October 16, 2023
Author Archives : Chris French
October 16, 2023
October 14, 2023
October 13, 2023
October 10, 2023
Leaving the nest
Carl and Roxy sent us off on our own for sevusevu at the village and thankfully we didn’t screw it up. A simpler ceremony in this village since the Chief works on the mainland. But it still entailed some chanting, speeches, and welcomes. Formalities out of the way we talked for awhile and met the mother of Fijian rugby player…
October 9, 2023
Moving north
The islands are all close to each other in this area and today’s hop was just three hours north to “The caves.” We arrived and soon after jumped in the water to snorkel the nearby reef. Always great when you can swim from the boat. This was the best, most healthy corral to date. Carl and I pretty much swam…
October 8, 2023
Diving a P-38 Lightning
We made the long 2.5nm passage to the north bay of Somosomo finding just a single boat in the anchorage. Wanting to get the best daylight we got our snorkeling gear and piled in the dinghy stopping by the Swiss boat (SV Lupina) and we convinced them to join us. They quickly grabbed their gear and dropped their dinghy. Reaching…
October 7, 2023
Artistic adventures
In back to back nights we experienced two very different but equally impressive experiences. First, word came through the anchorage about the villagers putting on a song and dance performance. Seems the mass of kid boats that arrived would let us experience an very special evening. And the second, Roxy put on a art display of her beautiful watercolor paintings,…
October 6, 2023
A very full day with some twists and surprises
A hike was on tap for the day, the plan was to visit the villages on the east side of the island. Walking through town we acquired a number of kids who led us to the trail (the same one that they take to school) along the way met more friendly villagers looking to say hello and chat. We attempted…
October 5, 2023
Settling into village life
Our first couple days flew by. When visiting villages in Fiji it is important to ask permission from the chief and present an offering of kava. This is called sevusevu. Into the dinghy with our fancy clothes (sulu skirt and collared shirt) in a dry bag we headed to shore. We were met by an nice women, who after changing…
October 4, 2023
Under way!
Everyone was up pretty early on the boat and Carl made the call for a 6:30am departure, perfect I love getting up and getting going. We were in the wind shadow of the big island, so no chance of sailing but also nice sea state. After seeing 3-4 meter seas all week on the south side of the island this…
October 3, 2023
Let the cruising begin!
After a beat to get south to meet us, the day finally came to meet up with our friends Roxy and Carl. Traffic pushed us a little behind schedule but by 10:00am SV Sky Pond was on the fuel dock and all of the boat items we muled out to Fiji were aboard. After helping Carl and Jean get off…
October 2, 2023
Whitewater rafting on the Upper Navau river
5:00am came really early, and there might have been some grumbling from Jean but we had a ride to catch. Today’s adventure would be white water rafting the Upper Navua river. This meant getting to Pacific Harbour by 6:45am which was about seventy-five minutes away. Would it be worth it? No way to tell, but we had heard great things…