Month: August 2013

August 26, 2013

It’s easy to see why this anchorage seems to be everyone’s favorite. The first thing that stands out is the water: an unbelievable shade of bright aqua near the sandspit, then a darker turquoise in the anchorage. The contrasting white sand beach curves all the way around the bay, backed by a multitude of palm trees and punctuated only the by the occasional mushroom rock. At low tide the sandspit is exposed, creating a long walkway through the bright clear water around it. The whole area is protected by the low hills along outer rim of the atoll and the reef beyond it.

We’ve seen many beautiful beaches during our cruise, but this was easily one of the standouts. Below a gallery of photos from the anchorage and beach (click to enlarge and scroll).–Cyndi

August 26, 2013

It was time to head to our next anchorage in Fulaga. It’s known as the Sandspit because of the long finger of sand that stretches out from a corner of the beach. At high tide the spit is covered with water, but at low tide it emerges and borders one side of the anchorage. Generally cruisers who visit Fulaga make this their first stop after the village anchorage.

The Sandspit was all the way back across the lagoon, not too far from the pass where we first entered this atoll. The first part of the trip was easy; all we had to do was follow our original track. That gave us plenty of opportunity to get a better look at this fantastical alien-planet world with all its mushroom islands.

Once we got close to the pass, it was time to make a right turn and head into new territory. It was beautiful but nervous-making. We had those waypoints that were being passed around, and they helped right up to the point where they went over a small group of islets. It was time to set them aside and keep a very careful bow watch, with me directing Rich to steer around any bommies that looked troublesome.

[Note from the Rich of the future: This was before we had satellite maps from Google and others to use for navigation. What a difference they make. This would be so much easier now. Also, the first Google Earth images of this area were covered by clouds. There are some new, recent ones (Sept. 2015) that are excellent!]

It was a relief when the bommies phased out as we neared the Sandspit. The shallow water that now covered the spit was a brilliant light blue. Beyond it was a long white beach fronting a thick line of palm trees. Mushroom islands were visible in the distance, both to the east and west.

We motored around the spit and into the anchorage, and we soon found ourselves with an unfamiliar problem. We were in a huge area of clear water over sand bottom, averaging about 15 feet deep. We could anchor anywhere, and because of all this choice, we had a hard time picking a spot! There were a handful of boats already here, most of them choosing to anchor near the spit.

We motored by the beach: is any one area more beautiful or interesting than any other? Nope! Did we want to be near the spit, or closer to some mushroom rocks? Did we went to be close to the beach or further out? We needed to make a decision already so finally just dropped our anchor off the beach ahead of us, close enough to the other boats it would be easy to visit (our friends on Bright Angel were already here) yet far enough away to have lots of space.

We had arrived in paradise, as beautiful as our last anchorage but in a different way. Instead of a an area enclosed by green hills and little islands, this was wide open with views of beaches, stretches of colorful water, mushroom rocks, and the outer protective rim of the atoll.

Below is a gallery of photos we took motoring across the lagoon and our arrival at the Sandspit anchorage. (Click to enlarge and scroll.) –Cyndi

Note:  Please ignore the Wakaya Island post below!  We’re updating the Fiji Information Pages and had to put this in as a post so we could put in info about the island. We’ll write about it in the future, but for now it doesn’t fit in with anything we’re writing about now.

August 26, 2013

We decided to take one final dinghy ride near our anchorage before moving across the big lagoon to what is known as “The Sandspit.”

We motored over to the east side of our anchorage. From afar it looked like a solid wall of islands, but a closer look revealed a channel between them. And so we began our journey through a maze of islets. Sometimes we’d end up in these beautiful areas of blue-green water, initially appearing as dead ends until we’d find another gap and continue threading our way through. (A quick video below).

We finally ended up in a completely different bay, then headed through a pass and out to yet another bay and more small islets. The whole place was like something you’d see in a dream from which you’re sorry to wake up.

Here’s a gallery from our dinghy ride (click to enlarge and scroll).

We finally came to some open water in the lagoon, recognized where we were, and then found our way back to the boat. I looked forward to going to the Sandspit, but I’d miss this special place. –Cyndi

August 23 – 26, 2013

One major difference in cruising now verses our time in Mexico and Hawaii 15 years ago: digital cameras! We can shoot away without worry about conserving film. In a place like Fulaga where the changing light continually alters the look of the surroundings, we can take as many photos as we like.

As the light changes in our anchorage, different things come to the forefront: the rock islands might be highlighted against a shadowy background, or fall under a shadow while the background white beaches light up. At times the water glows bright blue, while other times it darkens in the golden evening light, which then highlights the green vegetation. At dawn the sky is the highlight, alight with color. The evenings seemed subdued and dusky compared to the sunrises, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a gorgeous sunset.

Above is gallery of the changing light at various times of the day. Below is a two-part video, one taken the other the later afternoon after we arrived, the second at sunrise. –Cyndi

August 25, 2013

On the way back to Legacy, we went to chat with a newly arrived boat. They were very unhappy about the $50FD fee (about $25US), and asked if we had at least “argued” about it. Uh, no, we didn’t. We knew before we came here it would be $50; so why would we argue? They were upset we hadn’t argued, and by the fact we gave “too much kava.” I was a little confused by this at the time, but later realized where this probably came from.

When we first came to Savusavu and did Curly’s seminar about cruising Fiji, one of the things he said was necessary was to get your cruising permit laminated, along with a Fijian translation (also laminated). You are to bring this with you whenever you first go ashore so you can be prepared to “argue” about your rights. This confused the audience, and when someone asked specifically where we might need to argue, Curly avoided answering the question.

Many people went ahead and got their permits translatated and laminated, but we never got around to it and eventually forgot all about it. Well, it seems some of the self-professed Fiji cruising experts (Curly, John Martin of the ICA Rally, etc.) object to the Lau villages (Fulaga and Vanua Balavu) charging a fee and thus advise their followers to argue with them about it in hopes it might change.

Perhaps there’s also some concern that other remote villages might get the idea to charge a fee, but for the time being the fees in Fulaga (southern Lau) and Vanua Balavu (northern Lau) are set and made very clear. I believe that urging people to argue just puts them in a bad position and annoys everyone involved.

Some followers come in all gung ho about making an argument; then invariably end up backing down, saving face by saying they were given a list of what will be done with the money thus have made a “donation.” The alternative, making a point of refusing to pay and sailing away, isn’t something anyone really wants to do after making the long journey there.

To the authority figures who tell people to argue with the village leaders: If you don’t like it, you go argue! If you’re insisting on recruiting people to do your dirty work, be straight with them about what you’re telling them to do. And for all who know full well the fees for the Lau Group and get all upset about it, there’s a simple solution: don’t go.

I’ll end my rant of the day on a nicer note with this peaceful rainbow picture from a morning in the anchorage. –Cyndi