Savusavu to Likuri Harbour, Fiji
07/14/2008 - 07/23/2008
Time To Go Sailing
"Beep, beep, beep" What is that sound? Oh, it's an alarm clock. One of the great pleasures of cruising is not having to set an alarm clock five days a week. Occasionally, we do have a schedule and set the alarm clock. Today, our 5 am wake up call sends us scurrying to prepare for a potentially raucous day of sailing as we escape Savusavu.
The plan is to sail to either Naigani, Coconut Point, Makogai or Savusavu Bay. Naigani is 65 miles SSW, Makogai is 52 miles SSW, Coconut Point is 23 miles west and Savusavu Bay is pretty much where we start the day. Yesterday, a few boats sailed to Makogai with 30 to 40 knots of wind. Our plan was to stick Whisper's nose out of Savusavu Bay and see what the weather gods had in mind for the day. Based on the initial assessment of wind speed and wind direction, a destination choice would be made with the preferred destination of Naigani. Forecast winds to the next couple of days looked even windier, so the further south we make it, the better our options are for the next couple of days of sailing.
Rounding the point of Savusavu Bay put us into the ocean swell and wind. The good news was the swell was not too bad and the winds were in the 15 to 25 knot range. The so-so news was the wind direction was a little further SSE than we wanted. With friends on Gosi right behind us heading for Makogai, we decided to try to make it to Naigani even though is was a little uncomfortable for a 20 miles. Once in the lee of Koro Island, the winds dropped and we turned from a course of 180 degrees to 220 degrees. Much more comfortable. Naigani here we come.
Gosi's catching up to Whisper. Time to turn on the engine!
Naigani is a beautiful spot with outstanding water clarity. Wish we had more time to stay and explore, but we were anxious to get to the Mamanucas. We were in such a hurry, we did not even take a photo, so this one is courtesy of the internet.
By 5:30 pm, the anchor was set in 40 feet and we could see the anchor on the bottom. The water clarity was outstanding. Sipping our gin and tonics, we discussed whether we should hang out in Naigani a few days or keep moving to the Mamanucas. We agreed to keep moving, but Naigani is a definite spot to return to some day.
Here are the tricky bits.
The next morning, we hoisted the anchor and sailed 34 miles west toward Nananu-I-Ra. Sailing downwind in waters with no ocean swell is a real treat. Winds ranged from zero to 30 knots. We kept a couple reefs in Whisper's mainsail and a reef in the jib, made for a fun, comfortable day of sailing. The most fun and most challenging part of the day was winding our way through the Navolau Passage in 30 knots of wind. Jibe ho! Watch for reefs. Go one quarter mile. Jibe ho! Watch for reefs, Go 300 yards. Jibe ho! Go half a mile. Watch for reefs. Jibe ho! Don't hit the island. Phew. There is the anchorage.
Thus begins several great days of sailing to the Mamanucas.
Anchored off the west coast of Nananu-I-Cake, the beautiful island of Nananu-I-Ra is the view from the cockpit.
Without any rain visible, somehow this rainbow stretched over the northwest corner to Viti Levu.
Watching for the green flash, another Fiji sunset delights us.
Another stressful day of sailing.
We spent a couple of nights in the Nananu-I-Ra area with hopes of snorkeling and walking on the island. The winds just kept blowing making activities other than wind sports a bit challenging. Over the course of the next couple of days, we met Australians Tricky and Jane from the boat Lion heart who came to Nananu-I-Ra specifically to enjoy kite-surfing in the big winds. Their enthusiasm for the sport has Duncan considering shifting his energy to learning to kite surf rather than improving his wind surfing.
Winds showed no sign of abating, so decided to keep on moving toward the Mamanucas. Another great downwind sail took us south 54 miles toward Lautoka. The next day we checked in with customs in Lautoka and decided to meet up with friends going to Likuri Island.
Slowly approaching from behind, this fishing boat drags long lines or nets behind. Doesn't seem quite right to be fishing like this inside the reef.
Viti Levu's beautiful mountainous coastline provide a beautiful view from Whisper's port side.
Fijians burn, burn and burn everything from coconuts, sugar cane and brush. Fires such as this one appeared every few miles.
The smoke reeks havoc with our sinuses and diminishes from the view. The fires burn through the night making sleeping a bit difficult.
On approach to Momi Bay, we spotted what looked like gun emplacements.
Another great 25 mile sail found us spending the night in Momi Bay in preparation for tomorrow's big passage, 10 miles, to Likuri Island. Momi Bay is located on the southwest corner of Viti Levu and was the site of grand plans by a New Zealand developer and property investment firm. Marriott, Ritz, Hilton. Spas, hotels, condos, golf courses. Stopped dead in their tracks. The whole thing is quite interesting given Momi Bay is certainly not the most picturesque area of Fiji yet it is 25 km from the Nadi airport. Ironically, websites still refer to the opening of the various resorts in 2008 and 2009. We'd hold off on booking anything at Momi Bay for a while.
Yep, they are gun emplacements. During World War II, Fiji was a training base for the Allies. The gun emplacements were installed to defend Fiji against an invasion from the Japanese which never eventuated.
The best laid plans....stopped mid-construction, the Momi Bay resort has fallen into disrepair for a variety of reasons including the failure of New Zealand property investment firm Bridgecorp and tax changes introduced after the 2006 Fiji coup.
Sweet spot.
Likuri Harbor
Rick and Robin on Endangered Species recommended we visit the Robinson Crusoe resort on Likuri Island for a variety of reasons. The island is beautiful, the resort is cruiser-friendly and the entertainment includes fire! What more can you ask for.
The friendly folks at Robinson Crusoe allow yachties to use their facilities, drink at the bar, dine in their rustic, yet tasty $10FJD dinners and enjoy the daily activities and entertainment. Fun is the name of the game at Robinson Crusoe. Fire dancers, kava ceremonies, crab racing, snorkeling, coconut tree climbing, diving, nightly bonfires keep the guests, the day trippers and the yachties busy. By no means is this a fancy resort. However, everyone from the staff to the guests have a great time.
The reception area, pool and bar are the center of activity at the resort.
Every day, sunset brings out the mat, guitars and bonfire.
Let the sun set and the pyrotechnics begin.
Down with the sun.....
....and on with the show. Check out the video
Quite the fire show is put on every other night. We never tired of the show because is was different each time. On this night, a woman joined the fire twirling. She looked scared to death, but did a fine job.
A rousing game of Mexican Train Dominos kept us all amused for most of an afternoon.
Gotta love (not really) the wacky games such as crab races.
Likuri can be circumnavigated on foot at low tide. Off we went.
This lonely panga sat at the end of the island. Where o where is its owner? We later discovered him sleeping in between a couple of palm trees.
Here is the cruiser school bus.
Up The River
The Robinson Crusoe cruiser concierge, Roneel, arranged a trip for the cruisers to go up the nearby river to visit the village and its school. With any visit to a village, proper protocol must be followed. For this visit, Roneel had us each contribute $10 to be donated to the village rather than each of us bringing kava. Phew, that was a welcome change.
Twenty cruisers piled onto the boat barge. We followed in our dinghy with plans to continue up the river to visit the Natadola Beach after the village visit. Up the river we motored arriving at the village 1/2 hour later.
First on the agenda, was a tour of the village. Next, we visited the school. What a treat. The school's three classrooms emitted sounds of lots of children. We were excited to meet them and there may have been a little excitement about our visit. We visited each classroom. Then, the entire school assembled in the main hall for a kava ceremony and performance.
Singing in Fijian, singing in English, chanting warrior cries brought smiles to all of our faces. The one controversial song entitled "Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, McDonalds" left most of the Americans simultaneously laughing and cringing. Here we were in a remote village in Fiji and the kids are singing and dancing to American-born fast food companies. Amazing.
Two to three miles up the river sat a little dock and houses on the hillside.
The village was extremely tidy and well-maintained. There appeared to be great pride in the school.
The school has three teachers. Each teacher proudly told us they hold their classes in English. The Fijian language has many dialects and the large Hindu population speaks Hindi. English is the common language regardless of what is spoken in the home.
We went in each classroom. The teacher gave us an overview of the years taught in their classroom and a little insight into schooling in Fiji. Then, we chatted with the students about a variety of topics.
These guys are the future mathematicians of Fiji. They took a quick break to smile for the camera..
A wide variety of singing and chants kept us amused for quite some time. This particular child was either wanted to kill and eat Duncan or thought Duncan was an All Black. Check it out.
The church, located at the center of the village, was simple,yet beautiful.
Rather than waste time nailing down roofing, concrete block are used to keep roofs in place. Much more efficient give the chance cyclones will hit every year.
The village looked very well kept. Houses ranged from fancy ....
to much more austere.
After the village visit, we continued up the river in Shout with a destination of...
...Natadola Beach. This is a gorgeous, overcrowded beach. Perhaps one of the most beautiful we've ever seen. You must visit and stick your toes in the most perfect sand to be found.
This entrepreneur was selling horse rides on the beach. Okay, maybe its a pony, but surely it meets someone's fantasy of riding a horse/pony on a beach.
We left the school and the other cruises to continue up the river in the dinghy. Halfway through the trip, a guy jumped out of the mangroves yelling "Help! Help!" Okay, what do you do when you are alone in a dinghy riding up a river and a kind of scary looking guy jumps out of the mangroves yelling help? Of course, Duncan turned back to help while Robin quietly said "We should be careful here". Turns out the guy was fishing and tried to spear a fish. His spear was floating down the river. We retrieved it for him and kept moseying down the river toward Natadola Beach.
The river ended abruptly, so we figured the beach must be nearby. We walked over the berm and wah lah. Gorgeous! After a walk on the beach, we stopped in at a resort for lunch. An hour dinghy ride to get back to the anchorage left no room for dilly-dallying. We left Natadola wishing we had more time to explore. the beautiful beach and waters.
After Natadola Beach, we returned to this beautiful beach at Likuri. How are we going to leave this place?
Yet another great downwind sail took us away from the fun-filled Robinson Crusoe resort and island. With sailing like this, we may never want to go on another ocean passage.
We knew we had to leave Likuri and Robinson Crusoe, but it certainly is a hard place to leave. However, other places were calling our name. We decided to make the move to explore more of the great resorts in this area of Fiji. We are liking this resort cruising lifestyle. Next stop, Denerau.