On Anchor Twin Lagoon Bay. More varnishing

On Anchor Twin Lagoon Bay. More varnishing

On mooring Russell. Off to Auckland for 3 Days

on anchor at Paradise Bay Urapukapuka Is. Stunning morning I think summer is here off for a walk.

On a mooring Russell. Great day fishing yesterday 3 snapper between 5.5 and 6.5 Kg plus a few pannies. doing the Russell to Okiato walk today to pick up the car from Opua.

on anchor at Omakiwi Bay Bay of Islands. Nice to see some blue sky again off fishing.

on anchor at Omakiwi Bay Bay of Islands. Windy and wet day yesterday looks asb if it will clear later today would be good to get off the boat.

on anchor at Omakiwi Bay Bay of Islands. Varnishing finished for now

on anchor Paradise Bay BOI, still varnishing but maybe with a bit of fishing.

Opua on anchor More varnishing

Opua on anchor More varnishing

Opua on anchor More varnishing and shopping day

Opua on anchor More varnishing and washing day

Opua on anchor

Opua Marina

Arrived Opua 1155 yesterday 7 days 20 mins Lautoke to Opua this would of been one of if not our fastest trip from Fiji to NZ.

Nice to be back.

Had a great days sail yesterday. Sunny all day. Late in the afternoon the wind backed more around to the NE and now it is in the N. We can see the front out to starboard. Web are 20 miles off the Nine Pin. We will be having the last of our Fiji bacon and eggs for breakfast with a glass of champagne.

It has been a good trip, actually the quickest for us in 16 years of cruising. It will be just under 7 days from Fiji to NZ. Have noticed a lack of sea birds out here. You usually see quite a few storm petrels, sooty shear water and the odd albatross but have only seen about 6 sooties, no storm petrels and no albatross. Thanks Dave and Patricia for all the weather info. We will catch up with you when we are down your way.

Had a great days sail yesterday with the wind moderating to around 20 kts. The sky cleared in the night, the first time in 6 days. A cloud bank now moving in from the east. Just under 200 miles to Opua. ETA tomorrow morning. Water temp 18, don't think we will be getting any scallops for a while!

Hopefully we will be able to hear you on the radio today. Our wind instruments are not going so the wind is a guesstimate. We had wind 30+ all day yesterday, with heavy rain all day. We had Villomee trucking along at 8-9 knots but it all got too much so reduced sail and slowed the boat right down making it a lot more comfortable. The seas built and got very messy but the skies cleared towards evening and the wind and sea state dropped a bit making it a lot more comfortable. Both have had good sleeps last night. Hopefully today will be a better day. ETA around midday Friday. Yahoo...... Saw our first NZ sea birds yesterday morning. A juvenile gannet and sooty shear waters.

Had a great sail yesterday. Wind dropped off half way through the night but has filled back in early hours. Alls well on board

Had a very rocky rolly day yesterday but the seas calmed down during the night. The skies cleared but the cloud has come back in this morning. Have been motor sailing since yesterday afternoon. Finding it impossible to get the gribs in in the mornings but are getting the weather faxs in. All is well on board.

Wind picked up yesterday afternoon. Sailed most of the night with 3 reefs in the main and the Ganoa furled to match. Lightning and thunder in the sky and had a wee shower. All is well on board. Wind seems to have dropped away this morning but have had great speeds through the night and made a few miles. Back to full main and Ganoa

Left Lautoka 1130hrs. Had the wind directly behind us as we headed down the channel, then it faded around 2000hs. Had lightening in the SE all night. We motored until the wind came in around 2330 ESE. Very pleasant sailing. Will put the lures out today Morgan. All is well on board.

Lautoka. Checking out for our trip back to NZ this morning if the weather for the trip looks the same.

Vuda Pt Marina. Topped up with fuel,water, Lpg for a probable departure for NZ Saturday.

Lautoka.

Lautoka.

Lautoka. What a difference a days sail makes. Gone from nice clear water,sandy beach and virtually nobody around to fireworks,cars horns,clanking of containers been unloaded,loud music from onshore,murky water and internet and shops. Don't miss the wind at Yadua though.

Lautoka. Had a fast sail from Yadua Is to the big smoke. Hopefully the wind will stay in this direction and we should avoid the soot that covered the boat last time.

Yadua Is.

Yadua Is.

Yadua Is. The importance of wearing underpants. A longboat came alongside yesterday wondering if we could help them with a electrical problem they had with their outboard. I wearing only a sulu hoped aboard to have a look and promptly slipped over and ended up arse up on the bottom of the boat,a gust of wind came and apparently blue my sulu up exposing all. So as my dear old mum used to say Trevor always put on clean underwear you never know when you could be involved in an accident!!! We sorted the problem though so all ended well.

Moved to a small well protected bay on the NW corner of Yadua Is

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island. Had a fantastic snorkel on the outside of the reef at the entrance to the bay before the wind got up.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island. Windy last 24 hrs but the smoked fish turned out OK and it was nice spending the 5 hrs ashore out of the wind. Also fingers crossed fixed a couple of air leaks in the dingy.

Anchored at Cukuvou Harbour Yadua Island. Survivor program arrives at Yadua, well Trev and Jan style anyway. we caught a Trevalley and rainbow runner on our way over so went ashore and have built a smoke house from bits of roofing ion we found ashore to smoke some fish today. Also got a nice ripe Pawpaw we are having for breakfast and a breadfruit. So last nights delicious meal was green salad, breadfruit chips and fresh trevally bet the real survivor's wish they were eating like this.

Anchored at Nananu-I-Thake. Off to Yadua Is this morning

Anchored at Nananu-I-Thake watching people been dragged across the water by kites some were even on their feet. Off to Yadua Island tomorrow.

Left Muscet Cove yesterday for Yadua Is via Nainanu-I-Ra. Anchored south of Vitia wharf at position given above. Small resort there anchorage is out of the wind chop and most of the wind. Early morning start to try and beat the wind as the captain got a little grumpy for the last part of yesterday motoring into 20knts of headwind for 3 hours.

Anchored at Musket Cove. Had a good night at the yachties bar for Bill's Birthday.

Anchored at Musket Cove.

Anchored at Musket Cove.

Anchored at Saweni Bay. In Lautoka yesterday all stocked up again and been to the Dentist Dr Mukhtar Mohammed of City Dental and are all prepped up for three crowns arriving in a fortnight all for $825 NZ dollars. We have had good reports about him from other cruisers and you certainly can't beat the price.

Off to Musket today via Vuda Pt to refuel. Bill on Liberations birthday on Friday so we will celibate that with him.

Anchored at Lautoka. Just read a article on carbon emissions saying one of the best ways to cut down is to have fewer children as each child equates to 56 tons of carbon,give up your car and fly less. Woke up this morning to a boat covered in ash from the sugar refinery that's belching smoke, 3 large ships at the wharf doing the same, bush fires on the hills. So it's fine for industry to carry on unrestricted we just have to make all the sacrifices. Guess the partners of the future instead of saying "not tonight darling I've got a head ache" will be saying "not tonight darling think of the planet"

Anchored at Lautoka. In the big smoke literally.

Anchored Navandra Is. Had a great snorkel yesterday and then a beach bbq with all the people in the anchorage. Nice moon to go with it and no insects apart from the ever present ants.

At anchored off Ndrawaangga Island Southern Yasawa Islands. There is some of the best coral and fish life we have seen in the pacific round these islands with the added benefit of seeing Manta Rays when they are in the pass. Down side is there are resorts on both islands so can get very busy especially when the Manta's are around.

Moving on today to Navandra.

At anchored off Ndrawaangga Island Southern Yasawa Islands

At anchored off Ndrawaangga Island Southern Yasawa Islands

At anchored off Ndrawaangga Island (try and pronounce that)by Nanuya island where the Manteray resort is. There is great snorkling here especially off the resort great coral and a huge variety of fish perhaps it is a reserve anyway the fish are not scared of you and plenty of them.

We are hoping to see the mantarys that come to either of the two passes each end of Ndrawaangga Is but we think it can be a bit hit and miss.

At anchor Somosomo Bay. Lots of papaya trees here so now have papaya to go with the mangoes for breakfast. Got a nice rainbow runner yesterday so we are living of the land/sea so to speak, all good stuff love the foraging for food.

Heading down to see the mantarays today.

Moved back down to the Blue Lagoon yesterday. Had a great sail luckily we had our track saved as it was overcast and light showers for most of the day but nice with 18-24 ENE on the beam.

Lots of Mango Tress here so we went for a walk and collected a big bag of them. Still a little green but they ripen in about 4 days Yummy.

We will be making our way slowly down to Lautoka this next week. I have lost another bit of tooth (suspecting scurvy) and we need to extend our visa's .

At anchor in Narewa Bay Yasawa Is.

At anchor in Narewa Bay Yasawa Is. There has been some good snorkling round the peninsula between this bay and Cololevu Bay where we were anchored before.

Found out yesterday that the village that owns these bays Bukama has a ban on smoking and the drinking of Kava and it's been in force for over a year now, probably the only such village to do so in Fiji I would imagine.

We don't know what the Chief Ratu Sami did with the kava when we presented it to him for sevusevu someone said he gives it to the neigbouring village we did not know about the ban at the time and nothing was mentioned.

At anchor in Cololevu Bay Yasawa Is.

At anchor in Cololevu Bay Yasawa Is. FOR DAVE Yesterdays pping to 10 mid afternoon then back up to 15 late evening

At anchor in Cololevu Bay Yasawa Is.

At anchor in Cololevu Bay Yasawa Is. Beautiful bay with white sand going right up to the shore with a long sandy beach.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon. Heading back up to Likuri Bay Yasawa Is this morning.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon. Looks like the dingy repair went ok. Still windy but nice onshore,lovely white sandy beach and warm water for swimming and snorkling and some good walks.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon. Repairing the dingy yet again hopefully found the little leak we have.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon. Had a great snorkel yesterday on a large bombie. Probably the best variety's of coral we have seen all trip. Would be a good tank dive as the water round it is quite deep.

At anchor in Blue Lagoon.

At Anchor.

At Anchor. Blue Lagoon. Making bread and doing odd jobs.

At Anchor Likurie Bay Yasawa Is. Moving South to the Blue Lagoon today.

At Anchor Likurie Bay Yasawa Is. Walked across to the other side of the island to do our sevusevu as the bay we are anchored in is owned by the village of Bukama on the eastern side of the island. The Chief Ratu Sami is well into his 80's and speaks no English but Daniel the head man who introduced us to him spoke really good English and translated for us. This was the best sevusevu we have done very traditional and Ratu Sami is a great old man and enjoyed a good chat. The whole island is very happy with the 8 month contract they have for the production of the Swiss and French Survivor TV shows as it is providing a lot of employment for all the local villages.

Beautiful day yesterday clear sky and lovely warm water.

At Anchor Likurie Bay Yasawa Is. Well protected anchorage from SE through E to NE. Good snorkling, a track up the hill to a road for walking and a nice sandy beach you can get your dingy into.

Found out that they are filming the Swiss survivor then the French one so they have exclusive access to a lot of the beaches on the island till November. Must be bringing in lots of money to the local villages so that's good but a bit of a bugger for visiting yachties as it excludes us from a couple of anchorages.

At Anchor Land Harbour. I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts- collected 4 liters of coconut juice yesterday from one of the beaches where they are filming the survivor program. They were obviously drinking bottled water as there were empty water bottles and the carton they came in still on the beach. So much for surviving off the land and looking after it but I guess that's not what the program is about.

Had a good snorkel but the water is a bit murky as the sand is very fine and stirred up a bit with the windy weather.

At Anchor Land Harbour..Survivor hits Yasawa Is. Arrived and dropped anchor behind a nice little island that would stop the little bit of slop that is rolling down the main island and with good shelter from the expected 20+ E winds, a nice long sandy beach to explore in front and reefs for snorkling,perfect. But no sooner had we dropped the hook a long boat came out and asked us to move as they are filming the Survivor TV program and have rented the main island of Yasawa for 7 weeks 3 of which are still left to run and they DID NOT want Villomee inn the background.

Moved to a bay about a mile south and not to sure on what bays we can anchor off so if heading up this way maybe leave it for a few more weeks.

At Anchor Sawa-I-Lau. Moving to land Harbour this morning as the wind is predicted to strengthen to 20-30 so better shelter there with good sandy beaches to explore and plenty of reef area to snorkel. We will let you know.

At Anchor Sawa-I-Lau. Grey day with showers and rain. Jan cleaned the boat I did didly squat.

At Anchor Sawa-I-Lau. Had a good snorkel down the NW side of Sawi I Lau Island in the morning. Afternoon went coconut gathering for the juice ended up with 3 liters and all my fingers still intact. I am getting pretty good at opening them now and we use the extendable boat hook to reach them. Best drink ever on a hot sunny day.

At Anchor Sawa-I-Lau. Did Sevusevu on arrival. A pretty anchorage when anchored by by Sawi I Lau Island.They are now charging Fj$55 per person to go through the caves. Will probably stay here still the wind moves back into the south East.

At Anchor Blue Lagoon Yasawa Islands.

At Anchor Blue Lagoon Yasawa Islands.

At Anchor Blue Lagoon Yasawa Islands. Had a good sail up from Somosomo Bay yesterday. Big resort here now that has really expanded since we were last here 13 years ago. You can now get fuel from them.

Went for a good walk over the island to Lo's Tea House for the best ever made on the spot doughnuts and lemon tea. Great walk with nice views of the lagoon and through some really great gardens presumably to supply the resort as there was a hydroponic set up for lettuce.

At Anchor Somosomo Bay leaqving this morning to head 20 miles up the chain to the Blue Lagoon.

On anchor Somosomo Bay. Lovely sunny day yesterday best we have had for a while. Jan's finger is healing well we have been leaving the bandage off for the last couple of nights and this is helping it dry out. Hopefully we will be back snorkling soon. Went for a big walk from Gunu Bay to Somosomo Bay yesterday a lot of it was in the shade through the bush and Mango trees and also through some of there garden areas that had pumpkin,banana,lots of kasava all at different stages of growth,local spinach, and pineapples. This whole are was also hit by TC Winston and you can see that in the bush the trees have lost a lot of there large branches and there is now a lot of new growth or simply dead trees that did not recover and most of the houses in the village have new roofs and some have had to be completely re-built.

TC Winston formed 7 Feb 2016 off Vanuatu moved across parts of Fiji and Tonga then intensified and moved back over Fiji Feb 19/ 20 it's center passing over Vanua Balavu in the Lau with 306 km/h wind gusts were recorded. Highest 10 minute sustained wind 280 km/h , highest 1 minute sustained wind 285 km/h so you can imagine the damaged done. We were talking to some people when we were in Vanua Balavu and where they were all there hoses were destroyed along with all the contents they did not have anything left,food,clothing or water it simply disapered. They survived the cyclone by sheltering behind a large rock that had a old Banyan tree in front of it.

On anchor Somosomo Bay. Moved across the bay to Gunu Bay to get out of the swell.

On anchor Somosomo Bay. This area must of been hit by TC Winston no nuts on the coconut trees and they have very few leaves and the good coral which we saw 10 years ago has also been damaged.

On anchor Yalobi Bay Waya Is Yasawa Grp. Bit of a rolly anchorage will probably move on to Somosomo Bay.

On anchor at Saweni Bay. Moved round here after we had had Jan's finger attended to to get away from the smoke of the Sugar cane refinery.

We originally went to the hospital but there were at least 60-70 people waiting so went to the Avenue Medical Center. The doctor there is very good and e would recommend this as preferable to going to the hospital. We were charged fj$45. The doctor said the finger looked pretty good and most of the infection was cleared up. The yellow we could see under the flap of skin that we thought was puss was in fact fatty tissue. He removed the flap of skin and told us to continue with the course of Trysul antibiotics.

So we are now off to Likuliku Bay on the NW side of Waya Is in the Yasawas.

On anchor at Lautoka. Arrived 1717 hrs yesterday. 8 other boats here including Calypso and Out of the Bag so had sun downers without the sun with Bill and Jean. Off to get Jan's finger sorted this morning but it is looking a lot better after the change in antibiotics to Trysul and putting the Manuka honey on as a Balm.

On passage from Yadua Is to Lautoka. Have to get Jan to the hospital as she has a very badly infected little finger. Have been treating with antibiotics but there is a lot of infection under the skin. The original cut was quite deep and close to the knuckle so we are worried about the infection getting into the bone.

Craig and loran off Revilo were in the bay and they supplied us with trysil a stong antibiotic and and a whole range of other natural remedies including Manuka honey to put on the wound. The inflammation seems to have gone down this morning but still a lot of puss under the skin that will need to be released.

Moved round to Navi Laca Bay on Yadua Is yesterday as there was great vis and calm seas. Did our Sevsevu at the the village you can dingy there from this bay. The village was not as neat and tidy as it was when we were last here 13 years ago and all the traditional thatch houses have been replaced by wood and corrugated ion ones.

Went for a short snorkel in the bay but the water was very murky and the coral was in bad shape and covered in silt.

At anchor Cukuvou Hbr Yadua Is. Had a great sail over from Cocoanut Pt Vanua Levu and caught another 2 Mahimahi so freezer is full.

Arrived Coconut Point 1330 yesterday departing 0900 today for Yadua Island. Had a good sail down pretty much hard on the wind all the way but nice conditions and caught a nice Mahimahi so lovely fresh fish for dinner last night.

Departed Savusavu for coconut Point at 0600

At anchor Savusavu. Great day in Labasa yesterday. It is a 2 and half hour bus ride from Savusavu and costs only F$6 and you get to cross the islands mountainous spine to the other side where they are growing sugar cane. Labasa is Fiji's second or third largest city with a lot of indofijians who were originally brought here as labor for the cane fields but now run most of the business here in Fiji as well.

My dentist was excellent replaced 3 of my 4 fillings that had fallen out since leaving NZ for $F 150 and lined the other which he said would need a crown that would be have to be done in either Suva or Lautoka for about $F 500. So much cheaper than NZ.

Also had a great lunch at the Hari Kishna restaurant. Went there several years ago and are happy to say the food is still fantastic $F 12 for two people including vanilla ice cream and all without the bells,drums and chanting.

At anchor Savusavu. Off to labasa to the dentist

At anchor Savusavu. Hope you had a great super hero birthday party yesterday Harvey

At anchor Savusavu.

At anchor Savusavu. Had a good night at the Savsavu Marina pot luck dinner with great music keyboard,bass and acoustic guitars there's some amazing talent floating around out here.

At anchor Savusavu.

at anchor in the big smoke of Savusavu. Lots of boats here only a few spare moorings. Off to the dentist on Tuesday.

Left Little Bay, Vanua Balavu 1300 hrs yesterday bound for Savusavu. Nice sail until we passed Taveuni and then we lost the wind. Motoring now. Will arrive in Savusavu around 1100hrs. Back to civilization. Not sure whether I am happy with that.

At anchor Little Bay.

At anchor Little Bay.

At anchor Little Bay. Went for a ok snorkel on reef just outside the bay by about 1/4 mile then managed to find a lot of nice Pawpaw's in the bush off one of the sandy bays in Horse Bay to the west of us.

Little Bay in n Lau

Moving from Susui bay to little bay this morning to snorkel a reef about 1/2 mile off the bay which is meant to be good

Moved from Lomaloma to Susui a better sheltered anchorage. Did Sevusevu and was not asked about a anchoring fee we had been told they charged here.

Village is pretty small and again badly hit by Winston NZ and Oz aid apparently arrived quickly. Each house has a new green plastic water tank and most new roofs and 5 completely new weatherboard houses.

There is a marine reserve here so we are off to look at that today. Went for a snorkel round the perimeter reef of the bay yesterday a lot of fish and the coral looks to be coming back.

Moved down to Lomaloma yesterday and now have good internet so able to call all the family and catch up on emails the first time in about 6 weeks. Also managed to get fuel for the outboard, fresh bread and some fresh vegetables from a man who has a amazing garden that supplies a lot of stuff to the locals and any yachties that can find him. Nice guy had a good chat about growing tomatoes which we used to do commercially in another lifetime.

You can see lots of damage from cyclone Winston here and all down the coast. Just about every house had lost its roof and some a lot worse building still going on and a barge laden with building supplies has jut come in as I am writing this.

At anchor Little Bay Vanubalavu. Off to Lomolomo today to get some internet hopefully.

At anchor Little Bay Vanubalavu nice small sheltered bay that Navionics says you can't get into. At the end of the bay it opens into a large lagoon through a very narrow and shallow (dingy only) pass between high hills.

In the lagoon you can see a very distinct track where all the trees have been killed from the Winston looks like it may of spun up a mini tornado here. Unfortunately right in it's path were a few houses all with shiny new roofs now. Could not imagine what it would of been like.

At anchor Bavatu Harbour Hope you had a great day yesterday Amber and we are waiting for your first email off your new i-pad. We went for a walk to a look out on a plantation here. You have to go up 271 steps and the quickest a person has done it is 56 seconds we took about 15 minutes but we were taking photos as well.

Lots of blown down trees here from cyclone Winston and all the rest have new growth but there are some of the biggest trees we ever seen in Fiji. looks like our Kauri tree.

Also had a snorkel and in a bay where we saw four turtles and some very nice coral.

At anchor Bavatu Harbour

Left Namuka-I-Lau midday yesterday and are hanging off the entrance to Andavathi Pass, Vanua Balava, Northern Lau until we have good light to head in. Decided to make a jump up here to meet up with friends who we have travelled with from USA. They will be heading west a lot quicker than us so we are having a farewell dinner tomorrow night of Roast Lamb and Pavalova. We will stay up here an explore this area for a couple of weeks.

At anchor in Namuku-I Lau. Lovely calm anchorage off to do do Sevsevu this morning 1 hour walk each way then a beach bbq tonight.

At anchor in Yangasa Southern Lau. May move over to Namuku-I Lau today.

At anchor in Yangasa Southern Lau. Had a great sail over from Fulunga yesterday saw some pilot whales then a humpback as we entered the lagoon. Went for a snorkel down one side of the island we are anchored behind but the coral was disappointing mainly a hard rock bottom but had some nice and different fish round the few bombies and large rocks scattered around.

this spot, a bit rolly at high tide, is about 20nm north of Fuluga

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Super yacht struck the bottom coming into the pass yesterday but it was an incoming tide so they managed to get off after about 15-20 minutes.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Supply boat arrived yesterday so fresh lemons for the G&T's.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Fishing day today. Had a great birthday meal for Ma yesterday with a huge mud grab that was absolutely delicious as one of the dishes.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Doing some fiber glassing on one of the village longboats.

still in Fuluga

At anchor in Fulunga. Into the village for church. Went fishing yesterday with Ma and George our hosts and got 54 fish for the Sunday feast so everybody happy.

At anchor in Fulunga. Off fishing with our host family today then in to watch the All Blacks play the Lions tonight. ope the weather improves. Had a great day yesterday as the people of Fulunga put on another picnic, great food, music,dancing and Kava. When that finished we went to gather clams with our host family to use as bait today and for Sunday lunch.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Had another great snorkel in the pass lots of fish and nice coral. Into the village today to check out the carvings. Fulunga provides a lot of the carvings sold on the main island some finished here and others to be finished on the mainland so you get them at at least half price.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. ICA arrived yesterday. We were anchored with just one other boat nearby now we have 18 with a few more scattered around. The village chief will be getting a load of Kava today.

have a problem with Pactor so no email until this is sorted

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Great day yesterday big picnick on a island beach. At least 60 people with villagers and cruisers combined plenty of yummy food, music, kava and games.

We are off fishing today with our host family and as they have one of two televisions in the village we will go in and watch the All Blacks V Lions game tonight.

At anchor in Fulunga. Off to a picnick with the other boats in the anchorage and all their host families. Pig & Fish lomo and all the trimmings cruisers contributing with a dessert. Music and games. What a tuff life we have.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga.

At anchor in Fulunga. Arrived 11.30 lot of current in the pass as it was mid ebb and small standing waves for a while, we were only making 0.5 knt against it for a while but got through OK. Beautiful atoll amazing blue clear water. Did our sevusevu then back to the boat for dinner and a good nights sleep.

Given the all clear to resume our course to Falunga at 1500 by the RCC as the Fiji navy is sending a boat to pick up the 3 persons that were on the yacht Jungle who are all thankfully OK. Not sure about the status of the yacht though. Apparently there were some locals on the small isolated atoll that they ran into so it would of been interesting to see.

We have motor sailed since sunset as the wind dropped and it has now backed from the NE around to the south. Should be entering the pass around 1130am.

Diverted from our course to Fulunga by RCC at0745 this morning to aid the 65' yacht Jungle that has let of their EPIRB at 21 07.7S 179 51.6W on the atol of Tuvana-i-Ra or Tuvana-i-Tholo.

Wind has moved to the NE as the days worn on but still on a tight reech. Should arrive early morning if we can maintain 6-7 nots.

No Fish son far

Left Suva 1730 and heading to Fulanga, Southern Lau Group. Had lightning and thunder most of night and some drizzle. Hope the wind will back more around to the NE during today. Hope to be in Fulanga tomorrow. Great to be out of Suva

Suva possibly leaving PM for Fulanga Lau Grp

Suva

Back in Suva. Picked up the membrane ready to head to the Lau probably the 22nd

At anchor Malumu Bay Bequa. Part arrived for water maker so looking at heading back to Suva when the wind dies.

At anchor Malumu Bay Bequa

At anchor Malumu Bay Bequa Cleaning the hull and going for another Kayak

At anchor Malumu Bay Mbengga. Had a great sail over from Suva in 18-23 ESE. Off for a kayak.

At anchor Suva Harbour,looking at heading to Kandavu Is tomorrow.

At anchor Suva Harbour,

At anchor Suva Harbour, all cleared in off to the markets this morning. Have a new Fiji phone number (+679) 712 6822.

a good day in Suva

At anchor Suva Harbour,arrived at 1745 last night after a good sail from North Minerva Reef. Will be clearing customs this morning. 11 other yachts in the anchorage. Bit of a change now hearing the hum of a city instead of the roar of the surf at Minerva.

Having a nice sail. 68 miles to Suva will be in there before sundowners. Caught a small yellowfin tuna yesterday.

Having a nice sail, would be nice if the wind goes around more to the East. 3 lures smoking out the back. 220 miles to Suva. Hope to arrive tomorrow late afternoon

Having a nice sail, would be nice if the wind goes around more to the East. 3 lures smoking out the back. 220 miles to Suva. Hope to arrive tomorrow late afternoon

Lifting the anchor in North Minerva 6.30am Tuesdsay to do the final leg of this passage to Suva. Expect to be arriving Thursday. Had another great day on the reef. A couple more crayfish and great snorkeling. The water is so clear and heaps of fish life.

A great stop over.

left N Minerva at 6am

likely will leave tomorrow for Suva

will leave for Suva when there is DECENT wind

N Minerva tomorrow evening/

all well. Info from Pilgrim

via relay

Had a very good night of sailing, not too cold either, making good progress. Yesterday saw dolphins, albatross, sooties, sunfish and a shark, wonder what today will bring. Listening to Northland Radio last night and he had 50 boats on his rollcall, so there are a lot of us out here this week.

Left Opua 1100 hrs, bound for Suva Fiji. Motored to the 9 Pin and now the wind has filled in and we are having a nice sail.

All is good on board.

Have put off leaving Opua. Weather just too unsettled. We will be waiting for the next weather window.

At Opua looking at departing Saturday for Suva Fiji

Anchored off Russell waiting for suitable weather to depart for Suva, Fiji

Anchored in Parenui bay BOI waiting for suitable weather to depart for Fiji Passed Cat 1 so now all ready to go

YIT did a auto fill for our Lat Long and put us at the Auckland Art Gallery. Wish we were on this rainy day at Russell BOI

Waiting for the last of our items to arrive so we can get our Cat 1.

Been frustrating as they should of been here ages ago. Keeping our fingers crossed for Monday then looking for a departure to Fiji as soon after as possible.