Incident in Fiji - Blackwattle

by Nancy Knudsen on 12 Oct 2007 Everyone's running and shouting. From everywhere – it seems the whole of this Fijian marina is running and shouting. Indian taxi drivers, cruisers walking by, Indian marina security guards, Fijian loungers, friends on the boat we are/were about to visit, they're all converging on where they heard the splash.

We're all looking down, down, but it's dark and you can't see much.

In all the shouting I hear a soft-as-butter voice beside me, so close to my ear he might be about to kiss me.

'What is it?' he asks.

'It's my husband.' I reply automatically. I glance sideways and see quickly an old seafaring face – fast impression of long silver hair in a pigtail, crows feet, eyes shining in the dark.

'Ah - your husband?'

'Yeah, he fell in.' I'm trying to keep a straight and sympathetic face.

There's more shouting – the tide is out and it's not a floating marina. Hard to get out. Nobody's doing much else but shouting. I am replying trying to say 'It's okay It's all okay – he fell in clean, he's not hurt, it's only water. '

The voice again. 'Does he do that often?'

'Er no, actually, first time – it's normally me.. He's okay though, just wet. I saw it all. I think he thought the finger wharf was shorter than it really is...'

Now Ted's halfway up, clambering and scrambling like a wet crab up the side of the timber wharf.

The voice again, almost a whisper, but insistent '...normally YOU - You fall in often?'

Ted buts into this conversation he's unaware of. He says: '%$$&^%$&$&!!!'

He's out now, sodden shoes still on, clothes sticking like lumps of Gladwrap,
ignoring the 'Are you okay?'s.' I am being sympathetic, and still trying not to giggle too much.

Ted says 'piffle*& %cough&^#@ shower$#!!' and heads off into the darkness back to our boat Blackwattle, leaving a shining trail of dirty marina water behind..

'YOU fall in often do you?' It's old silver pigtail again, he's not going away. People are gradually trickling away now – taxi drivers to wait for jobs by their taxis, security guards to their posts, cruisers back to their beers. They all have something new to chat about for the evening.

Maybe the shock of seeing Ted in freefall has freed my tongue. 'Sure, in Marigot Bay, in St Lucia, in Galapagos – well, in Marigot Bay it was intentional - I had to jump in in my green silky nightie to retrieve a buoy we had lost.'

''You LOST a buoy (he says 'booie'?) What kind of buoy?'

'The one the boat was tied to.'

'Mmmm' he shakes his head. 'How long have you been sailing?'

'Five years – we're almost home.'

'Ahh you're cruisers!' he smiles. 'most cruisers don't know much about how to sail, but usually they know to stay on the boat. Where have you been sailing?'

'We're almost finished a circumnavigation.'

'Of Fiji?'

'No, of the world.'

'Then you're not cruising, you're just circumnavigators. You betcha.'

'We're what? We're not cruising?'

'No, you see it goes like this. There's sea gypsies, cruisers, circumnavigators, and boat deliverers.'

'O... sea gypsies?'

'You betcha, sea gypsies. Now the sea gypsy You gotta watch out for him. He started out as a cruiser, but then he ran out of money, and couldn't get himself back on land. Can't sell the boat and can't afford to fix it up. You betcha. So ya gotta watch him because he'll steal you blind. Doesn't move much, hangs around anchorages just watching. Fixes his boat with the things he steals.'

He's warming to the topic now. 'The cruiser – he's really easy to recognise.

He's the one who says they don't know where they're going next. He's just cruising around waiting for inspiration. He figures his lifestyle is better than he would have at home, so why not stay cruising?'

'And what about the circumnavigator?'

'Well, they know where they're going, very businesslike – on a set itinerary.

Like yourselves. - except where have you sailed this season?

'We started out in Turkey in July last year.'

' And just kept sailing?'

'Yes.'

'From Turkey to here without stopping a season somewhere?'

'Er, yes...'

'Then you're not even circumnavigators – you're on a delivery trip! You're just delivering your boat somewhere. - You can't see much traveling as fast as that'

I'm smiling now – we're just on a delivery trip are we? 'And what are you?'

'Me? Oooooo I don't know – I'm the Old Man of the Sea.'

He grins as he sees Ted approaching looking buoyant(no pun) in a new set of clothes, and walks away. I haven't seen him since.

Ted's smelling fresh and soapy as we go back to our friends' boat for cocktails, and gets a round of applause as he walks in in his clean clothes.

So now we know our station in life – we're 'boat deliverers'.