We cleared Customs and immigration on Monday morning. Sounds easy and it should be but as the dock in Vavau is set up for ships and not yachts it is quite high, has no ladders and has nasty big black rubber buffers along its length. Not a friendly place for a yacht and crew as we found out when we checked in, So we were hoping there was no need to go to the dock to check out, but when we went in with the dinghy to check out the official said they need the yacht at the dock! So we came alongside and after much fiddling around with lines and fenders we managed to secure the yacht and avoid the black rubber buffers. Then the usual forms had to be filled out with much information repeated many times over on multiple forms. At the end our passports were stamped and I was issued with a port clearance. Did they come to the boat? Of course not, they didn't even glance at the dock to see if it was there. Anyway, moving on, we are now at sea again, bouncing around on our way to Fiji. Our next challenge before having to go through the formalities of entering Fiji is to safely navigate to Vuda marina our destination. Fiji is surrounded by a maze of coral reefs and islands and many areas have not been surveyed, so charts are only a guide. You need to be able to eyeball situations to confirm that you are where you think you are and that the water below you is clear of coral etc. With this in mind we are not confident to navigate through some areas around the island at night so may be looking for an anchorage to pull over till morning.. But which anchorage and will there be a suitable one when we need it?

Bern and Damien