Fahiti ho!

 Ok, I'm a long day from Savusavu.  Calm waters, cell coverage, restaurants and bars.  I'm gonna do this, come hell or high water. Got up and made pancakes.  Was down to a quarter tank of diesel so I took the time to add my 40 liters of reserve to the tank. Up anchor at eight, motored (surprise!) straight into big swells at the head of Nadi Bay.  Tough it out, gotta make happy hour. Three hours later I'm across Wainunu Bay and entering Nasonisoni Passage.  This is a well-known passage - I've been through it several times now.  But not in this wind.  Nasonisoni generally runs on an angle of 116 degrees.  The wind was howling out of the east (90 deg).  Ok, I can do this.  Happy hour awaits. Coming out of the east end of Nasonisoni the swells were some of the biggest I've ever seen.  They rivaled the ones Nick and I saw coming out of Fawn Harbor two trips back.  The boat was twisting and corkscrewing on top of the swells, all...

 Looked like a good day to travel, plenty of blue patches, some hint of wind. Some hint...yeah...haha. Motored out from Koroinasolo at 7 am.  Put the main up.  Got outside the reef; the wind is on my nose.  Drop the main.  (Spoiler alert - for the rest of the trip the sails never got used because the Fiji wind gods were somehow offended and kept the wind on my nose for the entire trip!  I didn't think it possible, but I'll testify to it.) Slogged my way down inside the reef past Bua Bay, past Nabouwalu and Coconut Point, all exposed anchorages.  Managed to turn from 142 degrees to 66 degrees AND THE WIND STILL WAS ON MY NOSE.  That's SE to NE, folks.  And I'm far enough out so that it shouldn't be land effect.  Holy wah! Made it to Nadi Bay with its open end facing directly east.  I knew it would be rolly but having been there before I knew it had a good mud holding.  And yes, it was.  Rolly and muddy.  Set the Prusik...

Koroinasolo Again more visitors on launches.   The first was benign - a launch full of kids and moms going somewhere.   It’s amazing how many bodies they can fit on one of those launches and not sink it.   I think there were a dozen kids and half as many adults.   They were very friendly and just wanted to say ‘hi’. The next two launches were again curious about me.   “You are alone?’   Yes.   And I’m going in to do sevusevu as soon as I drop my dinghy.   JFC, leave me alone. I went in for sevusevu about 11:30.   Found the locals on shore to be very normal, hyper-friendly in the Fijian way.   Met the headman, who is quite young for the job - maybe 40.   His aunt is the chief, but speaks no English so he gets to do the sevusevu ceremony.   It was mercifully brief and then came the question session.   I had read that some headmen keep you there on the sevusevu mat for hours, asking about your country and your boat and whatev...

Ok!   Patches of blue sky at last!   The wind was still about 25 knots out of the west, but I managed to get the anchor up and motor out of the bay against the wind.   One aborted try to raise the main later and I decided this was a motoring day. Of course the wind shifted as I wound my way between reefs.   Always just about in my face.   Still, I made Koroinasolo Inlet in 8.5 hours, dropping anchor at 5 pm.   Koroinasolo is a great weathering hole, a 1.5 mile deep bay that runs N-S with surrounding hills.   Also one of the prettiest bays I’ve seen in Fiji. The people on the other hand… It seems to be the custom to drive by visiting yachts and…hop on!   WTF?   At least the first guy only asked for ‘cake’ for his two kids.   I gave them each a cookie and he seemed satisfied.   The next guy (Henry) showed up after dark.   I’m laying on the settee and all of a sudden there’s a light shining in from the cockpit.   Henry took i...

You gotta love the navigation in Fiji.   Back in the day, mountain tops and reefs were primary points of reference for navigation through the reefs.   The Navionics charts (and presumably any paper charts) still carry those references.   And then every once in a while you see this: Northern Edge of Nasoviyaga Island Coconut Trees On 245D That’s one terminus of a transit line?   Seriously?  Presumably the heading is 245 deg.  But what's with the coconut trees reference? So here’s Nasoviyaga Island.   If you look hard you can make it out.   I think it has five palm trees. A closer look, different angle.   Maybe six trees. And every cyclone that comes through leaves us with fewer coconut trees.   Yet somehow they are important enough to mention in the chart.  Strange...

“I been rocked by the wind, driven by the blow, I’m drunk and dirty, but don’t you know that I’m still…sailing.” Sorry, Linda.   I had to change the words.   Actually sorry to whoever wrote that classic.   Lefty?   Tom T?   It’s the ear worm du jour. So the plan was to motor like mad today, starting at first light.   There was supposed to be no wind all day, according to Predict Wind.   Then the wind was supposed to shift to the west, giving me a nice push once around the point to Savusavu.   Ah yes, the best laid plans… Woke up at five to torrential rain (again).   JFC what is it with this rain?   Then I heard the rigging start to sing.   Uh-oh.   Then the boat started to hobby horse.   Then it went from a hobby to a vocation.   So much for the plan.   Looks like I’m sticking it out at anchor again.   Good news is I have a mud bottom and a great set; I’m not dragging, at least. 8 am.   Vocation went to...