Our journey on the sailboat Good as Gold

Jonathan anchored his boat, Chez Nous, near us in the Bay of Islands at Vanua Balavu. We sorted the supplies we had received from the Sea Mercy warehouse in Denerau and transferred them to Chez Nous. We motored North around the top of Vanua Balavu and sailed South down the East side to Susui Island. The island representative, Jacob, met us on the beach and gave us a tour of the island. Jacob and Dina walking along the beach of Susui We met the ladies busy weaving mats and we visited the school that also received books and supplies we had carried. School children at Susui Susui Island, along with most of the Northern Lau, was hit hard by Cyclone Winston. Avea and Susui islands were still in the midst of rebuilding. Water tanks and systems, schools, churches and houses, as well as gardens were being rebuilt. We were able to offer Jacob 20 litres of diesel for the community’s one electrical generator. It is used for a few hours each night. The ferry arrived in Lomaloma

Savusavu is a friendly small town with two marinas, restaurants (Chinese or Indian), a lovely market, grocery stores and various yacht services. We provisioned, had the arch reinforced, filled our water and cooking gas tanks and even changed the oil in the engine.  We motored out of Savusavu straight into the SE trade winds, aiming for the northern tip of Taveuni Island. We motored about 2 ½ hours and decided to pull into Naidi Bay for the night. It was a good holding bay, well protected from the wind, but rolly. We were happy to hoist anchor the next morning and motor to Fawn Harbour. Once we were anchored, Arthur Pickering kayaked out to say, Hello. He is the patriarch of the Pickering clan that lives in Fawn Harbour. Arthur invited us to his home for tea and asked if we could bring a volt metre with us… Arthur’s two solar panels weren’t working. After tea, some homemade biscuits (fried dough), and a trip to the hot springs, Malcolm was able to fix one panel and diagnose the

As we sailed back east around the north side of Viti Levu we headed into the wind. The first day we motored for almost 4 hours until the winds and waves coming towards us made it unpleasant. We anchored in Vitoga Bay for the night. The next day we got an early start and motored into the wind and waves for another 4 hours then dropped anchor in Vatia Bay. For the final push to Nananu-i-ra Island, we set off at 7 AM and arrived about 6 hours later. This bay seemed to be home to some big jellyfish, which a local told us were harmless. We still didn't touch them and didn't swim until the next day when they all seemed to be gone (perhaps the wind or current moved them along?) Big Jellyfish on the beach at Nananu-i-ra We went to Nananu-i-ra to take kite-boarding lessons from Warren Francis, the owner of the Safari Island Lodge. Unfortunately, Dina had hurt her back and was unable to take lessons. However, Malcolm did do the standard progression from flying the kite while sta