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Firefly - Yasawas north to south



Its Friday 3rd July and Firefly is moored in Musket Cove on Malolo Lai Island having joined the 2015 World ARC. A much smaller fleet than last year, Firefly is helping to make the numbers up to 15 boats. On Saturday we are scheduled to depart for Port Resolution Bay on Tanna in Vanuatu. This is one of the Southern Vanuatu islands that received a direct hit from 'Pam, a Cat 5 cyclone' in March this year. There is a possibility that our departure may be delayed by a 'late season' storm that is present on the forecasts at the moment - this is being scrutinized by the skippers, World ARC rally control and the various weather experts who help out and advise.

En route to Musket Cove we stopped at Vuda Point Marina for a quick haul out and antifoul. Here the combination of the marina staff and the yacht service company Baobab offer first class service at very reasonable rates. Having entered the Yasawa Group of islands at the northern end we spent almost a week cruising through the chain in company with Pat and Stuart on Brizo. Firefly cruised here in September 2014 and were keen to revisit. Our first stop was at Sawa-I-Lau, reaching the anchorage just before the sun went down following a long trip west from Vanua Levu. We awoke to a large well protected bay with some stunning limestone rock outcrops, undercut by the waves.

An impressive cave is a draw for tourists who arrive by boat from the various resorts. Knowing that these fast open boats would start appearing soon we made sure we were the first to arrive. Landing the dinghy on the beach we were met by several enterprising Fijians who escorted us up the concrete steps, with dilapidated steel railings and a large lockable door to the cave entrance. They led us down into the sea water at the bottom of the cave where we dived in. Swimming through the first cave we came to a very small sump that was the route into the 'spitting' cave. With one Fijian pulling and the other pushing it was an easy transition that only required one's breath to be held for about 10 seconds. Once inside the smooth limestone cave with an incredibly high roof and deep bottom was a real spectacle. Our timing had been good as waiting at the the steps was a group of Chinese tourists and as we left the anchorage more boatloads of people were arriving. The Yasawas are the most developed in terms of tourism but it was a surprise to see so many people as this area still feels quite remote and the resorts are not that prominent.

The next destination was the Blue Lagoon some 12 miles to the south and half way there a squall passed over. This is fairly uncommon in our experience and there was a real downpour of rain and a significant increase in wind. This strong wind lasted for about 18 hours despite the squall passing through quite quickly. The Grib files based forecast, downloaded earlier that day had suggested winds of about 15 knots from the south - all night it blew 30 to 35 knots and we were glad to be reasonably well sheltered in the anchorage off Nanuka Island. In about 8 metres of water with 55 metres of chain and Firefly's spade anchor well bedded into sand we felt comfortable - but with reefs all around, including behind us, it was still a relief that the wind finally abated in the early hours.

Scuba diving from the Blue Lagoon Resort was on the agenda for the next day and following the windy night, getting out to the dive site was a rough ride as was entering the water. Once underwater things were a little calmer despite being greeted by 2 Bull Sharks - one of which was about 8 feet long. As the waves passed overhead we surged around and it was quite sporting as we traveled along gullies and under several swim through tunnels. It was back to the resort for coffee before a much more sedate dive at 'Cabbage Patch' in the centre of the Blue Lagoon.

After a calmer night we picked up our anchor and headed south again, managing to sail a good proportion of the 15 mile trip despite really light winds. Revisiting the Boutari Beach resort on Naviti Island we had a really long snorkeling session in the marine reserve, seeing numerous species of fish as well as giant clams. Dinner ashore was less impressive than it had been the year before as the number of staff had somewhat dwindled (from about 10 to 1) so that 'Misty' was rushed off his feet. Overnight the wind picked up and despite the surrounding reefs, the swell was able to reach the anchorage so that Firefly was rocking and rolling although not enough to affect our sleep.

The following night was a different matter. Following a brisk sail 10 miles south we anchored off the Octopus resort on the west side of Waya Island and although it was beautiful, it was already quite rolly. Deciding to stay we had another superb snorkeling session and then spent the evening aboard - as the time went on the rocking and rolling increased and the night was quite uncomfortable as Firefly thrashed about with all of her contents (pans and food bins etc) rattling about in their cupboards. We fitted in another snorkel session before heading south again to Navadra. The first part of the trip along the west coast of Waya was interesting as the Navionics charting is way off in this area as there has never been much of a survey done. For this reason, one of the few paper charts carried on Firefly is of this area and it proved useful again, as it did last year.

Navadra Island was our last stop in the Yasawa Chain. This one has no resort although we did share the dramatic bay with about 5 other yachts. At one point a helicopter landed briefly on the white sandspit linking a small island but we never did get to know what they were doing - we expect they were collecting someone from one of the yachts. Pat and Stuart provided an excellent BBQ on board Brizo and we finished of a great few weeks cruising through Fiji together in front of their TV in Brizo's saloon watching a Hugh Grant 'chick flick'.

The trip to Tanna is going to take about 3 days as its 450 nautical miles. When Cyclone Pam devasted Vanuatu, World Cruising Club collected a considerable amount of money on behalf of the people of Vanuatu and we believe they have already been donating it both in Port Resolution and Port Vila - the 2 stopover points we will visit. In addition each of the boats in the World ARC fleet have contributed individually and we have each bought a very large cooking pot and filled it with numerous items such as enamel plates, knives and forks, flip flops, pens and exercise books. On arrival at Port Resolution, a very remote bay with quite a large traditional village, each of the cooking pots will be provided to individual families our groups. We anticipate that the distribution amongst the villagers will be co ordinated by the village chiefs.

Paul and Susie
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