Monthly Archives: August 2022

Fiji Paradise

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Fiji has over 300 islands ranging from the very remote Lao group to the populated Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.  There are plenty of picture perfect, white sandy beaches, endless coral reefs, pristine forests and world-renowned dive sites.

Fiji is comprised of five unique archipelagos:

  • Viti Levu (largest island) and North West islands
    • Mamanuca and Yasawa’s are strung out over 80 nautical miles
  • Kadavu and Beqa
    • Beqa, Kadavu, Tavuki, Vatulele, Great Astralobe Reef and Lagoon
  • Central Waters: Vanua Levu and the Lomaiviti Group
    • Vanua Levu, Bligh Waters, Koro Sea, Makogai, Wakaya, Koro, Ovalau, Batiki
  • Taveuni and the Ringold Isles
    • Tavenui, Ringold Isles, Rabi, Qamea, Laucala, Matei
  • Eastern Archipelago (Lao group)
    • Nothern Lao, Southern Lao and Eastern Lao

The 300 islands are spread over 200,000 square miles and they cross over the international date line even though there is only one date/time across all of Fijian waters.  What’s funny is while navigating close to the date line, our digital charts freak out and always mis-calculate until we cross over the date line.

The two largest islands are Viti Levu (which has the nation’s capital, Suva) and Vanua Levu.  Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and most of the summits of mountains have distinct craters (even though activity has long since ceased).  Fijians own more than 80% of the lands in Fiji. However, it is not held by individuals, but rather by small tribal units.

Sugar is grown near the plains and lowlands of the north-west of Viti Levu and is their largest export..  They also export coconut oil, pearls, and copra. 

The Fijians

Only 100 of the 300 islands are inhabited. Fiji has many, many nationalities and is rich and diverse in cultures.  The population is near 800,000 with about 49% being Fijians, 46% being Fijian Indians and the remaining 5% being Europeans (most from New Zealand and Australia), Chinese, Roumans, and other Pacific Islanders.

Overall, Fijians have been truly the nicest and friendliest group of people we’ve ever met.  They stop everything to greet you with “Bula.”  And its not a softly spoken, under your breath “Bula” it is a loud, almost shout “Bula” coming from the heart.  Whether you are walking down the street, in a store, on the bus, or in a small town – big and small, young and old will greet you with a wide toothy grin and a “Bula.”

It was only 50 years ago that Fiji gained its independence from Britain (October 1970) who had control for over 96 years.  In 1987 Fiji was declared a republic and in 1992 the first elections were held when Fiji returned to an elected parliament.

Rich in Life

We spent most of our time in the outer islands where the villages are small (less than 100 people) and life is simple. Most do not have tables, chairs, utensils, appliances, or modern amenities. Several of the villagers are missing many teeth, but they are trim, happy, and healthy.  They eat what nature provides for them, they grow casava and taro root (both starches like potatoes), the enjoy lots of fresh fruits (bananas, papayas, mangos, breadfruit, soursop) and freshly caught fish, octopus, lobster, and crab.  Rich in life.

This is one of our host families.  The headman assigns a host family to us each time we visit the outer islands.  This family is in Fulaga (Lucy and Nico).

This is inside their modest home.  We are sitting in their living room, the kitchen is in the background and they have a small separate room to sleep.

Each Fijian encounter is a unique and blessed experience.  They are truly happy to meet you, know you, and share their world.  They might not have much, but they will offer you what they do have. 

Our last blog shares our arrival and all the arrival procedures in Fiji.  Events from this blog occurred the end of June.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.

Welcome to Fiji! Bula!

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We made it to Fiji in a little less than 12 days!  It is green and super pretty as we round the corner to our destination of Savusavu.

First time into a new country requires a lot of paperwork to “clear in.”  We arrive Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu on Friday at 10:30am.  By the time we are safely moored on a mooring with Waitui Marina it is closer to 11:00am. Our agent and the marina coordinate the 3 sets of officials that have to get us through the formalities.  I will walk you through it just so you can get a “taste” of what it is like for us.  Keep in mind that Fiji is truly one of the most straight forward and simple process that we have been through in all of the dozen or so countries we have cleared in.

Savusavu has 3 marinas.  We are staying at Waitui Marina on one of their mooring balls.

Marina Waitui

Marina Waitui

The marina has been around for over 60 years and is a work in progress.  The people are first rate and super friendly! 

Waitui Marina Fiji

Waitui Marina Fiji

Health Officials

The first officials to come to the boat are the health officials.  They administer covid tests to ensure we are “clean.”  After a stick to the brain, we get the all clear.  Then we are handed (2) invoices.  One is for $40F (which is about $20 U.S.) per person for the covid tests.  We pay this to the marina and the nurse picks it up later.  The other invoice is for $163.50F ($82 U.S.) which has to be paid at the hospital which is 1.2 miles from the marina.  Then we can either email the paid receipt to the nurse or we can drop it off at the hospital court office (we emailed it).  Once we email the paid receipt, they email us our negative covid certificate.

The marina comes to pick them up and take them to their next boat.  A few minutes later, Customs and Immigration are delivered to us.

Customs and Immigration

Two people come for customs and immigration.  We have to provide a lot of paperwork to them including our boat registration, passports, exit paperwork from French Polynesia, vaccine cards, negative test. C2-C entry form, crew list, and we sign a few more forms.  They stamp our passports (sweet) and tell us that we need to go to Customs in a few days to pick up our cruising permit.  We are charged $40F because they came to our boat during their lunch break (we did not have a choice in the matter).

The marina picks them up and whisks them to their next boat and then they bring biosecurity.

Biosecurity

Biosecurity is responsible for ensuring we do not bring anything “illegal” into the country.  Are you thinking guns, pets, weapons?  Well that too, but they are looking for honey, seeds, shells, feathers, meats, produce.  Yep, all of that is against the law to bring into Fiji!  We pass with flying colors, mostly because it is Friday afternoon and I think he wants to call it a day.  He gives us an invoice and tells us to go to his office to pay $85F ($43 U.S.).          

The Race

It is now close to 2:45pm and all of the offices close at 4:00pm.  We have to go to shore, find a bank, and pay all of the invoices.    The race is on!  Lucky for us, Fiji makes it easy in Savusavu.  There is only one main road and everything can be found in the small town.

We find the bank, go to a market to buy some drinks (mostly to get change) as the offices want exact payment.  We first hoof it to the hospital as it is the furthest. The guy was super nice and made us laugh.

We manage to hit all the offices in time and then we reward ourselves with some cold drinks.

The next few days are spent exploring the town, finding the fresh market (see photo below), and visiting with a few friends who we met in French Polynesia.

We had drinks and snacks at the neighboring marina, Copra Shed Marina.  Our friends on Major Tom (Anki and Sivert) joined us for many a cocktail.

Can you guess where I am?

View from the boat opposite the marina.

They are building a new marina which they hope to be ready before cyclone season (in 4 months).

New Marina in Progress

New Marina in Progress

They have lots of hot springs in Fiji.  Some of them are right next to the mooring fields. 

Hot Springs

Hot Springs

In our last blog we transit across the Pacific from French Polynesia to Fiji.  Our blogs run 10-12 weeks behind schedule.  This blog occurred mid-June, 2022.

Passage: French Polynesia to Fiji

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It feels like we have been preparing for this long passage for months.  Way longer than the actual passage.  But it’s all in the preparations to make for a smooth and easy sail.

Matt posted “live blogs” during the passage (which took place in June 2022) so I will try not to duplicate him, but if you are interested in reading them (he is super funny).  Click here to read the first of his 12 posts during our passage.

We left from Bora Bora and our friends from Askari managed to get a departing photo with the Bora Bora caldera in the background.

Departing Bora Bora

Departing Bora Bora

Trip Details

  • Departure Date and Time: Saturday, 4 June 2022 at 12:30pm
  • Miles to Destination (as the crow flies): 50
  • Engine Hours: Port: 4213 and Starboard: 4374
  • Estimated Arrival Time: 19 June 2022 (Fiji is 22 hours ahead of Tahiti so we lost a day)

Shifts:

Matt and I do 3 hours on and 3 hours off for passages.  Basically, Matt works the 8p-11p shift, I work the 11p-2a, Matt is back up 2a-5a and I am up from 5a-8a.  During the day we rotate however we want (sort of light schedule).   Averaging 5 hours of broken sleep a night is challenging at best.

Day 1

We purposely picked this weather window because it had light winds for the first few days.  This is crucial for me because I am prone to sea sickness.  Having light winds allows me to slowly get my “sea legs.”   Weather predictions are really guessing as they are often wrong.  But usually the first 3 days are somewhat accurate.  Four different forecasts had us going way North increasing our cross track to over 100 miles (meaning we went over 100 miles out of our way to ensure we stayed in the wind zone).

Forecasts Routing

Forecasts Routing

We flew wing on wing (main sail on port and jib on starboard) and then tried to fly the parasail.  We lost sight of land at dark, just a mere 6 hours after we started our passage.

Day 2 & 3

Lovely days with light winds.  We flew the parasail for most of the day and managed to maintain a 6.5 boat speed.  Another boat showed up on AIS (radar) called Moondance.  They were mirroring us which was odd.  We headed to port, then they did, we headed to starboard, then they did.  We eventually lost them and left them in the dust.

Parasail

Parasail

We leave French waters and enter Cook Islands territory.  The closest island is Suwarrow which is south and still over 300nm away (2-2.5 days).

Crossing into Cook Islands

Crossing into Cook Islands

Day 4:

A rather large squall came through in the wee hours of the morning bringing over 35kts of wind and super strong, large rain drops.  Just as we finished dropping all the sails, the winds picked up to 35kts and the rain pelted us.  It was a downpour and both Matt and I were soaked to the bone.  We motored during the worse part of the storm and then it left us with no wind when it passed.   Drat, we ended up using the motors for close to 20 hours.  Since it was a motor day, I made chocolate chip mint cookies.  We need all the sugar and caffeine we can get to keep us awake during the night shifts.

Day 5

We finally broke the 1000nm mark.  Yeah what a relief.  In addition, we reduced our cross track bringing us closer to our destination.

Medium Spinnaker 150m

Medium Spinnaker 150m

At night we rely a lot on our instruments.  We are running weather forecasts on Matt’s computer, we have radar on (bottom circular diagram), Vesper Marine, and B&G instruments all running at the same time.  In addition, we have 2 iPads that are running different charts.

Day 6

Two things to celebrate: (1) We reached the half way mark of 832 nm to go.  Of course, that is as the crow flies and does not take into account that we have to sail around islands (vs through them).  The second thing we celebrated was a beautiful pod of whales.  I saw a spout and thought was that a spout or just the wind kicking up sea spray?  It turned out to be a spout.  At least 4 whales played around Sugar Shack for about 20 minutes.  One came alongside our boat and then went under the boat.  Super cool, but holy h3ll that could have been disastrous if he breached the surface while under Sugar Shack.

The photos are not very good as I was frozen in place when they breached.  But they were there, I promise.

Day 7-8

We alternate between our medium spinnaker, the parasail, and the working sails.  Depends on the winds and gusts.  We had particularly calm weather and decided to swap out our sails.  As we hoisted the medium spinnaker a gust came up and made a slight tear at the top.  We had to bring her down to avoid total destruction.  Matt was able to repair the sail and get it back in the rotation a few days later.

On a good note, we caught (2) male mahi mahi in the afternoon.  The first line went “zing” and as we went to pull in the other lines a 2nd line went zing!

These are the winning lures that caught our tasty fish.

Day 9:

We enter the waters of Tonga.  I sure wish Tonga was open but alas she is shut down due to Covid still.  So, we sail on through longingly looking at the beautiful islands from a far.  Kidding we can’t see anything as it is way too far away.  But the longing is still there.

Day 10:

Another beautiful day on passage.  We were changing sails from the jib to the parasail when we had another little mishap.  Matt was raising the sock (with the sail inside) as per usual.  However, I noticed that the sock looked empty so I shouted at Matt to stop, but he couldn’t hear me over the roar of the wind.  I stepped up my vocal cords and got his attention just as the entire parasail came out of the sock and into the sea.  Holy cow!

It is 3am and raining.  We are both at the bow trying to pull in the sail.  Just as we got the sail onboard, the sock goes under the boat.  You’ve got to be kidding!  We manage to salvage both the sail and the sock and bring them back to the cockpit. What happened?  Well, there is a shackle at the top of the sock that holds the sail inside.  That shackle opened up and we nearly lost the sail.  Lucky for us, an easy fix.

Day 11

We make our first land sighting at 122nm to go.  Super cool to see land after being at sea for 11 days.  The islands are far off in the distance, but you can certainly make out the beautiful mountains.  We had a very squally and rainy day today which makes it hard to fly the lighter sails (spinnaker and parasail) which make us go faster.  But we continued on averaging 5-6kts for the day.  Today was my last day as net controller on the Poly Mag Net an SSB radio net that I’ve been volunteering for over the last 2 years.  It was hard to let go.

Day 12

We arrive into the island of Vanua Levu and go to Savusavu bay to clear into customs.  We arrived around 10:30am which was 11 days and 23 hours after we picked up the hook in Bora Bora!  Not bad, not bad at all!  We had anticipated it taking 2 full weeks and we made it in 12 days.

Trip Details:

  • Miles to Destination: 1,664
  • Actual Miles Sailed: 1,777
  • Average Speed over 12 days: 2
  • Max Speed: 9
  • Engine Hours: Port: 4233 and starboard 4384

We motored about 20 hours with the majority of that time being right after the large squall on day 4.  The rest of the time we were able to sail.

Here is our track from French Polynesia to Fiji.

French Poly to Fiji Track

How did I entertained myself?

I read 3 books, I watched Season 2 of Bridgerton and S1 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and watched 2 movies.  Of course, there were lots of games of solitaire and word puzzles too.

Some beautiful moon pictures.  The moon came out during the second half of our passage and lit our way through the darkness.

And a collection of sunset photos during our passage.

Sunsets during passage

Sunsets during passage

We prepare to vamoose from French Polynesia in our blast blog.  Events from this blog occurred in early June.  Please note that our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.