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Starblazer - 22/08/2014 - Back to the Mamanucas and on to the Yasawas



We finally left Denerau on Wednesday and opted for the short trip to Musket Cove on Malolo Lailai. We were very lucky and found the last vacant buoy which saved us having to anchor in water deeper than we are comfortable with! By Friday the wind had picked up to about 30 knots so we decided to stay put. Chez Nous arrived and we managed to grab a buoy for them, we then invited them aboard for Happy Hour and supper. Trillium came in later during the afternoon but decided it was too windy to moor stern to the pontoon in the marina so anchored outside the mooring field. That night was windier still and a boat just ahead of us broke its mooring and was blown onto a reef. I was sitting in the cockpit at the time and was completely unaware of the excitement though it must have drifted past us. Saturday evening we had convivial drinks on Trillium. It is so easy to get 'stuck' in an anchorage or marina when you have friends around you!

On Sunday, with the wind reducing significantly, we said goodbye and headed up to the anchorage between Nevadra and Vanua Levu. It was somewhat bouncier than last time so we did boat jobs (patching the dinghy chaps and clearing out the drawers under the chart table) rather than snorkelling on Monday.

The Yasawas were beckoning so we made a rough plan as we want to get back to Vuda Point on Tuesday of next week, ready to clear out on Friday. Our next destination was the southern end of Naviti Island, close to where the manta rays are supposed to be very common. We anchored in Cuvu Bay, just opposite the island with Manta Bay Resort. The next morning we went in search of the rays, with no success. The reef area was very shallow but where it got quite a lot deeper the coral looked good, however I didn't fancy snorkelling there. Instead we went back to the bay where we were anchored and snorkelled over the reef between the boat and the shore. There was a wide variety of corals, lots of fish and three types I've never seen before!

After lunch we decided to do the decent thing and move the boat into the next bay, Sosu Bay, and visit the chief with our offering of yaqona root in a sevusevu ceremony. We both dressed for the occasion, I wore a skirt and John donned the sulu he had bought in Denerau. The sulu is a wrap around skirt worn by men, complete with pockets. He looked very smart. Sunglasses are unacceptable which gave us a problem because we both wear photochromic glasses. I took mine off when we met the chief but that isn't really an option for John. Instead, he wore an old pair of clear reading glasses. A young woman was on the beach with a couple of others and a number of children when we pulled the dinghy up. She took us to meet the chief who was dressed in shorts and T shirt, as was his headman. It turned out that they were just about to go fishing! We were led into a square, covered area and sat on a mat on the floor. John placed his package of Kava (strictly yaqona) root in front of the chief. There was various clapping and the headman addressed the root then the chief clapped and said we were welcome to look around the village, swim, snorkel and anchor in the bay. As far as Sevusevu goes, we got off lightly because we didn't have to drink it! The young woman then took us around the village, looking at the school buildings and inside the beautifully decorated church. There are 60 families in the village, totalling about 400 people. The school has about 60 pupils and 4 classes, a nursery class for 3-5 year olds, a year 1-2 class, a class for years 3-6 and a class for years 7-9. After the age of 14 the children can go to high school either on the mainland or in another village on Naviti. When we visited, the school was on a two week holiday, the teachers had returned to the mainland and the school's rugby and netball teams were taking part in tournaments on the mainland also.

Thursday morning was overcast so we decided against snorkelling in Sosu Bay, pulled up the anchor and set off to the Blue Lagoon, famous for the film of that name. We went up the east side of Naviti, between the inshore reefs and the offshore reefs until we found the pass which enabled us to go outside the reefs until we found the entrance to the Blue Lagoon which is really just a channel between some islands though it widens out where the anchorage is. We were just approaching the anchorage when the engine overheating alarm went off. John went down to top up the header tank, found the engine room full of steam so rushed back up, switched off the engine and told me to drop the anchor there and then. It was 25 metres deep, too deep, straight ahead was a reef area and the anchorage was off to the right. No engine? No problem. We put the outboard on the dinghy to drive Starblazer into anchorage. The connector on the fuel pipe refused to snap on the engine. It has been a bit difficult for some time but it worked O.K. on Wednesday! The engines are ganging up on us. John found the spare connector, I installed the windlass remote control in the cockpit and between us we raised the anchor, moved the boat and re-anchored. Today's job is the engine. Maintenance in exotic locations continues!

John & Joyce



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