We left the anchorage early and as we pocked our nose out it was blowing 20 – 25 knots from the east. We put a reef in the main and we were launched on a beam reach. The wind built to 25+ knots and we were trucking along. A school of dolphins played alongside of us with synchronised leaps. It is nice to have our daily visits again.
After change of shifts the wind moderated to 20 – 25 kts or lower and went around to the NE. This was a nice reprieve but as soon as the wind god saw Cyndy on the helm the wind strengthened to 30 – 35+ knots. At these wind speeds it was too much for the self steering with the accompanying waves. What fun she had surfing down the coast to the favoured pass through the reef.
We took the main down before going through the Manava Passage (pass in the reef) at lunch time and the strong winds certainly made things difficult. The pass is relatively wide at 0.7nmiles and the reef on either side was visible at low tide. Even on the island side of the reef the seas and the wind were ferocious. We entered our chosen anchorage on Viti Levu which turned out to be protected from the NE winds so we anchored in 5 metres and have good holding in sand and mud. The bay is unnamed but it is at the base of Vanabuli Island and it is the first bay south of Taba Naloma bay.
A panga with 3 fishermen were doing it tough going north in the high seas so when they saw us enter the bay they turned around and joined us at anchor. It is still very protected here and the wind strength has increased again after moderating for 1 ½ hours
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