Fiji West

Our first attempt to leave Savusavu was aborted due to a leaky plug in the seawater cooling system that caused a salty fountain in the engine room, not at all a good situation. We returned and spent a week trying to obtain a plug locally but to no avail. Finally, some friends from NZ brought some plugs from Auckland and we were back in the running. Once again, sailing means fixing things in exotic places.

We motored west along the S coast of Vanua Levu until we arrived at a large bay on the west side called Bua Bay. It was a nice safe place but therefore boring, so we left the next day for the small island of Yadua. Bua was so nondescript that the only pic we could find to share was the glorious sunset above. Yadua was more our style.

This is Cukuvou Harbor. If you look closely you will see 2 boats in the bay; Amante is the speck on the right.

This is Yadua Tabu. The reason it's tabu is because the very rare Crested Iguana lives there. It's so protected that no one can visit without special approval, usually only for scientific study. The fringing reef near the beach in the foreground is visible as light green. Those with a keen weather eye will note a cold front approaching from the south; more on this later.

Here the admiral poses next to the light house. It was described as red but she could only see it as white from a distance; now we know why. If you think light houses are still cute barber-pole affairs we hate to disappoint you, but this one is typical.

We tried to be good visitors by hiking to the village below to make our sevusevu. We were told it would require 60-90 minutes to reach the village, which is on the other side of the island. It took 3 hours in scorching heat. As we were returning the aforementioned cold front arrived, bringing gale-force gusts and torrential rain. We practically swam back, sliding down muddy mountain trails However, an abundance of fear for the boat and dinghy helped us to return in a little over an hour.

After returning the weather got worse and we had one entire day of winds over 34 knots gusting to 42 - in the harbor! It's hard to describe the sheer noise and stress of sustained winds like that, not to mention the abiding fear of being dragged onto the reef downwind. After 2 days of taking a beating the wind abated and we began to scrape off the salt that accumulated from spray and spindrift.

Just another peaceful stretch of vacant beachfront. we hiked around this point to find nothing except more wide expanses of perfect powdery fine sand.

Here our resident fashion-plate Crusoe dude examines wind-sculpted rocks on the beach.

The neat thing about this deserted stretch of paradise is that it has lots of nautilus shells, one of nature's true works of art.

Speaking of natural wonders, here we see a strange amphibious creature crawling onto the beach; note the gin-clear water.

This is a very large scallop-shaped mollusk, maybe a foot wide, which has a white soft coral growing on the front edge of its shell. The effect of the coral was to make our bivalve appear to be wearing a drum-major's hat.

Here's our mermaid with an escargot grande. We left it there.

We thought Yadua was a great piece of unspoiled paradise, but we needed to make progress toward our departure point of Lautoka on the NW side of Viti Levu. We were also running low on fresh produce. We therefore left for Yasawa and its neighbor of Sawa-I-Lau.

This is Gibraltar-like Sawa-I-Lau. Unlike most Fijian high islands it's made of uplifted coral.

Sawa-I-Lau is famous for its caves. This is the main entrance but we were not beguiled by the stagnant pool one must swim through to reach the other cave. We therefore found it rather over-rated.

The translucence of the aquamarine and afternoon sunlight high above this coral garden would probably thrill any Monet. Note the beach as it 'glides' into the indigo water.

This stark razor sharp volcanic sculpture rests on a bed of soft opalescent sand.

John and I found unusual beauty on this arid isle. The waning sunlight unkindly clouded these crystalline waters.

Another isolated uninhabited and 'all to ourselves' unspoiled beach.

While visiting Sawa we were treated once more to a couple of days of Fijian gales. We had become rather tired of high winds and rough nights, so we left for the island of Naviti and what we hoped was rest. We found it at Somosomo Bay.

Here we are just off the village of Somosomo, at least the Naviti version. The bay is a little rolly but well-protected and safe.

We made our sevusevu in the village, which is unusual in that the chief is a woman. We were invited to visit the school; as we can see, kids always want to be in pictures.

We were also invited to a lovo dinner. A lovo is an oven in the ground. Basically, you build a fire on some rocks and when the rocks are very hot, you place the food items, wrapped in banana leaves, on them and bury the whole thing. After a few hours you dig up the delicious results, which we see being uncovered above.

One interesting spot on Naviti is the remains of a WWII fighter plane sunk in a lagoon. It turned out to be a P-39, which is easy to recognize because the engine was mounted behind the pilot. This is a murky shot of the pilot's seat rest and a V-12 just aft. A 72-year old we met there said he saw the crash in 1943 after the pilot tried a stunt and couldn't quite pull it off. He was rescued and no doubt scolded for losing government property.

Here are the grandkids of our witness. They were some of the nicest kids we've ever met. They are holding up green coconuts they chopped open for our refreshment prior to hiking back to the other side of the island. Some weirdo showed up in the background just as the picture was being taken.

Here's our fashion-plate modeling banana stalks. Note the perfect beach. One of the kids in the picture above said some "rich American" guy named Bill Gates had bought up all the beach-front property on the island. He landed in a helicopter at the village of Somosomo with three sacks of Fiji cash and handed it out as a goodwill gesture. At least we got to enjoy the beaches before they begin to require an elaborate licensing scheme and/or frequent reboots of the reef.

Our next island down the string called the Yasawa Group was the high island of Waya. Here we see the west coast. For scale, please note the yellow speck on the water near the middle of the shot - it's a small cruise ship.

We tried to anchor in the south bay off the village of Yolobi, but it was so rolly we could barely stand on deck. So, we sailed back north to the bay at the N end, which was also rolly but was at least bearable. The scenery was also spectacular.

Is this not a fantastic work of Modern Art, Au Naturale. I have seen this very same sculpture in the Metropolitan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John and I could not resist capturing such a windswept scene.

Sailing south from Waya one leaves the Yasawas for the low-lying Mamanucas. These islands are not as much fun for yachts as they lack good anchorages and are infested with resorts. One delightful exception is to be found at Navadra. It's the island toward the right, the little one at left is called Eori.

As you can see, the water here is exceptionally clear and the coral very healthy. The beach in the background is on a island with the ironic name of Vanua Levu. This island is apparently considered tabu, which may be why it lacks a resort.

After spending three idyllic days at this deserted stretch of paradise we finally decided we had to sail to Lautoka and prepare for our departure to Vanuatu.

This is Vuda Point Marina. It looks nice, but the admiral nicknamed it "Voodoo Point" or "Doodoo Point" - you get the picture. A former waste treatment pond, it still handles human waste, owing to all the potties on boats and the very narrow inlet one must traverse to get here. Capt Hub was supposed to do some diving on a leaky seacock but declined the honor of a cesspool gig. It's located near numerous picturesque tank farms and propane storage facilities. There's a resort next door with a nice view but a muddy, mangrove-infested beach. We had to stay here 2 weeks while trying to get the diesel generator fixed. We hated every moment there but needed AC power for our fridge.

We didn't know it, but the routine upon arrival is to tie up to the yellow mooring buoy seen on the left and await assistance tying to the circular rim of the concrete (former waste) pond. We tried to call them on the radio for instructions, but they had the volume turned down so as not to disturb themselves. After trying for 30 minutes we called them on our Iridium satphone and were put on permanent hold. We decided the staff was on drugs and had been fired from their jobs at the DMV office for poor customer service. Nuff said.

This is the huge Fiji sugar refinery in Lautoka, as seen from the harbor anchorage. This shot is unusual in that it's not belching huge quantities of smoke. It covered the boat with soot, just a day after we washed it so well. We had to go to Lautoka for the simple reason that Fiji Customs insisted. They never would have known if we were there or not, but asked us 10 times anyway.

Capt Hub flexes his fat for the camera.

This is Musket Cove, the kind of yachtie nest we usually avoid. We didn't go ashore since we weren't supposed to be there in the first place. We decided to stop there to fix the rigging before doing our 450nm passage to Tanna.

Although the weather was often frustrating we loved our time in Fiji and wished we could have spent more time in many places when the winds and seas were calmer. The people here are very friendly and kind to strangers. The cost of living is cheap and the fishing is incomparable.

We can only hope things are just as nice in Vanuatu.

Home