California Love

Retro day at No Surf

Hello, hello, hello.  It's been a long time - I know.  Did you miss me?  Probably not.  In fact chances are good that I saw you recently.  Between a trip to San Francisco, my sister's wedding, multiple days spent at the beach and many a long night at the bars, I feel as though I have been taking full advantage of everything California has to offer - the company of family and friends foremost.

In all honesty I have had a serious case of writer's block.  My brain has had a 10 million thought pile-up.  It is almost as though when the vast and empty blue sky of the islands was replaced with 10 lane freeways and beaches packed shoulder to shoulder with Americans from all walks of life, my brain went into survival mode.  This involved drinking copious amounts of alcohol, smoking tons (okay, maybe just ounces), watching ridiculously stupid reality TV shows ("Storage Wars" really?) and surfing one foot windslop waves with 100 of my best friends.

This being said, I am blown away with California and the United States in general.  What a country.  The opportunities are incredible.  The amount of wealth that ebbs and flows through here is mind boggling.  The U.S. has it all - from the Republican National Convention to Burning Man - it is one of the most heterogenous societies on Earth.  Never a dull moment.

As you can see, there are all sorts of topics and ideas bouncing around in my mind that I would love to convey, but when I try, come out as convoluted ramblings.  Sorry.  I'll try to stick to the main points.

My sister got married!  I have a brother-in-law!  Not only do Caity and Danny make a smashing couple, but I had an absolute blast at their wedding.  I think everybody did.  It was an awesome excuse  for the family to come together, eat, drink and celebrate.  My only qualm is that it was too short - I think a whole week of festivities would have been more appropriate.  Regardless it was most excellent to see family I have not seen in years and might not see for another few.  Fun fact: Danny's dad (Mr. Woodruff) was my eighth grade algebra teacher.

Caity and Danny got married a month ago.  What have I been doing for the past month since then?  Chillin' to the max.  Spending time with friends.  Playing tour guide for out-of-town friends and family. Surfing.  Buying and selling surfboards.  Playing music.  Hanging out at No Surf.  Partying.  Eating amazing Mexican food.  Enjoying the California life.

Jamming on ukuleles with Dylan in Ocean Beach, SF.

I do not know what I did to deserve this life.  But I have it and intend to enjoy it to the fullest, which is why I am flying back to Fiji in three days.  And while I really love California and appreciate it more than ever, I am so stoked to be going back to the south Pacific.  Sometimes it takes leaving a place to appreciate it to its fullest, which is a bit ironic, no?

Like I said before, I apologize for the incoherent ramblings.  I am trying to break my writer's block.  I just wanted to get you all caught up on the excellent intermission that has been the past two months in California before you are once again bombarded with images of fiery sunsets, black-tipped sharks and mean reef passes.  And if I was lucky enough to spend some time with you while I was home, the memories of the good times we had together will keep a smile on my face when the seas get rough.

Bula vinaka!

Californicating

I bought this old foamie surfboard for $20 and then personalized it with a few cans of spray paint.

Wow.  What a trip.  After one year, six months and three days of traveling I have returned to San Diego.  On the one hand California feels extravagant, luxurious and a bit like another world, while on the other hand it almost feels like I never left.

Let's see. I have been home for over one week now and driving on the right side of the road still trips me out, as does people driving 80 m.p.h. on the freeway.  The fact that so many people go running - just for fun - is bizarre.  The water is a freezing 68 degrees but the waves are soft and friendly, as are the reefs.  The Target Superstore is insane and probably has a higher GDP than all of Tonga.  Burritos are the best food ever, alcohol and surfboards are incredibly cheap and, in spite of being very urban, San Diego is a beautiful city.

However, the best part of being home (by far) is spending time with friends and family.  It was even fun to see Mom and Dad because after living with them 24/7, two weeks apart was giving me separation anxiety.  For the past week I have been spending time with aunts, uncles, and of course my sister Caity and my brother-in-law to be, Danny.  It has pretty much been a non-stop party and we have no intentions of stopping any time soon.

Spending quality time with my sister in preparation for her wedding!

I am pretty sure I have the best friends in the world because they do not hold it against me that I have been gone so long, show up and expect them to go surfing with me.  It is awesome to get home, call up the amigos, and go surf my favorite wave on (some of) my favorite surfboards.  Also, apparently there are people who actually read this blog - for better or worse - and it has been really fun to expand on stories that they have already read about.  The fact that people have some idea of what I have been up to for the past year is surprisingly comforting.

That is really the best part about being home: the familiarity of everything.  From the root of the word in "family" to the fact that I know where I am going most of the time to seeing people I know everywhere I go, is really freaking cool.  Although I have wiggled my way into communities around the Pacific, it is something else to spend time with people who have known you for years.  I had kind of forgotten what that was like.

The other thing that blows me away about being home is how easy everything is.  This goes hand in hand with familiarity, but seriously, you can do almost anything with an iPhone.  Need directions?  No problem.  Want a pizza delivered to you on your couch?  Easy.  Want the newest, latest, most bitchin' model of anything?  Hand over the cash and you got it.  Try living in a third world or industrializing country for a few months and you won't take all that for granted (for a few days anyway).

Yes, life is good here in California.  Of course I am on "vacation" so I am completely ignoring horrifying political mudslinging, the impending environmental disaster that is southern California and astronomical gas prices, but regardless, even for people who live here permanently, life is good.

And so, I will be mucking around CA for the next few months.  If you live between San Diego and San Francisco and want to hang out, hit me up!  Tomorrow a few friends and I are headed up to San Onofre for a little camping/surf adventure - my first since New Zealand.  We will see if Lower Trestles compares to Shipwreck bay.... although there are 4 million people in the city of Los Angeles and 4 million people in all of New Zealand, so that might influence the crowd factor.

In the words of Jerry Garcia, "What a long strange trip it's been."  And what a long strange trip it will continue to be.

Ka Pai - "Sweet As"

Water patrol out at Cloudy ready to rescue surfers caught on the inside.

I believe we left off last time with a teary departure from Mom and Dad as they headed off to California.  I was truly inconsolable there for a few minutes and had to drown my sorrows with a cocktail at Cardos.  Fortunately, my friend Laurie – a cool French Canadian surfer chick who I met in New Zealand – showed up the next day and we have been having a rocking good time ever since.  Well – almost – there have been a few low points, I will admit.

Laurie and I were both keen to get out Tavarua to check out the Volcom Fiji Pro (the contest that I told you about) and to get in the water.  I had been putting my feelers out for people who were going to be out and around Tavarua surfing and watching the contest, and had a few leads.  I called my mate Ritchie - an Aussie guy who single hands his 47 foot catamaran “Ka Pai” (which means “sweet as” in Maori), loves to surf, and cruises around looking for waves.  He was up for having two girls on board for a few nights as paying crew.

Thursday morning Ritchie came by and picked us up with all our gear – guitar, ukulele, surfboard, snorkel gear… I never said I pack light.  After off-loading we headed to the market where we bought heaps of papayas, pineapple, mint, limes and other delicious fruit.  No joke, Ritchie bought more than 30 papayas.  We made it back to Ka Pai just in time to avoid a huge rain shower, stowed the provisions, and headed off to Tavarua where we would anchor for the next three nights. 

It is a pretty incredible thing to wake up, look out the port hole and see Restaurants (the wave) firing.  Unfortunately, Friday morning Restaurants was not firing so we had a mellow morning with live music, fruit smoothies and a swim.  In the afternoon we hopped in the dinghy to check out Cloudbreak.  It was pretty windy so we did not know how the surf would be, but as we rounded Tavarua I could see huge waves feathering across the reef. 

Cloudbreak was a scene.  There were people out in small dinghies, big tenders, on surfboards, in air-conditioned mega yachts and everything in between.  We watched the best surfers in the world pull into mean, huge barrels and get rescued by the water patrol on jet-skis when they didn’t make it out.  The waves were massive and every set seemed to grow in size.  Just when John John Florence was about to surf his heat, the judges called off the contest, saying that the waves were too big.  John John then proceeded to paddle out and catch one of the most ridiculous barrels I have ever seen.  As the contest was called for the afternoon all the pros paddled out and free surfed the huge waves for the rest of the day.  They were calling it “the best paddle session ever surfed” and things like that. 

After bouncing around in the dinghy and the sun and the wind for a few hours, Ritchie, Laurie and I were pretty beat so we headed back to Ka Pai and back to Restaurants, which was now firing.  The wave was solid overhead, low tide shallow and fast.  I opted not to surf but dropped Ritchie off at the peak and then proceeded to drink a few mojitos with Laurie as we watched people get nutty barrels from the comfort of the catamaran. 

We were all burned out after a long day in the sun, a few drinks and nice meal, so the evening was mellow.  However, as I lay in the cockpit watching the stars my stomach started to churn and - sparing you the intimate details - I will say that I was violently ill for the next eight hours.  Apparently there was a stomach bug going around Tavarua which Kelly Slater had contracted, therefore I am sure he gave to me when I shook his hand last week (WORTH IT).

Needless to say, I had a rather unpleasant night and did not feel like sitting in the dinghy the next day to watch the contest at Cloudbreak.  Fortunately the contest directors – the considerate guys they are – decided to move the contest to Restaurants so that I could watch them surf comfortably from Ka Pai.  Either that or because Cloudbreak was insane and Restaurants had 6-8 foot perfect barrels (also insane) and was much more manageable.  Regardless, we watched awesome surfing all day and in spite of my weak condition I still managed to hoot and holler for a good barrel.

On Sunday we headed into Musket Cove for a BBQ at the Bula Bar marking the “opening” of yachting season.  It was quite a party but in spite of the free rum punch and a live band, I kept a pretty mellow night.  Plus, Ritchie told everybody coming out to watch the final of the contest with us to be at Ka Pai by 5:30 AM to catch the morning session at Resties.  Of course everybody else partied hard all night, and I felt rather smug when I woke up as we cruised out to Tavarua feeling great, while everybody else was very hung over.  However my smugness turned to guilt when Laurie started to get sick with the very same flu I just finished with.

She was a trooper though, and managed to get up to see Kelly smoke the 19 year old Brazilian Gabriel Medina in the final and win the Fiji Pro.  After watching Kelly surf for over a week there is no denying it – he is the best surfer in the world.  At least the best surfer of our time.  And one hell of a competitor.  After the contest was over we headed over and dropped anchor at Namotu island and spent the afternoon snorkeling, drinking beer, playing music and watching massive waves roll through Namotu Lefts and Wilkes Right. 

A sweet as afternoon hanging out at Namotu on Ka Pai.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and Laurie and I had to catch the ferry from Musket Cove back home to Denarau.  Ritchie pointed Ka Pai towards Musket and we had a nice sail back.  Unfortunately, as we were going in to the cove the water was so glassy we couldn’t see where the reefs were and ended driving right up on one cruising at about 5 knots.  Oops.  The tide was going low, the boat was stuck good and our ferry was leaving in 20 minutes.  “Well Ritchie, sorry to leave you high and dry but… we gotta go!”  Haha, very funny. 

Ritchie is a kind and generous host and took us into the ferry where Laurie (poor girl felt terrible) and I plopped down on the boat, ready to be taken home… But not before we picked up the entire Scotland rugby team who just so happened to be hanging out at Musket Cove for the day.  We spent the whole ride home chatting with ridiculously good looking, fit as Scottish rugby players.  Of course I couldn’t understand a thing they said, but it didn’t matter.  I considered inviting them all over for a boat party, but I am pretty sure if we had the whole team on Rutea she would sink.  And if you invite one you have to invite them all, and beautiful and friendly as they were, I took the responsible route and told them I would cheer for them when they played Fiji on Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, I fly back to California on Saturday!  Holy sheeeit!!  See you there, no?!

Living the Dream

 Jamming at Cloudbreak

Pardon my language, but this shit is off the hook.  For the past few days I have been going out to Cloudbreak to watch the best surfers in the world surf the best wave in the world, and I am (nearly) at a loss for words to describe the experience.  But I will try.

As you might know for the past few weeks Mom, Dad and I have been working very hard to get Rutea in ship-shape.  On Wednesday we had more or less finished all of our projects and I heard that Kelly Slater had just flown into Fiji and was surfing Cloudbreak, so I was very keen to get out there.  It is a 14 mile boat ride from Denarau to Tavarua - too far for our little dinghy - but I had arranged a ride with my friend Che to go out there Wednesday morning. 

Unfortunately Che got called into work and just as my heart sank at the prospect of spending another day on the dock I heard Dad yell to the fishing boat next to us, "Hey!  Are you guys headed out to go surfing?  You got room on your boat for one more?  A pretty girl?"  I nearly died of embarrassment.  I wanted to yell at him to shut-up, but my jaw dropped open and I was speechless as Pat Gudauskas - a pro-surfer from San Clemente, CA, walked up to the boat and said, "Sure, we always have room for a pretty girl." 

I am not so sure I fit the bill, but I grabbed my board, food, water and sunscreen, and bolted.  Pat introduced me to his twin brother Dane (also a pro-surfer but not on the Tour) as well as Jordan and Luke, two Aussie boys who run "The Salty" - a 28 foot fishing/surf boat.

I couldn't stop smiling as we planed at 25 knots over sheet glass water that reflected a mirror image of the scattered clouds in the sky.  The whole way out I chatted with Pat and Dane about life on the Tour.  For those of you who are not familiar the world tour of surfing is a tour that consists of 12 contests around the world for the top 34 surfers in the world.  The stops include Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa, California, Australia Hawaii and so on.

I expected a pro-surfer from California (or wherever) to be a bit conceited or shallow or totally bro-ed out, but Pat and Dane were incredibly polite, nice and interested in my travels, as well as cool about answering my numerous questions about life as a pro.

The half hour boat ride out to Cloudbreak seemed to take a few short minutes.  Everybody had said that the surf would be about head high so I thought I might be able to handle it, but as we pulled up to Cloudy ten to twelve foot bombs were exploding on the reef.  I don't have a death wish so I was definitely not surfing.

"Oh, there is Kelly!  Oh, look at Mick Fanning on that one! Ohhh, gnarly barrel John John just pulled in to!!"  Dane and Pat yelled.  "Dude, we gotta get out there!"  The each pulled out a board from a stack of fifteen and jumped in the water.  Jordan, Luke and I cheered them on from the boat as they pulled into barrel after barrel, along with all the other top surfers in the world.

This is the part that I have trouble describing.  Imagine the thing you are most passionate about.  Then imagine hanging out with the people who are the best in the world of said passion.  Then imagine those people having the most perfect canvass in the world on which to express said passion.  Maybe it would be like an extremely devout Catholic hanging out with Jesus in the Vatican or something like that. 

Don't get me wrong, I am not comparing Kelly Slater to Jesus - although I am sure some people could come up with a few similarities - but you get the point.  The vibe out at Cloudbreak on a good day is amazing.  There is so much energy in the air; the waves sucking up into a perfect barrel and exploding on the reef; the whitewash shooting up 100 feet into the air and creating a salty mist over the entire reef; and of course the surfers who throw themselves - their insignificant little bodies - into the vortex of a most powerful and chaotic force, only to stay calm and focused and shoot out at the end unscathed and so, so stoked.  It makes all of us shout with joy every time somebody makes a critical wave.

Of course even the pro surfers don't make every wave.  Even the best in the world get worked sometimes, and this is very comforting to me.  In fact, my favorite part of this whole experience could be that I have realized that even the best surfers in the world deal with the same issues I do - taking waves on the head, arms too tired to catch another wave, even getting scared... Of course their level is so much higher than I will ever be at, but it is all essentially the same.

It is pretty funny to see how much pleasure everybody gets from seeing Kelly Slater eat it on a wave.  I mean, he is the best surfer in the world, but give the guy a break!  While we were watching there were maybe thirty guys out, and we were anchored in the channel well clear of the swing wide sets, so we were a bit far from the waves.  It was hard to tell who was who, but you can tell Kelly every time because his lines, the way he rides barrels, everything about his surfing is at a higher level.  It's nuts.

I would have loved nothing more than to paddle out and catch a few waves with my idols, but decided it was not worth probable death (or at least a serious beating) so I hung out with Jordan and Luke on the boat - which is still super fun.  Finally I mustered up the courage to paddle into the channel on my surfboard (you never know about those swing wides) to get a better view.  As I was watching I noticed Kelly get picked up by a boat.  I drifted over toward the boat and, as they were just hanging out watching the waves I paddled over. 

At first I was too shy to talk to him, but finally after a minute of telling myself that I would regret not meeting the most legendary surfer of our time for the rest of my life, I paddled up.  "Hey Kelly," I said softly.  He turned and looked at me with those intense green eyes.  "Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to shake your hand."  I said, nearly losing my cool.  "Oh yea, no problem.  Where are you from?"  He said.  I don't remember much after that, just that I paddled around in a daze for a few minutes before I came back to Earth.

The rest of the day was just as epic - well - almost.  I saw a hammerhead shark jump out of the water, a mahi-mahi chasing its dinner, and the best waves being surfed I have ever witnessed.  As the five of us cruised back to Denarau on The Salty we all had the silly stoked smile plastered to our faces.  I asked Dane and Pat if they minded if I tagged along with them the following day and they said "Of course not, but we have two more friends coming in - Freddy P. and Yadin Nicol, both pro-surfers - if you don't mind hanging out with them as well."  Oh gosh, what a bummer, but I think I will manage.

I ended up cruising out with the guys two more days, one of which was windy and gnarly but fun, and then today which was another day of perfection.  The actual contest starts tomorrow and I plan to go out again with a local surf company because Luke and Jordan are taking a much deserved day off. 

This evening when I got back to the boat Mom, Dad and I went for one last meal at Cardo's before they hopped on a flight back to San Diego.  They should be boarding right about now.  I fly home in two weeks, and I must admit that with this swell and contest starting tomorrow, Fiji is the place to be.  Thus I will be holding down the fort for the next two weeks and staying totally and completely out of trouble.  I may or may not blog about it.

P.S. For more photos of Cloudbreak last Wednesday hit this link: 

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/volcom-fiji-pro-freesurf-warmup_70972/ 

The pictures are better than mine!

Life on the Hard

Noble House and Slow Dance at Port Denarau (photo circa January 2012)

When I told you that Musket Cove is the Las Vegas of Fiji, I misspoke.  Granted, there are not as many sea planes or helicopters flying in here, but Port Denarau is definitely the Las Vegas of Fiji.  I am not sure what the slogan is now, but it should be changed to Port Denarau: you can see Fiji from here.

I am not hating on Denarau, but it is the tourist hub of Fiji.  Combine the Hardrock Cafe with friendly Fijians trying to sell me a booze cruise every few steps, the mega yachts in the marina and Cardos steakhouse, of course, and you have got yourself a party.

In all honesty it is fun to be back here.  I spent time at Denarau when I crewed on Slow Dance in January, and some of the boats from back then are still here - most notably Noble House.  I became friends with the NH crew as many of them surf, have a bitchin' 36 foot Sportfisher "tender" and are always up for a good time.

Unfortunately it has not been all surf and binge drinking.  Dad decided that Rutea needed some work done and wanted it to be finished before he and Mom leave for California, so we headed into the marina last week.  His two main concerns were getting the cap rail re-varnished and the bottom painted.  In order for the bottom to be painted the boat has to be hauled out of the water (obviously) and the boat yard does not allow people to stay on their boats while they are "on the hard" so we have been renting a hotel apartment for the past few days.

A note on living on land: it is fun!  We have a real refrigerator with a big door and a light that comes on, a big stove, a maid, and TV!  This shit is awesome!

Fortunately Dad did not make me and Mom paint the bottom of the boat, which is a really dirty and toxic job, but he has decided that we are all to become master varnishers, which basically means that we have been sanding the cap rail for the past week now.  I have sanded the skin off my knuckles too many times and come back to the apartment totally covered in sawdust, but I suppose there are worse jobs to be doing.

Fortunately the Noble House crew has come to my rescue twice, whisking me away to go surfing. A few days ago we went out to Tavarua on the sportfisher to surf Cloudbreak, but it was well over head high, barreling and the peak was super shifty.  We opted to surf Restaurants which was much more manageable.  The wind was howling sideshore/offshore which gave the wave a bit of a bump, but it was still lined up and super fast down the line.  I made a few drops but couldn't keep up with the speed of the wave.  I also ate it on a few but managed not to get raked across the reef.

One thing about surfing Tavarua and Namotu is the crazy currents that flow through.  If you time it wrong you could very well get swept out to sea, or stuck inside getting pounded on the reef... It is worth it, but if you ever make it out here, bring your serious paddling arms.

However there are some other top secret surf spots in Fiji that are not as critical as Cloudbreak.  On Saturday morning Rob of Noble House came by asked if I wanted to go surf a beach break on the south side of the island.  I grabbed my board and we headed out, drove for about an hour, turned off down a dirt road and pulled up to a river mouth beach break with a perfect A-frame wave peeling right and left across the beach.

After surfing coral reef for the past few weeks, this was the most playful, easy, gentle and fun wave ever.  It was even a bit hollow with the offshore winds and when the over head sets came through I went on anything I could, stoked on not having to worry about hitting the reef.  I still got pounded a few times, but it was all good.  Unfortunately at the end of the day Rob's board gave him a kiss on the lips a little too forcefully and we had to make a stop for some stitches, but it really was an epic day of surf.

And so life on the hard goes - a surf here, a drink at the bar there, and heaps and heaps and heaps of sanding.  We hope to get the boat back in the water on Friday and I hope to be back in the water ASAP.

Lau Group part 6: A Glorious End

Leaving Matuku... I hope to return someday!

After two wild weeks aboard S/V Shannon I have returned home to S/V Rutea.  Yes, Kevin and my expeditious exploration of the Lau group has come to an end, but what a glorious end it was.  

I left off at our dinner party with Koli, Luciana and three kids from the village.  Since then we spent more time in the village, went on a gnarly spearfishing trip with James, made the two night passage back to Tavarua and Namotu where our buddies on Twister were waiting for us, scored more freaking amazing waves, and made it back to Musket Cove just in time to celebrate Mother's Day with my momma.

Now that I am back in civilization, Matuku feels like a very long time ago, even though it has only been a few days since we left.  By Wednesday of last week Kevin and I had totally run out of clean clothes, and even the remotely clean clothes were salty and smelly.  Time to do laundry - except with little fresh water on the boat one either has to wash with salt water (not very effective) or go into the village.  Kevin and I packed up the dirty clothes, a few new kids t-shirts and some fiberglass to repair Koli's leaking boat.  As it would have been deemed outrageous for Kevin to even help with the laundry, I took the clothes to Luciana's house while Kevin went to help Koli with the repair (seriously defined gender roles here).

When I arrived at Luciana's house to ask for some water to do laundry she said, "Laundry? Ok, I will do it."  "No, no, I will do it, I just need some fresh water if you can spare any,"  I told her.  "Ok, then I make lunch," she replied.  I was confident there was enough water as there was a torrential downpour the previous night.  As for lunch, you can't really decline to eat a meal with these people, so I smiled and said "vinaka." 

Luciana showed me to a faucet in the "backyard" (jungle) and I did the laundry in a bucket while chickens pecked at my ankles and mosquitos buzzed in my ears.  After hanging the laundry on the line I went back inside and pulled out a pack of guitar strings that I just so happened to have in my guitar bag.  Koli's guitar was missing one string and the rest were badly corroded, so I replaced all of them, making the guitar look and sound (almost) new.  They seemed to be pleased but probably thought it was wasteful to replace strings that were not broken, but hey, it is my gift to them.

Around lunch time Koli and Kevin showed up along with a few other kids who, knowing Luciana was cooking, stayed for lunch.  Kevin, Koli and I were served first - another ramen noodle and fish dish with a side of yams and taro.  It made me uncomfortable to have a hungry kid watching me eat, but there was nothing I could do about it.  After we finished eating Luciana ate, and after she was finished she made plates for the kids. 

Sipping lemon leaf tea we talked about the afternoon plans.  James, one of the guys Kevin and I liked most in the village, offered to go spear fishing with us.  We managed to slip out of Koli's house without being encouraged (too much) to take an afternoon nap and headed back to the boat.  The three of us took Kevin's little dinghy with its 2.5 horsepower engine out to the reef pass, set the anchor and jumped in.

Although I love eating fish I am a bit squeamish about killing them, so I just snorkeled and free dived while the boys went out killing things with their spear guns.  I followed James for a while and saw him shoot a puffer fish right through the eye.  It puffed up like a spiny basketball and floated to the surface, where James threw it on a coral head out of the water and proceeded to stab it a bunch of times to deflate it.  Then he stabbed it through the brain to kill it.  "Umm, do you actually eat those things?"  Kevin asked James.  "Oh yes, they are delicious.  They are my father's favorite."  James replied.  "Um, yea, but what about the poison sack?  Don't chefs train for years to be able to filet and cook a puffer fish?"  Kevin asked.  James had no idea what we were talking about, but I guess nobody in the village has died from eating one yet so it is still fair game.

After a few hours in the water James had collected a rainbow of exotic fish on a string he was trailing behind him, while white and black tipped reef sharks eyed his catch with a certain look in their eye that made me swim a good ways away from him.  In some places in the Pacific a shark would attack the string of fish without hesitation, but James told me the sharks here are "like girls" and are too scared to take from a human - unless it is night.  Ok, but I still would not want to carry a string of bleeding and dead fish around.

Kevin and James with their catch after a killing spree.

We headed back to the village with the night's dinner.  As we walked through the village James placed a fish or two on the doorsteps of a few houses.  "I like to give the fresh fish to the families with small children; it makes them healthy and strong," he told us.  What a nice guy.

You can understand why we were sad to leave the next day.  The hospitality of the villagers was overwhelming, the beauty of the reef was mind blowing, and to be completely honest I was really dreading the passage back to Viti Levu.  But we had to leave - I promised my mom I would be back for Mother's Day and Kevin was headed back to Hawaii for work.  Thus, after a few more pictures and saying goodbye to the entire village, we pulled up the anchor and headed out.

Although the passage back was not super easy, it was much nicer than the way there.  It only took us two days to get back, and whereas I really wanted to stop at Kadavu for a night or two - it is almost criminal to sail past a place like that and not stop - Kevin wanted to try and get in another few surf sessions at Namotu before heading back to Hawaii.  I couldn't complain.

At day break on Saturday morning we arrived at Wilkes Pass, the same pass we left out of some two weeks earlier.  As we pulled around Namotu, there was none other than my good friend Lars on his 28 foot boat, Twister.  Our mutual friend Gaz sailed up from New Zealand with him, and they have been cruising around together for a bit.  We yelled our hellos, invited them over for breakfast, and set the anchor - extremely happy to be back inside the reef at our favorite surf spot.

I whipped up a quick breakfast and then the four of us piled into Kevin's dinghy (with 4 surfboards too) and headed out to Namotu Lefts.  Unfortunately we timed the tide wrong and the current was ebbing so hard it was impossible to get to the waves.  We had tied up to a mooring and jumped in to paddle to the waves some 200 meters away, but could not make it.  I paddled for 30 minutes before I gave up and drifted back to the dinghy.  The boys gave in soon after and we headed back to the boats, barely making headway against the current.  However, we did make it and decided to try again later.

Kevin and I took long naps, ate a bunch of food, rallied for more energy and in the late afternoon went back to Twister and got Gaz and Lars for a second attempt at surfing.  This time the current was slack.  The waves were chest to head high; all lefts peeling across the reef.  There were a few people out, but as the sun set they went in and the four of us were left with all the fun waves we could catch.  Finally it got so dark that we couldn't really see the waves anymore and headed back to the dinghy. 

By this time the tide had changed and was running out the pass, so once again we barely motored faster than the current.  It was also pretty much dark and we were guided by the lights of the resort on Namotu.  Just then, the motor died.  Shit.  I could see Kevin's eyes go wide eve in the dark.  We all stopped for a moment and then Kevin, who is probably the most calm person I have ever met, tweaked the engine a bit and started her up.  She coughed a bit but did not die again, getting us safely to our boats.  That night we had a potluck dinner, jam session and tried to put a dent in the bottle of Bounty rum, but I couldn't get anybody to drink it.  They preferred warm beer over Bounty.  If that is not a blunt statement I don’t know what is.

The next morning we awoke to bright blue sky and absolutely no wind.  We had a nice morning with a cup of tea and leftover pizza and fried plantains, then loaded up the dinghy once again and headed out to Namotu Lefts.  Actually, we headed for Wilkes Pass, which is a pretty heavy/gnarly right that I was not keen to surf, but the other three are regular footers and wanted a right.  Unfortunately (and really too bad) there are no moorings out there and we didn't want to anchor in deep water, so we headed back to Namotu Lefts where we proceeded to surf our brains out for the next 3 hours.

Kevin, Gaz, Lars and me on our way to Namotu Lefts with Namotu island in the background.  STOKED!

The waves were amazing.  Head high to overhead, lined up and fast but not super heavy; clear blue turquoise water with light offshore winds... ohhh man.  Don't get me wrong - I took many waves on the head and ditched my board twice, got caught inside heaps and duck dived so much white water my arms were throbbing, but it was SO good.  I have never felt so comfortable surfing a coral reef pass.  Everybody out - which was not many people - was so stoked to be out there, so stoked on the conditions we were all cheering for each other.  Everybody was grinning from ear to ear. 

After three hours I had to force myself to get out of the water.  My face was burnt to a crisp, my arms dead.  Fortunately the current was not too strong so I was able to get back to the dinghy, where Kevin, Lars, Gaz and I all gave each other high fives on scoring such good waves.

This was Sunday morning, also known as Mother's Day.  As hard as it was to leave my beloved Namotu, I also wanted to spend the day - or what was left of it - with my mom.  Kevin and I got the boat ready, pulled up anchor and headed back to Musket Cove, where all these shenanigans started in the first place.  After doing a quick clean up and packing all my crap - ukulele, guitar, dive gear, clothes, surfboard, etc. - I returned to Rutea and the happy faces of my parents. 

How nice to be home!  After being on Shannon for two weeks Rutea seems like a palace.  And she is, really, but it is all relative.  When I got back to the boat Mom gave me a big hug and said, "Corie!  You are back!  Kevin didn't take you and sell you into slavery or something awful like that!"  I could see her concern - I mean, I hardly knew Kevin before we took off and she knew him even less - but it was all good.  "I realized I didn't even know his last name!  But I guess not many cruisers are axe murderers..." Mom went on.  Actually, I had been horrible about emailing, but Kevin had emailed my parents every night we were on passage letting them know we were alive.  If that isn't a good guy I don't know who is.

We all went out for a nice dinner - a restaurant! bright lights! no taro! tile floors! cold beer! - Kevin and I were a bit stunned with the whole scene.  After being in the outback for a few weeks coming back to modern (I use the term "modern" loosely) civilization is always a bit of a shock.  Regardless, it was a very nice night and all the more special that I got to spend it with my mom.  After dinner I gathered my last few things off Shannon, said goodbye to Kevin: "see you again someday, I hope!", and went back to Rutea to a blissful sleep in my own bed.

Lau Group part 5: Good Reef and a Dinner Party

Dinner party aboard Shannon.

After our Sunday adventure Kevin and I were both feeling a bit... burned out.  We have pretty much been "on the go" - although that has a different meaning in the tropics than in other places - since we arrived in Fiji respectively, and wanted a day or two just to relax.

We spent the morning making breakfast and jamming on ukulele and guitar until Koli showed up in his boat.  In spite of the 80 degree weather he was wearing a huge down jacket and a beanie.  Apparently he has come down with a cold (that I wouldn't be surprised the, ahem, white man brought), and invited to go to the hospital in the other village with him.  "Ummmm... no thanks..." Kevin and I both said.  Going for a free dive sounded like much more fun than going to the "hospital".

Before we could be waylaid by another friendly villager Kevin and I threw all our gear in his dinghy and headed out to the pass we sailed in through.  The pass is pretty deep and lined by a steep coral wall on either side, which makes for excellent diving.  We decided to do a drift dive along the pass as there was a bit of current, so Kevin tied the dinghy to his body so it could float along with us and we jumped in. 

We were immediately greeted by a huge school of travalli and a white tipped reef shark.  It is always a bit of a relief to see a shark or two because it is a sign of a healthy reef.  And healthy this reef is!  The reef is covered with purple and blue stag horn coral, bright green finger coral, huge growths of soft corals, giant anenomes with clown fish living in them, and tons and tons of psychedelic looking fish.  I also saw huge clams and some very weird giant nudibranch-looking things.  The closer one gets to Indonesia the more diverse the reefs become, and this one was pretty wild.

It is hard to describe the euphoria I felt being back in the water around a healthy and vibrant reef.  I could tell Kevin felt the same.  He works as a free diver for NOAA and was diving down 30 or 40 feet and doing back flips under water.  Curious fish came by to take a look at the two 5 and 6 foot intruders, but didn't seem to be scared away by us.  At one point when we were diving on the south side of the pass I saw the reef marker for that side laying horizontally along the reef, knocked down by a cyclone.  But who needs reef markers on both sides of a pass, anyway?

Our free dive was by far the best I have ever done in Fiji (which isn't that many) and I was so happy to see healthy reef.  The only thing I am sad about is that it took us so long (3 days) to get in the water here.  But respects must be paid to the locals first.  After getting cold - yes it is possible to get cold in 80 degree water - we headed back to the boat.  Koli had given us a bunch of cooked taro before he headed to the hospital and Kevin fried it up with spices to make taro chips.  I think he is on to something.

Kevin and I spent the afternoon drinking rum drinks, playing music and chilling out.  A note on the rum drinks: Bounty is the official and locally made rum of Fiji.  It is also the most god-awful alcohol I have ever tasted in my life.  Even a whiff of it can make me light headed.  It tastes like something that could be used to degrease and engine rather than ingested.  Nevertheless, I drank enough to give me a pretty nasty hangover, which made our attempt at a dawn patrol surf session a little less pleasant.

Yes, Matuku has surf.  Sometimes.  The island is known as a remote but popular destination for surf charters - maybe one or two a year.  Apparently a few years ago the Quiksliver surf boat came here and the guys scored, saying the wave here is way better than Cloudbreak on Tavarua.  Unfortunately the swell was not working for us.  Regardless, we loaded up the boards and snorkel gear and headed out to the outer reef, a quarter mile or so off the island.  We saw one potentially surfable wave to the north, and headed out.  Kevin's dinghy has a 2.5 horsepower engine which does the trick, but takes a long time to get anywhere. 

After motoring for about 30 minutes we got to the wave, which was even smaller up close than it looked in the distance.  Not to be deterred we got in the water and paddled around a bit.  The current was flowing to the south and for some weird reason I was very concerned about being sucked out to sea, so I ended up paddling right back to the dinghy.  Kevin nor I got any waves but it was cool to paddle around over the reef.  Anyway, if we had just wanted to surf we would have stayed at Tavarua and Namotu.  This has been much more of an adventure.

We decided to do another free dive on the pass which was just as spectacular as the one the previous day.  This time when we got in the water we were greeted by a giant Napoleon wrasse, which is one of my favorite fish.  We also saw a coral banded sea snake - a bit creepy but coooool.  Kevin brought his spear gun to catch us some dinner, but was so blown away by the beauty and serenity of the reef that he couldn't bring himself to kill anything.  I was not disappointed.

As soon as we got back to the boat Koli showed up.  I invited him for lunch, even though he and his family were coming back for dinner in a few hours.  He accepted and I made udon noodles, which made me miss Mark and Yuka.  After lunch Kevin and I were both totally beat, and took naps before we had to prepare the boat for a Fijian invasion.

Naps taken, we cleaned up the boat and began cooking.  We wanted to serve Koli and Luciana typical food that we eat, but they eat so much starchy food that we made a hodgepodge of dishes to make sure they were well fed.  We cooked up a bunch of lamb shoulders, made some curried potatoes, and Kevin made a delicious pizza in a bunt pan.

Koli, Luciana, and three little boys between the ages of 8 and 12 showed up as we were cooking.  They brought taro, yams and a fried barracuda to supplement the meal, as well as a basket full of bananas, avocados and limes.  The boys got a kick out of running around the boat, poking their heads down the hatches, and drinking Coca-Cola.  Everybody (including Koli and Luciana) squealed with delight whenever the stove was lighted.  The boys loved learning the words "pizza" and "pe-pe-ro-ni", and couldn't seem to differentiate between the words "lamb" and "lamp".  They were all very polite and it was easy to see the fascination in their eyes as they looked around the boat.

Dinner was a success, although I have never seen young boys who loved taro way more than the pizza, which they tasted but were uninterested in.  After dinner I served tea and cookies.  To a regular mug of tea a Fijian will add two or three heaping tablespoons of sugar - kids and adults alike.  They love their sweet food.  Another thing I have realized about Fijian hospitality: Fijians will give you anything and everything they can, but they also expect to be given anything and everything they ask for. 

Luciana was not shy about asking us for more dishwashing soaps, lotions and cookies for the kids who could not come to the boat.  I did not feel obligated to give her anything per se, but the fact that it means so much more to them than it does to me makes me more inclined to do so.  I just hope the villagers do not see the 6 or 7 boats that come through here each year as cash cows or supply stores.  But being way the hell out here I could see how they see our boats as mini supply ships.  Can't blame them.

After dinner I gave Koli my guitar and he strummed a tune which the boys joined in singing to.  Kevin taught them card tricks which they got an absolute kick out of, and I worked my way through a massive pile of dishes.  I think we used every one on the boat.  They left around 10 PM, with many a "vinaka vakalevu" shouted across the water.  It was a very fun night that I will remember forever.