June 23rd, 2011
Dear F&F,
We fueled up, left for Navadra and passed \”Castaway Island\”. This is where Tom Hanks movie \”Castaway\” was filmed. We also were on the path of a literally UNCHARTED Island and reef which if we hadn\’t been paying attention (but of course we were), we would have run right over. It\’s only 100 yards long, but that\’s enough to ruin your entire day….. I marked it on my electronic chart for future use and we anchored in Navadra (pronounced Navandra) Island\’s lovely anchorage with two other boats.
Shortly after our arrival, Jim and crew on s/v \”Wetnose\” (originally from Marina del Rey) arrived and we went over for a visit. It was good to see a familiar face and meet Jim\’s partner and his wife, we had a nice visit.
The next day, we went for a lovely snorkel and ashore. The coral was really in good shape and my old nemisis the \”crown of thorns\” was unfortunately eating large patches of the beautiful coral for breakfast/lunch and dinner. This is a sensitive subject for me. I\’ll address this on the old website this Fall when I can. It sounds unbelievable, but this creature was somewhat instrumental in the loss of Cindy. Enough on this for now.
When ashore, a local with some tourists came up to us and told us we should leave \”sevu-sevu\” in the cave on the island. It is an uninhabited yet traditional land where to respect the ancestors we would leave a gift of Kava (Yangona) as a token of respect. Sevu-sevu is the ceremonial act of doing so. We of course know where the Kava goes, but it\’s the thought that counts, right?…:)
Kava if you don\’t know is a traditional drink in Polynesia that looks and tastes like dirty dishwater. Why then would anyone want to drink it? Glad you asked! It has a narcotic effect and you know when it\’s working as your lips go numb. The Tongan variety has so far been the best tasting, French Polynesia second and Fijians are notorious for being the biggest drinkers of Yangona, but it\’s just \”dirty dishwater\” here. At least so far. Hope on this one does NOT spring eternal…
So we then decided to go over to Waya Island (which would be our first Yasawa) for the night. The bow windlass broke yet again. This time it wasn\’t the motor, but the mechanism itself. As this was a critical system, we got it up using the electric halyard winch and did so in lengths of 15 feet at a time. This worked as an emergency \”get the anchor up\” system, but we couldn\’t live with this…..back to Vuda Point!…..
It all worked out again. The diagnosis was a stripped housing cover which would take at least a week to replace if not longer, so Lorenzo smartly \”tack welded\” it into place. It works, we\’ll leave for Waya (yet again) tomorrow.
KIT, Scott and the Crew of s/v Beach House (Sandrine & Kate)
Internet is not good here, I\’m sending via sailmail, but I can download emails to [email protected]