August 20, 2000-The Tough Go Shopping

Heading West

As they say, "When the going gets tough..."

All this cruising is too tough for us, so we are heading off to Nandi to do some shopping. At this moment WINGS is anchored in Port Denerau, Fiji. Port Denerau is a large inland basin dredged out of the muddy delta of the Nandi River. It is sheltered and calm here and quiet since it is primarily a base for tourist boats and there are few tourists this year. Lined up on the pier are rows idle cruise boats, tour boats, and day trippers, sitting still and empty. We came here due to its proximity to Nandi town where some of the best shopping deals exist in Fiji for provisions and consumer electronics (we need a new VCR), but we find the peace enjoyable. Between shopping trips we sit on WINGS listening to soft music and reading, enjoying our rest after the energetic sail here.

Port Denerau, with its warmth and stillness, is a far cry from our last anchorage out east. On Thursday, after leaving Savusavu we stopped behind a reef in Savusavu Bay for the night. A few miles from the nearest land, anchored behind a submerged outer coral reef, we were protected from the waves but wide open to the wind off the Pacific. We knew that in that place, we were really "out there". Looking to leeward we could see the shoreline in the distance...more coral and breakers along a lee shore, and then nothing but jungle. Behind it the ridges disappeared in the smokey haze of sunlight shining down through the clouds. The wind moaned in rigging, sometimes raised to a howl, and we bobbed in the short chop there. We were hanging off the edge of the reef, anchored in 40 feet but with about 100 feet under our keel. If the anchor dragged we'd go into deep water fast. Even if that happened we would still be a safe distance from the distant shoreline, nevertheless, we felt exposed. The anchor seemed to hold well, but we slept fitfully. Getting up the next morning to go sailing was a relief.

Then we completed a mad dash around Fiji. We sailed 220 miles in little more than 24 hours, sailing around Viti Levu from the Eastern Division to the Western Division in perfect, if boisterous, conditions. We started out from Savusavu Bay close reaching with 24 knots, then as we rounded reefs and islands, we cracked off onto a beam reach, then a broad reach, then a run, and finally we jibed and turned the corner into Nandi waters, where Denerau is. We were hitting 7.5 to 8.5 knots most of the way and saw 10+ once or twice. The wind vane steered us and we never changed sail. That is as good as it gets.

We expect to go leave for Port Villa, Vanuatu, in a few days. We'll write to you from there.

Fred & Judy, S/V Wings, Port Denerau, Fiji

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