Time out in Saweni Bay.

Saweni lies about 5 miles to the west of Lautoka, and provides a calm, clear, and protected anchorage in all winds barring the Northerlies. Here we were able to swim,  and clean the prop and hull, using our little dive compressor, and stay well away from the sooty fall out from chimneys of the sugar cane mill in Lautoka.

Weekend at Saweni Beach

MV Kanaloa

 The palm tree’d beach  once boasted a fully  functional hotel, in years gone by! The restaurants and bar which was frequented by yachties are now closed,  and the hotel just rents out apartments, on a self catering basis, and even that seems to be only very occasionally! The beach attracts a few local families, and parties over the weekends, some of which went through the night!

Fortunately, the Autopilot problem turned out to be relatively easy to fix. Somehow, the hydraulic fluid in the system had become clogged with thick green gunge. I was able to bleed and flush it all out, firstly passing the fluid through some paper coffee filters, until I could find and buy some mineral based ATF fluid from a motor spares company in Lautoka. I then replaced all the fluid again with the new ATF, and we seem as they say, “good to go!”

Saweni Reefs......take care!

There are two distinct anchoring areas, with the reef protruding like an hour glass in the middle of the bay. These reefs are wrong on the Navionics charts, and poorly shown on most other electronic charts, apart from the Google earth overlays. The inner area can accommodate 5-10 yachts in 3-5mts, but the holding is apparently not uniformly good there. We prefer to anchor outside the hour glass reefs, in about 6-7 m, where the holding appears better in thick mud and sand, although we once dragged when we dropped our anchor on some rubbish!

Didn't see the reef!

In the brief time we have been there, we have seen two boats hitting the reef by cutting the corners of the approach. A big power cat was badly holed, and sank in the shallows, trying to make it to the beach. A twin engine taxi boat lost both its props 2 days later. The cat was temporarily patched and refloated at spring low the next day, and towed around to Vuda Point for haul out. We were also told that a 3^rd boat had hit the reef a couple of days after we left!

The reefs pose no threats to sensible yachties however, and the bay offers a pleasant anchorage, plus easy access to Lautoka for shopping and provisioning.

Sadly, litter is a problem here, as in so many other beautiful islands

This is what we do......there isn't a single refuse bin on the beach!

A $1.50 bus ride, at 8.30am, or 10.30am,  takes you to the bus terminus in the centre of town, and a $15.00 taxi fare gets you back if your shop gets too much for the bus trip back! The 10.30 bus takes a longer and more rustic route into town, for the same fare! A cheap and fun way to see a little bit more of Fiji!

Waiting for the  bus,alongside the track of the sugar cane train

Fly by pics through the bus window........

Passing the sugar cane train......

 While there, we also met, and got to know Heidi and Wolfgang  (M/V Kanaloa), who have done 5 circumnavigations ! Two in sailing yachts, and the last 3 in their 47ft  Nordhaven motor yacht, “Kanaloa”.  For the last 3 circumnavigations, their 3^rd crew member was their little Norfolk Terrier, “Zulu”, who joined ship in RSA!    In the morning and evenings, we would see him perched up on the bow of the dinghy, as they took him to the beach for his walk. Sadly , his 13 year old heart was failing,  and he passed away while we were there . He was buried at sea a few miles offshore, leaving his owners heartbroken, but full of happy memories.

Wolgang and the local cowherd de-ticking the ears of a gentle stray dog

On our most recent visit, 11 yachts forced their way into the inner anchorage, 4 of which were smallish yachts each with 8 people on board. It must have been a Rastafarian get together, given the long dreadlocks, hairstyles, yodeling and hollering, together with their clothing……or total lack thereof!

Maybe the cause of the yodelling? Poisonous watersnake swam by our boat

We came back to restock, escape the nonstop wind at Musket Cove, and wait for the wind to give us a decent time in the Yasawa’s. It is looking good for the next 10 days, starting from Thursday /Friday. Great!!

    

SavuSavu to Saweni

Departure point.....Cousteau Resort on Vanua Levu

Our departure plans from Savusavu were heavily influenced by the brief weather window (1 ½- 2 days), during which the “Strong wind advisory with rough seas for all Fiji”, was taking a break!

The burst holding tank situation also put us under pressure to find a safe, and somewhat  “isolated “ anchorage, in which I could begin to tackle the  malodorous problem!

Our plan was to do the 50 mile leg, around the Namena Barrier reef, to Makongai, overnight there, and then cross the Makongai Channel early the next morning before the wind piped up. We were warned that this little 12 mile channel acts as a katabatic funnel, which can escalate a 25 knot breeze into a wild gale! 

Anchored off the village on Makongai

Leaving Makongai at crack of dawn

 We had also wanted to stop over at the Naigani Island for a couple of days, but local sailing guru, Curly, said the natives were not too friendly! With cannibalism being one of their earlier culinary delights, and the wind predicted to pick up again, we gave it a miss too, and made for Nana i thake, midway along the north coast.

The route via Naigani takes one inside the reef which protects the north of Viti Levu, but the original paper charts, and the electronic Navionic charts (which we use on our chartplotter) are not all that accurate! Our first step was to plot all Curly’s waypoint’s for the route, and see how they looked on the chart plotter, and Open CPN, a computer based navigation and chart system. Apart from going over a few reefs here and there, it did not look too bad! There were also supposed to be channel markers in place, but we knew that 50% had been lost over time.

A channel marker in its death throes!

 The final check was to overlay the route on the Google earth maps, which show the reefs more clearly.

Our route through the reefs on the north coast of Viti Levu

Along the way, we caught two mystery fish, the likes of which we had never seen before! 

Torpedo Scad.....made a reasonable curry, but will be returned in future

Wolf Herring......very bony.....made fishcakes, but never again!

As it turned out, we had a good sail to Makongai, and crossed the channel motoring in dead calm! It was a really weird experience motoring through a narrow gap in the surrounding reef, having no visual reference apart from waypoints and depth. The last couple of miles into Nana I thake were incredibly winding and the opening into the huge anchorage was hidden until the very last turn.

We anchored a couple of hundred metres away from a big cruise stink pot, which alternated its deck lights between pink and gold each night!

 Little did they or their guests know what we were about to empty into the water! Well, at last I could set about the horrible task of draining and removing the burst tank. It was a  VERY NASTY job, which required taking the cupboards apart, disconnecting all the pipes, numerous swims, deep breathing exercises, showers, vast quantities of detergent and bleach,  plus some psychiatric and language counseling from Mary!

The split in the holding tank!

At last the job was done, and I was able to re plumb the heads using my spare pipe and connections. Two days later, Sheer Tenacity was back to her sweet smelling self, with a fully operational loo, and the Porta Potty back in stowage!

Fortunately, we were well protected from the winds which blew strongly over the island, and by the time the jobs were done, the wind eased up, and we could carry on to Vatia Wharf, ( just a convenient night stop)and Lautoka, (the official clearance port/town… rather scruffy, smoky, and not very appealing as an anchorage!), 

A sad sight, approaching Lautoka!

The very busy wharf at Lautoka

 before dropping the hook in nearby Saweni Bay… quiet, protected, and safe in all winds apart from the Northerlies.

Sunset in Saweni

One of 2 reefs in Saweni Bay, completely submerged at hightide

 Now I could start trying to find out what the problem was with the autopilot!  

A Taste of SavuSavu

23/6/2015

After all our motor sailing, it was really nice to be on a mooring buoy, in a quiet and sheltered anchorage, although when the wind filled in again, we found ourselves uncomfortably close to the shore…… and some other cruiser’s sad demise!

We enjoyed the peace, while it lasted, and had some lovely sunsets to remember.

We visited the local market, and found plenty of good fresh produce at prices cheaper than NZ… Not difficult! 

On one occasion we were entertained by the US Naval band from the “US Mercy”.

“Mercy” is the world’s largest hospital ship, which sails around the world offering first world healthcare, surgery, etc to many of the less fortunate countries. This was its first visit to SavuSavu, and the Ship was handling over 500 patients per day in their fully equipped operating theatres, X-Ray, Cat scan etc facilities, with launches and a helicopter ferrying patients from dawn to dusk, for the entire time we were there. (10days)

In the background, USN Mercy, lit up like an office block

On another occasion the Fijian Police brass band showed they were not to be out done, with a parade through town. I got some lovely video footage of a Fijian trombonist forsaking his instrument to do a “makarena” with a game old lady he plucked from the crowd.

One day we took a 2½ hr, $11.50, return bus ride to the island capital of Labasa. The trip took us over the mountains, through the rainforest, and down to the sugar plantation area, of which Labasa is the centre.

Oranges for sale at crossroad

Although mainly of Indian culture, we walked a few miles to the WASAVULA Ceremonial site, which we found to our shame, was in the middle of a little village, and we should have brought an offering of Yaqona (Kava) for the Chief, in order to request his hospitality, and be shown the site.

THE Monolith

Brain bowl on the left

Head chopping block

Legend has it that the Monolith pillars are in memory of the “Elders”, and we were shown the VATU ni BOKOLO, (or head chopping stone), on which victims were decapitated in earlier cannibalistic history. In addition, there was a bowl shaped rock, in which the “Chief” was served the victim’s brain!

All too much! We made our way back to the town, where we enjoyed a couple of cold beers and a Chinese lunch, before walking through the market, to the bus station , where we made sure we caught the only bus going back to SavuSavu.

Labasa market with its yaqona dealer

View of market over the river

The next day we went out and bought our yaqona roots, from which the Kava drink is made. Each bunch costs about as much as a bottle of wine….. and it apparently tastes a bit peppery and foul, numbs your lips, and is a calmative,…  but it is an age old custom , and tradition of Fijian hospitality.

Weighing out our yaqona bundles

We had all made our plans about where we were heading when the weather window opened up, so we said farewell for a while to Scott Free and Beez Neez, who were heading East, to Vianni Bay, and the Lau group, while we were heading South, and East to Makogai, Naingani, Nananu I Thake, Denarau, and Mololo (Musket Cove).

Drinks at the Copra Shed Yacht Club

 We will all meet up again there, in about 6 weeks, when we head out to Vanuatu.

On Sunday evening, we headed out to Cousteau resort, on the SavuSavu point, to knock off the first 6 miles of what would be a 46 mile trip south, for which we welcomed the 15kt Easterly.

As it turned out, it was just as well that we had decided not to head Eastwards…. two  nasty boat problems made themselves known to us.

Firstly, the autopilot jammed, and would not release. We had to steer ourselves into the anchorage using the autopilot, to drop the anchor, and then address the problem. Secondly, we experienced one of the cruising life’s worst nightmares….. the new and very expensive New Zealand black water holding tank blew up…. Not only depriving us of our loo, but covering ……….. well lets not go into too much detail!

Suffice to say, that the joys of being a skipper on a cruising boat are never ending!