WARNING In 3-D

Lights, Camera, Action!

Welcome to Bollywood! To say that having 27 people on Slow Dance  is hectic, would be an understatement. The 3-D camera is 5 feet tall and 4 foot wide and believe it or not has a casing that it fits into for the underwater shots. Shooting in the galley and salon feel like the Sahara desert and the tangle of cords throughout the boat, remind one of a sci-if horror movie as you get snared in the tangle. There has been no escape from the organized chaos. Every area of the boat is piled high with equipment and people.

They removed the table from the salon and turned it into a bedroom.

The film is a Hindi thriller based on the US film, Open Water 2 and is mostly in Hindi, but a bit of English is also spoken by the actors. There is a 5 month old baby on set and every time the director shouts "action" the baby cries. When the baby needs to cry for the shoot, of course, she is happy and smiling!

Anita

 Most of the film is shot in the water, but none of the 5 actors can swim! That's where the safety guys, Tack and Dave come in. Tack and Dave are from England and just finished the stunts for the new Batman movie where they hang 3 guys from a C-130 jet. These guys are awesome! Dave rigged the huge 3-D camera and sent the camera and the Director of Photography, Franz, up the mast for some amazing shots of Slow Dance sailing at 25 knots! This was not a simple task and required much planning and many safety lines. They also hung Franz and the camera from the spineka pole and secured it 6 feet out from the port side of Slow Dance. The footage they got of the boat sailing is spectacular and we have been promised a reel.

Franz is suspended with expert help from Dave

Franz hangs loose.

The Italians prepare the Beast for securing to the boom.

Dave rigs the 3D camera atop the mast. Unbelievable what these guys can do. There was a safety meeting with all film crew and actors to stay OFF the deck during this stunt.

Director Guru, who must have earned his name for his calm demeanor.

Assistant Director Kitri (Sounds like Kitty) a super sweet guy who kept everything organized. Kitri lived in Pondicherry, India and filmed at Auroville, where I lived in the seventies.

 Filming has been inside the boat for the past week and should be done today, thank God, as the boat is a complete zoo littered with prop's, cookie wrappers, water bottles, coffee cups, and discarded fruit rinds. Now that the sailing shots are finished, the actors are learning to swim with the help of Dave and the special floatation devices designed to keep them afloat but not to be seen by the camera. The actors have to spend 8 hours a day in the water!  I hope they make it!

Varun is the funny pudgy guy, who unfortunately will be eaten by a shark. Varun had to gain 50 pounds for the film!

 Suzanna is the tall beauty from Brazil and actually the best swimmer in the bunch.  The water temperature in Fiji is 80 degrees and warmer then the cool breeze of winter. These girls have zero body fat and I can only imagine how difficult these next 3 weeks will be for the actors. A large platform and floating dock have been constructed for the film crew to shoot all the water scenes from. Slow Dance will be secured near the shore (as close as we can safely bring her) by moorings, chains, cables, and anchors. The resort is surrounded by dangerous reefs, so captain Sean has his work cut out for him in keeping the boat safe and as you can see, has done his job well!

Anchor chain to be attached to 44 gallon mooring drum full of concrete.

102 kilo, old ships anchor design. Specially made as safety mooring for Slow Dance. This will be positioned in the channel facing the direction that all the bad weather will come from. The idea is to get the bow pointed in the right direction and if need be, the boat could power out into the weather and anchor to safety.

This is the stern anchor which is positioned downwind of the prevailing trade winds and will keep the boat in position for filming the water scenes.

These two moorings also have the same hooked reef anchors attached to the drums filled with concrete and have an extra long chain between the drum and the anchor. The spikes through the drums have thicker re-bar and are positioned into where the prevailing trade-winds come from.

This is the floating dock with everything in position to be placed in the water and secure the boat so it doesn't move.

The idea is that the boat must remain in the same position but be able to move around for different angles during the water shots. The only mishap, when the moorings went in were that the assistant producer Nero lost his big toe nail because the barrel went over and the plywood jumped up.

Dave (left) Tack (right)

The 3-D beast, operated by the Italian crew.

Stefano, handles the camera and recently had his locks chopped off. A very sweet guy but he needs to ditch that speed o he wears!

Stefano wasn't the only one who decided it was time for a change!

Eskil shaved it all off with a little help from his friends!

Elaine and Eskil at the helm. Elaine liked Eskil's new look.

Manjii, actress from Bollywood, with  Anita, the Fijian baby contracted for the film. Manjii  plays the married mother, on board with her husband and child. Love this photo!

I haven't read the script but I have reviewed the story cards. The husband, wife and baby are rescued, the Brazilian actress dies of a heart attack (perhaps from all the bacon and champagne she devours in the film.) In real life Suzanna is a vegetarian) and I should stop now as I may get in trouble for revealing the plot.....? But than, the film is in Hindi and I don't think we will see it in the local movie theaters any time soon! However, it will be distributed on DVD.  Oh yeah, there is a dog on board that also jumps in the water in hopes of rescuing the ill fated cruisers. The dog is a lovely fat local yellow lab who has a full time dog trainer from India who has been diligently shaping him up for his scenes. The dog's name is Lado, but  he refuses to bark and he MUST bark in the film. Well after weeks of trying to get Lado to bark, our own dear Trinidad did what none other could do. While resting under my chair at the resort, Trini saw Lado for her first time and began to bark wildly at him and guess what? Lado barked back. Trini is now Lado's official fluffer for the film. Trini was a super hit with all the film crew and the actors, as you can see by the photos.

Such a handsome boy!

Trini wore her sailor hat and stayed quiet for all the takes. Her favorite spot was next to Guru, the director.

Trini was mistaken for the boom and many times the boom was mistaken for Trini!

Suzanna with Trini the sailing dog.

Vince the 3-D master from New York, with Guru, yes Guru, the director.

Carlos from Spain, masters the 3-D monitor for Vince.

The actors,Sumit and Gitin take a break. Sumit (left) plays the part of Madhurima's lover and Gitin (right) plays the husband to Manjii.

The actors lounge between long takes. They were all super sweet.

Sandosh plays the captain and his girlfriend is played by Suzanna. Sandosh will sacrifice himself to save the married couple. (After all, that's what captains do. I wonder if Sean would sacrifice himself for the rest of us given the same situation?)  Sandosh was working construction in the Himalaya mountains when he was discovered for the film. He has never acted in a film, but has done some modeling in his younger years. I had a long chat with him in-between takes and he is an interesting and very nice fellow. How do you like that  captains hat? It's so Bollywood!

The sailing was incredible and the director got better footage then he ever imagined. Slow Dance is so sexy and beautiful, the energy was electric as everyone danced to music in-between takes. BJ,
Eskil and Elaine worked the sails and tacked like pro's. Eskil and BJ are seasoned sailors but Elaine has never sailed before and, in just several short weeks it's as if she has been sailing all her life. Elaine is a quick study and it must be an Irish thing the way she pitches in on everything that needs doing. Although it was not our job to serve the film crew and actors, they were all so sweet, Elaine and I brought coffee, cut fruits, and ran ourselves ragged catering to them.

The awesome Slow Dance girls.

Captain Sean who gave the Guru everything he imagined and then some. Sean sailed the boat like he had been a marine coordinator for films, his whole life! The area is filled with dangerous reefs and Sean kept us safe while delivering to the needs of the film crew.  Guru called him "Sean of the Dead" because the requests were killing him!

Kitri has fun helping Elaine on tacking.

Golden Point is the resort that is housing and feeding the film crew. Sunny is the owner and a super nice man. His wife Rochelle is Lebanese and runs the resort. Rochelle makes awesome cakes and is a fine chef. All the folks are lovely.  Slow Dance crew, although able to dine for 2 meals per day, opted to mostly eat on the boat. I ended up sharing my crew fare with a select few as they were so pitiful and hungry. I also put on a nice little spread for the actors and executive producer during the promotional photo shoot. Needless to say I have gained a reputation and have been asked to cook a few meals for pay when the boat moves in for the water shoot.

Lunch on Slow Dance; Grilled Steak and Chicken, Baked potato,salad, and Garlic bread.

 Salad consisted of cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes,red and green peppers,carrots, red onion, and baby greens.
There was a fabulous bakery Ron and I discovered when the boat was in Denarau. We found it while taking our daily bike ride. They made the best croissants, bagels, and crusty breads, as well as cappuccino! I stocked up the breads and brought them back to the boat.

We made this lunch stretch  to feed Dave and Tack  the day they coordinated the 3D camera going up the mast with Franz, the director of photography. They're such beefy guys and the box lunch the resort sent was just not enough!

Box Lunch from the resort.

Golden Point. Although the setting is somewhat picturesque, and the resort is decorated nicely inside, the back was still under construction. Sunny is working on improving things, and when finished it should be lovely. The best place in the resort was the pool table, which everyone took turns playing. We had some great tournaments going on. Those South African boys play a mean game but Irish gave everyone  a run for their money!

Ron with Sunny as he was leaving East Jesus. Good thing you left when you did as you would not want to see the boat this way! No worries, we will put her all back, as good as new!

 The boat hull was being cleaned and a little sea snake was very curious about us. She kept trying to crawl up the side of Slow Dance and Ron decided to pick her up for a better look. These little snakes sometimes travel together by the hundreds and one bite will kill you in 8 minutes! They are the most poisonous creatures in the sea, but the good news is; their mouths are very small with the fangs set far back in their throat which makes getting bit impossible, unless you stick your pinky down their throat. Highly unrecommended!

Ron with out little dangerous friend.

And so, here we are for another 3weeks, intrenched in Bollywood, where each week feels like a year. Stay tuned for more action! AND CUT!

Another beautiful Sunset

New Faces and New Places in the Southern Hemisphere

Sweet Sailing all the way to Raki Raki

As change is the only constant, Slow Dance goes through yet another change of crew and it just keeps getting better! Marlyn was with us 60 days when she was offered a position on the super yacht Noble House, which she accepted; good luck to you Marlyn, we wish you fair winds and following seas. New to the crew are a great bunch of young folk;  Eskil  from Sweden and his lovely girl Elane, who we call Irish, as that is where she hails from.  Also aboard,  is their traveling buddy Josh, whom we call  Wyoming, as that is where he is from. Josh is an advent fly fisherman and is due back in his home state at the end of June for his summer job of  leading other enthusiastic fly fisherman to where a "River runs through it". It's wonderful to have Josh aboard as he has caught some tasty fish along the way to Kandavu Island. You can catch his blog at: www.joshgallivan.com  Elane's band" is called Freezerroom", ranked number 8 in Ireland. Check her out at www.bandcamp.com/freezerroom.com Elaine Dowling. Seems I bought my flute just in time as we have had some great jams these past weeks around the camp fire on the beaches of Ono. Captain Sean found them working on a boat anchored in Denarau, for a sailor who promised them some sailing in exchange for work on his boat. Needless to say, they were happy to get off that boat as they did more work than sailing. It is a pleasure to have them aboard as the boat has not sailed this great in a very long time. Captain Sean has worked hard at restoring Slow Dance to all her former glory; the rigging is fixed, the sails are mended, the wenches are serviced, the generators run smooth, the water makers work like a charm, the evil odors are gone,  and the rails are varnished. All in time for the Bollywood shoot.

Eskil and Elane

Wyoming

Josh's father is a CIA culinary grad and has a restaurant in Jackson Hole. Josh loves the food  on Slow Dance and has been very complimentary of the meals served, which have included Indian, Italian, Thai, Mexican, Cajun, American and all the great fresh fish he has caught for us!

Nice going Josh! We hadn't seen a Mahi Mahi for a long time. We ate this guy up and he was delicious. Oh yeah, Josh did not catch him with his fly rod!

Elane play's us an original tune.

Slow Dance landed the Bollywood deal and we will need to report to Raki Raki on the north side of Vita Lavu June 20, to begin shooting. They have leased an entire resort to house the film crew coming in from all parts of the world, so we look forward to an interesting time of it.

Ron's friend Elaine came for a 10 day visit and we spent the time in Musket Cove and surrounding Islands. We had a blast visiting  resorts and barbequing on shore, complete with  jam sessions, fire dancing, and tight rope walking. Elaine is quite the acrobat.

Because your mine, I walk the line

BJ gives it a try at Musket Cove and was quite a natural! Even after a few brews

The kids found a great spot for the evening camp fire, near Ono Island.

This was an awesome spot on one of the small islands inside the reef, where Eskil climbed for coconuts

Elaine enjoyed the hospitality and company on Slow Dance

Breakfast at the resort with Elaine. Ron is always the happiest with his arms wrapped around two dolls!

Cookie mingles with the locals

Miss you already Elaine and hope you send us some of the great photo's you took.

 After Elaine departed back to Los Angeles, Slow Dance didn't want to hang around Denarau, so we headed out for Kandavu island in the south of Fiji and although beautiful, it's damn cold here! We are all bundled up in sweatshirts and blue jeans. I keep forgetting I am in the Southern Hemisphere and to get warm you must go north NOT south. The reef here is amazing and hopefully we will be able to get in the water if the sun ever shines again. Having unusual rain for this time of the year.

Chart of Kandavu and Islands inside the reef

Kandavu is the fourth largest island in Fiji, a mountainous,varied island of waterfalls, outrageous vistas, deserted long stretches of beach, and home to the renowned Astrolabe reef.
There are three hilly sections of Kandavu joined by two low isthmuses and the sea cuts deep into the island. Ono is the smallest island northeast of the main island and here the amazing Astrolabe reef stretches halfway to Suva! Only 8000 people inhabit these three islands in the villages scattered across the 50-by-13 km island 100 km from Suva. In the 1800s Kandavu was a hub for steamers bound for New Zealand and was considered for the capital of Fiji, however, Suva was chosen as the capital and Kandavu was left to lead it's sleepy village life. Today only a handful of visitors come to the island which resembles a wasp on the map as the island makes a comeback with new roads and a small air strip. There are fabulous hiking trails and villages where woman still make pottery using a paddle to shape the pots, firing them in an open fire. They use sap from the mangrove trees to glaze the pots. Kandavu is also famous for the green and red parrots which can be readily seen and heard.
There are no banks anywhere on the islands and no restaurants. The resorts are not fancy and mostly cater to divers who come here for a remote dive vacation. You can get Padi certification, but the prices are high for Fiji.
Now here's the really cool thing guys; The woman of Namuna village to the west can summon giant sea turtles up from the sea with their songs and chants! They sing traditional chants to the vu (ancestral spirits) on a bluff 60 meters above the sea. The woman wear beautiful garlands around their necks and within 15 minutes of their song the giant turtles appear. The turtles and their mates swim up and down slowly just off shore below the overhanging rocks. Just south of the airstrip you can take a 10 minute hike to Walkana falls,where cool water flows down from a 10 meter cliff between 2 deep pools of delicious water which are perfect for a refreshing swim on a hot day. If only it were hot!
The villages have become hostile to unannounced tourist so you must present the chief with a sevusevu (gift) to engage in any hiking or surfing. We have plenty of Kava and Tabasco on board so this shouldn't be a problem for us. We also brought lots of books, writing tablets, colored pencils, and other school items for the children, because in remote places these items are hard to come by.

The great Astrolabe reef spans 30 km along the east side of the small islands north of Kandavu. The reef is 1 km wide and still alive with beautiful coral and marine-life. Because the reef is far from shore it has not been fished out so we hope to do some great fishing. Our fly fisher boy Wyoming (Josh) is eager to drop some lines. The reef surrounds a lagoon containing 10 small islands, the largest which is Ono as mentioned before. The reef was named after French explorer Dumont d' Urville who almost lost his ship in 1827 called "The Astrolabe".
There are numerous openings on the west side of the reef and the lagoon is never over 10 fathoms deep, which makes it perfect for diving and yachting. The Astrolabe reef features a vertical drop of 10 meters on the inside and 1,800 meters on the outside, with viability of about 75 meters the water is so clear! There are underwater caves and coral walls which MUST be seen to be believed!

Deserted beach where we had an amazing camp fire

Mexican Feast underway

 

Small Sea Bass Josh caught. I pan sauteed' it with cilantro, lime, and Mexican spices.

Private Island

The Wahoo Josh caught, prepared Cajun style

Mexican day on Slow Dance. The fish was still on the BBQ

Pirate Bar, Musket Cove

Josh with an awesome and delicious Yellow Jack, which is NOT a tuna but because of the one yellow fin on-top that's what the locals call it. The flesh was firm, white, and delicious.

Ron and Cookie color coordinated.

Eskil and Josh take five

Sun going down over the reef

Josh tries his hand at fly-fishing on Ono

The sail back from Kandavu was amazing to say the least. We had a good downhill run beam reach, with the wind at 25 knots from the back of the boat and sailed her at 9 knots the whole way. The crew really got it down and Sean had the crew practice every possible sail change, using every sail we have including the storm sail. We put out the Jib, Genoa, Genica, Mizzen, and the main.  It was a beautiful sight indeed and quite thrilling. Ron was beaming from ear to ear! We sailed Wing and Wing catching the wind with ease.

Wing and Wing

My favorite spot when sailing

Ron pushed the cook in head first. Not nice, but the water was wonderful.

Deserted beach in Paradise