Fiji Arrived - Sort Of

17* 41.204S 177* 22.865E

After our 3 hours of rain we motored for 20 hours. Then about midnight the winds decided to be kind and picked up enough to sail and be from enough of the East to allow us to make our course. We watched the sun rise over Fiji as we approached the Nuval Passage, the entrance cut through the reef. It was a beautiful clear blue sky, we only had a tiny swell running. Since it was Sunday here, we were not allowed to go to the Vuda Point Marina to check-in and had to continue on to the port of Lautoka.
Port Control had us anchor just off the wharf in 12 feet or so. After awhile they came back to us and said that no one was available from Customs. They gave me permission to go to the quarantine buoy just outside Vuda Pt Marina. I said fine and off we went --- Not!
Our anchor had gotten caught in the underwater junk yard in front of the wharf. I free-dove the anchor a bunch of times but could not get the sea to let it loose. Tried tying a line to the forward end of the anchor and pulling with the dinghy. No joy. Finally got out the Hooka (underwater air breathing device) and sat on the bottom in the foot thick mud and worked on the problem. I ended up digging a passage behind the anchor (away from the boat side) and then bracing my feet on the large pipe that held the anchor solid to the sea floor and yanked the anchor stem back and forth. I finally got the point free and raced to the surface to have Bill haul in the chain before it got stuck again. Inspecting the anchor afterward I found my almost brand new anchor swivel to be bent.

The good thing is that it is 80*F air temp, 84*F water temp and sunny.


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