Category: 2011 New Zealand – Fiji – Vanuatu – New Caledonia to Australia Voyage

Dear F&F, July 12th – 14th

We decided to do a dive with Koro Sun, the local dive operator in Savusavu. The experience of diving with hammer head sharks was new for Anja, but I also never tire of the wonder of looking at these prehistoric animals up close and personal. Peter came along with us and it was his first \”hammer\” encounter as well. Anja said they looked \”cute\”. We saw a few dozen in the blue water right off the Koro Sun resort. They came within 30 feet of us, it was a memorable day.

We continued to \”wait\” for our permit to go to the Lau Group of Eastern Fiji. It just got more comical as the wait went on.

Having decided we could wait for \”Gudot\” forever, we upped anchor and headed the 40 miles East to Viani Bay. Viani Bay is world famous in the diving world, especially for it\’s signature site on the \”Rainbow Reef\” called \”The White Wall\”.

We knew friends Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” would be arriving soon too, so it all seemed to come together as we left for Viani Bay.

As I changed our itinerary to go to Western Fiji first from New Zealand and then head to Eastern Fiji, the winds of course were against us and yes indeed we motored again, the entire 40 miles.

When we arrived in Viani Bay, Jack Fisher met us and put us on one of his two moorings. Jack is Fijian by way of English descent. He has had six wives and would be happy to have you as his next wife should you be interested. However I am referring to the female population of my readers amongst you!

Jack doesn\’t dive, but makes most of his livelihood by guiding divers to \”his\” sites. There is a local dive shop in the next bay, but at about 25-40.00$ per day US for the whole boat load of divers, it\’s hard to beat this local knowledge with a stick! Jack brought us to our first encounter (there would be six, yes it\’s that good) with the White Wall and wanted us to anchor in a nearby alcove on the outside of the reef. Well, I\’m not sure what Jack expected me to say, but if we had anchored where he wanted us too, I\’m not sure \”Beach House\” would have been beached shortly thereafter. We did \”live boat\” diving with Jack at the helm. He dropped Anja, Peter and me off over the buoy and the fun began!

The White Wall is SPECTACULAR. The surge on top of the reef was pretty exciting (we were just outside the surf line and it was pretty calm!). The dive begins on top of a beautiful reef and from there you go into a \”swim thorough\” from 40 feet down to 70 feet. The swim through is a long wide tunnel with Lion Fish, White Tip reef sharks, black coral, sea fans, purple coral and a plethora of marine life. Once out the lower exit of the swim through, you make a left turn and go down to 95-120 feet and the fun begins. The current starts to push you along a vertical wall that is about 300 feet high. A football size field of densely packed white soft corals is the highlight of this \”drift\” dive. Not lasting too long, it\’s simply spectacular. Everything and anything can be seen on the \”Wall\” and in some cases, large schools of barracuda and other pelagic\’s as well. At the end of the wall, there is a swim through at 65 feet which you can go back up to the top of the reef and do a second lap. Anja and I got familiar enough with the site to be able to do three laps without ever hitting the \”deco\” meter on our dive computers. I did not take any underwater stills as I was being dive guide/instructor as much as \”diver\” at this particular site. I did take some video, but it\’s gee whiz stuff, not gonna make it to the website.

More to follow…. Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

Dear F&F, July 12th – 14th

We decided to do a dive with Koro Sun, the local dive operator in Savusavu. The experience of diving with hammer head sharks was new for Anja, but I also never tire of the wonder of looking at these prehistoric animals up close and personal. Peter came along with us and it was his first \”hammer\” encounter as well. Anja said they looked \”cute\”. We saw a few dozen in the blue water right off the Koro Sun resort. They came within 30 feet of us, it was a memorable day.

We continued to \”wait\” for our permit to go to the Lau Group of Eastern Fiji. It just got more comical as the wait went on.

Having decided we could wait for \”Gudot\” forever, we upped anchor and headed the 40 miles East to Viani Bay. Viani Bay is world famous in the diving world, especially for it\’s signature site on the \”Rainbow Reef\” called \”The White Wall\”.

We knew friends Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” would be arriving soon too, so it all seemed to come together as we left for Viani Bay.

As I changed our itinerary to go to Western Fiji first from New Zealand and then head to Eastern Fiji, the winds of course were against us and yes indeed we motored again, the entire 40 miles.

When we arrived in Viani Bay, Jack Fisher met us and put us on one of his two moorings. Jack is Fijian by way of English descent. He has had six wives and would be happy to have you as his next wife should you be interested. However I am referring to the female population of my readers amongst you!

Jack doesn\’t dive, but makes most of his livelihood by guiding divers to \”his\” sites. There is a local dive shop in the next bay, but at about 25-40.00$ per day US for the whole boat load of divers, it\’s hard to beat this local knowledge with a stick! Jack brought us to our first encounter (there would be six, yes it\’s that good) with the White Wall and wanted us to anchor in a nearby alcove on the outside of the reef. Well, I\’m not sure what Jack expected me to say, but if we had anchored where he wanted us too, I\’m not sure \”Beach House\” would have been beached shortly thereafter. We did \”live boat\” diving with Jack at the helm. He dropped Anja, Peter and me off over the buoy and the fun began!

The White Wall is SPECTACULAR. The surge on top of the reef was pretty exciting (we were just outside the surf line and it was pretty calm!). The dive begins on top of a beautiful reef and from there you go into a \”swim thorough\” from 40 feet down to 70 feet. The swim through is a long wide tunnel with Lion Fish, White Tip reef sharks, black coral, sea fans, purple coral and a plethora of marine life. Once out the lower exit of the swim through, you make a left turn and go down to 95-120 feet and the fun begins. The current starts to push you along a vertical wall that is about 300 feet high. A football size field of densely packed white soft corals is the highlight of this \”drift\” dive. Not lasting too long, it\’s simply spectacular. Everything and anything can be seen on the \”Wall\” and in some cases, large schools of barracuda and other pelagic\’s as well. At the end of the wall, there is a swim through at 65 feet which you can go back up to the top of the reef and do a second lap. Anja and I got familiar enough with the site to be able to do three laps without ever hitting the \”deco\” meter on our dive computers. I did not take any underwater stills as I was being dive guide/instructor as much as \”diver\” at this particular site. I did take some video, but it\’s gee whiz stuff, not gonna make it to the website.

More to follow…. Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

July 6th – 9th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F, Friends Diana Young and Peter Bruckman of s/v \”Quickstar\” arrived today. They had with them Anja (An-ya) who is from East Germany. Anja is a PADI Dive Master and sailing instructor. She used to work for Sony\’s Play Station division in Germany and is on a year\’s sabbatical. As Anja wants to go DIVING, she\’ll come aboard for awhile so I\’ve a dive buddy until Sandrine takes the \”I\’m going to learn to dive plunge\”….

Diana, Anja and Sandrine went off on a \”gals junket\” by bus today to tour the island. Both boats should be off on Monday or Tuesday to head toward Taveuni where we hope to meet up with s/v \”Migration\” (Bruce and Alene). Some of Fiji\’s best diving is there at \”The White Wall\” and \”Rainbow Reef\”.

Both couples were at Cindy\’s memorial and Diana and Bruce spoke eloquently. I\’m glad to have them back in my aura.

We\’ll try a dive tomorrow with Koro-Sun Divers. Colin and Janine Skipper\’s operation. They had 100 hammerhead sharks today, a record for them. Anja is all excited, she\’s never seen \”hammies\” before. I may take the camera. Sandrine will snorkel at the surface interval.

I\’ll try and do updates at least weekly on the \”Ship\’s Log\”.

Currently, the video links on the archived original website are not working and will be fixed shortly (right Jeremiah????)…:)

KIT, I will… Scott with now Anja and Sandrine

Two new photo galleries will be posted as soon as I get ashore!…

July 6th – 9th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F, Friends Diana Young and Peter Bruckman of s/v \”Quickstar\” arrived today. They had with them Anja (An-ya) who is from East Germany. Anja is a PADI Dive Master and sailing instructor. She used to work for Sony\’s Play Station division in Germany and is on a year\’s sabbatical. As Anja wants to go DIVING, she\’ll come aboard for awhile so I\’ve a dive buddy until Sandrine takes the \”I\’m going to learn to dive plunge\”….

Diana, Anja and Sandrine went off on a \”gals junket\” by bus today to tour the island. Both boats should be off on Monday or Tuesday to head toward Taveuni where we hope to meet up with s/v \”Migration\” (Bruce and Alene). Some of Fiji\’s best diving is there at \”The White Wall\” and \”Rainbow Reef\”.

Both couples were at Cindy\’s memorial and Diana and Bruce spoke eloquently. I\’m glad to have them back in my aura.

We\’ll try a dive tomorrow with Koro-Sun Divers. Colin and Janine Skipper\’s operation. They had 100 hammerhead sharks today, a record for them. Anja is all excited, she\’s never seen \”hammies\” before. I may take the camera. Sandrine will snorkel at the surface interval.

I\’ll try and do updates at least weekly on the \”Ship\’s Log\”.

Currently, the video links on the archived original website are not working and will be fixed shortly (right Jeremiah????)…:)

KIT, I will… Scott with now Anja and Sandrine

Two new photo galleries will be posted as soon as I get ashore!…

July 4th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F, We got up early for the 25 mile journey to Savusavu and the mini gauntlet of Nasonisoni Pass. It\’s 1 1/2 miles long and about 100 yards wide. You cannot see the reef for the most part, but again, the chart was spot on. The Eastern sun was no help either. As we headed East, we went slow to watch for the sides. No problems. The other side of the pass often runs against the current and can have \”standing waves\”. Think of strong current again strong trade winds and oh joy, it can be a mess. We\’ve talked to a few boats that got decks awash as they came out the Eastern side. We hit it perfect, no trades of any strength and no standing waves.

Savusavu looks a lot like a nicer, cleaner, \”Mini Vava\’u, Tonga\”. We checked in with the local customs office and are awaiting our friends on s/v \”Quickstar\” who should be here in a few days from Tonga.

Happy 4th to everyone in the USA

Scott with Sandrine

July 3rd, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F, \”Bligh Water\” is the area between the two main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu here in Fiji. If you look at a world map of the area, you\’ll see what looks like a nice passage between the two islands. It\’s actually extensively encrusted with coral reefs.

Captain William Bligh of HMS \”Bounty\” when cast adrift by Fletcher Christian and the mutineers, (sounds like a band from the 70\’s doesn\’t it?) sailed across this stretch of water.

He was cast adrift in an open 21 foot boat with half his crew, few provisions and virtually no idea of where to go to get to safety. Bligh (if you do some real historical research) wasn\’t the super bad guy portrayed in popular lore. Christian himself had some \”issues\” too. I\’ll let you and history be the judge.

In any event, Bligh sailed right through the middle of the Lau Group where cannibalism was in full force. They tried to land for supplies, but had to make sail and get away fast, lest they end up in some seriously large bellies of the Polynesian Lau. If I recall, Bligh lost one or two crew here to the cannibals. This of course made Bligh quite reluctant to stop anywhere else. He sailed 2400 nautical miles over weeks in completely uncharted waters and eventually ended up in what is today Jakarta, Indonesia. It was considered (and still is), one of the greatest sailing feats of all time.

We of course have modern charts, GPS, chart plotters and every advantage. Still, this is a bit of a \”keep on your toes\” voyage. Only 50 miles and as it turns out, extremely well marked, it\’s reef after reef after reef. At high tide, you can\’t see them. If the sun is from the East (which of course it was with our very early departure to get to Nasonisoni Pass anchorage before sunset), you can\’t see the reefs either! Overhead sun and clear skies are a plus.

After our \”bump\” as we left Viti Levu, it was actually an easy trip, but I could just imagine Bligh crossing our path with essentially no help, no water or supplies and cannibals to the left an right of him. Sandrine told me when she was in the Lau 18 years ago, they were still arguing about a land deal that was made in the early 1900\’s which was supposed to put an end to eating each other. However, they kept eating each other so the land deal is even today in dispute. Imagine fighting that out in a local court? \”Well, they said if I gave them this island, they wouldn\’t eat my family. I did, but they kept eating my family so I want my island back\”. Think I\’m kidding?…not so much!

We stopped at Nasonisoni anchorage for the 1 1/2 mile trip through it\’s pass and onto Savusavu tomorrow. Stay tuned! Scott with Sandrine

July 1st – July 3rd, 2011

Dear F&F, Well, after the sail tearing debacle and the up the anchor debacle of Manta Ray Bay Island, we YET AGAIN returned to Vuda Point for repairs. The sail was a total loss and I\’ll have to eventually replace it in Australia.

The windlass had what appeared to be a simple fix (it\’s third!). We of course shall see. The \”chain stripper\” was bent and stopped the motor from lifting the chain. It appears to work and we did test it!

Kate gave us a hug and kiss goodbye and off she went to New Zealand, Australia and finally will head off back home to Essex at the end of July. Thank you Kate, you we\’re great!

Sandrine and I left for Savusavu directly after re-fueling and more marketing. The trip took four days and we motored all the way. Fortunately the wind was down so we didn\’t have to buck the normal trade winds.

Fiji is the MOST reef intense place I\’ve ever even imagined. There are rocks on the rocks here. The north side of Viti Levu was well marked. Just as we left the reef system for the journey across \”Bligh Water\”, we cut a corner a little too close and kissed a reef. The chart said it was 120 feet deep, the dagger board said it was 4 1/2 feet deep! No harm, no foul as they say in basketball and VERY fortunately, we just scraped some paint. Efforts for watching the \”bombies\” will be redoubled as we head across \”Bligh Water\”. It\’s one GIANT REEF for 50 miles.

More soon,

Scott with Sandrine