Reprinted with Permission from Island Cruising NZ/Down Under Rally

A Cautionary Tale from Paradise

By James Coomer

After a 24-hour sail from Savusavu on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu to the remote islands of the Southern Lau Group (East of Fiji), we dropped anchor at 1300hrs. The passage had been uneventful in the confused swells. Winds had dealt us a royal flush for the passage, some stages reaching 9-21 knots close hauled.

While uncomfortable to sleep, we managed the shifts well and couldn’t wait for bed. The anchor was quickly set and lunch/dinner started. With bellies full, we were ready for bed when the hum of an outboard was heard. A spokesperson and his young nephew arrived in the Komo Village School long boat. They offered us a basket full of bananas and while we took a few, we returned with some Kava root, reading glasses and lollies and arranged to meet the next day at 2.00pm on top of the hill for Sevusevu at Komo Village.

Being very religious in this area, we were warned that Sundays were precious to these people. Village dress codes were also a must, covered shoulders and no hats.

By 2.00pm, we had dinghied over to the beach, set a forward anchor in a metre of water and aft line to a huge boulder on the beach. We marched up the hill to be met by the village spokesperson who kindly showed us down the other side into the Komo Village. They appeared very proud of their school which catered for 30 students to Year 7. Komo’s population was 100.

The village was deserted. Everyone was down for their afternoon nap, including all the kids and the Chief. We were later told that the afternoon church service started at 3.00pm and many were taking a nap before the service.

Refreshing Community Spirit

We continued our guided meander before finally bidding farewell and being gifted local bread, which we returned with powdered milk and enough lollipops for the school kids. We then started the hot ascent back up and over the hill, a walk of 20 minutes. We both commented on how the school had been left wide open and even the houses had all doors and windows wide open. Some houses didn’t even have doors. Quite obviously, the village has little to no theft and a refreshing community spirit of trusting your neighbour.

On reaching the beach on the other side – some 45 minutes later – I heard the shriek, “The Dinghy has gone!!”

As we often joke between us, I muttered “Yeah right” – but it indeed was nowhere to be seen!

Where was the Dinghy?

The wind was still blowing easterly around 25 knots. So if the dinghy had slipped anchor AND for some reason, the bowline came loose AND the three coils of rope around this huge boulder had somehow unwound, it should be downwind somewhere.

At pace, the downwind search started. Five minutes in, it was suggested that we should engage the Komo Village spokesperson to assist us, as it may have blown around the side of the island heading to the edge of the reef.

While one of us kept pace along the rugged beach edge, the other dashed back to Komo village. A teacher at the school gestured to a young child to locate the spokesperson. Soon the search was on, except there was no fuel for their outboard motor. Offering to pay for any fuel, a villager kindly gave some fuel to our driver.

Dinghy Located

Out on the water and within two minutes…there it was.

It appeared to have someone in it. Thinking the other person had found the dinghy and was coming around to pick us up, big smiles returned. As they got closer, we soon realised that the person in the dinghy was a young, local islander who had stolen the dinghy from the other side of the island. We quickly approached our dinghy (some 150 metres from the rocky beach) and a verbal confrontation ensued. Our driver quickly grasping a long paddle, was gesturing for the thief to jump or get hit. He chose to jump into the water and started swimming the 150 metres back to shore. Given the island population, the thief would have been known to our spokesperson.

Relieved that we now had our car back, we all returned to our yacht for refreshments. Our driver and his young nephew were heroes as far as we were concerned. All they wanted was a cup of coffee (for the driver) and a cup of tea (for the nine year old nephew). We parted with a few dollars as we had no spare fuel, trying to show our gratitude for their assistance. Oddly, not a word of sympathy or concern from our onboard guests about the theft. Were they involved? We cannot confirm. Could someone have tipped off the thief that we were going to leave our dinghy on one side of the island to walk to the village on the other side at 2.00pm? Again, we can only speculate.

Lessons Learned

We both breathed a big sigh of relief and pondered the aftermath of these shenanigans,  questioning what lessons could be learnt.

We later found that the fuel hose clamp to the outboard was loosely in place (not clipped as it normally is). The fuel locker latch had been left open (normally closed securely) and the dinghy anchor d-bolt was unbolted (normally secure). The motor was padlocked so that was not going anywhere. The kill-switch cord had been left in place. We later found the outboard had been jimmied 20mm off its mount on one side. We think that the padlock saved us from losing the outboard. We suspect the thief was after fuel and was trying to quickly take the fuel tank and hose. Realising the fuel tank was too hard to remove and the fuel line ran under the floor, he decided to take the whole dinghy.

How he thought he was going to get away with it, where there are no other islands around and a total population of 100, is anyone’s guess. Was there more than one thief in on the action? We can only speculate again.

Our lessons? Lock the fuel locker and remove the kill-switch cord. Do not pre-arrange a time to meet. Just show up unexpectedly for Sevusevu, even on a Sunday. The jury is still out as to whether the thief was tipped off about our pre-arranged meeting time. The incident was reported to the Authorities on the mainland, but we are yet to receive a reply.

While it may appear to be a perfect island paradise in the Lau Group, don’t be fooled.

James Coomer
SV My Serenity

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.

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