29/07/2008, Musket Cove
We have added some new pictures in albums in the Fiji album. Look at Lau, Musket cove and Vuda Point albums. please enjoy
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28/07/2008, Musket Cove, Malolailai island
Still here in the vortex of Musket Cove, and loving it. However, the next few days will be busy with preparations for the forthcoming rally to Vanuatu. We plan to leave for Tanna island in the south of the group on Saturday the second of August. Watch this space. Here in the bay we have continued with our maintenance programme and have dealt with most of the known issues. Of course we have had some recreation time as well and did a nice scuba dive yesterday on some pinnacles. Included was a nice 5 metre tunnel swim. We saw a two metre black tipped shark and a good variety of fish. We have made some new acquaintances here, people from all over the world. Andrea and I have also tried to increase fitness with walks and pool laps. We are both looking forward to moving on. Tonight is the first rally social with ... you guessed it... drinks and a BBQ. What a novelty. Most of the rally boats are here now so it should be a good evening.
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Peter
27/07/2008, Musket Cove, Malolailai island
Since our last blog we have not done a great deal. Hannah was sadly returned to Nadi airport from where she made her way back to Sydney. It was quite strange to stand there in the terminal having sailed for months to get to Fiji, only to realise that Sydney was a mere 3 hours away. After the departure it was off to the shops for us to provision the boat before quitting Vuda point. Diomedea gave us a delightful ride back to Musket cove. Again we were able to use the code zero sail and could do 5 knots in 7 true. The minimum wind angle appears to be about 75 true, possibly 70. In Musket cove we have been trying to regain some fitness with morning walks and afternoon swims. In between times our days have been occupied with a good deal of maintenance issues including winch servicing, repairing the jib foil (again), sending the jib off to be repaired, modifying the grey water tank drains and so forth. Whilst boring these jobs need to be done as we have a good deal of sailing coming up soon. It is 450nm to Tanna, Vanuatu. Once at Tanna there is a further 140nm to Port Vila on Efate island. Of course there is still the big one back to Australia. We are thinking now that we will make a brief stop in Ouvea in the French Loyalty island group, New Caledonia, on the way home. This will be made possible via continued participation in the ICA rally with which we left New Zealand. The rally greatly facilitates customs clearance and makes it feasible to clear in at Ouvea which is not a normal entry port. This weekend has been wet as the trough associated with a deep low in NZ passes through. It has almost been a return to the dreaded SPCZ of Tonga, with rain, humidity, heat, and not much breeze. Last night we had a BBQ on the small island bar and met with Mark and Heather from "Larissa". The evening was made particularly memorable as we also met the chef from the 60 metre private motor yacht "Helios". She generously provided us with some exquisite cheese cake of her own making. Have not had anything like that in months. Yum!
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Don't come home yet! I'm leading this double life where I work, work, work and then once a week log on and read what you've been doing and it ads some nautical tropical splendor to my grey like. yesterday it smowed in Sydney for the first time since 1832. My kids built a real snowman in the front yard. Unbelievable. Michael L
21/07/2008, Musket Cove, Malolailai island
Diomedea is truly trapped in the vortex of this very pretty spot. Nothing but sunny days, light to moderate breezes, etc etc. We have finally been able to do some walks and get our land legs back. It is amazing how much fitness one loses on a boat over time. Today we have done some extended snorkelling sessions on reefs outside the cove. Very nice fish life and some good corals. We have made new acquaintances here including Annie and Gary from the Bougainvillea 62 "Anthem", Steve and Anemi from the Beneteau 57 "Wakalele", Chris and Maggie from the Gulfstar 42 "Contego" and a retired US urologist on a big Van de Stadt design. There is a very nice Warwick 66 further out so once again Diomedea is looking quite small. Diomedea is heading in to Vuda Point tomorrow as Hannah has an early Thursday flight to Sydney. Most likely we will return here pending our departure for Vanuatu in early August.
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18/07/2008, Musket Cove, Malolailai island 17deg 23.1'S 177deg 47.5E
We had a pleasant sail and motor from Vatia Bay to Lautoka, giving the code zero another outing in the nice flat water conditions. It was as if Diomedea had been transported to another planet where there are no big seas nor big winds. Wonderful. Lautoka is Fiji's second largest town and is home to a big sugar refinery (formally CSR now FSC)and to a woodchip mill. Large docks take big ships that carry away Fiji's bounty to overseas destinations. We were required to do an internal customs clearance so had a one hour stopover to achieve this purpose. Then it was a further six miles down the coast to Vuda point and the marina. This is approached through a channel dynamited through the reef with 2.2m at LWS. Phew, we just made it. Boats of all nationalities are ensconced within and substantial haulout facilities are available. The cyclone pits are also seen here. Holes in the ground lined by old tires serve as "hardstand" for boats staying unattended during the summer months. We had thus completed an east to west traverse of the entire Fiji group in three and a half days. Felt a bit weary, did the crew of Diomedea. We briefly tidied the boat and then it was off to Nani airport to meet our daughter Hannah. It was great to see her after so many months. We had a nice meal at the yacht club at the marina and chatted till 10 before crashing. Today, being Saturday, was market day. So Abdul the taxi driver drove us back in to Lautoka for shopping. Excellent markets with a good selection of fresh produce. The supermarket nearby is of course Morris Hedstrom and also had a reasonably good range of items. Finally it was Liquorland for a top up on the ballasting supplies. Back to the boat by 830 am and a late breakfast. Hannah had just awoken so timing was perfect. We left the marina about 11 and motored the 12 miles to Malolo in very light breeze. A moderately tricky three mile passage through reefs awaits the mariner. However we are now secured to a good mooring in a beautiful bay. We have caught up with several rally boats including Windflower, Runaway Bay, Claude William, Loafer and Destiny. Many other yachts are here, obviously entrapped in the temptations of this area. Some clearly do not leave... Many years ago we had come to nearby Castaway Island (aka Qalito island) for holidays with the then young children. It is only 4 miles up the road so we will try to get there as the snorkelling/scuba is excellent. Otherwise we will just chill in this island paradise.
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16/07/2008, Vatia Bay, 17deg 23.1'S 177deg 47.5E
After a noisy, rolly night at Naigani we got rolling early for the run along the north coast of Viti Levu. There are two options, outside or inside. With the forecast of 25-30 knots we chose the latter and had a marvellous sail between the reef and mainland, taking in wonderful scenery. The north side of the island is essentially rain shadow and becomes drier and drier as you proceed west. The land really looks a lot like the hills around Orange, NSW. However there are some spectacular summits and cliffs which lend an air of drama to the turf. We have 25nm to go to Lautoka and thence 6nm to Vuda Point and our rendezvous with our daughter Hannah. There is a lot of navigation required for the passage as the channels are quite narrow in parts, bounded by ferocious coral on either side. Fortunately the charts are very accurate and the lovely set of waypoints supplied by Curly makes it a case of "join the dots". One can sail for much of it as the SE breeze gives a nice broad reach in flat water. Beautiful. Anchorages are relatively limited in this passage surprisingly with the few mentioned often yielding no shelter from wind dropping over the ranges. The bay of our choice tonight is not too bad although we are getting 15-20 kts. It is good holding in mud. The full moon has just risen in the east and the sun is a few fingers above the horizon. Time for a consultation.
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