Plenty of company in Savu Savu, Fiji
by Andrew and Clare Payne 14 Jun 2019 03:38 UTC
The Copra Shed Marina Mooring field © Andrew and Clare Payne / Freedom and Adventure
The mooring field alongside the Copra Shed Marina in Savu Savu Fiji, is flat calm. When arriving in this peaceful and picturesque bay after being at sea, you can now relax. Just pick up a mooring ball, get a good night's sleep and enjoy all the facilities Savu Savu has to offer.
We spent many nights catching up with friends and meeting new friends who, up until now, we had only spoken to on our daily radio net (The South Pacific Cruisers Net).
The musicians in our group were keen to entertain us and have a jam session.
Not all play
We were still having trouble with our outboard running roughly at mid throttle. We discussed buying a new motor but the one Andrew wanted, a 9.9hp two stroke Mercury is no longer available in Australia or Fiji. This engine weighs 26 kilos and has been replaced with one that weighs over 40 kilos. We were very disappointed as 40 kilos is heavier than we want to handle. So we resigned ourselves to putting up with the old one. Imagine how delighted we were to find a new 9.9hp two stroke 26 kilo model in the Mercury shop at the Copra Shed Marina. So we bought the new motor and then advertised the old one for sale. It was sold the following day to a very excited teenager who had been nagging his parents to upgrade their 2.5hp outboard. The kid couldn't stop smiling and we were happy to have the additional motor off the boat - so everyone was happy.
Getting restless
By last Friday after many dinners out, happy hour every night at The Copra Shed and copious amounts of washing and shopping, everyone was getting restless to move on. A lot of our friends went out east to the Lau Group of islands. We did not go as we spent two months there last year and we intend going to the Yasawa Group on the western side of Fiji this year. Amongst the four boats going to the Lau Group are our good friends Ellen and Martin on 'Acapella'. Unfortunately they hit a reef and were stuck there for twelve hours until they could float off on the next high tide 11.30pm that night. They have significantly damaged their rudder but the good news is, no water has entered the boat. They are now busy repairing the rudder to make the overnight trip back. Fortunately between the four boats it seems they have the knowledge and equipment to make a good repair. Martin on 'Acapella' is staggered at what people have on their boats, fortunately for him - they had it.
We should have stayed put
Our next adventure took us to the island of Koro some 25 miles south of Savu Savu. There was some inclement weather coming but we thought we would be well protected in this bay, but that wasn't the case.
Koro is an interesting island as a portion of the land has been sold to foreigners who have built holiday homes. There are also a number of resorts and eight local villages. Koro, like its neighbouring islands, was badly damaged by cyclone Winston in 2016 so there is a lot of rebuilding occurring. We took the dinghy ashore and went into one of the resorts, it was deserted. Fresh flowers on the tables but not a soul to be seen. In fact whilst on the island the five people we saw, were workmen.
Anyhow we headed south in search of the Chief to present him with some Kava, (grog) and partake in the traditional greeting of Sevusevu. The Chief would then grant us permission to visit the island and its surrounding waters. The photo below shows a bunch of Kava root bought in Savu Savu and parcelled up by the shop for presentation to the chief. Each parcel costs $20 AUD.and is presented to the Chief on arrival at every island visited. The Kava is pounded to pulp, wrapped in a cloth, soaked in water and squeezed out to produce the juice which is mixed with water to achieve the desired potency. Apparently years ago the newspaper wrapping was also treasured by the villagers as news from the outside world was scarce. But today the villagers have cell phones, internet connection and the kids are busy playing computer games just like the rest of us.
In Koro, we didn't make it to the village to do Sevusevu with the Chief. The road was extremely steep and by the time we got to the top of the mountain we could see on our phone we were about a third of the way to the village. I wasn't feeling well and so we decided to return to the boat and see if we could go to the village by dinghy. However upon our return to the boat we found Eye Candy bouncing around in the anchorage due to the swell coming over the reef. After a cuppa we decided to up anchor and return to the quiet waters of Savu Savu until the weather cleared.
Peace again
We anchored off Jean Michel Cousteau Resort some three miles from the town of Savu Savu and enjoyed some snorkelling. The Cousteau Resort looks very nice and the surrounding waterfront houses are also very pleasant. I guess this is one of the better areas.
When snorkelling we found a Crown of Thorn Starfish. An adult Crown of Thorns can consume 6 sq metres of living coral reef a year. As mentioned in our last newsletter The Giant Clams at Makogai are being cultivated to help prevent an outbreak of the Crown of thorns Starfish.
So what's next
We escaped Savu Savu this morning and motor-sailed twenty two miles to Savuna Point on the S/W side of Vanua Levu. We are on our way to the Yasawa Group of Islands but we are in no hurry. It is very pleasant here and totally quiet. We are looking forward to a sundowner in the cockpit tonight to celebrate our next adventure.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of freedomandadventure.blogspot.com