TOTAL MILES TRAVELED ON SAIL to SEE EXPEDITION: 9556 NM
THE LAST PASSAGE
Total Miles traveled on last passage – 1409 NM
Miles traveled using SAILS – WIND POWER ONLY: 1324 NM
Miles traveled using both SAILS & ENGINES together: 25 NM
Miles traveled using ENGINES – FOSSIL FUELS ONLY: 60 NM
ANIMAL SIGHTINGS ON CORAL REEFS IN FIJI:
Saddled Butterflyfish, Long-nosed Butterflyfish, Coral Beauties, Regal Angelfish, Sailfin Tangs, Bi-Color Foxface Rabbitfish, Coronetfish, Tomato Anenome, White-tip Reef Shark, Maori Wrasse, Three Spot Dascyllus, Three Band Damselfish, Sargent Major, Longsnout Filefish, Cleaner Wrasse, Chromis, Humbug, Moorish Idol, Sunset Wrasse, Squirrelfish, Picasso Triggerfish, Titan Triggerfish, Orange-lined Triggerfish, Chestnut Blenny, Piano Fangblenny, Twotone Dartfish, Monicled Bridled Bream, Jewel Damselfish, Barracuda, Scalefin Antheis, Flagtail Grouper
Challenge: Try to match the fish name to the fish photo!
A. Long Nosed Butterflyfish
B. Orange-lined Triggerfish
C. Bi-Color Foxface Rabbitfish
D. Trumpetfish
E. Sunset Wrasse
F. Squirrelfish
VOS Reports Filed: 2 VOS weather reports were filed with NOAA on this passage through our satellite communications.
Average Air Temperature: 84 f/ 28.8 c
Average Sea Temperature: 84.5 f/ 29.25 c
Strongest Wind: 16 Knots (knots are a wind measurement of Nautical Miles per hour). We had very light winds on this leg of the trip!
Plastics Collection: On Earth Day, Sunday, April 22nd we did a Plastics Trawl. See Data below:
PASSAGE NOTES:
The trip to Fiji from Samoa was relatively calm with light winds. We spent 4 nights underway with a few hours stop at Niuafo’ou (or Tin Can Island) about halfway to Fiji. As we approached the island, we caught a big wahoo on our fishing line.
There is no safe harbor at Tin Can Island so it must be nearly calm to anchor and go ashore. The weather was perfect for a stop so we did, anchoring over black sand near a sort of wharf that was constructed on top of a lava flow.
Niuafou’ou belongs to Tonga. The island is shaped like a donut with a large freshwater lake in the middle and three smaller lakes as well. There are four islands in the largest lake. One of the larger islands has a lake in it. Niuafo’ou is the top of a still active volcano crater and the last eruption was in 1946. It is called Tin Can Island because the sides are so steep and the anchorage is so poor that they had to seal the mail in a Tin Can to have a young boy or man swim it out to a passing ship.
Four of us went ashore and started walking towards the settlement. About a mile along we saw a sign for a lookout and climbed up to a platform that offered a view out across the large crater lake and islands within it. Fairy terns, small white birds that flit along in pairs, looped above the islands.
Since we were not officially cleared into Tonga, we asked permission to walk around for just one hour. We were granted permission from the governor of the island. It might have helped that we brought some fish and sugar to give him.
We definitely attracted attention. Soon, a group of school children followed us giggling. “Hello, hello” they said and “good-bye, good-bye” immediately afterwards.
We stopped where a group of women were weaving pandanus leaves into giant mats. The mats are used for weddings and other special occasions. Such fine weaving takes three to four women several weeks to make just one mat.
A policeman, named Alan, drove us back to Elcie. Perhaps it was to make sure we left! We truly appreciated the ride because it had been a hot three mile walk to the village. The policeman’s three dogs chased the truck the entire way back. We offered Officer Alan some sandwiches which he gladly accepted. He said flour is not available on the island so they can’t make bread.
He explained how the lakes are utilized. The large one has fish and the small ones are used like this – one for cooking in, one for washing clothes and one for bathing bodies. I am sorry we didn’t get to see the smaller lakes but feel we were lucky to get ashore and to see the village at all. The island seemed pretty perfect – well, except for the idea of living on the edge of an active volcano!
Around 3:30 pm we headed off for Fiji, another 300 miles away so two more nights of sailing. During the second night, we crossed over the International Date Line. Here, we went from the Western Hemisphere into the Eastern Hemisphere. Our GPS (Geographical Positioning System) shows that we are at exactly 180 degrees. Technically, this is where the day changes from one to the next.
Once we arrived in Savusavu, Fiji, we cleared in with the Fijian officials. They sent someone to the boat to make sure that Moonlight, the cat, was healthy. We were one of the first two boats of the sailing season to arrive. Savusavu is a small and very lively town with everything one could need including a large fruit and vegetable market. Some of the vegetables are very unfamiliar to us – things like Taro and Cassava roots.
Cultural Sidebar - Food in Fiji
Taro root comes from the taro plant, which is native to Southeast Asia and India and is a staple in diets there as well as Africa, China, the Caribbean, and Hawaii. Both the big green leaves of the plant and the root itself can be eaten when cooked. In their raw form, both are toxic. It's most commonly used and prepared much like a potato. Compared to a white potato, it has three times the amount of fiber, and is also a rich source of potassium, iron, vitamin C, and vitamin A. Taro chips, anyone?
Cassava is a woody shrub native to South America but is extensively grown in tropical regions around the world for it's edible starchy root, an important source of carbohydrates. Like taro,cassava is poisonous unless it is peeled and thoroughly cooked. If it is eaten raw or prepared incorrectly, digestive enzymes in our stomachs will breakdown cassava and give off the deadly poison cyanide.
Challenge Question: If you cook, then dry and grind up cassava into a powdery (or pearly) extract, what is it called? [Hint: YOU may have eaten this as pudding!]
Common Fijian Meals
Breakfast - Roti is Fiji style bread. The bread is spread with butter and/or jam and eaten with a cup of tea that can be black tea, or tisanes (an herbal tea) of fresh lemon leaves or lemongrass.
Lunch in the villages is usually rourou (dalo leaves = leaves from Taro plant) with boiled Tavioca (cassava) or some fresh fish soup with dalo (= taro root).
Dinner is usually stew, curry or soup made from meat/fish or chicken. Stews are made from meat, potatoes and vegetables.
A traditional dessert is vakalolo made with cassava, coconut, ginger root, sugar, cloves, then steamed in a banana leaf.
On one morning in Savusavu, we went out in 4-Man outrigger canoes with two young local men. They were difficult to paddle in a straight line but eventually we got it and then we had a race!
Engineering sidebar - What is an outrigger canoe?
The outrigger canoe is a type of traditional canoe featuring one or more lateral (side) support floats known as 'outriggers', which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. To be safe, canoes need to be stable or not tip over easily in the water. In a single-hull canoe, the size and shape of the single hull determines the stability. However, in an outrigger the distance between it's 'hulls' determines the stability. Compared to single-hull canoes, the benefits of outriggers are:
- longer so can hold more people and cargo
- narrower so less material, labor, and time needed to make it
- long, narrow shape makes it more hydrodynamic so can be paddled quite fast
- very stable when paddled and sailed in rougher water
The paddling technique, however, differs greatly from kayaking or rowing. The paddle, or blade, used by the paddler is single sided, with either a straight or a double-bend shaft. Despite the single paddle, an experienced paddler will only paddle on one side, using a technique such as a J-stroke to maintain heading and stability.
We left Savusavu and worked our way back to the east for a few days. Our first two nights were in a small bay called Viani Bay. Ashore, we met a young Fijian woman named May who worked at a dive shop. She took us to two different sites on the reef near the bay. Rainbow Reef was beautiful with many different types of fish and soft corals, a sea turtle, and one small shark. The second site was called Cabbage Patch and was a neon green coral in a giant mound like spread out cabbage leaves. We had never seen anything like it before.
May invited us to come ashore in the morning for a hike. She greeted us and we followed her down the beach to her house. There, she opened fresh coconuts full of coconut water for us to drink. Her brother, Jay, climbed way up high in a tree and tossed down about 60 mandarins for us to take back to the boat. She had chickens, pigs and dogs with four puppies. We hiked up a narrow, slippery trail behind her house. Along the way, she opened another coconut that had a middle like marshmallow.
Then she showed us a plant that could be used as a natural straw – no plastic! Check out The Last Plastic Straw campaign for more information about the damaging effects of plastic on our environment and oceans! We walked along a grassy ridge with a stunning view across the bay.
We followed May down a different route and ended up behind the local elementary school. 60 children from around the bay attend the school. They are picked up by a School Boat instead of a School Bus! A large wooden drum is hit with sticks to call the children into school. The school had a lot of solar panels to provide power to it. There were signs about saving electricity. They also collected rainwater from the roof. It was a very environmentally-friendly school.
Challenge Question: What is your school doing to make things better for the environment?
With some donation money to our Sail to See Fund, we purchased a camera drone. We chose the school yard for its maiden voyage. The students were not there as it as a school holiday. However, three curious children watched while we flew the drone. Richard let them come and look at the monitor on the phone so they could see their school from overhead.
Overnight, we sailed to the Lau Group, arriving at the island of Vanua Balavu in the morning. Here, we were expected to do a Sevusevu with the village chief. This involves us presenting the chief with a large bundle of kava root and him accepting our presence in the anchorage. It allows us to anchor, fish and dive in the area. The chief was quite old and did not speak English but his right-hand man translated.
We were offered some fruit so followed the chief’s right hand man up the hill. We were given several papayas and a huge bag of bananas – all about ready to eat right then. Fortunately, we had room to freeze most of them. Another woman offered us some fresh bread so we bought a bag of warm buns for about $1.50. I was able to visit her “bake house” and saw how she used a wood-fired oven for baking.
We anchored nearby in the Bay of Islands. It is called this because it has about 40 small mushroom-shaped islands scattered about and many narrow inlets and passes. It was a really fun place to kayak and paddle board. We saw many Flying Fox (very large bats) flapping around at sunset and hanging upside down from trees.
Captain Richard, on his third drone flight, was starting to feel quite brave! He flew the camera drone up and over the tiny islands, passes and the rest of the crew while they swam and paddled.
Our time in Fiji will finish on the west side near the international airport. Some of our crew will leave from here and new crew will arrive. We’ll be back to report on Vanuatu in a couple of weeks.
WHERE WE VISITED: Fiji
Other Names: Republic of the Fiji Islands
Population: 852,000
Land Area: 7,095 sq miles/18,376 sq km
Capital: Suva
Type of Government: democratic republic (gained independence from Britain in 1970)
Currency: Fijian Dollar
Language: English, Fijian, Hindustani
Highest Point: Tomanivi 4,341 feet/1,323 meters
Climate: tropical marine, little temperature variation
Economy: small amount of tourism, agriculture and fishing
Agricultural products: sugarcane, coconuts, cassava, rice
Major Exports: sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish
Natural Hazards: cyclones
Country Flag:
Interesting Facts:
1) Bula is the most common word you’ll hear across Fiji, and it is used to greet people or say hello. When you say bula to someone, you are actually wishing them life.
2) One of Fiji's most successful sportsman is the professional golfer Vijay Singh, winner of three major championships.