4-2019 Savu Savu to Yasawa Island Group

Hi from Clare,     4-2019 Savu Savu to Yasawa Island Group     Sunday 23^rd June 2019

We left Savu Savu to sail west between the two main islands of Fiji, that is Vanua Levu to the north and Viti Levu to the south. This is a well known wind funnel and so best to transit in calm weather. We went through a very narrow pass at the bottom of the north island and anchored in Bua Bay. We caught up with English couple John and Stella on Exocet Strike for morning tea. We spent about three hours chatting non stop…. who said sailing was a solitary life?

Coral at Yadua Island

A GOOD EXPERIENCE

Our next stop was Yadua Island which is one of two small island in the middle of the pass. By this time the wind was building and so we stayed there four days enjoying some good snorkelling and walks on the beach. Because of the strong wind two small fishing boats came in with six fishermen from the mainland. They waved madly and called greetings of “Bula Bula”. After they anchored we dingied over to meet them. They were very glad of some company as they had been out fishing for two weeks and were running out of conversation. They gave us some lovely Wahoo and said they had been eating fish every day and were sick of it. So I cooked them pasta for dinner, two loaves of bread and gave them 500g of Flora. We all had dinner together on one of the fishing boats. They were nice guys and this was a good experience that we will remember fondly.

Clare with two of the fishermen

Our delicious Wahoo

A NOT SO GOOD EXPERIENCE

The next morning we left and had a very sporty sail to Yasawa Island with a 20-25knot wind behind us and up to a two metre swell. We made good time averaging 7 knots for the 55 mile trip. We anchored mid afternoon at Yasawa Island in the very clear sparkling blue and aqua water, alongside a beautiful sandy beach. We planned to go into the village the following day to meet the Chief and do the Sevusevu ceremony. However before we got there a motor boat came out from the village and did Sevusevu behind our boat and after receiving our Kava told us we could now walk on their beach and go snorkelling. I was a bit upset by their attitude because it felt like a commercial transaction and Kava was the payment. Our previous experiences have been that we offer Kava to the Chief as a goodwill gesture and then the Chief welcomes us as temporary members of the village community. In doing so we are then welcome and free to enjoy the village and surrounding waters. However for us, doing Sevusevu in a dinghy behind our boat took away from the tradition and it was disappointing.

Sevusevu at the back of our boat

VILLAGE LIFE

We went into the village the following day and were welcomed by the people. We firstly met Sarah who is the Kindergarten teacher for the village. She offered to show us the school but she needed to drop something off at her mother’s house first. We met Sarah’s mother who is the sister of the Chief. She was skinning bananas in preparation for the evening meal. The village was hosting a teacher’s cluster meeting that night and the teachers from the other five villages on the island would be attending. Sarah offered us a bowl of sweet bananas boiled in coconut milk, a local dish which was very delicious.

The village church, roof missing since Winston

We then went to the school which has two classrooms. There are ten children in the Kindergarten classroom and ten students in the other classroom which is a composite class for grade one and grade two. The school is very nicely done with brightly coloured teaching aids and the children’s work proudly displayed. Classrooms for the higher primary grades are located in the other villages.

The school

Grade 1&2 classroom

We ventured on, meeting as many village people as we could. Without exception they were welcoming and called us into their homes and the community hall. We were given papaya and bananas to take back to the boat and invited to come back for lunch on Sunday.

Clare with the Chief’s sister

The community hall

AN INTERESTING CHARACTER

We met Nelson an elder of the village who used to be the captain on the ferry going between the islands and the mainland. He told us of his experience during Cyclone Winston. There was no suitable protection from the strong winds, so after speaking with his employer who said “it’s up to you”, he decided to beach the ship at full speed. He stayed on the vessel and then re-floated the ferry after the storm passed over. We have heard some amazing stories around Winston, but we thought this one was way up there.

Andrew meeting the locals

CRUISING FRIENDS

We were with two other boats here, ‘Muskoka’ from Canada and ‘Tres Bien’ from New Zealand. We all had a very enjoyable evening on ‘Muskoka’ a few nights ago and we also did some snorkelling together. Yesterday we all left the anchorage and went in separate directions. We are only a few miles further south, but we couldn’t sail pass this beautiful beach. We are anchored in sand with no outcrops of coral to worry about. The beach has thick soft sand with a backdrop of tropical growth and coconut palms. The water is warm and clear with gentle waves lapping the shore. We have seen many beaches in our travels and this beach is one of the best. We enjoy late afternoon walks along the beach, a swim in warm water and then a little relaxation in setting sun, in total peace and isolation.

Our footprints on the beach, Eye Candy far in the background

SO WHAT NEXT

We will continue down the chain of islands which make up the Yasawa Group. We have some water caves to stop at and then the Blue Lagoon which is a very popular stop for Cruisers with shops and restaurants. But, that’s for next time.

Love Candy xx

3-2019 Plenty of Company in Savu Savu

Hi from Clare,           3-2019 Plenty of Company in Savu Savu              12^th June 2019

The mooring field alongside the Copra Shed Marina in Savu Savu Fiji, is flat calm. When arriving in this peaceful and picturesque bay after being at sea, you can now relax. Just pick up a mooring ball, get a good night’s sleep and enjoy all the facilities Savu Savu has to offer.

The Copra Shed Marina Mooring field

Night view from the Marina jetty

We spent many nights catching up with friends and meeting new friends who, up until now, we had only spoken to on our daily radio net (The South Pacific Cruisers Net).

Andrew (Eye Candy) Peter (Atla) and Pele (Loupan)

Happy Hour with our Cruising Friends

The musicians in our group were keen to entertain us and have a jam session.

 Eva (Atla) Geoff (Mezzaluna),Jacob (Jonas) and Martin (Acapella)

NOT ALL PLAY

We were still having trouble with our outboard running roughly at mid throttle. We discussed buying a new motor but the one Andrew wanted, a 9.9hp 2 stroke Mercury is no longer available in Australia or Fiji. This engine weighs 26 kilos and has been replaced with one that weighs over 40 kilos. We were very disappointed as 40 kilos is heavier than we want to handle. So we resigned ourselves to putting up with the old one. Imagine how delighted we were to find a new 9.9hp 2 stroke 26 kilo model in the Mercury shop at the Copra Shed Marina. So we bought the new motor and then advertised the old one for sale. It was sold the following day to a very excited teenager who had been nagging his parents to upgrade their 2.5hp outboard. The kid couldn’t stop smiling and we were happy to have the additional motor off the boat - so everyone was happy.

Andrew with the new outboard

The new owner of the old outboard

GETTING RESTLESS

By last Friday after many dinners out, happy hour every night at The Copra Shed and copious amounts of washing and shopping, everyone was getting restless to move on. A lot of our friends went out east to the Lau Group of islands. We did not go as we spent two months there last year and we intend going to the Yasawa Group on the western side of Fiji this year. Amongst the four boats going to the Lau Group are our good friends Ellen and Martin on ‘Acapella’. Unfortunately they hit a reef and were stuck there for twelve hours until they could float off on the next high tide 11.30pm that night. They have significantly damaged their rudder but the good news is, no water has entered the boat. They are now busy repairing the rudder to make the overnight trip back. Fortunately between the four boats it seems they have the knowledge and equipment to make a good repair. Martin on ‘Acapella’ is staggered at what people have on their boats, fortunately for him – they had it.

WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED PUT

Our next adventure took us to the island of Koro some 25 miles south of Savu Savu. There was some inclement weather coming but we thought we would be well protected in this bay, but that wasn’t the case.

Koro is an interesting island as a portion of the land has been sold to foreigners who have built holiday homes. There are also a number of resorts and eight local villages. Koro, like its neighbouring islands, was badly damaged by cyclone Winston in 2016 so there is a lot of rebuilding occurring. We took the dinghy ashore and went into one of the resorts, it was deserted. Fresh flowers on the tables but not a soul to be seen. In fact whilst on the island the five people we saw, were workmen.

Anyhow we headed south in search of the Chief to present him with some Kava, (grog) and partake in the traditional greeting of Sevusevu. The Chief would then grant us permission to visit the island and its surrounding waters. The photo below shows a bunch of Kava root bought in Savu Savu and parcelled up by the shop for presentation to the chief. Each parcel costs $20 AUD.and is presented to the Chief on arrival at every island visited. The Kava is pounded to pulp, wrapped in a cloth, soaked in water and squeezed out to produce the juice which is mixed with water to achieve the desired potency. Apparently years ago the newspaper wrapping was also treasured by the villagers as news from the outside world was scarce. But today the villagers have cell phones, internet connection and the kids are busy playing computer games just like the rest of us.

Bunch of Kava

Kava after pounding to a pulp

In Koro, we didn’t make it to the village to do Sevusevu with the Chief. The road was extremely steep and by the time we got to the top of the mountain we could see on our phone we were about a third of the way to the village. I wasn’t feeling well and so we decided to return to the boat and see if we could go to the village by dinghy. However upon our return to the boat we found Eye Candy bouncing around in the anchorage due to the swell coming over the reef. After a cuppa we decided to up anchor and return to the quiet waters of Savu Savu until the weather cleared.

PEACE AGAIN

We anchored off Jean Michel Cousteau Resort some three miles from the town of Savu Savu and enjoyed some snorkelling. The Cousteau Resort looks very nice and the surrounding waterfront houses are also very pleasant. I guess this is one of the better areas.

Jean Michel Cousteau Resort

Waterfront Houses

When snorkelling we found a Crown of Thorn Starfish. An adult Crown of Thorns can consume 6 sq metres of living coral reef a year. As mentioned in our last newsletter The Giant Clams at Makogai are being cultivated to help prevent an outbreak of the Crown of thorns Starfish.

Crown of Thorns

SO WHAT’S NEXT

We escaped Savu Savu this morning and motor-sailed twenty two miles to Savuna Point on the S/W side of Vanua Levu. We are on our way to the Yasawa Group of Islands but we are in no hurry. It is very pleasant here and totally quiet. We are looking forward to a sundowner in the cockpit tonight to celebrate our next adventure.

Love Candy xx

2-2019 Vuda Point to Savu Savu

Hi from Clare         2-2019 Vuda Point to Savu Savu                          2^nd June 2019

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

We sailed in a gentle breeze along the north coast of Viti Levu anchoring in two very beautiful and peaceful bays. We lay on the deck late afternoon soaking up the warmth of the fading sun and listening to the birds singing and flitting about in the impenetrable tropical forest along the shoreline. For us, this was a perfect start to a new season, calm, relaxing, sunny, quiet and totally at peace with the world.

Anchorage at Makogai

Village attached to the Research Centre

A TIME FOR LEARNING

Our first step back into civilisation was on the island of Makogai some forty five miles south of Savu Savu. Makogai in the early to mid 1900’s was home to a Leprosy Hospital that housed 4000 patients from islands throughout the Pacific. There are still some old buildings and a cemetery from this time.

Leprosy Hospital Steps

However, today with a population of fifty, Makogai operates a fisheries hatchery for turtles and giant clams. The giant clam grows to over a metre and a single clam can filter hundreds of litres of water a day offering a good line of defence against an outbreak of pesky crown of thorns starfish by filtering out thousands of their microscopic spawn. The fishery people have some giant clams they leave in the ocean and at spawning time transfer them into salt water tanks ashore.

A giant clam

The baby clams are cultivated there and we witnesses some eight month old clams being individually scrubbed with a toothbrush to remove any parasites before being relocated to tanks at a local resort. They stay there for a year as a tourist attraction but at the same time, growing in a safe environment. By this time they are big enough to be relocated into the ocean. Even then they are released in cages for further hardening of their shells before they have sufficient protection from ocean predators and can be transported to one of the many coral reefs throughout the Pacific.

Eight month old clams ready for relocation

We were pleased to learn that it was an Australian funded project that began culturing the giant clams at Makogai – and thousands have since been transplanted to various parts of Fiji. Whilst we were at Makogai a delegation from the Ministry for Fisheries and the owner of the receiving resort came by light plane to transfer 500 baby clams to the resort tanks.

Lunch with the delegation

Loading the baby clams onto the light plane

CAN WE HELP

We felt we did our bit towards this wonderful project when Andrew was approached (a day before the delegation arrived) by a local boat asking if he had a multimeter. So he went with them armed with his multimeter to find they had run the water pump dry and it was all melted inside. This pump supplies seawater to the giant clams and turtles being grown here in the seawater tanks. The fishery guys were trying to get the 240v generator to make 72v to run a spare pump that only ever run on solar panels (which were blown away by cyclone Winston in 2016). When that idea failed they wanted Andrew to connect the spare submersible pump to the 3 phase outlet. Luckily they had a new plug for Andrew to wire up. Andrew, although he understood what he was doing, had never actually wired a 3 phase outlet before so he warned them that he wasn’t an electrician. Their reply was “Neither are we” so everybody stood well back. All went well and the fishery guys said they would be ok with finding the bits they needed to get the seawater to the tanks – the clams were waiting. We received four papayas for Andrew’s efforts.

The 3 phase outlet

The submersible pump running underwater

CRUISERS TO THE RESCUE

We also travelled by the 60 hp outboard school boat with nine school children around to a small village where the school for 26 children is located. A large part of this small village was blown away by cyclone Winston along with the class rooms. We spoke to one mother of five who’s house survived the cyclone. She said they were all very scared huddled inside watching other houses being blown down the street. The only one not afraid was their two year old who played happily oblivious of the danger – that sounds right:) After cyclone Winston, members of the cruising community built two new class rooms. It took them a year or more to complete, a job well done, the class rooms have been fully operational since.

Our trip on the school boat

One of the classrooms the cruisers built

Today the school has expanded with a new cyclone proof steel framed classroom and accommodation for the teachers. There is still a lot of work to be done but they are well on the road to recovery. We walked back across the island to our boat which took about an hour, a good bit of exercise up and down hills and great views of the shoreline.

The new cyclone proof steel framed classrooms and accommodation

CATCH OF THE DAY

After three days at Makogai we sailed 50 miles in sporty conditions across the channel to the larger island of Venua Levu and into Savu Savu in Fiji. We had the fishing line out the back and averaging 7 knots of boat speed, in some ways I was hoping we didn’t get a strike. Fortunately whilst slowing down to make landfall we caught a magnificent Wahoo about a metre long – a truly delicious fish and greatly appreciated.

 Our Wahoo

SO WHAT’S NEXT

By this time quite a few of our cruising friends are returning to Fiji after spending cyclone season in New Zealand. So it is party time and we are enjoying renewing old friendships and developing new ones. So more of Savu Savu in our next newsletter.

Ellen (Acapella), Clare(Eye Candy) and Hanny (Jonas) in Savu Savu

Love Candy xx