A ticket to paradise
If a buoyant bar in the middle of the ocean sounds like someone's pipe dream -- that's not too far off the mark.
An Australian DJ, sailor and avid surfer, Wachtel dreamed up the remote bar with friends during a surfing trip in Fiji.
"I'd always been from a marine background -- my father is a yachtie and circumnavigator -- and the sea has been my home for a very long time," recalls Wachtel.
"Surfing brought me to Fiji as a visitor about seven years ago. It's a really tricky place to surf, because the breaks are so isolated. You really need a boat to access everything. We thought it'd be amazing to have a meeting place, closer to the breaks."
When scouting locations, Wachtel and his business partner chose the spot carefully.
They finally settled on a crystal-clear lagoon, about nine miles southwest of Fiji's famous Cloudbreak swell.
Thanks to surrounding islands, the relatively shallow water is generally protected from the strongest winds and waves.
The restaurant has one mooring, so it sways gently in the breeze and, in case of a storm, a boat can tug it to safety in about one day.