We had absolutely no reason to stay any longer in Denaru so as soon as we were both awake we left. The Fiji marine forecast had a strong wind warning with easterly winds of 20-25 knots. That had put some folks off but we were keen to go. One can always reef down in strong winds. That being said, we also anticipated some wind shadow from the mainland.
Having left the harbour we were soon in a fresh breeze and were sailing along on more or less flat seas. Could it get any better than that? It didn’t. The anticipated wind shadow soon appeared and left us with 2-3 knots of wind from the west for the next 2-3 hours. We had no choice but to motor. When the wind finally found us it was strong. We were glad we’d left a reef in the main as the wind was now in the forecast range.
On the way we’d been in contact with Dreamcaper as we had a planned rendezvous with them. Boree had overheard us on the radio and we were soon in contact with them. Unfortunately their plans had them heading south down the group to which we’re heading so we’ve missed our chance to meet up with them.
We approached the area of the Manta Ray Resort from the south making our way through the cut that separates the island of Nanuya Mbalavu from the island to the east. The resort is so named after the manta rays that frequent the pass to our north. Some of our friends have had a great experience here with the mantas while others have waited many days and missed out.
The anchorage was pretty packed when we arrived. There clearly had been some excitement as many people had just returned and on questioning the boat next to us the mantas were in town. Without rushing and endangering ourselves or the boat we anchored Dignity as quickly we could, dropped the dinghy and headed around the corner to see if we could join in. By then the action was over and we no success finding the mantas.
Back at the anchorage the boats were turning and some were leaving. We were now too close for comfort to one of the other boats so we raised the anchor and dropped it where we now had more room.
In the evening Portia and Steve from Dreamcaper joined us for dinner. We first met them back in the Galapagos last year. They’d left their boat in Tahiti and carried on this year ahead of the main 2011 puddle jump fleet. Our meeting up will be fleeting as they too are on their way to Australia via Vanuatu this year and will be leaving Fiji by the end of the month.
We’ll hang around here today and hope to catch the mantas. An hour or two before high tide is supposed to be the best time. As high tide occurs at at 2:33pm today this should work out well. Fingers crossed.
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