10 January 2020
Sailing Thru Cyclone Season
So many islands and so little time and wind

We've spent an idyllic week out visiting our favorite anchorages and found a new spot as well with bull sharks. The beautiful part of this time of year is the solitude and attention Tabu Soro gets from locals being the only sailboat out here. We did see one other active sailor from afar but mostly just ferry boats or dive boats moving resort guests around. It is still school holiday for local and New Zealand families so resorts are still open.

Went into Mana Island where it is shallow and protected by reef to scrub the bottom. Mana is the Survivor Island and has a large village that supports the three resorts. We are only allowed on the back packer resort side of the island which is the fun side. The dive shop was nice and refilled our dive tanks very reasonably and the restaurant and bar has some tasty seafood items including local lobster which I quite enjoyed one evening along with guitar music We g. wanted to come in the evening there was fire walking on the beach but thought better of it when wind came up as we are surrounded by reefs. It sounded like fun. We met Lucinda a local craft vendor who has four children. She offered a massage at local price so I took her up on it one morning. When John brought me to shore I was surprised to see the table set up in the central patio between the restaurant and hostel areas under a large tree (so glad i somewhat had a swimsuit on)!!

The new spot is Kuata Island which is also a backpacker resort but more of a glamp camp (see Barefoot Kuata Island Resort) than roughing it. We stayed on the back side for wind and wave comfort but several long boats came out to be sure we knew we were welcome in the village and the resort. We thought we'd be alone after the guest boats left with divers that had swum with the bull sharks. I woke about midnight to bright lights in the water just off shore and went up to check thinking it was fishing boats. I woke John as well as so many lights in and under the water began to get anxious about whatever was happening. We watched and they swam back into the beach so went back to sleep. At 5 am I hear a shout 'boat' and it sounded panicky. More lights in the water and spread out further outside the reef in rough rocky areas but this time they had a tender to pick them out of the water. Maybe they were lobster diving or Balolo glowing edible sea worms a local delicacy and celebration that only spawns on a full moon (normally December).

Since I wasn't keen to swim with the bull sharks we pulled anchor for our favorite deserted islands joined by a reef -Vanua Levu and Navadra. This spot has a couple turtles and the reefs actually still have some color left despite the very warm water- probably because it is open to the west and ocean waters. We scuba there last time but easy to snorkel for hours and see many local fish varieties and wall free dives. Between the snorkeling and lack of mosquitos I just call it a piece of paradise. John laughed when I told him it felt like we were being evicted from the Garden of Eden as we had to leave due to brewing cyclone weather.

We are headed back to Vuda under spinnaker to put the boat away for another possible cyclone and our flights home later this month. So far we have sailed each month of cyclone season since November by staying in Fiji rather than making the run to New Zealand or going in the cyclone pits at Vida Marine.