Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 20-02-2017, 15:57   #1
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 29
Pirates in Fiji

While anchored in Walu Bay, Suva Harbor, Fiji on the night of 23 Jan, 2017,
I was boarded, attacked and robbed by two thugs armed
with a cane knife.


The thugs who attacked me were practiced and knew what they were doing,
repeatedly asking me where the "big money was hidden",
while torturing me. BTW, my big money" is in Westpac Bank.
A heads up,. parts of Fiji are not as safe as they one were.

I am a resident of Fiji with a Fiji registered yacht.
I love Fiji and see this as a troubling aberration,
hopefully limited to 3-4 bigger cities.

Jim Van Cleve
SY Kalokalo, 1968, P35
Fiji
Jim van Cleve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 16:49   #2
Registered User
 
daletournier's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Australia
Boat: Catalina 470
Posts: 4,578
Re: Pirates in Fiji

Im sorry to hear this.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
daletournier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 16:53   #3
Registered User
 
CalmSeasQuest's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Aruba for 2023
Boat: 2019 Fountaine Pajot Saba 50'
Posts: 319
Re: Pirates in Fiji

I saw your story on FB, so glad you're recovering. Fair winds...
__________________
-Tom

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
CalmSeasQuest is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 17:29   #4
Senior Cruiser
 
boatman61's Avatar

Community Sponsor
Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,561
Images: 2
pirate Re: Pirates in Fiji

To much internet chatter about hidden safes on boats.. similar thing happened in Panama 2012.. crew went ashore leaving owner on board.. some guys swam out to the boat and beat the crap out of him demanding to know where the safe was..
Glad you survived the incident.. Best wishes..
__________________

It was a dark and stormy night and the captain of the ship said.. "Hey Jim, spin us a yarn." and the yarn began like this.. "It was a dark and stormy night.."
boatman61 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 21:21   #5
Moderator Emeritus
 
roverhi's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Carlsbad, CA
Boat: 1976 Sabre 28-2
Posts: 7,505
Send a message via Yahoo to roverhi
Re: Pirates in Fiji

Saw your boat in Vuda Marina a few years back. Always wondered who the fellow Pearson 35 owner was who sailed their Pearson all that way. Glad you weren't seriously hurt. One swipe with a cane knife could seriously change your life. Believe your experience has happened a couple of times on the major islands recently Hope the authorities get a handle on the assault and thievery before it gets out of hand.
__________________
Peter O.
'Ae'a, Pearson 35
'Ms American Pie', Sabre 28 Mark II
roverhi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 21:36   #6
Moderator
 
JPA Cate's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,400
Re: Pirates in Fiji

roverhi,

Fiji is still pretty tribal. I'd go to the chiefs. But then, we always made a point of doing sevusevu, so that we'd be under their protection. I understand the custom is fading with the years, but we never met a chief who failed to follow through on his responsibility, because if he didn't, he'd lose face. When in Rome......

It's a long time ago, now, but some nationalities really have difficulty with the sevusevu concept. It is really simple. You're a stranger. The expected behavior for strangers is that they make a ritual gift in the kava house, of kava, for the chief. This is practical for him because he has countless obligations to tribal members that also demand the ritual gift of kava. It is practical for the yachtie because it (a) it is one way of showing respect for the chief, the elders of the village, and the people of the village and (b) if the chief accepts your gift, you are then under his protection. Otherwise you are as welcome as a stranger of different color who decides to park in your driveway overnight and help himself from fruit from your trees.

This is also about leaving a clean wake. Now, I am glad Mr. Van Cleve was not worse injured, and I am informed he is a real good guy to yachties, so I am not saying he brought this on himself, at all, 'cause I know s**t happens, and as far as I know, he has done nothing to cause this horrid event. But what I am trying to do is help strangers to understand some of the not so obvious expectations of the villages. Furthermore, it is a good idea to buy the best kava you can, because the more chiefly the gift is, the more it is respected.

Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
JPA Cate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 21:58   #7
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Everywhere
Boat: Colegate 26
Posts: 1,153
Re: Pirates in Fiji

Quote:
Originally Posted by boatman61 View Post
To much internet chatter about hidden safes on boats.. similar thing happened in Panama 2012.. crew went ashore leaving owner on board.. some guys swam out to the boat and beat the crap out of him demanding to know where the safe was..
Glad you survived the incident.. Best wishes..
Time to implement the decoy safe with inkjet printed currencies.
LoudMusic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 22:58   #8
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Nanaimo BC
Boat: modified Spray 56' oa
Posts: 378
Re: Pirates in Fiji

The kava for the chief is well known by any backpacker who has walked about the islands. Bula bula.
topmast is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-02-2017, 23:39   #9
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 29
Re: Pirates in Fiji

Suva is a big city, the national capital of Fiji.
Unlike small rural settlements there is no Savusavu in Suva.
Jim van Cleve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-02-2017, 01:08   #10
CF Adviser
 
Pelagic's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2007
Boat: Van Helleman Schooner 65ft StarGazer
Posts: 10,280
Re: Pirates in Fiji

I really hate to say it as I loved the diving and cruising in Fiji and cruised there a few times, but compared to many other Western Pacific nations... I found the Fijians in general both aggressive and quite rude to foreigners, while holding their hand out for charitable donations, which we were in a position to do

Dependant but despising of the hard working Indian population, wrapped up in drugs and drink, the men stagger around at night with a macho rugby attitude.

Sort of reminded me of Chuuk Lagoon with a warrier mindset, fueled by booze and drugs.

No interest in returning to either place.
Pelagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-02-2017, 02:20   #11
Senior Cruiser
 
GordMay's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,082
Images: 241
Re: Pirates in Fiji

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jim.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...va-179157.html
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"



GordMay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-02-2017, 23:18   #12
Moderator
 
JPA Cate's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,400
Re: Pirates in Fiji

There may be no sevusevu in Suva any more. And I don't really think you brought this attack on yourself, Jim, not at all. My point was more that westerners generally, should be sensitive to the requirements of the cultures they visit, for they are perceived as wealthy. That wealth may be an inspiration or a cause of jealousy. Furthermore, the Polynesian and Melanesian cultures have standards of generosity that would make any Westerner quail!

I once saw a Fijian man wearing a T-shirt which said on it in bold letters, " Instant A$$xxxx*: just add alcohol". This seems to me to have arisen from drinking alcohol as they do kava. I also knew a young man of chiefly lineage who, having slain a man in a drunken brawl, completed his time in the jail in Suva, and went on to be turanga ni koro in a village we visited. This "drunken savage" was not interested in our crime novels, he asked for "literature!"

On a different issue, never was an ethnic Fijian threatening to us, nor for that matter, a Fijian of Indian decent. In some villages, a Fijian man had taken a Fijian Indian woman to wife. Mostly, those were not totally openly accepted.

Fiji is a nation in process of change, as is every place we visit, and every place we leave. We, as cruisers, can only do what we can to try and respect, ---or move on-- when we visit somewhere we don't understand at all. [We briefly visited the island of Kioa. Bad vibes. We left.]

Ann

on edit: what I am thinking these days is that as the old, in-built ways of conflict avoidance and resolution break down, most probably power gaining takes over... sad to say...
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
JPA Cate is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
Fiji

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
To Fiji or not to Fiji? That is the question... Wellington Pacific & South China Sea 40 23-02-2016 15:16
Has anyone on this board encountered pirates? irwinsailor Health, Safety & Related Gear 36 09-09-2015 13:03
'Pirates' and 'Pirate Attacks' Euro Cruiser Health, Safety & Related Gear 24 20-08-2010 14:06
There are pirates, and there are pirates... Amgine Cruising News & Events 24 21-01-2009 18:47
No Pirates Here !!! GordMay Health, Safety & Related Gear 1 22-08-2005 05:22

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 00:00.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.