Faith and trust: ‘We were saved by the power of God’

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Viliame Vasuvinakadina at his Lovu home in Gau. Picture: VILIAME ODROVAKULA

WHEN news broke that seven men from Nawaikama, Gau had failed to return from a boating trip, one man stood out at sea and was reminded of an incident that could have ended tragically if it was not for faith and trust in one another.

The seven whose bodies have never been recovered were returning from Levuka when tragedy struck and last week Nawaikama villagers held a thanksgiving service in the village, while another was held at the Nasole Methodist church for those in Suva to remember them.

Thirty-six years ago, Viliame Vasuvinakadina and five others were declared dead, and his family had already held a thanksgiving service back in their home at LovuVillage and a plaque with their names on it was planted at Nawaikama Village on the island of Gau.

“If there is one thing I can say is that we were saved by the power of God. He alone saved us,” said the now 43-year-old man.

This is the story of six people who were adrift for 42 days.

Viliame was 17 years old and was a Year 10 student at St Johns College in Cawaci.

He accompanied his cousin Paula Tupou to Nawaikama to get fish to be sold in Levuka, Ovalau.

It was fine weather — the sea was not rough so they boarded their boat and headed for Nawaikama.

After loading the fish, Josese Roqo, Ananaisa Rabonu, Ema Ranadi and Laisa Verevere asked if they could also tag along as they were also headed to the Old Capital.

“We were sailing past Batiki when the boat started developing mechanical problems, the engine stopped twice, and by the third time it stopped and was checked, the engine refused to start again.

“So we started drifting and reached Navatu Island, the small island off the coast of Natovi when heading to Nabouwalu. We anchored there for the night and thought to wait it out for help when day broke.”

That proved futile when on that particular evening, the boat was tossed around by strong winds and huge waves that resulted in the boat losing the anchor and developed a rupture on the bottom.

“Everyone was told to stay calm and we had to be strong while the storm battered the boat. We all helped bail water as the boat was taking in a lot of water. We did not realise the storm was taking us further away from the Fiji Group and by the time the sun was up, we had passed the Great Sea Reef (Bai ni vualiku) and were now in open waters.”

Ema and Laisa had packed a bag of yams, so they were living off cooked yams for the next couple of days, until they ran out of matches and it had to be eaten raw.

The fish that was intended to be sold in Levuka had to be thrown overboard and slowly they were losing their strength and food supply was running low.

“There was hardly any rain, to quench our thirst we relied on the mist and would wake up licking the side of the boat in order to quench our thirst. But when it rained we were overjoyed and filled what we could.

“We were bailing water while at the same time drifting, and I was assigned to bail water at night while everyone was asleep. So during the day, I would remain in the cabin asleep.”

“At times I could not feel anything my whole body was numb as the water was up to my knee, but I was determined and just the thought of surviving this ordeal was my inspiration and motivation.”

A month had gone when they ran out of food and there had been no rain for the past couple of days.

While trolling they landed a large mahimahi.

“We jumped for joy, so after gutting the mahimahi we quenched our thirst by drinking the blood. We then cut it up and shared it amongst ourselves.

“The next day we shared another piece of the big fish, just to give us enough energy whilst bailing the water. There were prayer sessions and hymns sung as we sought protection, to be saved and a miracle.”

Viliame said they had just had the last piece of fish when they spotted an island, as they got closer they saw a canoe with two young men paddling but when they spoke to them in Fiji, they did not understand.

They tried with the very little English they had, but still the two young men did not understand them and were responding in a foreign language while circling their boat.

“The two young men then paddled away and disappeared and we thought they would not return, but after a while, we saw a great number of canoes from the other side of the island headed our way.

“We all stood up and wanted to know what this was, was it an army who thought we were invaders, but because we had been praying and believing in God, we knew we were going to be saved. Among those that were paddling were these two same young men, they had come to take us ashore. As soon as we reached the beach, they climbed the coconut trees and got us green coconuts. We drank and ate the flesh,” added Viliame.

They were then given time to rest and with the very limited English from both parties, the missing Gau islanders discovered they had drifted more than 2000km Northeast of Fiji and had landed on Lipe Island in the Solomon Islands.

“We found out that we had been drifting for 42 days.

“These villagers told us to rest for two days to gain more strength and arrangements were made to have taken to the capital Honiara.

“We were given the best treatment when we arrived at the main hospital in Honiara. In fact, the doctors told us if we were out at sea for a few more days, we would have died of starvation and that the fish we were having was not enough to sustain our body.”

After a few days in Honiara and arrangements with the Fiji government, they were flown home to a grand welcome from Fijians of all walks of life that were waiting at the Nadi International Airport.

“Here we are, five strangers, treated like kings and queens by people who don’t know us at all, even today I am still thankful and grateful to the people of the Solomon Islands and the government for taking care of us.”

From Nadi, they were flown to Nausori, with a flight waiting to take them back home.

They arrived in Gau, with probably the whole of Gau gathered at Lovu to welcome them.

“Many who were there thought we were dead, in fact they were present at our thanksgiving service. All in all, we were just thankful to be back home.”

Today, every time he hears of someone missing at sea, it brings back memories of the 42 days adrift in the middle of nowhere more than three decades ago.

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