sv evi

We are nearing the halfway mark of the time we mean to spend in Fiji this go-around. It’s been nearly 5 months that we’ve been here. We’ve been here for mango season and pineapple season. We are now in avocado season(!) and passionfruit season. The price of ginger & tomatoes has quintupled now that they aren’t in season, but we can still get them. It’s such a nice surprise to walk into the market and see tables chocker-full of a new fruit or vegetable that was formerly unavailable.  Fifty cents for a pile of mangos. Three pineapples for $2.50.

Some people might think–what do they do on that little boat all day? Just laze around? 🙂 Well, occasionally, yes. But Susha & Christy were both surprised to see how much work daily life entails on a boat. As soon as Wade goes down to nap, one of us is washing diapers. I often cook during Wade’s naps as well. Everything just takes longer in a small space. And then there is the boat maintenance–Riki always has a list of chores on his to do list. Today I put two items on his list: repair Wade’s potty (it was leaking pee) and staple up the mosquito net where the velcro is falling off. Small jobs, but while Riki had his tube of 5200 open, he went forward to put some 5200 where the hausepipe (the pipe the anchor chain goes through from the deck to the anchor locker) is dripping into our bunk. Then he discovered that the chain is wearing a hole through the hausepipe, and it will need to be fiberglassed inside, and eventually replaced with stainless steel. So checking off one small job led to adding a much bigger job to the list.

In Savu Savu there are many boats left unattended during cyclone season, as their owners fly home to less hot and sticky climes. There are also quite a few boats whose owners are aboard, like us. The number of Austrian boats outnumbers all of the other boats who are around (7). I’ve been getting to brush up on my German skills with the Austrians & Germans. Some boats hardly leave Savu Savu, content to stay in the harbor, eat in restaurants, etc. Or perhaps they are very cautious about the fact that it is cyclone season, so they don’t want to stray too far from their cyclone moorings. When we are around in Savu Savu, I am starting to develop a routine: yoga at 7 am on Tuesday & Thursdays and volleyball at 5:30 pm on Fridays. Oh, and bridge! 🙂 Riki is learning to play with our friends Ed & Nila on S/V Quixotic.

And when we are in Savu Savu, I think about community, about building it. About reaching out to folks on other boats so we have friends in the harbor. Sometimes building community is about putting yourself out there–showing up at parties that we weren’t invited in order to meet new people or saying yes to invitations even though you don’t necessarily feel like it. And I sometimes have that vulnerable feeling–like will they like me? Do they want to be my friend?

Meanwhile it is pretty dang hot these days. It was 98 degrees inside our boat one day last week. The humidity is really high too, as it often rains at some point during the day. The Savu Savu harbor is so still which means there is little relief in the form of wind. Plus the water is yucky (dirty) so you can’t jump in to cool off. We sit around sweating in the cockpit at breakfast time, at 7:00 am. So I am pretty motivated to stay out of Savu Savu as much as possible these days, preferring instead to be at anchor with a breeze and clear water.

There is something I miss about home: iced lattes, frappuchinos, iced chai! I find myself fantasizing about these yummy ICED drinks.

A few weeks ago we began to see these little black beetles with a poky nose on the boat. We didn’t know what they were, but they seemed harmless enough. Then one day I went to cook pasta and there were so many of them in the bag that we threw it out. Turns out they are weevils, and they live off our food. The females lay eggs inside pasta or rice or flour, and the eggs hatch, and you have a gazillion of them. And they can eat through plastic bags with their poky noses. Yuck!! So we had to go through all of our stored food and throw out everything that wasn’t canned. I bought some new tupperwares to store our dry goods in, and we did a good clean of the cupboards and food lockers. Now we still see the odd weevil in the bathroom sink, but hopefully we have them under control.

On December 22nd we received news that there was a bad fire in the house my father built and passed on to us four siblings when he died 8 years ago. I lived in that house on & off over the 6 years he and Ellen lived there prior to his death. The house holds a lot of good memories, and also it is a tangible product of Dad’s craftsmanship and the pride he took in his work. When we were kids and we used to break something in the house, Dad would say, “People are more important than possessions.” I recognize the house is a possession, is a thing, and thus, it isn’t really that important. However, it is also a tie I have to my father. Since his death, I treasure the ties to him…I find him where I can. I find him in bald eagles, in Weston getting on his knees to pet a dog on the street, in Libby being so good at correspondence with our extended family, in Susha’s sense of humor and her kindness, in Riki’s talking for Wade in a high-pitched voice like Dad used to talk for Sally, our yellow Lab. I find him in the people who loved him and whom he loved: in Ellen, in Bob & Nancy Kent, in Emble Bemble, in Robie wearing a tie-dyed shirt to my wedding. It makes me mad when Riki asks me if my dad would’ve liked him. Mad and sad that Riki didn’t get the chance to know Dad, that instead he has to ask me. Evi was a big tie to Dad–they were so similar in many ways, and very different in others. Now she’s gone, too. Kindof a double loss, losing Ev & losing a close tie to Dad.

Dad blowing out the candles on his 60th birthday.