Monday 31st Aug. Lautoka, Fiji

We woke to find 20 Knots + on the beam which is perfect sailing weather for Ishka, so for 6 hours we hummed along doing 9-10 knots. We were lucky enough to have some photos taken as we passed another yacht, 'Nathape', and then find the pics on a disc that the customs office was holding for us. Thanks Nathalie and Hanspeter, we'll treasure the memories. We would liked to have repaid the favour but the reef was near, the wind was strong and Ian was chasing Ida around the saloon spoon feeding her honey to stop her hypoing. Add to that, our first Pacific fish is on the line and Ishka desperately needs to gibe! We did land the fish, a Spanish mackerel, but he spent quite a time water skiing behind the boat while we dealt with other priorities, at least our fishing drought has ended.
We leave the muddy anchorage early Sat. morning headed for Yadua Pass and 2 hours into the sail we land another spotted mackerel! By midday the winds had picked up and Ishka is back to a 8.5 kt average and we've caught a decent sized mahi mahi too. They call this fish the chicken of the sea but we found no feathers when Ian cooked it up in a red fish curry later that night. The sailing is competitive as all 3 boats race for our next anchorage in Nananu, where Finn and Reidun from 'Hilde' prepare the best sashimi tuna and ceveche lunch we've ever had. It wasn't all plain sailing and fishing though as we did lose our big game rod and reel when a massive bill fish took the lure and kept on going, managing to snap the rod holder in the process. If anyone catches this marlin, the extra equipment attached to him is going to add value to his market price!
Sunday the race heats up, and Ishka decides to go outside the reef to gain a little distance on White Hawk. Ian is also excited about catching more fish as the bug has got him. As we head through the small pass, Ian yells out "fish on", the lure jumps from the water and the strands of the rubber shock cord holding the line start breaking one by one; we appear to have caught a monster! We don our gloves for grip and start pulling this 'thing' in, but he's fighting with all his strength and we're still having to steer Ishka through the narrow pass. Eventually a Big Eyed Trevally is hauled nearer to the stern and Ida has her first go at using the gaff as Ian holds the fish as still as possible, which isn't at all! Cringing at the thought, Ida hits bullseye in the gill. We finally get to Vitongo Bay, anchor and get Finn and Paul to come over and help fillet the 18 kilo Trevally. Finn shows his Norwegian skill at skinning, filleting and de-boning, with the equivalent of a cartoon-like fish carcass being discarded in the sea. Fish and chips for dinner, we anchor with the lights of Lautoka a couple of miles off; this sail down the North and West Coast of Viti Levu has been one of the highlights of our whole trip so far, with great company, stunning scenery, welcoming winds and lots of fish, thank-you White Hawk and Hilde for a superb weekend, it doesn't get much better than this.