Category Archives: Fiji

September 13 – 14, 2014

16 42.143 S 177 34.316 E

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2042.143S%20177%2034.316E

Posting by Barb:

We left Blue Lagoon and made it all the way to the Northern Yasawas to Yasawairara. This was a new sailing destinations for us as well. The anchorage was the prettiest we have encountered in Fiji so far with miles of white sand and turquoise, crystal clear blue water. Within minutes of anchoring Pete and Mel were already talking to a local, John that rowed to our boat , and they arranged for some Papayas to be delivered in the morning and with any luck a fish for the evening meal.

This would be Pete and Mel’s first experience with the traditional Fijian Sevu Sevu. I think Pete was a little anxious about it. The Sevu Sevu here was a little more elaborate than the last  one as the ageing chief did say quite a few words in Fijian and did some claps in between and then we were welcomed. The kids swarmed us and all wanted to get their pictures taken with us and then help put the dinghy back in the water. They were genuinely beautiful, welcoming, friendly people without the constant requests to buy their ‘dollar store’ trinkets.

Once we were back on the boat, John showed up with a nice size $20 Trevally which we cooked for supper. The first fresh fish meal we have had on this trip despite tour attempt to fish using NZ fancy, colorful lures given to us by Pete and trolled behind our boat during every passage. 

We spent a day exploring the island and taking lots of pictures and talking to the locals who were gathering food for the Sunday feast. We arranged to buy some papayas from one local and when we picked it up it was given to us in a basket woven from fresh Pandanu leaves. The basket held 6 Papayas (6 more than I ever wanted, not my favorite fruit) and some Cassava so I could make Cassava fries. We had a social night BBQ on our boat with our new friends on SV Alaeris with Alex and Iris. They had decided to go cruising after they survived the 9/11 attack while they were living in New York. The experience changed their outlook on life and they traded their complicated, busy lives for the simple cruising life. Part of the blue water sailing experience is meeting fascinating, wonderful people;  lives that will probably never touch again!

Our second anchorage was in the large bay, a half an hour motor but far enough away so we could play on land or water without disrespecting the quiet Sunday Fijian tradition. At this anchorage we were invited to share a beach fire with a foursome on a Catamaran. Our first beach fire in Fiji! As we were dousing the fires and getting ready to leave we joked about the possibility of losing a dinghy as the tide had gone up. It wasn’t very funny when we looked at the shoreline and a dinghy was missing, OURS! The captain lost our dinghy. Luckily it had only drifted further down the beach but it was a sobering moment.

September 6 – 12, 2014

Posting by Barb:

Allison left on Friday September 5^th and Pete and Mel arrived on Saturday September 6^th. Pete and Mel are our good friends from NZ. We wondered whether we would still be good friends after sharing the 37 feet of space we call home.  And yes we are still good friends and we had a great time. Pete’s sailing background was a great help and he took over some of my responsibilities but unfortunately Denny had to remain being the Captain and all the work that goes with that. Mel stuck an ‘avoid seasickness’ patch behind her ear and she was good to go, miracle little drug!! She cooked up some great meals in our little galley, not something she may have ever imagined doing!! For a short visit in Fiji the only sailing option that has some daily stops is the Yasawa islands so we ended up going to a few of the same spots that we did with Mike and Allison.

We started them off with the rolliest anchorage, the famous octopus Resort. Mel survived that although I think that may have made her a little nervous. From there it was to the Manta Ray resort to swim with the Mantas. Luckily it was full moon couple of days again so that usually improves the chances of seeing the majestic fish. We moaned at having to do the dawn snorkel again and but it was worth it to swim with the Mantas again. It is still a thrill for me to be in the water with these huge fish (Denny was running the dinghy for the drift dive) but I get just as much pleasure to see the reaction of our friends who have never experienced such and adventure. 

From there it was northward to a protected bay. The wind was blowing hard on the nose (Mel now knows what that means) so it was nice to duck into the bay. There were 2 resorts there; White Sandy Beach and Korovou Eco tour resort (both resorts looking a little tired and neither had any toilet paper in the public washrooms; supply ship must have been delayed) . Aside from the usual Happy Hour at the resort bar we took a hike to Honeymoon Beach. Who could resist a walk on a beach with a name promising love and romance?  What we encountered there were hundreds of Hermit crabs all nestled and cozy together. Maybe that’s what they mean by Honeymoon beach. As I am fascinated by this little critter, and have tons of pictures to prove it, I did a little research on this. And it is possible that they were gathering for a shell swap. They basically get together and queue up to swap their shell homes for bigger homes. Of course not all end up ‘moving up’ and some become homeless and bury themselves in the sand until they find a home.

The next stop was naturally Blue Lagoon with another ‘on the nose’ passage. The wind was howling when we arrived but the anchorage was quite calm. We did finally meet up with our good friends Steve and Nona on SV Corvidae and had them over for dinner on our boat. We managed to cook a meal to please the Pescatarian, meat lovers, spicy lovers and the non-spicy food lovers with our, slowly becoming famous, Mexican dinner.  And of course there was Happy Hours at the resort.

August 23 – 25, 2014

17 46.354 S 177 11.090 E

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:17%2046.354S%20177%2011.090E

Posting by Barb:

We finally arrived at Musket Cove and we were looking forward to visiting the famous Marina. Most yachties end up going to Musket Cove at some point while cruising Fiji. So we were excited about being here. Anchoring turned out to be quite a feat as there wasn’t much room between the numerous yachts already there and the various, well marked coral reefs. Our first anchorage was fine until the wind changed and our boat swung within a few feet of choral. Nice to be able to look down from the side of the boat and see the reef fish but it was too close for comfort. Our second anchor attempt landed us too close to a large Catamaran that was not happy about having us so near. The third anchorage attempt was a success! We spent an evening at the renowned Musket Cove bar. I don’t know what happened to the cheap beer prices as written in the Fiji compendium because at $8.50 a beer, Musket Cove turned out to be the most expensive beer watering stop of our trip. We spent a day walking the beach and stopped at all the resorts on Malolo Lailai. I think, at this point, we were ‘resorted out’ which most people would say  is probably not a bad complaint to have. We didn’t make it to the planned Musket Cove Sunday BBQ as we got an invite to have dinner at ‘Huck’. Heidi was an outstanding host and managed to feed 10 of us with an exceptional feast. Our donation was Denny’s famous Potato Salad which is always a hit. After many bottles of wine, Rum and beer we safely made our way back to our boat. Well truthfully we don’t drink and dinghy so Denny only consumed his favorite drink, diet coke. The next day we spent snorkeling on a nearby beautiful sand bar with some shallow coral. Some of us were feeling a little groggy from the night before so it was a leisurely day in the water. Musket Cove was a little disappointing and we were all ready to sail on. We made a day stop at Kadavu Island so that Allison and Mike could see turtles up close and personal before arriving at their final ‘Cruising Fiji’ destination, back to Vuda Point Marina.

Three fantastic weeks of cruising with Mike and Allison and a lifetime of memories and to sum it all up:

• Sailed and motored over 250 miles including a day with 35 knots of wind
• Experienced 10 different anchorages on 9 different Islands
• Enjoyed the amenities of over 10 Fijian resorts
• Walked many white, untouched by footprint, beaches
• Snorkeled and saw many reef fish and colorful corals
• Swam with 2 meters large Manta rays
• Fished and caught a Dorado, skipjack Tuna and 3 Spanish Mackerels
• Ate in countless, fine restaurants
• Had a few, more than a few socials (Happy and Nappies) with other cruisers
• Hiked a fantastic , ‘lookout’ hike
• Enjoyed a Popcorn and movie night on a big screen outside in the cockpit thanks to our new palm size, energy efficient movie projector.
• Cooked gourmet meals in a little galley
• Visited the big town, Latoka on a local open air bus
• Toured the open air local fruit and vegetable market
• Participated in a Sevu Sevu ceremony
• Drank Kava
• Had a good time in 37 feet of living space called home on Landfall

August 18

17 07.055 S 177 12.927 E

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:17%2007.055S%20177%2012.927E

Posting by Barb:

From Blue Lagoon we made our way south and anchored at a little, tired resort. It offered a great deck for the sunset views. The resort may have been a little run down but the staff working there made up for it. They played with

the children of the resort patrons as if they were their own children. We loved the bartender ‘Missy’ who was full of life, love and laughter. He didn’t even flinch when we inadvertently left without paying and had dinghy back after we realized the tab had been

left unpaid. The highlight for Mike and Ally was the Kava ceremony. Sadly, they weren’t going to experience Kava through any Sevu Sevu ceremony so they were invited to participate along with resort patrons. There wasn’t even a glint of concern that we were not staying at the resort but they welcomed our presence. Mike and Allison hung around the kava bowl for second, thirds, fourths… It did numb the lips and tongue with the

initial drink. Other than that I felt no other side effect until we went to sleep. Yes, we all had a fantastic sleep full of dreams and Allison was lethargic all of the next day. Kava hangover!!

We did some snorkeling here as we have done at most all anchorages but here we saw the large clams. That was a treat as well!

Our large clam