day 150: the skeleton quay
Jamie here,this morning we moved to a sheltered area on the other side of our isthmus. We anchored and bought sevu sevu to the chief. We were then shown around the village by a friendly tour guide. I found out there are wild goats on the island. When they want to sell some for extra cash, they get a long long net and set it up in the bush. They then scare the goats into the net. It’s the traditional way of harvesting them. Tomorrow we are set to do a hike up the hills so WE will all be keeping our eyes peeled for goats. In the afternoon we went for a little snorkel. My foot wounds from the reef didn’t like being stuffed into fins so I didn’t last long but had a nice walk on the beach to supplement. WOD: isthmus. Isthmus - a low relief piece of land connecting two larger bodies of land. Used in a senny: I hate going to shops in December, when all you can hear on the speakers is isthmus carols.
Miriam: Last night I slept out on the foredeck which was absolutely gorgeous and not restful at all. The moon illuminated the high cirrus wisps of clouds and a faint night rainbow shone in a halo around their fullness. I moved back into the v berth when the wind picked up; all of us were up for a moment in the wee hours and it seemed only Matt got a solid night of sleep once the wind fueled boat rocking began. So after we moved in the morning and set up the boom tent for shade everyone went into rest mode except for me. The outboard had given out again the previous morning and I felt inspired to take the carbourator apart this go around. And success! I remembered my lessons from Qwalen, thoroughly cleaned the injector pin which was all gunked up, and put it back together. I am grateful for the lesson and relieved I remembered all the parts! Now the motor is running alright but is still rather temperamental.
With a fully operational motor we were set to snorkel. Jamie and Matt and I went to the pass and explored the vibrant reef with shelf after shelf of interlocking layers of flat coral blooms in handsome earth tones of cream, taupe, lavender, burnt umber, like a 70s boho dreamscape. There was a gentle drop off and plenty of crevasses and nooks to dive. The fish were less skittish than some other sites we’ve explored in Fiji and plentiful with many schools of small jewel toned iridescent blue and pale green and sparkling silver fish darting and dancing in mesmerising murmurations. The Oriental Sweetlips was my favourite sighting with their striking yellow, black, and white longitudinal stripes and pouty lips though the Longnose Filefish with their tangerine spots on a pale blue background are also lovely. I saw a baby of that species that was only an inch or so long. I wound up the day with a nice swim to a shore mission, climbing first into a tiny limestone cave to sing and then up a tree for a wee sit before swimming back for a delicious dinner and a full night of sleep.
Matt: lost the cherry blossom to the sea almost immediately after writing the last entry, but it looked great floating along until it sank/disintegrated. This second one is less well done so will likely last at least until tomorrow. The village here has a chief pro tempore, with the next one in line for the gig living in Australia and not answering emails - unclear what happens if he never returns
Naomi here, we had a mildly uncomfortable night over on the east side of the island but a nice relaxed sail first thing in the morning with just the jib out. We successfully avoided all reefs and watched some locals carry a squeeeaaling pig along the beach. At sevu sevu in the village we found out the “temporary” chiefs wife’s name is Naomi , it’s a Fijian name after all. Moshi gave us a complete tour of the village and asked almost all of our questions until we asked too many questions about the missing chief, he went to Australia when he was 18, he now has a wife and children, moshi was on the verge of saying yeah he’s never coming back until he kinda snapped out of it and said firmly, he will come back, he has to. We looked at the raised , overgrown area with empty foundation logs for his bure and said sure he will.