Go West Young Man

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Well, my welsh mate Mark was on his way to join me in Fiji. What did he want to do? I knew he wanted to buy his own yacht but had he any in mind and where were they. Did he want to go directly to Suva or the western division (Nadi and Lautoka)?



Today is arrival day and I was sitting in the bar across the road from the Copra Shed keeping an eye out for the Welshman. Mark said he was flying into Labassa and then catching the bus south to Savusavu. I was expecting him from mid morning on and suspected that he would have a pile of gear.



Yep that guy walking with lots of stuff busily talking to the other palangi was Mark. I was right about the gear, four bags worth and too much for him to move hence the other guy helping Mark.



“Ahoy”; he has now seen me and they are crossing the road.



This is our first meeting since April 2010 in Tonga after we sailed Mark’s former yacht “Ianthe” up from Whangarei. It has been awhile and we have both done a lot since then. It is good to see him and he is looking good, though still very white, especially since he has been working as a skipper on a super yacht in the Cape Verde Island for the past 12 months. Well that is Mark’s welsh ancestors for you.



He has been awake for the past 48 hours with no food since landing in Suva early this morning. So we stay put and have a house special – curry with rice, roti and sides. I have lamb and Mark has chicken. Now you need to remember back to our days in the boat yard when he was working flat out to get “Ianthe” ready. What is the national dish of Wales? Half and half, that is a curry with rice and chips. Mark did ask me if they had half and half in Fiji. I thought this was a joke and no they don’t. Well, it was no joke for Mark and he then adds in a portion of chips to his order (and this is the pattern from now on).



We enjoy our lunch and then head back to Hakura (it takes three trips to get all his gear and both of us on board, thankfully none of the gear was likely to eat any of the others so that made it easier). Mark then gave me all the stuff from home – mostly bills and gear I had ordered.



We went ashore so Mark could have his first shower in a couple of days followed by a couple of drinks then he wanted an early night.



So what are we going to do now?



Mark was after a yacht to buy and call his own. There were a couple he had seen on the internet and had some, albeit, very limited email contacts about. One was in Suva and the other was in Vuda Point (just south of Lautoka on the west coast of Viti Levu). He wanted to head to Suva. I, on the other hand, did not wish to be anywhere near Suva. I have sailed the south coast of Fiji twice now and would love to have a look around the rest of Fiji, plus Fiji was about to have its first election in about 8 years and there was the risk of tempers getting too hot leading up to and following the election (especially if the ex General lost by a small margin).



Added to this was that neither Mark nor I wanted to drink kava, which is part of the traditional Savusavu. This is an important Fijian custom where a visitor to an area presents the chief with a gift, usually the roots of the yaqona plant (from which Kava is made). Part of the custom is that the guests drink some kava with the chief and his men.



I was willing to present the yaqona root but did not wish to drink the kava. This is because I only drink, water, fruit juice, milk and tea (and I cannot remember the last time I drink milk that was not in tea or a smoothy). I have subsequently learned that all I have to say on arriving a in a village is that because of my beliefs I don’t drink kava and most villages will accept that (Seventh Day Adventists do not even drink tea and there are many of them among the villages).



Mark and I decided to head to western Viti Levu, where at least one of the yachts Mark was interested in was and where he would be able to get more information about the yacht in Suva.



As a treat, we headed out to the location at Split Rock for a night away from Savusavu and we could get some snorkelling in. This is the same place as Mona, Henrik and I went on our last outing. Henrik did say he wanted to see a turtle most of all. Well we did not see one that time. Mark and I were about to head over to the reef when several boatloads arrived fro the major resort about 500 meters away. Well that finished off the idea of a quite snorkel, at least for a while. This prediction turned out to be a bit of an overstatement as the people only stayed for about half an hour before heading back. This left the rock to just Mark and I and we headed over there soon afterwards.



Mark headed straight to the rock while I when inshore (mainly because I often don’t swim in a straight line). I ducked down and noticed a flat coral – no, it was a small turtle. Sorry Henrik, it was a good place to see turtles after all. It stayed on the bottom the whole time we were watching it.



We headed over to Spit Rock and unbeknownst to me Mark had a plastic bag of ships biscuits to feed the fish. As he had the camera, he thought that I should have the honour of doing it.



As soon as the bag was in the water the fish attached everything. I had to beat them off while getting the food out otherwise they would have eaten the bag too. They would bit your finger (no big deal I had gloves on) and anything else that was white – the string holding up my swimmers. It was more funny that anything, very unusual to have fish so close.



Hopefully the video is attached to this blog, please pardon the sound track, Mark seems to think all videos need a running commentary. I don’t agree though I have not yet managed to work out how to edit the video. Anyway, enjoy it. Sorry the blog site does not do videos rather they use links to YouTube and I have not taken that on yet.



When back in Savusavu, we stocked up with fresh fruit and veggies and the usual supplied from the supermarket – peanut butter, baked beans and longlife milk, with the plan of leaving on Wednesday or Thursday. We were to take a route across the waters between Vanua Levu and Viti Levu following the south all weather passage. This route is called this because the trade winds get compressed in the gap between the two big island (at the southeastern entrance to Bligh Waters) producing significantly greater wind strengths than in the surrounding waters.



On Tuesday evening I got out the pack of Fijian charts and discovered that the only ones missing were those covering the north coast of Viti Levu. Poo poo bum bum!



Well after some further discussions, and a bit if indecision on my behalf, it was settled that we would get the charts on Thursday, when the shops opened and head off Friday morning, starting at 3 am (yep that is right I can get up early if its for sailing).



Come Thursday morning I went to the yacht chandlery and ask for the charts. They only had 2, a big one of the whole coast and a more detailed one of the western half. Thank goodness for that, they cost $125 Fijian each. They would have to do and in reality we would only use they if the handheld GPS went down, which it did not do.



Up to now Mark had been using the starboard bunk to store his gear and when ever I suggested that he needed to put stuff away, he assured me that it would only take him 30 minutes. During Wednesday, I had incited that the gear had to be stowed and surprise surprise, it took a lot longer than 30 minutes. In the end Mark had his gear in either quarter berth or in his locker in the main cabin.



Thursday evening we had our last dinner in Savusavu, lamb curry for me and chicken curry with chips for Mark. The interesting side to Mark’s desire to have chips with his curry was that most places did chips but some (usually the smaller ones) did them badly. They were after all small local curry places.



Then after a short visit to the bar, where we meet some more friends who had just arrived from Tonga, we headed back out to Hakura.



Came 4 am on Friday, we were up and ready to go (yep the 3 am start had been put back by an hour) and left Savusavu harbour about 4.30 and headed past Point Passage just after 5 am. Now the usual rule is that you don’t move around reefs before 9 or after 4 as you need to sun to be high in the sky to be able to see them, however, as there were only a the main reef at the entrance, and I had already been up and down this stretch of water several times, we could safely level before sun up.



We sailed out heading for a waypoint just off Namena Barrier Reef then we would head more west aiming for Makogai Is. The wind was about 15 knots from the southeast so as we were heading southwest it was an easy run. Just after we passed Point Passage, Mark came up and said that he felt that there were whales around. Oh yah, you can wish.



After about an hour or so, I thought that’s strange, there appears to be a whale’s tail off to port. Sure enough there was a tail slapping the water, about half a mile off. “Mark, you know you wanted whales, look to port.”



I think it was a sperm whale tail, judging by the shape (they are more triangular than humpbacks). We where able to count at least 3 blows (all at an angle as with sperm whales and not vertical as in humpbacks), though I think there where at least 4 whales.



At this stage I thought, what else is happening? So I looked off to starboard. “Mark, there are a few dolphins over there for you.”



Yep, we had about 50 dolphins about 200 meters off and they were taking no notice of us. They seemed to be swimming along parallel with us. We watched them of a while then I said I that I thought they were hunting, so Mark asks would he put out the trolling line using the game rod. A small old game rod, nothing like the new ones carried by same boats (we later saw some for sale in Vuda Point from several hundred up to a thousand dollars each and 2^nd hand too).



So we now had seen Mark’s whales (and dolphins) and we had a line out fishing. What more could Mark want.



“Doug, we could do with some interesting seabirds. What do you think?”



Now it was Mark’s turn to steer and I went down to get some sleep, ha!



Shortly afterwards I hear Mark shouting out “go away” “shoo”. “What is going on, Mark?” “Oh nothing really, just a couple of brown boobies trying to peck the top of the VHF aerial on the mast”. So now Mark has had his “interesting seabirds”. Now I should be able to get a nap in surely, nope.



The reel started to click. We have a fish on. Mark grabs the rod and I start managing the boat.



At first it appears that the fish has gone, then it is off and running. We can see it jumping behind the boat. It is a long fish with bright silvery sides and dark blue/black dorsal surface. I’m not sure what it is, may be a tuna.



Now the fish is heading off to port and has taken the line under the dinghy. Mark is moving around the boat (not an easy job with all the stuff at the back) and now he is heading forward. I have furled in the headsail and have the motor on.



Now the fish has taken the line under the boat and heading out the back. Mark is on the foredeck holding on to the rod, while I am in the cockpit watching the fish just of the starboard side. I even considered getting the boat hook and getting hold of the line.



Instead, I head to the forward cabin for the landing net. Now we are both on the foredeck and I am lying down trying to get the fish into the net. Bugger, it’s too big. Then I remember that the lure has a wire trace so I grab that and pull the fish up. I am now lying on the foredeck with a four-foot (1.3 m) mahi mahi lining on top of me. I hope it does not start to flap.



It is a magnificent fish, much too big for us to deal with and not have most of the flesh go off. It is now a bright yellow with blue spots all over.



Mark decides, with my full support, that the fish should go back and right now, if it is to have any chance of surviving. I give him the fish and he lets it slip over the side and it’s gone. Well-done Mark. And the quote of the day from Mark was “I’m not playing this fish. It’s playing me”.



That’s enough for the day, so please Mark, no more requests.



The rest of the day’s sail was uneventful and we arrived off Makogai Island. Now it is time for our first entry through a fringe reef. With the waypoints we had received in Savusavu, it was easy as and within half an hour we were anchored off the island. Well, it was not that straight forward as I had moved off the track and missed a waypoint but otherwise it was easy.



So ended a great Friday sail from Vanua Levu towards Viti Levu. We had not yet made it all the way to Viti Levu, however, the longest starch of open water was behind us.



We have a good night’s sleep and started early as we have another long day, this time travelling though the reefs in an area where we have been advised to stick to the waypoints. The first part is, however, across some more open water for a couple of hours. Again, as we have our incoming track to follow we should be all right leaving so early.



Now my words to Mark before we started were – “No more wish lists, right.”



What was that I was saying. After about an hour and a half, I saw a big splash off to starboard. In Tonga that sort of splash meant “Whales”. Yep, there was a whale in front of us. I wondered if it would still be there when we got there.



Shortly later, I saw another whale tail and splash directly amidships. Now that was a bit close for it to have been the same whale. This one was a humpback, as I saw the tails and the back as it dived. Thus I think we had two humpback whales.



The rest of the day was very quite after that, only the odd reef to dodge. The track takes you inside the main fringe reef and between the isolated reefs and small patches. We ended up at Viti Levu Bay, which is a big bay on the northeast corner of Viti Levu.



It is a great anchorage in winds other than easterlies. Yep, you guessed it, we had an easterly wind. We finally managed to get out of the wind in the southwest corner of the bay.



I had a great sleep, though Mark did report that he had been woken several times by the beating of drums in the local village. Mark said that this was accompanied by frequent references to fresh long-pig. I was not concerned because the Fijian’s are a healthy people and I would not be on the menu as the cholesterol levels would be way too high. I was not so sure about a well marinated Welshman.



Well the next three days followed the same pattern of starting about 9 and ending before 4. I had been told that the sun made huge difference but was not sure until I got to see the difference. On Day 4 of the trip we were heading along the eastern half of the north coast. I started on the helm in bright sunshine with the reef off to starboard being very obvious. I was able to see the odd reef off to port whenever one came into view. What did I need waypoints for it was so clear where the channel was. After a couple of hours Mark took over and I when below to get out of the sun.



Yes I may have had a nap or two. When I came up the world was different, it had clouded over and all the reefs had disappeared. I knew the big reef was still about 200 meters to starboard but I could see no sign of it. Of course I could not see the occasional ones off to port as well and these where more of a concern. Thank goodness for the waypoints and yes we did stick to them.



Now came the issue that had been occupying my mind; where to anchor? There was a big bay that looked good however most of it was reef and we were nearly past it. One of the Guide books I have (“Migrant Cruising Noes FIJI” the only paper one onboard) included a small bay as a good over night anchorage and this bay was just along the coast from where we were. So we headed towards this bay.



It is called Vitia Bay and is halfway between Vitia Point and Vitia Wharf, so it was easy to find, however, with the cloud cover we had some difficulty in being sure where the reefs where that nearly closed off the bay.



As I helmed Hakura, with the guidebook and handheld GPS, Mark was up the front spotting reefs. Now, over the past few days Mark had been entertaining one and all (i.e. me) with stories from the various marine training courses he had been one. One story was when they were powering along at 20+ knots (four times faster than Hakura) there needed to be a spotter and also there needed to be an agreement between the helmsman, navigator and spotter about what the spotter was to report. One option was to indicate the direction to save water and the other was to indicate the direction to the danger. It did not matter which one was used as long as all three used the same system. With this in mind, we had agreed he would point the direction to clear water.



Another important lesson Mark had picked up (he actually thought it was the only lesson from a very expensive course) was do not go where the seabirds are standing in the water. We did include “don’t go where people where standing”.



With all these measures in place we slowly headed in. It was a very narrow bit of water free of reefs. Most of the bay was covered, however, there was sufficient water for Hakura (and maybe a couple of other yachts) to safely anchor over night. We had a very pleasant and safe night, though Mark was continuing to be concerned about the activities of locals. Just because they had lit a fire under a big pot and where adding lots of veggies while a few dusky maidens waved us ashore was no reason to being thinking that we were being invited for dinner, or should I say as dinner.



One of the side effects of anchoring in such sheltered spots was the access that mosquitos had to us. I say “us” as we were both there, though the bitters did seemed to prefer the welsh rare bit as opposed to the old kiwi. This, plus the degree to which Mark did react to said bits, has lead Mark to be very cautious. He applies heaps of insect repellent and uses a mosquito net over the main hatch. He was a bit disappointed each morning as he had not managed to catch the skipper in the net.



Another topic of frequent discussion as we steamed past the coast was the large number of fires and extensive signs of recent burning. Many of the placed that had been burnt would only be suitable to stock grazing and as we did not see any stock, we did not feel that was the likely driving factor.



The farmers do burn off the sugar cane before they harvest it and often burn the stubble afterwards, also villagers will use slash and burn agriculture (i.e. cut down some forest or scrub and burn it off to make a garden). It is possible that the very low rainfall plus the frequent agricultural fires meant that lots of fires get out of hand. Later on, this provided to be a common hot topic with many other cruisers too.



Towards the end of the next day we arrived off Lautoka and headed to Saweni Bay, just south of Lautoka’s port. This is a good anchorage for northeast through east to southwest winds. What did we have? A good northwesterly, though I did think that this was a sea breeze as it had been moving more west as we started to come around the northwest corner of Viti Levu. If I was correct the wind would die over night, which is what it did do, eventually.



Mark likes to go ashore and have a walk every few days so we headed in and looked for a place to buy a drink. Nothing was open. Mark then went off for his walk and I motored back out to Hakura.



After a few hours when it had got dark, my phone went off. It was Mark from Lautoka saying he had brought takeaway curry for dinner and would be back soon.



Oh what a treat, delivered Indian takeaways. Well delivered for me anyway.



Mark phoned to say he was here and I motored in to pick him up. An interesting process picking somebody up from a beach in an onshore wind in the dark, however, we did make it, though Mark’s paints were a “bit saturated”.



Back on board with a change of paints, we sat down to a lovely chicken curry with rice and roti, and oh yes chips. You may remember my earlier piece on chips, well this was one of those occasions where they were awful. Not really surprising as it was a little Indian café run by a little Indian family. I could not eat even one of the chips.



We were now very close to Vuda Point and its marina with the boat broker that Mark had been emailing. So the next day we headed around to the marina after Mark had organised a berth. Well when we arrived off the entrance we discovered they did not have a berth but if we waited till 5 we could go on the fuel wharf for the night. We picked up their mooring buoy off the entrance and sat down to wait. Mark, being the cat on a hot tin roof that he is decided to go ashore. An adventure in itself, what with a good onshore breeze, narrow entrance and lively sea.



After a couple of hours Mark was back and very relieved to have made it. Yes we could go at 5 and no they had not heard anymore about the yacht in Suva. The other yacht that was here was already under offer. We settled down with a cuppa to wait.



The other facility that is at Vadu Point is the fuel unloading, loading and storage tanks. We noticed that the tug had moved from its mooring and was now sitting next to us. We looked up and a giant tank was heading our way. Not really a giant, it was actually quite small but bloody big from where we were sitting.



As we watched (with the motor running in case we needed to get out of the way) the tanker came in , slowly turned around and reversed up to its mooring. A great job and we told them so.



So after another cup of tea, it was nearly 5 pm and we headed into the marina. We got in there just before 5 and had to pull over to the side to allow a very large yacht (70’ +) come out and go alongside the fuel wharf. That’s our spot we cried (very softly so as not to up set any of the marina staff). We crabbed a mooring in the middle of the marina and waited.



Next we know, the marina crew are getting us ready to take a berth among the big yachts, the only place available. So after a few minutes of finding two extra long lines and working out what we needed to do, we slowly moved into a berth, bow against the wall and stern outwards.



This was a new arrange for me, though Mark had done this lots in other parts of the world. To get on or off when the tide was high we lashed the boarding ladder onto the rail on the port foredeck and, using some extra ropes to pull the boat into the dock, where able to climb up.



This was where Hakura stayed for the next six nights. A great spot with lots of yachts from around the world, many that Mark and I had meet before, including Kiwi John who Mark had last seen in the Cape Verde Islands.



As it was our first night in port, we visited the resort next door and had a very enjoyable evening. This included meeting a chap from Old Beach, Hobart, who said he had finally decided to sell their shake after the law was changed to ban the setting of set nets (gillnets) overnight. I the shook his hand and said that was me. I think he thought I was agreeing with him about the rule change. The penny only dropped when Mark told him that I was the one who made the change. He said that he thought it was Bob Brown (a leading Green MP in Tasmania and later Australia). The chap did not seem to hold it against me, possibly because we then talked about the coming AFL (Australian Football League) final between the Hawks and the Sydney Swans. His family where mainly Hawk fans, particularly his wife. I was able to relate to that. We did see the family after the final that the Hawks won easily and did give him a hard time because beforehand he had said he would support the Swans (which he late denied).



What was our next big job; Mark’s to be or not be yacht in Suva. To do this we would drive to Suva, and Mark since did not wish to take a bus he hired a car, and off we went. The latest information was that the yacht was in Suva Harbour and the guy was there.



After a four hour drive with only a couple of wrong turns. Mark seemed to believe me when I said I knew which way to go, though I had told him I had never drive to Suva.



Well we did make it to Suva, after stopping in Sigatoka for lunch and in Lami, a small village just before Suva, which is the home of the Tradewinds anchorage. It was one of the possible locations for “the yacht”. Nope it was not there.



Next stop was the Royal Suva Yacht Club. Yes the yacht was here and the guy was aboard. He had no money so no phone or internet access, thus he was not able to respond to any of the messages that had been sent to him.



Mark headed out to the yacht while I stayed ashore. I had decided to stay in the background as it was Mark’s dream and he had to make all the decisions without pressure from me. All I would do would be to ask Mark the questions that I thought he needed to consider.



After about an hour Mark was back. Yep the guy was there and initial views of the vessel were that it was ok. One issue of concern was that the guy had burnt himself badly but would not good to the doctor. Mark had agreed to get some thing from the chemist. More discussions would occur tomorrow morning.



So now we needed a place to stay, a chemist and dinner. A place to stay was found on the internet, it was cheap but clean. No chemists till the morning so we drove into the town and had dinner in an Indian restaurant that I knew.



Dinner was good and after only a few wrong turns (did you know Suva as a system of one way streets with a bridge closed off, we did afterwards), we got back to our room. Yes, we had a single room and two beds and an on suite. Plus bars on the windows.



We had a good night’s sleep, at least I did. I think Mark was awake a lot with a combination of heartburn from the hot curry and worry about the boat.



Next morning after breakfast and a visit to the chemist, Mark headed back out to the yacht and I settled in for a long wait. It was so long that I needed to find a power point to recharge the laptop. Several hours later, Mark walked and told me he had left the guy at the Emergency Department of the hospital.



The burn looked worse and Mark had insisted on only talking about the yacht while waiting for the doctor. While there, they had made real progress. After I asked Mark some questions, we noted that there was only a few thousand dollars difference between them.



After another couple of hours the guy turned up with a script for antibiotics and some instructions on how to wash the burn. Mark and he talked some more and came to in principle agreement on price. The next stage was to get his family to agree and then organise the exchange of money and paper work. They sent off an email to the family in South Africa, which hopefully would be answered over night.



This meant another night in Suva. Mark and I had agreed not to stay in the same place, so I suggested the Rainforest Lodge, about 20 minutes drive into the hills behind Suva. I had been there with John, Sharron and Lorraine in 2010. A very relaxing place. So off we went and found it without much trouble (only one “left, left that’s the place”).



We had a very relaxing evening and a highly enjoyable dinner. We met a Canadian chap who we last saw in Savusavu, when he had just arrived from Tonga. Fitz was very interesting and it would have been great to have been able to travel with him through the Lau Group as he had been there several times before.



After an enjoyable breakfast we where off down the hill back into Suva and Mark started the another day of negotiations. All parties were now in basic agreement on that the yacht had been sold to Mark and on the price, though there were some attempts by the family to increase the price or reduce what was being sold.



Now we had to head back to Vuda Point as we needed to get Mark’s stuff and I wanted to make sure Hakura was ok. We finally got underway by mid afternoon. It had been a long few days for Mark, though basically successful, I think.



Sunday was a rest day, partly because we had been on the go for the past four days but mainly it was my birthday. We celebrated by going to the resort next door and having roast lamb for dinner. Very juice lamb with a mixture of local roast veggies. Thanks Mark for a great evening. I enjoyed my birthday.



Monday 29 September was a big day in the life of Mark and Cap’n Doug. This was the day Mark left Hakura and boarded his own yacht and the day that Doug travelled from Vuda Point to Suva and back in a day. More on that later.



We were to start early, but the Marina told us just as we were about to off load Mark’s gear that they wanted us to move across the Marina. Not a big deal but poor timing. After about half an hour of undoing lines, moving and redoing lines we were safely in the small yacht section. Now it was time to off load Mark’s gear and load the car for the big trip.



Mark drove there and that took the usual 4 hours (it is not that far but the speed limit was 80 kph and some other road users did not do that. It was becoming an easy drive and I had remembered to take some CDs so we did have music. The first trip we only had Fijian stations where everybody talked so fast or the Hindi stations where we could get a few words every now and then, mainly “buy more and save more”. So radio advertising was basically the same wherever you are.



We stopped in Lami before Suva to visit the supermarket (for Mark) and the Yacht Shop for both of us . I am still looking for a replacement rowlock but the ones there want right. What they did have was a new replacement pump for the toilet. But what a price, no thank you.



Mark was looking at drop in fuel tanks as the ones on the yacht were contaminated.



I finally left Mark at the Suva yacht club at 4:30 and started to head off. Before I left I was going to visit a guy I knew from the 1990s in Australia and had an address and a rout off the computer, so off I went. But it turned out to be rush hour and I did make a wrong turning (surprising I know). I decided to pull over into a packing space to get the rout checked. The next spot was a bus stop and a big bus came in. What, it was getting a bit close. Oops it was a bit more than close. Just a mark on the front right bummer, but it was across the road from the local police station so we had four offices, some with pads and tape measures. Both drivers had to give a statement. This took about an hour so I was no longer interested in visiting anybody, I just wanted to get on the road. Firstly, I did visit Mark so he could see the damage – only a bit of paint on the front bummer.



Now I was on the road. My first drive in 4 months and first in Fiji, and night was falling. It was interesting, partly because of the large number of people walking on the sides of the roads (no lights or pavements) in the villages and the number of vehicles that were driving at well below the speed limit. During the day there were lots of people overtaking in highly questionable places, though not many at night. This could have been because I was one of them and as a I was driving faster than most (still within the limit).



I arrived back in Vuda Point without any further mishaps though very tied. So much so that the next day it took me ages to get up.



Now I had time to explore the marina and its services. There is a local shop, café, bar and Yacht shop. They also provide washing machines and showers (the latter for free). I did not use the café but did enjoy the bar with its $9.95 lunch specials and Half Price Pizza Tuesdays. The shop was good though the magnums (an ice cream) where $6.00 each so that was only on really special occasions.



The Yacht shop did have the same pump but it was $100 more. When I questioned this the guy took off the difference saying it was a pricing mistake. I’m not convinced that it was a mistake, rather if I had not known the other price I am sure he would have stuck to the marked one. Anyway, I did buy it and it is now installed and works a treat.



Finding crew was the main aim of being in the marina, so I contacted the people with adds up, most either have incorrect emails, or did not reply. Only one got back to say that they had gone.



I visited several backpackers near Nadi airport and left notices. I did get one email, however, they never responded to my email so that trail died.



I did talk with an english woman, Sally, who was sailing around the world on other people’s yachts. She was interested but really wanted to go to Vanuatu for the diving, so Sally wished to keep looking for a yacht heading that way.



I was beginning to think that I would not get any crew and started to look at the various options, which included sailing solo (not a goer as the skipper would be a bastard and the crew would mutiny), leave Hakura at Vadu Point Marina and fly to NZ or Australia (not a goer as there were no places in Vadu Point), or stay in Fiji by heading back to Savusavu (the cheapest place to live I have found so far), or get crew. The latter was the best as I wanted to spend the summer with Campbell and Claire in Tasmania, though staying may prove to be the one that happened.



After about a week, I was walking past the notice board where the marina posts the latest weather and started talking to two yachties, at least I thought they were yachties. They were not, but they were a Swiss couple travelling around the world. I asked them did they want to sail to Australia with me. To my surprise, they said that would be interesting. As I was in the middle of getting over a cold/sore throat I did not ask them on the boat for a cuppa. I did give them my email and suggested that if they were interested they should email me.



They emailed that afternoon. The big issue was that they could not leave Fiji until after 26 October as they were going on a dive expedition. I wanted to leave mid October to beat the cyclones and to get to Australian in November as Campbell had offered to help sail Hakura south to Hobart, if it was in November.



Thus started a period of indecision for me. I had the possibility of Sally but she really wanted to go to Vanuatu and that was only one crew, but we could go at the time I wanted to go. On the other hand there was this Swiss couple who did want to go to Australia, there were two of them, but their timing was later than I wanted.



The cyclone issue was not a biggie, as the trip to New Caledonia was about 6 days and then onto Brisbane it was about 7 days. Thus the weather forecasts would not have to predict too many far out (as opposed to 10 to NZ or 14 directly to Australia) thus the chances of a surprise cyclone were lowered. What with 7 days in New Caledonia, this made for a trip time of 21 days so if we left Fiji in late October, say 29 October, we should be in Brisbane about the 19^th. This may be sufficient for Campbell to help sail part of the way. So after considering all these issues, we decided on taking the Swiss couple (the we being the Swiss couple and myself).



We now have a plan, Swiss couple are doing their dive expedition, Dougie is heading out to the Yasawa islands till about the 25^th, then we meet at Vuda Point Marina and get ready to leave Fiji asap (weather permitting of course). We will be heading for New Caledonia, stay there for a week then head for either Brisbane or Coffs Harbour (about halfway between Brisbane and Sydney).

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