Being on the dock allowed us all to stretch our legs. Brian and his family spent a lot of time at the resort pool which is available for marina guests. We all took advantage of the showers.
In the evening we used the BBQs at the bar to grill up sausages, burgers and chicken. Very tasty.
We’ll be off today hoping to reach Robinson Crusoe island. We’ve had a few days of light NW so the deep water section of the passage should be ok. Hope to catch some good fish in that stretch.
By morning the swell at Navadra was pretty bad. As we were familiar with the reefs outside of Navadra we decided to leave earlier than normal and were off by just after 7am. We exited the bay pounding into the wind and surf. At one stage my speargun fell from it’s perch and made a hole in our new seat cover. Not fun. As we turned down wind things got a bit better but not brilliant. Our desired direction was somewhere between a broad reach and running straight down wind wing on wing. We alternated between the two and at time tried to run with just our head sail. It was a passage of confused seas and many sail changes. It was almost a relief when the winds died down to such an extent we just motored with the head sail out.
We arrived at Musket Cove and took a mooring in time for lunch. We went ashore and stuffed ourselves. We decided we’d be better off for a couple of nights on the dock allowing everyone a chance to do their own thing for a while. So just after lunch we brought the boat in and secured our self to the dock med style.
While our friends went ashore Helen and I caught up with things aboard the boat. Then came the biblical deluge. The heavens opened and the winds blew allowing us to discover two new hatch leaks. I left the main door open which normal is ok as at anchor the boat points into wind. Not so on the dock. The main cabin ended up soaked.
The storm passed and we were left with cool clear air. At the bar, where we had a few off boat beers, we bumped into John and Pam from Passages as well as the Pakia Mists who we’d also met earlier in the day.
We passed the evening (in fact part of the night) playing dominoes. 1am we were asleep.
We gradually ran out of wind as we approached Navadra and were down to less than 6 knots by the time we’d passed Waya so we had to motor the last few miles. While we didn’t catch any fish we were rewarded with sightings of two pods of dolphins and the weather was fantastic.
We arrived shortly after midday with the sun high and the bay flat and empty giving a picture perfect scene. We quickly at lunch then prepped the hookah so we could explore the reef here. I took Janine and Helen into the water first. When we resurfaced we noticed a couple of other boats had arrived including Endless. We were soon in contact and as we’d already got the hookah out I suggested they borrow it when we were finished with it. They were quite happy with the idea. I next took Brian and Ben down exploring some more of the reef. It’s all pretty good here.
Although it was getting a bit more choppy by now, Petr, his new crew member and his two guests were soon over and in the water. They had a great time. They agreed to bring over some beer and wine later as thanks. We were happy with that.
The last trip off the boat was my taking Brian, Ben and Holly ashore to explore the island a little. We took a look at the cave and walked to the nearby sandy spit. It was high tide an the waves were flowing over. We tried sprinting across the sandy spit avoiding the water and almost made it. We had thought about watching the sun set from the shore but the sky was beginning to cloud up and the swell was rising further so we headed back to the boat.
After dinner Petr and his three companions showed up with some nice wine and good German beer and stayed for a while. Always nice to have the company of fellow sailors.
Overnight we’ve had rain and the wind has shifted to the north making the bay quite bouncy. We’ll be sticking to our plan to head to Musket Cove today. I think everyone is looking forward to a guaranteed calm bay.
The day started with a lobster feast for breakfast. We boiled all of them in a pot, the smallest first, eating the cooked ones while the next ones went in. We decided to leave the last and largest one for later as we were quite full.
We ended up with winds in the mid to high teens for our sail from Sawa-I-Lau to Manta Ray Resort. The start was a bit messy as Sawa-I-Lau created a lot of eddies with the wind coming from everywhere. At one point we accidentally jibed, not good, causing one of the sliders on our main sail to pop out of the batton. Something else to fix. We made about 7-8 knots all the way down in fairly flat seas making a really nice sail. We had three lines out and at different times catching a skip jack tuna on each We kept each fish, bleeding it but not gutting it.
We anchored off Draweqa shortly after midday and settled down for lunch which included the leftover lobster from breakfast. Very delicious.
Shortly after lunch one of the pangas from the resort popped by to check to see if the mantas were out. We waved him over and gave him the three fish asking him to share them around with the other workers at the resort. He also agreed to let us know if there were any mantas around. Unfortunately, at that time there weren’t.
We decided to go ashore to the resort to look around and book dinner. There we learned we could watch the Fiji match which presented us with a bit of a dilemma as we also wanted to see the mantas. We decided to go and look for them ourselves first and come back to watch the second half of the rugby match. Again no luck though. Despite drifting through the channel three times, we saw no mantas.
So it was back to the resort where we took in the rest of the rugby match, an unfortunate defeat for Fiji against Samoa. We decided stay and watch the Ireland game and have dinner without going back to the boat. The resort was very accommodating allowing us to use their facilities, including the showers, free of charge. We did learn that the guy we gave the fish to kept all of them and didn’t share them. We live and learn.
Dinner was a pasta buffet. We’d shared a couple of pizzas a couple of hours earlier for an appetizer only to find the same pizzas bundled in with the buffet. Despite this the food was very good for the price and we ended up quite full.
This morning we’ve checked the weather and are finding it a little constraining. Today is the last day of half decent winds before a slight low pressure system comes through and messes things up for us. We’re now already on our way to Nevadra where we hope to stay tonight and will probably head on to Musket Cove tomorrow.
The first activity planned for the day was a visit to the caves. Helen had woken to a sore throat and, having seen them before, stayed behind. We all wanted to get there before anyone else so we left around 8am. Just before we left the villagers turned up with lobsters. Only they went to the big posh boat next door and sold them to them instead. Shortly after, a kid came round on a small banged up kayak selling some pretty small lobsters. As it was all we were going to get we took them.
At the caves we found the entrance locked. With the alternative being to wait til later we decided to climb over the wall that was there to keep us out. We had money and had every intention to pay our way. We made it in and were soon in the water. I had a couple of goes trying to climb up to the ledge to jump in and failed both times. We first visited the spitting cave on the right hand side. Brian got an attack of claustrophobia and decided to stay outside. The rest of us went in and swam to the chimney. All enjoyed the experience.
Next was the wriggle through the pregnancy cave. This time it was just me, Holly and Ben. Once up inside the cave it wasn’t too difficult to make our way through and out through the water on the other side. I made another attempt to climb up to the ledge and this time made it. I would have been really unhappy if I had not succeeded this time so I’m glad I did. After a brief rest I dove into the water.
By now the water level had gone down a little and Brian was able to make it into the spitting cave. With Ben we made the swim to the chimney. On the way Ben noticed an offshoot passage to the left. We had a look down there. Soon it turned into an underwater passage going off into the dark. I descended to look up and see if the were any air pockets. There weren’t so we didn’t go any further.
As we were leaving the caves they were opened up and the next lot of people came in. The guy looking after the caves and collecting the entrance fees was a bit cross and gave us a lecture. What else could he do? Eat us? We paid up, said our thank yous and left.
The water was now quite flat so we decided to fire up the hookah. Ben, Brian and I used it to explore the edge of the reef by the shore here. There is a mini-wall all along, perfect for an introduction to hookah diving. We saw quite a lot of fish. some colourful clams and plenty of vibrant coral – the reefs here being very much alive.
By now it was lunch and time to eat. I felt exhausted so went for an afternoon nap along with practically everyone else. In the afternoon Brian explored the shore. Later I took Janine and Holly out, meeting up with Brian, to collect firewood for an evening fire. Once that was prepared Janine and Holly took the kayak out to explore some more. I needed another rest. Somethings got me pooped.
After dinner we dinghied ashore and sat around the fire while the sunset and the sky went dark. John from the village turned up towards the end. It was good to see him again. We had hoped to meet him earlier but he’d only just arrived. He was hoping to borrow my wetsuit to go spear fishing. We asked if he could catch us a lobster and he said he’d try. In the end I loaned him the dinghy too to make things easier.
We finished the evening watching a movie during which the villagers who’d sold the lobsters to the other boat showed up with some more. Brian negotiated a price for them which we’ll eat for breakfast. John showed up later with another nice size lobster and a slipper lobster. Breakfast will be sweet.
The plan for today is to sail south to Manta Ray Resort where we have just enough daylight time today to catch a sight of the mantas. Hopefully. We may well eat out at the resort tonight.
