Suva, Fiji

29th April - 24th May 2005

one of the 'Indian' streets in downtown Suva

By now we had heard a great deal about Suva and were very keen to explore this multi-cultural city, its people, cinemas, cafes, thriving yacht club scene, stores and nightclubs.

Our purpose here was to replace our very old and faithful anchor winch, a cast iron monument constructed in Scotland a long time ago, to be replaced by a brand new and shining white winch from Tasmania with gleaming brass fittings. We were on a tight deadline, as ever, and in just two days the old winch sat forlornly on the dock while the new took its rightful place on our bow.

the winch team in action!

While alongside the dock, we were sandwiched to it by a Chinese fishing boat which tied up to us for our stay – half the crew were Chinese, half Indonesian, all very young and none able to communicate with us in English. There are many Chinese fishing vessels in Fiji, afforded fishing rights through the sale of licenses, but there are also many more that have been impounded by the Fisheries Department and are tied up to each other in Suva harbour for illegal fishing activities. It was quite revealing to have such a close look at such a boat and see first-hand the low state of seamanship and living conditions these crews suffer at sea. As they released their lines from us to allow us to head away from the dock, they leaned over heavily to portside. For a moment we all thought the boat was about to sink in the middle of the harbour. Their crew cheered and laughed while running across to starboardside to counter their dramatic list.

boats impounded for illegal fishing practices

a few of the many Chinese fishing boats working Fiji's waters

Suva serves as a focal point for much of the South Pacific – culturally, logistically and commercially. We discovered a healthy scattering of coral reef scientists working with different organisations, tapping into a network of observations on the state of Fiji’s reefs and establishing a collaborative relationship with the Wildlife Conservation Society. We made plans with them on how best we could use our time here in Fiji. They are running a project right now, the Seascape Project, hoping to create marine protected areas along the Southern coast of Vanua Levu and into the Vatu Ira Channel and Bligh Waters. We decided to return in June to Namena, which is part of this project, to carry out baseline studies on the already established marine protected area.

Chili Hawes, Director of the October Gallery in London, visited us and instigated a great bond between the Heraclitus and Dr Epeli Hau'Ofa who has created a very beautiful concept in the Oceania Centre, at the University of the South Pacific. Here musicians, artists, dancers gather to integrate their Pacific identities into an Oceanic tribe and to explore their own cultures and others.

Chili, Laser, Dr Epeli Hau'Ofa at the side of the 'lovo' earth oven at the Oceania Centre

Michel, Paul, Eddie and Laser preparing to perform the Eomba at the Centre

Orla with Willy, one of the artists Chili met while in Fiji

Mau Passage (S 16° 46.4’ E 179° 19.4’)

We brought the ship to Mau Passage for a weekend, about twenty miles west of Suva. Here we were happy to explore underwater again since diving in Suva harbour is not recommended - there have been sightings of six foot long tiger sharks! Sadly, the inner bay laced with seagrass and surrounded by mangroves proved to be a more vivid landscape than the one we found underwater although we did not have time to fully explore the area and all its reefs.

Back to Suva, its hustle and bustle and a long wait for a much-needed generator part. We busied ourselves as one can so easily do in a city and prepared for our trip to Kadavu.