Taking our leave of Levuka we had a nice 15 mile day sail out around the reefs and up to a small island called Naigani which we'd heard about from Curly. Tucked in behind the reef on the NW side we found a great little anchorage all to ourselves with shelter from the wind, good holding and a beautiful deserted sand beach which we combed and claimed our own. We reluctantly left Naigani the next morning since we had a long passage north to Rakiraki planned. Again using the waypoints provided by Curly (22 waypoints in as many miles) we navigated inside the complex network of reefs, sometimes doglegging through reef passes just a few hundred feet wide. We did have tailwinds that built through the day into the low 20 kt range, so we motorsailed keeping one engine running in case we needed to dodge a reef. As it turns out, the reefs were mostly marked and pretty easy to see with the sun high in the sky; we probably could have sailed most of it without engines. Naturally, the trickiest pass (Navolau) was near the end and we had 22 kts blowing right through it.
We finally got to Nanunanu-I-Thake island where we planned to anchor for the night. Unfortunately, after 3 tries we were unable to get the anchor to set in the high winds and soft mud bottom, so we moved to behind nearby Volivoli Point seeking shelter from the 20+ kts of wind. Here we found the same conditions as before and again could not get the big Delta anchor to set in the soft mud bottom. Running out of options and daylight, we tried putting out our Fortress stern anchor. That sucker set so deep in the mud I was afraid I wouldn't get it back the next morning. Realizing that anchoring on this side of the island was going to be all mud, I switched out the Delta for a Danforth on my primary chain rode and we have been setting well since. Lesson learned: Although the Delta has worked well for us, there is no perfect anchor for every occasion.
Although it was still windy, we were keen to find a geocache hidden off Oni Beach on Nanunanu-I-Ra island, so we motor-sailed up to a tiny lee between two points on the NW side and got the anchor (Danforth) to set in 50 ft. We then dinghied around the point and another mile into 20 kt headwinds to land at Oni Beach (see pic). It was worth it! Another spectacular beach all to ourselves, we had a nice jungle hike to an ancient cistern and found the geocache. Since the wind was now getting stronger, we scurried back to the boat and moved down to our first attempted anchorage spot where we spent a pleasant night on the Danforth.