Month: September 2013

September 5, 2013

It was a cloudy day, but after a couple of days of being boat-bound during a windy period, we were anxious to get off the boat and do more exploring, even if the weather wasn’t ideal.

About a mile across from us was an area of small islands and a sand bar. We’d occasionally seen a mast on the other side of that bar, and we were very curious about what that anchorage was like and how the heck boats got in there. There’s a saying from a movie, The Edge, that Rich and I love: “What one man can do, another can do!” That was certainly the theme for Fulaga as there was so little information back then, we’d only learn about an anchorage by seeing another boat there. If they could do it, we could do it, too.

We beached the dinghy on the sandbar, wide at low tide, and walked over to an area of limestone rock formations nearby. Someday, far in the future, these formations would become islands. For now they were connected by one small landmass, and in between them were lots of hidden beaches, shallows and little bays. We could hear bird and fruit bat sounds from the thick vegetation on top of each “mushroom.” I climbed one of the rocks to try to spot fruit bats. I didn’t find any, but I did have a nice view.

We walked around the limestone formations, sometimes wading through shallow water that had a surprising number of tropical fish. After some walking, we ended up in a huge area of shallow water where we could walk way out.  (You can click to enlarge and scroll through photos in galleries below.)

We decided to explore a bit further and took our dinghy to the neighboring island (just to the northeast). There we found a perfect white sand beach with rocks and mushroom islands spilling off of one end. We walked around them to find yet another perfect crescent of beach and another mushroom rock headland. This place was stunningly beautiful.

Here’s a very short video of the area…

The water was too deep to walk around the next headland; so we took the dinghy and discovered a small sandbar. We made a quick stop and walk here.

Next, we motored around a nearby cluster of mushroom islands. The afternoon was cloudy but windless, and in this soft light the shallow water around the islets was a beautiful shade of blue so clear we could see large tropical fish swimming below us. A fruit bat swooped by us and landed on a branch, hanging upside down. This area was definitely magical. We hoped to return and snorkel but unfortunately never got back. Still, it will always remain a fond memory of Fulaga. -Cyndi

September in Fulaga, Fiji

Make sure you have your sound turned up…

September 2, 2013

One challenge of cruising is dealing with our trash. We throw food scraps overboard, most of which are quickly gobbled up by the fish that dwell under our boat. If we’re out at sea, we can also toss thin cardboard, paper, glass and cans, but near land those things stay onboard along with the plastic and foil, which never get tossed overboard. It’s a little dismaying how quickly those trash bags in the lazarette multiply. Generally they can wait until we get somewhere with trash disposal, but here in Fulaga there’s no place to get rid of trash. There came a time when we had to do it the old-fashioned way; we had to burn it like the locals do.

Today we teamed up with friends to go build a fire on the beach. We chose a beach east of the anchorage, well away from other boats. It was a place none of us had visited before; so it would be a sightseeing outing, too.

This is how we came to visit the bizarrely alien world that is the beach east of the sandspit. Fulaga has a bit of an alien-planet thing going on as it is, but this took it to a new level. Along the beach and the wide shallows offshore, boulders were strewn as though a giant hand had just scattered them around. The sand here was soft and white, the shallow water light aqua and white. Palm trees and a small bush-covered hill area backed the beach, and from over the hill we could hear waves pounding on the reef.

We gathered palm fronds, dried wood, and leaves to build the fire. We burned our trash, and when the fire was done we gathered any debris that hadn’t burned away. We still had trash, but a lot less of it now.

After our trash burning, we went to explore the area. Big boulders and rocky undercut ledges formed small headlands, but the tide was low enough we could walk around them to the next bay. I kept on going, always wanting to see what was around the next rock, and ended up in an area of knee-deep green water with really neat mushroom rocks.

This was a beautiful spot, but it had a sort of desolate vibe and wasn’t a place I’d want to hang out for longer than that afternoon. Still, it was neat to walk around and explore here. Fulaga never ceased to amaze me. Below a gallery of photos from the afternoon. Click to enlarge and scroll. –Cyndi

August 26 – September 14, 2013

We spent about 3 weeks in this beautiful anchorage. This may seem like a long time, but we had several windy days that kept us on the boat. We were learning firsthand that anyone who plans a trip to Fulaga should allow enough time for those enhanced tradewind days when you need to hole up. During this time, we rather enjoyed these “snow days” on the boat, although two in a row might bring on some cabin fever.

When the winds were down, we enjoyed further exploring the area, a few more snorkeling excursions, spending time with our friends on Bright Angel, and getting to know some of our neighbors in the anchorage.  (You can click to enlarge/scroll through the galleries below.)

Here, we seemed to naturally wake up very early and enjoyed having our coffee in the cockpit. The combination of cloud cover and pre-dawn light made this a beautiful pastel world, the water changing from cornflower blue to powdery greens and teals. The beaches glowed white, the sandspit especially striking against the colors of the water. We could often hear the distant rumble of ocean waves crashing on the reef outside the atoll.

In the evening we’d return to our cockpit for sundowners and watch the sunset colors, much more fiery than those of sunrise.

This anchorage turned out to be a great place to ride out one particularly windy period we had. We knew it was coming and wondered if we should move back to the more-protected anchorage near the village, but in the end we decided having miles of room and a nice sand bottom was a good bet. We were right; even when the wind got to 30 knots we were comfortable. –Cyndi

September 2013

The standout feature of the Sandspit Anchorage is, of course, the sandspit itself. Covered at high tide, it starts to reveal itself more and more as the tide goes out. Low tide makes for a spectacular walk on the spit, going way out into a sea of shallow blue water. Beautiful! Below, a gallery from our walks (click to enlarge and scroll). –Cyndi