Sailing Brahminy: October 2015

We left Tonga and didn’t really feel the true wind for about 40nm. Once well clear of the Tongan landmass, the wind became less variable and a steady 20-25kn. As it was a downwind sail, we had a couple of days of good, fast sailing covering around 150nm each day. There are many unchartered reefs in the Pacific between Tonga and Fiji and we had marked these on our charts but it still is a nasty feeling to know that there are hidden reefs out there.

If you are heading for the Northern main island of Vanua Levi, Savusavu, There is always a hurdle to get through and that is of course sailing through the middle of the Lau group of islands stretching North to South. We travelled directly through the group via the Lakeba pass approximately 15nm wide. We arrived here early morning and were only really clear of the group that night. Of note is that is illegal to stop or visit any of the Lau group islands before you have cleared in through customs at Savusavu and received your cruising permit. This means that many people never visit these beautiful and remote islands as they keep heading West.

Heading through the group we lost our wind and entered an almost magical calm, misty world. Visibility was reduced and a light drizzle started to fall. It was almost as if we were stuck in a huge cloud. Sara woke me up after a few hours and said I had to see something, I went up on deck and she explained that a school of tuna were travelling with us, they had lead the way jumping out of the water and encircling Brahminy for hours and sure enough there they were, big yellowfin swimming directly in front of us, what a sight! Huge flocks of sea birds started diving all around us and then up ahead we saw possibly the biggest flock of birds I have ever seen on the ocean. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them diving and circling an immense school of Tuna and baitfish…Greater Frigates, Brown and Abbots Boobies, Gannets, shearwaters, storm petrels, Red tailed Tropic birds, Turns and more all joining in on the feast. It was an incredible sight in the glassy waters erupting with the sounds of the birds crying and diving, and great Tuna jumping and thrashing.

We arrived into Savusavu with driving rain and strong winds as the storm intensified. It was a lovely relief to safely tie up to a mooring at the Copra Shed Marina and have a good sleep. The Copra Shed were great and organized all of our customs and quarantine clearance formalities. My mum and stepfather Roger had arrived and were waiting for us. We had a lovely week with them although there were strong wind warnings across the North of Fiji, so the weather wasn’t great while they were on board. We met local legend salty seadog ‘Curly’ a New Zealander who has lived in Fiji for 40 years and gives advice, seminars and charts to visiting Yachties. For up to date weather for Fiji see Curly’s blog here: http://curlycarswell.blogspot.com.au/ We also bought one of Curly’s ‘guaranteed’ lures so we shall see!

CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP…That is what we thought of Fiji for supplies after battling through French Polynesia, the Cooks, Niue and Tonga. It was a relief to have some more realistic prices and the cheap Indian food…wow! If you’re in Savusavu, a must for lunch is Muma’s Kitchen on the main street, simply delicious traditional Indian cuisine for a few dollars. The Indian influence in Fiji is huge, bright colours, loud pumping bollywood music clips in every shop front and pimped up Toyota Crown Taxis plying the streets. Savusavu is a good cyclone hole and many yachties leave their yachts here for the cyclone season. When we enquired it was about $300 AUD a month at Waitui Marina and $350 AUD a month at the Copra Shed. Waitui use Helix style moorings while Copra Shed use engine blocks and heavy steel or concrete blocks on the bottom. If you decide to do this I would strongly recommend using Colin from KoroSun Dive to check the mooring and attach a Safety line. If you don’t have a spare line onboard, Get the poly 3 strand line from a local hardware and the shackles from the Yachtshop. If you are interested in diving the area, KoroSun Dive is the go, Colin is a great guy and the gear and local knowledge is second to none. http://www.korosundive.com/

We cruised the Northern islands whilst waiting for much needed parts for our autopilot and outboard engine. After a few weeks we headed for Viti Levu choosing the inside reef passage and thanks to Curly’s charts and waypoints had an easy voyage. We did drag anchor one night as a gale force storm hit us and before we could react fast enough we had already dragged .03 of a nautical mile! Thank god for anchor alarms!! A highlight was having a large pod of Pilot Whales come right past us with many calves. We arrived in the big smoke of Lautoka and then Port Denarau Marina near Nadi. You can anchor out the front of Port Denarau in good holding ground however it is exposed to the west and North. We didn’t have enough time to explore the Yasawa Group properly but what we did see we loved although it was definitely very toursity and getting developed wherever you looked.

We cleared out at Lautoka which was painless and quick and provisioned at the local market which was huge and plentiful, thanks for a great stay Fiji!