Cobia lagoon in the Ringgold Isle, FIji

The Alluring Ringgold Isles

Matt and I have dreamed of visiting the flawless Ringgold Isles for years.  However, we could not make it do to poor weather conditions during our last two visits to Fiji.  Our luck was about to change as we had super light winds and calm conditions, which were perfect for the trip to the Ringgold Isles.

The Ringgold Isle is located on the North Eastern fringe of the Fiji Islands.  Civilization and developments have yet to touch this area. 

The orange dots are possible anchorages for us based on different wind directions.  

There is only one village in the Ringgold Isle and it is located on the east side of Yanuca Island.

The Ringgold Isle

The Ringgold Isle

The Ringgold Isles

7 islands, several islets, and 3 reefs (Budd Reef, Nukusemanu Reef, and Heemskercq Reef) make up the Ringgold Isle.

This group of islands lie to the North of the main Fijian islands and are largely uninhabited.  They are known for their beautiful coral reefs, rich marine biodiversity, and pristine natural beauty.

Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and are generally small, with lush vegetation.  The islands are surrounded by crystal-clear, turquoise waters.

There is not much information about the Ringgold islands. 

Several sources list the names of the 7 islands as Naqelelevu, Vetau’ua, Nukubasaga, Nukupureti, Nukusemanu, Tainibeka and Tauraria

However, those names do not match the names on Navionics, No Foreign Land, Noonsite, or even google maps.

Our sailing resources and charts list the Ringgold Islands as:

Yavu, Yanuca, Cobia, Maqewa, Beka, Tovuka, Raranitqa.  For ease of understanding, we will use the names listed on our charts.

Photo courtesy of www.tropicalislands.net

Photo courtesy of www.tropicalislands.net

Yanuca serves as the main island and is the only one that is inhabited.  Roughly 60-100 people call this island home.

There is one village located on the east side of the island.  Yet, the school is located on the north side of the island. 

The kids either walk 30-minutes to school or take a 5 minute boat bus ride over the reef.

Conservation

Fiji includes the Ringgold Isles in its efforts to protect marine and island ecosystems. Thus, hoping to preserve their unique biodiversity and natural beauty.

A 218-hectare (540-acre) area covering the archipelago is the Ringgold Islands Important Bird Area.

This area supports globally and regionally significant populations of marine turtleshumpback whalesseabirds and semi-nomadic reef fish. The Ringgold Isle may even hold concentrations of cold-water corals

Fiji Tourism has a great shot of Cobia – click here.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We visited the Ringgold Isle toward the end of May 2025.

We show off the beauty of the Paradise Resort in our last blog post.
 
Find the Ringgolds on No Foreign Land: https://www.noforeignland.com/place/6755338971799310

Paradise Resort Tavenui

We return to one of our favorite places in Taveuni, Paradise Taveuni Island Resort.  This is our third visit to this beautiful and very cruiser friendly resort and it does not disappoint.

Typically, resorts are not very welcoming to outside guests (ie: cruisers).  Understandably so, when you have paying guests.  But Paradise Resort is different. 

Paradise Resort has set up (10) free moorings in front of their resort.  In addition, they allow yachties to make use of their fresh water pool, showers, bathrooms, restaurant, spa, diving, and more. 

We hailed the resort on the VHF radio as we approached the mooring field.  We were instructed to follow the blue kayak to our designated mooring.  The greeter helped secure our bridle to the mooring and we were good to go.

Paradise Resort

Situated on top of a small cliff, the resort and negative edge pool overlook the lagoon. 

The grounds have lush with palm trees, flowers, grass, and walking paths.

We enjoyed several dinners that surround the negative edge pool.  It is super pretty at sunset.

Sugar Shack is next to the monohull closest to shore.

Check out the lower right photo with BCDs hanging on the palm trees. It is the quick dry method.  

And We are Off…

We left after 2 nights because we had a decent weather window to head NE toward the Ringgold Isles.

Important to realize this is a short trip.

  • 36 mile motor in light NE winds
  • 1kt-1.5kt current against us in the Somosomo straight
  • 6-hours to motor 
  • Average speed 5.5kts

Our blog posts run 7-8 weeks behind actual live events.  We were at Paradise Resort around mid-May, 2025.

We travel 2.5 hours by buy in search of a machine shop.  Did you read about it – check it out?

Labasa: In Search of a Machine Shop

We were eager to find a machine shop to help with our repairs.  A friend told us about a local electrical mechanic named Ram Pillai who might have a machine press.  With sketchy directions in hand we started our hunt for his shop.

We found him, after a few wrong turns and many inquiries.  For those of you who made need his services: +679.921.9777, rampillai090@gmail.com. Location: 16°46.783S / 179°20.207E.   Unfortunately, his press was broken.  However, he referred us to Vanua Engineering in Labasa.  He even called the owner to confirm that he could help us before he gave us a hand drawn map and contact information.

Ram Pillai on the right with the blue shirt teaching his student.

Ram Pillai on the right with the blue shirt teaching his student.

Labasa Road Trip

The machine shop was locate in Labasa which is a 2.5 hour bus ride across the island.  A new adventure.  We arrived at the bus depot at 7:15am and the bus driver how we go about getting a ride.

A lady passed by us and heard our conversation. She said that we had to purchase a bus card but that the place that sells them doesn’t open until 8:00am.  We would miss our bus if we waited for the shop to open.  She did not hesitate.  She reached into her purse and handed me her bus card.  We exchanged numbers and thanked her profusely.  Next, we headed to the little pop-up shop to get some water and to top up the bus card.  It cost $9.72 per person each way. So, we loaded $60 Fijian ($24USD) thinking it will cover our fares and leave her with an extra $20 for her kindness.

The bus was super rickety and noisy but it made it up and down all of the hills and across the island. We had some gorgeous views as the students and locals filled the bus at each stop.

Reminder of What We Are Doing

Matt was able to remove 2 of the 4 bearings and seals, as you might remember from our last blog post.  However, the last two were below the large gear which required a large machine press which can only be found in a machine shop.

Vanua Engineering 

We showed the bus driver our map from Pillai and asked if he could drop us off near by.  Vanua Engineering is located a mile before the main town of Labasa (16°25.983S / 179°21.779E).  From the main street, we turned left, then an immediate right, and another immediate left.

The shop was a bit of a mess but it had an impressive array of equipment.  This is a really large machine shop.  They have multiple presses (manual and hydraulic), welding, mills, and lathes.

Matt explains what he needs done to the manager, Raul (+679.947.9270).

The first thing do is try to remove the gear.  Matt thought a “key” prevented the gear from turning.  However, the gear was welded to the shaft!  This sucks.

They had to grind down the weld on the bottom to push the gear off the shaft.  This gave them access to the two bearings below it.

Shoot! We realized the seals we bought were not the right size.  So, Vanua Engineering made us new seals.

Miss the Bus or Finish the Work?

We had waited all day with the hopes of them finishing the work.  However, Raul told us they wouldn’t be done in time.  We had to catch the last bus back to Savusavu at 4:00p.

The manager said he would put the steering gear box on the bus the next day. Sounds reasonable.  We paid for the work $250 Fijian ($111 USD).  

We decided it was best to return to Labasa the next day. The thought of him putting it on a bus and us not finding the right bus was too much for us to handle.

Finishing the Work

Raul inserted the new seals into the bearings.  Then both were placed inside the steering gear box.  Next they had to weld the gear back to the shaft.

Matt rode the bus all the way back to the machine shop in Labasa to get our steering gear box.  

I could not go with him as I was hosting the Island Cruising Pacific Rally Welcome Party.  We had 17 boats and over 50 people attending and I had to prepare.

The Results

Matt got back to the boat to discover a few things.  The most important thing is that it works and we can use it to get around Fiji and to New Zealand.

However, he noticed that the machine shop took out the seal from the small bearing that we brought.  It was a brand new seal fitted inside the bearing.  All they had to do was place it under the gear.  But for some reason, the removed the seal and filled it with grease.  Ugh!

Even though the weld will hold the gear to the shaft it was not welded to Matt’s standards.

What does this mean?  It means we have to take it apart and fix it when we get to New Zealand.

All in all we are happy that we got our starboard steering working!  Now, we can go explore and play across the Fiji Islands.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  We went to Labasa around May 22, 2025.