Korokulu Point

 Stardate: August 28, 2023


We left Nalauwaki Bay about ten o’clock in the morning.  Our destination was only about fifteen miles up the chain so we were in no hurry.  The big winds were present and on our nose most of the way.  I tried flying the jib a few times but was getting headed and backwinded so I gave up and motored.  A hard slog, but once I got tucked into the lee of Naviti Island it wasn’t too bad.





Had to sail right past the pass where the manta rays feed.  It’s a huge draw for tourists and there were quite a few boats anchored there.  Didn’t look completely sheltered from the easterlies and we knew the winds were predicted to get worse.  Next time, mantas.


I’m about a mile from our destination of Korokulu Point when I noticed the depth gauge creeping up.  Curious - Navionics says 80 feet deep.  I looked back and the depth is reading 20 feet!  I stood up and am horrified to see nothing but green water surrounding the boat.  WTF!  (Green water is bad - indicates a shoal or at least shallow water.  You don’t want to go there.) I shut off the auto pilot and turned the boat sharply to starboard and was relieved to see the depth gauge numbers slowly get larger.  You can see the sharp jog on the track.  


It turns out that Navionics has certain regions of concern (interest?) marked by dotted lines when zoomed in.  Zooming out you see that there is clearly a blue region with red dots indicating a depth of 20 feet or less.  I was just over the line.  Needless to say, I will be zooming in and out a lot now whenever I see those dotted line.


Go to the cove and anchored in front of a rather charming resort on the shore.  Dropped the dinghy and got Nick and we went to shore to sevusevu.  The headman met us; he is the owner of the Korovou Eco Tour Resort.  He was very gracious and kept the sevusevu ceremony to a minimum.  He offered us the run of the resort.  There were no customers, he said.  Covid really hit him hard and the business has not recovered.  Too bad, because this place really is nice.  Stone cabins!  Beautiful view of the bay.  A reef for snorkeling.  Nice veranda in front of the bar.  I could stay here a week and be happy.


Went to sleep with the wind howling outside.  The boats yawed a lot but there were no swells.   My Anchor Sentry app was consulted probably every twenty minutes during the night.  Yeah, I know it was a good set on the anchor but still…

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