July 25, 2015 Passage to west side of Fiji

When we left Yanuca 2 days ago, the wind was about 20-25 knots and the seas about 3 meters, but it was all downwind sailing so we were excited about a fast sail to the west side of Fiji 65 miles away.  We started sailing with only the 3rd reef in the main and were doing about 6 knots. We decided that we would shake a reef and just sail with a double reefed main. That got us going about 7.5 knots. Really fun sailing and surfing down some good waves.

My back was bothering me so I was lying in the cockpit watching auto (the autopilot) sailing the boat and enjoying the day. All of a sudden we got a 40 degree right wind shift, with 40 knots of breeze and the main gybed with the preventor still attached but letting the boom go about half way to the other side. I instantly turned auto off and tried to gybe the boat back. That is when I heard the loud pop of the steering cable. A couple profanities later I looked around to see what else was wrong and realized the runner was still on, so I just released it and a few moments later it was streaming away from the boat, but the mast was still standing. Axel was jolted out of bed by the load breaking sound beside his head, and Gary popped up from his disturbed breakfast. He put auto back on and we tried to turn the boat back to course, but there was too much strain with the main on the wrong side. So we had to get the main gybed without turning the boat. I brought the main sheet in while Gary released the preventor. Gary went into the kids cabin, pulled out their cabinet to get access to the steering quadrant and we dug out the emergency tiller. Which gets installed in their cabin and someone steers blindly while someone on deck directs them. Fortunately we did not need to do that.

While all this took place the main was luffing, causing a reef line fitting on the boom to pull out and the main sail to rip. So our next mission was to get the main down. The seas had risen to about 4 meters and we had to go straight into them to drop the main. Nirvana didn't like bucking those waves with no sails. Once the main was down, we tested auto to see if it could really steer a decent course. Luckily the breakage did not affect auto. Next was the process of identifying the issue and coming up with a solution. Gary pulled out part of the wall from Axel's bunk to get at the quadrant easier.  He pulled off the steering wheel, it never feels right to be in open ocean without a steering wheel attached. Then he took off the compass and pulled apart the binnacle. He discovered that the steering chain, looks like a large motorcycle chain, broke in a few places due to rust.

He came up with a plan and wedged himself into many small nooks in the kids' cabin to work. The kids kept bringing him tools and they helped in every way they could. They understood that we had many serious issues and they really responded well.

Once we got the boat on her correct course we had the seas behind us and we were motoring and surfing the waves at 7.5 knots. The wind slowly built so that we had 25-30 knots sustained in 4 meter seas, with gusts 35-40 knots and a few waves that hit the boat funny. We put the companionway hatch boards and the kids cabin window in after one wave got a little too close. On this stretch of coast there is nowhere that you can pull into a harbor if the seas are high, so we knew we had to go all the way to the west side of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. We had contact with a nearby boat after our steering broke and he experienced 50 knots in that same squall. We both commented on how hard it was to see these gusts/squalls coming, they were not at all distinctive from the rest of the day.

Gary worked tirelessly for hours. I stayed on deck to monitored the weather situation, other boat traffic and auto, who fortunately only had 2 hiccups but were quickly fixed. The shit hit the fan at 10:30 am and it took Gary continuously working until 3:00 pm to fix the steering. I am very lucky to have a husband as talented as Gary when things like that happen, as he can fix anything. We still had another 1.5 hours until we reached the easy well marked Navula reef pass and another hour after that until we were safely anchored in Momi Bay. After a few stiff rums and a nice meal, we finally calmed our nerves.

The next day we had to figure out what to do with the main sail. We made a few phone calls and arranged to bring it into the local loft. We also arranged to have our watermaker pump, that had just arrived from the US, delivered to the marina. So we headed off to Vuda Point marina 15 miles away. We went to the fuel dock and unloaded our sail, got 450 liters of diesel, 60 liters of gasoline for the dinghy, water in our tanks, hot showers for everyone, 2 massive bags of laundry done, and thoroughly cleaned the boat with fresh water. 3.5 very productive hours. The harbor is very tight, so turning Nirvana required a 10 point turn, but more concerning was the falling tide. I was on the bow spotting for the reef and Gary drove out. Axel let me know once we were in deep water that we only had 0.1 feet below the keel in the channel. I am so glad I didn't steer that time.

We headed just around the corner to Saweni Bay to be with our friends from Nautilus and so we could go to Lautoka for shopping in the morning. After we told them of our troubles sailing from Yanuca, they told us during their passage at 3:00 am they took one large wave over the transom. It completely filled the entire cockpit, swooshed down the companionway and through the cockpit ports into the kids' cabins. So much water came in that the boat was filled knee deep. Their 12 year old daughter got such a dump of water over her that she woke from her sleep thinking they were sinking and gasping for air. Katrien cleaned for 5 hours to get rid of the water. Just makes you think about how powerful natural forces are and not to ever get complacent.

On from those fun stories, we have just bought a ridiculous amount of food today and plan to head to the Musket Cove, Tavarua, Namota area tomorrow. Gary can't wait to spend a bunch of time at these world class surf breaks.

Calm winds and fair seas,

Julie

July 15-23, 2015 Astrolabe Reef and Yanuca

We had a pleasant sail to the Astrolabe Reef area just north of the island of Kandavu. We caught 2 mahi mahi. One was huge and we ate from it for days. We anchored in Naqara Bay on Ono island. We headed into the village immediately after anchoring to do our sevusevu with the chief. We brought the smaller mahi mahi to give it the boarding school, but the chief decided that he would distribute it appropriately. We are pretty sure only his family ate well that night. We did go visit the school and they were definitely in need of things. Axel warmed up to the kids and they started playing a chasing game. He ran, and they chased him as fast as they could. Axel had about 20 kids running after him. He of course loved it and got goofy by pretending to run into the flag pole and falling down. They all started imitating him falling down, then they all just started running back and forth.

The kids chasing/running with Axel

In the morning Gigi and I had some fantastic snorkeled. When the wind shifted NE we decided to move to anchor behind Buliya island just off a gorgeous white sand beach. We made a massive bonfire, Malikalalou joined us, and Gigi made graham crackers so we could make s'mores.

The following day we went to the village to present our sevusevu to the chief. The village was on the other side of the island and was very clean, landscaped and beautiful. We did a quick visit with the chief and were on our way to get out snorkeling again. At a nearby island there was a pod of giant manta rays. Unfortunately we scared them off with the dinghy, but the snorkeling was still beautiful. We came back the next day more cautiously and were able to snorkel for a long time with four rays. They are magnificent creatures with wing spans about 12 feet that look like they are soaring through the water.

Gary with the chief

The massive manta rays

The following day we went to Dravuni island briefly to do our sevusevu, so we could anchor off Namara island. The water around Namara was like gin, you could see the bottom at 80 feet depth. We took the dinghy out to Alcracity Pass for some incredible snorkeling in the clearest water. Huge varieties of soft and hard corals, millions of small fish everywhere, unfortunately for Gary no big fish to spear, but he shot 4 smaller fish.

 Finally 2 photos that capture the vibrant colors of the Fijian reefs

Snorkeling at Alcracity Pass

Our plan was to head to the west end of Kandavu for some surfing, but the weather was not going to cooperate. In a few days the winds were supposed to pick up to 25+ knots with 3 meter seas and stay that way for 5 days. The anchorage at the west end of Kandavu is not great and we figured we could have 1 relatively calm night before it got really lumpy, and then the surfing would be blown out, so we decided to head for Yanuca to get 1 good day surfing at Frigates Pass before the stormy weather. Unfortunately the waves were actually too big for surfable conditions at that break. Fortunately as we left the Astrolabe Reef we caught a huge walu and a big tuna.

We spent a few days at Yanuca with Nautilus, Exodus, and Fluenta, so the kids were excited. Yanuca had a nice beach and good snorkeling, and great diving, but we didn't manage to scuba. The seas and wind built while we were there and so it was not enticing to go out diving.

Cheers,

Julie

July 14, 2015 Beqa

We left Suva 2 days ago in the rain and light wind heading for Kandavu, but the wind quickly built to 20+ knots directly from where we were heading. After a little while we realized we would not get to the islands north of Kandavu before dark, so we bore off and headed to Beqa. As we approached the pass at Beqa the rain intensified, so we could not see the 1,500 foot tall island that was only 3 miles away. We continued a slow approach hoping the rain would let up soon. Thankfully it did and we could see the island and the pass and headed in to Malumu Bay. The bay is surrounded by steep, jungle encrusted mountains and mangroves at the water's edge, making it challenging to go ashore. So we stayed on the boat, and other than the nonstop rain, we had a very peaceful night, and enjoyed being out of loud, polluted Suva.

The following day the rain didn't really lighten up, and it was quite cold, so we got lots of schoolwork done. It has been cold enough for the past week and a half that we have been wearing pants and sweaters, not the weather we expected in Fiji. In the late afternoon an American boat, Malikalilalou, joined us with an 11 year old girl, Taly, onboard. She was extremely excited to see kids as she had been alone with her parents for 2 weeks. Shortly after they anchored they came over to say hello. Not too long after that they realized they were dragging and rushed back to their boat to re-anchor.  Axel and Gigi joined them on their boat, livening up the atmosphere.

By dusk the wind had picked up, and the kadiabatic winds from the surrounding mountains intensified. All day these strong gusts had come roaring down the mountains at us from all different directions, causing the boat to heel and adding to the overall cold grayness of the day. In the evening these gusts really picked up speed and blasted us at over 30 knots. As we were just about to sit down to eat dinner, I looked out the window and saw Malikalilalou moving across the bay. They were at dinner onshore at the resort, so we were quite concerned for their boat. Gary and I headed over to it in the dinghy and realized it was quite close to shore, so I went into the resort to let them know and Gary stayed on their boat to deal with issues. By the time I informed Katie, Ciro and Taly, and we all got out to their boat, Gary had started the motor, let out more scope, motored the boat into the middle of the bay and back it down to set the anchor better. This wasn't a permanent solution, so we helped them re-anchor, then went back to our boat for dinner.

After dinner I set both the chart plotter and handheld GPS anchor alarms, then we started a movie. Only a few minutes into the movie one of the anchor alarms went off and we had dragged across the bay, so we had to re-anchor. It was all hands on deck, in the rain and 30 knot winds, so I couldn't hear Gary or vise-versa, making communication really challenging. After we were secure, we went back to the movie.

A few minutes later I saw Malikalilalou going by our window, they were dragging again. They spent some time trying to get well anchored. I went up to check on them and it looked like we swung a lot, and maybe dragged, so we just monitored the situation. Ten minutes later the anchor alarm went off and we had definitely dragged, so back on deck for re-anchoring. This time we tried to get a little closer to shore, but it started to shallow up way too quickly, so I reversed rapidly out of there. As we were re-anchoring, Malikalilalou was also re-anchoring again. It felt a little like musical boats. Once we were both set again, and alarms back on, we started the movie again.

It was the most disrupted movie I have ever watched, but it helped distract us from just constantly thinking about whether we were dragging or not. By the time the movie was over the wind had lightened up a little and there was less concern about dragging, but Gary did sleep in the cockpit. All of us including the kids went to bed around 1:30. Gigi and Axel were really valuable crew members in this challenging situation. Sometimes we don't think they have learned much about the boat, but it is reassuring to see when we really need their help they know what to do.

Today the wind is quite calm, and the rain has stopped, so we will stay put in this anchorage and tomorrow we will head to Kandavu as the winds as supposed to be lighter and from a more favorable angle. We are all praying that we don't have a repeat of last night.

As a thank you for saving their boat, Ciro and Katie took us to dinner tonight at the resort. It was a fantastic meal and we are all really stuffed. Gigi even said that she liked the cooked greens, that her time in the Lau without vegetables has made her appreciate green foods more. Axel devoured his steak and ate half of my banana bread pudding with ice cream.

Malikalilalou is joining us tomorrow sailing to the Astrolabe Reef, just north of Kandavu. We will spend tomorrow night at either Buliya or Ono and explore the Astrolabe Reef for a few days before heading to the island of Kandavu. It’s off to bed for me, as we are planning to leave at day break.

Calm winds and fair seas,

Julie

July 10, 2015 Suva

Wow time has really flown while here in Suva. We spent the first few days enjoying access to unlimited food and eating lots of salad. I have done a lot of shopping over the past 10 days, so we are loaded and ready to go out for another month or so. Although I expect that we will have significantly more access to stores for the rest of our visit to Fiji. 

We are anchored off the Royal Suva Yacht Club, where we have a temporary membership. Happy hour, hot showers and the playground have been big hits with the Nirvana crew.

The kids playing on the lawn at the Royal Suva Yacht Club

While in Suva we have celebrated Canada Day with Fluenta by enjoying a BBQ followed by Nanaimo bars. A couple of days later we had all the adults from 5 boats over for drinks to celebrate July 4th.

One night Gigi and Axel hosted all the kids for a sleep over on Nirvana. We had 10 kids plus Gary and me. It was definitely a little tight, especially since it was raining, but they had a blast. In the morning Gigi and Victoria, with Gary's help, made super yummy waffles for everyone.

We visited the Suva fair where we sampled lots of delicious foods. All the rides are old, with questionable maintenance, made from under spec tubing, and they pack as many people as they can into each seat. We rode on the ferris wheel, but Gigi had to get off early as it was way too scary for her. Of course once Gigi and Victoria got off they stacked 2 local girls in with us, ensuring there were still 5 snuggly packing into each seat. The scariest part was how fast it went around and how much each car swung. It was definitely not designed for the service it was doing. Although Axel loved it. After that Axel and Johnny rode a spinning ride, and Johnny complained he felt sea sick when he got off. So that was the end of rides for us.

The engine for the over-packed ferris wheel.

We visited the Fiji history museum, Gigi really didn't like the cannibalism exhibit. The handicraft market is full of so many beautiful items, that we have gone back many times just to take it all in. The main market is full of wonderful fruits and vegetables and exotic spices, plus a big kava area.

Suva has the most polluting busses I have ever smelled. So by the time you are done your shopping you need a beer at the yacht club to cleanse your throat and calm your nerves from nearly getting run over from all the drivers. The harbor is very industrial and has the most polluted water I have seen anywhere. Yesterday the fuel dock spilt so much diesel that there was a 2 inch thick layer over the water in the harbor. Not to mention all the garbage floating by. Plus there are enormous raft-ups of confiscated foreign fishing boats tied precariously to commercial mooring buoys.

We had planned to leave Suva a couple of days ago, but Gary got sick. He has a cold that has really knocked him out. We will probably leave on Sunday for Kandavu if the wind becomes favorable. We are all ready to leave the pollution and the nonstop rain behind.

Moce,

Julie