose. It started getting very very windy and rainy reducing visibility and chopping up the water in front of us as we tried to paddle through it. We regrouped and yelled over the wind that maybe we should go and check the boats as they could be dragging anchor or something. We battled our way to the dinghy and I untied it off the mooring ball (of which two other boats were also tied to) so trying to untangle our line and not release someone else’s boat all while the boats were bouncing and rolling next to my head and also holding my breath and looking underwater to undo the knot. Quite a rigmarole. Got it and battled our way up wind and got into visibility of the boats. Hello, bluebird is looking a little weird actually. The jib sail was out and flapping around despite supposedly being still and anchored. Once we got there we jumped up and helped the brave crew finish untangling the jib sheets from the forestay. The sail had unraveled a bit and got caught up in the wind and kept unraveling until it was half out and blowing around all over the place in the what turned out to be 50 knot winds. Anyway we dropped the sail and got the situation under control. Miriam and Matt had things sorted out we just arrived at the end to get the credit. My dive gear got blown out of the dinghy while all this happened so I’m not down one mask and two fins. As well as this, the bow roller somehow got bent and now the rubber roller which the anchor chain and rope doesn’t roll. So the chain and rope just chaffs it’s way down . Unsure how the 3mm stainless steel bow roller got bent way off to the side? Now we’re safe in a sheltered anchorage and it’s still raining but we are listening to Bach and Mim is cooking chilli and we are dry and warm once again. WOD: garble. Garble - a distorted or confused rendition of a sound or word. Used in a senny : just read this great book called Anne of green garble.
Naomi here, What a day! Jamie and I went from being asleep to being in Magnus dinghy heading to the surf in about a minute and a half. I started the surf off by catching a wave right off the bat but after that not a lot, mostly ended up just sitting around for the rest of it, except when I tried snatching a wave after someone fell off it, it was too late of a takeoff and I got successively worked over by the next waves and dragged into the reef, leash caught around the reef for a few waves, it was a bit of work to get off there and not before I got scratched up pretty good, most annoyingly on the bottom of my foot. Worse tho was dinging the poor tomo :( Boards don’t heal themselves like people do. Jamie and I hung out near the boats in the water till Magnus paddled back and we followed him to his dinghy as we had been so asleep in the morning we couldn’t remember which inflatable was his teehee. Arrived home to a delicious breakfast of cabbage in corned beef residue and eggies, then we had brew ups and I conquered a game of aoe playing goths. Then out for another surf, on Jamie’s red board this time, where I caught one of the better rides of my life probably, I was on the outside and in the perfect spot with no one else around and it was almost too big for me, I thought goddammit I guess I have to go for this and it ended up being a Very Good Wave. I chatted to an older head in the water who runs his boat for charters and lives in Nadi and he was telling me how the anchorage we were at is really good EXCEPT in a northerly, he said if you ever get even a hint of a northerly just up anchor and run. Shortly after this we got extremely strong gusts of northerlies. Surfers were being blown out to sea, the speedboats anchored by the break were dragging, you couldn’t see with the wind spray and rain so strong. On the dinghy ride home through the haze of rain we could see a boat with the jib flogging around, half undone…. As we got closer I realised with a sinking stomach that it was our boat :( not a great feeling to have. Another dinghy of surfers was also hurriedly returning from the break and said man check out that boat, yikes! I said yeah that’s my boat ! Also not a great feeling. I felt so bad for poor Matt and mims struggling away with the flogging jib, they did such a great job at figuring out how to deal with the wild situation and by the time we reached the boat they were basically done with untangling and unwinding it so we could drop the sail and stop the flogging. Unfortunately during the hectic time of trying to stop bad things happening the furling line broke so now we will be raising and dropping sails the old fashioned way:) Took us all a second to wind down after that tho! We decided we were all done with cloudbreak after that and scurried over to the calming protection of musket cove :) so we can all sleep well tonight, I am feeling particularly exhausted after a double surf and being quite adrenalised seeing bluebird in such a plight!
Miriam: The day started out so mellow, a bit chilly and overcast, a Mexican mocha and chatting with Matt while our compatriots surfed followed by coddling them with brews and breakfast when they returned. I had a fantastic yoga session on the foredeck, did some writing, and then Magnus swung by to pick them up again and, while I thought about heading out with them to have a good swim back, it looked a bit stormy and my book was more compelling. I am so glad I stayed so that there were two people to deal with the chaos here. The thunder and the howl of the wind got me out of my book and up on deck where securing all the things trying to blow away became the first order of business. The surf bag and board on the foredeck, the laundry on the lifelines, even Mauruuru the dingy tried to make a getaway, her painter (the rope attaching her to Bluebird) slowly slipping further through the cleat despite being well hitched, or so we thought. Matt flipped on the instruments so we could see the wind speed and while it was wildly gusty and driving rain we were doing alright until the top of the jib began to unfurl. Trying to furl it back in just broke the line and soon the sheets (ropes that control sail movement) were wrapping around the middle and the bottom of the jib began to billow out as well. I rushed to the foredeck to try and untangle the mess and Matt and I tried our best to troubleshoot the situation as the wind gusted up to 45 knots and the rain poured sideways. The boat was swinging erratically as the wind gusted, heeling in waves and making all the noises you would expect with the howl of wind through the rigging and the jib flapping wildly despite my best efforts to contain it without causing any harm to myself. Luckily the swell passed as quickly as it came and we got the sheets unwound just as Nao and Jamie arrived to drop the jib and all decompress, soaking wet and jittery with adrenalin. We quickly pulled up the anchor and motored to the incredibly sheltered Musket Cove on Malolo Lailai Island, a popular anchorage near fancy resorts. I counted 56 anchor lights (the light on the top of the mast lit for night safety at anchor) sparkling in the night around us like stars low over the harbour. The rain is finally dying down, the boom tent is up so we have some protected space outdoors sans dodger, and Bluebird is barely rocking in this quiet cove. I made a big pot of chilli and cornbread for dinner and we are settling in for a well deserved early bedtime and deep night of sleep.
Matt: Second pair of boxers lost overboard in as many days. Not the worst of what the squall took by a long shot but this is hardly a sustainable rate of attrition to my undergarments. Planning to propitiate from now on with a sock or two, tantalisingly loosely knotted to the lifelines. Hopefully this will serve as the zinc for the other drying clothes - or the low hanging fruit, if you(the ocean) prefer a different metaphor