gybe the jib

Erupting volcanos, mid-ocean reefs and landfall in Australia!

Leaving Fiji through the Malolo pass (in the background). The 450 mile passage from Musket Cove, Fiji to Vanuatu was quick but a little bumpy with 3.5 metres swells left over from a squash zone near New Zealand.


Stops anchored in Port Resolution, Tanna. Hammer our Japanese single-hander on Maverick 2 had got in that morning as well and had already organized a trip to the Volcano!


Glenda showing off the truck that we took up the volcano. It was a bumpy offroad ride that had our teeth chattering!


Saw many huge banyan trees on the way.. reminded me of Lord of the Rings!


Glenda climbing up the crater of the live volcano.. duh.. duh.. duh..

The Volcano erupts!


We waited until dark and took a video of the two craters erupting and bubbling with red hot lava. It’s amazing that they let us get so close to the live volcano. 


After Tanna we wanted to sail to Port Vila to check in but got derailed by a newly formed trough that was not forecasted and decided to wait it out at Erromango island.


Approaching Port Vila after an overnight from Erromango.


Port Vila is supposed to be one the most beautiful ports in the south pacific and it did not disappoint. Here is the view from the top of our mast.


The dinghy dock next to Yachting World, whos mooring we picked up.


Celebrating landfall with local Tusker beer named after the huge tusks on pigs from Vanuatu.. We also had Tusker beer in Kenya but that was named after the tusks on elephants..the real thing!


This tiny sea plane kept taking off and landing right next to us in the anchorage.. James Bond would have loved it.


“Yu Nidem Help? Mi Helpem you”  The local language Bislama a form of pidgin English was pretty amusing..  


“Sigaret I Kilim Man”


Walking along the beautiful waterfront in Port Vila..


Glenda really got into the swing of things..

A kava bar.. Vanuatu's Kava was a lot stronger that Fiji's and was sold at these local kava bars which were equivalent to local pubs.. except all the locals were spitting and clearing their throats to get rid of the kava taste. Some local Aussies we befriended Claire, Gurleen, Dylan took us to one of the popular kava bars. It was a pretty cool experience, and we got a little tipsy on kava.

Glenda at the market provisioning for the passage to Bundaberg, Australia via Chesterfield Reef


Final sunset drinks…


with the final beautiful sunset in Port Vila..


Leaving Port Vila the next morning for the 600 mile passage to Chesterfield Reef..


Beautiful sailing with the asymmetric spinnaker in 10-12 knots of breeze with less than 1m swells. It didn't last long and we were soon in 20 knots with 2.5m+ swells.


Nope the GPS wasn’t on the blink. I navigated using the sextant for the passage from Port Vila to Chesterfield Reef. I am hoping to use this as a qualifying ocean passage to get to next and final Yachtmaster level: Ocean


Arriving at Chesterfield reef! a uninhabited horseshoe shaped reef in the middle of the ocean between New Caledonia and Australia.


Sunset at Chesterfield Reef with 8 other boats.. We had a potluck and bonfire one the beach with some of our buddy boats S/V Discovery, S/V Ceiydh & S/V Connect4.


The beaches on the reef were magnificent..


Yes another beautiful beach..


The coral reef was also exposed in a lot of places.


And incredible amount of birds.. Chesterfield was supposed be a UNESCO bird sanctuary... no kidding.


A bobbie in it’s nest.. They were so many of them everywhere.


After nearly a week, we left Chesterfield through the south west pass bound for Australia!


Can you see it? Australia Ahoy! The 450 mile passage was one of our best ever. Ideal tradewinds of 12-16 knots on our quarter and 1-1.5m swells.

Glenda slighty happy, as we go through the Bundaberg Port channel markers.

Sudden Stops enjoying a well earned rest in a Bundaberg Marina slip.. It was great to be back in civilisation but we started missing the south pacific islands almost immediately.


According to the ship’s log we had covered 10,303 nautical miles from San Francisco to Bundaberg. Almost half way around the planet!

Next stop Sydney, some 600 miles to the south.

Dodging and exploring reefi in fiji

The 460 mile passage from Haapai Tonga to Savu Savu Fiji was an exercise in dodgems, my childhood computer gaming skills came in handy! First we had to dodge sixty or so uncharted hazards and then as we got closer to fiji we had to thread our way through unlit reefs in the Lau group at night. Just a month ago a boat was lost on these reefs.

Landfall in Savu Savu on Vanua Levu the second biggest island on Fiji. It was one of the most beautiful ports we had been to.

It was pretty cool to see so many Fijians of Indian descent, but the real cool thing was all the Indian food… We had curries every night and loaded up on Indian savoury snacks!

After filling up with water, diesel and provisions we made our way to Viani Bay on the eastern side of Vanua Levu which is near the famous Rainbow reef. We were the only boat there.

A local Fijian called Jack showed us a place to anchor Stops right on the edge of the Rainbow reef..


The snorkeling was amazing, especially the soft coral. The currents however were really strong and we were glad to have Jack’s local knowledge on where to avoid the current.

Glenda enjoying some local pampering in Jack’s house.. The homemade lemongrass tea was damn good!

Next up we went for a two tank dive to check out the famous white wall and zoo dives on the Rainbow reef with a local dive shop..

We didn’t have a underwater camera that goes that deep, but here is the next best thing.. A video of diving the famous White Wall from youtube.. The wall of white soft coral looks almost man made.. It was pretty amazing.

Glenda wearing the latest fashion in necklaces (look good and never get lost). We are taking orders now.. only $199 each. We sailed to the dateline between Vanua Levu and Tavenui where we crossed from the western to the eastern hemisphere!

The proof: 180 degrees 0 minutes east! Glenda dropped a point for her artwork here as well..

Next up we made our way to the Yasawa islands by sailing south of Vanua Levu to Coconut point in very little wind. From there we made we an overnight passage with 12-15knots across Bligh waters arriving at the barrier reefs at sunrise. It was pretty straightforward, and saved us several days not taking the traditional route down to Vitu Levu and then back up from Lautoka.

Arriving at the majestic Sawa-i-lau island in the northern Yasawas.


Stops anchored with the village in the background. We had a traditional Fijian dinner at the Chief’s Bure (traditional Fijian dwelling). One of the dishes was an Indian dhal..looks like indigenous Fijians have taken a liking to the Indian food as well.


Snorkelling the caves at Sawa-I-lau was pretty amazing.. The main cave was cool, but the guide helped us dive down to enter the Whispering cave which was totally dark.. He then used his arms to create a mini tidal wave which hit the sides of the rock causing a reverberation that turned the whole cave into a drum and we were inside it!

Glenda taking it easy on a float in the caves.

Glenda enjoying the beautiful lagoon and beach at the foot of Sawa-I-lau..


Finally Glenda’s childhood dreams come true! The sandcastle, fiji style.


After Sawa-I-lau we dodged some more reefs to head down to Blue Lagoon.. yes, this is very Blue Lagoon where the movie with the same name was shot.. unfortunately it is not longer uninhabited.. We hung out with S/V Distant Shores who invited us over for dinner with Gary on S/V Dash.


Glenda feeding the fish some moldy bread we had left over. They loved it and got me thinking that I should try it..


Fiji is the only place I have been where they cultivate coral to replace the damaged reefs.


We saw our first SEA SNAKE!!


Next up we sailed down to Naviti island to check out the snorkeling at Manta ray pass. We anchored next to a 40ft French flagged Leopard cat with Robert and Martine who invited us onboard for a drink. We later figured out that I had bought one of their watercolor paintings in 2005 in the Tobago Cays when I was on a bareboat charter. Robert came up to our boat to sell his wife’s paintings and at that time was on a 33ft steel hull yacht. It’s such a small world!


The snorkeling was pretty good, but no alas no Manta Rays.. apparently it is too late in the season :-(


We had a beach BBQ at Cuvu bay with S/V Takalani who are from South Africa. Stof had apparently been to Nyeri the small town in Kenya where I was born.. small world!


Glenda was a natural at Bocce ball, but they still beat us.


Very light winds on our sail to Waya, the next island in the Yasawa chain..


Can you spot Sudden Stops anchored in Waya bay?


The Waya village Chief and his grand daughter. We performed the Sevu Sevu ceremony with the chief which involved clapping my hands and laying the dried kava wrapped in newspaper at his feet. Luckily he liked the look of us dodgy characters and picked it up (which is a good sign). Glenda then got us invited to a kava drinking session with the chief later that evening.. sweet!


With the chief's blessing we explored the village and found one traditional Fijian dwelling called a Bure..


Glenda enjoying the beach action..


Finally the kava drinking ceremony! The kava root is ground and then mixed in with water in the large bowl.. (which incidentally is plastic fishing bouy chopped in half!)


Chet excited because he gonna get some kava! We were seated in a circle with the Chief.


Glenda guzzling down the kava. She had the honour of the first gulp.


We also invited the dutch couple on S/V Tranquilo to join us for the festivities. They later invited us for dinner on Bart’s amazing 56ft custom built aluminium boat designed by Gerard Dijkstra.


After Waya were had a short sail to the beautiful and pristine uninhabited island of Navandra..


The visibility was 60+ feet, awesome!

We discovered the world's ugliest fish.. it's going up on mingers.com

Fiji was the only place in the south pacific where I couldn’t rely on my Navionics or CM93 electronic charts. There were too many uncharted reefs and unsurveyed areas. So we navigated using google satellite images converted to raster charts and displayed in OpenCPN on my PC. The satellite images very clearly show the reef boundaries. This was a lifesaver especially on the passage from Navandra to Musket Cove, which even the Yasawa Pickmere’s paper charts didn’t cover. 


The famous Musket Cove Yacht Club where we promptly became lifelong members. We got there just in the nick of time to experience the last summer BBQ which we enjoyed with our friends on S/V Dash, S/V Sidewinder and S/V Karinya


Glenda demonstrating the benefits of being a member..


The view..


Next up was a quick trip to Port Denerau Marina to top up on Diesel and water..  They put us on the same dock with a whole bunch of expensive yachts like the 160 ft Georgia sloop.. We must have been the smallest boat there..


We then made our way up to Saweni bay and Lautoka to checkout and provision for food.. Lautoka is little India, nearly all the shops were Indian run.


Even the signs in the produce market were in Hindi!


Towing Hammer on S/V Maverick2 who was a singlehander from Japan. I remember reading about him in Latitude 38 and amazingly we bumped into him at the customs office. We helped him with cruising guides and charts for Vanuatu.

Back at Musket Cove, final sunset in Fiji.

Fiji was pretty amazing.. it was a little more touristy than Tonga but its beautiful white sand beaches, pristine reefs and great indian food more than make up for it! We loved it.

Next stop Vanuatu some 450 miles west of Fiji..