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Free & BrEasy - Fiji World Cup Blues



Disaster has struck. Both Spain and England are out of the World Cup. The crew of Free & BrEasy can hardly believe it. Even The boats mascot, Pedro the Polar Bear, is depressed. Have we come half way round the world to be treated so painfully by our National teams? We were looking forward to a Spain vs England final and the creative tension this would bring to the boat!

Here we are in Fijian heaven and we are sorrowful. Even the Fijian national team lost an important rugby match (the national sport) against Samoa. To complete our story, the repairs to the rigging are taking longer than we thought and nothing is straight forward. New fittings have to delivered from New Zealand and Roger is becoming concerned to say the least.

We started off so well with a peaceful "bob" outside Vuda Marina followed the next morning by a visit from the Fiji Hygiene authorities to spray the boat to get rid of Tongan mosquitoes. The customs team then boarded and were very polite but extremely firm and wanted to know how many guns Roger kept on board! Then the World Cup was mentioned and everything relaxed as a detailed analysis of different teams took place. Thanks to the international language of sport we were soon cleared by customs and into the Marina. We were assigned a space between two boats that did not look wide enough. Vuda Marina is circular and boats moor up bow- or stern-to the harbour wall like books in a circular library shelf. We prised our way into the gap, moored up with onshore help, but realised there was a problem of how to get from boat to harbour wall. Each boat space has a small wooden jetty in the centre so if you are in a mono-hull you simply pull the boat in and step off onto the little jetty. Catamarans, obviously, have two protruding hulls one on each side and even after pulling the boat to the jetty from one hull, this still leaves a big gap to the jetty. Added to this there is a 6 ft tide so sometimes you are trying to jump up and sometimes down. Quite a problem after a few Fijian Bitters! Some catamaran crew must have been part of a circus act as they have solved this problem with a 3 inches wide 10 foot long wobbly plank going to one hull. Impossible even with no Fijian bitter!

The rigging specialists came quickly to the boat and started by removing a shroud and the fore-stay and leaving the mast held up only by ropes. It still is, which gives you a clue about the progress on the replacing our rigging. While we were waiting for the new rigging, we caught a bus to the nearby city of Lautoka, a bustling place of 80,000 inhabitants. The bus came with no windows, a roaring engine which belched black exhaust fumes and a bus driver, who like all his colleagues in the world, regarded the road as being provided for his sole use. As we came into the outskirts we could see all the signs of an industrialised Nation with out of town business properties including car sales rooms and hardware stores. Everywhere there were advertising boards and signs of a vibrant commercial centre. This was the first signs of a "developed" nation that we have experienced since leaving Panama City some 3000 sailing miles away. The centre of the city was very busy with an enormous vegetable and fruit market and a busy bus station. To keep a Free & BrEasy tradition going, we went to the market for a spicy curry and then meandered with the cosmopolitan crowd. We were looking for a tourist office but it was in the outskirts of town so we returned to the Marina to find no progress on the rigging.

To take our mind off boat problems we arranged a hike to the fourth highest mountain in Fiji, Mt Karoyanitu (3920 feet) which means "village of the devil"! This peak could be seen from the Marina as a distant mass ending in a sheer cliff falling thousands of feet. After a bone shaking hour's drive in the back of a truck on a rough track, we arrived at Abaca, a small village of eighty people deep in the bush. Here they live simply with no electricity and providing for most of their needs from the soil, supplemented with tourism. We met our guide, Daniel, and his faithful dog, Lewa Lewa, who then led us up a track at a blistering pace, in flip flops and paws, respectively. The track went through tall grassland and then into Montane forest, right to the top. During the two and half hours steep climb, Daniel never put a foot wrong and arrived at the top without any signs of effort, and then promptly fell asleep! By contrast, all our clothes were drenched in sweat as we scrambled up behind Daniel and Lewa Lewa. But the climb was worth it! The view at the top was splendid with the western Fijian islands appearing to float like clouds in the air, above the Fijian coast. Not surprisingly, the cliff face was every bit as steep from the top as it was from the bottom! We then retraced our route arriving back at the Abaca with aching muscles and looking like we badly needed a shower. Roger promptly took a shower courtesy of aid from a Japanese company which had donated shower facilities. Despite our grimy state (apart from Roger) we were ushered (minus shoes) into one of the simple huts where a banquet had been laid on the floor by Sarah, for us to eat. The food was delicious and accompanied by lots of laughter as Sarah teased Alejandro about his lack of a wife, suggesting he should stay in the village for a few nights to find one!

The excitement was still not over as we still had the Cava ceremony to undertake. Cava is a drink made from fermented cassava pulp. During our lunch, the whole village, dressed in their best, had been holding a meeting to raise funds for the local church and we were invited to partake in the ceremony of blessing a large wooden bowl of Cava at the end of the meeting. With great reverence and slow thunderous clapping, the Cava was ceremoniously offered in a coconut shell, to the village elders. It was then our turn and Michael was handed a brimming shell full of Cava, took a sip, and passed it on to Roger, at which point it became clear this was rude and the Cava was returned to Michael to finish off completely! Cava is not alcoholic but contains a mild anaesthetic which numbs the tongue and gums, a bit like being at the Dentist. Its effect on the men of the village was apparent as they happily withstood the commentary of the Samoan vs Fiji Rugby match from a small radio. A shame some football supporters don't drink Cava instead of alcohol!

We are hoping that our new rigging will be in place within a few days and allow us to explore some of the islands around Fiji. If there are still more delays then no problem as we will enjoy the Marina facilities and watch the rest of the World Cup matches for sheer fun!


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