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

July 26 - Aug 6, 2015 Musket Cove -Mana

We spent a pleasant week at Musket Cove enjoying the resort pools, beach, spacious grounds, showers and various amenities. Gary has been back and forth between Namotu and Musket Cove almost every day to get surf. We took Nirvana there a few times and he caught a ride with Another Adventure a few days. Gary took a bunch of guys with him one day on Nirvana and the kids and I stayed on Nautilus and went ashore.

Musket Cove is a resort and a yacht club (although that meaning is a little different here than we are used to). They cater nicely to the yachties, when we registered we opened an account and can charge anything at the resort, which is nice and a little scary. They have a grocery store, it is very pricey, but handy if you are out of something and nice for basics like bread and eggs. We've had pizza at the restaurant a few times, which thrilled the kids. There are about 40 boats from all over the world in the anchorage including a handful of super yachts (>100 feet). There is reef interspersed throughout the anchorage making it a little more challenging to find a good spot to anchor. Even with boats this tightly together, float planes land amongst the boats which is quite a thrill to watch. We have really enjoyed this anchorage as we have been able to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while, meet some new friends, and it is close to great surf.

We celebrated Gary's birthday out at Namotu, but unfortunately the wind picked up and it was no good for surfing, but the kite boarders were out in force. So we headed back to Musket Cove for a nice birthday dinner of tuna in the protected anchorage. Gigi made Gary a delicious carrot cake and decorated it so beautifully.

Gary will not have a hard time remembering this as his Fiji birthday, as he received only traditional Fijian artifacts for presents. Axel got him a cannibal fork and a model of a traditional sailing boat. I got him a hand carved kava bowl decorated with fine carvings of traditional Fijian symbols (mostly war clubs). His favorite present came from Gigi. She got him a huge war club. It is a neck breaker and gut extractor. It is hand carved and inlaid with mother of pearl, it's actually very beautiful. Now with all these weapons I guess he is ready to go to battle if he needs to.

  

We celebrated his birthday ashore at the yacht club a couple of days later with many friends. I had made lots of appetizers and everyone brought dinner to BBQ at the yacht club. Gigi made a pineapple coconut cake for this party and another friend made a huge vanilla cake.

While we had access to the nice big property of the resort, we took advantage so we got Axel's bike out, and to do fitness testing for the kids. California requires the kids to be able to run 1 mile and do a certain number of push-ups and sit-ups. So I mentioned we were going to do this testing to some of the other moms and they thought it was a great idea. So we ended up having 8 kids for the testing from Exodus, Fluenta, and Honey (and they didn't have shoes). It was fun watching the competitive side of some kids come out, especially among siblings. Happy to say that all the kids are in the healthy range (I expected that) and that Gigi and Brenden met the presidential award level. Unfortunately Axel needs to work on his speed in the running, I think he was checking out the scenery more than running.

The kids organized a big party for all the birthdays that will happen soon in their group (soon being in the next 2 months). So the party covered about half of the kids. Victoria made an amazing cake, so nicely decorated you might think it came from a store. Gigi and Axel made presents or found things they were will to part with. Gigi made Alex a coconut bra, he was very embarrassed. Gigi made a wind chime out of coral for Victoria and playdough for Seppe. Axel gave Alex a half melted, somewhat smushed lollypop. Alex was actually excited to get it.

After more than 1 week in the same place, we decided to join Exodus and Nautilus at Mana Island. To enter the lagoon you must go through a narrow, winding, shallow pass. It is well marked, but I still didn't enjoy this pass. The shallowest spot we went over was 9 feet, but we draw 7'8". Whenever we cross something so shallow I always wonder what else is beyond that spot. Coral does not grow evenly, no chart is accurate for coral reef, and sometimes it is hard to see the water depth. The difference in water color from 7' to 10' is very little.

The kids enjoyed this lagoon for scurfing, surfing behind the dinghy. We went ashore, but it wasn't that nice. At one end is an overpriced resort catering to middle class Australians with a fence and lots of caution signs blocking access to the backpackers resort, then one of the poorest villages we have seen in Fiji. It seems the villagers on this island got the worst of everything, their island got completely developed, but they didn't get any of the benefits.

While the guys were out spearfishing, or snorkeling with spear guns, as there were no fish to catch, Nirvana got a little too close to the reef. So Axel and I re-anchored the boat. I drove and he did everything with the anchor. He did such a great job, he even looked around, saw something that might foul the anchor chain and moved it before anything could happen. I'm really proud of the knowledge and confidence he has gained.

  

Now we are anchored off Namotu. We arrived yesterday afternoon in time for Gary to get a nice standup paddleboard surf session before dark. David Kalama, a world champion paddleboarder, has been here all week, and Gary has been watching his technique and asked him a few questions. That plus Ciro, from Malikalalou, has been giving Gary pointers, so his skills have radically improved and his is enjoying it so much more. We spent the night beside Namotu, but it is not a great overnight anchorage. Gary slept in the cockpit and I had 2 anchor alarms set. I think tonight we will go elsewhere. Right now Gary is going out to surf Tavarua. He has been dreaming of surfing there since before we started this trip. The kids and I are going to snorkel off Namotu.

In about 1 week Gary's nephew, Sam, is going to join us. His plan is to sail with us until December. Everyone is really looking forward to having Sam on board. We are in the process of loading him up with boat parts and items dearly wanted from the States. Gigi and Axel are going to get him to bring new legos. I am looking forward to having a young (19 years old), strong set of hands on board, as Vanuatu is known for stronger trade winds. We plan to head for Vanuatu about 1 week after Sam arrives.

Calm winds and fair seas,

Julie