http://cruisingsavusavu.blogspot.com/
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| Nakama Creek Savusavu, Fiji |
Some
of the cruisers in Savusavu:
“Eagles
Wings” Ken and Beth from Chicago
“Sofia”
Jonathan and Anne from UK
“Kairos”
Menno from Holland
"Fair
Winds" Sherman and Judy form USA and Australia
“Second
Wind” Art and Nancy from Seattle, USA
I
spent a good deal of time, on Fiji's second largest island of Vanua
Levu, working on the boat, visiting a dentist in Labasa and anchored
off the Cousteau Resort. Savusavu is an easy and friendly town to
stay in.
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| Waitui Marina late afternoon |
I
planned to sail to Taviuni Island to the east of Savusavu. Dark o
clock, Saturday July 2, I should have stayed in bed. The alarm woke
me at 4.30am. After a coffee I hauled up the anchor in drizzling
rain. Once away from the shelter of the reef the seas were a little
unpleasant and winds up to 25 knots from where I was headed! The seas
and swell were around 2 metres. Roxy the Rocna anchor had not been
secured and attempted an escape. If you can picture the skipper at
the pointy end of Sadiqi in 2 metre seas trying to retrieve Roxy. The
skipper received a thorough dunking. Roxy managed to put a
semicircular gouge near the bow, topsides before being arrested and
restrained. Returning to the cockpit to re-evaluate my intentions - I
came to me senses. Beating to windward in 25 knot winds for 30 miles
was not my idea of fun. I radioed 'Fair Winds', the yacht that was
planning on accompanying me, that conditions were "unpleasant"
and that I was returning to the anchorage. "Fair Winds" had
just hauled anchor. I passed two larger yachts on their way out to
sea - conditions were abating. I was grateful to return to the
shelter of the anchorage.
Close
to midday July 16, despite being a Friday, I hauled anchor near the
Cousteau Resort for the 100 mile sail to Suva - the capital on Viti
Levu island. The winds were from the east south east making for a
good sail south. Sadiqi arrived mid afternoon the next day after a
pleasant sail. I met up with Tom and Jan on "Ambler" near
the Novotel hotel anchorage (formerly Tradewinds Hotel). It was a
pleasant sheltered anchorage - also called the Bay of Islands. Suva,
as I found out, is also called soggy Suva - it rained most days.
Sherman and Judy on "Fair Winds" arrived in Suva a few days
later.
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| Bay of Islands anchorage Suva |
On
Tuesday August 8 - dark o clock - I motored through Suva harbour
toward the Astrolabe Reefs of Kadavu - 40 miles to the south. Ambler
left shortly after Sadiqi - neither of us do buddy boating. Just
after Midday after a very pleasant beam reach I dropped anchor off
the island of Dravuni, within the shelter of the Great Astolabe
Reefs. The water was beautiful and clear. Tom, Jan and I went ashore
to visit the village Mayor to present kava and show our cruising
permit.
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| Dravuni Island, Astrolabe Reefs, Kadavu |
Two
days after our arrival it started to rain and continued to do so for
6 days. The islands needed the rain. The wind was forecast to
strengthen from the south. We moved to a more sheltered anchorage
Naqara on Ono island. When the weather started to clear I headed
north to the island of Namara. A very pleasant anchorage in crystal
clear water. The small island provided hours of fascinating beach combing.
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| Ambler anchored off Namara, Astrolabe reefs |
The
Cob BBQ was dragged out of the deep soggy depths of the cockpit
locker. If memory serves, which it has been known not to, the last
time I used it was in the San Blas islands.
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| Pizza on the beach - Namara |
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| Pizza on the beach - Namara |
On
Monday August 15, after a pleasant over night sail westwards from the
Astrolabe Reefs, Sadiqi arrived back at Musket Cove resort. Clothes
were washed and the skipper had the best hot water shower since
leaving New Zealand.
Some
of the other cruisers at Musket Cove:
"Muneera"
with Nick and friends from Austalia
“Kairos”
with Menno from Holland
"Fair
Winds" with Sherman and Judy form USA and Australia
"Cachalot"
with Alison from England and Greg from USA.
"Jig
Saw" with Phil and Fay from Australia, last seen in the Caribbean.
I
motored to Lautoka. Fiji's second largest city also called the "Sugar
City" due to the large sugar cane refinery near the port. I
found Lautoka a good place to re-provision - water, fuel and
propane/gas are easily available. The shops and markets are within
easy walking distance from the port. The downside of anchoring near
Lautoka is the soot and ash from the sugar refinery, when the wind is
blowing from the South East.
In
September a friend arrived from New Zealand. Liz flew into Nadi
International airport and took a taxi for FJD$25 to Lautoka port. The
following day we headed for Waya the southern most island of the
Yasawa group.
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| Yalobi village, Waya, Yasawa |
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| Waya |
We
met up with Judy and Sherman on Fair Winds at the anchorage near
Yalobi village. Waya is a stunningly beautiful island. We spent hours
walking the long beaches. It was wonderful to share the experience.Toward
the end of Liz's stay we motored sailed back to Musket Cove. We then
motor sailed to Port Denarau for Liz to catch the plane back to the
cold island of the long white cloud. I headed for Saweni Bay after
re-provisioning at Lautoka.
I
headed for Saweni Bay after re-provisioning at Lautoka.
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| Sunrise at Saweni Bay |
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| Saweni Bay |
Some
of the boats in Saweni Bay:
“Second
Wind” with Art and Nancy from Seattle, USA.
"Impetuous
Too" with Duncan, Ruth and, newly arrived crew, Ravi from UK.
Sadiqi
spent much of the time anchored in Saweni Bay on the west coast of
Viti Levu - Fiji's largest island. Several times I've walked the 3
miles south along the sugar cane rail tracks to Vuda marina to visit
friends there. I've also walked the train tracks north to Lautoka.
The 5 miles took nearly 2 hours, what with stopping to chat with the
friendly locals along the way. I felt I was living on the fringe of a
generally happy and content society. If the wind is blowing in the
right direction I could hear the muezzin call the faithful to prayer.
On Sundays, sometimes, I could hear the fire and brimstone sermon
from one of the Christian churches. Toward the end of September
Saweni beach became a kaleidoscope of noise, colour and activity when
the Hindus had a celebration for Lord Ganesh. The rhythmic sound of
kava being thumped into powder sometimes also intruded on the
serenity. Sadiqi may well stay anchored in Saweni Bay until ready to
depart for New Zealand. It's that kind of place. If there's a
downside it would be the occasional dusting of soot and ash on the
deck from the burning of the sugar cane fields.
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| Sugar cane train |
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| Socialising on Second Wind |
In
July, while in Suva, I visited a dentist to have 2 crowns/caps fitted.
This turned out to be one of my less successful experiences. I had
the crowns replaced by a more competent dentist in Lautoka. I've
written this off as a bad experience. My fault for inadequate
research in the first place. The cost of parsimony.
In
early October a trough developed near Vanuatu and moved over Fiji.
Wind speeds were forecast up to 35 knots. I use the Windfinder app
when I have Internet access. For awhile the winds blew from the
north on shore up to 25 knots. Then there was a 180 degree wind shift
and winds gusted up to 40 knots. The wind fairly howled through the
rigging. The boom awning was ripped. My fault for not taking it down
before the wind really blew. The challenge was getting the rest of it
down before it damaged me or the boat.
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| Musket Cove |
Toward
the middle of October I motor sailed to Musket Cove to catch up with
friends, do laundry and have a good hot shower.
Some
of the cruisers at Musket Cove:
"Cachalot"
with Alison from England.
"Irie
II" with Al from Texas, USA.
"Anahata"
with David from Canada.
"Vian
Dante" with Grant from USA.
"Chiquita"
with Ding from UK.
"Falshator"
with John and Shelly from NZ.
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| Vivid sunrise at Saweni Bay |
From
Musket Cove I returned to the serenity of Saweni Bay.
I
received a message that a few solo sailors were
venturing to the Yasawa group of islands. Sadiqi departed Saweni bay
on October 27 and headed for Drawaqa island some 27 miles north west.
The wind increased in strength the further west I motor sailed. Ding on Chiquita and David on Anahata were anchored near
the Manta Ray Bay resort. The anchorage can be rolly at times. The
following day I borrowed scuba gear and dived on the pinnacles dive site - a huge coral bommie with amazing
fish and coral life. Ding was not scuba certified. The last scuba
dive that I had done had been at Saint Helena island in the South
Atlantic.
http://mantarayisland.com/
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| Shark dive |
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| Nemo found |
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| Christmas Tree Worm |
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| Moorish Idol |
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| Lion Fish |
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| Loin Fish |
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| Stone Fish |
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| Peacock Smasher |
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| The crew |
I donated my old 4mm wetsuit to Jacob. It had been a few years since I had last used it and it seemed to have shrunk. Well, I had expanded somewhat. It was a very memorable week. Weary and with depleted stores we all sailed/motored back to Musket Cove.
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| Sunrise Saweni Bay |
November 12, I
returned to the serenity of Saweni Bay. Preparations for the trip
south to New Zealand continued. I avidly watched the weather
forecasts for a kind weather window. A departure date of Tuesday 15th
November looked good for awhile. However, by the weekend I would have
been beating into 20 to 30 knots winds and 4 metre swell from the
south. I was reminded, by Ding on Chiquita, that gentlemen do not
sail to windward. I motored back to Musket Cove to continue
preparations. David, Ding and I socialised with Duncan and Ruth on
Impetuous. The next suitable weather window was Sunday 20th
November. I was running out of time, my Fiji visa was due to expire
and I had booked flights out of New Zealand in mid December. Leaving
on a Sunday meant I was going to have to incur $134.00 overtime
charges. I sailed back to Saweni Bay on Saturday November 19. I
recognised Cattiva with Maurice and Maria whom I'd last seen in
Panama. After a brief visit with them I continued preparations for
departure the next day. The weather window still looked good. Bearing
in mind that any forecast over 4 days is suspect. The screen shots below are at 1300 each day. They show the date of the grib file in local time and the estimated position where Sadiqi should be.
Average
speed is 4.5 knots or 110 miles a day.
