What a great day. As I write this I'm sitting in Jambalaya's salon enjoying a beer and listening to Neil Young on the ship's stereo. The sun is heading toward the horizon over an empty sea to the west. In the opposite direction 100 yards away lies Namena Island, protecting us from the tradewinds and swells.
We had a lovely sail from Savusavu, and even caught a 25 pound mahimahi on the way. We actually had a double hook up, and the second mahi must have known that we didn't want him after landing the first as he was kind enough to throw the hook just as we were bringing him along side to try to release him.
Puanani didn't sail with us today. Mark and Blossom will be staying in Savusavu for a few more days until their son Kana flies in to join them. They will catch up with us somewhere down the track.
Namena is a solitary mile long island 20 miles south of Vanua Levu. Namena was directly in the path of Hurricane Winston when it devastated Fiji six months ago. The island's resort was leveled, and the trees that weren't knocked down were stripped bare. Those remaining trees are exploding with new growth now as they try to reclaim their share of the sun light ahead of those around them. It seems like nothing could have survived such devastation, but the bananas and papayas are shooting up everywhere and boobies are nesting in the new tree branches.
We swam ashore to inspect the island at 3PM after the anchor was down and the boat put to bed. It is going to take a while for Namena to recover, but I suspect that this wasn't the first hurricane to hit the island, and it will bounce back.
The cruising guides say that Namena has the best diving in all of Fiji. I think Winston took care of that. The bottom around the boat and on the swim to shore was a waste land.
It is still a nice place to visit. We haven't seen any sign of humanity since we arrived, and it is a nice resting spot as we make our was westward.
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