sv evi

Riki and I spent the first 3 weeks of December in Savu Savu, readying the boat for Susha & Christy’s arrival. We cleaned out the aft cabin, had the cushions re-upholstered, and had new sheets made. We also found a place on land to store 3 bags and a carseat for 2 weeks, at my friend Cassie’s house.

It was Christy’s first time sailing, and first time living on a boat in the tropics. She was keen to do everything! She loved to find coconuts on the beaches and then open them up to drink them & eat the meat.

Christy (Tini) was Riki’s adventure buddy. They went snorkeling, on long swims to shore, and on errands like getting water for the boat. Christy had so much energy and wanted to explore everything. It was great because she motivated all of us to get going on the day. We hung out at a few beaches and did tons of snorkeling.

Wade loved having his aunties on board. He loved playing with them in the evenings on the foredeck and snuggling with them in the mornings in the aft cabin. Wade’s aunties taught him how to give kisses (open mouthed presses) and how to stand up alone!

Often Sush & Tini would feed Wade and watch him while I was cooking and Riki doing other boat chores. Tini changed his diapers and didn’t even complain when he peed on her lap during some of his diaper-free time!

On Christmas Eve we visited the village of Nadivakarua. The chief was sick and napping, thus not too excited about the sevu sevu, but we visited with a nice family who then escorted us back to the dock for a nice sendoff.

Even babies take off their shoes to go inside.

Sush scraping coconut.

On Boxing Day we joined about 50 Fijians on the beach for a picnic party. Sush & TIni played volleyball, Riki and Wade swam, I chatted with some of the women. Then one woman offered to massage Wade’s legs because she noticed he wasn’t walking properly. She said what Fijians do is bury their kids to their waist in the sand, and let them get out on their own. This strengthens the leg muscles so they can walk properly. We weren’t sure we wanted to try that, but did go for the leg massage.

En route to the party.

When we got down to 2 potatoes and 5 onions, I sent the crew on a provisioning mission. Riki, Sush & Tini went ashore to Ravi Ravi, where they were told they were the first boat to ever do a sevu sevu. As Ravi Ravi had no store, they walked about 30 minutes down the road to Namalata.

Riki and Chief Asava.

The folks in Namalata were super friendly. They were already drinking kava, and served up bilos for the visitors. Sush and Tini also got to try their hand at weaving the mats from dried pandana leaves. And the provisioning mission was successful: flour, onions, breakfast crackers. Limes were not for sale, but could be picked from the tree, so we got a bunch of those, too.

Pounding kava.

En route to Makogai we caught a mahi mahi. Tini reeled it in and Riki gaffed it. Sush made ginger fish the first night–it melted in your mouth it was so tender.

On a beach in Makogai we decided to try burying Wade to his waist. Riki then buried himself next to him. Wade was chill for about 30 minutes, just playing with pieces of coral in front of him, but then he wanted to get out. I made him work a little, but not to the point of crying. 🙂

On New Years Eve Riki stayed with Wade on the boat while Sush, Tini & I went into the village for church and a meke (dancing by the kids). Tini and I wanted to give up and go back to the boat after church because it had been so boring (1.5 hours of sermon, only in Fijian, punctuated by a few beautiful songs). But Sush maintained we needed to see the kids dance, so we did. At midnight a woman came around and put a copious amount of baby powder on everyone’s cheeks.

We had a glorious sail back to Savu Savu on New Year’s Day with a long dolphin visit. We went out to Chinese food for dinner and fell into our beds, exhausted after the long day. Sush & Tini stayed one night at a resort on shore, then flew home. Waaah!