Day 40-45 - Wednesday thru Monday, October 4-9
We set sail from SavuSavu around midnight and sailed all day Wednesday, October 4 to Nananu-I-Thake Island off the north shore of Fiji’s main island Viti Levu arriving around sunset. It was a beautiful lagoon and we spent the evening resting and admiring the scenery.
We woke up the next morning (Thursday October 5) and after taking some sunrise pictures, left for a 10-11 hour sail along the coast of Viti Levu. It was a challenging sail because the channel between the island coast and the barrier reef was rather narrow. We had gusty winds which also provided a challenge, so it was a fun yet intense sail at times and took about 11 hours.
We arrived at Denarau Island in Nadi Bay and anchored around sunset. There were lots of boats anchored in the bay as this is a popular spot for sailors and tourists.
The next morning (Friday, October 6), we took the dinghy into Denarau Port to check it out. It offers lots of shops and restaurants and is a bit touristy. Xavier had an appointment to have Kanoa lifted out of the water and the hull cleaned (This is required before he can enter New Zealand and clear customs.) He received word that the lift mechanism had failed and they needed to cancel the appointment. He had also met with Customs who let us know that if we left Fiji on Sunday as we had planned, it would cost an extra $100 for the agents to come on board and provide us with our exit documents. Hmmmm….. we weren’t too keen on that option.
We had lunch at Bonefish restaurant and pondered our next moves. In the meantime, Xavier received word that he could have the hull cleaned on Wednesday, October 11th. After some consideration, we landed on the scenario to stay in Fiji until Wednesday. This would solve the hull cleaning issue as well as the extra payment to customs for leaving over a weekend.
Our new plan was to sail that afternoon (Friday) to a nearby island called Malolo, then take our time and sail up the coast doing a little island hopping. We anchored near a sandbar, which was fun to explore.
Malolo Island is popular with water sports enthusiasts. We saw various versions of Hydrofoil boards (sail, surf, kite, foil and electric powered). One was being pulled by a boat. Another was an electric-propelled e-board. And the other was a sailboard with kite and sail. It was fun to watch these athletes although their quickness made it difficult to take pictures.
On Saturday, October 7, we sailed north to Waya Island and Yalobi Bay.
Once anchored, we took a dinghy ride to the nearby village to say hello and greet the chief, Jimmy. It is tradition to offer the village chief “kava”, which is used by the islanders for social rituals, religious ceremonies and medicinal purposes. He was busy with a town meeting and not available. We visited with his wife Betsy and were taken on a tour of the Navara Primary School by some local children.
We enjoyed dinner on the boat and another sunset that didn’t disappoint. Once the night sky was dark, we gaped at the amazing stars, planets and the Milky Way. Mickey has a great mobile app called Stellarium that shows the heavenly bodies. It’s interesting to see what’s accessible in the southern hemisphere.
The next morning, Sunday October 8, we took the dinghy to the sandbar between the two islands that, at low tide, is accessible to cross not only between the islands but also to the other side. We looked for shells and coral on the beach, then enjoyed a fabulous snorkel in the nearby reef. There were various corals, lots of colorful fish and other underwater delights.
We pulled up anchor and headed south for a few-hours sail to another island called Yanuya. The winds were perfect for the spinnaker. So we all took our places and hoisted the huge, red sail into place. It is truly impressive with the wind in that huge sail.
We arrived to Yanuya Island and anchored in a secluded spot between two islands. Once again, it’s such a marvel to see all these beautiful islands. Curious note, one of the islands nearby is where they filmed the movie Castaway.
One item of note was that with all the sunsets we have witnessed and photographed, this night exceeded then all! These are all pictures of the same sunset and these are captured as seen, no camera filters or manipulation whatsoever.
On Monday, October 9th, we relaxed with a morning snorkel on the nearby reef then set sail for another small island, Mana. However… another day, another change of plans....
We were almost to Mana Island and around 11am Xavier got an email from Denarau Marina that they wanted to move the hull cleaning to Thursday. This was way too late in the week and he called them to discuss. This would put our planned arrival to New Caledonia into jeopardy.
He negotiated a 1pm Wednesday commitment but we knew that it would most likely be later in the day, meaning we would not be able to depart for New Caledonia until late Wednesday night, still putting our planned arrival to New Caledonia into jeopardy.
The day before Xavier had gotten a message from another marina, Vuda Point, that they had a cancelation and a slot may be available today, Monday. He called and yes they could get us in that afternoon but we would have to be there by 2:30pm. It was already noon and we were 18 nautical miles away. The wind was favorable and we blasted across the ocean in a little over 2 hours from the outer islands to Vuda Point in time for the cleaning.
Afterward we moored at Vuda Marina, finished cleaning, enjoyed a nice dinner at the marina, and yes another spectacular sunset.
The new plan is to still head down to Denarau Island tomorrow morning to restock provisions (Vuda Point has no grocery or Customs Port of Entry). We will then finalize our exit documents first thing the morning of Wednesday,October 11th and immediately depart to New Caledonia by 10am. We then will be back on schedule to arrive in New Caledonia midday Monday October 16th.
Happy Fiji Day! (Yes, tomorrow is another holiday)
No comments:
Post a Comment