We spent 3 days in Savusavu and had not planned on leaving anytime soon. However, a weather window opened up for us to go East which is really difficult to do as the winds usually come from the East.  So, we decided to take it and make the overnight passage to Vanua Balavu.

Yea, another overnight passage just 3 days after we arrived.  Suck it up buttercup!   It is only 100nm which should technically only take 20 hours, but the wind is supposed to be light so we left earlier than necessary.

We leave Savusavu around 0930 in light winds and end up motoring for the first 4 hours.  Great.  Around 1330 we get enough wind to raise the sails and turn the motors off.  Sweet.  It is flat seas, gentle conditions, and light winds.  Time to do some laundry and boat projects!  I squeeze in two loads of laundry while Matt works on shims for the dagger boards.

I also unearth my sea shell collection and artwork that were tastefully placed in areas out of sight and restore them to their normal places of honor around the boat.  Starting to feel like my home again.

The Winds

The winds pick up and give us some great boat speed at 7-8kts, but has us arriving at 0100-0200 which won’t work at all.  Matt and I decide to reef the main and the jib to slow the boat down for a daylight arrival. 

Then a few hours later a huge squall approaches and steals all the wind.  Literally the true wind read 1-2kts and we had 1k of boat speed.  You’ve got to be kidding.  We spent the next few hours trying to make the boat go in little to no wind before we finally acquiesced to turning on the engines. 

The rest of the night and early morning was a fight to use the sails and not the engines.  I think we motored more in this 100-mile trip than we did over the entire 1700+ mile trip across the Pacific! 

The Top left chart shows Vanua Levu (top left) and the red arrow is us at Vanua Balavu.  The bottom chart shows the close up of Vanua Balavu

Vanua Balavu

We enter the NW pass and maneuvered Sugar Shack through the pass to a beautiful protected anchorage in the Bay of Islands.

There are several boats hidden in different coves and bays here, but because there are so many small islands you do not see them.  I think there are 20 boats and we only see 2 which is lovely.

This is truly a majestic place!  These beautifully covered towers jet out from the sea creating a marvelous maze, thus giving this bay the name “Bay of island.”

It is amazing to me how bushes, plants, and trees grow out of the rock.  Don’t they need dirt and water?

We take several dinghy exploration trips weaving in and out of lagoons, behind islands, around pillars of towering rocks, and in little caverns.

We find lots of little alcoves with sandy beaches just waiting to be written on.

We also explore by SUP where we can get over shallow reefs, in little nooks and crannies…

And under rock bridges…

We share with you Fijian Culture and protocols in our last blog.  Keep in mind that our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  Events from this blog occurred mid-to-late June 2022.