Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji
05/23/2008 - 05/25/2008
The western Viti Levu coast. Sparsely inhabited, somewhat dry, and remote. It looked like some remote area of California.
Musket Cove to Savusavu
After our time in Musket Cove, we started to worry that if we didn't escape soon and head up to Savusavu, we might not make it out of there. Duncan sincerely considered spending the next five months in Musket Cove diving and improving his windsurfing. Nope! Instead, we are off to explore the rugged and primitive Vanua Levu, the large island north of the main Fijian island of Viti Levu (aka the mainland). Getting to Savusavu from Musket Cove can be accomplished via several routes. We plotted several of the routes and planned to assess which one(s) to take depending on the weather.
But first we need to acquire fuel and to check out of the Lautoka port region. The 22nd was a long day. Up at dawn, we stowed the dinghy on deck and outboard on the stern rail. After a three hour motor-sail form Musket Cove to Vuda Point, we pulled into the Vuda Point Marina to fill up with diesel. We thought fueling up at Vuda Point rather than Musket Cove would save of a few dollars with the price of fuel $0.43 per gallon US less than Musket Cove. After 411 liters of diesel filled Whisper's fuel tank, the 5% charge for using a Visa credit card made the savings close to non-existent. Most merchants in Fiji charge their customers the extra 5-6% bank charge to use a Visa card. It is still a very "cash" economy.
The good news was that while fueling up at Vuda Point, we ran into cruiser friends on Tackless II (from 2004), Waterdragon (from Bayswater Marina in NZ), and Halo (new HR42-owner friends we met in Opua). No time for dilly-dallying. We left Vuda Point and moved onward to Lautoka.
Good thing we stowed the dinghy. If we had towed the dinghy, the seas would not have been anywhere near this calm.
Since we cleared into Fiji at Lautoka, the process for cruising to Savusavu requires us to return to Lautoka, check out with Customs, indicate our intent to go up to Savusavu and list all the intermediate stops we intend to make along the way. Only then can we proceed north to Savusavu. Once we arrive in Savusavu, we need to check in there and when ready to explore that area, check out again. There are five of these major "ports" in Fiji where this process must be followed when entering and leaving each area. The same forms (in triplicate, with carbon paper) are filled out at check-in and again on check-out. Much of the information on the forms is duplicated across the two (sometimes three) pages of forms, and if nothing changes between arrival and departure, your are filling out the exact same information again (in triplicate, with carbon paper). Of course the forms are similar between each customs office, but not identical. The system is similar to the old "port captain" process in Mexico, and although tedious, it is at least familiar. The good news is there are no fees associated with the process.
Arriving in Lautoka an hour after leaving Vuda Point, Duncan relaunched and assembled the dinghy then went into Customs to check out. By the time he returned, it was late afternoon and time to go find a decent anchorage for the night. We did not want to stay in Lautoka because the sugar processing plant deposits dirty ash over the anchorage there, so off we went. About two hours up the coast, there is a suitable bay, so we left Lautoka and headed north. By dusk, we found our new anchorage, dropped the hook, and unwound after a very long day. Oh, we then put the dinghy back on deck in preparation for tomorrow's sail up the coast.
The trip to Savusavu takes a few days. We chose to go north along Viti Levu's west coast and then east along Vanua Levu's south coast. We knew getting to Savusavu from Lautoka would take a little effort because we would be heading against the prevailing easterly winds. The first leg (red) would be about 48 miles up to Nananu-i-ra. Then, we'll leave Viti Levu's north coast reef, cross Bligh Water, and pass inside the reef again on Vanua Levu's south coast covering 55 miles (pink). Then, the last leg (green) of just over 24 miles would bring us back outside the reef and up and into Savusavu Bay.
Robin reads the Michael Calder cruising guide to Fiji looking for a decent anchorage for the night. Although we will only spend one night at Nananu-i-ra, there is a good chance we will want to return to this area. The windsurfing and diving are supposed to be great.
Armed with a very specific route of proven waypoints, we navigated inside the reef around the west and northern coast of Viti Levu. We tried to never be off course more than 100 yards either way.
Another chunk of Viti Levu coast that look a lot like parts of northern California in the summertime. However, the water is 20F warmer!
Dark green-blue water, low lying reefs, and sparse mangrove islands (motus) make navigation a huge challenge. The reefs are not well marked and the GPS, proven waypoints and eyeballs are our main navigation companions.
The mountains on the northern side of Viti Levu get quite rugged.
Robin is happy to be in Fiji and happy to be off seeing something new.
Just when we would think we were rounding the last corner and would see Vanua Levu, we were greeted with another 20 miles of Viti Levu coastline.
Some of the mountains on Viti Levu are quite volcanic and rugged. The little stick in the water on the far left is typical of the reef-edge marks.
This cat is taking a different route than we are but ends up in Savusavu just a couple hours behind Whisper. We leaned later they didn't check out of Lautoka before proceeding up to Savusavu. Oops, that fine could get expensive.
Crossing Bligh Water. This wide and usually windy channel between the islands is named after Captain Bligh's 1789 post-Bounty-mutiny sail through this passage. He sailed on another thousand-plus miles after altercations with the unfriendly natives. Maybe the Bounty castaways didn't like the sound of that evening's European tasting-menu?
It looks like we made it across the Bligh water without incident. The weather is clear, the passes are narrow and unmarked, but with the calm seas and flat water, getting north was not a big deal and we didn't encounter any unfriendly natives.
This is a view of the Vanua Levu south coast. The mountains look older and less jagged than Viti Levu's mountains.
Once near Savusavu, we could take advantage of an increasing south-easterly flow to actually sail into Savusavu bay.
Unfortunately, with the wind came the rain. We entered Savusavu bay with low visibility, but we didn't much care. We were anxious to catch up with friends and get our introduction to Savusavu.
We pulled into the Copra Shed Marina and were led to a mooring. Time to learn what this area is all about.
Now that we arrived in Savusavu, we wanted to catch up with Gosi, explore the town, and learn about the surrounding area. It took us three days to get here and we are looking forward to our orientation on this area. We are newbies to Fiji and know we have lots to learn. In our attempt to be culturally sensitive-and-aware American travellers, we have a lot to learn about this complex culture. Maybe we need a course on Fiji 101?