It is early in the cruising season which makes for lighter tradewinds. When we sailed the other way, we had a blustery sail, but with wind from behind and the north shore of Viti Levu (the big round island) is protected by reefs. This time, motoring the other way, we lucked out and had wind typically less than 10kn on the nose.
Blue: Vuda Marina, around Lautoka to a bay south of Vaitia Wharf.
Red: to Nananu-I-Cake
Yellow: to Naigani Island, enjoyed 2 nights there
Purple: Sail past Makogai and Namena Reef, to Savusavu (next blog..)
Back in October, sailing the other way, it was end of sugarcane harvest season, and the fields were getting burned, were barren, brown to black, plus all the smoke in the air. Now it is all green, much more pleasant to look at.
The boat was still a bit slow from some extra growth on the bottom. The water here by Vaitia wharf is dark and murky, fed from the (M)Ba river, bottom cleaning has to wait another day. The first night at anchor was rather enjoyable.
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| disregard the fenders not being stored properly... |
Continuing east next day, we could see the clouds forming over the mountains of Viti Levu, the tradewinds bring plenty moisture and it rains a lot in the central and eastern parts.
The further east we travel the wetter and windier it becomes, our destination "Nananu-I-Cake" is a very protected spot though.
For the next day we had planned to exit the reefs to the SE and needed some good light to make it thru the not so well charted area. The day started like this:
But as soon as one leaves the "mainland", where the clouds bunch up, it suddenly was a nice day.
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| one of the larger reefs visible |
Naigani island was today's destination, still no sails up, motoring into the light tradewinds.
While there is a village on the south side of Naigani, the north feels deserted, although we did hear some roaming roosters in the bush.
We did spend an extra night here, accomplished some bottom cleaning, Dirk got a much needed haircut, and otherwise we just enjoyed the solitude.
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