6/7/24 – 8/7/24

We lifted the anchor at 07:10, left the shelter of Minerva Reef and set course for Fiji.

Our first day was fabulous downwind sailing in a strengthening southerly. The only distraction was Nigel reeling in a good size sailfish. Our freezer stocks are building up nicely.

Overnight the wind increased and our log recorded a swell of around 4 metres. Still not too uncomfortable and it certainly didn’t stop us from fishing. At 12:30 the log entry read ” Caught a massive yellow fin (Claire reeled it in). Off course for about 40 minutes. Now back on course and wondering what to do with all the fish.”

The fish was estimated to be around 45kg – Claire couldn’t lift it. Our freezers are now completely full – and all fishing has ceased!

The wind continued to strengthen overnight as Fiji settled into a Bogi Walu (pronounced “Bon-ghee-wah-loo). No, we’re not making this up. Bogi means night and walu is eight so bogi walu refers to the (typically eight night) period when there is a surge in the South East trade winds over the Fiji Group. At 01:00 we recorded 24 knots downwind apparent wind and the log entry said “Waves crashing over the boat. A bit rough!”

Although we were making good speed – typically 7-8 knots – we could not get to Savusavu in daylight. The notion of heaving to and spending another night out in a washing machine did not appeal either (and could have brought us foul of Fiji immigration in any case). So we made the decision to enter Savusavu Bay in the dark.

Fortunately, we had good waypoints on the chart plotter and there is a signal light on the eastern side of the reef. After contemplating leaving the sails up until we were more sheltered, we opted to bring them down in the dark with the wind gusting 30 knots. We were pleased that we had as the wind strengthened when we rounded the headland making it very difficult to stay on course.

We were all very happy to be safely inside the reef and then even more so as we entered the calm waters in the lee of the long peninsular that shelters Savusavu and found the lights of the town twinkling their welcome.

The team at Nawi Marina were expecting us and we were extremely grateful to be guided, by torchlight from their tender, through the channel and onto the marina’s quarantine berth.