Its been a busy 10 days one way or another. We sailed over to Denerau to collect the spinnaker pole last week and to top-up on produce - just one night and a lot of running but we managed to grab everything we need and head back to Musket Cove (and, writing this I realise we have no photos of Nadi or the market but I guess when living in Rome do as the Romans do and lets face it we live at a tourist resort). Paul had spent the morning washing the boat down and as we headed off the coast the wind picked up and up and up off the beam. By the time we arrived at Musket it was gusting to 30 knots, Paul sat drenched at the helm, the boat was covered in seawater and spray and all the cockpit cushions blottered with salt. We spent the rest of the afternoon washing the boat and ourselves down again.

The rest of the week we focused on completing boat jobs and we are almost there now in terms of catching-up. The jobs never end but now its just pottering.

Peter and our Sistership Seeker arrived a few days ago after a boisterous sail from NZ with a very capable crew, Beth, who is good company and very robust. We are taking her contact details in case we think it would be nice to have another crew when we head to French Polynesia in a year or so.

The highlight for the week was yesterday with John and Leanne on Songlines which is a good-sized catamaran. 10 of us with plenty of room to spare headed out to watch the final of the Fiji Pro surfing competition at Cloudbreak . The winds were meant to be light but had picked up and it was a bumpy ride to the surf break with our dinghy, which was being towed behind, jumping all over the place. The wind lifted the surf though and we watched as Australia's Owen Wright surfed his perfect score to win the comp.



Next stop was Cloud9 but first Adrian wanted to be dropped off to do some kite surfing and he would follow us over after that (about 14 kms). Organising the kite from a boat is a bit more complicated than from a beach. First, all the lines were laid along the decks to ensure there was no tangle. The parachute was taken from its bag and also spread out. But before he could go further we had a slight problem. While none of us were watching (when we should have been) our painter managed to slip under one of the rudders and wrap itself around the prop. Given its a ski line which floats we were surprised but the wind chop must have lifted the hull while the dinghy was in a rut. The long and short of it was that Paul had to drop over the side and tug and pull to release the line which he eventually managed. With the dinghy under control it was back to Adrian who jumped into the sea holding the parachute lines. John kept Songlines faced to the wind and Leanne held the kite at the back of the cat. She let go and the parachute flew up until the lines to Adrian were taut. Next, was the surfboard. Brett tossed it over the side and Adrian made his way to it using the parachute to take his weight. In no time he was up and flying off to the surf. He disappeared to a dot of red and blue until later when he surfed in to Cloud9.



We continued on to Cloud9 which is a floating bar and pizza restaurant moored near the fringe reef. It lives there year round and so far has weathered the strong winds from Cyclone Pam passing to the west. On still days it sits in a calm sea of aqua. Yesterday the wind chop danced around it in the 15-20 knot breeze.



Once aboard, though, its comfortable and there is a sheltered area for those who want to swim. We had a lovely couple of hours there before deciding it was time to get back to Musket Cove. We swam or dinghied back to Songlines and readied to lift the anchor. No go, the anchor had wedged under a coral head. No matter which direction John tried it was stuck fast. Paul to the rescue again. He dived over and tried to direct Songlines to release the anchor but in the end he had to dive down 25ft to physically pull it out of the hole in which it had wedged. Soon we were underway with the sun low in the sky now. Just a fabulous day but not quite over yet. Heidi, slipped on the trampoline and pulled a hamstring - badly - so our poor Southern Bell had to suffer the indignity of being manhandled off Songlines and onto Huck. And as we were saying our goodbyes later that night we discovered that Adrian's dinghy had decided to go walkabout. A perfect end to a perfect day - almost.

Iolea is transformed. The blankets are gone and we sleep under sarongs. Our cockpit enclosure has been stashed away under the ceiling and our winter woolies are vacuum packed. The kayak and paddle board are on deck ready to go and our fruit and veg hammock is hanging under the solar panels.

After Lautoka we spent a couple of days in Denereau on a mooring to stock up on fresh produce, repair our deck bag and spinnaker pole and to organise our cruising permit. The permit allows us to sail to the places we nominate and provides an introduction to the Turaga Ni koro or village head. That, as well as the custom of Sevusevu, which involves presenting a gift of a bundle of yogana (kava), will assist us in gaining access to a village and/or its anchorages.

It has been 18 months since I have been in an island market and Fiji's markets are wonderful. Traditional seafood and staples are sold alongside Indian spices, sweets, and pulses. Its hard not try a bit of everything except that a bit in Fiji means 8 cassava roots or 4 kilos of plantain! The growth in cruising around Fiji and particularly in the Super yacht category has resulted in gourmet food shops sprouting here and there. Its possible to buy prosciutto and cheese, and good quality meat both beef and lamb as well as the usual chicken which is everywhere. Its not cheap but its NZ prices and available.

With provisions in hand we left our spinnaker pole with a rigger in Denereau and followed Huck and Bella Vita to Malolo Lailai and Musket cove where there is a large anchorage of flat water. We are surrounded by reefs and about a mile from us is a sandy spit (photo in drizzly weather) with some pretty coral and curious fish. Out to the west near the fringe reef is a floating bar and restaurant called Cloud9 and surfers head 4 miles SE to Cloudbreak for the waves. Malolo LaiLai has good walking tracks and across from us is Plantation Island Resort which is a family resort - unmistakable at sundown when a hoard of children run with the lamplighter who lights the oil lamps along the front of the resort.

We had a couple of days of strong SE and then the weather forecasts suggested mild conditions and seas in the Yasawas for 5 days or so. We decided to explore Navadra Island and a bit of the southern Yasawas so headed off for our first real experience of negotiating the reefs of Fiji. We have a number of friends who had run aground last season fortunately with only minor damage and we were told on arriving at Musket that 9 boats were hauled off nearby reefs last year. We left with the sun overhead and clear skies so the reefs and sticks that identify some of them were clearly visible. Paul stood on the bow and directed in areas where the charts had no info and I had the helm and SeaIQ with the tracks of boats that had travelled the route previously. We soon got into the swing of it and wound our way out of Malolo waters and then through the narrow S-shaped channel into Mana Island lagoon which houses the Mana Island Resort. The resort is in the process of being refurbished and is a bit tired but the lagoon is lovely with plenty of turtles and it has a lively backpacker accomm and restaurant.

Next morning we headed up to Nevadra Island with Huck on our tail. The wind was up and we had a fast sail dodging reefs and islands. Nevadra is uninhabited and the anchorage sits behind a deep reef in the corner of two islands. It is sheltered from south winds but not north or west. We of course had NE winds blowing 15 plus knots. We rocked and rolled in unison with Huck, Bella Vita and another Canadian boat which was in the anchorage when we arrived and with the shore an uncomfortable 50 meters behind us. But, the water clarity was fabulous. We could all see our anchors 20 meters below and the reef had some lovely corals particularly in deeper areas. There was even a small white-tipped shark that took a liking to Brett on Huck - much to his consternation.

We snorkelled again the next morning but the wind was still blowing north and the swell was uncomfortable. Also, we were having problems with our 2nd alternator which kept shifting off its mount and the raw water pump had clearly developed an aversion to heeling and would only work when the boat was more or less level. With some regret we headed back to the flat waters of Musket Cove to do some repairs and ordering - not really a hardship.

Well, we might as well have taken the motoring window because that is pretty much what we did. The wind started from the SE and we headed out full of enthusiasm. Our first leg was to be a straight run north and so we donned our spin locks and headed to the spinnaker pole so we could go wing-on-wing and run with the wind. Well forget that, as we started to drop the pole it came away from where it connects to the track on the mast. Fortunately its carbon and very light and so Paul was able to hold it until I could reconnect the pole to the track. Unfortunately, its carbon fibre and the join near the mast end (go figure?) was starting to part so no spinnaker pole. We tacked north east and then eventually dropped the genoa and ran with the main only which results in a very rocky roll and requires constant attention since the wind shifts can result in an accidental jibe and damage to the boom.

We rollicked along like that for 2 days then the wind died and it was engine on. In some respects that was a relief. We managed to have showers sit comfortably and do some washing and tidying and cook. In the evening the wind came back but with more east and we had a lovely day sailing. So far two good and two not so good days. Then the wind went NE as a low over NZ pulled air down towards it. So, yippy, we get to be close hauled for a day and a bit. On the positive side the swell had abated so Iolea made easy headway. It was harder on us as we tried to pinch to the north and avoid going too far west of Fiji. One thing we had forgotten was the impact of the current which is mostly south west setting. So despite all efforts we lost close to 50 miles (i.e. we couldn't head direct north, rather more NW which put us more to the west than we had hoped). As my brother put it : your going the bloody wrong way you'll end up in Japan! turn right to go to Fiji". To put this 50 miles into perspective, Iolea sails at 5-8 knots which adds quite a few hours to the trip.

The wind died again and the engine came back on. We were now into our 3rd day of motoring. The sea was oily calm. No prospect of wind for the next 24 hours into Lautoka.

So the final tally; 3 days running or close hauled. 3 days motoring, and 2 days fun sailing. This after the promise of an easy 6 day sailing passage, AND to top it off the raw water pump for the fridge packed it in giving a final burst a day before we arrived! Poor old Paul was going spare what with the pole failing, a loose fan belt on the 200amp alternator (which was new and taught before we left), over zealous bilge pump which refused to turn off due to a sticky float chamber. So we broke our dry boat rule and opened a bottle of beer the evening before we arrived.

We are here now and its all behind us and we are so glad to be here and not down there anymore. We have a bottle of champagne (reasonably cold) and steaks on the barbie. All is forgiven.