Bummer

1000 position 17-05S 179-52W. Underway for the Lau Group

Van Diemen has been carrying two outboard engines and two dinghies. Our primary outboard, an old Johnson 9HP, worked for a couple of days in the Marquesas before crapping out. We don't know what was wrong with it and didn't spend much time trying to get it working because we had another outboard aboard the boat, a new Mercury 4HP. We've been using the Mercury ever since and it has been working flawlessly. Rob dug the Johnson out of the sail locker when we arrived in Savu Savu and took it to a mechanic who got it working. Rob decided that he was done with that engine though, and made it known around the marina that it was for sale for $1,000 Fijian. Duki (pronounced Ducky), the marina employee who helped ferry government officials to Van Diemen when we checked in, expressed interest in buying the engine, but yesterday morning decided that he didn't want it because nobody works on Johnsons in Savu Savu. Hmm. Didn't the guy who just got it running work on Johnsons? Oh well, we ferried the now working Johnson back to Van Diemen and Eric and I re-stowed it in the bowels of the sail locker.

Our cruising permit finally came in yesterday morning and we got ready to depart Savu Savu. Our itinerary showed us away from civilization and shopping opportunities for a couple of weeks so we did some last minute provisioning. By the time we got finished provisioning, hoisted two dinghies aboard, and got ready to go it was well after noon. We had to get cracking if we were going to make it to a safe anchorage before dark.

Our first cruising destination is the Lau Group on the eastern side of Fiji. The Laus are reputed to be unspoiled by tourism and spectacularly beautiful, but a mine field of coral and twisting turning passages and channels. No problem, we have routes, waypoints, and GPS coordinates that have been published by cruisers who have already been there to guide us. All of this was loaded into my computer, which I had open and running on the salon table.

Shortly after departing Savu Savu we rolled up the awning, took off the sail cover, and hoisted the mainsail. That all took about fifteen minutes and when we were finished I stepped below to find that my computer, which was under an open hatch, had been doused by water that apparently had been perched on top of the sail cover and drained off when we rolled it up. It looked like about a cup of water had poured onto the keyboard and allowed to soak in for the ten minutes it took me to discover it. By that time the damage had been done and the keyboard no longer functioned properly. There may be other damage done as well but I can't log onto the computer to find out. I tried to dry it out and it is now sitting in a plastic bag full of rice down in the inverter locker where it is always warm. I am hopeful my attempt to dry it out will get the machine working again, but in the meantime all of the cruising guides and waypoints in my computer aren't available. We should be fine though. Captain Cook didn't have any waypoints to guide him and he did OK, except when he got eaten in Hawaii.

Our late start made it impossible to get to a safe anchorage before nightfall. Our destination was the Paradise Resort on the southern end of Taveuni Island, about a third of the way to the Laus. I called the resort on the VHF radio just at dusk when we were an hour away, and they told us that a kayak would be waiting for us at the mooring with a flashlight. Sure enough, we found Seil (pronounced Seal) waving a flashlight at the mooring when we arrived in the pitch black of night. Good thing he was there. We never would have been able to find the mooring in the dark without his help. After getting secured we invited Seil aboard for a beer and tour of Van Diemen.

Eighteen year old Seil has been working for Paradise Resort for five months now greeting every boat that arrives to pick up one of their seven moorings in his kayak. He said we were the first boat he has met that has invited him aboard or offered him a beer. We happened to be the only boat there last night, but he said that there were fifteen boats either on their moorings or anchored off the resort at one time a couple of weeks ago.

At first light this morning we dropped the mooring and departed for the Laus. We need to get there in good visibility since we don't have our waypoints to guide us. We are currently reaching under double reefed mainsail and reefed jib with fifteen knots of wind out of the north. If the forecast is correct, the wind should back through the west and die off as the day progresses, and we should make our Lau landfall in the late afternoon.

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