Our journey on the sailboat Good as Gold

We left the SW end of Taveuni Island and sailed in lots of wind and waves directly into the wind coming from the SE. With a reef in the main (not the full main sail) and the genoa (the head sail), we had the rail in the water and were sailing fast. We were aiming for the gorgeous and remote island of Fulanga in the Southern Lau group of islands in Fiji. Throughout the night, we could not get far enough east, so we aimed for Totoya Island, another island in the Southern Lau about 30 nm west of Fulanga.  We arrived early – before sunrise – so we tacked back and forth outside of the pass in the reef around the island. Once the sun rose, we could see that the pass was wide and deep so we headed in and anchored in a quiet bay, had a nap, then went for an afternoon snorkel.  A French boat from New Caledonia, SV Ilo, was anchored on the other side of the bay and the two men aboard began whistling and waving their arms at us. We thought something was wrong, so we rushed over. They had

After Zophia left, we spent a few more days in Savusavu getting ready to head out again. This means provisioning and doing some boat jobs like filling our water tanks, picking up and installing the four AGM batteries that we had ordered from China, and getting extra cockpit cushion covers and salon curtains made. Before leaving Savusavu, we took the bus to the Northern coast of the island to the town of Labasa. The drive across the island is very scenic. We went on market day and it was a bustling town. The market is much larger than in Savusavu and much of the produce in the market in Savusavu comes from Labasa. Is this grafitti? Local Bus to Labasa Labasa market Labasa market Bok Choy at the Labasa market As we were waiting for the bus back to Savusavu, we struck up a conversation with a local woman who was also returning to Savusavu. She worked for the Ministry of Immigration and visited the boats as they arrived to Fiji for the official check-in proce

  A few days after Anna left, we welcomed our daughter Zophia on board. We started by exploring a bit of Taveuni, which is known as the Garden Island. Instead of paying the tourist price for a tour, we took the local bus to a conservation area known for its three lovely waterfalls. Due to the bus schedule, we only had time to hike to the first two. Of course, the scenery was great and the swimming was very refreshing after the hiking. The next day we took local transportation again, but this time in the opposite direction to the “Natural Water Slide”. When we arrived, there was a large Fijian family there. They were having a great time and happily showed us how it works best (you block the water with a few people and then let a small torrent go when you’re ready to slide). After grabbing some provisions in Lomolomo, we sailed north-east to Budd Reef a few hours away. As usual, we had to sail upwind a bit but it was a nice sail to the anchorage at Yavu island.