(Photos courtesy of Waitui Marina via sv Cable Length II)
I know you're probably sick of hearing about this, but it's epic to those of us affected by Cyclone Winston.
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| Manager, Jolene, of Waitui Marina and my favorite Fijian, Laila |
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Three of the four mooring operators - Jolene (Waitui Marina),
Curly (Curly's Moorings) and Lala (Savusavu Marina) |
It took many months to
save the boats that crashed aground after the Cat-5 cyclone. To date,
all but two boats out of the 23 have been re-floated. Of the two that
remain aground, one was abandoned and has been purchased on the cheap
by someone... and the other – the last I heard its owners left the
country after Winston and have yet to be tracked down.
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| Locals came to celebrate, too |
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| Beautiful Millie of sv Rainbow Shadow |
The amount of energy and
sacrifice that went into re-floating boats in Savusavu is tremendous.
I wrote an article about it was published this month in Boating New
Zealand magazine (June 2016). The best phrase I can think of to
describe the endeavor without cussing is: Insanely Intense.
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| Pick up a copy of Boating NZ: 'Wrecked and Righted' - June 2016 |
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Alastair, Feraliga and Baby Ambrosia from sv Contraband
(Okay - Baby is also another favorite Fijian) |
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| Curly enjoying a Fiji brew |
Jolene, the manager at
Waitui Marina, had a great idea at some point during the rescue of
the boats. She invited all the marinas to participate in a free party
for the cruisers – for those who were wrecked and the cruiser
volunteers who were helping those who were wrecked. Curly and
Savusavu Marina accepted Waitui's invitation and the three mooring
operators out of the four here in Savusavu hosted a heart-warming
shindig.
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| Chillin' |
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| Bona on sv Good News and friend |
Music, free barbecue and
side dishes... and FREE FIJI BEER... yes, free beer... made for a
fun-tastic afternoon. It may not seem like much after enduring
Cyclone Winston. But, that party was a boost to morale that was badly
needed.
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| Cheers! |
So, thank you to Waitui
Marina, Curly and Savusavu Marina for supporting the cruising
community and supplying us with an afternoon of food and fun (and
beer). It was a nice distraction from the drudgery of the hellacious
tasks we'd started and would see through to the end.
