We didn’t want to leave Savusavu without doing at least a couple of dives. Unfortunately, heavy rains day after day had kept us out of the water around our normal haunts, and I wasn’t sure it’d be better anywhere else, but we decided to go out and try diving Natewa Bay anyway. Natewa Bay is on the north-east side of the island and is huge, running over thirty miles inland from the mouth and running some seven miles wide most of the way in. It’s virtually untouched all the way around with maybe a couple of small villages and nothing more. I figured the rain runoff might have affected visibility, but at least it’d be clean hazy water.
The taxi drove about thirty minutes before turning off at a muddy road and winding a few more miles to the top of a hill out front of a long abandoned resort. The “Welcome to Heaven” sign still stood over the entrance drive to a resort that was rumored to have once entertained George Harrison. I googled the name. Apparently he was once in a band called The Beatles that achieved some bit of popularity in England a long time ago.
The owners of the dive shop drove up from the other side of the muddy hill and picked us up in their 4×4 for the rest of the ride down to the boat.
The dive shop.
As we suspected it would be, the visibility was less than ideal.
This was the only whitetip shark we saw, though one of the reefs we dived was named Whitetip Reef. The divemaster told us there were probably dozens of them circling the area, but with visibility what it was we couldn’t see them. Surprisingly, this is the first shark we’ve seen in Fiji.
Still, up close the reef appeared to be in nice shape. Lots of nice hard and soft corals, and the biggest fans we have ever seen.
All in all it was a really nice day out with just the three of us and the dive crew. Beautiful weather, and reefs that few people will ever see.
The Planter’s Club has both the largest servings, and the cheapest food in town. Tastes pretty good, too. Those prices are Fijian dollars, and can be converted to USD by multiplying by .4. Just remember to take off your hat before going into the bar area.
Every single time you turn around there is another mud dauber’s house.
Getting ready to leave so it was time to unpickle the watermaker. Pickling is when you run a special chemical through the watermaker so that a bunch of crap doesn’t grow in the lines and pumps while it’s not in use for extended periods. Before cleaning it out I did a bit of routine maintenance, changing the oil on the pump, and replacing the impeller. The impeller was in sad shape, swollen and gummy, but only had one cracked vane. Anyway, the watermaker should be happy.
I checked the water input to make sure I had turned the 3-way valve to draw seawater, then flipped the switch to run the raw water through and flush out the pickling solution. Nothing happened. My stomach tied itself in knots instantly. I’m sorry, but going cruising without a watermaker is a non-starter. We’re not going anywhere, on purpose, without the ability to crank out 30+ gallons of freshwater in an hour. Die-hard sailors can scoff if they like, but it is a short list of things I won’t set out to sea without. One, an autopilot. Two, a watermaker. Three… nope, two is about it.
Anyway, it was hot, I was pouring sweat, and I wasn’t in the mood for a problem like this just two days before we were supposed to leave. Fortunately, I’ve grown well accustomed to this sort of problem with a boat, and knew that if I just stepped away from it, got a cold drink, and thought it over for a bit, I would likely find a solution.
So that’s what I did. An hour later, with a clear head I went back to it and looked it over, thinking the problem through from the beginning. Almost instantly I slapped myself on the forehead. I had turned the three-way valve and had been certain I turned it the right way. I hadn’t. Instead of drawing in seawater, the watermaker had been trying to draw in water from the pickling hose which did nothing but draw in fresh air right now since it wasn’t dipped in a bucket of fresh or pickled water. I turned the valve the correct direction, flipped the power switch on the watermaker, and immediately heard the sweet sound of waterflow. My big non-problem had been averted.
Commence mid-life cruiser crisis.
Clean and store, clean and store.
Bunch of pictures of me doing all the work, when in fact I just failed to pick up a camera for a few days.
Like here, I could have shown Ali making Arroz con Leche for the first time, but instead she had to take a pic to memorialize it herself. File this one in the “Why did it take our whole lives to make this for the first time?” column.
And then, we were off. Everything worked, we didn’t hit any docks or pilings, and we had the weather that had been forecast. Pretty nice way to get moving.
Just a quick twenty mile day to shake off the cobwebs. Needled our way through some reefs towards the end of the afternoon, and anchored in what felt like the middle of nowhere. A quiet spot all to ourselves.
Feels great to be on the move again.
14 Comments on “Leaving Savusavu”
Happy you’re on the way again to more adventurers…..
Great to see you back underway.
Safe travels!
Wishing your family and you safe travels!
Off on a new adventure! Looking forward to the stories…
Your dive day looked soooo amazing,
You always can make me laugh with your play on words about the Beatles!🤗
Love your amazing travels……
Wow! Beautiful shots, delightful narrative and thanks for bringing me all this wonder to my my laptop on a spring morning in Tennessee.
From the blog: “The ‘Welcome to Heaven’ sign still stood over the entrance drive to a resort that was rumored to have once entertained George Harrison. I googled the name. Apparently he was once in a band called The Beatles that achieved some bit of popularity in England a long time ago.”
I seem to remember an obscure musician who could possibly be the one you’re referring to, but I may be confused. There was also a George Harrison who was in a band with some small-time musicians named Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, or something like that. I think they called their band Travelling With the Wilburberries or something.
It’s probably a different George Harrison, though, since this was in, like, the late 80s or early 90s. I don’t think they were known outside of a few small venues in Southern California, and you don’t hear much about them anymore.
Yeah, just a coincidence that two minor musicians had the same name, I guess.
Bon Voyage! Your comment about the Beatles makes me think of the movie we just watched on Netflix “Yesterday”-if you get to stream it, very funny & good tunes too.
Wishing you smooth sailing & fun adventures, thanks for sharing them with us here in Portsmouth NH!
And…the adventure continues? Goodonyas!
An old mechanic I worked for in college taught me the walk away and ponder the situation trick. He would say grab you a drink I need to take a smoke break and think it through. Without fail, we would talk it over and come up with a solution. Working when you are aggravated is usually unproductive and critically thinking a problem through is a great skill to have.
I have followed you guys since 2010. I’ve seen the mode of transportation change, the family grow, and the business blossom. You have done all this with a happy heart ( well at least as far as I can tell) Keep Living the Dream and enjoying life to the fullest. With all the craziness in the world, you have made an oasis of love and joy for your family and I love enjoying it from afar. Joe
I have followed you guys since 2010. I’ve seen the mode of transportation change, the family grow, and the business blossom. You have done all this with a happy heart ( well at least as far as I can tell) Keep Living the Dream and enjoying life to the fullest. With all the craziness in the world, you have made an oasis of love and joy for your family and I love enjoying it from afar.
Keep Living the Dream!