We departed from Tonga on Saturday the 9th with sunny skies and a bit of wind. On the way out from Neiafu, we had a final whale sighting in the distance to say goodbye! We were a bit nervous about the passage with our compromised forestay but the weather forecast looked manageable for us to take the southern route directly to Vuda Marina where we would be getting the rig fixed. The passage took four days and was a mix of sailing and motoring but overall pretty pleasant. We did have to adjust our route as we got closer to Fiji due to the low moving through the area. The last night of the passage was truly magical with the most incredible sunset we have ever seen onboard Meraviglia. We were in the passage between Beqa and Vatuele Island. The sea calmed and was like glass. We saw a pod of pilot whales swimming behind the boat towards Vatuele. In the distance, we could see humpback whales breaching. The sunset was stunning and for the first time, we saw the green flash at sunset. Well, actually, Bob saw the green flash- I had been staring at the sun setting for so long doing a time lapse photo, my eyes were blurry and it was hard for me to see it. But still the best sunset EVER! After the sunset we had a challenging couple of hours heading directly upwind but things calmed down and by sunrise we were at the entrance to the reef heading towards Vuda Point.
We arrived at Vuda Point Marina around 9am and what a welcome! Because we needed to clear into the country with customs and immigration, they directed us to go to the customs dock and await the officials. As we approached the dock we could see a sizable group of people holding a welcome banner. As we came in, they started to sing, with gusto!! It was lovely but did make the docking a bit challenging as Bob and I could not hear each other over the music! But we got safely docked and they performed a second song we could fully enjoy as well as presented us with a flower bouquet for Meraviglia! We were not there long before the officials came on board to clear us in. We had been told that Fiji is very strict with what food items you are permitted to bring into the country and many items need to be declared. Indeed the official did come on board and look through all the cabinets and the fridge and freezer but the only items he confiscated was our bottle of honey and a pack of sausage. No pork products or honey are permitted to be brought into the country. He did let us keep our chicken and beef which is also sometimes taken as long as we promised to keep it onboard. After about 30 minutes our clearance was complete and we were able to head to our slip. At this marina there are two basins, one with floating docks and one with med mooring. We were assigned to the basin with med mooring and as we approached I thought Bob was going to have a heart attack. It was the narrowest slip we have ever had to pull into between two other monohulls. Bob did great and we were securely moored with no drama! Because it is med mooring, it is very tricky getting on and off the boat. We have to climb over the bow onto a small finger that projects between us and our neighbor boat. It gets a bit tricky especially because of the tidal variation which is about five feet. But so far we have managed okay!
Our rigger, Westside Rigging, arrived at the boat within about 10 minutes of our arrival at the slip which was incredible. Sammy got to work quickly to assess the situation. As is typical with Meraviglia, he found additional things that required fixing. We knew the forestay and our D2 shroud on the starboard side needed to be replaced but additionally he found he would also need to replace the backstay to get the correct tension on the rig. Plus he recommended going ahead and replacing the port side D2 shroud since that was at risk for failure as well. So after three days, the rig is repaired and we feel much, much better about our upcoming passage to New Zealand in the fall.
We were really happy to learn that our Tuamotus boat buddies, Emily and Taras on Fortuna were still in Fiji for another few days as well as another friend, Hartwell on Ocean Rambler that we knew from Panama. We rented a car and headed to Port Denerau marina to meet up with them for drinks and dinner! We had a great time catching up and I had my first Kavarita – a mocktail version of a classic margarita, using kava instead of alcohol. It combines kava with lime juice, orange juice (or other citrus), and agave or other sweetener. The drink is typically served over ice, with a salted rim and a lime garnish. It was pretty good! We then had our first Indian food in Fiji which was also good. Indian food is prevalent in Fiji due to the historical migration of Indian laborers to the islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These laborers, brought to work on sugarcane plantations, brought their culinary traditions with them, which eventually blended with local Fijian ingredients and cooking styles to create a unique Indo-Fijian cuisine. We are super excited about this as we love Indian food! Our first meal was good but even though we both requested spicy, it wasn’t very hot so we will definitely ask for extra spicy next time! On the way back to the car, we saw some local performers doing fire dancing which was quite good!
On Friday, we headed back to Port Denarau to see Emily and Taras again before their departure for Vanuatu on Saturday. We picked them up and then headed to visit the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. In this botanical garden, a jungle walk takes visitors past a large lily pond and through native forest.The Garden of the Sleeping Giant is a beautiful orchid range started in 1977 by the late Raymond Burr, star of Perry Mason and Ironside. The gardens showcase more than a thousand different species of orchids, and even more native flowers and trees. There was also a great trail up to a lookout point where we could see all the way to the water and the surrounding hillsides. It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours and fortunately the rain started just as we finished. We headed back to Port Denarau for a second try of Indian food at Indigo Indian and Asian restaurant. We requested more spice and my butter chicken was definitely spicier but Bob’s paneer tikki masala still wasn’t very spicy! We had a lovely time catching up with the crew of Fortuna and hope they have fair winds and following seas on their passage to Vanuatu!
Saturday was for boat chores and getting to Facetime with the kids to catch up which was great. We also had sundowners with our fellow TRUman boaters, Meredith and Herman from Sailing Tieton. They were super helpful to us as we figured out our upcoming cyclone season plans for New Zealand so it was great to finally meet in person!
On Sunday, we needed to do some provisioning before heading out of the marina to begin exploring Fiji. We are planning to head to some of the more remote villages so we needed to head back to Port Denarau to do some shopping for appropriate clothing. When you visit a village, once you have anchored you must visit the shore and ask permission of the village chief to visit the area. This is called a Sevusevu ceremony. The Sevusevu ceremony is a Fijian custom where visitors present a gift of kava root to the village chief or headman (Turaga ni Koro) to seek permission to enter their land and waters. It’s a formal way to show respect and establish a connection with the local community. To respect the local culture, men are required to wear sulus and women can wear a sulu or a sarong and must have their shoulders covered. A sulu is a traditional Fijian garment, essentially a wraparound skirt, worn by both men and women. It’s a significant part of Fijian culture and is considered the national dress. The word “sulu” literally means “cloth” or “clothes” in the iTaukei language. You also must remove your hats (only the chief is permitted to wear a hat), remove your sunglasses, and carry your backpack in your hand, not on your shoulder. You then present an offering of kava to the chief and once accepted you are granted permission to join their community and visit the area. The Nadi farmer’s market was already closed on Sunday so Bob needed to go early on Monday morning to purchase our kava bundles before we returned the rental car. We then visited the supermarket and were pleasantly surprised by the variety and availability of the types of produce and products. I even got hass avocados- very exciting! So now that we are provisioned, we need to sit down and plan our route as navigation in Fiji is very tricky due to the many, many reefs, passes, and bommies. We know of many boats that have had some challenges this season already with hitting rocks, reefs, and bommies so our satellite imagery will be very important! We are looking forward to sharing more in our next post about this incredible country!
