The only anchorage you can move to from Savusavu's Nakama Creek mooring area without a cruising permit is Lesiaceva Point, better known as the Cousteau Resort. Just inside the Point Passage entrance, this getaway is just an hour's motor from town and therefore pretty popular. It wasn't much of a surprise to get out there and see several boats we knew from town.

But what a difference! Don't get me wrong. Nakama Creek has got to be one of the most attractive ports of entries I've ever visited. But the bustle of town is constant and the Creek seems to be a trap for heat and humidity. Out at the point, the breeze seemed ten degrees cooler and the water was definitely more inviting. In the morning you hear the harmonies of birdsong not the clatter of trucks, and at night it is dark and blissfully quiet.

For me, the highlight of our long-weekend escape was getting in the water for the first time this year. All along the shoreline is a fringing reef that while not coffee-table book quality, is still a pretty healthy-looking assembly of corals, both hard and soft. A bit to the north of the anchorage is an unobtrusive mooring (floated by a coke bottle!) on a site known as Split Rock. Split Rock is a 30' coral bommie divided in two by an inviting canyon/tunnel bedecked with gorgonians, sea fans and soft corals (although without a tank or weight belt I refrained from a swim through.) Guides from the resort regularly bring their guests here, and because they feed the fish, hordes of colorful tropicals (led by aggressive sergeant majors) are in your face the moment you drop in. It was just the antidote I needed.

Unfortunately, Don did not bounce right back, and we finally had to face the reality that he wasn't merely suffering from the heat and jetlag, but an actual bug that's been making the rounds of town. In spite of that, we made the best of two days of sunny weather and got the rest of T2's sails, halyards, instruments, line and gear put back in place, PLUS we scraped and scrubbed the decks and cabin top until the boat is finally clean enough to start collecting rain water…of which there continues to be plenty!

I can't tell you what a difference it makes having the boat all cleaned up and put back together. It's like we've given her her dignity back. What's really bizarre is that several pieces of important equipment that weren't working a week ago, have spontaneously repaired themselves! We still have the leaks to solve and the teak to varnish, but both require a stretch of dry weather. In the meantime we're motivated enough to get back to town and apply for the cruising permit will let us go further.

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Savu Savu area