Rigging Repairs & More Damage: Part II

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We noticed a problem with our standing rigging several weeks ago (see Part I Compromised Rigging).  Unfortunately, we were several days away from the closest marina so we had to “baby” our rig until we could replace it.

Vuda Marina

Westside Rigging works out of Vuda Point Marina. Prior to now, we had never had an opportunity to stay at Vuda – always a first for everything.

Our main goal is to replace the side stays and fix the furler so we get to work right away.

Removing the Side stays

Sammy and Theo from Westside Rigging arrived at 0900 and had both side stays off within 45 minutes.  

We decided to upgrade our side stays after learning that Sammy had stronger wire in stock.  So, instead of replacing the side stays with the same 16mm 1×19 wire we went with 34 meters, 16mm dyform 1×25 stainless wire which is 30% stronger! 

In addition, we decided to replace our old turnbuckles with new Regatta R/S stainless turnbuckles. 

I was cleaning the stainless a few hours before they came and encountered a problem.  I was cleaning the port lower gate, opened it, and it fell off in my hand!  For duck’s sake!  Seriously.  The lifeline sheared off right at the pin with no sign of corrosion, rust, or degradation. 

So, Westside Rigging took the port side lower gate to repair it as well.

New, Shiny Gear

Sammy was able to swage the pin at the top of each side stay and swage the stud at the bottom earlier that morning.  He returned to the boat the next day at 10am and had the side stays and the gate installed by 11am.  Super efficient

Not sure if you can tell the difference between the old and new side stays.  The new dyform has wire that is a little flatter where as the old wire is round. 

The image in the lower left corner shows the difference between the two wires as well.

The Furler ‘s Dead

Our ProFurl (NC43LCE) is original to the boat, 2001.  It has lasted a long time!  We thought we could replace the bearings and continue using it for a few more years.  

However, after the near bearings were installed the furler still had wiggle room.  It works, but the bearings will just wear out again with the extra wiggle room.

So, what does that mean?  We have to buy a new furler and while we are at it we will purchase new foils to go on the forestay rod.  Bleeding money here.

Westside rigging did not have this in stock so he connected us with Wichard Pacific in Australia.  We decided to order a Profurl C430 x 18mm furler along with link plates (55mm+ SS Locks C430) and Threaded pin DIA 25mm (63/64). 

The parcels arrived from Australia in less than 1 week.

Stay tuned for Part II: Replacing the Furler

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Vuda replacing the side stays at the end of August 2025.

Don’t miss out on our blog post “Vatulele: Curiously delightful“

20th Anniversary of Adventuring

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Matt and I were married in St. Thomas during an intimate ceremony on the beach at sunset.  And today, we celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary overlooking the beach at sunset!

Our marriage has been full of great adventures spreading across 33 countries and over 50,000 nautical miles. 

We’ve learned new languages, tried unique foods, and experienced many different cultures and spectacular escapades. 

And we’ve done it together without kicking the other off the boat.

20th Anniversary

We enjoyed some lovely cocktails and dinner at the Quay Restaurant.  I highly recommend the Autumn Sun cocktail decorated with little pink hearts.

The Surprise

Matt had mentioned going to Whangarei Heads to watch the sunset. 

However, after driving around for a little bit he turned onto a super sharp, steep driveway. 

I was totally confused and had no idea where we were going or what he was doing.  

SURPRISE!  He rented a bach (beach house) for the night!  We did not have to spend our anniversary in the boat yard!

What a lovely and romantic surprise. 

It was a sweet, little bach with sweeping views over the river!  Perfect sunset viewing.

The beautifully decorated bach has 3 bedrooms that sleeps 7 people.

There are 2 stories, a large deck, a patio with a pizza over, a game room, laundry room, and access to the beach.

We enjoyed a lovely bottom of rose as the sun set.  

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on 11 November 2025.

Vatulele Island: Curiously Delightful

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There is a small island called Vatulele Island between Viti Levu (Fiji’s big island) and Kadavu that we’ve always wanted to visit.  Unfortunately, the pass and the narrow strip of waterway to the anchorage are very, very shallow.  Entry into the pass and anchorage requires calm, settled weather, with light winds and little swell.

We left Kadavu at dawn with the hope of arriving the pass during high tide which is a bit tricky as we had a 60 mile trip from Kadavu.  But, lady luck was with us as we arrived at exactly high tide.  

Matt expertly maneuvered Sugar Shack through the pass (shallowest depth we saw was 4.2m) and to our anchorage (shallowest depth we saw was 3.7m).  During low tide we saw 3.2m at the anchorage – just a little bit of the pucker factor.  The bottom is covered in grass so the water is green making it difficult to see what is below you.

The stress was worth it as this is a gorgeous spot!

Vatulele Island Resort

This exclusive resort opened in 1990 and received many accolades including Small Luxury Hotel of the year in 2000 and Fiji’s Best Luxury Hotel in 2005.

In 2012 it closed for refurbishments and supposedly received a U.S. $30 million budget.  However, the owners never started the work and the resort never reopened.

There are ongoing investigations and lawsuits between previous and current owners (Fiji Times article Aug. 2025).

The resort is in total disrepair after 14 years of neglect. 

The large white building is actually a bure that you could rent.  It was a two-story structure with two separate private pools.  Here are photos then and now:

The Vatulele Island Resort website is still active (visit here) as is their Facebook Page (here).

We found the old reception building which still had (3) eMac computers.  The eMac computer came out in 2002 and were discontinued in 2006.  I am sure some Apple enthusiasts would love to get their hands on these relics!

The old restaurant is a complete mess but still had sinks and serving tables.  We also found the one dedicated golf cart (bottom left photo) assigned to the largest bure (above).

Mother Nature has covered the once magnificent bures with vines, trees, and growth. Beach bungalows are almost invisible now.

Anything worth value has been removed from the entire resort including, windows, wiring, fans, and switches.

We had to use a machete to reach most of the bures and got access to 13 of the 19 bungalows. 

The pools which used to have wealthy guests are now filled with tadpoles and frogs.

There is a beautiful little gazebo on the edge of the cliff near the large 2-story white bure. 

We decided it would be the perfect place to enjoy a bottle of Rose during sunset.

Small World

We posted an Instagram reel with some images from Vatulele.  We got a huge surprise when one of our friend’s daughter posted that she had honeymooned here over 20 years ago.  She shared her photos, thank you Keri Basset!

Discovered Treasures

We took a nice long walk along the beach during low tide.  

We continued to the end of the beach and found a little path to the left. 

This path takes you through a little jungle and along the immense rock face of the mountain. 

After 10 minutes we ended up in a cavern between two rock faces and kept going.  We shimmied over the rocks and found a beautiful, turquoise pool.

One rock formation looked a lot like a skull so Matt had to give him a hat to wear.

Interesting links:

Our blog posts run 8-9 weeks behind actual live events. We visited Vatulele around mid-August 2025.

Be sure to read about the beautiful Kadavu waterfalls in our last blog post.