We were planning to return to Suva in May anyway, but now we are forced to sail there slightly earlier, because our fridge has developed a leak… As soon as we’re back in the capital we have to have that fixed, then an overhauled pump will (hopefully) arrive from the US for our watermaker, we have to fix our sprayhood (the material we got for… Continue reading »
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2024
29
Apr
2024
28
Apr
Sea snake!
Here in Fiji we quite often encounter sea snakes while snorkeling and watch them foraging for food on coral reefs and heading up to the surface occasionally to take a breath. They are extremely venomous, but fortunately not aggressive and apparently their mouths are too small to bite something as big as a human (maybe a pinky toe would fit, but they are safely hidden… Continue reading »
2024
27
Apr
Gau
Last week we used a light northeasterly wind to sail 30 nm to the next island. Gau is Fiji’s 5th biggest island and it’s pretty with lush hills and a barrier reef and lagoon on the east side (just a fringing reef in the north and west). We anchored in the big, protected bay of Waikama and went ashore to introduce ourselves and bring a… Continue reading »
2024
25
Apr
Encounters
Many of the anchorages we visit even in remote places are devoid of life, no fish in the water around the boat, hardly any birds to be seen. Therefore we really appreciate lively surroundings, like here in Ovalau: most mornings a group of dolphins swims by in the lagoon, swarms of tiny, silvery fish are skipping over the surface fleeing some larger predator, we hear… Continue reading »
2024
21
Apr
Zipper with velcro protection
Windy and rainy days are maintenance days on Pitufa. The zipper on our lazybag had broken due to UV exposure–even though we had sewn on a protective flap a while ago: the velcro pads to keep the flap down weren’t big enough, so it got blown open regularly in strong winds and that was enough UV exposure to make the plastic of the zipper brittle.… Continue reading »
2024
17
Apr
Tricky navigation
We love Ovalau and its lively lagoon, but its shape makes sitting out strong winds rather tricky: it’s oval (hence the name maybe , there are no motu on the outer reef to hide behind, the few bays on the eastern side are all open to the east and southeast (where the prevailing winds blow from) and there’s no connection between the lagoon on the… Continue reading »
2024
13
Apr
Laundry in a bucket
This morning we awoke to a perfectly calm lagoon, Pitufa was floating in a sea of turquoise surrounded by coralheads, so Christian took the dinghy out to take some pics of our pretty, little Sparkman & Stephens. Of course there’s laundry on the line–you’ll hardly ever see Pitufa without this kind of decoration When we set out we used to collect used clothes, towels, etc.… Continue reading »
2024
07
Apr
Levuka, Fiji’s old capital
Levuka was founded by sandalwood and beche-de-mer traders and cotton/coconut planters in the 1830s and became Fiji’s first capital, but only for a short time, from 1874 until 1883. The surrounding mountains prevented it from growing and soon Suva was declared the new capital. Levuka froze in time and in 1989 it was designated a historic town and declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 2013.… Continue reading »
2024
07
Apr
A new AllAtSea issue, a new Pitufa article!
Check out this April’s AllAtSea magazine for an article about the pros and cons of seasonal sailing versus all-year-round cruising!