Way back when we first started telling people about our plan to go cruising, many had a very remote and isolated lifestyle in mind. And sure, at times, cruising can be that way, but most of the time it’s been a very social lifestyle within the close-knit cruising community. It was pretty awesome to arrive at a foreign port for the first time and know so many people who were there. In fact, our entire time in Savusavu was one of reunions as we caught up with old friends and met back up with the ones we traveled from New Zealand with.
It started immediately as we were just entering the harbor. Reminiscent of our arrivals in Atuona (after our Pacific crossing), we were met by Craig and Leann from True Blue V in their dinghy, and they came bearing fresh bread from the bakery on shore. What a treat! After our clearance process, Craig and Leann joined us for our safe arrival cocktails. Yes, it was 10:00am, but c’mon, we had just arrived in Fiji! And nothing says safe arrival like morning bloody mary’s. And it was this little get together where Craig and Leann first put the bug in our ear to consider going to Marshall Islands instead of Australia for cyclone season. We extended the party to lunch on shore for burgers and beer at Surf ‘n’ Turf, and then the Exodus crew was ready to catch up on some much needed sleep. But when we got to the dinghy dock, Field Trip was in a berth at the dock and Lumbaz was at the quarantine dock clearing in. So, of course that meant a couple more safe arrival beers on Field Trip.
The next day was a girls shopping excursion ashore. Since True Blue V had spent the cyclone season in Fiji, they knew what was what in Savusavu. So, Leann took us around to the fabric stores and seamstresses to look into having chumbas and sulus made. What a fun day we had: Exodus, True Blue V, Field Trip, Lumbaz, and Et Voila. The labor cost of having clothing made is embarassingly cheap, so the main cost is the fabric, and it was fun to browse around and pick the exact color and fabric you wanted. Because I needed a pretty fast turnaround with my order, I ended up having my stuff made at one of the fabric stores, since they were the only ones who could have it done on time. Not to go on too much of a tangent, but it was kind of funny when I went to pick up my stuff and tried them on for the first time. I absolutely could not get the chumba on down over my shoulders or up over my hips. It seemed to me that the zipper was too short. When I told the seamstress about it and suggested the zipper was too short, she blatantly disagreed with me. That’s the length zipper she always uses. She said she just needed to take it out at the waist. I was skeptical and told her that I think the dimensions are correct, I just can’t get it on. She said she didn’t have a longer zipper anyway, so I went to another fabric store and bought a longer zipper. The seamstress reluctantly replaced the zipper, and as I suspected, I was then able to get it on over my shoulders and then zip it up for a perfect fit through the waist and hips. Later, it ocurred to me that she is used to making the chumbas for the Fijian women, and it’s a rare Fijian woman whose waist is narrower than her shoulders, so of course the shorter zippers are not a problem!
OK, Back to fun with friends. A few more of our dear friends arrived to Savusavu over the next couple days. The first was Chara, and I was in town when they arrived, so I had no idea they were there until I heard someone hail them on VHF. I perked up, “What!? Chara’s here?” That’s when Alex and Brenden told me that, oh yeah, they forgotten to tell me that Chara was here. Apparently, the boys were on shore playing so they were there to catch the lines when Chara arrived at the quarantine dock. So, there was some catching up to do with Chara, and I had a lovely impromptu glass of wine with Joyce (Chara) and Wanda (Et Voila) at one of the outdoor tables at The Copra Shed.
Our friends, Helen and Stefano, on the boat called Novae, also turned up in Savusavu while we were there. We had said good-bye to them in New Zealand as they departed a week or two before we did. It was good to have a chance to see them again and we enjoyed a wonderful happy hour on their boat along with Theo and Wanda from Et Voila. The boys didn’t join us for this “non-kid boat” fun, instead they opted to run around shore at dusk with no shoes with all the other kids. Can you blame them?
Speaking of kid boats, we were quite ecstatic as Fluenta arrived. Backing up a bit, Fluenta was planning to go to Tonga this season, so had pretty much resolved ourselves to the possibility that we might not see them again. Luckily, while underway from New Zealand to Tonga, Liz had an epiphany during one of her night watches and they decided to alter course. Her logic was flawless to me… why not cruise Fiji this year with all their friends and save Tonga for next year? After all, they’d be cruising Tonga with new people this year, why not do it with next year’s new people? So, Fluenta joined us in Fiji, and spoiler alert… we are SO glad they did.
With True Blue V, Chara, and Fluenta all there, we just had to have a Mexico reunion party on Exodus. Of course we were missing one cream colored mono-hull whose captain fancies bright yellow skimpy clothing, so the party just wasn’t quite complete.
Overall, being in Savusavu was like reunion week as we caught up with old friends and met back up with the ones we traveled from NZ with. However, it was somewhat of a whirlwind since we had all the usual chores to take care of before leaving civilization for more remote areas.
Gresham Family Exodus 