Vava’u quick stop. Bula Fiji!

Twelve years ago, just after the first Christchurch earthquake, I chartered a catamaran in Vava’u with seven friends. I remembered it as a very special time and particularly significant as it was the first time I had chartered, or captained, a yacht bigger than 22ft! My return to Vava’u would be the first time since leaving the UK that we were sailing in a location I had previously visited on a boat, so I was excited about going back.

After spending a week on the small, friendly island of Nuiatoputapu, we entered the pass through the protective reef at 10am on a Saturday morning, ready for the 180nm sail to Vava’u, a group of islands to the south of us.   The conditions were pretty sketchy with Cerulean slamming into the heavy seas, until we rounded the northern most part of the island and were able to head south.   We were once again sailing in the company of Freya and we kept in regular radio contact with Susan and Todd throughout the passage, which turned out to be in perfect weather conditions.  After a fast and enjoyable overnight sail, we arrived at the entrance to Vava’u on Sunday morning, dropping the sails as a large whale breached beside us with a now very familiar heavy breathing sound, and headed up the well-marked channel to Neiafu where we picked up a mooring close to the dinghy dock.  

The next day we checked in to Vava’u, a quick process as we were already checked into the country.   Other boats arriving in Tonga from another country have to first head to a fisherman’s dock near the container terminal, aptly nicknamed the “Dock of Doom” as there is a sunken vessel at one end of the wharf and a shallow patch at the other which need to be avoided on approach. We were thankful we were able to miss out on that adventure, for now!   

Very little had changed in Neiafu over the 12yrs since I was last there. It still had the feel of a sleepy town while being the main centre for people living on the surrounding islands. The low level structures along the waterfront were mostly commercial buildings with small houses further up the hillside. A large church, selection of schools and produce market seemed to be the main focus of the town. The cheerful children were dressed in smart school uniform, with the boys wearing a tupenu or sarong, giving us a cheerful “Malo e lelei” as they past us.

Surprisingly, the once bustling charter boat business now comprised of only two boats, both of which were not being used for the period of our stay.  Covid had destroyed the charter boat industry and, together with the erratic and unreliable flights from Nukualofa, had made the business untenable.  Such a shame, as the area is a beautiful cruising ground, but a bonus for us as it meant the anchorages were empty except for our friends! 

The anchorages have been given numbers by previous charter boat companies, and this system of naming them has continued with even locals referring to the number when identifying them on the busy daily cruisers radio Net. We headed out to a nearby bay with our Swedish friend, Tomas who had been joined by his son, Daniel. They picked us up in their dinghy and we headed to Swallow Cave in the early afternoon – the best time to visit to allow the lowering sun to emphasize the blue water while swimming through the tall cave entrance.   We waited for tour boats to leave before jumping in the deep water and swimming through bright sun rays as they played with the blue of the clear water.

One afternoon we took a long dinghy ride with Tomas and Daniel to find Mariners Cave, an underwater entrance to a large cave hidden in the cliffs.   We had a vague idea where the entrance was, but Steve boldly swam close to the rocks to find it.  He found a dark hole about 2m below the surface, so Tomas and Daniel joined Steve in the water to investigate.   I stayed on the dinghy as diving into a dark hole through an underwater tunnel into a cave, not knowing how far you had to swim, was way beyond my comfort levels, so left it to the boys to tell me about it afterwards!   I watched as first Tomas, then Steve and finally Daniel all duck dived and didn’t reappear for several minutes.  I could only assume they had found the way into the cave as I sat watching fruit bats soar above me!   Finally they appeared again, all full of excitement and satisfaction at what they had achieved.  

We were watching the weather again as we were meeting my sister in Fiji in 10 days time and wanted to make sure we allowed plenty of time to make the two and a half day passage.   One afternoon friends on SV Diva told us they were leaving the next day for Fiji as the weather was going to close in by the end of the week.   We had arranged to go swimming with whales with a group of friends in two days, so were reluctant to consider leaving before that, but on looking at the weather it started to look clear we would need to leave the next day too otherwise we could be stuck in Tonga for a little while – not a bad thing normally, but when family is visiting, it does become a problem.    We talked to our weather router and made the decision to leave that afternoon so spent a busy morning preparing food, us and the boat for the 417nm passage in between friends calling by to say a hurried goodbye.   We were told we needed to take the boat to the “dock of doom” close to where immigration has an office in a large warehouse.  We aimed for the middle of the dock, putting lots of fenders in place while we rushed to check out, hoping the process would be quick as Cerulean was blown against large black tyres on the dock.   The officials were in no hurry and trying to make them increase their speed is futile so we had to practice patience in between Steve running back to check on the boat!  It appears the reason they want the boat at the dock is to ensure you leave as soon as the check out procedure is complete and no amount of reasoning, and we heard a number, seems to make any difference! Eventually we were free to go and the warm smiles from the previously sullen officials, made our early impatience seem petty as we headed back to Cerulean and pushed off the dock.    SV Diva called us on the radio, surprised to see us joining them as we both exited the pass out of Vava’u together.   We were sad to leave but also happy to be starting our last multi-day sail before our final journey to New Zealand.

Leaving Tonga behind us we were keen to get into a rhythm as quickly as possible.   This passage was straight forward accept for navigating through a group of small islands about 80nm from our destination in Fiji, Savusavu.   We had calculated that, if we averaged 5knots, we would arrive at the first island in the dark and have to navigate our way through the shallows and small islands in very little light.   If we could increase our speed and arrive in the late morning, instead of early evening, we would be able to get through the worst of the obstacles in daylight.

The wind was perfect and we set our two headsails, gathering speed as we left behind the shadow of the islands, racing SV Diva as we slowly overtook them.   It’s always very satisfying to see how well Cerulean performs when pitched against another, bigger boat.    The wind and conditions continued to be excellent and we broke our record for distance covered in a 24hr period, making 170nm on our first day.   We were now sure we would make landfall at the islands in daylight and on the morning of the third day we spotted the first island in the Lau group.   We would have loved to have stopped here but it is not possible to check into the country in The Lau islands and many boats have been handed heavy penalties for spending a few days exploring before checking in at Savusavu and the thought of a heavy fine was a big incentive to keep going!

On our last night we had to slow the boat down to ensure we arrived in daylight.   We rounded the headland close to Savusavu with SV Diva beside us as we sailed up the harbour together.  

Our friends on SV Carina, whom we had met in Nuiatoputapu, called on the radio as they spotted us approaching the mooring buoys.   They gave us sound advice about the strict immigration process, waiting until we are properly processed before leaving the boat or allowing anyone to visit, warning us that the customs official are very proactive in ensuring boats comply with their process and heavy fines are administered for those who ignore them.   We had already completed an extensive 13 page pre-arrival form, complete with photographs of the boat and boat papers, so hoped everything was in order to speed up the process.   Four boats, including us, waited for the officials to come on board, using the time to tidy up Cerulean and ourselves!   It didn’t take long for customs, health and immigration to visit and, after taping up our honey and garbage (with instructions not to dispose of it until we reached Nadi or Suva, we were given permission to leave the boat. However, our cruising permit would not be available until three working days and, as we had arrived on a Friday, this meant Tuesday would be the earliest we could leave SavuSavu.   

We moved into Nawi Island Marina as we had some repairs to organise and needed easy access for the tradespeople. The marina was so new it was still being built. so we were one of just 15 boats able to enjoy the facilities including fabulous showers which were quite luxurious, while waiting for my sister, Lynn, and G to arrive – and boy did we make use of the long showers!!   We snorkelled “Split Rock” with friends, feeding the fish stale bread and were amazed by the number of Soldier fish that surrounded us, nipping at our limbs as we quickly fed them!   In the evening we ate out, trying many different places including one that came highly recommended by a number of friends, as it was cheap and excellent Indian cuisine.   We arrived with friends and quickly ordered from their extensive menu.  While we were waiting for the food to arrive a rat ran across the roof rafters over our heads.   Sadly it was all over for me after that as I am terrified of rats in any shape or form – alive, dead, squashed or tame!  I could not take my eyes off the hole in the roof that the rat had disappeared into, its vial tail making several appearances as I squirmed in my seat, desperate to get out of the place!   

Over 34% of Fiji’s population is Indian.   A military coup in 2006 removed the democratically elected PM who was of Indian decent.  Frank Bainimarama led the coup, which arose due the fear that Fiji could become less “Fijian”,  and declared himself PM soon afterwards.   He has remained in power ever since, although ‘democratic” elections have taken place they are heavily favoured to the large political parties, making it extremely hard for those of Indian descent to win an election.   You get a small sense of the cultural differences when walking around the large produce markets, as the Polynesian Fijians have a very laid back approach to sales, welcoming you with a friendly “Bula!” and warm smile while allowing you to make up your own mind whether you want to buy anything from their stall. In contrast, those of Indian descent are, in general, alot more proactive in ensuring you spend your money with them, often going out of their way to be helpful, while ensuring sales are made with them, or within their community of market stalls.

At last it was time for Lynn and G to arrive. We had added them to our crew list and sent them all the relevant forms so they would not have any issues arriving in Fiji on a one-way ticket. They had spent time sailing in Fiji on their boat pre-covid so we were looking forward to having, not only experienced sailors on board, but family who knew the country and the challenges of navigating in Fiji waters. It was time to start exploring!