Anchorage, redux.

Another day, another squall.  Again, the rain misses us but not the swells.  Not as large as the previous day, but enough to get your attention.  Again, swim out to check the anchor.  Lots of ‘noise’ in the water; hard to see the anchor in 14 feet!  Abandon any idea of snorkeling to the reef.

 Had dinner on one of the other boats.  I brought wine and cookies.  Three bottles of wine later the cookies were a big hit.  I’m now the ‘cookie man.’  It is a thrill to be with such experienced cruisers.  These folks have been all over the South Pacific and North Atlantic, with twenty-some odd years of experience as liveaboards.  So to hear them say they had never experienced swells like that on this anchorage, well I guess I have some stories to tell now, too.

Gave one guy a lift back to his boat.  (He only has a rowing dinghy.). He dipped his hand in the water and said “Bugger me, that’s f*****g hot!”. The shoal water was uncomfortably hot.  Not warm - hot.  I think you could have sous vide’d food in there.  Suspicion was the sun on the reef, but the weather was blowing cold water in from the bay. ??? Fiji has just had a spate of earthquakes over the past month, maybe a volcanic origin?  There are many hot springs used therapeutically in Savusavu and there are two streams that wind through town that actually steam as they go under the sidewalk.

So because the water visibility was crap, we all decided to go back to the moorings.  I left in the middle, about 11 am.  The fellow I gave the lift to hung around for a few more hours.  Found out the next day that more swells had come up and he actually took a breaking wave over his bow at anchor.  Funny thing was the only ‘weather’ that could be seen was in the mountains across the bay.

So these folks with all their experience have all these crazy things happen?  Now?  What could possibly be disturbing the karma of this place?  What has changed?  Your humble scribe is beginning to feel guilty…