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Windy

by steve, on May 22nd, 2012 (Fiji)

We didn’t have any plans for the day so we just hung around.  This anchorage has mixed blessings. A reef protects us from most of the swell but we are exposed to the wind. With the wind up around 20 knots we are almost self sufficient energy wise but getting to shore is a little challenging.

Helen and I went ashore late afternoon to visit the store. We got soaked. That made our minds up for the rest of the evening. We had planned to go ashore to eat but we decided instead to stay aboard. I also felt a little dizzy. Not sure what’s up but my head is spinning so another reason not to go out.

The rest of the day was spent reading. Sam got on with his tutorials. All is well aboard.

Category: Fiji | Here is my comment

Taveuni

by steve, on May 21st, 2012 (Fiji)

Time to move on. Well, midday was time to move on. We’d learned from Jack that the currents in the Somosomo channel ran south to north when the tide was coming in. As low tide was 11:30 we decided midday was a good time to leave.

And it was. Although we had to motor sail most of the way (due to Taveuni blocking the wind) we had a knot of extra speed from the current. The last half hour gave us plenty of wind so we were able to shut down the engine and sail the rest of the way.

We arrived off Mate around 3:30pm and made our way carefully in through the reefs and anchored close to where we’ve anchored before.

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We had planned to go ashore to eat but we were experiencing a light drizzle so going out did not appeal. Hopefully today will be better.

Category: Fiji | Here is my comment

Boat Day

by steve, on May 20th, 2012 (Fiji, Lardo)

Sam was keen to get on with his studies so we were happy to have a boat day. Helen and I mainly read while Sam got on. We had a visit from Jack in the morning when he left us his visitors book which we filled in. In the afternoon the Lardos came over to learn about the places we visited last year. In the evening we watched a bit of TV.

Category: Fiji, Lardo | Here is my comment

Snorkelling on the Rainbow Reef

by steve, on May 19th, 2012 (Fiji, Lardo)

As the light brightened, Helen noticed that our chain was wrapped around a few bommies. It turned out we’d picked a pretty poor spot the night before. So before anything else, we raised the chain and anchor carefully manoeuvring around the bommies. We found a better spot nearby and dropped the anchor there.

Just as we were finishing breakfast, Jack, the local guide to the spectacular reef, rowed by. He is renowned for taking sailboaters out onto the reef which he knows very well. We knew the Lardos were keen to go out as were we. We called the Lardos on the radio and they were good to go. Jack went over to their boat to pick them up while we prepped Dignity for the trip out to the reef.

We motored Dignity out to the part of the reef that Jack had in mind and anchored there. As he is familiar with the currents and tides the spot we had was safe for the duration of our time in the water. We all (bar Dennis who still has a sore foot) headed out in the dinghy out to a point on the reef where we could drift back to the boat. Jack stayed in the dinghy keeping an eye on all of us. The water was very clear and the marine life abundant so we had a spectacular swim.

Back on the boat we headed back to the anchorage. We were invited over to Lardo for lunch which we accepted. We took everyone over in the dinghy and kicked back and relaxed while Mary Lee looked after us. After a while I was feeling drowsy and rather than repeat my previous nights falling asleep on everyone we headed back to Dignity to relax.

The rest of the day was just R&R for Helen and I while Sam got on with his tutorials. I finally finished the fifth Game of Thrones book with some relief. The series started well but is now dragging on. With each book muscling in at 1,000+ pages it’s become a bit of a drag getting through them.

We finished the day watching a couple of shows on the TV before retiring feeling very tired.

Category: Fiji, Lardo | Here is my comment

Viani Bay

by steve, on May 18th, 2012 (Fiji, Lardo)

The morning was a wash out with heavy rain falling. The forecast suggested it might ease after lunch and it did. Shortly after making the decision to stay another day I made the decision to leave. The seas outside the pass were pretty uncomfortable causing Helen to demand we turn back. Knowing we were to fall off the wind and soon get some shelter from Taveuni I overrode her request and pressed on. Initially we were motoring only but once we did fall off we had enough of an angle to get the head sail out to help us along. It also meant we could drop to one engine. Later, when we were able to make more of a turn we could turn off the remaining engine and sail. We could have gone faster if we’d raised the main but we were too lazy.

Having been through the pass before a few times it was less nerve wracking than the first time entering Viani Bay. We’d made contact with Lardo who we knew were in the bay and agreed to meet up with them for a meal. We ended up anchoring not too far from them in fading light.

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By 5pm Mary Lee and Dennis were over. Helen cooked up a great chilli dish. I was an imperfect host when I fell asleep before they left. A long day.

We’ll probably stay here a few days. Sam is keen to put some time into his studies and it’s possible we could get some diving or snorkeling in here on the reef.

Category: Fiji, Lardo | Here is my comment
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