Onward to Fiji

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We spent a lovely week in Funafuti, Tuvalu.  But, it was time to make the journey south east towards Fiji. 

The forecast showed light winds, rain, and seas between 1-2 meters.  

Prior to leaving we filled up on duty free fuel diesel. 

Pacific Energy typically fuels 200 liter drums with their large nozzles.  These nozzles are too big for our jerry cans.  Our solution was to fill a 200 liter drum.  And then use a hand pump to transfer the fuel from the drum to our (10) jerry cans. 

We transported the (10) jerry cans across the street, down the beach, in the surf to the dinghy, and then on to the boat!

Passage to Fiji

We departed early on a Saturday morning.  We spent the first 5 hours motoring across the lagoon, out of the pass, and then down the eastern side of the island.

Day 1:  The first 24 hours were really calm. We had really light winds (4-6kts) and could not sail at all.  So, we motored for the first 24 hours.  

The night brought rain showers and squalls.  The days had sunshine and rainbows. 

However, Days 2-4 we had just enough wind to raise the main and genoa to full sail. The days were beautiful with full sunshine, blue skies, white puffy clouds and decent conditions. 

Yes, we could have used more wind, but with the boat “injured” it was best to have these light winds.

We wanted to go through the Somosomo Straight (between Vanua Levu and Taveuni) during the day.  However, we did not arrive until evening.  Lucky for us we had tracks and great charts. 

We lost the wind completely between the two islands and motored through the narrow channel.  We arrived to the Savusavu channel perfect timing around 0800.  

  • Traveled:  Funafuti, Tuvalu to Savusavu, Fiji
  • Distance Travelled: 561 nautical miles
  • Total Time at Sea:  97 hours (4 days)
  • Motoring Time:  37 hours (ouch)
  • Average Speed: 5.8 and Max Speed 11kt

Matt and I under passage

The top red arrow is Funafuti, Tuvalu.  We passed many tiny atolls and islands in route to Fiji including Niulakaita Island (green arrow). And we re heading to Savusavu, Fiji the black arrow.

Arriving Fiji

Now, the tricky part.  We need to maneuver the boat in the very narrow channel to the mooring.  We had a local cruiser on stand by with his dinghy and Copra Shed Marina sent their staff to assist as well.

Savusavu, Fiji channel

Savusavu, Fiji channel

Matt was able to align the boat with a mooring.  However, before we could pick it up a large roll on / roll off tanker asked us to move so they could get past us.  He is barreling toward us and there is nothing we can do but try to reverse.

Unfortunately, once Matt reversed we had no way to get back to the mooring.

The marina guy towed us back to the mooring.  What a heart stopping event as we are surrounded by channel markers, buoys and boats.

We are here and settled.  This will be home for many weeks as we await our boat parts and start on all of the repairs.

Formalities in Fiji

Once we were settled on the mooring, the marina organized the officials. 

The Health official arrived first.  She checked under our beds, in our bathrooms, inside the fridge and freezer looking for bugs. 

We passed. 

Immigration, Customs, and Biosecurity were next.  A short 30-minutes later and we were officially cleared into the country!

Fiji Officials Clearing us into the Country

Fiji Officials Clearing us into the Country

A boat full of school kids passed by and shouted “Bula.”  It was the perfect welcome to this amazing country!

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We were under passage toward the end of April 2025. 

We celebrate the bombing of Funafuti, Tuvalu – check it out!

Bombing of Funafuti Celebration

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We are invited to celebrate Te Aso o te Paula which translates to “The Day of the Bomb.”  This is a ceremonial day for Funafuti where they celebrate surviving the WWII bomb and the minimal loss of life.

The main atoll of Funafuti in Tuvalu received the U.S. Marines on October 2, 1942.  Funafuti became a significant army and navy base housing a total of 350 aircraft and a brand new airport.

The Japanese didn’t know the Americans built a base in Funafuti, Tuvalu.  They were looking for other bases to the North of Kiribati, not to the south.

The Japanese bombed Funafuti seven months after the airport was completed on April 23, 1943.

Even though one local and two servicemen lost their lives they still celebrate this day of survival.

Fun Fact about Funafuti

There are two main villages on the island.  To the south of the Presbyterian church is one village. The other village is located to the north of the church.  The church sits in the center of the island between both villages.  

There is one chief over the entire island and the priest is “over” the chief.

Celebrating in Funafuti

The two villages participate in games all week long to see who is the superior village.  On the celebration day, the compete in dance and song.

A group of men surround a platform that they use as a drum.  Singers surround the drummers and the dancers face the opposite village.

The celebrations start out with lunch and speeches.  The U.S. flag and special plaque are on display.

The villagers decorate the hall with beautiful, handwoven crafts.

The Dancers

Every song and dance tells a story.  Threaded through every story is the gratitude for the gift of life.

The women dancers delight with their beautiful smiles and gentle hand gestures.

The men show their fierce nature with strong movements and stomps.

A few of my favorite performers.

The 80th Anniversary Celebrated in NZ 

A beautiful video of the celebrations in New Zealand on April 23, 2023. 

A survivor recounts the Day of the Bomb. 

She remembered over 40 locals running to the church.  And shortly after an American soldier told them to evacuate as the church was an easy target. The church was later destroyed.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events. 

We celebrated Te Aso o te Paula on 23 April 2025.

See more information on No Foreign Land 

In our last blog post I share the dramatic failures on Sugar Shack.

Failures Bring on Frustrating Times

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Sugar Shack has had a string of failures over the last few weeks. I cannot remember a time when I’ve been so frustrated.  

Our boat has been and continues to be an amazing vessel. 

She has safely transported us over 50,000nm across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  She is our home, our yacht, our love and I would not trade her for anything else.  We love our Catana!

However, with anything over 24 years old you have failures.  

All of this happened over the course of 2 weeks in route to Fiji from the Marshall Islands.

Double Steering Failure

As you might recall, we had a “A Double Steering Failure” when we lost our starboard steering gear box and our port rudder arm.  This rendered our starboard helm un-steerable and our port helm without a rudder. 

Makes steering a challenge, but still doable with auto pilot using the port steering gear box and the starboard rudder.

Problem: ​Starboard Steering Gear Box failed. 

Solution: We ordered new bearings and seals from Germany for both port and starboard.  They’re being sent to Fiji where we will do repairs.

Problem: Port Rudder Arm failed. 

Solution: The good news is it broke at the attachment point.  We found the one man who has the tools to weld stainless and he fixed our rudder arm! We need to weld the two pieces together at the exact correct length to reinstall the rudder arm.

Matt and I searched for a stainless welder all over Funafuti over 3 days.  We finally found the one man who has the tools and expertise.  He tack welded the two pieces together, then did some grinding, then finished the welding.  We are back in business with two rudders!

A Massive Disappointment

Port Engine Failure

Problem: Our port engine water pump had a slow leak.  We had been watching it and were prepared to replace it once we got to Fiji. However, the leak got progressively worse.  So, Matt decided to replace it in Tuvalu.

The water pump is located in front of the engine making it a challenge to access. Matt has to lean over the engine, upside down to access the pump. Many pieces and parts have to be removed including the timing belt.

Problem #2: As Matt was removing the timing belt it ripped!  Oh for the love of God!  The engine can’t run at all without a timing belt!  This is bad, very bad!

Solution: The water pump was installed, but there is nothing we can do about the timing belt.  We ordered (2) new timing belts (one for both engines) from the UK to be delivered to Fiji where we will do repairs.

More Annoying Issues

Problem:  As Matt was removing pieces from the engine to get to the water pump one of his most used sockets fell into the water.  We are in 14m depth (40′).  

We got the dive gear out and both pressure gauges had water ingress and were not readable. 

Solution:  Matt used the dive gear anyway and within 4 minutes found the socket!  Yeah.

Problem: The furler is starting to fail and is leaking.  It is still working, but we have to be gentle when using the genoa.

Solution: We ordered new bearings and seals to be sent to Fiji where we will do repairs.

Problem: The washdown pump failed.  We use this pump to hose off the boat and clean the ground tackle (with both fresh and salt water).

Solution:  Matt thought we could just take it a part, clean it and get it working.  But this 13 year old pump was done.  We will have to buy a new one.

Summary

 
We have one engine and one rudder forcing us to run between helm stations. And somehow make it to Fiji to do the repairs.
 
Good news:  
  • We can steer from the Port helm and run back to starboard to use the throttles
  • We found a stainless welder in Tuvalu (the 2nd smallest country in the world). We now have use of both rudders
  • The port engine NEW water pump is installed
  • The engine was off when the timing belt failed.
    • Would have been catastrophic if it failed with the engine on.
  • We found the socket in 14m of silty water.  New octopi will be purchased in the future
  • Matt thinks he can take the washdown pump apart, clean it, service it and get it working without a replacement.  
  • The furler still works but we have to be gentle using it.  

Trying our best to see the silver lining. We are truly blessed and know that “life happens.”  It’s just hard when it happens all at one time.

We find some joy and charm in Tuvalu – check out our last blog post.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual events.  The failures occurred between mid to end of March 2025.