I cannot wait to post the pictures that I have taken of this dream anchorage. The three islands that make up this anchorage (Navadra, Vanua Levu and Vanua Lai Lai) are so picturesque. They have everything we envision a South Pacific paradise to have: nice white sandy beaches, palm trees swaying in the wind, volcanic outcroppings with cliffs that plunge into the water, a cave to explore and tell tall tales about, coral reefs that are just fantastic, beautiful fish swimming in and amongst the reefs, the clearest water we have found so far in Fiji, a sand spit that at mean tide and below connects the islands of Vanua Levu and Vanua Lai Lai, and all of this is uninhabited! It is just perfect.

This afternoon Mary Margaret and I went snorkeling along the reef that runs between Navadra and Vanua Levu. The corals were just fantastic; even better than at Mana. Although the soft corals that make Mana's reefs so special are not to be found here in Navadra. However, the diversity of different types of corals and the wide variety of colors were simply beautiful. As Mary Margaret exclaimed while we were diving, it was a painter's palate of colors! There were a number of fish but not quite the density that we found at Mana. We saw the usual Wrasses, Grunts, Damselfish, Angle Fish, Drums and Chromis. Mary Margaret saw one of the leopard spotted gropers that look like the Rock Hind we saw in Mana. She also pointed out a blue and yellow stripped fish that we had not seen before and it is not in our reef fish identification book.

We enjoyed this reef so much that Mary Margaret wants to go out twice tomorrow. I can hardly wait!

Techno-Tip Of The Day: Securing Your Dinghy

Your dinghy is the main form of transportation to and from your boat. To cruisers, a dinghy is as critical and important as a car is to land lubbers. Therefore, it is important to protect it when you tie it up to a dock and leave it. Whether you chain it up and lock it or just tie it to the dock is a function of the reputation of the place you are at. Here in Fiji, the concept of stealing a dinghy is a foreign concept to Fijians, so just tying up your dinghy is fine. You will know that it will be there when you return. The same was true in NZ and most places in the South Pacific. However, anywhere in the Caribbean or in South America you need to lock up your dinghy. We have a small stainless steel chain with a saltwater proof master lock that we use. Now, we do realize that a determined thief will just use a pair of heavy duty bolt cutters to snap through our chain. However, most people that pass by our dinghy don't carry those in their back pocket. So far, we have had no problems but we have met a number of people who have lost their dinghy and dinghy engine in the Caribbean. They did not lock up their dinghy and they ended up paying the price for it.