We had Bia bay to ourselves for our last night. As we get closer to spring tides the low tides are spectacular in the bay. My favourite drone photo of them all from there is this one.We left early this morning, picked our way carefully out of the bay (though it was high tide which made it easier), rolled out some screecher and sailed up to Namuka-i-lau. Its a stunning anchorage (though not quite as good as Bia), and I got the drone out to get a picture but alas, the drone is no longer working! N

Best laid plans… I’d spotted a bay on the north end of Ogea Driki, the island south of Ogea, and reckoned we could get in there (from the water colour). Alas, others thought the same. When we stopped at the village to say our goodbyes etc, the French headed directly for my chosen spot!After a very calm night at our anchorage, we left early this morning (high tide), and followed our track back out. We thought about going into the same bay, but the Chief’s son had told us it was small and wo

We moved around to the village anchorage as the north winds are pushing a chop into the Bia one, and they’re due to go west overnight. The reef on the western side is quite low, so quite a bit of swell gets into that side of the island in those conditions.Whilst here, we went to the village to say our goodbyes, drop of the fixed DVD player etc. Its high tide now, so here’s a low tide and high tide shot of the middle of the village.They’re trying to hold the water back, but it looks like it

This morning it was cooking and mending stuff. I got the DVD player working properly, but the amplifier defeats me. Its quite a complex beast that does not power on. Even getting to the main power supply required lots of disconnecting of transistors from heat sinks. A basic test shows nothing obvious which is a shame.This afternoon we headed back to the pass with the incoming tide. There were some locals spearfishing there, but I still saw no sharks. We did have crystal clear water though.We’r

Ogea is a real gem. We’re loving the anchorage - great to paddleboard around, and at high tide we can zoom through the narrow channels in the dinghy to get to the village, rather than the hot, 40 minute walk each way.At the village, we’re continuing to fix various electronic items. Mostly cables, DVD players and amplifiers. Word is getting out as we’ve had someone turn up in one of the ubiquitous fibreglass boats to ask if we can fix something. The guy with the LCD screen with big black ba

Yesterday, the 4 boats that are in the nothern anchorage met on a beach for afternoon drinks and to burn some rubbish. It was good to chat to some of the other boats. At least one of them is heading to NZ at the end of the season, so we’ll probably see them again.As we were getting ready to haul up the dinghy once back onboard, Nina spotted the manta ray that is known to frequent the anchorage. I got the drone up quickly and we got some great photos and video.It cruised around for quite a whil

Its a 45minute hike through the forest to the village on Ogea. The path is well made and easy to follow. As you get closer to the village, there is more cultivation of crops such as papaya, salads, bananas.The village itself is nicely kept, but we found it almost deserted on arrival. After a while, we found someone to take us to the chief and do the introductions. The chief had been busy carving, but soon we’d done our sevusevu and were told we were free to enjoy the village. The chief’s son

Our arrival brings the number of boats here to 5. 1 mono, 3 cats and a trimaran!Nice spot, though shallow. We knew that would be the case, given Fenice couldn’t get in here with their 3m keel. Early lunch then off to the village for sevusevu….

We’ve had a lovely time in Fulaga. Its quite spectacularly beautiful however its time to move on and leave the mozzies behind.Tomorrow morning, we’ll leave just before high tide, punching the incoming tide in the pass but without the standing waves that the outgoing tide would kick up. We’ll turn SE and head to Ogea (pronounced Ongea). You can just see it and the surrounding reef in the distance in this picture. Its only a few miles away and about a 11nm trip from anchorage to anchorage

I read on a blog somewhere that every paradise needs a little grit, and we’ve found the grit in Fulaga. On our first few trips to the village, we had been warned about the mosquitos but they were non-existant. However our last trip was insane. They were everywhere, and continue to be! Anchorages which were safe, now get mobbed. Even down at our anchorage we get the odd one that makes it out to the boat. The beach is a war zone! I went ashore to get a few coconuts and got nailed many times thro

The other thing the NE winds bring is more boats! Just as the place was emptying out, a flurry of yachts arrived today. First up was a Belgian boat, then 4 french yachts. Bringing up the rear was an American boat. Quite why 4 of them decided to anchor next to us is unclear - boats do tend to attract boats, but the anchorage that was popular a week ago was now empty, so we moved :) However, before all that happened, we took the opportunity to dinghy out through a pass in the islands to the outer

The wind calmed down a lot today, and as predicted swung NE. Usually I’d expect some rain and cloud, but we’ve escaped that. So Operation Dive the Pass went ahead. Just before low tide, we zipped over in the dinghy. Chris and Lynda from Fenice were already in the pass, so we had a quick chat. They were just snorkelling and checking current ahead of their departure tomorrow.We aced the tide prediction and had a slight outgoing tide when we arrived, with some standing waves at the very entranc

We moved back to our first anchorage as we want to be nearer the pass. There’s some calmer weather coming so we want to be ready to go diving and snorkelling…This morning, at low tide, we went for an explore.We explored the area up near the pass, and may go through some of the gaps in the islands into the outer reef area at high tide in the next couple of days. We also headed down to some of the other cuts in the island chain that we’re anchored behind. There’s a bit of a gap between the

Today we went for a dinghy ride, grabbed some drinking nuts and decided we’d visit the small island to the north of us. The one the ship is anchored at (seen below, with a couple of fibreglass boats).As we approached the beach, a fibreglass boat was leaving full of people, but we could see more on the beach itself. Everyone in the fibre (as they get called here) waved to us as they left. We were a little surprised as the guide suggested that the island had either 1 person or was unoccupied.Wha

This is the alternative anchorage for the village. There is apparently a path over the hill to the village on the other side, but it’s pretty overgrown.Its another stunning spot. We were joined a bit later in the day by the 37 metres superyacht Dardanella. A bit further north is the supply ship which is typically fijian (not one you’d want to travel on!).

We moved from the anchorage we used when we arrived, to be nearer the village as Soki and Ba were coming for lunch. The village anchorage is quite nice, certainly very protected in almost all winds. In the past, this was where most boats came at least for their first nights so they could do their sevusevu at the village before heading out to enjoy the atoll. With bigger outboards though, more boats like to anchor at the sandspit for the nice breeze and then dinghy over to the landing.You can see

We’re experiencing enhanced tradewinds at the moment. This means that despite being tucked up close to the shore, as you move further into the atoll, the waves make it a wet ride anywhere. We’ve been back to the village and met our host family, Soki and Ba. In fact, this couple were the hosts when Nina was last here on Pirlouit too and Soki recognised Nina straight away.The village has a beautiful lagoon of its own, though without the useful cut through the reef for ships. So everything arri

For the new readers, sevusevu is the ceremony whereby you request acceptance into the village. It is really the essence of Fijian culture and of course we try to do the right thing. So this morning, we headed over to the main village of the atoll (there are 3, so important to go to the right one!). We met another boat on the beach, so went together to the village to pay our respects to the chief.I’m not sure how interested the village chiefs really are, but Simon accepted our kava (a root f

Last night, the wind lightened quite a bit, and we ended up motor-sailing until my watch. Then we could sail nicely for a while, and on into the day. After that, it went ahead of us and we had a bit of a fight to make some of our waypoints. We sailed between Kabara and Vuaqava and though the gap is just 1.5nm, we never saw either island due to the rain.The rain lasted quite a while, and brought with it a quite horrible sea state with a nasty cross sea. The wind was very variable too, from on the

The anchorage at Naigani was pretty nice, but at 6am this morning we were lifting the anchor and heading out. It wasn’t the anchorage I had originally planned (there were 2 boats in that one), so we chose to retrace our steps to be sure of clearing any hazards and then turn onto the course past the north of the island.We had a few jobs to do with the last of the data (calls, emails etc), so I chose to go down to the reef at Ovalau and pass inside that, and around the NE corner. There’s plent