Naviti Island

22 October 2010

After leaving the anchorage we chose to go north on the eastern side of Naviti Island, inside the fringing reef called Cakau Nasau. It was very much “eye ball and seat of the pants” navigation because neither the paper charts or the electronic charts were accurate and polaroid sunglasses saved the day, as we worked our way cautiously through the reefs and shallow water.

We exited the eastern reef just north of the Naviti island where there was a narrow pass. We had two tries at going through the pass. The first attempt was aborted because the depth rapidly dropped to 13 metres and we turned around and regrouped.

Once again the charts were not accurate and we found that according to both paper and electronic charts we actually crossed on top of the reef. On the second attempt we actually went out through a deep channel to the north of the supposed pass and the depth didn’t go below 28 metres.  There were no markers on this passage and we have found that  in all of the areas of Fiji.

Picture of Chart plotter photo of the reef chart

We hugged the reef as we sailed north until we found Kubu pass in the reef to go into the famous Blue Lagoon.

There was a floating mark on the northern side of reef  but from then on there were rusty sticks or tree branches marking reefs. We anchored in 12  metres of water and were very comfortable in the all weather anchorage.

The ferry pictured below, is the main means of bringing people to the resorts on these North Western Islands. It is mayhem when the ferry arrives and there are panga’s everywhere with guests who are departing and their luggage and then the new guests are off loaded.

The ferry  bringing people to the numerous resorts and taking others back to the mainland

You can see that all of this activity was happening very close to Salacia

We heard of one yacht who hit the reef in Blue Lagoon twice yesterday. Fortunately they got off under their own steam but the calls went out to the local boats that there was a yacht in trouble and they were all ready to offer assistance. We have been putting in a waypoint on a known reef and heading straight for it rather than try to find a “problem” which is like a needle in a hay stack.

We were invited to a traditional Fijian feast by the Chief. In this case she is a lady who own the whole of the island. The food was cooked underground wrapped in banana leaves and then covered with palm fronds and dirt and then it is all covered by a tarpaulin. Fish, pork, beef and vegetables were cooked by this method and the banquet included salads, vegetables and fruit. Everything was absolutely delicious and after dinner the Fijians lit a huge bonfire. Two Fijians lads and some crew from a Danish yacht  played guitar, ukulele, mouth organ, and flute and the singing was incredible. It is amazing how friendly and open the Fijians are.

The fire pit covered with tarp and dirt

Removing the tarp from the fire pit

Removing the plam fonds from the fire pit

Removing the food wrapped in banana leaves

Lighting the bon fire

The Danish yacht was interesting in that it had 10 people on board and was owned by 33 families who take turns in passage making and as skipper if they have the required Danish Level 3 Yachting qualifications. They were all very friendly. We had to avoid looking at the yacht though as they were always naked on board.

Sadly we left this gorgeous place after two nights. We motored slowly out the unmarked channel to the western side of the island and picked our way through the reefs, rocks and shallow areas as we headed south. The visibility was very good and there was 5 -10 knots of wind from the east so it was an easy and scenic trip. The scenery on this west coast is reputed to be the best and most spectacular in Fiji.

The west coast of the Yasawa Group is spectacular

We had planned to anchor at Likuliku Bay on the west coast of Waya Island where there is a nice resort. However, when we got there, there was a rolling south westerly swell so we pressed on to a more suitable anchorage. At this stage the wind was 1.5 knots from the NE.

We checked out Nabora Point in Yalobi Bay and then went down to Yaobi at the head of the bay. We returned to the much prettier  Nabora Point and anchored in 9m. The roll was very gentle – just enough so you knew you were on a boat.

Cyndy prepared a delicious Carbonara which was very well received.

We also had a visit from a local Fijian who had nasty looking erupting boil on his leg and was looking for help.  Cyndy cleaned and dressed the boil and provided him with dressings, bandages and medications and instructions on how to care for the wound  and advice to follow up with medical attention. We felt we had really helped him.