Savusavu Bound
15 August 2021 | SavuSavu
Diane Brown | Wind and lots of Rain
Savusavu Bound
07 August 2021
Winds were blowing stink which made us travel close to land through the reef systems surrounding Viti Levu. We usually have to motor sail inside all these reefs but this time we went out around some and then John played master navigator and decided to try sailing through the little passes. The marine traffic is much reduced as this would not have been an option even last year. He had fun but his Mom was sending us nervous texts to be careful.
One odd thing along this track is the offshore gold mining. I am not sure how this was allowed but it like a vertical trencher. I've tried to look up more information but don't find anything online. Would sure like to know more.
The wind direction was expected to change in a couple days so we anchored on the tip of Viti Levu at Nananuira to catch a southerly rather than beat for ten hours into the normal easterlies. John was up at the crack of dawn waking me by starting the engine so I knew this was the day to leave. It wasn't quite enough south in the wind to make the original pass into Vanua Levu but with a course change we made another entry point before it was too very dark. It was good to spend a night in a uninhabited bay. We want to spend at least 14 days avoiding contact with locals here just to be sure we are not carrying sickness to this island that has avoided it so far.
The final squirrelly pass into Savusavu has always made me anxious. It doesn't help that the charts show many yachts and commercial boats wrecked in this area; as recently as 2017. The pass itself is only 2-3 miles and very deep, over 200ft. The problem is staying in the center. It is very gnarly with 3-5 knots of current even in the "slack" tide. The swirls and undertow make for a challenging ride. It took a couple hours with zero forward speed at a couple points plus the south winds and threat of rain were not helping with the extra chop. If this had been our first time through I would have been even more frightened. Dolphins joined us as we exited the pass which took my stress levels down right away!
The rest of the trip was ugly but normal ugly and the rain mostly held off until we got into protected waters behind the reef. It feels real good to be on a mooring ball right now off Copra Shed as the predicted rain and winds have blown for five straight days.