It's been almost 2 weeks since our last blog from Tonga, and now we are in Fiji. You may remember that I had just started with a nasty cold, which I am almost over now. Unfortunately Heather contracted the cold and suffered quite badly with it. She is on antibiotics and it seems to be on the way out at last.
The last few days we spent in Tonga were a little traumatic. A 50 foot Bavaria that had been moored next to us, Navillus, smashed into an island on the way to Australia with two lives lost. We had spoken with the guys aboard the day before, mainly because one of them blew onto us in his dinghy when cleaning his hull and we towed him back to Navillus. We timed our departure until after bad weather had passed through, but they decided to go the day before as they didn't think it seemed too bad. This meant a nasty choppy sea with the wind on the nose for them - we're not sure why they could not have waited 24 hours. It was all very sad, listening to the rescue efforts on the VHF radio each day. Apparently they managed to send a mayday message to relatives in Australia via sat phone that they were breaking up on the reef by a (well charted) island, which alerted emergency services. The island is a volcano (called Late Island) many miles from the nearest settlement, so just getting there takes hours. NZ search and rescue flew by at first light and boats were sent out, but all that was found was lots of debris (a few of the World ARC boats passed bits of debris on the way to Fiji). Jonathan made a statement to the rescue services as he was the only one who knew for sure that there was a dinghy attached to the deck and could identify the make and model (as he had towed it back and it was the same make as ours). This gave some hope since the dinghy had not been found, nor had any bodies (the life raft had been found - it had not been deployed - but you would probably not have time to launch the life raft if your boat was breaking up on a reef). Sadly we understand that since then the search has been abandoned.
So we left Tonga on 17 June and had a bumpy 3-day passage to Savusavu in Fiji. It was three full-on and exhausting days at sea (although we did get some great wind at last). We both had to contend with the stinking cold/cough at the same time which made the crossing more of a chore than it should have been.
When we arrived in Savusavu, Fiji we were surprised the Health officer allowed us to stay - with both of us still sneezing and coughing away. But we have found the Fijians are lovely and the checking in process was very easy. At last we are in a place where things are reasonably priced and, due to the number of people of Indian descent, we can get a decent curry!
Sadly we could not stay long in Savusavu. We are keen to see a little more of Fiji before hauling out next Tuesday, so thanks to a long term cruiser called Curly who gives advice out on where to go in these parts, we have a four-day cruising plan from Savusavu to Vuda Point. We left Savusavu yesterday morning in the teeth of more strong winds and made it to Makogai Island last night just after dark, which was a little harrowing. Yesterday's sailing was a bit of a challenge (especially with the remnants of our horrible cough/colds) - we had up to 30 knots on the nose for half the day, pounding through the swells, but it ended well in an idyllic anchorage at the former leper colony of Makogai Island. Today's sailing was amazing; lovely wind, flat sea and cruising along the most magnificent coastline of the main Fijian Island. We are currently anchored opposite a mangrove swamp with some lovely little islands around us and some seriously posh houses about.
Over the next two days we will have two short (30 mile) day sails to Vuda Point. We will be threading our way through the reefs around the north side of the main island and down the West Coast. We are looking forward to staying in a hotel for a few days at Vuda Point Marina while matilda has her bottom scrubbed - it will be like a small holiday! We are also looking forward to welcoming Philippa, Jari, Finlay and Ethan aboard when we reach Musket Cove, as they will be joining us for the leg to Vanuatu.