MV Dirona travel digest for Fiji 2013


Show Fiji 2013 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

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7/11/2013: En route to Fiji
Bringing down our Tongan courtesy flag as we leave the country.
7/11/2013: Chart warning
A small warning icon on the chart of Late reads "Caution: Mariners should exercise caution when navigating in Tongatapu Group or Vava'u Group waters as FADs mave been moored in outlying deep water locations. The FADs (Fish Attracting Devices) are unlit and painted orange; concentrations of fishing vessels may be found in their vicinity".
7/12/2013: Conditions
Conditions are light-to-moderate and improving. Late yesterday afternoon and into the evening seas were 8-9' on 8 seconds, mostly on the beam. Late last night the waves backed around to the stern quarter and are a little smaller and farther apart at 7' on 9 seconds.
7/12/2013: Approaching Lau Group
Fiji's Lau Group is a barrier of small islands and atolls strung along the country's eastern waters. Most have no navigation lights and passing through them was particularly challenging before the advent of GPS. We'll be passing through Oneata Passage, with about two miles from land on either side. The timing is such that we'll pass through in the middle of a dark night, but the radar overlay is indicating that the islands are roughly where charted. The other main concern is local fishboats that won't show up on radar and generally are unlit.
7/13/2013: Entering Koro Sea
We've cleared the Lau Group and are new entering the Koro Sea at the south end of Fiji waters. .
7/13/2013: Wind
The wind speed was below ten knots with calm seas in the lee of the Lau Group. But now the wind has picked up to twenty with seas of about six feet on seven seconds on the beam. We expect this is likely what we'll see much of the rest of the way.
7/13/2013: Suva lights
We're within a day of Lautoka, on Viti Levu's southwest coast. To starboard we can see the lights of Fiji's capitol city Suva, on the southeast coast of Viti Levu.
7/14/2013: Mt. High Valor
The Mt. High Valor, visible on AIS, was the first traffic we've seen at sea since Beveridge Reef. And as happens suprisingly often given how little traffic we see, we were on a near-collision course. We altered course starboard to gain 2nm clearance.
7/14/2013: Another course change
We altered course again to starboard to gain 2nm clearance to the second boat we saw. At night, we like to use 2nm as a minimum separation if we can get it.
7/14/2013: Bow watch
Spitfire on his traditional bow watch for our final day at sea.
7/14/2013: Navula Passage
Entering Navula Passage. We'll be inside the fringing reef after this. Conditions have been reasonable most of the day, but the winds picked up to the high 20s on the beam as we neared the entrance.
7/14/2013: Lautoka
Lautoka, where we will clear through, is known as "Sugar Town" for it's sugar mills. This smoke is from one of those mills.
7/14/2013: Sunset
Our first Fijian sunset. We've got the quarantine flag out and will clear through tomorrow morning.
7/15/2013: Soot
Soot from the mills settles on any boat anchored at Lautoka. We noticed the soot a bit last night, and we were covered in it by morning. Oh well, the boat needs a good wash to clean off the saltwater from the run from Tonga anyway.
7/15/2013: Lautoka Wharf
Tied off at Queen's Wharf to pick up the clearance officials. We need to transport them to Dirona to clear through.
7/15/2013: Pilot boats
Pilot boats at Port Lautoka. Our tender is behind the yellow boat on the left.
7/15/2013: Clearing through
Filling out paperwork to clear through. From left to right are representatives from Biosecurity, Customs/Immigration and Health. Our agent, Michelle Philp of Baobab Marine, is to Jennifer's right. Michelle did an excellent job of getting us cleared through smoothly and efficiently: we landed at the wharf shortly before 8:30am and had cleared through and transported everyone back to the wharf before 10am.
7/15/2013: Downtown Lautoka
Looking down Naviti Street in downtown Lautoka. The city was larger than we expected, almost on the scale of Papeete, and the streets were busy with traffic and pedestrians. We liked the bustle and the activity. And the people here are incredibly friendly--we get a hearty "Bula!" (hello) from pretty much everyone who passes.
7/15/2013: Vodafone
At Vodafone in downtown Lautoka to get a cellular data dongle. The data prices in Fiji are excellent: a dongle with 1Gig of data is about $15USD. Additional data is about $5-$8 per gig, depending on the quantity purchased. 110Gig is $60USD. It's all prepaid with no contract--we just buy the dongle then top up over the web. Much simpler and cheaper than the US.
7/15/2013: Digicell
Digicell is the other major cellular carrier in Fiji. We've heard they have differing coverage areas, so to get the maximum coverage, we also got a MicroSIM for one of our cell phones. Vodafone mentioned they had a cutter to make a MicroSIM from a standard SIM and we assumed it was some sort of machine, but maybe not. Here is Digicell's MicroSIM cutter in action. The SIM and 3Gig of data cost $20USD.
7/15/2013: Fiji Bitter
Lunch at Fins restuarant in the Tanoa Waterfront Hotel. We had the local beer, Fiji Bitter, with our meal and quite enjoyed it. Dirona is visible as a small spec beyond us, between the blue car and the street sign.
7/15/2013: Lautoka Market
After lunch, we went to shopping at the Lautoka Municipal Market.
7/15/2013: Choices
The market was large and well-stocked with wonderfully fresh and diverse produce. We bought so much we had to take a taxi home to carry it all.
7/15/2013: Market haul
Our purchases from the market, drying after a bleach bath: pineapple, carrots, tomato, lime, lemon, onion, cucumber, garlic, ginger, coriander and hot peppers.
7/16/2013: Dirty
After a day tied off at the port and then overnight at anchor, our dinghy was filthy, as was Dirona. Were it not for the soot, we would have stayed longer at Lautoka and visited town some more. But we wanted to get somewhere and get the boat cleaned up.
7/16/2013: Mud
With the dinghy and Dirona covered in soot, even the anchor and rode was not spared: the rode came up so thick with mud we could barely make out the links. And the sticky mud was difficult to spray off.
7/16/2013: Vodafone dongle
The Vodafone dongle plugged into our CradlePoint router. We're getting a fast and reliable HSPA+ connection and are loving it. But with four windows computers (a laptop each, the boat computer, and a laptop backup for the boat computer), three tablets and two phones to update, we blew through six gig of data pretty quickly.
7/16/2013: Boat wash
Cleaning off all that soot. It was very nice to have the boat all clean again.
7/17/2013: Sunrise
Sunrise over Viti Levu from our anchorage. The winds were blowing around 20 from the southeast when we arrived, but we're reasonably sheltered here, so there wasn't much water disturbance. And the wind settled down in the evening anyway, so conditions were wonderfully calm.
7/17/2013: Dinner cruise
One of the local dinner cruise boats anchored nearby shortly after sunset, so we got some free live music.
7/18/2013: Morning coffee
Jennifer enjoying the sunrise over coffee.
7/18/2013: Pineapple
Fresh pineapple from the Lautoka market before breakfast.
7/18/2013: Air compressor
James built an adapter from a scuba regulator first stage so that we can run air tools off a scuba tank.
7/18/2013: Parasailing
Parasailer passing by. The anchorage sees lots of traffic during the day, but we enjoy the diversity, and it settles down completely at night.
7/19/2013: Entering Port Denarau
Running the channel into Port Denarau.
7/19/2013: Tight squeeze
Moored at Port Denarau, our home for the next couple of weeks.
7/19/2013: Plugged in
Since leaving Hawaii in March, this is only the second time that we've been plugged into shorepower. The first was at Papeete for just under a week. Port Denarau rents power adapters for a refundable deposit, but it turned out the adapter we'd purchased at Papeete was identical, so we could just use our existing pigtail.
7/19/2013: 50 Hertz
Fiji is our first use of of 50Hz shorepower. The only other place we've plugged in since leaving Hawaii was in Papeete, where the power was 60Hz as in the US. But we are able to run most of the boat off 50Hz. Only the 240-volt equipment takes shorepower directly; our 12V and 24V systems run off the battery bank and the 120V systems run off the inverter. We never send shorepower directly to the inverter, and so our 120V power always comes from the battery bank also, via the inverter. Of the 240V equipment, the battery chargers, water heater and A/C will run on 50Hz. That leaves the watermaker (not needed at dock), scuba compressor, oven and washer/dryer that require 60 Hz. So to use the oven or washer/dryer, we need to turn on the generator.
7/19/2013: Welcome
We'd made our booking back in January, well before leaving Hawaii. It was nice to finally be here in person.
7/19/2013: Restaurants
Port Denarau is a massive resort complex with something like forty restaurants. A good couple of dozen are right beside the marina.
7/19/2013: Fiji Parrotfinch
These finch are common at the marina. It's easy to see how they got their name--they're definately the best-looking finch we've ever seen.
7/19/2013: Cardo's
Local beer, Fiji Gold, before dinner at Cardo's steakhouse.
7/20/2013: Reef Endeavour
The local cruise ship Reef Endeavour landing on the commercial dock across from our slip.
7/20/2013: Sunrise
Sunrise over the superyachts at the west end of the marina.
7/20/2013: Reef Endeavour leaving
The cruiseship Reef Endeavour leaving Port Denarau with the anchor down and ready to deploy. Maneuvering space in the basin is quite limited for a ship that size, and it could quickly do a lot of damage should a propulsion or steering issue occur.
7/23/2013: Nadi River
Looking over the Nadi River. Jennifer bicycled into Nadi to do some shopping--about a 20 minute ride. Bicycles are surprisingly rare here--she got lots of compliments on hers.
7/23/2013: Downtown Nadi
On the main street, outside one of several Nadi supermarkets.
7/23/2013: Traditional boat
Traditional boat moored in the river just outside the entrance to the Port Denarau complex.
7/23/2013: Meridian
Meridian Yachts are surprisingly popular here. At least two are moored in the marina, and several more along the waterways. Our previous boat was a Bayliner motoryacht--the predecessor to the Meridian series. We didn't see nearly as many Meridians in Seattle as we did Bayliner motoryachts--maybe they're all in Fiji.
7/23/2013: Roti
Several brands of Roti were for sale in the supermarket--Fiji culture has a strong Indian influence. Indo-Fijans, descendants of the labourers the British brought over to work in the sugar cane fields in the 19th century, make up about 40% of the country's population.
7/23/2013: Moonrise
Moonrise over Port Denarau.
7/24/2013: Out on bond
Spitfire taking in the view from the cockpit table wearing a harness and leash to prevent him from straying off the boat. We always keep a close eye on him and don’t allow him off the boat under any circumstances, but have even more incentive than usual in Fiji. He is in the country under a $1,500 FJD (~$750USD) bond which is forfeit if he goes ashore.
7/25/2013: Bula!
Everyone says bula (hello) here, even McDonalds.
7/25/2013: Queens Road
Indo-Fijan woman walking along Queens Road, just outside of downtown Nadi. The cars drive on the left here--that took some getting used to on the bicycle. (Position approximate.)
7/25/2013: Jewelery store
Shopping for earings at one of the small shops in Nadi. So far, everything we've bought has been pretty inexpensivie here.
7/25/2013: Supermarket
One of several supermarkets in Nadi. None are very large, but they all have a good selection of staples and frozen foods.
7/25/2013: Market Road
Looking east down Market Road, adjacent to the Nadi market.
7/25/2013: Kava root
Kava root for sale at the Nadi market. This is one of perhaps twenty stalls that fill a gymnasium-sized building, all selling Kava. The root is used to make a mildly-narcotic drink that is consumed throughout Fiji and other South Pacific countries. Visitors to Fijian villages are expected to make a gift of Kava root to the chief as a way of requesting permission to visit. So it's not just locals that are purchasing Kava root--boaters are as well. Maartin Troost's entertaining Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu describes the author's (mis)adventures in drinking kava.
7/25/2013: South Pacific Butchering Company
The meat selection in the Nadi grocery stores was limited. But the South Pacific Butchering Company just outside downtown has high quality and excellent selection. The Australian owner is known for his witty meat-related quotes on the front window. Jennifer's bike is out front with an Ortleib bicycle pannier full of meat ready for the freezer.
7/29/2013: Full dock
The commercial dock across from the marina was packed this morning, with two cruise ships and multiple island-hopping fast catamarans.
7/29/2013: Bread
An order of french bread and croissants from the bakery at Port Denarau, ready for the freezer. Nothing can compare to the bread we got in French Polynesia, but the quality here is still pretty decent.
7/29/2013: Empty dock
In a few hours, the commercial dock went from fuller than we've ever seen to the most empty we've seen since arriving.
7/29/2013: Sunset
An amazing sunset looking from the bow to the Port Denarau commercial complex, where all the restaurants are.
7/30/2013: Detail
The diligent and meticulous crew from Classic Yacht Detailers waxing the boat and polishing the stainless. At least a half dozen are on board, and two more are on a float working on the lower bow. They did high-quality work for less than half what we'd pay in Seattle.
7/31/2013: Lunch
Chinese restaurants are common in Fiji--the chicken-fried-rice at this one was delicious.
7/31/2013: Nadi Market
The Nadi Market fills almost an entire city block and has a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables for sale.
7/31/2013: Hindu temple
The incredibly ornate Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple just outside downtown Nadi is the largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere.
7/31/2013: Salad
The market haul drying after a bleach bath to kill any critters.
8/1/2013: Rain
Haven't seen a lot of raincoats in Fiji, but almost everyone was wearing one in this morning's downpour.
8/3/2013: Drying the sail
The colourful spinnaker from a Croation boat, recently arrived from Tonga, drying in the sun.
8/4/2013: Dryer repair
Opening up the washer/dryer panel to deal with a broken dryer door switch.
8/4/2013: Broken switch
The broken dryer door switch. We're always amazed at how junky some of these appliance parts are and that they even work at all. We don't have a spare for this one, but its not that big a deal--the switch only controls if the dryer stops when the door opens. We'll get a replacement at the next opportunity and in the meantime just use the dryer control knob to stop the dryer.
8/6/2013: Packages
James returned to Fiji yesterday from a work trip to Seattle. He'd brought with him three boxes of parts and spares as luggage, but only two of the boxes arrived with him. The other was either lost or delayed by the TSA inspection, and should be on the next flight from LA. So we went to the airport to meet the 5am flight today to retrieve it. Our box was one of the last pieces of luggage off the plane, so we were concerned to the end that we weren't going to see it.
8/6/2013: Fiji Customs
In order to bring the parts in duty-free, Fiji Customs must personally place the boxes on the boat. They contained several thousand dollars worth of spares, so avoiding the duty was worthwhile. But we had to cover Custom's travel costs, so they had suggested we leave the first two boxes at the airport and transport them all together when the third arrived.
8/6/2013: Parts
The box contents ready to stow--James had packed densely. The parts included 4 Lenovo monitors, 2 generator/aux engine remote control panels, hydraulics parts, a pilothouse and a handheld radio, engine room fans, a raw water washdown pump, dinghy fuel filters, tank level monitor parts, tie-down straps, 3 Coolibar hats, a camera, and a tablet keyboard. We'd replaced a pilothouse radio and monitor since leaving Hawaii, but most were just additional spares we'd decided we needed. TSA had meticulously inspected even the tiniest package--everything was repacked with "TSA-inspected" white tape. Fortunately they had repacked the boxes well, even if it did take them a long time to do it.
8/7/2013: Soot, again
We got sooted again. For several hours this afternoon and into the evening, huge pieces from nearby burning drifted across the marina and settled on all the boats. The pieces were bigger than at Lautoka, but not at all sticky, and came off relatively easily the next morning with a water spray. But it took a good hour to clean the boat.
8/9/2013: Sunrise
Musket Cove is a popular anchorage. At least four dozen boats were anchored when we arrived, but we were able to find an excellent spot off the west edge of the crowds. The anchorage is quite appealing, but becomes even more so at night: the torches and lights from the several resorts ashore, and all the anchor lights, set the place aglow.
8/9/2013: Barge
A barge carrying two Fiji Gas trucks passing through the anchorage.
8/9/2013: Malolo Cat IV
The Malolo Cat IV, one of the several high-speed catamarans that frequent Port Denarau, backing onto the dock at Plantation Island Resort. The winds were blowing in the high 20s from the north, an unusual direction, and the captain made several attempts to dock before finally landing.
8/9/2013: Musket Cove Marina
The Musket Cove Marina, part of the Musket Cove Island Resort complex. The small marina holds perhaps twenty boats and was packed.
8/9/2013: Low bridge
This bridge leads to a small lagoon and an island ringed with resort cabins.
8/9/2013: Lagoon
Looking back to the bridge from inside the lagoon.
8/9/2013: Dinghy dock
Our dinghy, closest to shore, tied off at the marina dock.
8/9/2013: The Island Bar
The Ratu Nemani Island Bar has do-it-yourself BBQ pits. You can bring your own food, or buy pre-packed BBQ packs at the resort.
8/9/2013: Musket Cove Island Resort
Walking the path from the marina towards the resort pool and restaurant complex. The grounds and buildings looked very nice.
8/9/2013: Lunch
Lunch at Dick's Place Bar and Bistro in the Musket Cove Island Resort.
8/9/2013: Gray Matter
Our friends Christine Guo and Mark Mohler arriving on Nordhavn 62 Gray Matter. We had a great time catching up with them over dinner last night at Denarau--we'd not seen each other since Moorea in the Society Islands.
8/9/2013: Airstrip
Most people arrive here by fast cat, but flying is an option too. The main road leads across the bottom of the runway; the sign says "Beware of low-flying aircraft. Stop, look and listen before crossing runway".
8/9/2013: Viti Levu
We walked up the road for an excellent view east to Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, where we'd spent the past few weeks.
8/9/2013: Anchorage
Looking northwest across the anchorage.
8/9/2013: Mololo Island
Looking north to Malolo Island.
8/9/2013: Sunset
Sunset drinks poolside at Dick's Place.
8/9/2013: Another catch
Spitfire caught another fish. He only ate the head though.
8/10/2013: Mana Island
Beautiful sand beach on the east side of Mana Island. A major resort, and an airstrip, is on the other side.
8/10/2013: Topography
Looking west to Monuriki, Monu & Yanuya Islands. Cruising here feels very much like a tropical version of the San Juan Islands near Seattle. The relatively calm and sheltered waters are sprinkled with small hilly islands whose vegetation looks similar from a distance to that of the Pacific Northwest.
8/10/2013: Mamanuca Group
Two island chains extend off the northwest coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island: the Mamanuca Group and the Yasawa Group. We're cruising through the southern Mamanuca Group, the location for most of the resorts in the Nadi/Lautoka area. Pretty much every island of any size seems to have one or more resorts. This one is the Tokoriki Island resort.
8/10/2013: Islet
Craggy islet south of Vanua Levu. We're really liking the topography in these islands.
8/10/2013: Navadra Island
Anchored off the beach in the cove formed by Navadra and Vanua Levu islands. Unlike most of the islands we've passed, this one is uninhabited with no resorts. We're the only two people here.
8/10/2013: Rain
We got a sudden deluge of rain. The downpour was over pretty quickly, but did a good job of rinsing off the saltwater.
8/10/2013: Sunset
Amazing sunset viewed from the cockpit.
8/11/2013: Ashore
Landing ashore to explore. We'd taken the larger dinghy out yesterday, but couldn't find a place to easily land it through the reef and shallow water--we'd need the smaller dinghy. But with the winds from the north, the anchorage was quite rolly, so just getting into the smaller dinghy, let alone landing it, would have been tricky. So we waited a day, as the winds were expected to shift to the south. The winds did shift, and although waves still rolled onto the beach today, overall the anchorage was much more calm and quite manageable for the smaller dinghy.
8/11/2013: Climbing
The shore here is pretty much either flat beach or rocky precipices. We did find a way up to one of the smaller bluffs though.
8/11/2013: View
Looking north from the bluff into the lagoon on the west side of the island.
8/11/2013: At anchor
We worked a little closer to the east shore for a view of the anchorage.
8/11/2013: Peninsula
Looking across the sand peninsula to the rocky prominatory that edged last night's beautiful sunset. Our dingy is just behind the trees near the bend in the shoreline.
8/11/2013: Navadra Island
Looking southeast across the anchorage towards Navadra Island. We'd had the place to ourselves most of the morning--a sailboat had arrived shortly after we did yesterday, then left early this morning. This catamaran had anchored as we were heading to shore.
8/11/2013: Surf landing
A woman from the catamaran landing a kayak through the surf. She made it look easy.
8/11/2013: Beach
Walking the beach towards the north end of the island--the sand was wonderfully soft and deep. Dirona is anchored just out of the frame to the left.
8/11/2013: Lunch
Lunch in the shade of a rocky overhang, with a view south across the anchorage.
8/11/2013: Company
Two more boats arrived during lunch--by evening a total of four other boats had anchored. The cove had plenty of room for everyone though.
8/11/2013: Sunset
Another spectacular sunset.
8/12/2013: Dawn
Dawn over the anchorage at Navadra Island
8/12/2013: Yalobi Bay
Looking north towards Yalobi Bay at the south end of Waya Island. We were consdering anchoring here, but when we arrived it felt kind of exposed and open, so we continued north.
8/12/2013: Loto Point
Loto Point, a cone off the southwest tip of Waya Island.
8/12/2013: West coast
Looking south down the west coast of Waya Island. The island's high peaks and spires are reminscent of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.
8/12/2013: Nalauwaki Bay
Approaching Nalauwaki Bay, where we anchored for the night. About three boats were there when we arrived, and a few more came later. The anchorage has lots of room, but is deep. We were standing off in about 70 feet. That, and the high peaks around us, further reminded us of the Marquesas Islands, particulalry our last stop at Fatu Hiva.
8/12/2013: Burning
Burning ashore. Fiji doesn't seem to have very strict anti-burning laws. :)
8/13/2013: Dawn
Looking north at dawn from the anchorage to Narara Island in the foreground with the hills of Naviti Island in the background.
8/13/2013: Horns
Twin horn-shaped peaks above the anchorage.
8/13/2013: Paradise Cove Resort
Beach shelters at Paradise Cove Resort on Naukacuvu Island. We were considering anchoring off the beach nearby, but it felt a little exposed and open to the south when arrived.
8/13/2013: Nanuya Balavu Island
We found an excellent anchorage tucked into a break in the reefs off the west side of Nanuya Balavu Island, with a beautiful sandy beach and steep bluff behind us. The anchorage was reasonably calm, but some westerly swell did reach us, so we put out the flopper-stopper.
8/13/2013: Packing Sand
A new resort is being built on Nanuya Baluva Island opposite the Paradise Cove Resort. These men made several trips back and forth from the construction site to the beach behind us, packing huge bags of sand.
8/13/2013: Yasawa Flyer
The Yasawa Flyer II, another boat we saw frequently at Port Denarau, at Paradise Cove Resort. The resort has no dock--people and cargo are carried between shore and the catamaran in small boats.
8/13/2013: Diving
We did our first Fiji dive near the channel just south of our anchorage. Fiji is famous for soft coral, but the hard coral life here was more abundant, and quite impressive.
8/13/2013: Coral and fish
Fish swimming above large stands of hard coral.
8/13/2013: Sea fan coral
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8/13/2013: Feather duster
Feather duster coral inside a staghorn coral
8/13/2013: Staghorn and leather
We saw many large stands of staghorn coral, some as big as six feet across. This one is above an large leather soft coral.
8/13/2013: Main anchorage
Later that afternoon, we toured the area by dinhgy. A half-dozen boats were in the more common anchorage off the northeast corner of Nanuya Baluva Island.
8/13/2013: Manta Ray Resort
Looking towards the Manta Ray Resort, tucked into the trees on Nanuya Baluva Island. Their main building is up the hill with a sunset view to the west.
8/13/2013: Paradise Cove Resort skiffs
Skiffs at the Paradise Cove Resort. The boats are anchored off the bow and then stern-tied to shore.
8/13/2013: Visibility
Visibility was excellent in the water around our anchorage and the healthy coral would make for good snorkelling.
8/13/2013: View from the beach
We couldn't land the bigger dinghy ashore, so instead stern-anchored it a stretchable line (our is an "Anchor Buddy" brand) and ran a bow line to shore. The anchor buddy keeps the dinghy in deeper water and prevents it from being pushed ashore by wave action, but we easily can pull it closer to get in and out.
8/13/2013: Walking the beach
A trail led the short distance across the island to the other side, where we could see the Manta Ray Resort at the other end. Then we returned back to our side and walked the soft sand beach.
8/13/2013: Afternoon swim
Spitfire nervously watching Jennifer taking an afternoon swim. He definately does not approve.
8/13/2013: First catch
We followed Spitfire's fishing technique, of waiting until a fish landed in the boat, and made our first catch. The man in the center is holding a fish in one hand and a lobster in the other.
8/13/2013: Lobster dinner
We bought a delicious lobster for $20FJD (about $10USD).
8/13/2013: Sunset
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8/14/2013: Happy divers
We're loving being back diving after such a long break since Tonga and did another couple of dives today, the first off a wall east of the main anchorage where we'd seen a dive boat from Paradise Cove yesterday. As with yesterday's dive, the hard coral life was impressive--a large stand is in the background of this photo.
8/14/2013: Puffer
Blackspotted pufferfish near several varieties of hard coral.
8/14/2013: Staghorn
Another large stand of staghorn coral. The tips are a vibrant light blue.
8/14/2013: Second dive
For a second dive, we tied off to one of the several buoys the Manta Ray Resort has placed around the area, this one at a reef at the norther tip of Nanuya Balavu Island. The coral life there was even more impressive than the first two dives we'd done so far.
8/15/2013: Tourists
Two resort boats anchored off the beach this afternoon and dropped of a dozen or so tourists who floated around in inner tubes for a half-hour or so.
8/16/2013: Blue Lagoon
The protected anchorage off Nanuya Island is known as "Blue Lagoon" after the Brooke Shields movie that was filmed here. We were consdering stopping here for the night, but the place felt a little overrun. Several boats already were at anchor, the cruise ship Reef Endeavour (another Port Denarau boat) anchored nearby, and skiffs from the village of Sese on Matacawalevu Island crisscrossed the bay.
8/16/2013: Yaromo Island
From Blue Lagoon, we continued north, looking for another anchorage. We found an excellent spot tucked into a gap in the reefs just south of Yaromo Island. This is the view looking northwest to Yaromo at dusk.
8/17/2013: An island to oneself
Both days we were anchored off Yaromo Island, a resort skiff brought tourists to the island and left them there alone for a few hours.
8/17/2013: Nacula Island
Looking east across the anchorage to the hills on Nacula Island.
8/18/2013: Nacula hills
The scenery in these islands really is impressive--and continues to remind us of the San Juan Islands near Seattle.
8/18/2013: Sawa-I-Lau Anchorage
We'd come to this anchorage to visit the limestone caves on Sawa-I-Lau Island, but the views alone were worth the visit. Sawa-I-Lau Island soars above the anchorage, with steep bluffs on all sides.
8/18/2013: Shoreline
And if the cliffs on Sawa-I-Lau Island weren't dramatic enough, weather had eroded complex shapes into the rocky shoreline.
8/18/2013: Cave entrance
We'd read the caves could be difficult to find. Not so much.
8/18/2013: Sassafrass
Sunset looking beyond the sailing yacht Sassafrass. No boats were in the anchorage when we arrived, but Sassafrass and another arrived later in the afternoon.
8/19/2013: Low tide
Locals working the exposed shallows in front of the village of Nabukeru village directly to our north.
8/19/2013: Activity
Yesterday was a Sunday, when almost everything is closed in Fiji, and we saw no activity around the caves then. This morning, several skiffs carrying about forty tourists arrived from the direction of the village of Tamusua, to our northwest, along with a boatload of locals from Nabukeru.
8/19/2013: Tender to Sassafrass
The tourists left, but the locals remained, so we figured that would be a good time to visit the caves. But just as we were getting underway, everyone ashore started to get into their boat. A tender from Sassafrass zipped ashore and spoke with them, and they returend ashore. A group from Sasaffrass then landed as we were arriving.
8/19/2013: Tender to Boundless
The occupants of the other boat in the anchorage, Boundless, arrived shortly after. I guess we all had the same idea.
8/19/2013: Entry fee
The man second from the right greeted us and explained that the entry fee to the caves was $10FJD per person, plus $5FJD for each of the two guides for a total of $30FJD between us.
8/19/2013: Guide
Thumbs-up from one of our guides
8/19/2013: Cave entry
The doorway we're walking through closes and locks to prevent unsupervised, and unpaid, entry to the caves.
8/19/2013: Into the abyss
A stairway led down into the water. We all filed down and donned our snorkeling gear just before entering. There was a spot just to the right to leave shoes etc. About a dozen were in our group, and the cave had plenty of room for us all, but it would have been tight with the forty or so people we'd seen land earlier.
8/19/2013: Inside the cave
The cave was wild. From the main basin, we swum under a small ledge to get to another basin. A guide at each end helped us through, but it was pretty easy without that. We explored two short channels that led from that second basin. Daylight poured in through openings in the ceilings and walls, and one of the channels ended in a dramatic chimney-like opening way up high. We spent a good half-hour in there--well worth the entry fee.
8/19/2013: Wares
The Nakukeru residents has setup tables outside the cave to display their wares.
8/19/2013: Rock formations
On the way back to Dirona, we landed the dinghy a little to the north of the cave entrance to explore those dramatic rock formations we'd noticed earlier. Some were quite beautiful--almost like sculptures.
8/19/2013: Sunset
The evening sun lighting up Sawa-i-Lau.
8/20/2013: Yasawa Island
Looking back to Sawa-i-Lau (left) and Yasawa (right) islands as we head out into Bligh Water.
8/20/2013: Wind waves
The wind was blowing in the 20s from the southeast, kicking up tight 3-4' seas. Not a big deal, but the boat got a thorough saltwater bath.
8/20/2013: Pascoe Reefs
We've been finding the charts in Fiji more accurate than we expected, but the chart had several notes around Pascoe Reefs indicating the area was unsurveyed. We found them generally pretty accurate there though too. The main chart issue we've had so far is complete lack of soundings in the Yasawas.
8/20/2013: Approaching Yadua Island
We had good visibility approaching Yadua Island and could clearly see any reefs well in advance. And we started picking up a lee from the reefs to our south, so the saltwater bath subsided.
8/20/2013: Presenting sevusevu
In traditional Fijian culture, all land and water is controlled by a village. Visitors should make a sevusevu offering (present) of kava root to the chief as a way of asking permission to visit. (Kava root is used to make a mildly-narcotic drink that is consumed throughout Melanesia.) Typically the visitor goes ashore to meet the chief, and the sevusevu offering is made as part of a ceremony that could be short or might last several hours. At Yadua, within minutes of our dropping anchor in Cukuvou Harbor, a boat arrived carrying the chief of Denimanu (at the back of the boat wearing a white shirt). Denimanu is the only village on Yadua, and their chief controls the islands and its waters. We made our sevusevu offering (the bundle of kava behind the man at the bow), and the chief welcomed us and said we could snorkel and go ashore etc.
8/21/2013: Fish trap
We ran the small dinghy ashore and climbed a small bluff at the south end of the south beach for view back into the anchorage. (A sailboat is anchored in the foreground and we're anchored in the distance behind it.) The shoreline was ringed with fishtraps, similar to what we've seen along the British Columbia coast. Rocks are piled to make a basin that fish can swim into at higher tides but are trapped inside when the tide falls.
8/21/2013: Crab
This crab's body was about 4 inches across. It was nervous with us there, but didn't retreat. We saw holes all over the place while walking, presumably dug by crabs. (Position approximate).
8/21/2013: Talai Bay
A trail leads from the center of the south beach up and over the ridge to the village of Denimanu on the northeast corner of the island with fabulous views. This is looking over Talai Bay (Porpoise Harbour) at the south side of Yadua. Cukuvou Harbor, where we're anchored, is partially visible at the right of the photo. (Position approximate).
8/21/2013: Cukuvou Harbor
The view looking down into Cukuvou Harbor. Dirona is barely visible as a small dot in the right side of the bay. (Position approximate).
8/21/2013: Vatu Ma
Vatu Ma (Sail Rock), a small islet off the north coast of Yadua. It looks just like a boat under sail from a distance.
8/21/2013: Vanua Levu
Looking north towards Fiji's second largest island, Vanua Levu, from the navigation light atop Yadua. The trail continues down from here to the village.
8/22/2013: Talai Bay
Talai Bay looked appealing from yesterday's viewpoint, so we ran the boat around the next day. We had to run the length of Takinamulo Reef to enter an opening at the west end. The reef was a fair bit further south than we expected, and radar overlay showed that the charts were in fact off by several hundred feet in that direction, but we had reasonable visibility to any hazards.
8/22/2013: Diving Takinamulo Reef
Takinamulo Reef looked amazing for diving as we passed by, so we suited up and set out for a dive. The tide was low at that point and we couldn't find a way through the reef, so we went around the end and dove the outer reef just around the corner. The hard corals were amazing. (Position approximate.)
8/22/2013: Staghorn
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8/22/2013: Pulsing Xenia
We saw many of the soft corals that Fiji is famous for. This is a colony of Pulsing Xenia, whose tentacles pulse rythmically to sweep away oxygen.
8/22/2013: Sea fan
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8/22/2013: Reef wall
Sergeants and other fish swimming off the reef wall.
8/22/2013: Gap
The reef topography was fairly complex, with many gaps, holes and arches
8/22/2013: Trevallys
James swimming through a small canyon with Trevallys in the foreground.
8/22/2013: Reef holes
Coral-encrusted holes on the reef wall.
8/22/2013: Pita Bicilao
Pita Biciloa of Denimanu village, Senior Ranger for Fiji's Yadua Taba Wildlife Sanctuary. The island that protectes the western side of our anchorage is home to the rare Crested Iguana and became Fiji's first wildlife sanctuary in 1980. Public access is not permitted, and the bay we're anchored in also is a marine protected area, with no fishing allowed. Pita stopped by with his son and ranger-in-training (at the bow) and his nephews to explain the rules and get some basic information about us for his visitor log.
8/23/2013: Dawn
Looking southeast at dawn. We've had wonderfully calm weather the past couple of days, but the anchorage is exposed to the southeast and likely would be rough should strong southeast trade winds develop.
8/23/2013: View
We climbed the bluff above the anchorage for sweeping views across the bay. That's Yadua Taba at the top left of the picture. From up high, we also could see the rock outlines of several fish traps along the shore.
8/23/2013: Visibility
Touring by dinghy, the water was amazingly clear and prompted us to get out for another dive.
8/23/2013: Best Yadua dive
We found a way out through the reef about halfway along and dove a set of fingers that protrude south from the reef. The topography here was amazing, with channels, tunnels, caves and several swim-throughs. We'll post some video footage later. This definately was our favorite dive at Yadua. (Position approximate.)
8/23/2013: Navicugu Reef
We ran out to Navicugu Reef for a second dive, and dove the south end of the closest detached reef. The fish life here was the best of all the dives, and the topography also was pretty interesting. (Position approximate.)
8/24/2013: Leaving Bligh Water
From Yadua, we travelled southeast across Bligh Water and entered the barrier reef protecting Fiji's second largest island, Vanua Levu. The reefs don't show up well on satellite photos, and we weren't sure how accurate the charts were here, so we entered carefully by eye.
8/24/2013: Nav marker
The only evidence of the actual reef we could see was waves breaking across. But the charts seemed accurate, and both charted navigation markers were in place. This is the one north of the channel.
8/24/2013: Spirit of Harmony
The 385-passenger car ferry Spirit of Harmony en route to Vanua Levu.
8/24/2013: Nadi Passage
We exited Vanua Levu's barrier reef at Nadi Passage. The passage was wider and deeper than charted--we never saw less that 100' where the charts indicated 12' and never less than 60' where 23' was charted.
8/24/2013: Entering Namena Lagoon
Booby buzzing the boat as we entered Namena Lagoon, reminscent of arriving at Palmyra Atoll months ago. We'd crossed the reef north of the named South Save-a-Tack Passage, that we'd heard was pretty narrow. The entry we took looked much wider on the chart, and was relatively easy.
8/24/2013: Dendronephthya
We set off for a dive almost immediately after dropping anchor. Namena has some of the best diving in Fiji and we agree. The soft coral life was amazing with Dendronephthya in all colors of the rainbow. And the visibility was on par with the Tuamotus.
8/24/2013: Eel
This eel's head was perhaps five inches across.
8/24/2013: Looking over the edge
Looking over the outer reef--the wall goes straight down for several hundred feet. Visibility here is excellent but we couldn't see the bottom.
8/24/2013: Grand Central Station
The dive site is called "Grand Central Station" and we could see why: hundreds and hundreds of fish swarmed the wall, ranging from large pelagics to tiny reef-dwellers.
8/24/2013: Fish and coral
Fish swimming off soft coral-encrusted reef.
8/24/2013: Nordhavns
Only two pleasure craft were at Namena, both Nordhavns. That's Nordhavn 57 Time 2 behind us.
8/24/2013: Time 2
Sunset drinks on Time 2 with Mike Drinkrow & Lynn van der Hoven. We'd last seen them at Moorea in French Polynesia, and had a great evening catching up.
8/25/2013: Scuba gear maintenance
The wire controlling the inflator hose pull dump on Jennifer's BC had rusted and broken, so James replaced it with fishing wire.
8/25/2013: Moody's Namena Resort
Namena Island is privately owned and home to the exclusive Moody's Namena Resort.
8/25/2013: Resort view
Unlike most resorts, which are on the beach, Moody's is up the hill to take advantage of the great views and the tradewinds.
8/25/2013: Dive Tags
Namena is a marine reserve, with no fishing allowed. Proceeds from diver's $30FJD 'Dive Tag' purchases help support the reserve. We'd gone up to the resort to purchase ours.
8/25/2013: Boobies
As at Palmyra Atoll, Namena has a healthy bird population. Their calls constantly filled the air.
8/25/2013: Sea fan
Today we dove at a site called Tetons near South Save-a-Tack passage. The dive wasn't nearly as dramatic as the wall at Grand Central, but the visibility was good and the hard and soft coral life was impressive.
8/25/2013: Angels and coral
Two Emperor Angles swimming among hard coral.
8/25/2013: Dendronephthya
Purple and brown Dendronephthya.
8/26/2013: Clown triggerfish
We returned to Grand Central for another dive today. The winds had come up to about 15 knots from the southeast, making the waters a little choppy, but we had no trouble working from the dinghy.
8/26/2013: Turtle
Turtles normally are shy, but this one swam right up to us.
8/26/2013: The edge
Looking down over the wall edge at Grand Central Station.
8/26/2013: Divers
A group of divers from the resort dropped into the water near us on the wall when we were about 90 feet down. We could clearly see their boat way above us as they splashed in.
8/27/2013: Dive boat
Liveaboard dive boat anchored nearby. Those divers probably were getting their monye's worth: the boat was anchored slightly to our north when we got up this morning, then left early to spend the entire day on the reef, first at the North Save-a-Tack Passage area and later at the South Save-A-Tack area before returning at dusk to anchor for the night.
8/27/2013: Sunrise
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8/27/2013: Makogai
View east to the Department of Fisheries facility at Makogai. The main anchorage is in the bay off the facility, but cell coverage disappeared when we lost sight of Wakaya Island to the south and we needed to get some work done. Some swell did reach the bay, but we were fine with the flopper-stopper out. And we had the place all to ourselves while seven boats were in the other bay.
8/27/2013: Replacing main steering ram
After 3,500 hours, often in fairly rough conditions, the main steering ram was showing significant wear at the spherical bearing where it connects to the rudder arm. We were planning to only replace the spherical bearing, but also found the inboard end was seizing up. The cylinder is not leaking, but the inboard end is integral with the cylinder, so we replaced the full unit. We'll keep the old one and get another as a spare.
8/29/2013: Makogai Mariculture Centre
We landed the dinghy at the Department of Fisheries jetty to visit the Mariculture facility and walk around the island.
8/29/2013: Tour
We presented sevusevu (a gift of Kava root ) to the head of the Mariculture Centre, who did a brief acceptance ceremony and gave us a tour of the grounds.
8/29/2013: Giant clam
One of several giant clams in a display tank. The facility collects the clam spawn and grows clams until they are large enough to be placed in the wild to repopulate Fiji's reefs.
8/29/2013: Second giant clam
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8/29/2013: Turtles
The facility also breeds and raises turtles to put into the wild.
8/29/2013: Staircase to nowhere
Makogai Island was a leper colony from the early 1900s until 1969. Over 5,000 people lived there and much infrastucture once was in place. These stairs once led up to the second story of a large building.
8/29/2013: Old steps
Old steps leading up the hillside.
8/29/2013: Lister generator
The facility's ancient Lister generator, left over from the colony. It still runs, and they can still get parts for it from Suva. (Position approximate).
8/29/2013: Projection room
The projection room for the colony's cinema. (Position approximate).
8/29/2013: Graveyard
One of several graveyards on the island--the graves reach way up the hill. Everyone in the colony eventually ended up here. In the foreground is the grave of one of the French missinaries who worked at the colony. (Position approximate).
8/29/2013: Anchorage view
We walked partway along the trail from the marine facility to the village. Along the way, we found a spur trail leading upward to a small bluff with a view over our anchorage. (Position approximate).
8/29/2013: Second Makogia anchorage
From the viewpoint we found on the trail to the village, the bay just south of our first anchorage looked more appealing. So after returning back out to Dirona, we moved the boat there--we got a little better swell protection, a prettier anchorage, and still had connectivity. Then we landed on the beach ashore and climbed a trail back up to the village trail and then back up to the view point. This time we worked a little farther east to a grassy field we could see from the anchorage.
8/29/2013: Main anchorage
Looking down into the main anchorage from the other side of the viewpoint.
8/29/2013: Village trail
We continued farther along the trail to the village. It used to be an actual vehicle road, but is now overgrown. The saplings coming in reminded us of the old logging roads we used to walk along the northern B.C. coast.
8/29/2013: Roots
Massive tree roots along the trail to the village. (Postion approximate).
8/29/2013: Ruins
We found more ruins along the way. This was a large building with numerous small cubicles where intense heat had colored the walls. We're not sure what it was for. We couldn't find any evidence of industry, such as pottery, bricks or cement-making, and the building seemed too far from the colony to be a bakery or laundry facility. (Postion approximate).
8/29/2013: Rooms
Several rows of small rooms, once with fancy glass doors, were near the other ruins. If the island hadn't been a leper colony, we'd guess that this was a high-end spa/resort and the other ruins were some kind of hot baths. (Postion approximate).
8/29/2013: House and bridge
Bridge over drainage channel leading to a small house. Massive drainage channels had been dug all along the trail and drained out to see. Building them must have been a huge amount of work. (Postion approximate).
8/29/2013: Beach
Walking the beach in our private anchorage.
8/30/2013: School bus
Children heading to the village school from the mariculture community.
8/30/2013: Freezer repair
The freezer high-temperature alarm went off again since the last time in Tonga. We found the manufacturer had packaged a resistor inline with a wire covered in shrink wrap, and the resistor terminal had been flexed enough that it was disconnecting and reconnecting. Easy to fix with a new resistor. We also discovered from the Danfoss compressor documentation that you can put the pictured LED into the circuit and the system will flash the LED to indicate the fault. Ironically, it did flash. The manufacturer's configuration protects the house battery by not running the freezer below 24V, so we changed that configuration as well.
8/30/2013: Diving Makongai
We did an excellent dive on the outside reef wall at Makongia. The visibility was great and the fish, coral and sealife were awesome. (Position approximate).
8/30/2013: Third anchorage
The wind had picked up and our anchorage was getting pretty rolly, so we moved into the main anchorage for the night. And a good thing too--the waves even were reaching inside there.
8/31/2013: Course change
We were planning to run along the south side of Vitu Levu to visit the capital, Suva, and a few other places and then depart from Fiji in about a week for Vanuatu. But a big weather system was coming in, so we decided to leave earlier and run around the north side of the island to the Lautoka area.
9/1/2013: Sunrise
Sunrise as we leave the anchorage at Malake Island--we had a great spot all to ourselves up against the shelter of the island. At night, lights on Vitu Levu twinkled along the shore.
9/1/2013: Anchorage
Sailboat at anchor (bottom right of photo). The north side of Vitu Levu is very sheltered with an endless number of anchorage choices en route. We really enjoyed cruising there and could have spent several days working our way along. We'd definately return if we came back to Fiji.
9/1/2013: Spitfire
Spitfire on the bow enjoying the calm conditions.
9/1/2013: Fueling
Fueling at Port Denarau before the run to Vanuautu. A few spots were open at the marina, and we were lucky to snag one at the last minute to have a shoreside dinner and do a bit of final provisioning as well.
9/2/2013: Clearing out
Biosecurity (left) confirming they've sighted Spitfire for the bond release. Customs (right) also did a brief inspection of the vessel prior to our departure.