Twelve men once struggled in seas near Taveuni, desperate to tow a launch carrying 16 women and a child back to the island.
Their story was reported in The Fiji Times on Tuesday, November 2, 1976.
A few miles away from the men, three of their companions exhausted themselves as they battled a current in a bid to reach Taveuni to get help for the broke down launch.
Details of the drama were reported by The Fiji Times Taveuni correspondent, Vasu Kodaiya.
The 30-ft launch had taken 15 men, 16 women and a five-year-old child from Taveuni 50 miles to Yacata for a Methodist Church meeting.
It broke down on the way home at 8.30pm when Taveuni was 15 miles away.
Wind and currents drove the launch southwest, parallel to the Taveuni’s coast.
Bad weather blew up at around 6pm.
People shared the small amount of food they had with them but they had no fresh water.
The crew flashed torches towards Taveuni.
As the sea got rougher, three men took planks and spent the whole night keeping the launch’s bow headed into the waves.
At dawn there was another attempt made to make a makeshift sail.
This one was more effective and the launch began moving towards the south of Taveuni.
By 9.35am, it was about three miles from the coast but progress failed.
Three young men, Joseva Kuli, of Qeleni, Manasa Rokuro of Welagi and Matavesi of Vuna, volunteered to don life vests and swim ashore for help. Five minutes after going overboard they were lost from the launch’s sight
