Aug 7 - Aug 23, 2015 West side - Navadra

We spent a few weeks on the West Side of Fiji going back and forth between Musket Cove, Namotu, Denarau and Vuda Point. We kept moving for better protection, to find surf, to pick up boat parts or buy food in Nadi. Gary had some great surf, and Gigi and Axel even join him for a surf lesson one day. Sadly we said goodbye to Nautilus, who headed for Vanuatu before us, continuing on through the Solomon's and Indonesia.

Gigi, Axel and Gary heading out for some surf at Namotu

Axel, Seppe, Fien and Gigi

Hans and Gary

Katrien, Hans, Gary and Julie

Goodbye to Nautilus

On August 16, Sam Mathai, Gary's nephew, flew in to join us. He is 19 years old and has decided to take the fall semester off from university. He thought he might find a little adventure sailing around the South Pacific with us. So far he hasn't been disappointed. In the first few hours he caught a waloo. We had him pose for a photo with his fish, then the fish moved, startled him, he dropped it, so he decided kneeling on it was a better way to keep it on board.

 Sam's first fish on Nirvana

That afternoon we anchored off Namotu with Fluenta and a few other boats. Gary got a quick afternoon surf. That evening we had Fluenta over for cocktails, but had to quickly disband the party when the wind and current picked up against each other. The catamaran anchored next to us was being dominated by the wind and we were being dominated by the current, so we ended up very close to each other. At first we were stern to stern, then there was a shift and our bow was almost between their pontoons. We had to motor in place (with the anchor still down) to stay away from them. After an hour and half of this we decided this really wasn't going to get any better soon, so we had to leave for a more protected anchorage. Since it was dark by this point, we couldn't go into Musket Cove, so we headed for Denarau, 2 hours away. All was very calm and easy at Denarau when we dropped anchor around 11:00 pm and fell exhausted into our beds.

Two days later we tried again for an afternoon surf at Namotu, then Musket Cove for the evening, this time with much more success. Gary and Sam got a nice afternoon surf session. We spent the next morning at Musket doing laundry and enjoying the resort, then headed out for Navadra. On our way there, Axel caught a waloo, and he had some hard fighting to get it to the boat.

Axel's waloo

Navadra is made up of 2 uninhabited islands with beautiful sand beaches, turquoise water, towering rock formations, almost completely surrounded by coral reef. Our first night was quite rocky as the swell rolls into this anchorage, but subsequent nights were much better. We were just about to head out, when we saw the entire kid boat entourage arriving, Lumbaz, Exodus, Breeze and Field Trip. We actually decided to stay in Fiji 3 more days, so Gigi and Axel could have more time with their friends. It wasn't hard to convince us, as this is one of the more scenic anchorages. 

Lumbaz at Navadra

The first night Sam befriended the local Fijian guys that were camping on the east beach and fishing on the reef at night. They came looking for him after fishing, unfortunately he was on the beach, but fortunately gave me a present for him, 6 slipper lobster. Good friends to make. Sam and Gary went in to thank them later and gave them some kava. They did a sevusevu ceremony for Sam, which was great as otherwise he wouldn't have seem one in Fiji.

The kids have enjoyed camping on the beach so much that they all organized another camp out. They organized the tents, sleeping bags, fire lighters, food, water, VHF, … and camped on the south beach, away from the Fijian fishermen. Since we stayed for more nights than expected, they got to camp out for 2 nights.

The first night we joined the kids on the beach for happy hour, but they told us we couldn't stay close to them. So we set up our own area with snacks and drinks, and funny how they came swarming once they knew how good our snacks were.

The only bad part about this beach is the dinghy landing. The surf breaks at low tide and the coral is a little too close to the surface in a number of places. On our way in for happy hour, Gary surfed us perfectly through the coral heads, landing on the beach we jumped out and scrambled the dinghy above the tide mark. The way back to the boat was a different story. The surf broke a few times over the entire dinghy completely drenching all of us.

Saturday afternoon Fluenta sailed in the bay to screams of excitement from the kids. Now we had all the kid boats left in Fiji. All the kids were excited that Victoria would be part of the campout as she likes to make fresh biscuits over the fire for breakfast.

Both the kids and adults spent the days swimming, snorkeling, fishing, hiking the towering rock formations and surfing. We had some of the warmest weather since we have been in Fiji, so everyone wanted to be in the water all the time.

Sundowners on the east beach without kids

Sunday morning we took some group photos and said a sad goodbye. Exodus, is heading towards the Marshalls and we won't see them until we are all back in the US. Fluenta and Field Trip are staying in Fiji for a few more months, then heading to New Zealand where we will probably see them. Breeze is staying in Fiji for the year. Lumbaz is heading to Vanauatu, so we will probably see them.  We have been so lucky to have made such good friends, it has greatly enriched our enjoyment of our travels, but it is hard saying goodbye as you don't really know if you will ever see these friends again.

All the families from Lumbaz, Exodus, Fluenta, Breeze and Field Trip

Tomorrow we plan to go to Lautoka to buy food and clear out of Fiji, we will leave either that afternoon or the next morning. The sail to Vanuatu is 450 nautical miles and should take us about 3 days. I will keep everyone posted as we go how the conditions are. You can also follow our progress with the tracker on our blog.

Calm winds and fair seas,

Julie