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Firefly - Riding out strong winds in the Blue Lagoon



Its been very windy for the last few days so we have been tucked in and anchored close to the shore off Nanuya Lailai one of the islands that borders the Blue Lagoon. Our yellowbrick tracker is now functioning again and if you visit https://my.yb.tl/firefly/ and you will be able to see where we are.


Several days back (Sunday 7th) we went snorkeling in the pass between Tokatokeanu pass between Naviti and Drawaqa but did not encounter the manta rays we were hoping to see. Despite this it was a beautiful place to snorkel and we saw a huge number of fish including a very large Barracuda that made our hearts flutter a little - they can sometimes be dangerous. Up until this time the winds had been very gentle but that evening the wind went from zero to 20 knots over the course of a few hours, something we anticipated as the clouds built up. The problem was that our anchorage on the South of Naviti was protected from all but the south - and the wind came from the south!

Fortunately there was a full moon so leaving the anchorage after dark was safe enough and we headed off to try and find some better shelter, not knowing how much stronger the wind would get. We chose an established anchorage between Navara Island and Nanuya Balavu Island that looked good and already had a few other yachts for company. However, this was not a great choice as an hour after we had the boat settled, the current flowing between the islands started flowing south into the wind, which was up to about 25 knots by now and caused a 'wind over tide' chop. We managed to get some rest and left in the morning for the 20nm trip to the Blue Lagoon through a area strewn with islands and reefs.

The charts in this area are extremely unreliable and we were using 4 sources of information, all of which tended to vary! We had our main Raymarine chartplotter and I pad both with Navionics software, generally the same charting but some variations and on this occasion the GPS on the I pad was correct whereas on the chartplotter it was showing us to be about 200 metres off to the south. We have a Fiji paper chart for the Yasawa Islands which has proven to be quite useful although some reefs are missing! On this occasion the best charting information was using Open CPN on the laptop PC. Recently acquired and a complex job to set up, this free charting system allows Google Earth images to be overlayed over the chart. Having added a GPS to the laptop we now have a 'chartplotter' which shows us where we are on a Google Earth overlay, a real bonus as the reefs show up so well on satellite images and as its a photo - non have been missed.

We arrived in the Blue Lagoon in time to get settled down before the arrival of more strong winds, probably reaching 35 knots and from the south east, they have lasted 3 days. Yesterday (Wednesday 10th) it was forecast to rain heavily but this is a very dry part of Fiji and all we got was 10 minutes of light spots and then the sun came out again. There are more yachts here than we have seen for along time, we counted 18 in the anchorage. Having met up with our friends Brent and Sarah on an Australian registered yacht, Aurora Star, we arranged to go kitesurfing off the spit at the end of the Blue Lagoon Beach. Seeing us setting up another kitesurfer arrived along with a number of spectators, both locals and folks of the other yachts - it was extremely windy and provided quite a spectacle.

We have not been ashore very often while we have been anchored here off Nanuya Lailai. However we did have a lovely walk across the island to Lo's Tea Shop. This is a very basic cafe that primarily serves banana cake covered with a chocolate sauce - it was delicious. The views from the high part of the island, over the aqua marine lagoon were spectacular and the locals we met en route, tending their plantations of vegetables and fruit were really friendly and keen to chat.

The breeze is still reasonably strong so kitesurfing is scheduled again for this afternoon. Tomorrow (Friday 12th) we will start heading south probably stopping at Somosomo before arriving back at Vuda Point marina ready to check out of Fiji and make the 500nm passage to Vanuatu early next week.

Paul and Susie



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