The Next Adventure Begins - Fiji here we come

After nearly six weeks away having family fun in Sydney we are back on board and off on our next adventure. Pat arrived back on 8^th May to get things moving on the maintenance front and run through all our pre-cruise safety checks and then Debi followed a week later. As we were keeping an eye on the weather it became fairly clear that there would be a good opportunity to leave soon after Debi’s arrival. So we had a fairly frantic day on the 15^th getting all the provisions purchased. We’d hired quite a small car and it was a squeeze getting all of the provisions in the car let alone in the boat. It was a tiring day but we got everything done and ready for departure.

Three trolley loads of groceries

One overloaded car

The next morning (16^th) the very helpful NZ Customs representative came aboard and cleared us to leave. Departing our berth we headed around and filled up with diesel and finally departed at 1130hrs. Conditions were a bit choppy as we headed around Bream Head but we had 25 knots of wind behind us and so took off up the coast doing well over 7 knots to start with. Our route took us pass the Poor Knights Islands, where we dived last year. The sun was just setting for our first night at sea as we said goodbye to New Zealand.

Goodbye New Zealand - Sunset at the Poor Knights Islands

Things went well for the first few days with winds in the 20-30 knot range from behind us and we made fantastic progress as the seas gradually eased. Then we received an email from our friends, Jo and Rob, who were still back in NZ, warning us of a tropical depression forming to the north of Fiji. This had us frantically reviewing every piece of weather information that we could lay our hands on to look at our options. The paths that these depressions follow are notoriously difficult to predict and we didn’t want to be anywhere near it! With the different weather models showing conflicting predictions we decided to contact a meteorologist (Metbob) who advised us to divert to Minerva reef, but to go slowly.

Minerva reefs are two atolls south of Fiji and Tonga. They are popular stops for boats on passage in the area but can be difficult in bad weather. For those interested there is some very good drone footage here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEP0OwwyzI) of Minerva South detailing the entrance that we had to go through. It was taken in somewhat better weather than we had!

We are not quite sure why were advised to go slowly as the end result was that our last 24 hours of our passage to Minerva South was horrible with 3.5m seas and winds in the 30-40 knot range. Fortunately our friends Stuart and Sally on Blithe Spirit had arrived in South Minerva a few days before and were able to give us some reassurance on conditions inside the reef and also some waypoints to follow to get us through the entrance.

Negotiating the Entrance to South Minerva Reef

We arrived at South Minerva around midday on the 22^nd May after six days of passage making and after a couple of tentative looks at the entrance and a delay due to a squall of rain coming through, we finally anchored in 25m of crystal blue water with over 90m of anchor chain out. We were very grateful to be safe inside the reef and over the next five days watched in amazement as the seas crashed onto the reef and the wind blew and blew.

Blithe Spirit and Pied De Lune at anchor in Minerva South

It’s an interesting exercise to keep yourself occupied for 5 days at anchor, when conditions are so bad that you can’t leave the boat and quite frankly can’t really go on deck for long. We read a lot, watched a few videos, but not many, and spent a lot of time planning various details of our new house. Debi re-designed the interior whilst Pat came up with various grand schemes for the garden. We also spent a bit of time fixing things, which inevitably had broken along the way.

With the weather subsiding and, indeed, some predictions suggesting that we may have no wind, we departed South Minerva on the 27^th May bound for Savusavu. We sailed in company of Blithe Spirit and Exocet Strike, which had been anchored in North Minerva. It was nice to keep in touch with other boats along the way and compare notes on weather and sea state.

Despite all of the forecasting models that we were using suggesting that we would have a straight run to Savusavu, the wind did indeed die and, with diesel supplies running low, we slowed down to a snail’s pace. At one point it was so calm and windless that Debi went for a swim in water that was crystal clear and over 2000m deep.

Debi decides that she can tow us during light winds

Beautiful sunsets on still waters

We had originally hoped to get into Savusavu on the afternoon of the 30^th but with slow progress it was obvious we wouldn’t arrive before sunset and so, to avoid heading into port in the dark, we slowed ourselves still further and eventually arrived with a procession of other boats at 0800 on the 31^st May.

Our first sight of Fiji - the Island of Matuku

Preparing the flags for entry into Fiji

The staff at the Copra Shed Marina were brilliant and had us tied up at the dock in no time and organised our customs clearance for us. After 15 days at sea and 1282nm it was time to get some sleep and then step ashore and explore Savusavu and the island of Vanua Levu.

Clearing Customs at Savusavu

Safely tied up at the Copra Shed Marina, Savusavu