June 26-27-28, 2011
Dear F&F, Oh My!
June 26-27 We headed to Waya Island and found it frankly not overly interesting so we continued on to Manta Ray Bay Island to see the Manta Rays….not so much. We anchored next to friends on s/v \”Wetnose\” and settled in for the night. That night we went on a night dive and it was fun, but devoid of lots of the creatures I would have expected. Kate thoroughly enjoyed it; it was my first night dive in over a decade. I\’d forgotten how much I loved them.
That night, a low pressure system came over us and it started to BLOW! 25 knots steady with gusts to 40 knots. Our plan was to move to Somosomo Bay the next morning for protection and when we tried to raise the anchor, all heck broke loose. The \”geneker\” opened up unexpectedly and tore itself to shreds. It may not be repairable. I\’ll find out tomorrow from local sail maker Alan Marshall. The windlass again failed and we could not raise the anchor. We were completely safe and decided to call it a day. I dove the anchor to make sure it wasn\’t stuck on a coral \”bommie\”; it wasn\’t. So we will use \”lift bags\” in the morning to raise the anchor chain and anchor then put it away by hand.
June 28th We got up early, had breakfast and I went diving to buoy up the anchor. No drama and the gals helped me pull it up and stow it away. We\’ll have to head back to Vuda Point YET AGAIN to see if it can be fixed or move the stern windlass to the bow.
Upon arrival, Lorenzo of \”Baobab Marine\” determined it was a bent part on the windlass that was causing the problem. We\’ve fixed that and will thoroughly test it tomorrow.
Kate will be going on another catamaran off to Musket tomorrow and off to New Zealand by air the next day, we\’ll miss her.
When we came in Vuda Point, we got stuck on our starboard engine with a mooring line. I dove that to remove it…..life goes on.
I\’ll keep you posted on repairs and Sandrine and I will most likely head directly toward Savusavu over several days starting in a few days.
My phone was \”drowned\”, and I\’ll get a new one tomorrow.
KIT, Scott with the crew of s/v Beach House (Sandrine and Kate – for one more day)