Uto Ni Yalo - Vili's Finger
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From Carson Young onboard the Uto Ni Yalo
Auckland New Zealand.

Our time here in Auckland is progressing well but we are all very itchy to get going again. We're looking forward to the next phase of this glorious adventure, and a day off from preparing the canoe for the next leg has allowed me to once again check all our messages on www.fijivoyaging.com.

One of the more common messages we receive are well-wishes for Vili and requests for a complete story as to how he lost his finger. So to all of you with a desire to find out, here’s the story:
 
It’s second day of our voyage and after the excitement of an earlier 6kg barracuda hookup; at around 5pm with an overcast sky, the fishing reel on the starboard side started screaming as line [fishing] quickly played out! Colin Philp was having a cold shower in the very sheltered and safe stern area of the canoe and, in only his speedo undies, he quickly moved into position with the straining reel and the rod furiously protesting under the rage of a big fish.

When you're dependent on the winds and sailing a canoe over the ocean in excess of a thousand nautical miles, you want optimization in virtually everything thing you do. This means that we seldom stop or deliberately slow the canoe down. But food is important and to supplement our very calculated food provisions, we have to rely on ocean catches. We were doing 8 -10 knots in very rough conditions and the intention was to press on hard to get away from a high pressure condition that was behind us but moving dangerously close.

To compensate for the forward speed of the canoe, Colin allowed the fish to run for what must have been a solid 10 to 15 seconds, only to be interrupted when the second line started running. Quickly, veteran fisherman Sunny (Mohammed Hussein) scampered across the deck to the 300 pound hand line but was beaten to it by Vilisoni Yalikanacea. Getting to the line now drawn taunt, Vilisoni did exactly what an experienced fisherman would not do. He reached for the fishing line reel or spool.

When handling a fish of yet unconfirmed weight, you always look for tell tale signs to gauge what you’re up against. For Vili ,that lesson was to be learnt practically the very second he touched the fishing reel. Too strong for him to get a useful grasp, the reel spun uncontrollably out of his grip and split second later, had his finger caught in a single wrap - just enough to quickly choke and just as fast cut into his left index finger like butter. Fortunately for Vili, the finger was severed cleanly, and with the steady hand of our skipper Johathan Smith, who had lost a finger himself in a brawl on the docks in Auckland, was able to treat the wound.

After fainting for a brief moment, Vili quickly gained some composure and with a supportive crew gathered around him, underwent a medical procedure to look after the wound. The only clean water available on deck was our kindly sponsored Fiji Water (Bottled), so we quickly used that to clean the wound. Antibiotics and other ointments were then administered before Vilisoni was led to our sickbay, which is at the rear end of the deckhouse.

This would be Vili’s abode for the remainder of the journey but not his spirit. Although relieved from any further work on board the canoe, Vili was up and about after just the second day. And as I described in an earlier update, once we arrived in Auckland, Vili was taken to hospital where doctors severed the protruding bone.

Thank you Fiji for all your prayers and messages of encouragement. Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors for making this journey possible. And thank you everyone for all your words of support for Vili. He, like the rest of us, is extremely excited for the next leg of this great voyage, but he has said that he wont be doing anything fishy like hauling in fish!

Vinaka vaka levu.

Vili's finger