Thursday night we headed into the bar at Vuda marina for the last time and bumped into Craig from SV Crocus whom we had previously met in Musket Cove. So we had dinner with him and enjoyed our final Fijian sunset. Shortly afterwards, we were joined by Chris (SV Sea Bear), JP and Julie (SV Eleuthera). And a good time was had by all. Leaving the bar for the last time we had hugs from all the staff when they realised we were leaving for good this time.

Friday morning (8 August) we were up early and got Morphie ready to go to sea. We headed into the cafe for coffee at 10 to meet the customs and immigration officials to get officially checked out of Fiji. We requested a 1300 departure which they accepted. Documents in hand and when we were finally ready to leave we chilled out for a while down below. Then we were asked to come up on deck as the staff were there on the dock to sing us a farewell song. OMG what lovely people the Fijians are. We have had such a special time.

At 1300 we were ready but the fuel dock was busy so we had to wait….and wait… Eventually around 14.15 we were fuelled up and departing Vuda Marina bound for Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. The passage was a good one – apart from the initial blip with a water leak to the engine – and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The wind was lighter and more fickle than anticipated so we had to motor more than we would have liked and the sailing was slower when the wind finally filled in strong enough to sail. The last 12 hours were particularly uncomfortable with a short chop and rolling seas from all directions pushing us around all over the place. And, of course, the wind picked up to a lively 18 knots during the last night when we had to slow down to 4.5 knots to ensure a daylight arrival – never mind! The island of Efate was definitely not inviting as we neared in the gloom.

We arrived into Port Vila at 9 on Wednesday 14 August (as planned) having completed the 555 mile passage and we were weary but very happy to be here. We anchored in the quarantine anchorage and awaited the officials to come on board, with our nearest neighbour a little helicopter sat on a floating pontoon.

Customs had been pre-warned of our arrival by SV Mezzaluna (who had been in the quarantine anchorage overnight having arrived late the previous day) so they came out around 10 to see us both. Having dealt with Mezzaluna they came on board Morpheus. We gave them drinks and chocolate biscuits and had a chat. They didn’t even bother to check down below just took our word for it that we were compliant (which we were of course). We were then given an invoice to pay biosecurity and instructions to come to the customs office at 2pm that afternoon. We took down our yellow Q flag and replaced it with our Vanuatu one and then proceeded under the overhead power lines (grateful for it being low tide so we had more clearance room) as we headed into the inner harbour.

We were shown our pre-booked mooring ball and tied up. The harbour is full of mooring balls (at £11 a night) and there is very little room to anchor as a result. The moorings themselves are huge and regularly maintained so we were happy to trust Morphie to them.

We then headed to the dinghy dock and walked through town. Our immediate needs were to buy a SIM card for the phone to get online and to get some cash from the ATM as we were unable to get any Vanuatu Vatus in advance of our arrival. Mission was accomplished easily although data packages here are quiet expensive when compared to Fiji, which was a surprise. We also found a hairdresser so I made an appointment for the following day before we headed back to the dock. We then took the dinghy through the channel to the customs office. We had to tie to a large tug and clamber on board so I waited in the dinghy while Richard went and dealt with the officials. First was customs (a free service in regular hours) and we were granted our inter-island clearance allowing us to move around freely in Vanuatu. Then he headed to biosecurity to pay our bill from the morning. Then to immigration to complete cards, get our passports stamped and to pay their fee. As Europeans we got three months on arrival but our friends Geoff and Katie on SV Mezzaluna only got one month as Americans. Makes us wonder what will happen if the UK does actually leave the EU later this year.

All formalities completed with both of us feeling a bit land sick and finding the heat a bit much we took ourselves to the Waterfront (which is part of the Yacht World set up) and had our first taste of Tusker lager, the local brew. And very nice it was too…. We stayed for happy hour, being joined by SV Messaluna, SV Bla Ellinor and SV Ice Bear, and so we ended up having a nice social evening. But we were too tired to stay out and retired back to Morphie, had a quick cheese on toast supper, followed by an early night.

This morning, Thursday, Richard dropped me off into town to go to the hairdressers. And I had a good time chatting with the locals finding out a bit about them. Was a great experience and the hair cut was pretty good too LOL.

Returning to Morphie I admired the beautiful flowers and the huge selection on offer in the vast fruit and vegetable market. I also spoke to a couple of older ladies wearing their traditional dresses, which are a bit Mother Hubbard, and apparently were forced upon them by the missionaries a long time ago.

The locals speak Pidgin English to each other (of which there are many different dialects according to the village they come from) and their main languages in school are both French and English. We spoke to a few people whose main language (other than their own local dialect) was French so needed to listen hard and try to remember my limited vocabulary again.

Back on board and Richard is doing a few boat jobs while I’m blogging. We’ll probably head ashore for happy hour again later. Tomorrow (Friday) we are becoming real tourists as we are taking an Air Taxi trip to Tanna Island. This scenic flight will take us over Mount Yasur which is an active volcano and then we’ll be driven up the volcano itself by 4×4 to see it in all its glory. This is one of the few volcanoes in the world that you can stand on the rim and watch the lava bubble and explode inside. Very excited about seeing this especially as we will be there for dusk. We recognise that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the price reflects that (especially as we are staying in a resort on Tanna overnight) but, as it is our 23rd wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks, we are making the excuse that it is our joint present to each other!

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday (11 August) continued to be benign with very light wind conditions so we motor sailed all day.  The sea continued to flatten and we made the most of the near-perfect conditions so had lovely hot showers and well as making water.   We were ever hopeful that the wind would pick up but, by 5.30 pm, it had disappeared altogether.   Sails were flapping so we went into our night shifts motoring under bare poles.   Calm and steady conditions meant for a good night especially with a huge moon although cloud cover kept the stars hidden from sight.   No ships were sighted at all.

Monday (12 August) was another beautiful day.   At 6am the wind changed direction and started filling in.   By 8 am the engine was off and we were sailing on a beam reach at 4.5 knots in 9 knots of breeze.   The swell was less than 1m and the seas were pretty flat.   This is about as good as it gets!   Blue skies on a sunny day with the deep blue ocean sparkling all around us.  Fantastic.

In these conditions we were on schedule for a Wednesday arrival as we had planned.  Two other boats, who left Fiji a couple of hours ahead of us, are pushing harder so will arrive on Tuesday.   They also had the advantage of motor sailing on Saturday night when we had to rely on sail power alone, so they pulled away from us as we were going so slowly.   We are, for the first time, participating in a SSB Pacific cruisers net each day at 8.00 and 17.30 reporting our position so we are aware of those around us.   We are happy to just plod along with the wind so long as we are making way in the right direction.

By lunchtime the wind had picked up to 13 knots and we had the most perfect sail doing 6 knots on a beam reach.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.   As had happened the day before, around 5.30 pm, the wind died completely.   So it was back to motor sailing throughout the night – good job we got diesel in Fiji!   The seas picked up a bit too for some reason so it did get a bit rolly again for a while.

Overnight we had a close encounter with a large motor vessel who was not a pleasure boat or a cargo ship.   He did not have AIS but we picked him up on radar and eyeballed his progress as he slowly passed behind our stern.   As we are nearing the islands of Vanuatu and its territorial waters we wondered whether he might have been a coastguard cutter as we know they are actively watching boat traffic to ensure that people abide by the regulations – boats that stop in non-designated ports of entry before checking in are treating as potential drug or people traffickers with heavy penalties for non-compliance.

This morning, Tuesday (13 August) and we still have no wind but the sea state is increasing with a short interval between waves making it pretty rolly.   At 10.15 we still have no wind – although boats ahead of us are reporting 18 knots (which is actually forecast).   We have just recalculated the remainder of our passage so have slowed back down to 4.5 knots as that is the maximum speed we need to arrive into Port Vila by 9am local time (which is one hour behind Fiji).   We are expecting feisty conditions later today so anticipate sailing slowly and steadily through it – we just hope we can keep our speed down LOL.

Bye for now

Jan

We finally slipped away from Vuda Marina, Fiji, at around 14.15 on Friday 10 August bound for Vanuatu. We wouldn’t usually leave on a Friday (superstition and all that) but this is a tricky distance. It is 545 miles to Port Vila on the island of Efate, assuming you could sail directly in the direction you want to go. That equates to four and a half days at our usual cruising speed of 5 knots. We want to avoid arriving at night (so we may need to slow down as we get closer); we do not want to check in at a weekend (lots of customs overtime fees); we need to get there before Thursday which is a public holiday (more fees); and we want to make the most of this benign weather window. So practicalities won over superstition in the decision-making process.

The sea was flat and the sky was blue but the minimal forecast wind was on our nose as expected. We motored down the coast towards the main shipping channel – the Navula passage – hoping to get through before dusk. We arrived into the cut as the sun was going down and we watched a spectacular sunset along with a green flash. Woo hoo.

As we moved away from Fiji, Richard retired and I did the first watch. The (almost full) moon showed me the way and the conditions were great with moderate airs and flat seas and we were sailing nicely along on a reach at five+ knots. Richard stood the next watch and came across two large fishing boats. Then I took the midnight to 3am shift and spotted lights to port. There was no AIS signal so I checked the radar and acquired the target. As I closed in on the vessel the AIS signal finally appeared and the large Chinese ship travelling at 5 knots was on a collision course with us. I left it a while to see if he would change course but nothing apparent so I radioed Yuan Wang 5. Main questions: are you a fishing vessel? Do you have lines or nets? No reply. Eventually they responded and it turns out he was a 722 foot cargo ship and wants to know my intention. So I told him I would pass behind his stern and turned 20 degrees to port. He replied that he was going to hold his position and speed so all was well. Once he was comfortable with our courses and relative positions he decided to have a chat – amazed we were sailing – apparently we are so very brave LOL. As I passed his stern he turned and ran parallel for a while then crossed a couple of miles behind my stern, so it would appear he was going around in circles for some reason.

By the time we had swapped shifts again we were sailing along in about 14 knots of breeze running downwind. The sea state, however, had deteriorated as the wind swung behind us and it was very rocky and rolly. Richard had a large gin palace come close by on his shift and by the time we saw the sun come up there has been another couple of tankers. Wasn’t really expecting quite so much traffic on this route.

Saturday 11 August the sun came up and it was turning into another lovely day.

There were lots of birds of paradise flying around us and we enjoyed being at sea again – just wish it would stop rolling! During the day the wind decreased and Richard decided to start fishing…..and, within half an hour, he had caught a lovely little tuna which he promptly gutted and filleted with the fillets going into the freezer. Lots of clearing up to do so he decided one fish a day was enough LOL.

Later on, just after we had eaten dinner, we decided to run our engine to charge the batteries. Almost immediately water stopped coming out the stern. Bloody hell – not again! We have spent two months in Fiji without any problems since the engine was serviced and the system was thoroughly checked out on our arrival. But nothing we can do in the hours of darkness when the engine is too hot to work on. So we went into our normal shift patterns overnight and used the portable generator to top up the batteries.

This morning, Sunday, 12 August and we were sailing slowly downwind only managing 3.5 knots speed over ground in 8 knots of breeze. Richard had his head down the hole taking the engine apart while I stayed in the cockpit keeping the boat moving forward. Thankfully the sea state had reduced with only about a 1.5m swell right now.

Within half an hour Richard had identified and fixed a water leak as it came into the system; had removed and reinstalled the impeller (just in case) and topped up the oil and tightened the fan belt (while he was there). We cautiously started the engine and voila she started first time, good water flow out the back, and we are back in business. Phew!

The wind reduced to 6 knots so we are now gently motor sailing towards our destination (only 339 miles to go). All is well on the good ship Morpheus.

Bye for now
Jan

Thursday evening we headed to the marina bar for sundowners and enjoyed the spectacular sunset.

Friday we did a few boat jobs and generally just got ourselves organised to go back to sea. We got our clearance documentation for Fiji from the office and started the task of filling in all three forms (by hand, in duplicate without carbon or course) in preparation for our departure. We also started completing the numerous Vanuatu arrival and cruising permit documents.

In the late afternoon we went to the bar for sundowners and enjoyed watching the boat movements in and out of the narrow entrance to the marina as well as listening to the live music before heading back to Morphie.

When we got back to Morphie we couldn’t climb on the bow as the tide was too high and the width of the boats stopped us from pulling the boat forward towards the small dock. So we ended up climbing on our neighbour’s boat and crossing over instead. This was quite tough for me to achieve so we definitely need to take notice of the top or bottom of the tide when we leave the boat!

Saturday morning we were in the cockpit having breakfast when we heard Sea Bear on the radio. Luckily a few boats had already left so there was room and, by lunchtime, he was safely secured. Later on we met up with Chris for a few beers and enjoyed catching up. He had taken a completely different route around Fiji to us so it was nice to exchange experiences. Look how he is dwarfed by his neighbours!

Sunday and we had a lazy start before heading to the garden early afternoon and met Chris – so we sat out in the sun enjoying the live music and some late lunch. Was a really fun afternoon. We then had a quiet evening onboard.

On Monday we took the day off. Richard had twisted his knee climbing on and off Morphie the day before and my hip was also playing up so we just lazed around reading, resting up and stayed on board all day.

Tuesday we did some more jobs like filling up the water tanks and doing some hand washing. In the evening we met Chris for pizza night to find that the staff had been decimated by a Fijian flu bug and the service suffered as a result. We were later getting back than expected (thankfully we were still able to climb back on) as it took a while to get our bill. But was fun anyway.

Wednesday morning our large neighbour left so we pulled across to their position next to Chris and closer to the little stubby dock that sticks out. And, at last, it was easier to get on and off the boat. Very happy we settled in only to be asked to move again as they needed a big space for a catamaran. We agreed to move but only after we had taken the opportunity to get the outboard firmly on the rail in preparation for our departure for Vanuatu. We then moved and ended up next to a scruffy boat which is occupied by a single older woman and her baby rescue kittens. By now we had been busy for hours and hadn’t even had a cup of tea. So we headed to the cafe for breakfast.

Returning to Morphie (grateful that we could get on and off at will now) we had a wander around and visited the boat yard behind us. They dig ‘graves’ for boats here for cyclone storage so we had a look at this set up. Not sure we’d fancy it! What amazed us, though, was how many of them were still sporting canvas and sails. If you have left your boat for cyclone season in a grave, surely you would have removed all this stuff? Interesting though that this marina had been hit by a Cat 5 Cyclone Winston and the majority of the boats had come through unscathed (we assume they tie them all down to the ground as well).

We also looked at the marina’s expansion plans which will destroy the reef outside as well as reclaiming some land so that superyachts can visit but can’t see this happening in our lifetime!

Anyway, back to Morphie we spotted some great looking birds almost parakeet like but really small only about the size of a sparrow.

When we got back on board we found the kittens had been visiting us. They are pretty cute but they kept trying to go down below so we closed the hatches and we kept returning them to their own boat. But this game carried on and on and they obviously enjoyed it as every time we picked them up they purred with delight! Here are some pictures of them looking cute, requesting permission to stay, and asking for a share of our chicken salad dinner LOL.

During the day JP and Julie turned up on Eleuthera so we caught up with them and arranged to meet for sundowners later. We were also joined by Chris. Was a fun evening.

This morning, Thursday, and finally the weather models had aligned so a Friday departure is on the cards. So we got up early, informed the office we want to check out with customs in the morning and then headed into Lautoka for a final provisioning run. We came back and I’m now sitting outside the cafe blogging while Richard is doing engine checks, general cleaning and stowing our stuff ready for going back to sea. Here’s the last picture of Morphie in Fiji squeezed into her marina space

The passage to Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu will take us about 4 1/2 days based on a 5 knot average and, with some light winds forecast for the first 24 hours, we may well be slower. So we’ll be offline for a while but will blog during the passage to keep you posted on our progress – and don’t forget to follow our tracker on the ‘Where are we now’ page.

Bye for now

Jan

Friday afternoon we headed to the NZ business event and caught up with Paul from Bay of Islands Marina. We enjoyed a few hours in the Rhum Bar chatting before we headed upstairs to the formal reception with free drinks and nibbles that Paul had kindly invited us along to. We also caught up with Nigel and Amanda from the Sail Pacific Circuit Rally and a fun time was had by all. We even saw the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand who said a few words.

Leaving the party behind we headed to Lulus for a pontoonie and enjoyed the live music before calling it a night.

Saturday morning it was pouring with rain….and it rained…and it rained cats and dogs all day and night. We bailed out dink and put him back on the arch so that he wouldn’t fill up again. It was so miserable we just had a quiet damp day and evening on board.

Sunday morning and it was still overcast although did clear up later. At 5pm we went ashore for happy hour and then got a taxi at 7pm to the venue to see a show called Fiji Untold which was billed as a “Broadway-style dance performance showcasing traditional Fijian concepts and stories in a modern and innovative way”. Well, the taxi driver had never heard of it. So we had to give him the telephone number so that they could give him directions. We turned off the main road at a sign and then headed inland along a dirt track – this can’t be right surely?!? Anyway, the taxi driver wasn’t convinced either so he phoned again and they talked him in.

We arrived into a muddy field with a circus-like big top tent. We were given our own VIP badges, complimentary soft drinks and a big tub of popcorn. We then were escorted inside to take our seats. Hang on a minute…where is everybody?!?

There was no-one there at all, perhaps we had got the time wrong? So we checked and were told that we were the only VIPs so could sit wherever we liked this evening. Seriously wondered whether we have been sold a pup we were relieved when another single tourist turned up LOL. Then a few people filtered in behind us but they were clearly friends and family of the performers. So just three paying customers then for a whole show!

The lights went down and the dancing started. We had a brochure explaining the story of Lagi the Chief’s daughter. Well, we could’t read anything else because of the darkness so we just sat back and watched. The high energy dancing and singing was amazing but we really didn’t understand what was going on as there was no commentary whatsoever and it was quite dark (almost evil) in places.

That said, we still enjoyed the experience, and it was nice for the three of us to meet the dancers afterwards.

We got our taxi driver to come and pick us up (in the rain again sigh….) and made it back to the marina just as there was another deluge. No point getting even wetter so we took advantage of the BYGOF late night extra happy hour at the Hard Rock Cafe and sat it out and read the show programme properly. Brief synoposis is that the Chief’s daughter, at her coming of age, was ready for her first dance in a ceremony to mark the continuation of the bloodline and the survival of a community through dance. But Lagi refused to be constrained by traditional barriers and the elders could not allow this adventurous spirit so she was banished to the bamboo forest. This then takes her through a journey of daring self-discovery into the mystical underworld where there is an Octopus God, Giant Women and a shape shifting Iguana Spirit who is adorned with the lost dance sticks of Lagis village which are eventually returned to her as the rightful royal owner and she is able to return to the village as a heroine. Phew! Would have made much more sense if we had known all that in advance LOL.

Eventually the rain stopped and we headed back to Morphie quickly before the heavens opened again.

Monday we headed into Nadi the nearby town and visited the Sri Sivasubramainya Swami Temple. We were given floor-length wraps to wear as shorts as not allowed and dropped our shoes off so headed barefooted into the temple to have a look around. Very pretty and serene place but not helped by the huge lorries sounding their horns for such a long time at a ear-splitting volume that we actually wondered if it was a town-wide alarm or something!

Moving on we headed into the centre of town and found a place to get some photographs printed and a post office so that we could send them to Chief Joe as we had promised. Job done we then had a look around before deciding to come back to the marina. It was still overcast and cloudy and really humid so we got hot and bothered pretty quickly and Nadi is really really busy with lots of traffic and more caged shops so didn’t feel the need to linger.

Back in the marina we did some shopping in the small grocery store and then had a couple of cold ones in the Rhum Bar. Whilst there we saw the beautiful sailing superyacht (Maltese flagged) head out of the marina. We had watched the crew meet the guests and walk them down the dock – couldn’t believe that it was just a bunch of teenagers – guess someone has a very rich Mum and Dad!!! Later on, back on board, we enjoyed watching the rainbow lighting up the superyachts on the dock, we are definitely in the cheap seats LOL. As the sun went down the mountains lit up beneath the clouds which was absolutely stunning.

Tuesday we thought it was our last full day in Denarau so we dropped off our rubbish, got our petrol cans filled and I went to the office to pay for our mooring ball. Well, they had it down that we were leaving on Thursday not Wednesday and didn’t charge us at all for the first night on the dock as they had mucked us around. Result! We returned to Morphie and had a lazy afternoon. In the evening we went out for dinner at the excellent steak restaurant Cardos and enjoyed the live music having first been entertained by the Hard Rock Cafe staff doing their version of YMCA during happy hour.

Wednesday morning we took it easy. We had been constantly watching the weather searching for a window to leave Fiji bound for Vanuatu. And the weather gods are not looking down on us too kindly at all. So we are probably here in Fiji for about another week based on the latest download. We were not able to extend our stay in Denarau as the place is rammed and everything is fully booked so we had to decide what to do. In the recent cloudy and rainy conditions we have had to use our standby generator to keep the batteries topped up as the solar panels are not keeping pace with our consumption. So we decided, in the end, to return to Vuda Point Marina so that we can plug into shore power. Later in the afternoon we went ashore for our final Happy Hour in the Hard Rock Café and enjoyed some snacks before returning to Morphie.

This morning (Thursday) we got ourselves ready and Richard did his engine checks. Then, with all things flexible crossed, we called Vuda to see if they had space for us. This is a first-come first-served marina so not a certainty, especially as it is high season here. Thankfully they could accommodate us so we got our fenders and lines ready for our arrival. At around 10 am we slipped away from the mooring ball as a boat came in behind us clearly anxious to pick it up. Bit naughty really as, officially, we didn’t have to depart until 12 noon. Never mind…. We left the superyachts behind and headed out through the pass. Our stay in the tourist hub of Denarau had been a lot of fun.

By 12 noon we were safely in Vuda tied up, secured, and plugged in after a feisty few miles in strengthening winds. The guy on the boat next to us looked familiar and it turns out we knew him from Guatemala. What a small world. This is the view from Morphie’s stern this afternoon.

Bye for now

Jan

Friday night we headed ashore to the Sand Bar for sundowners before returning for dinner in the cockpit. Overnight the wind picked up, it poured with rain and the temperature dropped quite a bit.

Early on Saturday morning the conditions remained pretty horrible – raining, cloudy and a lot of chop in the anchorage. So we decided to abort the diving again. There was absolutely no point paying top dollar for a lesser experience. So decision made we returned to bed and enjoyed a lay in.

Later on we headed ashore (it was still raining) and enjoyed a BBQ dinner with Craig (SV Crocus) and Steve and Mike (SV Kiwi Time). We had come ashore just a little bit earlier to use the showers so I had cheated by purchasing half a rotisserie chicken and some salads from the cafe to take along LOL. Put me to shame when Mike starting sharing home-made smoked fish pate for appetizers and banana fritters with honey for desert. Here’s us with Mike.

We had a very social time of it and then we left the Kiwis to head off (carrying their huge NZ flag) to watch the return match between the Maori All Blacks and the Fijians. We decided not to go with them as we were worried about Morphie out in the anchorage in the worsening conditions and wouldn’t have been able to relax.

Sunday morning and it remained nasty although the cloud cover wasn’t so intense so we hoped it would clear later. We pottered around doing boat jobs and later in the afternoon we headed over to the pool and enjoyed some bobbing time although felt pretty cold afterwards so was disappointed by the lack of hot water in the shower block. Oh well, never mind, at least we were clean. We then headed back to Morphie for a quiet night in.

Monday morning and it was brighter. So we did the same again enjoying our time lazing around the pool, working on the tans, walking the beach and admiring the hotel accommodation as well as bobbing in the water and keeping Ziggy, the pool bartender, busy.

After showering we headed to the Sand Bar and caught up with the crew of SV Exocet Strike so enjoyed chatting with them before heading back (and yes Brexit featured as they are also from the UK). Oh yes and here is Va our favourite bartender.

Tuesday morning we headed in a bit earlier as, thankfully, it was a lovely calm sunny day. So we went to the pool and managed to snaffle a cabana to ourselves…..this is the life. We even had lunch in the hotel restaurant which was very tasty. Was a beautiful day.

After more lukewarm showers, we returned to the Sand Bar for sundowners with the other cruisers and chatted with some participants on the Pacific Rally (who left New Zealand for Tonga on the same day as us). We were pleased to hear the news that SV Squander who had suffered major gear and rigging failure on their second attempt to reach Tonga (the first aborted due to damage in 50 knot squalls) had, thankfully, now been salvaged and was in an Auckland boatyard. They had been airlifted from their liferaft off the NZ coast – it is hard to imagine how distressing that would have been to make the decision to abandon ship.

Wednesday morning we had a lazy start and then went ashore to the resort for a quick lunch in the resort cafe. Then we waited for a small launch and headed out, like proper tourists, to a floating bar called Cloud 9 which sits just inside the reef near the world famous surfing spot. Well, of course, the weather decided to be fickle again (despite the forecast for a fine day) and the wind picked up so the journey out there was pretty bumpy.

And this is what it is supposed to look like in flat calm conditions.

We arrived, managed to get onto the floating bar, and settled down to people watch. As the sea was running with a strong current affecting the visibility we decided not to snorkel either although some brave souls did jump off the top deck.

The music was a bit trancy and irritated us after a while but the horrendously expensive bottle of wine helped! It reminded us of the Willie T in the BVIs without the rude bits LOL. The funniest sight was the young women struggling with their fake eyelashes in the blustery conditions. Seriously do you need to wear them combined with full make up when you are only wearing cossies and cut off shorts?!? Was a fun way to spend an afternoon and we chatted to an Australian family who were in Fiji (in our resort) for a wedding the following day.

On our return to Musket Cove we paid our mooring ball fees, showered up and headed to the Sand Bar only to come across the wedding party who were having quite a raucous time of it downing cocktails and tequila shots. Hope they recovered OK for the wedding the following day LOL. We also enjoyed Craig’s company and hope our paths will cross again, perhaps in Vanuatu.

Thursday morning we got ourselves ready to head back towards the big island Vitu Levu the destination this time was Denarau Marina. We had, amazingly, managed to get a reservation for one week on a mooring ball within the marina. This apparently is pretty unheard of so felt quite smug! Of course the wind was stronger than expected – the forecasts really can’t be relied upon in this area – and it was pretty cloudy so spotting reefs wasn’t as straightforward. On the journey we came across the superyacht Senses doing some sea trials at 28 knots even with the helicopter on board.

We arrived around 1pm and were told to go around in circles as the boat on the mooring ball had not yet moved off (despite the deadline being 12 noon). OK so we stooged around and had a sandwich while we waited. The anchorage was actually pretty nice – wide open with only 15 feet of water in sand.

At around 2pm we were told to come into the marina and to come alongside a floating pontoon while they tried to resolve the problem. Well, the people on the mooring ball were not answering their phone and were off the boat. So we waited…and waited….and waited. This was frustrating as I had wanted to make use of the facilities in the afternoon to do the laundry etc but as we couldn’t leave the boat this wasn’t possible. We also knew that we could not stay on this floating pontoon overnight as it was where the tour boats docked. Finally the people on the boat came back and then there was an argument as they said the office had double booked the ball as they weren’t leaving until Friday. So then there is the question of what to do with us? Well some of these docks have permanent owners/residents and one of them had just headed out for a trip so we were moved over there for the night.

We were grateful to be finally secured so headed in for (lovely hot) showers and then walked the waterfront and also visited the shopping area. Port Denarau is a major tourist hub with many people being transported from the airport to here and then onto their tourist resort by ferry. So it is pretty lively.

We also watched some entertainment while we were having a look around.

We had happy hour drinks in Hard Rock Cafe (BYGOF) followed by a fantastic curry in the Indian restaurant. Was fab food but phew was a bit spicy, glad we had only ordered the medium varieties, as our lips were numb by the time we had finished LOL.

Moving on we were hailed from a table at Lulus, another hostelry on the waterfront. To find Paul (Bay of Islands Marina Manager), Nigel and Amanda (organisers of the Pacific Rally) who were in town to do a talk to cruisers on Friday about cruising to New Zealand. So we joined them for a beer before saying farewell and headed back towards Morphie. We had a final pontoonie in the Rhum Bar which overlooks the docks and then straight to bed. Had been a long and tiring day.

This morning, Friday, and I was up early and headed to the laundry room to snaffle the machines before anyone else turned up. I got lucky and managed to get both of the washers. I have just finished the laundry and we heard that we can’t stay on the dock but that the mooring ball will be vacated for us by noon today. So just after 12 we slipped from the dock and moved across and picked up our allocated mooring ball, our home for the next six nights.

This afternoon we will probably attend the cruisers chat and then take it from there. We hope to do a bit of exploring of this area before heading off towards Vanuatu. Port Denarau is closest to the shipping channel to leave Fiji and also has a customs presence so it makes sense to re-provision and leave from here. We are now watching for a weather window so this is potentially our last week in Fiji.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday morning we had a relatively slow start but soon got into the swing of things. It was time to give Morphie a proper spruce up. We had already washed her down and got all the salt off, so this time it was a thorough clean followed by a wax and polish. It took us most of the day but she sure looked lovely and we were getting lots of complimentary comments from passing traffic. In the evening we headed into the bar for sundowners and enjoyed chatting to some fellow cruisers.

Monday morning we decided to get a taxi into Lautoka (the second largest city in Fiji) armed with an optimistic shopping list. On the trip into town we were offered a touring half day out by the Indian driver but thought the price tag was a little steep so we declined his offer.

As we drove into town we went very close to the port and saw lots of commercial activity – from the rum distillery; the piles of sugar cane harvested and loaded; to the huge pile of pine chips that get exported to Japan to be made into paper. The town itself was interesting with the main area having four places of worship along the main road: a Mosque; a Sikh temple; a Methodist Church and a Hindu temple.

The Indian population is large here as originally they were imported to work in the sugar trade and is why Lautoka is known as Sugar City. The shops were bunched together along the roads, seemingly by industry. So we headed to a recommended auto store and managed to purchase a flexible hose for our grease gun – that will sort out that pesky squeak! One unexpected surprise was the amount of traffic, often in dual carriageways, and how the majority of the shops were operating behind prison bar-like grills. Makes you wonder about theft and security?!?

We then walked to the large supermarket and picked up most of the things from our list. I then left Richard sitting outside with our goods and crossed the road to the municipal fruit and vegetable market which was huge. I really liked that they had price tags on many of the goods on offer so I knew I was paying the correct local price and not an inflated ‘gringo’ one which had been my thought in Savusavu a couple of times.

We then picked up another taxi which appear to be the most normal way of getting around as there are certainly plenty of them parked up.

We got our new Fijian driver (most of them appear of Indian descent) to take us to a local bottle store and wait – then, fully provisioned up, we headed back to Morphie. The cab took us right to the dock and there was just the difficulty of getting the bags back onboard as it was a very low tide and the bow was almost five feet below the dock. We managed somehow, phew!

In the late afternoon we headed into the bar for sundowners and witnessed a boat dragging in the anchorage and the panic of everyone from that boat running for their dinghy and motoring fast out of the marina towards the last known position. We never heard the outcome, fingers crossed it was recovered undamaged. We then returned to Morphie and had a quiet evening back on board.

Tuesday morning and we were doing more boat jobs – this time Richard finished the cleaning and waxing of the transom while I cleaned down below. A top up of the water tank and we were all sorted to depart from Vuda Point Marina. We had a lazy afternoon and then went to the bar / restaurant and had a nice dinner as the sun went down.

Wednesday morning we were up early and I paid the (very reasonable) marina bill while Richard did engine checks. We then disconnected the power and water and stowed everything below. We then waited for the marina guys to come help us, as we were tied underwater to two mooring balls at the stern and needed to be released as well as for the balls to be moved out of our way as we reversed out of the tight spot. Come 11 am we were on our way working our way through the channel cut into the reef at low tide – and being met with a surprisingly strong current – but we got out safely.

Again it was a low wind day so we motored out along our course eyeballing for unexpected hazards. It was absolutely flat calm and we enjoyed spotting some beautiful tourist islands along the way.

After about five miles the wind picked up (from the wrong direction of course) and the sea became a bit lumpy, which meant that it wasn’t so easy to see the shallow areas, and slowed us down considerably. But we managed the turn through the multitude of reefs into Musket Cove and picked up the last mooring ball – that was a relief because it is almost 18m deep here and the anchoring spot would have been either a long way from land or just in front of a reef, neither option really appealed to be honest.

We quickly wiped all the salt off of Morphie and headed into the marina not spotting where the dinghies were supposed to be tied up. A friendly local helped us out – the entrance to the back of the pontoon which is used as the dinghy dock had been masked by a large monohull. We tied up and headed into the office, they gave us forms to complete and we then wandered the complex. We walked along the beach, visited the pool, the surprisingly well-stocked store, the coffee shop and the dive shop. We then went to the sand bar and enjoyed a few cold ones as the sun went down before returning to Morphie for a quiet night on board.

Thursday morning and we headed into the resort mid morning. We completed our check in with the marina and organised to become Life Members of the Yacht Club. This gives us access to free showers, garbage disposal, laundry facilities and the facilities of the relatively up-market resort. Great deal for only F$20 a night for the mooring ball (around £7). We also booked ourselves in to do a two-tank dive on Friday morning.

We then went to the coffee shop to meet John who runs the Go West Rally and is also in the anchorage. We purchased the Rocket Guides to Vanuatu and New Caledonia from him, which he loaded and authenticated straight onto my computer. So we can now start planning the next stage of our trip. We also need to check out the entry requirements for Vanuatu as, apparently, it takes a while to get the authorisations back.

Afterwards we took up residence by the pool and lounged around before we went bobbing – the first time for a long while.

We thoroughly enjoyed the pool (although it was a tad chilly when we got in the first time) and chatted to some Australians who are here for a wedding. Later on we picked up some fresh provisions from the store and headed to the sand bar which is where the cruisers hang out watching the sun go down. We enjoyed catching up with some people we had previously met on our travels and then returned to Morphie calling it a day quite early.

During the night for some reason I barely slept at all so decided not to go diving as I felt too weary. Richard went ashore very early this morning (Friday) to let the dive shop know and rebooked us for Saturday instead. As a resort they are presumably used to this and they were very laid back about it all. So that was a relief. Really looking forward to getting back in the water again.

The wind has dropped significantly today so we are just floating around our mooring ball and we are having a lazy time of it. Will probably go and try the beach later, depending on the tide, as it dries out quite a long way. Enjoying this period of R&R right now!

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday morning we were up really early and ashore by 9am and were met by Joe on the foreshore of Navuniivi Village. We walked up to his house and met a few visitors from other local villages who come together for Church on the first Sunday of the month. We also met their Reverend. This visit we took some simple toys for the kids and some hair slides for the girls along with some material for Mrs Joe (everyone called her that or Auntie which is clearly a term of respect). Then we headed out to wander around the village….these people are very poor but are very welcoming and happy.

We then headed to look at the original church which was damaged by Cyclone Winston. Although the Government generously supported villagers in rebuilding homes and donating food supplies for three months, all communal facilities have had to be managed by the villagers themselves. So it has taken time. But it is nearly finished and they have even decided to have proper pews rather than woven mats on the floor (as some of them are getting old and finding this a struggle). The church use drums to call villagers to service so here is Richard having a go the following day (and yes, he’s still wearing his sula).

We then went to the Community Centre (which also serves as the villagers’ cyclone shelter and the church right now) and met all the kids who were attending Sunday school. Mrs Joe had certainly worked fast giving out the hair slides as all of the girls were proudly wearing one and thanking Auntie Jan for the gift. Such wonderful children, beautifully behaved and no begging or requests for things. Truly humbling how they were so excited about very small inexpensive things.

We then returned to Joe’s house before heading to church. We were given a Methodist bible (written in English) and walked in to lots of Bulas (hello) and sat on the matted floor behind the choir who were all dressed in white. The kids were seated ahead of us and kept a close eye without getting into trouble for not paying attention LOL. One lady swiftly joined us and gave us the rundown on what was happening. When it was time for the hymns we stood up along with everyone else and listened to the beautiful harmonies. She then passed us a Fijian hymn book and showed us the words….we recognised the tune….and bravely attempted to sing along. It was surprisingly simple to follow and we were getting silent claps from the kids and approving looks from the congregation. What fun!

After the service we returned to Joes and left the other villagers to their communal feast. We had a simple but tasty lunch and we played with Joe’s nephew Ben who is five years old and showed him how to blow bubbles (part of the small gifts we had delivered). He was so excited and concentrated really hard on how to do it properly. Everyone walking past laughed and smiled enjoying Ben’s pleasure.

After lunch we said farewell and took Joe and Ben with us to visit Morphie. OMG the little boy’s face just lit up but he suddenly went really quiet and shy although that didn’t stop him trying out the helm seat. All children in the village have to board at their nearest school during the week so we were glad to be here at a weekend and got to meet them all. At the end of the visit we gave Joe some fish for his dinner (as we had returned with a local ‘pudding’ and ‘custard pie’ from Mrs Joe) and a citronella candle explaining that it deters the mosquitoes as he was fascinated by the concept. When Richard returned them to the beach he was met by all the other small boys and Ben was centre of attention regaling them with stories of the boat. We then had a quiet night onboard, feeling pretty tired from the heat of the day….not to mention our aching legs from sitting on the floor LOL.

Monday morning we returned to visit the lady from church as requested. She is Fijian (and is Joe’s sister) but worked as a missionary (with her Pastor husband) in Papua New Guinea for years and has since settled in Tasmania where her children were schooled. She built this house in her home village for her mum (who has since passed)and keeps it as her holiday home to return to her roots each year. Fascinating stories and the conversation flowed. Again it was Auntie all the way. She told us that everyone loved our singing (really?!?) and were very impressed by our pronunciation, apparently we were the talk of the village at the feast. We took tea with her (and gave her a small gift of some tea, noodles and biscuits) and had a lovely visit. We then headed over to Joe’s and chatted for a while before heading up the hill for a walk to see the view down into the bay.

Along the way we spotted ladies doing some mat weaving (which are sold elsewhere) and also spotted a baby wild pig tethered. Apparently wild pigs are a nuisance as they rut up the crops in their small plantations so the dogs are reared to kill them – and this baby must have been captured afterwards, probably to be fattened up for a special occasion. Joe had explained that the villages didn’t really eat reared pork, but they do eat wild pig.

Returning to Joes we were told that we were invited to lunch over the road with Auntie so we headed over there. To refuse was really not an option as the food had already been cooked and Mrs Joe joined us too. Afterwards we went to say goodbye to Joe, who was very sad. We promised to send photos to him and left….with Auntie and Mrs Joe in tow. We had to drag the dinghy into the water (as we had misjudged how far the tide would go out that day) and took them out to Morphie. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and there were big hugs all round when they left. That evening we got dink up onto the arch and plotted our course to VoliVoli Beach Resort for the morning.

Tuesday morning we picked up our anchor and blasted our horn (as requested) as we left around 10 am. People popped out from lots of village doors and we got a royal send off. Felt quiet emotional, these warm and welcoming people had really touched my heart. The sun was up so we could see the reefs along the route. We arrived at the resort at just gone 1pm (it was only 15 miles away) and tried to anchor in the 30 knot wind that had suddenly blown up out of nowhere. We weren’t happy and couldn’t really get set properly in the 20m depths in very windy conditions so decided to retrace our steps to Nananu-I-Thake where the anchorage was more sheltered. We got a great set in mud in this remote uninhabited bay and had a quiet afternoon and evening watching the sun going down. I was disappointed though not to get that promised dip in the pool!

Wednesday morning we picked up anchor and headed out towards Vatia Point. Again eyeball navigation through the reefs was necessary. We had our anchor down by 2.30 pm. There was whistling onshore from people trying to get our attention so we dropped dink and went ashore.

Although this is an Eco Lodge there wasn’t any services that day as there were no guests and people mainly use the facilities for picnics on the beach.. Richard found out that there was a store nearby (30 mins allegedly) so headed out with his minders, Joe, Joe and Jim (who all worked at the resort for their Auntie). I took a seat in the shade and enjoyed watching the kids play in the sea but only after the eldest had scoured the water for jelly fish and given them the all clear.

Eventually Richard returned, laden with beer supplies having persuaded a NZ guy to give them all a lift back as the walk there was actually almost an hour and he was concerned to get back before dark. So we all sat on the beach chatting and watching the sun going down having a cold long neck each (that’s the name for the larger size bottled Fiji Gold beer). It was a lovely day and we had met some really nice people.

Thursday morning we picked up anchor around 9am and headed out again through the reefs. Destination was Saweni Bay almost 30 miles away which was another eyeball navigation passage and with no wind, we were motoring again. There was a strange contraption along our route which, apparently, is dredging for material to make magnets. Would have thought that a hazard to shipping like this would at least have had AIS? We enjoyed the sights along the way of the barren hills fronted by mangrove with the occasional village and resort dotted along the foreshore.

We arrived at Lautoka and sailed through the commercial port, checking out the dry dock as we went through, and then into Saweni Bay.

We anchored in mud and got a good set. I went to have a wash and found no water coming out of the taps. What the heck? Checked the tank and it was down to 45% from 90% the day before. So we checked everything and realised that the pump was continuously working and where had all the water gone as the bilges were dry?!? So we swapped the main water pump out (in another pretty inaccessible area under the back of the stern cabin berth) and the taps worked again, but we were now down to 10%. OMG what now? Richard checked all the system and found a loose hose to the new hot water tank so fixed that. Everything was then working as it should but virtually a whole tank had been pumped out – but why hadn’t we heard the bilge pump?!? All we can think of was that as we were motor sailing all day with Richard on the helm and me on the deck spotting the reefs and markers, we were so engrossed we didn’t hear it. Certainly that’s the only explanation at this stage but it was clear we needed to go into a marina while we trouble shoot it (and fill up of course). There are three nearby but two were full because of the World ARC boats so we rang Vuda Point marina to get a berth. Thankfully they could fit us in so that was that. No hot showers for us just strip washes – of course we could have had a salt-water shower but didn’t fancy that as there are huge purple jellyfish around (and a few turtles too as that is their favourite food). Another reason to love turtles LOL.

So we had a quiet night in this peaceful anchorage and admit to having a few long necks before bed.

Friday morning we had breakfast, picked up our anchor, and motored around to Vuda Marina where we’ll stay for a little while. If you have been checking the tracker you’ll see that we have crossed the top of Viti Levu and it all looks so simple – see the image below.

Now compare this with the image from Ovitalmap showing our route through the reefs. Pretty scary or what?!?

At Vuda we went straight through the narrow channel (having been told it was clear) and was taken to our berth. Bows to a tiny dock with two long stern lines tied to lazy lines. Kind of Mediterranean mooring with a Fiji twist! The space was relatively small but we got in easily enough between two unoccupied boats so we were all set. I checked us in and Richard got the water hose sorted. He started to fill the now almost empty tank (but no further leakage thankfully) and we then connected to the power. Afterwards I headed to the laundry area laden down while Richard continued to check out the plumbing….finding a leaky connection to the new pump and changed an o-ring which completely solved the problem. Yay!

We then washed Morphie down and climbed off her (which isn’t easy at any stage of the tide) and having had a busy day we went out for sundowners and had an enjoyable dinner in the marina’s Boatshed bar and restaurant. There was live music too which was nice.

This morning, Saturday, we were up early and headed to the resort next door for the weekly market hoping for fresh fruit and vegetables. But it was really an ‘artisan’ market more aligned to a visiting cruise ship than for cruisers. Never mind…. We then returned to Morphie and I’m blogging while Richard is cleaning the transom. This afternoon we are heading to the bar to watch the rugby – the Fijians are playing the Maori All Blacks (here in Fiji but sadly too far away for us to get to see the game live). So that should be a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday night the rain eased so we headed ashore to listen to the band. We ended up joining a big group of people and had a really nice social evening.

Monday morning and it was time to do last minute jobs….so we filled the water tank, I headed out for some last minute provisions, and Richard did his engine checks etc. We then headed into town for lunch with Karen and Paul (SV Gigi). At 4pm we said sad farewells to Karen and Paul and waved them and Savusavu goodbye. It is unlikely we’ll see them again any time soon but hope to cross paths with them at some point, perhaps in Australia. Fingers crossed as we had really enjoyed being back in their company again.

So on a lovely blue sunny afternoon we slipped away from the dock and motored towards Passage Point where we anchored for the night behind the reef. It wasn’t so easy to spot the reef at high tide so we were thankful for our previous waypoint to keep us safe. About 30 minutes later JP and Julie (SV Eleuthera) turned up and we spoke on the radio and made arrangements for the following morning as we were buddy boating to the next anchorage. We turned in really early enjoying being back on anchor again.

Tuesday morning – at 4am – we picked up anchor and headed out in the dark following our tracks through the reef and into the Koro Sea. Here’s Eleuthera underway in the early morning light.

The sea was pretty flat but sadly there was little wind so we motored on and around the Namena Barrier Reef before we turned towards Makogai Island which is part of Fiji’s Lomaiviti Island Group.

And Richard caught a fish!!! He was very happy so I quickly filleted it and shared the good news with Eleuthera on the radio.

Nearing the island we worked our way in through the pass between the reefs and then into the anchorage to find it was 70 feet deep. We dropped our hook but it really wouldn’t set so we picked up and moved again. Then we dropped in 60 feet but this time got wrapped on a coral bombie so we tried for the third time and, thankfully, got a good set. Had been a long day as we weren’t settled until 2.30 pm having covered 51 miles.

We didn’t fancy going ashore at this stage but were invited to Eleuthera for sundowners (and to enjoy the ceviche that JP had made out of some of our catch earlier that day) so we headed over there at 5pm. Was a nice evening in the cockpit and was the first time we had been on their boat – she is huge in comparison to Morphie. I was particularly jealous of the washing machine on board!

Wednesday morning and we picked up JP and Julie from their boat to go ashore. Was a bit dodgy going to the land through all the coral bombies as the foreshore was full of them. Finally we made it and quickly donned our sulas (over our shorts).

We were met by Paul who, with due reverence, accepted our gift of kava (but no formal sevusevu ceremony) and then took us for a guided tour of Dalice village.

It really wasn’t a proper village more like a few houses for the workers who worked for the Government doing conservation work at the Marine Research Station. They are rearing leatherback turtles for release into the wild and also breeding giant clams to be repositioned back onto the reefs. This was fascinating in itself seeing the process, especially when we realised that the giant clams take up to 40 years to get to a decent size.

The island itself has an interesting history as this was a leprosy quarantine colony and housed the Makogai Leprosy Hospital from 1906 to 1969. The patients were segregated according to their gender and, if they were found together, would face time in one of the many jails. There are ruins around testament to this fascinating history especially when you see the graves of the Sisters and Fathers that undertook this difficult work (and who often then succumbed to the disease themselves). But it didn’t appear that life was perhaps all grim as there was even ruins of the original cinema building. And in fact they called this the Island of Hope at the time.

After the hospital was evacuated (with the patients moved to the mainland) the army came in and bulldozed the majority of the buildings making the island deliberately uninhabitable for 30 years before the research station was allowed to move in. In 2016 Cyclone Winston (a category 5 storm) hit the island and it was devastated with the few workers running for their lives across the top of the hill to avoid the storm surge which came above the tops of the houses. We found this a really interesting visit.

Afterwards the workers helped Richard and JP lift our dinghy over to deeper water to avoid the bombies. Assistance was very gratefully received.

In the evening JP and Julie came to us for dinner – only a simple pasta meal – but was good fun.

Thursday morning we were joined in the anchorage by SV Dazzler and we said hi to them as they headed ashore. We decided to stay aboard and have a lazy day which was really nice. Later on we headed over to Eleuthera for dinner (which was fantastic including cakes for desert, thanks Julie) and said more sad farewells as we were now heading off in separate directions. Hopefully one day we’ll see each other again.

Friday morning at 6am we picked up anchor (heaving a sigh of relief that it hadn’t got wrapped around a bombie during the time we had been there) and followed our track back out through the reef. As we motored out of the anchorage the sun came up and we found that the reef was just visible with waves breaking over it but the depth of the water was not possible to gauge in the poor early morning light.

The wind was almost non-existent to start with so we motor-sailed towards Viti Levu (the main island of Fiji). We took the opportunity of making water as we went along. About 11 am we started to cross into the narrow passages and chicanes through the reefs.

Some of these reefs are marked and we had waypoints from Curly combined with some from Karen and Paul but we kept a good lookout as we knew that the charting here isn’t complete. We topped our plotter up by using Google Earth images on Ovitalmap as another check. One uncharted reef was on Google Earth so we knew about it. But a second wasn’t on either device – luckily we got quite good at spotting the different hues of the water!

Finally at 3pm we had anchor down opposite Navuniivi Village, Viti Levu Bay.

Safely on anchor we were able to pick up a Digicel signal for the first time since Savusavu so caught up with all the news. Sadly we found out that a close and dear friend had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away whilst on a sailing trip – RIP Chris, you will be sorely missed by everyone who knew you. Glad you got to meet Morpheus and spend some time in the BVIs with us before we went cruising. We have many happy memories of our times together. In the light of this news, feeling a bit stunned, we decided not to go ashore and raised a glass in his honour instead.

Saturday morning we got ourselves dressed up and headed across to the village. We were met by a couple of guys on shore who dealt with our dinghy for us. The shoreline here dries out completely so they were very kind in allowing us to not get wet, then took dink out and tied him to a re-bar which had been embedded in the black volcanic sand. This meant that we would not be stranded high and dry later at low tide. That was a lovely welcome!

We then were escorted up to meet the chief Joe and his wife. We were also joined by his nephew. We passed over the kava and they made up the bowl and so we had our first formal ceremony sitting on the floor of the outside verandah to their property. The kava (its real name is yaqona) is the traditional ceremonial drink made from pounded roots of a local pepper plant mixed with water in the tanoa bowl and is consumed from a communal coconut shell. There are also chants and claps that you have to do and, thankfully, we managed to get through our first sevusevu without a hitch!

We also gave over some small foodstuffs to the Chief’s wife who reciprocated with three large papaya picked from their tree and some oranges. The Chief decided Richard was the King so he ended up drinking four huge bowls while I managed to get away with just a single small ladylike bowl LOL.

We chatted for a while and sent Paul and Karen’s best wishes to them (as they had told us about their times here in the village) and, lo and behold, they got out some photos of them all together. They are clearly looking forward to seeing them again at some point this season.

The nephew showed Richard how they mash up the kava roots into powder to make the grog and revealed that they often don’t have the roots as they are so expensive, using other parts of the plant instead which they purchase in a cheaper powdered form. They were delighted with our bunch as it was ‘good quality’. Phew! Bit worried about that.

Whilst we were talking to the chief some kids came along to see us appearing quite fascinated by us (and it was clear one of them got a ticking off for not looking me in the eye when I asked them their name!). We were certainly glad we were dressed appropriately for the occasion although I have to say a skirt over the top of a pair of shorts is not the most comfortable attire (but needed for the dinghy trip / landing).

During the conversation we were invited to go to the village on Sunday which, in Fiji, is a great honour. So tomorrow we are going in to meet the Chief, go to church as his guest, and then join his family for lunch. We will also be given a tour of the village as everyone will be home on Sunday to welcome us. Really looking forward to the experience, these people are just so friendly.

So we came back to Morphie and quickly changed and rinsed our clothes out ready for another wear tomorrow as this is our Fijian finest attire and the only things we have suitable for the events planned.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday afternoon we headed into the Paradise Resort for the final time and had lunch accompanied by a few cold ones enjoying the peace of the gardens. We also tried to pay our bill which bore no resemblance to what we had signed for during our stay. So we asked the manager to go away and try again which she did, and again, it was incorrect. I was relieved that I had actually kept a note of our daily expenditure otherwise it would have been very difficult to get this sorted. Finally we got to a mutually acceptable figure and I paid it – but this was very hard work! We said our farewells and headed back to the boat before dark and had an early night.

Wednesday morning we slipped away from our mooring ball as the sun came up just after 6am and passed a tug and a huge barge going in the opposite direction. We experienced much stronger winds than forecast (surprise, surprise) but the seas weren’t too lumpy and at least we were heading downwind. We had a great sail and thoroughly enjoyed it making very good time. Was grateful to have engine support as we approached the reef marker at Passage Point this time!

At 2pm we pulled into Copra Shed Marina and were very lucky to get the last available berth. Although we had made an advance booking people often don’t leave when they originally plan so “reservations” are really just “expressions of interest” rather than confirmed places. Was lovely to be back, knowing that we were safe from the forthcoming blow.

We cleaned all the salt off of Morphie, got ourselves linked up to the electricity supply and then went for sundowners and met up with some fellow cruisers before having a reasonably early night. Was great to see JP and Julie (SV Eleuthera) and Paul and Karen (SV Gigi) again.

Thursday morning we headed into town as we needed fresh produce and some more drinking vouchers from the ATM. We also met a few of the World ARC participants as the anchorage was filling up fast. There were a few mooring balls left way up the creek but that was it.

There was also some bother on the dock here when one of the WARC boats insisted that they had booked a berth and didn’t like the space they were offered so they kicked up a stink and, eventually, one of the others moved but it surely must have created some ill-feeling amongst the fleet. Certainly there were lots of derogatory comments being made near to us on the dock about the situation!

During the day we also met Lars from SV Sweet Dream (another fellow Island Packeteer) who are participants on the WARC. So that made three of us here in Savusavu so we quickly made arrangements for a mini Island Packet get together in the evening over a few beers. It was a lot of fun and we were joined by a number of other cruisers and WARC participants in the Copra Shed Marina bar. Here are the Island Packeteers altogether….from left to right Karen and Paul (SV Gigi), us in the middle, then Laura and Lars (SV Sweet Dream).

Later on people drifted away in various groupings and we headed out for dinner with Paul and Karen to the Grace Road Kitchen (the fantastic Korean restaurant) for another meal which definitely didn’t disappoint.

Friday morning and we were on board looking at possible routings for when we leave Savusavu again. We also popped into town again for some more bits. On our return we saw that a number of the mooring balls had been vacated as a tug was pushing a huge barge into the anchorage – and Sweet Dream was one of them. Later on the boats moved back into the anchorage ready to reclaim their mooring balls and it became clear that the ball Sweet Dream had been on was no longer a viable option. The wind was whistling around and the tide was ripping and they were not having a fun time……and of course by this time all the mooring balls had been taken by some last-minute WARC arrivals and Sweet Dream had been permanently displaced. They were clearly stressed and upset and had to anchor out amongst the reefs. So sadly we didn’t see them again. Was a very bad experience for them and I think they may even have touched bottom a few times whilst circling…. Felt very sorry for them.

In the afternoon we spent some time onboard Gigi (who have spent many seasons here in Fiji) looking at their waypoints and routes through the coral reefs which gave us a lot more confidence going forward (especially as there are many coral bombies and rocks that are uncharted).

In the evening we went ashore and met JP, Julie, Karen and Paul again and listened to the live music. During the evening an English tourist, Nicky, came over to chat. It was clear she was trying to avoid the attentions of a few drunken Fijian men so we welcomed her into our ‘gang’ LOL. Was amazed that she was travelling alone here in Fiji as you couldn’t say that the area was particularly disability friendly (she is in a wheelchair). The pavements are cracked and broken with lots of potholes and the Police had already told her she was not to push herself along the roads even though the pavements are not suitable and the kerbs are too high for her to manage. Anyway, at the end of the evening, Paul escorted her back to her accommodation to ensure she got there safely before we all called it a night.

Whilst out and about the day before I had found a beauty salon / hairdressers tucked away up an alley so had booked an appointment for Saturday morning and the girls had decided that they would join me for a girlie morning out. So at 9.30 am on Saturday morning we all met up and headed to the salon. It was an experience especially the unexpected cold water wash on the lay down chair tucked behind the counter. Also the hair dye (which was labelled mid-brown and I’d purchased it myself) turned out to be Fiji Brown (which is actually almost black). Never mind, everyone in the salon said I now had Fiji hair and were fascinated by how similar my curls were to them…..quite funny. Whilst I was there I also had my eyebrows threaded and the whole experience cost me around £15 – bargain or what?!?

Moving on we headed to the Sugarlicious cafe and had tea and cake. Huge portions but absolutely delicious! Was a fun time.

We returned to the marina (but not before the Police had warned Nicky about being in the road again sigh) and we parted company. I rushed back to Morphie as the heavens had now opened. It poured down and continued for the whole day. We sat in the cockpit inputting waypoints for a few hours and deciding on our route. So the plan is now to head out to Makogai Island and then to cross the remainder of the channel to travel inside the reef along the north coast of Viti Levu. So was useful time spent on a rainy afternoon.

In the evening, even though it continued to pour down, we headed to the bar for a couple of cold ones and ended up with a takeaway pizza back on board.

This morning, Sunday, and a few WARC boats have moved on. Which is, in my opinion, a bit premature as the sea state will be rough / very rough for a couple of days yet. And a P&O cruise ship has turned up.

The tenders are coming to the docks near us (having evicted some of the yachts) and it was fun watching them setting everything up for the masses to arrive later – they had even decorated the dock and there were a band of local musicians waiting to greet people. All very jolly!

We then headed out to the main road and enjoyed wandering around amongst all the new tourists and I even bought a small bracelet for myself from one of the local stalls which are only there on cruise ship days.

It remains rainy and cloudy but it is lovely to be sitting here down below listening to the local band playing – the last tender is at 3pm so I guess the peace will be restored by then. In the meantime there are lots of people everywhere and, when I tried to get back to Morphie, I was told not to jump the queue for the tender as they are using the same ramp. Their face was a picture when I said I was returning to my yacht! The cruise ship is registered in London so the tender captains are curious about us as they can see our red ensign and we have already had a few conversations with them today too. Oh yes and the marina security guard says he loves my Fiji hair LOL.

Tonight we are intending to go ashore to listen to the live music (if the rain stops for long enough for them to play). Going forward we think we may be able to depart on Tuesday but we will just keep watching the weather to make sure it is a good time to go, so not written in stone but looking good at this stage. So here is my final photo of the day…..spot the Japanese pirate!

Bye for now

Jan