Time To Go Cruising : The Eastern Side of Fiji
Savusavu, Viani Bay, Albert Cove and Taviuni

8th –31st July 2019

Sunrise as we were leaving Musket Cove

Following the family visit it was nice to have the boat to ourselves again with no fixed agenda.
Leaving Musket Cove marked the start of our Fiji cruising season which would see us heading to the eastern more lush and remote areas of the country.
I say lush because  the eastern islands get way more rainfall than anywhere else in Fiji, and remote because that’s just how it is. There are no high end tourist resorts, no  fancy marinas, not many roads and very little chance of spending money. Pretty much the only people who visit way over here are cruisers like us.

Passing the city of Lautoka on our way north

After a monotonous  seventy three mile, ten hour motor job due to a complete lack of wind, we  traversed the west  and northern sides of Viti Levu passing both Nadi and the industrial city of Lautoka. We finally turned off the engines and dropped the anchor at Nanunanu – I – Cake Island where we spent our first night.

Sand mining operation north of Lautoka

We briefly caught up with friends Matt & Karen from “Where 11” before hitting the hay.

The following day was another epic one.

At least we did get to sail for most of the 80 mile reef strewn hike across to Savusavu.

Travesing this skinny stretch of reef was hairy with very strong currents

The small town of Savusavu  is located on the south side of the Island of Venua Levu which is the northern of the two main islands of Fiji.

Savusavu is the only port of entry for eastern Fiji and sits on the banks of a narrow but deep body of water, almost a tributary of the larger main bay one could say. 
There are many mooring balls here and one smallish dock known as The Copra Shed Marina which accommodates maybe a dozen boats. We arrived just on dusk and were lucky to spot a vacant mooring in the near darkness. A helpful chap who noticed us struggling to pick up the ball with it’s very short line  thankfully came out to help us tie up for the night.

Narrow mooring area in Savusavu

The Copra Shed Marina which was actually a copra shed in days gone by

GWTW on a mooring ball, Savusavu

We stayed for a couple of days and wandered around town stocking up on fruit and veggies at the produce market and buying a few bundles of Kava root, which I’ll explain the significance of in the next post, as well as fresh bread from the bakery and a few supplies from the the two small supermarkets which sit opposite each other.
Nothing like  a bit of in your face competition. Town is somewhat small. The main drag follows the waterfront with the bus depot and a string of shops nestled either side. In twenty minutes you’ve pretty much seen it all.

Produce market with Kava bundles hanging from the rack

Main street Savusavu

Steam rising from one of many thermal springs around town

On the day we were leaving we got a panicked email to ALL our email addresses, followed by an equally panicked phone call from our friend Dave on “Rewa”. His generator had suddenly carked it, which is damn serious when you have guests on board as he did, and he asked if we could possibly buy a large portable generator and bring it along with several jerry cans and fuel to him in Viani Bay, sixty miles further east.
Without batting an eye we said “yes“ ‘cause that’s  just what fellow cruisers do out here when you’re in a pickle. You help each other out. Good karma and all that.

Filling up the cans with fuel to feed the beast

Dave's new portable generator

We’d planned on heading to Viani bay anyway to catch up with both Dave and co as well as Eric and Vandy on “Scoots” so it was no big deal.  The extra day even gave us time to visit with English friends Tom, Emily and their two boys Sam and Will on “Bonaire” who had just that morning arrived in the anchorage. So everything worked out extremely well.

As soon as we were anchored in Viani bay Dave was in his dinghy and over to GWTW like a rat up a drain pipe. His face lit up like a christmas tree once he saw the large box taking up a major part of our cockpit’s real estate. Within minutes of manhandling the big beast back onto Rewa he had it fired up and life was slowly being breathed back into Rewa’s struggling battery banks. Team GWTW had completed the Rewa rescue mission just like pros.

Beautiful Viani Bay

Over the next few days the crews of Rewa, Scoots and GWTW shared many happy moments together. 
The divers of the group dived the famous White Wall on Rainbow Reef while the snorkelers  of our floating families were content checking out the various  reef fish and corals in the clear shallow waters.

Always on the lookout for lobster

Above and Below different types of  Giant Clams

The corals were  really healthy and starfish were everywhere

              There were many Jam sessions on GWTW  with the Rewa and Scoots musicians

One night the local dive resort put on a traditional Fijian feast, also known as a Lovo, for all the cruisers and their resort guests.

This is how it works…
A fire pit is dug in the soil early in the day and wood is placed in the pit with volcanic rocks placed over the wood. The fire is then lit and the stones are heated. The food, usually chicken, pork and whole fish is wrapped in either tin foil or tight ribbons of banana leaves,  and is placed on top of the stones. 
The food is then covered with coconut tree fronds and covered in soil and rocks to seal in the underground oven’s heat. A wire rack is usually placed over the top to slow cook the veggie component which is usually yams,taro, cassava and potato. 

Getting dinner sorted

Assorted veggies almost ready

Even the local dogs wanted a piece of the action

Fish in banana leaf cooked and ready

The whole shooting match is left to cook slowly over many hours, sometimes as long as five. The results are absolutely delicious and a great meal was had by all. There was more food than you could jump over and we felt stuffed after woofing it all down including desert with ice cream. What a treat.

L-R Dave, Tessa, Nick Annie, Liam Vandy, Eric & Heike

Dining under the stars

Our roaring bonfire after dinner

The Rewa crew bid us farwell

After leaving Viani Bay we moved further east to Rabi Island and the uninhabited indent in the reef known as Albert Cove. This little spot above water was lush with thick jungle like vegetation while under the water  fabulous coral gardens  bloomed and small but ever so entertaining colourful fish went about their busy lives.

Another gorgeous anchorage at Albert Cove

Local fisherman casting nets

Above and below more healthy corals in Albert Cove

We spent a few nights here in with Vandy and Eric from Scoots before we parted company and made our way back to the island of Taviuni where a couple of yacht friendly Aussies run an upmarket dive resort called Paradise Resort….and it truly was.

GWTW at Paradise resort with the inviting pool below

They offer free mooring balls to visiting yachts and encourage cruisers to come ashore and make use of their facilities.They can even supply you with fresh veggies from their organic farm. We signed up for a buffet dinner and  a Fijian dancing and singing show that evening which was great.

Up early the following morning we were well on our way at 0600 for the  sixty five mile jaunt across to Vana Belavu Island and the famed Bay of Islands.

Along the way we caught a good sized Mahi Mahi.

In our opinion Mahi is one of the best table fish in the ocean and we looked forward to enjoying  a few meals compliments of Neptune.




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Plantation Island : Family Visit

27th June –06 July 2019

It had taken months of planning but eventually Liam got one of his bucket list wishes. His daughter Skye, two sons Tim and Christian, and two of his four grandchildren arrived on the doorstep, well not literally.

To make life on the GWTW less chaotic we’d booked them all into Plantation Island Resort on Mololo-Lai Island. It was a brilliant idea as the resort is extremely children oriented.

The two commercial ways to get to Plantation Island Resort

They arrived via the resort ferry from Port Denarau over on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. The more musical of the resort staff were on the dock playing guitars and singing their hearts out as the ferry came dockside. It was smiles and greetings of Bulla all round as the passengers disembarked, and  just to get them in the Fijian mode shell necklaces were  placed round their necks.

Ava the fearless, a budding crew member perhaps

After settling into their rooms we delivered a few beers and some bottles of bubbly to kick off the family vacation. It was went down very well indeed.

The “kids” would be in Fiji a total of nine days and we planned to take them out on a few day trips onboard GWTW and have the “littlies” on board one night for a sleepover. Liam’s sons, son-in-law Justin and grandkids Olivia and Ava had never seen GWTW in the flesh so it was a first for them. We’re pretty sure they liked what they saw.

We didn’t venture too far afield as getting an early start wasn’t really on their agenda, and they all had to be back each afternoon by around five for dinner in the resort. Still we made the most of it.

The beautiful waters colours at Cloud Nine

A trip out to Cloud Nine, a trendy floating bar/pizzeria sitting atop the pale blue waters inside Ro Ro reef was a huge hit. 

The littles, Olivia and Ava had a ball floating around in our man overboard horseshoes off the back of GWTW while securely tethered to the mothership.

Skye & the girls floating off GWTW

Liam with Christian

                 

                Skye's family at Cloud Nine

                                   

                                              A very happy Liam watching his flock

The famous Pizzas

Lunch at Mana Island

Over the week we took them up to Mana Island for a spot of snorkeling, which actually wasn’t that good that day due to the poor water clarity and  also out to the privately owned Namoto Island behind which is the legendary surf area named Cloud Break.

We bought a couple of snapper from a local fisherman

Timothy cleaned them up and we barbequed them for lunch. Nothing beats fresh fish

There was lots of resort pool grandad sessions as well as BBQ lunches on GWTW and ashore at the cruiser’s Island BBQ area at Musket Cove.Marina.

Olivia in flight

And the splasdown

Now it was Ava's turn

Another splashdown

Liam's smile says it all

The time flew by and before we all knew it, it was time to say goodbye. How time flies when you’re having fun. They were all pretty sad to go but thoroughly enjoyed their time here.

Our farwell dinner

We’re pretty sure there will be quite a lot of friends envy when they start talking about their trip to Fiji.

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Fiji : Trouble in Paradise

24th –27th June 2019

Fiji is made up of over 300 islands Denarau on Viti Levu was our destination

Following a solid  night’s rest after making landfall in Momi Bay, we awoke to a magnificent sunrise. The only trouble with that is the old wives ditto…      “Red sky in the morning, sailors warning”

We should have realised then and there that things might be about to go pear shaped.

Our on board check-in with the Fijian authorities at Port Denarau Marina could not have been easier. The officers were pleasant, efficient and quick.




Contrary to what we’d be told by other cruisers they never stepped foot inside the boat nor did they confiscate any of our meat or vegetables. As for the health officer, his only question was “are you both healthy”? followed by here is my fee which you can pay at the marina office.
The fees were minimal with no charges for Customs or Immigration clearance during normal working hours or for our Cruising Permit. And as per the Fiji Mariners Guide the only costs were Health clearance : FJ $163.50 and Biosecurity : FJ$ 85.02 .

Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning !

Liam had mentioned earlier in the morning that he’d noticed water, (and that would salt water of course), in my bow “shed” where we keep all our docking fenders, winter clothes and bedding along with a host of other stuff which is definitely salt water phobic. So you can imagine what I was thinking.

To cut to the chase we spent the following two days tied to the dock unpacking everything in my shed and painstakingly hand washing it all. There was so much water in there that Liam spent hours rigging up a pump and then pumping it out. 
In the midst of all this madness with our cockpit now resembling a junk yard our friends in uniform decided to pay us another visit. We wondered why.

Upmarket Denarau Marina complete with bars, restaurants and a Hard Rock Cafe

It turns out that their untimely visit was two fold, They clamored back on board amidst our chaos stepping over wads of salty clothing, suitcases piled high and a myriad of tools and pumps. It was clearly a different scene to when we arrived with a pristine cockpit 24 hours earlier.

As I said their visit was two fold with one issue being that I had omitted paying the Biosecurity Fee. Actually I didn’t realise that he’d given me the bill as it had been stapled to the back of another form and I’d completely missed it.  The money was handed over and that matter was settled.

All very smiles yesterday,,,but today it's a different story

The other more pressing issue from the Customs officer. 
We know  from our surveillance that you stopped in Momi  Bay the night before you checked in here, so tell me why? That was a big no no as it turns out. We answered honestly, saying that we were fatigued from the rough passage and that also in the guide book it is stated that you have 24hrs to clear in once you arrive in Fiji Waters, which is what we had done. 
We also told them that our charting for the Denarau area was not very good and we chose to stop for that reason. Entering a foreign port in the dark with less than perfect charting would be foolhardy and we just don’t take those sort of risks, we explained to him.

Biosecurity and assistant Immigration officer

He wanted to see my book which I gladly showed him. His retort was that the intent of that paragraph was not as it was written. To which I replied I can only interpret the words how they written.

The gentleman cogitated over these points but then started to delve deeper.  Did you get off the boat and go ashore in Momi Bay? No we didn’t get off the boat we just went to bed Do you know about the Australian catamaran that got busted on arrival last year carrying two million dollars worth of cocaine? Well of course we did, that sort of thing spreads like wildfire in the cruising community.
Do you know the people who were on that catamaran? No.   You have a very nice catamaran, where did you get the money to buy it?  We sold our house to buy it, I said. So you don't own a house anymore? No we don’t, this boat is our home. What type of jobs did you both have when you were working? You must have made a lot of money from your jobs, yes? We worked hard and saved so we could buy a boat. Do you have drugs on board? Absolutely not, bring your sniffer dogs down, Liam said.  Tell me again why you stopped in Momi bay ?? The questions went on for over an hour with him saying  over and over this is a big problem.

We had heard the day after we’d checked-in that a US flagged vessel also stopped in the same bay and had expressed a good deal of attitude with regard to the questioning and was fined a few thousand dollars for stopping before clearing in. We figured we were now about to join that payroll as well.

Red sky in the morning …

Eventually the Biosecurity officer must have decided enough was enough with all the questions and he picked up his phone and said to the customs fellow “I think we are done here” and with that they left, we breathed a sigh of relief at not having to cough up for a very big fine and got back to the business of cleaning up our salty mess.

It seems that laidback Fiji is now on the radar as a drop off /distribution point for drug shipments leaving South America bound for Australia and Asia. Indeed we know of  at least three Australian cruising boats that have been under the eye of the Australian boarder authorities working in conjunction with Fiji Federal police to intercept these shipments. Two of the vessels were catamarans.
So if you are reading this and are a cruising boat leaving Panama looking to make a few quick bucks, think long and hard about the choice you make.

With the interrogation, cleaning and repacking now behind us it was time for some socialising with  Aussie friends John and Franny from Kia Ora who we last touched base with in French Polynesia.

Later in the week quick we’d be heading over to Musket Cove where Liam’s family and grandkids were due to fly in in a couple of days. That should be a fun time for all concerned.

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North Minerva Reef and final passage to Fiji
Sunsets, Snorkeling and Sumptuous Lobsters

18th –23rd June 2019

Minerva Reef sunset

One by one the group of boats we left New Zealand with arrived at beautiful Minerva Reef. By the time the dust settled seven boats were anchored with us. Several dozen more could easily have fitted and no one would be invading their neighbours personal space. The lagoon inside the reef is huge.

If the conditions are right the reef is a perfect place to stop for a few days when heading north from New Zealand to Fiji or Tonga.

Fun times on Certaca

Lay days here can become very social  at times and with our little group that was certainly the case.
The crew of Rewa had caught a large marlin on the trip up and Tony and Gail from Certaca kindly offered to host the fish BBQ party, with everyone else pitching in bringing side dishes along. It was a real fun night.




There has been a lot of talk on the subject of catching lobsters here and  as it turns out it’s not not just the cruising boats who frequent this place. A few weeks earlier the Tongan Navy ship swung by for a few days and hoovered up a massive amount so along with the twenty boats that were stuck there for over a week due to bad weather, we really didn’t hold much hope of having much  hunting success. Ed from Aka, a veteran of stopping at the reef and quite the hunter himself gave Liam a few pointers on the most likely spot for catching these illusive creatures.  Well Liam was in the water like a rocket once he got the inside scoop on where to look.

The lobster hunt went very well and over two days we managed to catch five good sized ones. Four of them ending up as a very tasty lobster stew courtesy of Tessa and Nick from Rewa.

What a monster

Liam with Nick, Tessa & Heike from Rewa

Our snorkeling expedition was less successful, finding only a few spots of colourful coral and not a lot of fish life.

Our stay here in  Minerva was cut short by the weather gods and on the evening of the 21st we up anchored and headed out for the 3 night passage  of 435 miles to Savusavu Fiji.

Time to leave

It soon became apparent that due to both the weather and the fact that Liam's family was arriving into Nadi in less than a week it would be prudent to alert Fiji customs that we would now be arriving into the port of Denarau rather than Savusavu. So we bid our sailing buddies farewell over the radio, turned the helm to port  and pointed the bows towards Denarau on the west side of the main island of Viti Levu Fiji.

At 2200 hours on the 3rd day we plopped the anchor down in Mombi Bay Fiji, just 10 miles short of Denarau. Checking in could wait ‘till tomorrow.

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Passage from New Zealand to North Minerva Reef

13th – 18th June 2019

GWTW & Scoots ready to head out from Marsden Cove Marina  

By midday on June 13th we’d completed our clearing out formalities for New Zealand and headed out of Marsden Cove Marina. It was a cracker of a day with a light breeze which pushed us past Whangarei Heads for possibly the  last time. Our next stop would be at North Minerva Reef some 800 odd miles to the north east.

The AIS view as our group passed Whangarei Heads

Leaving with a group of others boats,  three around the same size as GWTW, we figured we’d have plenty of company for the first leg of this trip. Scoots, a Chuck Payne design lined up at 50 ft, Rewa is 64ft and a Choy Lee named Cetascia  was 55ft, so the race was on. As the forecast was for both the wind and swell to increase over the coming 24hrs our initial sail plan was to put one reef in our mainsail and run with 3/4 jib. It was a good, comfortable choice.


We knew we were up for a few very cold nights at sea until we got to the lower latitude of Minerva and  believe me, cold it was. We are  talking temps of 11c with a wind chill factor. Rugged up to the hilt we looked more like we were heading for Antarctica  rather than the tropics.
But there’s an upside to everything and at 30 miles  out from New Zealand we still had a strong Vodaphone signal. It was that strong I was able to stream and download movies. Way to go Vodaphone NZ!

Bad weather approaching

Well the met service in NZ got their forecast right as the wind and sea state steadily increased. By 1900 on the 14th the seas peaked at three meters hitting us beam on on our port side. It was rough. The wind had climbed to 25-30 knots and with the jib already put to bed hours earlier, GWTW had her ears pinned back hitting speeds of 12 kts plus. We had left the pack in our wake with Rewa, a 64ft monohull now 35 miles behind us. So much for sailing in company.

 Starboard bow lifting as we hit 12 kts speed and more

The weather gods gave us a short respite the following day. The skies cleared, the seas calmed, the sun shone and we had warmth in our bones. But it was just a furby as by 2100 the barometer had dropped and the nasty weather returned. This time we put 2 reefs in the main, we only have two so there wasn’t much hanging up the mast and the jib was rolled in to just 1/4 size. The squalls returned along with the lumpy seas. Another fun night at sea.

Beautiful sunrise and calm seas

Come sunrise on the 16th things started to calm down, the wind was now from the northwest at 12 knots and the seas just one meter. One of the reefs was shaken out and we rolled out our brand new screecher, our big reaching sail. It certainly looked the part but it didn’t take long to realise that the sail had been cut too small compared to our previous one. Happy campers we were not. But more on that in another posting.

The new screecher gets a run

As the saying goes, bad things happen in threes. Well, we’d already had numbers one and two on this trip with the rough seas tearing off three of our rain awnings that cover the opening ports on our port side hull, and then there was the way too small screecher episode

Our third strike was one that every sailor dreads. A high water bilge alarm screaming its lungs out to warn you of possible impending doom. And that’s what happened at 2000 hours, 500 miles from land just as the off-watch started to drift into to LaLa land. Our ear-piercing starboard alarm, a motorcycle horn actually, had come to life big time. Liam and a dozy me, though not for long, rushed through the salon and down the stairs to the rear starboard cabin.

First thing was to cut the power to the alarm so we could hear ourselves think. Next was to figure out which of the two bilges was taking on water, one of which is the engine compartment located under the bed. The bed which is covered in all matter of things, guitars, drones, televisions, cockpit cushions etc had to be unpacked is a very hasty manner. 
A quick check revealed the starboard engine bay was the issue, with water flowing freely from the stern gland on the prop shaft. Not good at all.

It seems that while previously using that engine and after it was shut down the gear lever had not been moved from neutral to reverse and back to neutral which folds the propeller and stops drag on the shaft. As a result when warming up that engine reverse gear was already engaged as the prop was not folded, which had the effect of pulling the engine and shaft slightly aft, enough to create a gap at the seal and allow seawater to pour in at a great rate. The solution was to ignore the water flow and adjust the shaft seal, a relatively simply process but a tad unnerving while at sea. Anyway, after around 15 minutes the task was completed, the water stopped flowing and we caught our breaths. With the crisis averted our heart rates returned to normal.

One of the culprits in this mess was the outlet hose on the engine compartment pump. It was in poor shape and unbeknownst to us, despite regular checks, had developed several tiny holes due to rubbing from a hose clamp. So as the pump cleared water from the engine bay it actually leaked water into the bilge next door which in turn set off the alarm.

Arriving at North Minerva Reef

By the time we had 94 miles left to run on our last night at sea our friends on Scoots were 75 miles behind and Rewa 86 miles.

At 0945 on June 18th we dropped our anchor in 15ft of white sand in the calm waters of North Minerva Reef. The 823 mile passage had taken us 4 days, 21 hours and 50 minutes. 


For now we were the only boat in the anchorage and it sure felt good to drop the hook.

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