Month: September 2015

September 7, 2015

It’s overcast and we’re getting 17 amps from our new solar panels! The addition of the Sunpower 327 watt panel (and bimini) has been life-changing. I thought we’d have to run the engine today, but as of 10:30 AM, we’re at 87% charged (from about 60% when we woke up).

I’m also loving the new Victron 100/30 solar controllers.

Here’s a link to our previous post on the subject. -Rich

September 6, 2015

We’re anchored in front of the Blue Lagoon Resort and the Oarsman’s Bay Lodge at the south end of Nacula Island, Yasawas, Fiji. The water is clear and inviting. We have snorkeled every day we’ve been here and it’s very nice. See for yourselves… (click to enlarge or scroll through the images).

Here’s where we’re talking about…

September 5, 2015

Here are some pictures from around our anchorage here off Nacula Island, Fiji and in front of the Blue Lagoon Resort and the Oarsman’s Bay Lodge (not to be confused with the Blue Lagoon – more on that in a minute).

Click on any picture to enlarge.

It seems there’s a bit of confusion over exactly what the “Blue Lagoon” here in Fiji actually is. Most people anchor in a deep, crowded and not terribly attractive bay off of Nanuya Island in front of the Nanuya Island Resort (see map below). That’s where we first anchored, amongst 12 other boats who were all short-scoped in the 50 to 60 foot deep, black water (Black Lagoon?). Thirty minutes later, we moved on to bluer pastures. (Yea, there is some blue in the distance that you can kind of see from the anchorage, but you can also see a huge construction project and hear the melodic song of chain saws!)

The following is a fully functional Google Map (Thank you Google!). Zoom and pan as you wish.

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There are three boats in our bay now and probably room for one or maybe two more. There’s another nice looking area, at least on Google satellite images, just north of here. It’s a little exposed to north and west swells and we’re rolling a bit. (If you anchor in the Black Lagoon, you are protected from almost all directions.)

We went ashore to the Oarsman’s Bay Lodge last night for their lovo and it was very nice. We plan to spend more time ashore, including a meal or two at the Blue Lagoon Resort.

There’s a dive shop here and we hope to go out with them for a few dives in the coming days. We’ll report.

Paradise found! This is the Fiji I was hoping to find this year on the West side. It’s easily as pretty as some of the places we visited on the East side. -Rich

September 5, 2015 (a few minuts ago)

What’s that sound Cyndi!?

Holy seaplane Batman, we’re anchored on the runway!!!

We missed the landing. We were loafing inside the boat when we heard the engine sounds right next to our boat. I was able to get my shorts changed in time to get these takeoff pictures. -Rich

Follow Up: It happened again today and this time Cyndi got the camera out. Exciting!

September 3, 2015

We’re out for another round of cruising the Yasawa Islands. We’re heading for a place called the Blue Lagoon. We stopped at Naviti last night and were not expecting much in the way of a sunset from the solidly overcast sky, but it fooled us! -Rich