Tag Archives: musket cove

Musket Cove Regatta

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Matt and I are so excited to be here during the world renowned Musket Cove Regatta week!  We do want to participate, but we don’t want to race our home.  We do however, register Sugar Shack so that we are eligible to sign up for the hobie cat race, the SUP challenge, and we get access to the opening and closing night dinners.

About a month before the race, we ran into our friends on the sailing boat “Wow.”  We met them in French Polynesia and stopped by to say “hi.”  They were keen to race in the regatta and needed additional crew so we happily signed up.

Wow is a stealth 14GT and weighs in at a surprisingly low 5 tons.  To give you an idea of how light that is Sugar Shack weighs close to 14 tons.  Wow is super light and fast!

We spend one day practicing and getting to know the boat which is pretty different than Sugar Shack. 

Opening Night

The opening night was held at the local Island Bar located on the beach.  Tickets are required, free rum punch for the first hour, and dinner was served.  It was a great opportunity to get to know other cruisers.  We head in with the sailing team on Wow and our friend Chris (lower left corner).

There are three boat races that are held during the 5-day race week.  The first race is called “beachcomber” then the most challenging race is “Around Malolo Race” and the final is the “sand bank” race.

In addition to the boat races, there are hobie cat races, the SUP challenge, a fun run, and a beach cleanup.

Hobie Cat Races

The first race that kicks off is the hobie cat races.  Matt had sailed on hobie cats when he was in college, but I had never been on one before.  We had hoped we could watch a few rounds so we can see the course, check the winds, and figure out a game plan. 

But that was not in the cards for us. We were literally the first team, out of 60 teams, on the water! 

There are 4 hobie cats.  You race two teams at a time with a beach start.  We have mere moments to look at the boat before we start.  This is Matt and I with the marina manager, Patrick.  The lower right photo is just a silly hat that I had to share.

The course started at the beach, at the whistle, you run and jump onto the boat, and two pushers give you a shove to get you started.  As you can see, I had a rough entry!  I had to run around the pusher as the boat was moving and face planted!

We had a good start but it quickly went downhill from there!  The course had you go around two markers, past the start, back around the two markers, and back to the beach.  After 3 rounds they shortened the course to just once around the course.

The hobie cats are relatively simple. You have one-person steering using a tiller and another person working the jib.  I was up front working the jib. 

We didn’t do so bad on the first of 6 legs.

The Challenge isn’t the other boats, but rather the boat itself

With the first tack (attempt to turn the boat) we realized we had a problem.  The batons on the jib were too long and had a hook on the end.  Each time the jib passed the mast to make the tack it got stuck on the halyard preventing the jib from doing its job which is filling with air to help steer the boat.  It caused us massive fits and troubles and we lost valuable ground. 

Needless to say, I came up with some creative curse words and we lost by single elimination heat.  I can at least say we came in 2nd in a race with 60 boats were racing, can’t I?

As soon as we came back to the beach, the race committee tried to repair the batons on the jib – clearly it was not a Christine problem – well this one wasn’t at least. 

The good news is that we did not flip the boat!  Unlike another team.  Not sure how they flipped their boat as we had incredibly light, light winds.

And there were moments where we sort of looked like we knew what we were doing.

All in all, it was a fun day.  Not the outcome we had hoped for, but still loads of fun.

SUP Challenge

The SUP (stand up paddle board) challenge was held in the lagoon on the same course as the hobie cats.  The first leg was up wind until you rounded the first mark, then it was a nice down wind run until you rounded the second mark which led you to a cross wind run to the finish.

Matt was going to participate but his hands were covered in blisters so we both melded into the cheering crowd.

Next up we race in the Beachcomber race and participate in pirate day!

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  In our last blog we finally arrive to Malolo Island after a few short stops. 

Fiji Welcomes the Konis Family

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So excited to spend some time with my family in Fiji. We meet Kimberly, Troy, Cameron, and Cole (the Konis family) in Port Denarau on Viti Levu (the mainland) where we secured a mooring.

They arrive before sunrise and enjoy the beauty of nature all around me. 

We do the required covid tests and a little shopping in the Port Denarau Marina mall.  A quick cocktail stop at the “Sails” restaurant before we leave with a fun photo op.

It is a short 2-hour motor to Musket Cove Marina on Malolo Island.  On the way, we stopped off at a little sandy spit with a few other tourist boats.  The boys swam to shore while Kimberly and I took the SUPs to shore.  There were tons and tons of tiny sea stars (I call them star fish but was corrected by the Konis family).  Unfortunately, I did not get any photos so close your eyes and imagine us walking on this white sandy spit that disappears during high tide.

A few hours later, we grabbed a mooring for the night at Musket Cove Marina.  Being on a mooring places us closer to the marina, eateries, and activities. 

A quick stop in to see Patrick, the Musket Cove Yacht Club manager who gives the Konis family “Lifetime memberships to the Musket Cove Marina” for $10F ($5 US).  Matt and I sign up for the Musket Cove Regatta as well so that we can participate in the crazy fun.

We head to shore for dinner at Dick’s Place where we celebrate Kimberly and Troy’s wedding anniversary.  Perfect to be together with the Konis’s.

Dick’s Place offers a buffet dinner so there was something for everyone.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset at this exquisite setting.

I was able to capture this crazy beautiful photo with the sun setting over the lit pool. 

Day 2: Musket Cove & Seventh Heaven

The next morning, Cole has an appointment with Fiji Surf Co. so we move Sugar Shack out to Namotu Island which is about 2-hours away near the reef and the famous Cloud break surf break.  We anchor just as his surf team pulls up in their boat (they came from Port Denarau).  Cole jumps in their boat and off they go to enjoy a morning of surf at Wilks Pass and Namotu Lefts.  It wasn’t a terribly great surf with 1.5-2m seas, but Cole had a great time meeting new people and surfing in Fiji.   The resort is called Namotu Island Resort and caters to the extreme sports enthusiasts.  It is all inclusive of surfing, kiting, foiling, and more.

Kimberly, who is not an overly zealous snorkeler decided she would jump in the water first to enjoy some private time with the fishies.

Once Cole returns, we head to Seventh Heaven, our new favorite eatery in Fiji!  We run into Glen who is one of four owners of the bar.  The last time we were at Seventh Heaven we met Glen the last time we were here with Wayne.

We order delicious cocktails and super tasty food!

And of course, Cameron shows off his mad skills on the Leap of Faith doing back flips and artsy dives.

Exploding Bean Bag

We headed back to the boat to enjoy some R&R.  Around 4:30pm we hear “oh no” and all of the sudden we see tons of white floating balls fly by us.  We quickly run up to the bow where we find Cameron desperately trying to close the exploded bean bag.  The bags are old, have been baking in the sun, and have taken a lot of abuse by young ones.  It was bound to happen.  One of the seams tore open and a lot of the bean bag filling literally went flying out of the bag.  It took all 6 of us over an hour to try to clean them up. I am sure Matt and I will be finding them floating around for years.  It was truly funny and not funny at the same time.

The boys decided they’d like to try sleeping outside, but I don’t think it turned out like they expected.  The sleeping bags cocooned them and Cole’s bottom was hitting the SUP (so he moved to the trampoline).

Day 3: Waya & Octopus Resort

We started off day 3 early as we had a 45nm motor/sail to Waya island.  We could have pushed the motors a little more to compensate for the lack of wind, but we made it in about 5 hours.

Waya island is a new island for Matt and I so we had to rely on feedback from other cruisers.  It turned out to be one of our favorite spots.  We pulled up next to the Octopus Resort and dropped the hook.

Matt dropped us off ashore to explore the beautiful sandy beach.  After asking the resort for permission, we headed over to a more secluded area where we could beach comb, play bocchi and enjoy the cool waters.

Matt made his famous eggplant parmesan which unsurprisingly got devoured in short order!

Events from this blog occurred in the first two week of August.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual events.   In our last blog, we explain why a stick on a hill can be extraordinary for us.

Musket Cove

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We leave the beautiful, and not totally explored island of Kadavu to go to Musket Cove.  It is only 100nm from our current location, but we need to do an overnight to ensure we arrive at daylight (famous last words).  We pick up the hook at 0700 and head around the island to the SW side and drop the hook at Cape Washington / Denham Island for a quick lunch stop. 

Cape Washington

Wow, what a truly beautiful spot with such a diverse landscape!  You look one way and you see long, white sandy beaches, another direction is a towering lime stone hillside, and behind you is a deserted resort begging to be brought back to life.

Cape Washington-Denham Island

Cape Washington-Denham Island

After our lunch, we make way toward Musket Cove which was a super easy and very pleasant passage. 

Trip Details

  • Total Miles:  96nm
  • Max Speed: 10.6kt
  • Average Speed: 6.0kt
  • Waves were following at 1-1.5m
  • Total Moving Time :16 hours

We have a spectacular sunrise.  The white spots are stars and the large dot near the tallest mountain is the moon.

Just because I am so in love with sunsets, here is another one about 30 minutes later.

Remember how I said we left late afternoon to ensure we would arrive at daybreak?  Well that did not work out so well.  We arrived at 0330 and decided to enter the shipping channel which was wide, deep, and well lit.  We had no problems, then headed to the anchorage, dropped the hook and took a nap.

It is super pretty here with gorgeous views, despite the many boats that are here (well over 60!)

We head to shore to explore and have some lunch.  There is a little resort on Malolo island (aka Musket Cove) and loads of cruisers wondering about.  A little supermarket, pharmacy, laundry, showers, and trash are available.  In addition to the multiple bars and restaurants.

Snorkeling the Reef

The next day we head out to the reef and a popular bommie (right in the center of the channel).  Boy these two places were fun.  Not a ton of fish, but super interesting coral, schools of reef fish and more.

These look like they would be hard corals, but they were in fact soft.

The coral had beautiful formations, indents, and caverns.

And I fell in love with all of the brilliantly, bright blue starfish.  These are the obvious ones that were begging to be noticed.

These were the shy ones that made me look for them.  I love the upper left one where he looks like he is hugging the coral.

Seventh Heaven

After our snorkel, we decided to do a drive by a place called Seventh Heaven.  This place has only been open for 4 months and sort of is a copy cat to Cloud 9.  But, we are equal sharers in love so we stopped by.  You pay $50F up front and that amount is applied to your food, drinks, water toy rentals, massage, and items purchased at the store.  We did not have any problems meeting that quota.

The food was amaze balls and the drinks were delicious.

Yep, life is good on Sugar Shack!

The boys even take the “Leap of Faith”

Port Denarau

It was time to take Wayne back to the main island of Viti Levu where he could catch his flight.  So, we motored the 2 hours to Port Denarau.  Well, this is very similar to Tahiti.  It is necessary evil to have to come here.  We need to provision, fuel, dump trash, and deliver Wayne.  But, YUCK the water is green and muddy, there are tons of boats, tourists, cruise ships, and just “so much.”

Wayne’s funny track from this holiday.  We really had a silly sail plan, but this is what the weather allowed us to do so we sailed 6 of his 20 days with a total of almost 700nm!

Stay tuned for more on Port Denarau next week.

Events from this blog occurred in the first two weeks of July.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual events.   In our last blog, we continue our Lao Group Island Tour.