Monthly Archives: November 2023

Foiling: A Young Man’s Sport?

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Foiling, all the kids are doing it!  They sure make it look easy as they let the air pull them up and fly across the water at crazy speeds.  It caught Matt’s interest and so he bought a full foiling package (board, fins, foil, kite, pull rope, jacket, and helmet).  

last seaon he was able to balance on the board and get momentum with the kite as I trailed behind him prepared to rescue him and or bring him back up wind.  But he only got a few practice runs in before he perforated his ear drum and had to stay out of the water.  Then we were in NZ where it was too darn cold to get in the water which brings us to today.

Back in Savusavu with our good friend Chris from “Seaglub.”  He is staying with us for a few days to host a party (more on that coming up in our next blog post).  He has a lot more experience and practice surfing, kiting, and foiling.  So, we all go out to see if Matt and Chris can foil behind the dinghy.

Getting Up

Matt used to be a huge wakeboarder and taught many of our friends how to get up and wakeboard and surf behind his mastercraft boat.  So, he uses his starting stance to get to his knees, then up on one leg, then both legs….balance….balance…balance.

With each try he gets better, he gets up easier, he balances more, and is able to get the board down when all it wants to do is go up.

One time the board just took off and I swear we all thought he was going to touch the sky.  I love his expression when he brings it back down and then his complete sense of accomplishment when he lands it.

Practice Makes perfect

of course there were lots of these….

Foiling plays tricks with your sense of balance and your center of gravity because it has the long foil (mast) underwater.  Matt is used to the board being the bottom, but with foiling, the fin on the bottom of the mast (which is 85cm below the water’s surface) is the bottom.

Which caused some more of these….

But Matt kept getting back on and trying.  His body took a beating but no blood was drawn.  Then Chris got up making it look easy (even though we know he has had much more time practicing).

Conclusion

I am not willing to say that foiling is a young man’s sport as these two handsome guys were out there giving it their all and getting it done.  I am sure with a few more practice runs Matt will be foiling like Chris.

Stay tuned for another update as Matt and Chris ditch the dinghy and foil with the kite!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured in mid-August.  In our last blog post we have an amazing snorkel experience at the Chimney’s in Namena.

Snorkeling the Chimneys at Namena

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The small island of Namena is the largest no-take reserve in Fiji.  Established in 1997, Namena is both a marine and bird preseve.  It is slowly coming back to its former glory after the 2016 cyclone devasted the island. Prior to the cyclone, this area boasted over 1,000 fish species, over 600 pairs of red-footed boobies and a major nesting ground for the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.

To access Namena you have to enter through one of few passes.  These passes were much easier to navigate than the passes of the Tuamotus in French Polynesia.  Near the island of Namena is one mooring.  We originally tried to anchor near the island but discovered too many bommies.  So, we checked out the mooring and determined it was safe to hold our home.  

The mooring is right in front of a small beach.  Perfect location to watch all of the nesting birds return home from a day of hunting.

Nesting birds are all over the island.  We saw lots of boobies!

We went ashore and found a trail that led us to the other side of the island.  Super pretty beaches.

Best Diving / Snorkeling in Fiji

Namena is the home of some of the best diving in Fiji.  They have many dive sites inside and outside the reef.  The most famous are the chimneys, teutons, mushroom, and grand central station pass.

We don’t have a compressor so we have to be selective about where we dive until we can find a place to refill our tanks.  We decided to snorkel the sites prior to getting all of our gear out.

The Chimneys

The Chimneys consist of two sheer towers about 10 meters in diamer and 25 meters tall.  The stretch majestically from the sea bed to the sun barely below the water’s surface.  My awesome GoPro doesn’t do well far away so I tried to take photos of one of the chimneys in sections.

The water was a bit silty or murky but it very well could have been the tide.  Both chimneys were teaming with little fish.  They stayed together in their schools and created these amazing blocks of color.

Blooming coral created small bursts of color on the top and on the sides of the chimneys.

Teutons and Mushroom Sites

My favorite sites were the Teutons and the Mushooms as there seemed to be even more schools of fish.  

Even the fish were getting into the Barbie craze…a pink comet trail of fish zoomed past me.

It was a strange feeling of being the new kid at school.  I stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of beauty.

Some fish were curious and came up to see me, but most fled at first site of my bubbles.

And then I found a large, beautiful soft coral with 4 nemos!

I simply love this coral and wish I had nemo protecting me!

Look at all of that stunning color! The best aquarium ever.

Namena Resort

Unfortunately, the Nemena Resort was destroyed in 2016 cyclone.  They have a great website that states they are rebuilding, but it sure does not look like it from where we stand.  It looks like there are people living in the houses up on the hill, but not much is going on.

We cetainly enjoyed our time in Namena.  It is amazing to see the underwater world and the land bounce back from the 2016 cyclone.  Nature is spell bounding and endures.

This blog post occured in mid-August.  Our blogs run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  Did you see the new Nawi Marina in Savusavu in our last blog?

Nawi Marina

Savusavu and the New Nawi Marina

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We arrive into Savusavu after 60 hours at sea.  Our passage from Tonga was a pretty quick one despite having one rudder and reduced sails for the entire 413nm.  It is good to be back in Fiji!

Pio met us at the mooring ball in his panga to assist with the hook up.  I love that they do this for the cruisers-excellent customer service.  We then wait a few hours for the officials to come onboard and welcome us into the country.

The health official comes first and is on and off the boat within 20 minutes.  We completed a few forms, answered some questions, then allowed her to take photos of a few things.  First, she wanted to take photos of our toilets.  Weird, but ok. Then she took photos of our can goods, pantry, and snack area.  

An hour later, customs, immigration, and biosecurity board us.  This is always fun as they each ask us questions at the same time and you never know who to answer first.  they are all incredibly friendly and easy going.  They let us keep our “prohibited items” such as our meats (chicken, pork, beef), some produce, and dairy.  It was rather surprising and pleasing!

Our mooring is pretty close to the shore which looks dangerous at low tide.  But in reality it is totally fine.

Nawi Marina

I am not sure if you remember, but back in June 2022 we came to Savusavu.  During this visit, we explored the new Nawi Marina.  Well, it was a work in progress.  They had signs up saying that they were going to open for this cruising season and we just could not imagine it happening.  Well, they proved us wrong!

When we first visited they only had a few docks installed and lots and lots of poles. Now they have boats in the docks!

They are still working on the east side of the marina.  They need to install power, water, and cleats, but it is coming along nicely.

The two-story building has the Skipper’s bar on the 2nd floor and a really nice restaurant on the bottom floor. The bottom photo shows the building where there is a small grocery store and chanderly.  And they also have laundry facilties and bathrooms.

I know it seems like more should have been done in a year, but this is the islands and we are all shocked this much work has been completed.

There are more amenities coming according to this sign (pool and spa). The lower right photo is the entrance to the laundry and shower facilities.  I love the word “bula” spelled out on the mat in palm fronds.

There were no boats and now there are cruising boats, local boats, and super yachts.

Savusavu

This little town just makes me smile.  Most of the businesses are located on the main street which runs east to west.  It is not a large town and will only take you about 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other.  But it is packed with some good stuff.  Several markets, a pharmacy, 2 butchers, many restaraunts, 2 phone companies, computer store, gift shops

Running into friends we haven’t seen since French Polynesia! Brian and Sue on Sea Rose, Lenny and Dave on Perigee, Alex and Carla on Ari B and Matt and I.

The cover photo is the Nawi Marina and Sugar Shack is on the upper left corner(by the trees) on a mooring ball.  Here is another cool shot from my friend Chris’s phone while in an airplane flying over.

Nawi Marina

Nawi Marina

Our blogs run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog occured mid-August.  We make the passage to Fiji in our last blog.