Yasawa Islands: Sunday July 25, 2009

It's time to give Musket Cove a rest and see something new. We're off to Navadra (pron: Nava(n)dra) Island, about four hours north. With the anchor down, we perused the shoreline for a way through the coral to the sand beach. It's a nice anchorage with a shallow pass between two islands. Snorkeling is good all along the coral shelf circling the shore. Both islands are sacred to the Fijians as this is reputed to be the landing place of the Tongans, who promptly rounded up all the inhabitants and had them for dinner. Boats in the bay: Siri, Tin Soldier, Wind Dancer, Blue Plains Drifter, Meridian, Airstream, Don Pedro and Argonaut.

The two boys from Tin Soldier and Wind Dancer spent the second night ashore on the beach in a tent while we bobbed around on the end of our anchor chains in the breezy but wave free conditions. We were trying to figure a way to shore in the dark to give 'em a scare (Boy's Rite of Passage, y'know) but decided that negotiating the many hazards in the dark would scare us worse than we could scare them.

We weighed anchor the next day for Nalauwaki, on the north end of Naviti where we followed Airstream in and anchored a short way off the village. We quickly launched the dinghy and followed them ashore for the Yangona (Kava) ceremony with the head man and his village crew. When your gift (it's like bringing wine for dinner) is accepted, the Chief welcomes you and gives his permission to anchor, visit the village and fish in the lagoon. Instead, we hiked over the hill to the Octopus Resort for a coldie and dinner with the Airstream and Don Pedro crews. The Octopus is a bit pricy, but worth it. It would be a great destination for travelers on a time leash, If you're interested, there's a lot of info available on the net.

It rained a little while we were being lulled into complacency by the great meal the ambiance and the good company present. By the time we hiked back across the hill in the dark, we arrived to find our dinghies swamped and being beaten against the shore by the blow, coming straight into the bay. Fortunately two local lads jumped in to lend a helping hand, getting the water on the outside of the boats and helping us to launch into the dark.

It was a bumpy night at anchor but the wind died off toward dawn and we were lulled into staying another night. We should have moved. By the next morning it was blowing hard right into the bay again so we pulled up stakes and motored around the point to anchor right in front of the Octopus.

As we were leaving the bay, the engine started overheating. As soon as we got around the corner, I could throttle back, bringing the temp down to a safe level. While the engine cooled, we hiked back over to the village with the Wind Dancer crew to look at the village. School was out and the kids... kindergarten kids... spotted us and the usual mayhem ensued. Island kids love a distraction and we're it!

The engine problem turned out to be the fresh water impeller. With that changed, it was just a matter of tracking down all the missing pieces of the rubber vanes and reassembling everything. We left the next day for an anchorage near the Manta Ray Backpacker Resort. The windy conditions made the pass poor for diving with the Rays so we skipped the next day also in favor of lazing about on the beach.

The next leg to Blue Lagoon proved to be something of a trial with 20+ knots mostly on the nose, culminating in showers as we anchored. Never mind all the movie hype. This place isn't anything special. We'll be out of here as soon as the wind eases and the seas lay down some.

Our last stop was a short hop north of the Blue Lagoon in Malakati Bay. This was the cleanest, nicest village we saw on this trip but after two days, it was time to head back to Vuda for groceries, fuel and to wait out a weather system that has a downpour beating on the deck as I'm finishing this blog. Rain can be a good thing. It washes the salt stalactites off the rigging.