sv evi

We finally left Savusavu even though the Fiji weather service called for strong winds (20-25 knots) and intermittent rain. Basically, we woke up and it wasn’t raining, and we checked the grib files for the weather forecast, which didn’t look as bad, so we decided to go for it. We were both tired of waiting around in the rain. So then I felt a burst of adrenaline as we hurried to get ready to leave as soon as possible: Riki cleaned the dinghy, put the outboard engine on board, hoisted the dinghy on the foredeck. I stowed everything in the cockpit and down below which would otherwise go flying; took down the sun shade and took off the sail cover. Every time you leave, you don’t know exactly what weather you’ll get (how much wind and what kind of sea state) so there is the adventure of the unknown each time you leave port.

We sailed 7 out of the next 8 days in order to make it to Denerau to meet up with our good friends Emily and Sid and their son Dylan, who came to Fiji for a holiday from Sydney, Australia. We had great sails for the first 5 days, and had to motor for the last 2 days. Some of the days were long–36 miles and 8 hours of sailing. We were inside the reef on Viti Levu for the last 4 days which was lovely because it meant there was no swell. On those days I could play with Wade down below to keep him out of the sun. We had a few issues along the way: the engine overheating & the bilge pump not working when in automatic mode. Guava limped into port at 3 knots an hour. So Riki has some work to do in Denerau.

A highlight of the trip were 4 days of buddy boating with Cat & Mark on s/v Tuuletar. We shared some delicious dinners and lots of laughs. Cat is a stellar cook, and she gave me some new recipes to try (Thai Beef Salad & Beef Rendang, an Indo-Malay curry). Every morning Mark would call us on the radio to give us a weather report. Cat & Mark are both 33 years old, about 25 years younger than the average cruisers we meet, so that was a treat.

Cat & Mark with s/v Tuuletar.

Another highlight was our first dolphin sighting this go-around in Fiji. I took Wade up forward near the bow to watch the dolphins play with our bow wake. Whenever we saw dolphins on Evi’s boat, Susha & I would yell out, “Dolphies!” and rush to the bow. Now I think part of Ev’s spirit resides with dolphins.

Riki caught a huge mahi mahi our first day out of Savusavu. Wade was fascinated and watching intently as Riki brought the mahi alongside the boat, then gaffed it and brought it over the rail.

A Bailey jam session