Tag Archives: dolphins

Downwind Sail Across Fiji

Matt and I really wanted to visit the North East islands of Fiji.  We left Viani Bay and headed to Qamea which boasts of tall mountains (300m) and deep, forrest filled valleys.  It was a short motor sail with the jib only as the wind was coming in at about 28-35 degrees.  Makes it really hard to sail at this wind angle, but it was a beautiful day and we only had about 25nm to go.

We stopped in Namata Bay on Qamea which is owned by the Mitchell Family.  We only got to meet Arthur as the other brothers were busy working.  But we had a lovely walk along the long sandy beach at mid-tide.  During high tide the beach is completely gone and during low tide we could not get to shore because there is a coral reef that runs parrallel to the beach.

We also enjoyed a lovely snorkel around the reef where we saw tons of little fish, some sea stars and some pretty coral.

Naiviivi Bay – Qamea

We took a joy ride in the big boat.  First we started out at Namata Bay and motored into the wind to Laucala Pass which is between the island of Qamea and the very exclusive and private island of Laucala.  Matt thought we could anchor here but the weather was poor so we drove in front of the legendary exclusve Como Laucala Resort.  We never planned to stop but we did want to see what the fuss was all about.

We then flipped a U-turn, unfurled the jib and motor sailed to our next anchorage called Naiviivi Bay which is a 1nm indent on the west side of the Qamea island.  It is pretty trick to get to the anchorage as it is a king tide and we arrived at low tide.  But we made it safely and it is gorgeous.

We started at the orange anchor, went east (to the right) then circled back past the original anchorage to the red triangle.

Super calm, quiet, and peaceful here in Naivaiivi Bay!  We got a little fresh water rinse and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon.

We passed this funny enclave with two beautiful palm trees growing against all odds.

Koro Island

We had a beautiful 64nm downwind sail from Qamea to Koro island.  We set the medium asymetrical spinnaker and let it ride the entire sunny day.

During this little passage we crossed the international date line and went ahead into the future where we went from East to West.  Always pretty cool but it totally screws up our instruments.

We arrived late in the day and left before dawn the next day so the only photo I have for you is one of the super blue moon. 

For the past several days we have been experiencing higher high tides and lower low tides due to the Super Blue Moon.  Unfortunately for us the first few nights were cloudy so we did not see the moon but we certainly experienced the huge tides.  But after 3 nights, I woke at 3am and got a glimpse of this special and very rare occurence.  The next Super Blue Moon will be in 2037!

We left at 0400 and had the rare gift of the super blue moon and the sunrise together.

We had another perfect downwind sail from Koro island to Yadua island.  Instead of putting up the medium asymetrical spinnaker we put the parasail up which propelled us for 72nm in under 12hours!  Pretty good day with an average speed of 6.1kt.

A small pod of dolphins came out to play with Sugar Shack.

Yadua

We arrive in Yadua and as much as I’d like to continue our travel post, I need to create a separate post for this beautiful island.  So stay tuned for more on Yadua.

Kuata Island

We leave early the next moring (0430) to make a 75nm.  It was not the beautiful downwind sail that we had for the past few days, but it was still really pretty.  We tried to fly the working sails but they kept flogging so we tried to put up our medium spinnaker.  She was only up for about 30 minutes when she decided she was done with us and just exploded.  What a complete bummer.  This is what she looked like happy and then she fell to pieces…

But, to cheer us up, a HUGE pod of dolphins came to play with us for over 45 minutes!  They were litterally leaping and jumping through the waves to come cheer us up.

Then they stayed with us playing on our bows. Certainly put a smile back on my face!

We finally arrive to Kuata island.  It was nearly sunset so we dropped the hook and enjoyed a sundowner.

Our last trip was from Kuata to Musket Cove.  A short 35nm trip / 6 hours.  It was super nice breaking up this passage across Fiji.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We dive the legendary Rainbow Reef in our last blog post, did you see our 8 legged friend?

Vaiare Bay, Mo'orea

Discovering the Beauty of Lockdown

Sugar Shack enters confinement / lockdown in Mo’orea with Wayne and Deborah on board.  Not an ideal situation for visiting guests, but we make the best of it.  Deborah has never been on Sugar Shack and we are determined to show her a good time.

Matt met Deborah at Maxserve in the 90’s (yep, well over 30 years ago and she still hangs around).  I have had the pleasure of knowing her for about 20 years and was really looking forward to sharing our sea life with her.

Deborah

Deborah

There’s a lot of gray area around the lockdown rules.  The government stated that no inter island travel was allowed.  Which sucked as we had planned on sailing Deborah and Wayne to the Leeward islands.  The government (DPAM) stated “no leisure travel.”   However, there was no clear law or rule about moving around to other anchorages within the island you were currently anchored at.  Several cruisers wrote to the local authorities and everyone got mixed messages.  One government group (police municipale) said yes, you have to move around to adhere to the local anchoring laws. Whereas DPAM (another government department) said “no moving period.” Who do you believe?

Some anchorages in Mo’orea (where we were located) have anchoring restrictions.  Some places you can only anchor for 1 week and some for only 48 hours.  These regulations were created by a different organization than the one running the confinement.  So, two groups trying to instill their version of the law and we are caught in the middle.  We decided to move to a different anchorage to give Deborah and Wayne a change of scenery.  I mean, if we are going to be stuck on the boat, at least we can do is change the view, right?

We started in Opunohu Bay and moved to the Tiki anchorage closer to the reef.

What do you do on a 47’ boat 24/7?

Lucky for us, both Deborah and Wayne are super easy going and flexible.  We chatted a lot, shared tall stories, laid out in the sun, and swam.  We read, played a lot of games (Cards Against Humanity, Gin, Poker, Racko, Dominoes), watched a movie or two and went to shore to stretch our legs during our allotted time.

Fly a Kite.  Matt found one kite in the water and tried to fly it despite the fact that it was missing a rod.  He then got out another smaller kite and flew it off the back of the boat.

Work out:  Deborah and I worked out in the mornings with some stretching, crunches, squats, and wrist weights.  After all, you have to stay in shape during lockdown, right?

Some reading….

Played on the dinghy.

Pearl Shopping

A friend of mine, who runs a small pearl farm, provides me with imperfect pearls.  I try to sell them to other cruisers to help my friend and to make the recipients happy.  They get cheap pearls and all the money goes back to the pearl farmer. 

It was great fun educating Deborah on the life cycle of the oyster and its pearl.  She found some real gems.

The Tiki anchorage is not a bad place to be during lockdown.  The views are beautiful as are the sunsets.

Lockdown view

Lockdown view

Excursion on Shore

We decided to make use of our 1-hour exercise allotment and headed to shore.  We have visited here before and had no problem using this old basin to access the village, but this time we were thwarted by a locked gate. So, we just enjoyed the entire basin grounds to ourselves.

No worries, we found plenty to entertain ourselves.  Deborah at the welcome sign and departure sign.  We also found some cool art work on the walls: a giant gecko and octopus.

Deborah so badly wanted to reach the palm tree…try as she might, she wasn’t nearly tall enough.

We had a lot of lounging around on the “lido deck”

The Underwater Tiki Anchorage

We couldn’t anchor at the tiki anchorage without stopping at the underwater tiki garden.  Now technically, we are not supposed to be snorkeling.  The locals can’t snorkel and do watersports so they ask that cruisers don’t do it either.  But we were in a remote anchorage, far from shore with little traffic and we used it as our one hour of exercise.  I know, excuses, excuses, excuses.

Snorkeling was a first for Deborah.  We had a rough start, but that was because the mask did not fit her properly.  After switching masks, she did rather well for a first timer.  It can be scary learning how to breath under water. 

Wayne and I swam out to the underwater tiki garden.  Matt took Deborah by dinghy and helped her with her gear.  She jumped in and swam around like a Rockstar.

We found all 7 sunken tikis along with several fish and little coral gardens.

We headed back to the boat to enjoy some water time.

Dolphins and Whales

We got so lucky!  One calm day we were able to spy some whales just outside the pass.  We jumped in the dinghy and went out to meet them.  A large pod of dolphins enjoyed surfing the waves too.

Then the humpback whales came out to play.  It appeared to be a momma and baby and another large adult.  They were amaze balls! 

Some random photo ops during lockdown:

Sunrise over Tahiti from Mo'orea

Sunrise over Tahiti from Mo’orea

Crazy Fun Photos

Definitely not the holiday we had envisioned for Deborah.  But hopefully she had a good time.

Coming up next we visit an underwater sanctuary.  In our last blog, we welcome Wayne onboard Sugar Shack and get one day to play before confinement.

Events from this blog post occurred during the third week of August, 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Sugar Shack at Oponohu Passe

Voyage to Mo’orea

Finally, it was time for us to leave Tahiti and begin our voyage East. It is a short passage of 12nm to Moo’rea.  The weather was not conducive to sail toward the Tuamotus so we just went to the next island over.  However, before we left we enjoyed sundowners (aka happy hour) with our friends Julie and Andy on “Little Wing.”

Julie and I at sunset

Julie and I at sunset

Afterwards we were rewarded with a beautiful moonrise over Marina Taina in Tahiti. Perfect for this Halloween night.

The next morning, we made a final trash run and another quick trip to the grocery store to see if they got any pork in stock.  For some reason, the island of Tahiti is out of pork products – no pork chops, pork shoulder or pork ribs.  So sad for me.

Voyage to Mo’orea

We left the south pass and had light winds of 6-8kts coming north of east.  Sugar Shack had a full main and a reefed jib because there was hardly any wind.  We were doing a whopping 3-5kts of boat speed – just plugging along.  We were not in a hurry and had all day to cross the bay to the next island.

Several local surfers were taking advantage of the great waves as we left the pass.  These are short waves that break on a dangerous reef – but they still manage to rock it!

A French War ship was hanging out just in front of Mo’orea.  It looked like they were dragging something, but we were not close enough to figure it out.

French warship off the coast of Mo'orea

French warship off the coast of Mo’orea

In the distance we could see white caps.  Not a good sign, so we took a reef in the main sail.  After 15 minutes we decided to take a 2nd reef in the main sail.  Thank Holy God!  The winds jumped to 30-35kts and the seas quickly became 2-3 meters!  We were  bouncing all over the place.  We almost turned around, but decided to forge ahead.  The weather calmed down to 20-25kts and 1.5-2 meter seas which was a bit better.  The boat found her happy place and we were doing 7-8kts.

We turned the corner and had another 5nm to go to Oponohu passe entrance. During this leg of our voyage we encountered lots of beautiful dolphin.  They were surfing in the waves, jumping, and having fun.  We first spotted some dolphins at the Tahiti pass by the new surf platform (upper left photo), and then we saw dozens more as we got closer to Mo’orea.

Another mile further we ran into a super talented, overzealous foil boarder.   He was amazing!  He circled around Sugar Shack several times showing off his mad skills!  See my Instagram account for video footage.  He pumps the board by bending his knees which keeps the board moving forward.  He also uses the kite that is in his hand for propulsion.  We were going 6-7kts and he was going faster than us!

We were gifted with a grand view as we entered the Oponohu passe.

Sugar Shack at Oponohu Passe

Sugar Shack at Oponohu Passe

To the left of the pass is the anchorage which is full of other boats.  We grabbed a spot on a nice sandy patch in 3 meters of water.

Oponohu Anchorage

Oponohu Anchorage

Events from this blog occurred over the last week of October 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.