VANUATU passage

Time to leave Fiji. But first we had to backtrack from Vuda Point Marina to the town of Lautoka (S17°36.108' E177°26.456') on Sea Turtle for the officials to check us out for departure on August 5th.

One last trip to the market for fresh produce and to find something to blow our last Fijian money on, then to Customs. Just as we finished up, friends on SV Water Musick [sic] arrived to also check out. We weighed anchor at 16:50 for an expected 4-day passage to the islands of Vanuatu. Little did we know.

Dinghy dock by Customs

We had to make it through a narrow pass between reefs but the late start put us there well after dark. Navula Passage, which was well marked with lit channel markers, waypoints on our digital charts, and ranging lights to keep us on center made for a safe but tense exit. We were out to the wide open Pacific Ocean once again with a good breeze on a comfortable point of sail.

We were surprised at how windy it was because we had been expecting to motor into a predicted windless high. But we had a great first 4 days with a good wind from behind pushing us along nicely - and Jordan had a line out and landed a 15-kg beautiful yellow-fin tuna.

Fish for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners!

Then, 25 nautical miles (5 hours) from our intended landfall (Island of Aneityum), it was like King Neptune put his hand up and said, "No you don't." What did we do to annoy him?

There was a huge squall line across our path with lightning and gale force winds now on our nose, tough to sail into. We slogged with winds and high seas making virtually no "make-good" headway. Then all of a sudden, while directly under a towering cumulus cloud, we had torrential rains and no wind! The seas flattened out under this so we started the motor to make some valuable distance but the motor slowed and stopped. Did we pick up a line in the prop? Would Jordan have to dive to cut and untangle it and fight off sharks in the sea?

We decided to heave-to and rest until it stopped pouring rain. After we drifted a bit, we got out our GoPro (small underwater camera) and attached it to a pole and sent it down to investigate the prop entanglement. Surprise, surprise - the prop was clear of everything. So we tried the motor again and it came to life. Strange! But relieved.

The gale winds returned on our nose, so we decided to skip this southernmost island (Aneityum) and head north to the next island (Tanna) where we knew some friends were but again found it near impossible to make any westing. We found another small island so we ducked behind it to go out on deck and secure and tidy up loose ropes, etc. When we resumed, the wind abated enough so we decided to motor-sail to make some better headway, but after only an hour, our motor suddenly stopped. King Neptune must have really been annoyed!

Okay, change course again. Under the circumstances then, it was an obvious wise move to head north further to Efate Island to the main town in Vanuatu with a better point of sail and where we could sort out the motor problem. 120 nautical miles with a good wind on the beam - but a little over half way, the winds almost completely died, so we ghosted along trying to use puffs of breeze.

The last 50 miles, which under normal conditions would take Sea Turtle about 10 hours, was a 24-hour endurance of patience. But we finally got to Port Vila, after a 7-day passage that should have only taken us 4 to 4.5 days.

We dropped sails at daybreak just at the mouth of the entry to the inner harbour and Jordan towed us in with our launched dinghy at 07:00 where we set anchor (S17°44.264' E168°18.626'). Amazing how easily such a small dinghy can handle a much larger sailboat. Maybe we don't need our motor fixed!

Come along, Sea Turtle

Sugar cane

Sugar cane is Fiji's main export today when back in the mid-1800s, Fiji chose sugar cane over cotton to be its main industry. It's the harvest season for the cane and Jordan and I have seen lots of it, not only in the fields but at various stages of harvesting.

Jordan in front of sugar cane field

We have walked past the cane loaded onto carts stationed on narrow train tracks. These tracks are much narrower than regular train tracks.

Jordan with worker who was chopping off loose ends

These narrow train tracks take the loaded carts all the way to Lautoka where it is unloaded and processed at the huge sugar mill.

Small train pulling many loaded carts of sugar cane

Not all of the carts make it all the way to Lautoka though. We have seen a few fully loaded carts tipped over on the tracks! We have also noticed several carts tossed aside in the ditch when deemed no longer usable. And everywhere you look, dropped sugar cane from loaded trucks, etc. always seems to be along the roadsides.

After sugar cane is cut from the fields, the stripped leaves and stubble are burned, sending black ash into the air and a haze over the Island from smoke (which unexpectedly makes for great sunsets). When we took a taxi to the airport a few weeks ago, the driver stopped so Jordan could take a photo of the burning fields.

Man in field attending to the fire

We wanted to take a tour of the large sugar mill in Lautoka but when we arrived, we were told that the mill was shut down for tours. We learned that a workman had just died in a tragic accident at the mill and it was closed to the public until further notice.

Road trip to Suva

On Wednesday July 31st, we rented a car with Helena and Kari of SV Merilelu as we all had to visit the Indonesian consulate (in Suva Fiji) to complete our paperwork for our Visas for their country. It is required before we enter Indonesia which we expect to do in September. Suva is on the opposite side of the island, about a pleasant 3-hour coastal drive....if you don't make any unnecessary stops.

But of course we did. We noticed a very bright and ornate temple so we stopped to take a closer gander. As Helena and I both had skirts that were considered too short, we were required to cover them with wraps before entering. We also had to don long sleeves. Men too had to be covered with long pants and sleeves. Very conservative folks.

Adroitly ornate

Prayer sessions were scheduled throughout the day and one was in session while we were there. With women and girls seated on the floor on the left and men and boys on the right, there was a lot of chanting and offerings. Everything was quite strict with no photos allowed inside the temple.

Our next stop about halfway to Suva was at a tourist shop whose sign proclaimed Browse in Peace. It had exquisite carvings, jewellery, etc. and we stayed for coffee and muffins before continuing onward.

Once in the large city of Suva, we quickly found the consulate and presented our paperwork to the friendly, smiling staff. She helped with any information that we were not sure on how to answer and quickly sent us on our way until the next morning when our Visas would be completed and ready for pickup.

We booked 2 bures (cottages) at the eco-friendly Raintree Lodge, a short drive from busy downtown Suva. Perched on the edge of a small lake and located in a lush rainforest with over 100 different plants and trees, it was a pleasant change from noisy city life. The site was formerly used as a rock quarry for 20 years when suddenly it was filled to a depth of 30 m (110 feet) when fresh water springs were encountered. Still today, 2 trucks and a bulldozer lay on the lake bed.

Jordan overlooking the lake from our cottage balcony

The restaurant also overlooked the brown coloured lake water. If you felt lucky, you could fish for your own food that the restaurant would cook for you. We threw a bit of bread in the water and watched as small fish and large eels snapped for it.

The rainforest was busy with a multiplicity of tropical tweeting birds could be heard in the fresh early morning air. We strolled over to the resort's swimming pool next to the picturesque lily pond.

Water lily and lily pads

We picked up our processed Visas from the Indonesian consulate and then went our separate ways (Helena and Kari wanted to get back to Vuda Point Marina right away but Jordan and I wanted to drive the rest of the way around the island of Viti Levu as we were already about halfway around.)

We also wanted to track down a converter/transformer so that we could plug Sea Turtle into 240-volt shore power whenever we are at dock side. Our boat is wired primarily for 12V but we have basic supplemental 110V circuitry. As well, we have 110V tools and appliances. We are now, and will be for quite some time to come, in countries with 240 volts.

We don't often need to plug in to maintain our house batteries as we usually have either enough wind for our wind generator and typically have plenty of sun for our solar panels. However, with boat jobs using power tools and the power hungry computers, we can quickly run down the batteries if not careful. We were able to locate what we needed but it was back at Nadi, on the other side of the island, close to our boat.

We started our trip around the other half of the island but were disappointed to learn that we shouldn't take the mountainous route as we had planned. Apparently it was a very poor gravel road and would take a very long time to commute. We then took the coastal route for an hour and were once again redirected to better roads. We went inland a bit and found the roads to be satisfactory, taking us first through some lovely tropical hill country with tidy but humble little villages where the extremely friendly locals sold their roadside produce.

Surprisingly, we arrived back at Vuda Point Marina on Thursday at the same time as Helena and Kari who had taken the bus! Upon our arrival, we discovered that a large area of several miles was without city water, including Vuda Point, and would be without for possibly several days. This meant no toilets, laundry, or showers except onboard boats. Lucky for us! Businesses, as well as individuals, were hauling in and carrying jugs of water for use.

Early Friday morning, Jordan and I drove to Nadi where we picked up the converter. When we returned, still no water...maybe we should have stayed in Suva! It wasn't until early Sunday when Jordan went to check that the water was restored. So knowing there would be some smelly sailors making an overdue pilgrimage to the washers and dryers and showers, I quickly gathered up laundry and beat the rush. Water is precious on boats, but you take it for granted when on land until it is not available.

Musket Cove

We untied our mooring lines on July 26th at 11:15 to get away for awhile and take a break from Vuda Point Marina in Fiji. We motored south on a mostly calm day and sailed the last bit into Musket Cove at Malolo Lailai Island about 3 hours later (S17°46.315' E177°11.173'). We were excited to see sailors that we had not seen since El Salvador.

Once again, we discovered a swimming pool at a resort here where we met up with SV Momo. We went for a quick swim one day in the coolish water and then decided to check out snorkelling by the little sand islet in the ocean.

In spite of the not-so-good water clarity, (we are getting spoiled), it was a real treat because there was a prodigious array of tropical fish - even more than what we saw when we snorkelled the Fish Factory at Viani Bay on July 1st. The water was exceptionally warm which I loved.

We saw very long needlefish (45 cm/18 inches) that were not afraid of us and we had to swim right through their masses. And for the first time ever, we saw cuttlefish! Cuttlefish are closely related to octopus and squid, have 3 hearts, greenish blue blood, can rapidly change their colour to match their environment, and have the most developed eyes (with W-shaped pupils) of the entire animal kingdom. They are generally 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches).

The following diagram and picture of cuttlefish were copied from the internet:

Check out the cool W-shaped pupil:

What a treat to see these amazing creatures swimming by us in the water! Wow!

We went to 2 barbecues and it seems that there are barbies every night at Musket Cove. There are many built-in barbies for use by anyone; just bring your own food, and dishes and cutlery are provided by the marina resort - drinks are for sale at the open-air bar.

But on Sunday evenings, a 'salad' barbie is provided. For a minimal charge, a buffet of salads is provided along with untoasted garlic bread, uncooked potatoes, and uncooked sausages, which you cook yourself on the barbies. The meal was delicious (we cooked fish) and enjoyed even more as there was no cleanup afterwards!

Something unusual, at least for us, was to see a chicken being cooked on a beer can. What you do is open a can of beer, put it in a wire holder standing up, take a whole chicken and slide it over the can of beer so that most of the can is inside the cavity of the chicken. Then after one's favourite spice rub, it's placed on the barbie and a metal bucket is placed over top. The beer soon boils, steam cooking the interior of the bird and the barbie and bucket does the rest. In just over an hour, it comes out moist yet crispy on the outside.

Just checkin...looks almost done!

Apparently this is quite a common thing to do in the south belt of USA but it is the first time we have ever heard of it. You can also drink one half of the beer (before you put it on the barbie though) then fill the can with barbecue sauce before topping with a chicken.

I wouldn't do this too often as beer cans are aluminum which is a very unhealthy cooking item. Maybe make a holder for the beer liquid out of stainless steel or something...oh yeah, we're vegetarian so we won't be cooking chicken anyway!

We left Musket Cove on July 29th but stopped at a small island that we were motoring past. The beach looked sandy and there was a boat wreck on shore, probably from last season's cyclone. After anchoring Sea Turtle, we put on our snorkelling gear and plopped into the ocean. We swam towards the beach, disappointed at the lack of nice coral and fish though. We only saw 1 small beautifully decorated fish that we had never seen before and very few other fish.

We reached the shore and walked around the entire island collecting a few shells, seeing nothing but a few picnic tables and the uncompleted construction of a building. The wreck was completely stripped and slowly deteriorating.

Not much left

Back at Vuda Point Marina

After being home in Canada for a family wedding, we were glad to return to Sea Turtle at Vuda Point Marina (Fiji).

Jordan kept busy adapting the dinghy wheels for our new dinghy that we bought in New Zealand. He also replaced the canvas windvane on our Saye's Rig with a more effective rigid wooden paneled one. He even applied a vinyl stick-on Canadian flag to it. Next, he did some refinishing of the cockpit teak cap rail and painted the interior of the cockpit. I kept busy inside.

Staying at Vuda has a few idiosyncrasies. Especially at full moon when the tide changes are so dramatic. Some mornings and/or evenings, I couldn't even get off the boat for a few hours! When the tide was really low, I couldn't reach up to the stationary pier; and when the tide was really high, I couldn't drop down to the pier.

Too far for me to drop

Also at Vuda, you have REALLY close neighbours. On windy days when boats are being pushed together, the only thing separating boats are their fenders. On calm days, there is a little more space between boats but usually only about 30 cm (12 inches). But we have enjoyed our stay here and would come again.

Several boats here are resting in the ground to be secure in the event of a direct cyclone hit as they had last season. A hole is dug and lined with tires for protection and the boat is lowered down into the hole. Some older boats appear sadly to have been resting for a very long time, as though floating in dirt.

Dirt moored

We've been checking the news online hoping for some positive news about our lost friends on the historic SV Niña. They left Opua New Zealand heading for Australia (just before we left NZ heading for Fiji) and are seriously overdue, and by officials, are presumed lost. They have long since called off the search. We're hoping to one day read about discovering the 7 missing persons in their life raft, floating along...stranger things have happened and our prayers go out.

First wedding

Jordan and I caught a cab into Nadi Fiji (pronounced Nandi) to catch a flight to Calgary AB Canada for my daughter's wedding. Our flight was at 22:00 July 11th and we arrived in Calgary 17 hours later, however we arrived on the same day at 20:00 July 11th - two hours earlier than when we left Fiji as we had crossed the International Date Line!

It was a wonderful and beautiful wedding. My daughter Lainey and her fiancé Tim (who had both visited us in New Zealand back in February) did a super job planning everything and had made it a little different and fun, more than what you would expect at a wedding.

It took place at a campground by Rocky Mountain House so guests could camp out and also participate in the week-long jeep and quad off-roading event nearby of which the bride and groom are enthusiasts. Lainey's pink jeep and Tim's green jeep were both decorated for the occasion.

Before decorating

The wedding party each danced a jig to special songs as they came down the aisle of the beautifully decorated hall and Tim danced his mother to her seat. My adorable great-granddaughter proudly dispensed flower petals from a basket.

So what song did the bride dance down the aisle to as she was escorted by her handsome son - my grandson? Another One Bites the Dust! Everyone had smiles on their faces as they snapped photos.

And after so much planning and a stressful day for the couple, a joyous Mr. and Mrs. Chambers exited the building. (I'm so proud of you both! Congratulations!)

Their cakes were also unusual. They had two - one saying The Hunt is Over and the other cake was a jeep (almost identical to Lainey's jeep) and the cake even had working headlights! They also had their 2 dogs outfitted in tuxedos.

Cake cutting - jeep cake on right

The meal, dance, and party continued late into the evening. It was a great opportunity to see my son and parents once again as we see them all too seldom, as well as other family members who were able to attend.

On our return flight, we left Calgary on July 16th and didn't arrive back in Fiji until July 18th as we once again crossed the Date Line, but this time going in the opposite direction, so we lost a day.

Our next wedding will be for Jordan's son sometime in the spring...

Immigration at Lautoka

As Jordan and I had to fly back to Canada for a week, we had to visit the Immigration authorities in Lautoka Fiji, a small town close to the Vuda Point Marina where we were moored. The Fijian airlines will not let anyone fly into Fiji without a booked flight out of Fiji, or some other method of leaving Fiji, unless you are a resident. So on our attempted return, we would be denied entry unless we procured certain paperwork from Immigration before we left Fiji.

It necessitated us to first go to the Marina office where they gave us a letter stating that our boat was in the Marina, thereby proving that we have a boat to return to with plans to sail out of Fiji in the next month or two. Next, we went to Immigration in Lautoka and presented the letter from the Marina. Immigration also typed up a letter that vaguely re-stated the same information as the Marina.

So now we were set. When we return to Fiji after our upcoming trip to Canada, we should just have to present the two letters to the airline officials at the airport to get back into Fiji and to our boat, Sea Turtle.

(We have flown home to Canada from several countries that we visited in the past, including Ecuador and New Zealand, and never had a problem returning back into the country where we were anchored. This is the first time that we have had to have proof that we had plans to leave the country after our return.)

First Landing

A few minutes walk from where we are moored at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji is a resort called First Landing. It is called this because according to legend this beach is where the first Fijians landed around 1500 BC. We took a picture of their sign that showed an aerial view of the walkway to the man-made foot-shaped island which is part of the First Landing Resort.

Odd shaped island

The folks at the Resort welcome cruisers to their bar, restaurant, and pool. So we walked over and luxuriated in their pool on a hot sunny day, and of course bought a drink in appreciation for usage of their amenities.

The following view of the area (copied from the internet) shows the foot and at the lower right is the Vuda Point Marina where we have Sea Turtle.

View (copied from internet)

Fiji and the other island nations between here and Australia make First Island Resort a popular and convenient place for both cruising and regular tourists.

Vuda Point Marina

On July 5th, we pulled anchor from Viani Bay where we had a delightful week of snorkelling, diving, feasting, and adventuring. It was time to leave for Vuda Point Marina which is on the largest Fijian island, Viti Levu. The wind was good to us and we had a great sail that lasted all day and throughout the night as we safely made our way from open waters through a couple of passes, with the aid of GPS and radar.

As the morning sun greeted us the next day, we entered an opening on the ring/barrier reef on the north side of the main island of Viti Levu then began winding through reefs which were well marked on our digital charts of CMap, and many were visible as well. We made our way through the Vatu-Ira Channel and into Bligh Water. This water was named after the famous William Bligh aboard the Bounty who was overtaken by 18 crew members in 1789 (Mutiny on the Bounty).

Under sunny skies, we set anchor (S17°25.046' E177°44.727') on the northwest side of Viti Levu Island. Early the next morning, we were off again when we saw in the distance what looked like sand in the middle of the sea. How could that be? So we sailed closer and sure enough there was a tiny spot of raised reef covered with sand out in the middle of nowhere (S17°19.693046' E177°59.255'). I jumped overboard and snorkelled over to check it out. I swam over some coral with a few bright fish swimming around and then I stepped onto the soft sandy island. What a thrill that was! (Jordan didn't feel he could safely anchor Sea Turtle amongst the coral reefs so he stayed aboard.

Judy all alone on sandy island in the middle of nowhere

Our next stop would be on the westernmost point of Viti Levu at Vuda Point Marina (pronounced Vunda - Fijians always include an 'n' before a 'd' when saying the word). At 15:00 on July 7th, we med moored bow first at the Marina (S17°40.831' E177°23.202') after passing through a narrow dredged channel into their unusual circular mooring space.

Vuda Point Marina

We could hear a band playing so after checking in, we wandered over to the Sunset Bar to have a sundowner and listen to the band. The band played steady without any breaks from 15:00 till 22:00! They were very good and played all styles of music. We watched as the sun went down and were surprised to finally see the green flash! Just before the sun drops below the horizon, on the very rare occasion and if you watch closely, you can see a flash of green colour. I tried to catch it on the camera but wasn't quick enough.

Brilliant orange sun setting at Vuda Point Marina

The Wall

A highly praised dive site in Fiji called The Wall was another favourite place to go. But I stayed behind on Sea Turtle as I was still pretty sore from the waterslide antics yesterday. Also, I don't have a diving certificate, and even though I could have snorkelled, I decided to recuperate instead. So off went Jordan with several other sailors and the local guide Jack onboard Gato Go, a catamaran.

Jordan said it was the best dive he has ever had - even better than when he dove the Red Sea several years earlier. As well as the full meal deal of fish and coral, he dove into a cave that turned into a tunnel that came out on The Wall which sported a vast swaying array of white soft coral.

Sea Turtle at fabulous Viani Bay

Waitavala waterslide

On July 3rd, several sailors boarded SV The Rose for an excursion to Taveuni Island (Fiji) with Jack, the local guide. Taveuni is about 1.5 hours across the strait from Viani Bay. Destination on Taveuni: the natural rock waterslide in the rainforest. After a quick cab ride, we hiked to the flowing water.

I thought it looked pretty intimidating but all the young children were doing it. So I figured if they could do it, then I should be able to. Right? I was brave enough to try it once but that was it. It flowed extremely fast, dunked you a couple of times, and bounced you all around from one rock side to the other. I ended up with a bruised tailbone, knee, and foot. But it was an exhilarating ride! Jordan went down a few times, with no injuries of course, and loved it.

Nature's funland

After everyone had their fill of excitement, we hiked back to the seashore. On the way, Jordan and I stopped at a minimum security prison where the inmates grew vegetables for sale. While we were there, we talked to one of the guards who explained that the inmates were singing, which we could hear. It was a very nice sound.

Then we walked further to where the school children were having a game of rugby outside. They all came running over to say hi, with smiling faces. In the background was the Wairiki Mission.

Wairiki Mission by school

Our last stop of the day was to buy scrumptious roti, an unleavened Indo-Fijian bread. There was a little shop that made them on the spot and we ordered a few vegetarian ones, and also several bara filled with chickpeas for only 10 cents each.

By the time The Rose sailed back to our anchorages, everyone was tired after a long thrilling day at the natural rock waterslide.

Viani Bay

On June 27th, we left our anchorage at Savusavu and spent one night anchored in front of Cousteau Resort (S16°48.628' E179°17.228'), also on Vanua Levu Island of Fiji. We did not go ashore but we heard that it was extremely expensive to stay or eat there. This was just a quick stopover on our way to Viani Bay.

Making our way through some breaks in the outer reefs, we came into Viani Bay and anchored (S16°44.980' E179°53.995') with about 6 other boats, most of which we knew from previous confluences. Viani Bay is on the east end of Vanua Levu Island.

The next day, Jordan and I took the dinghy out and snorkelled around a small reef that had some pretty coral and fish. But on the 30th, we dinghied out to an area called the Cabbage Patch where SV Merilelu was anchored with several other sailors aboard. What an amazing area! The so called Cabbage Patch coral looked just like the oversized leaves of the vegetable cabbage, only rock hard coral. It covered an area of about 75 square metres (800 square feet).

We did not take any photos so following is one copied from the internet...

Cabbage Patch coral

On July 1st, Jack (a local guide) took several sailors to an area called the Fish Factory. It is called this because there are so many fish here. And the prolific abundance and wide variety of coral included hard coral and also soft coral that was waving in the ocean current. The kaleidoscope of colours of beryl blue, orange, red, lime green, and lilac do not show up in our photo.

Polychromatic aquatic wonderland

Jack takes sailors (aboard their boat) to different dive sites, snorkelling sites, and also to other nearby islands if so desired. He does all of this for 10 Fijian dollars per person (which amounts to around $5 Canadian) for each site that you wish to go.

Then on July 2nd, all the sailors were invited to Jack's family's place on shore for a traditional Fijian dinner called a lovo. This meal is cooked in the ground. They swale a pit, line it with stones, stoke a fire for a few hours, usually using leftover coconut husks, then the food is placed on huge tropical leaves, covered again in leaves and tarps, then finally sand. It's left for about 2 hours then opened up for dinner time.

Removing the hot leaves

Some of the feast beginning to be exposed

As well as fish, there was a pig, food wrapped in taro leaves and delicious coconut cream, breadfruit, and accompanied with a delicious cold veggie salad. Jack also demonstrated how to quickly husk a coconut using the point of a sharp short pole sticking out of the ground. Several people tried to copy but could not do it as fast as Jack!

Jordan and Chris (SV Ladybug of Victoria BC) played the violin and ukulele and the day was topped off with Jack and his family singing a beautiful acapella "Thank You" song in Fijian.

Jordan with his husked coconut and Jack

Labasa

Today we took a bus to Labasa (pronounced Lam basa) with friends from catamaran Morning Glory. This is the largest town of Vanua Levu Island (Fiji's 2nd largest island) and brags of the first set of traffic lights on the island.

The area is very fertile and consequently has a big bustling market where we all excitedly purchased large pamplemouse (the grapefruit-like fruit that we loved in the Marquesas)! But sadly when we got them back to the boat and tasted them, they were not good at all. We have never found any that taste as juicy and sweet as in the Marquesas.

Happily selling their wares

There were a couple of parades happening in Labasa while we were there. One was quite unusual and I haven't been able to find any information as to what was happening and why. The Indo-Fijians (predominant here) were dressed up spectacularly in their very bright and jewelled native outfits...

2 lovely young ladies

Some lined up, lay down in the centre of the street, and then a fancy hand-drawn cart was pulled over the procession.

The other parade seemed to be promoting crime prevention. Leading the parade was the police department dressed in fancy outfits, and there were a few floats with pretty princesses, a stilt walker, cars with masked people, sign carriers, etc.

Dapper police

Everywhere we go in Fiji, someone is always saying Bula (boo la). This means a friendly Hello and Fijians are extremely friendly. The other word we use all the time is Vinaka (vee nah ka) which means Thank you.

We had an excellent curry meal at a restaurant before waiting amongst the din and bustle of afternoon pedestrians at the bus station. It was a long 3-hour return over verdant ridges to our boats on the other side where we arrived after dark.

FIJI - Savusavu

As we left North Minerva Reef on June 16th with strong winds on the beam, we made for a fast day's sail under a double reef main, triple reef head, and storm staysail. The night was blustery with near gale force winds. Jordan was out on deck a few times through the night making minor sail adjustments and making sure everything was secure.

About 15 nautical miles from Savusavu (Fiji), we finally ran out of wind. We had been having a great sail right up till then. Around midnight, we dropped all sails to lay ahull so that we could enter the harbour safely during dawn's daylight. At 03:00, we started to slowly motor in, arriving at the mouth of the inner harbour at 05:15 June 20th where we drifted until the sun came up.

The harbour was small and there were about 40 boats there, most on mooring balls or at anchor. We tied up to a mooring ball at the Copra Shed Marina (S16°46.689' E179°20.033') at 07:15. The Marina arranged for the officials with their insouciant manner and schedule to come out to the boat for an easy check in.

The small town of Savusavu is located on Vanua Levu Island, the second most prominent of the 333 islands of tropical Fiji.

Fiji is predominantly populated by indigenous Fijians (mainly Melanesians and Polynesians) and Indo-Fijians. The Indo-Fijians came from India as indentured labourers in 1878 to work in the sugar cane fields. Today they are very much a part of the culture, and sari shops, temples, and curry houses are regular fixtures. Ethnic tensions still exist but are not visible to tourists. The government has experienced some upheaval here over the last few years with actual, yet mild coups.

Motley village architecture

Close to where we moored, we could see a wreck on the shoreline. There are a couple of stories making the circuit as to what happened to this boat. Were the folks aboard causing problems with the Fijians or did their propane tanks explode? The death of the couple is all very mysterious.

Tragedy in paradise

We were also close to hot showers, laundry facilities, and restaurants that made our dinghy ride the shortest yet. Many places served excellent and inexpensive curry dishes. We could also see the hot springs nearby...

Steam from the hot springs

One afternoon, we attended a talk given by a well-known sailor, Curly, who explained all the dangers of sailing around Fiji waters. The waters here are lousy with reefs and you should never sail at night except perhaps where the reefs are well marked (not very frequently though). There are usually a few boats lost each year and many others with stories of going on the reef but managing to extract themselves.

Back to North Minerva

After almost 7 months from sailing into New Zealand, we finally made our departure on sunny June 6th at 16:15 with the wind on our beam. Just before the sun was down, we were escorted by a pod of large dolphins. One dolphin, no doubt curious of Jordan's bright yellow rain slicker, followed him as he moved from stern to bow turning sideways and looking up at him.

The autopilot refused to think right at first but after an hour and a few restarts, it finally got its head clear and did its thing. The next morning, we tried the newly installed Saye's Rig wind vane and it worked fine, but it wandered a bit so went back to the more precise autopilot.

The weather was mostly sunny with a few isolated showers. Once away from the land that moderates the sea climes we soon experienced the briny undulation and I was just a little nauseous at first as I forgot to take a seasick pill after being at anchor for so many months. After 2.5 days of broad reaching (a great point of sail) out of New Zealand, there was mostly no wind so we resorted to the purr of the Perkins motor (54 hours!)

On June 13th, we set anchor (S23°39.631' W178°54.222') in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, once again back at North Minerva Reef. Already anchored were several boats we knew: Catharpin Blue, Meikyo, Morning Glory, Solstice as well as 2 others (1 being a power boat).

Our first stay at Minerva Reef in November 2012 on our way to New Zealand from Tonga resulted in the capture of 4 large delicious lobsters with friends on SV AKA. Unfortunately, this time Jordan's efforts were unsuccessful. The tide was high at mid-day making overflow runoff strong and still a bit cool in the water so he didn't stay in long. Such a change from November when the water was glassy smooth and warm.

He saw 2 lobsters but couldn't quite get a good shot with his spear gun. He also saw a few sharks and when 1 got too close for comfort, Jordan poked him with the tip of his spear and it scooted away.

Jordan snorkelling at Reef edge with strong runoff

The sun set early, between 17:00 and 17:30. We poured a nightcap, put on some music, and as dinner cooked, we danced. What a life! We ended the evening with Jordan serenading me on his violin. Oh...stop my heart...I am so happy and I know my man is too. I thank my beautiful, lustrous, heavenly stars every night.

We were the only boat at the Reef last night and for the second time was the last boat out, leaving it vacant for the next seafarer.

Good and bad

To balance the negative bureaucratic experiences, there are some pluses for visitors here in New Zealand. One is that if you are injured for any reason while visiting here, all medical treatment is free. Two incidents here that boaters we know of made use of this service. One was a broken hip and the other a broken wrist.

New Zealand is a beautiful country. We had a great tour of the North Island and the South Island by motorcycle and we spent some time sailing around in the Bay of Islands. New Zealand reminds us of Victoria BC on a smaller scale with all its islands, coastal scenery, picturesque mountains, and lush greenery.

This is a great place to get boat work done as almost everything can be purchased here or sent in pretty quickly. But it's not cheap anymore partly because the New Zealand dollar is strong against our Canadian dollar. But even the locals complain how everything is expensive. Having said that though, we completed a lot of necessary boat projects that we had been putting off until we got here.

I personally think the New Zealand Northland summer season is very short and the sandflies have a vicious bite. The Antipode winter season is now upon us down here and it's very chilly. We can even see our breath when talking in Sea Turtle some mornings and evenings. Brrr.....

I went swimming only once in the cold water when coerced by my visiting daughter. We are looking forward to warm water and clear snorkelling adventures as we head north. That seems strange to say, but we are so far south at the moment. When we left northern Canada, we said the exact opposite and were looking forward to warmer waters as we were then heading south.

So now we are elated, happy, overjoyed...we're off to Fiji this afternoon from New Zealand. We took refuge here from the northern hurricane season since November 12, 2012 (other than a 6-week visit home). We have a great weather window and checked out today with no hassles.

Bureaucracy

We, as well as many other sailors, have had unfortunate liaisons with New Zealand bureaucracy.

Our incident cost us $400 when we unwittingly checked into a New Zealand airport with ONE banana in our suitcase that we had forgotten about. We went through an appeal procedure with no luck.

Another boater needed to extend their Visa. They filled out all the forms and sent everything from Opua to Immigration in Auckland, 4 hours away by car. Immigration received the information prior to expiry of the Visa but informed the sailors they had used an old form. But yet the form had been given to them by a Custom official in Opua. The newer form was almost identical to the one they had filled out and did not ask for any different information than what they had already provided. It was impossible for them to fill out this new form and get it back to Immigration before their Visa expired. So now as overstayers, they had a $700 fine imposed on them. For a mistake that was the officials' fault.

The Custom's office even sent a letter to Immigration stating it was Custom's fault - not the boater's fault - but no dice. Even after several letters and emails, the sailors were told they still had to pay the fine as 'everyone is treated the same'.

Oh, really? Another boater sent their papers to Immigration with a courier that arrived 9 minutes after 16:00 - the time that Immigration closes. But the door was open and the papers were signed for. These sailors were informed that their papers were late and had to pay the $700 fine. They refused and demanded to speak to a superior (they had been dealing with the same official as the above sailors). They were reluctantly allowed to speak with someone else and were charged the regular price of $165 for a Visa extension without a fine.

Wait a minute - what happened to 'everyone is treated the same'??

Another incident involved a boater that incorrectly wrote 1 digit of their credit card number. Immigration sent a letter informing them that as they would have to redo their forms, they were now overstayers, and charged them the $700 fine. (I believe they left the country without paying this ridiculous fine.)

Some boaters, including us, would not return to an otherwise very beautiful New Zealand because of this bureaucratic idiocy.

BUREAUCRACY as defined by the dictionary: 1. a body of appointive government officials 2. administration characterized by specialization of functions under fixed rules and a hierarchy of authority, also an unwieldy administrative system deficient in initiative and flexibility.

Enough said...

Kiwi 'slanguage'

G'day mate. Here's a bit of Kiwi slang that we have heard throughout our stay in New Zealand.

As might be heard in the shopping market parking lot: 'Be careful with that trundler, you wouldn't want the bill from my panelbeater.' English interpretation: 'Be careful with that shopping cart, you wouldn't want the bill from by body shop.'

At the New World supermarket

Or, 'Can't find the short. Call the sparky.' (electrician)

Or, 'Thanks for your help.' Response: 'No worries.'

Washrooms or restrooms are simply toilets. 'Could you please tell me if you have a toilet in this restaurant?'

Barbecues are barbies, flip flops/thongs are jandals, grog is alcohol. And if you see BYO on a restaurant sign, this means that you can bring your own wine to drink with your meal! Something we can't do back home in Canada.

Kids may politely ask for a lolly which is a request for something sweet (i.e. lollipop, etc.)

If you're asked to 'bring a plate', don't bring an empty plate! This means to bring food to share.

And a contagious verbal mannerism is the response 'Yeah yeah yeah' in rapid fire. It's not considered rude, but an affirmation that you understand exactly what the other is saying.

Taking on crew?

Many boats take on crew for passages to help with watches and chores like steering, etc. Up till now, we have not had crew. That is to say, not in the flesh. But we do have what some sailors call an extra crew that works without sleep and doesn't complain and is very reliable (well, most of the time). That is, we have an autopilot. It runs efficiently on little electric power and is tied into our hydraulic steering. It has been with us since Mexico.

Another common self-steering device is a wind vane and there are various makes. They are mounted at the stern, are mechanical, and by sensing and using the wind, move a trim rudder that in turn steers the boat. The upside to these is that they use no electric power. The main downside is they don't work well when motoring or sailing in light winds.

We have had some failures with our electric/hydraulic crew man and it's always a worry that if it fails on a long passage, it would be hell to have to hand-steer great distances. So a backup wind vane would be wise. Jordan has always wanted to get a particular type that is best suited to Sea Turtle's configuration. It is made in California USA and is a very simple reliable unit, called the Saye's Rig wind vane. He's been looking a long time for a good second-hand one and recently spotted one. He contacted the boat owner to see if it was by chance for sale and sure enough was able to buy it for a fraction of its new price. This Saye's Rig will be a backup unit to use if our automatic pilot ever breaks down again.

The Saye's Rig is connected externally to a boat's rudder that is manipulated by a trim rudder. The connection to the rudder is a long looped bar that is trailing off the main rudder. So it required us to expose the bottom of Sea Turtle to do that attachment. We decided to careen her. That is a procedure of tying her up to a dock at high tide with her keel almost on the bottom. Then as the tide goes out, she would no longer have water under her and would lean against the dock - a common and inexpensive practice among boaters.

Well, we found out that Sea Turtle doesn't like this exercise. When the tide went out, poor Sea Turtle had her bow (nose) almost in the mud as she slowly fell forward from the weight in the bow. She settled to within an inch of snagging the main port shroud on a piling which could have been catastrophic if she had gone any further. Also, she settled just as one of the newly refurbished stanchions came in contact with the same piling. We were very lucky.

Sinking in the mud with bow almost touching

But there was nothing we could do until the tide came back up several hours later when we quickly motored away. The next day, we had Doug's Boat Yard once again put Sea Turtle on his slipway and pull us up and out of the water.

Jordan got busy and installed the Saye's Rig rudder bar to Sea Turtle's rudder and was finished by the following day.

Saye's Rig ready to go

We both feel more comfortable now knowing that we have a backup system if our automatic pilot fails as it has in the past. Jordan can't wait to head offshore and put the new crew man through the manoeuvres!

Odds n' ends

Besides all the boat work, road trips, and company, we have also spent some time sailing in the Bay of Islands. Jordan attempted to collect some of the many scallops in the New Zealand waters when diving, but alas, all he found were empty shells. Wrong spot apparently. Scallop season closed at the end of April so no second chances for us. But fishing has been great with many tasty snappers caught.

At a sailors' swap meet we were able to sell our old outboard motor and an extra stern anchor that we no longer need. Yippee - it's always good to lessen the weight on Sea Turtle! And we picked up a couple of LIGHTWEIGHT items that we needed from other sailors.

We were introduced to a delicious seasonal fruit that we have never heard of before called freijoas. They are about the size and shape of a chicken egg with an aromatic smell and sweet taste when ripe. They are not so tasty when over-ripe though, which you can only tell by cutting it open and seeing that it has started to turn brown. We ate them by the bagful!

Scrumptious freijoas pictured with an apple

One afternoon, we went into Pahia (a few minutes away by car from Opua) to hear the beat of the Tamashii Taiko Drummers. Under sunny skies, we listened to the ancient rhythms as they blended the old and the new and watched the choreography of their movements. They undergo hours and hours of training and practice to achieve such skill (www.tamashii.co.nz).

Drumming away

On another afternoon, we needed to go to Pahia again and decided to hitchhike. We didn't wait long until we were offered a ride. When it was time to return to Opua, we once again stuck out our thumbs but not many cars went past. So we decided to walk as we had been told it is a very scenic trail walk along the seashore and is about 5 km. Not much of it was at sea level and there were a lot of ups and downs but it was quite scenic.

We were disappointed that we couldn't get a quick ride back to Opua as we had been invited for a day sail in the Bay of Islands with our friends on their historic 1928 wooden schooner Niña before they departed for Australia.

Famous Niña

Enough exercise for the day, where's the wine?

Lots of work

We have been very busy with regular boat jobs plus a few more before leaving New Zealand hopefully sometime in May.

Jordan has always missed having a lazarette on deck for storage. We've been using 2 large plastic bins tied to the deck but they've completely deteriorated from the hot sun, plus they don't look very boatie! The solution? Build one!

Using fiberglass and wood, he created a new lazarette that looks like it was always on Sea Turtle. A perfect fit. The short fiberglass course that Jordan signed up for, through our Fleet group of Bluewater Cruising Association back in Victoria BC before we left for sailing, and some valued tutoring from Ed on SV AKA, paid off. Jordan has fixed and/or created several projects with the use of fiberglass.

Way to go Jordan!

Since we've had the boat, we've had a few minor annoying leaks from the hatch over our stateroom bed which seemed to be getting a little worse with time. We purchased a new hatch here in New Zealand but it was a bit smaller than our original. Once again, Jordan - with the help of fiberglass - made the opening a bit smaller and also raised it up so it no longer laid flush on the deck. This will also help to prevent any sitting water that could one day lead to leaks again. Another beauty of a project! It recently passed a test by a torrential rain.

The other main job was to put Sea Turtle on the hard for painting. We decided to pull out at Doug's Boat Yard where he uses a marine-ways with a unique system to accommodate more than one boat. As the hauled boat moves up into the boat yard, the carriage moves over a turntable not unlike the roundhouse systems of railway yards. The carriage with the boat on it then turns to one of 4 spurs where it is then moved out of the way for another boat and carriage to move.

Sea Turtle being pulled up slipway

Turntable visible at front

Our usual haul-out is for applying anti-fouling paint to the bottom, a fairly easy quick job. But this time, the hull (i.e. the sides of the boat) above the waterline was in desperate need of painting. This is a major job as Sea Turtle's fiberglass sides are grooved for the esthetic look of planked wood. So all these grooves needed to be sanded, wiped with tack rag, and painted 2 times with a small brush before using a roller! We also raised our waterline another 23 cm (9 inches) for the anti-fouling paint, as indicated by the green tape in the photo below.

Waterline creeping up higher...and higher...

We were only able to finish the starboard side with 2 coats of paint before 2 days of heavy rain hit us. And then we were almost finished the port side and the bottom when once again the rain was upon us. But we were able to quickly finish the next day. The job turned out splendid so it was all worth it.

Lookin' mighty fine now

Jordan also put on a new anchor light as our other was quite dim at night. We could always pick out our boat as it had the dimmest light - now it has the brightest! As well, he installed new spreader lights that flood the deck that are now LED and use much less power.

We left Victoria in September 2009 with the boat's original mainsail, circa 1980, and sailed over 24,000 nautical miles (about 44,500 km / 27,500 mi) to New Zealand with the old sail displaying many tatters and patches. So our brand new mainsail was long overdue. It's up and ready to be tested. We also had our furling headsail checked and tidied up and our staysail re-cut.