Vava’u and on to Fiji

30 June 2024

Where am I? 

Latitude: 018°27.8 S

Longitude: 178°01.6 W

Sailing between Tonga and Fiji – we are now around 230 nautical miles east of our destination with arrival expected on 2nd July.

How is the weather?

We have had a real mixture of weather these last few days, but the sun is shining now and we are sailing at 7.5 yo 8.5 knots on a beam reach on port tack with genoa, staysail and mainsail all out. It should remain fine for the rest of this passage into Fiji, albeit with the wind shifting more aft as we progress.

What am I feeling?

Relaxed and happy with our progress from Tonga to Fiji, despite a very wet and windy night last night. Spirits are high on this, our last passage with Per and Anne for this sailing season.

What has happened this week?

Since my last blog, we spent 5 days at anchor in the Vava’u Islands, part of the Kingdom of Tonga, also known as the Friendly Isles, and are now on passage to Vuda Marina on Viti Levu, one of the main islands of Fiji.

We completed the long Bora-Bora to Tonga passage (1,300 nautical miles) without incident and cleared into Neiafu, the main/only town in the Vava’u group of islands. The clearing in process was not as easy as most we have experienced. Yachts arriving from overseas are required to dock  at the commercial pier which only has space for one yacht at a time. As we arrived on Monday, it was quite busy and we had to anchor off for some time before being able to dock, avoiding industrial sized rubber buffers which can leave nasty black marks on one’s hull. The manoeuvre was ably executed by our crew. After filling in copious numbers of forms, with much repetition of data requested, we were free to go. The same process was required to clear out as well.

The harbour at Neiafu is quite spectacular, being long and deep and enclosed on three sides by low green hills. The water was also crystal clear and 40 metres deep, so we picked up a buoy. The evenings and nights we spent there were memorably still: there’s something deeply soul-satisfying about relaxing in the cockpit, embraced by the natural world as the sun sets to the sound of bird song and the gentle lap to water on hull.

We toured the island and its neatly kept villages. It’s clear that the economy depends on tourism almost exclusively and with the saturation of that market, young people are forced to leave the island to find work either on the “Mainland” (ie the main island of Tongatapu) or further afield in Fiji, New Zealand or Australia. Fruit picking in Australia seems to be a particularly popular avenue to work overseas. Drugs and alcohol do not seem to be so much of a problem in Vava’u, but the traditional drink of kava – a narcotic brew made by mixing water with the ground roots of a species of pepper plant – is widespread. Thankfully, we managed to avoid having to try it, although we may not be so lucky in Fiji!

We were able to refuel at Neiafu after checking out on Friday. This operation requires calling the bunkering people the day before to arrange a tanker to come down to the port. To qualify for duty free fuel, there is a mercifully short form to complete with Customs which needs to be presented to the tanker driver. All went smoothly and we took on 400 litres to fill our tank (capacity is 840 litres).

As it was noon by the time the clearing out and refuelling operation was completed, we decided to anchor in another nearby bay and to depart the following morning, to ensure that we arrive at Fiji during daylight hours. As I type this, we are sailing nicely after an initial 24 hours of motoring due to no wind. We expect the wind to hold for the rest of the passage and we should arrive on 2nd July around noon or a bit later.

At Fiji, we bid farewell to Per and Anne who depart for Tokyo a few days after we arrive and we welcome Ferry and Anne from Cologne and Andrew from Adelaide. Together with Elizabeth and me, this will be our 5 member crew for the passages to Vanuatu and then on to Australia, both destinations that we are really looking forward to visiting!

Fujin out!