The next morning after a very calm night, we left early to head north to our next destination on Nanuya-Sewa Island which is called the Blue Lagoon. It is actually where the movie of the same name was filmed. When we left the weather was fairly clear with a few clouds on the horizon, but the weather can change quickly in this part of the world and soon it was overcast and rainy. Glen on the Dorothy Marie said he would lead the way into the next anchorage as he had gotten a track from another cruiser that he could follow on his chartplotter. Thank goodness, because we had a hard time seeing the reefs and would not have entered the anchorage in those conditions. We have seen a few boats hitting reefs that they didn't see and don't want to be a member of that club. So much for the saying "always navigate in these water while the sun is high." That is if the sun is out, which quite often it isn't. The next day, the weather cleared and we could see how beautiful and clear this anchorage was. We could also see all of the reefs that we missed coming in the day before. Tui is the name of the person that represents the villagers on Nanuya-Sewa. Even though he wasn't a chief we were to present our gift of kava before we could be free to explore the island. He also told us that if we parked our dingy's in front of his place, that he would make sure they were secure and not float away at high tide. That night, Tui, along with his Aunt's and other family, cooked us a Lovo meal in the ground. Everything was wrapped in leaves and left in the ground to cook. They served us up a great meal and we eat until we couldn't get another bite down. After our meal they started a bonfire on the beach. Needless to say it was not only fun, but it kept the mosquitoes away. Wish we would have had marshmallows! After the bonfire, it was back to his house to drink kava with some of his friends for the evening which was by now getting late. We graciously excused ourselves and headed back to our floating homes. We spent the next few days exploring the local area and meeting many more friendly people. We wished we could have stayed longer, but we needed to get the boat to Vuda Point Marina so we could make a quick trip home to see the kids. We also wanted to beat a weather system that was to arrive in a few days. We said goodbye to Destiny and Dorothy Marie and followed our tracks south. In two days we were in Vuda Pt. Marina. We entered the harbor at low tide with only a foot of water below our keel.
The marina, if you can call it that, is a round cement lined basin and boats are put in bow first against a concrete wall. The stern lines are tied to floats behind the boat. It's amazing how many boats can be shoved into this circle. It is a very protected place to leave the boat but the downside to it is that it is very hard to get on and off the boat. The tidal range is 9 ft. and depending on whether it is high or low tide we are either having to climb up over the bow pulpit to a small ramp that sticks out from the cement wall or climb down the bow to the ramp. Several people have fallen in and hurt themselves very badly. It is also very difficult to get out of the water if the tide is low. We spent the next few days getting the boat ready for us to leave and fly home for a quick visit. The downside of cruising the South Pacific is that it is not always possible to find a safe place to leave the boat to fly home. And it is very expensive. But we had wanted to take our grandson, Seth, to Disneyland for his 8th birthday which was in March. A few days before we left Fiji, our generator that was just rebuilt in New Zealand quits. Needless to say, we are so frustrated with spending not only our money on a fairly new engine, but also the time we loose cruising having to wait around in marinas while mechanics work on our boat. On well, nothing we can do about it now. We will have to wait until we get back from the states.