30 March 2020
Stuck in Paradise

All of our plotting to continue exploring the 330 islands has come to a halt as of Sunday night all passenger ferries and non essential vessel traffic was locked down in all of Fiji as a 5th case not related to the first four confirmed. We did get to visit Beqa and a very little bit of Kandavu Group before John's Mom texted us the lockdown notice about six hours before it went into effect.

Kandavu was a five hour sail and is the fourth largest island group in Fiji surrounded by the Great Astrolobe Reef. With visibility worsening we anchored first in the North or Small Astrolobe Reef only to find the water inside way shallower than charts indicated but filled with gorgeous healthy cabbage coral and so many fish! We had difficulty anchoring trying to avoid doing damage to the coral so ended up close to the reef entry. It is a surreal feeling to be anchored inside a 360 degree reef with just a little bit of sand where the navigational warning light sits in the middle on a bit of sand; not lit , we found out as night fell. There was no data out there but enough cellular that Mom could text us Fiji updates of pending closures. Once the sun broke through I had a good swim tied to the boat with a floating polypropylene line to be sure the current didn't take me outside the reef. John was nervous as we didn't have the dinghy launched with motor mounted if it turned out too strong a current for me. It was quite fun to swim up and then float backwards watching all the fish and coral below me. We had to do a dance with the anchor chain to bring it off the bottom safely but snorkeling had made it easier to plan.

We decided to give it one more day before making a decision about fleeing back to a more populated harbor and went into the Great Reef and anchored behind several of the North small resort islands to the deserted Yaukiuelailai Island filled with goats and two nice but rock edged beaches. The snorkeling wasn't as impressive but this island group is famed for its dive and surf spots. About midnight I hear a boat motor and went up to see night divers at the rocks. We debated staying here for several months if the lockdown areas grew to see the other dive spots and the main islands of Ono and Kandavu. We had heard from Terry who is also locked out of Vuda Marina messaged us that his "safe" spot in Musket Cove was no longer selling diesel except to local boats and the tiny market would close once they sold out current stock as resort was shut down. Fiji has committed to continuing supply boats for the island locals but we decided not to be a burden on the Kandavu group and return to Suva Harbor as soon as weather allowed. Late Saturday afternoon Mom texted us that the Prime Minster had indeed shut down all passenger and small boat travel effective midnight! There was no safe way for us to transit through the reefs at night in this weather with wind, rain and lightening. Sunday 5 am John hustled me awake to pull anchor and leave despite storm clouds and we were out of the reef by 7 am. Fishing poles were out until we saw a large dolphin group and enjoyed dancing and laughing with them at the bow. Just beyond the white nose tipped dolphins were many other large slower moving mammals, possibly, pilot whales! It helped me a bunch to realize nature was well despite the fear everywhere.

We were able to sail over to Suva and conserve fuel but the anxiety of not knowing if we would be met by police or navy boats telling us were were forbidden to enter took away some of the joy. John kept kidding me I would look fine in prison garb and photos which kept the day humorous. We kept on the AIS so it didn't look like we were sneaking into the harbor. It helped that it was Sunday and the harbor is full of container ships waiting disembarkation. The tide was full and the surf on the outside reef about 30 ft high; but our entry was quiet and nobody hailed us on VHF to ask what the heck we were doing.

So for now we are in the backwater of Suva Walu bay by the Royal Suva Yacht Club. We took on 150 liters or 30 gallons of diesel plus the two jerry cans on deck first thing this morning. That should last us several months if all we are doing is topping off batteries if no solar or wind generation. Still have to figure out if we can go out to clear water long enough to run the water maker (or lug potable water from the YC).

We will definitely go back to Kandavu and enjoy more remote diving!
We are both well and acquired some fun Fiji Bula style masks (not N95) to wear to market. 3M eat your heart out.