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We have finally got our cruising permit. We have only been waiting since Sunday. This allows us to move out of this bay and cruise around the Fiji islands. Why a cruising permit is an option and more paperwork? How many people would sail to Fiji to sit here in the Harbour? Our next delay is we can’t get fuel untill tomorrow because their repairing the fuel pump. So one more night and another day of not being able to go for a swim.

The shops in town don’t stock any of the correct glue available to repair our dinghy so I have used what glue I have onboard for a temporary fix. We have been into town a few times to the fresh fruit and veggies market, the bakery and the supermarket. We also found the butcher, who seemed to also sell “Builders Mix” but we didn’t need to do any concreting, so we just bought meat. We are now stocked up for a few weeks away from towns.

Weather wise as per usual it is not quite what we saw on forecast neither what we would like, but being stuck here being overcast and showers most of the time keeps us cool as we cannot swim in the Harbour.

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Dispite the ragging-wind outside the bay we had a peaceful night. In the morning we hauled anchor and made our way up the Savusavu marinas between all the moored boats and eventually found a mooring. We again tried calling customs and the marina but there was no reply. We weren’t too happy with it as it was very close to another boat, but we watched all day and we always swung the same way. In the afternoon we had a visit from the marina guy. We thought the mooring were part of the Copra Shed marina, but this one was Waitui marina. He went back and organized customs to visit us.

A few hours later he returned with Health Officer, who cleared us. In the mean time we had swung the opposite way to our neighbour’s and we’re about to collide. I quickly started the engine and moved out of the way. We got the marina guy to guide us to another mooring before he went to pick up the Immigration and Customs Officers. After we cleared in and he returned the officers to shore he returned to tell us the mooring hadn’t been serviced for a long time and wouldn’t hold Imagine. By this time it was dark. He headed off and we were supposed to follow the glow of his phone. We eventually found him at the other end of the marina.The rope on this mooring didn’t look any better but we stayed there the night.

This morning we went ashore to the ATM and then back and forth through town paying the Immigration, Health, Biosecurity and Customs fees. We had lunch at The Captains Table and checked out the local fresh fruit and veggies market (you can also get all sorts of Kava, roots, powder and ready to drink).

When we got back to the dinghy we found the front tube of the dinghy deflated. Our dinghy (RIB) is made up of three tube’s so if one deflates it will still stay afloat. We slowly motored back to Imagine and lifted the dinghy on deck. Once the tube was inflated it was easy to see that the glue on a previous patch had deteriorated and the patch had come away. It could be an easy fix just reglue it with the new tube of glue I had bought in case of an emergency, but unfortunately when I opened up the new tube of glue I found it rock hard, which means it’s useless!

It looks like a trip ashore tomorrow to see if we can buy glue for inflatable boats. For now it will be sit back, on deck, with a wine and watch the sunset.

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Friday night the wind turned a little in our favour, which brought our speed back up to 8kts. Saturday morning the wind was 25kts most of the time with short periods of 30kts with rain most of the day. The waves started at 2m on the beam and built to 5m to 6m making it a rolly ride.

We reached Fiji late in the afternoon passing between Vanau Levu and Taveuni islands. This gave us protection against the swell and most of the wind. As we came out from behind Taveuni to head to Savusavu we got hit. The wind was up 30kts gusting 37kts and the swell had built to 8m with the occasional 10m wave just for fun( not that much fun if you ask B).

To get in to Savusavu we had to go between the reef at the point of the bay and a row of rocks crossing the bay with an 8m swell behind us. We pulled in the staysail the main was reefed to number 2 and lifejackets were on. Off we went. It’s an amazing feeling being lifted 8 to 10m from behind as the boat surfs down the face of the wave. The waves were travelling faster than us so as the crest of the wave reached Imagine, the boat would go from bow down to bow up. One minute looking at the sea at the bottom of the wave to only seeing the grey rain clouds in front of us, then back down again. B wouldn’t let me play Beach Boys music.

Half an hour later we were in the shelter of the bay. The pitch black night meant we had to rely on our charts to navigate. We could see on AIS that there were a lot of boats in the Copra Shed Marina and river. There were even two boats anchored in the mouth of the river, so we decided to stop before the river and anchor for the night.

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This morning we went ashore to return the food containers and banana basket to Alakoka and Mika. We were also going to walk to the shop and petrol station, but Mika insisted on taking us in his ute.

We returned to Imagine with the two jerrycans of diesel and some bread. The wind had changed and the waves were coming in the bay so we hauled anchor and moved to Sainte Marie island. On the south western side of the island there was shelter from the wind, but anchoring was a problem. The Sea bed came up from 35m to 2m very quickly. We managed to anchor in 15m with the wind holding us of the reef. Unfortunately it was only good for a few hours before the tide changed. Anyway we managed to go ashore between the rain and walk the beach before hauling anchor.

We thought we may get better anchorage in the next bay. There the minimum we found was 35m deep. That meant we had to put out almost all of out 80m of chain to hold us. That seemed to be good untill the rising tide allowed the swell to come over the outer reef and into the bay. This meant a rocky night. So we hauled anchor once again and headed back to the lagoon we had sheltered in once before. Hoping for a quiet night.

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This morning we ventured ashore in search of fuel. The rain came down as soon as we made it to shore. Luckily there was a shelter at the boat ramp. Once the rain stopped we started walking. There was a set of outdoor gym equipment set up in the middle of nowhere. We stopped a Police vehicle to ask where we could get fuel . The officer started to explain the way to B (in french) then said get in the back of the truck and they will take us there It wasn’t far to the petrol station.

We filled up our two jerrycans with diesel and went to the roadside, where B used her thumb to flag down another ute in less than 1 minute. How lucky we were this couple lived only metres away from the boat ramp. They showed us where their house was and dropped us at the ramp. They also told us to come across for a coffee any time.

This afternoon we took them up on their offer and went across to their house. Mika poured the coffee as we sat on the veranda over looking at the ocean. As he only spoke French B translated the conversations. His wife Coco came out with food she had been cooking for us . They told us about their family of eight children and life on Wallis. Mika showed us around their property. They had a lot of pigs, banana, bread fruit and coconut trees. As we were about to go Coco came out with more food packed in containers for us to take back to the boat for dinner.

We returned to Imagine with a months supply of bananas, a bunch of fruit that we have only seen in Tonga and here( sorry cannot remember the name), 4 fish and tonight’s dinner.

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On Sunday the wind had dropped to 15kts so we ventured ashore. We found a small beach where some kids were swimming and we carried on to the next beach. There were several local fishing boats tied up in the shallow water. We walked the street looking at the neatly kept gardens in front of all the houses. We came across a building with a lot of women sitting at tables. A closer look saw they were playing Bingo. Back on Imagine and another swim had filled the day.

Monday we were ready for a walk to the largest of the crater lakes on the island Lalolalo Lake. We took the dinghy to “The Marina” big enough for a few local fishing boats. Once on shore we started walking along the road. B with her thumb out. It wasn’t long before someone (Vitollio) pulled over and gave us a lift. He took us all the way to the lake, then waited while we took photos.

Silly us, we though we could spend some time swimming and exploring the lake. There was a lookout over the lake, but thats all. Although the lake is impressive with its cliffs with a shear drop to the water. Unfortunately there was no way back up the cliffs if you jumped or fell.

Vitllio then drove us back down the road to show us a beautiful Chapel. He left us there as he was on his way to work. After the Chapel B put her thumb out again and three young guys stopped to give us a ride. Two were painters and one was a mechanic. They took us back to the Marina, where some fishermen were heading out. It was a slow trip back to Imagine, as the tide had gone out and there was barley enough water over the reef to float the dinghy.

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We had another good night sleep being well sheltered in this lagoon. Despite the overcast weather we had our usual morning swim just before breakfast. Then while B worked in the galley and did some boatkeeping, I had a few repair jobs to do this morning, then we looked at our options for the rest of the day. Another boat came into our little lagoon, closer enough to say bonjour and went anchored at the other side of the lagoon. We thought after lunch we would go in the dinghy to explore our surroundings but the weather had a different plan for us.

The rain settled in as we had lunch. Then it hit. It only took minutes for the wind to get up to over 40knts (80km per hour).

That stretched the chain out putting us close to the reef. Too close. So B took the helm and I ventured out to the bow. B had to drive into the wind while I hauled anchor. It was not easy to control Imagine as she has so much windage at the front of the boat. That ‘s probably when one of the adjustable solar panels was blown by the wind and flipped over breaking the hinge to end on deck. We managed to move forward enough to drop 45m of chain with a swing room keeping us just off the reef.

The wind was blowing the rain so much it was stinging me. The rain was so heavy that we lost sight of the boat anchored in front of us. If they dragged anchor we wouldn’t see them until they were a couple of metres away. We stood at the helm for 2 hours checking we were not dragging and checking where the other boat was. We caught glimpses of it as the rain eased for a few seconds.

As the rain eased and the wind dropped to 27knts we could relax a little. B made us a cup of tea and we had a little debrief trying to relax after that very tense situation. What a welcome to Wallis!

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Although the wind was blowing all night the water was a little choppy but we had a good night’s sleep. We were up at daybreak we had breakfast and a little tidy up before heading ashore to clear customs. We found the little office on the wharf and we were welcomed by a friendly officer wearing a blue flowers shirt with Polynesian flower necklace. It’s good that B is French as the signage and paperwork was in French and the customs officer only spoke French.

After completing the customs paper work, he called the police to come to do the immigration side of things. The two officers that arrived spoke both English and French. Both of them were also very friendly and after all the official documents signed and stamped we had a chat with them, talking about their life on the island. One of them even invited B to go play indoor volleyball.

Once we were officially allowed into the country, we walked 3km to the supermarket. B thought she was in heaven, or at least in France. She was like a kid in a toy shop, going along the shelves saying “that is so delicious, you have to try this, you have to try that”. She even keep talking French to me as she has some difficulty to go from one to the other language Now she is playing French music. After getting a few more things than we needed, we hitched a ride back to Imagine. In a couple of minutes just outside of the supermarket 3 ladies in a car stopped and invited us to get in the car. They took us back to the wharf and mentioned that if any help needed just go to the “Préfecture” ( Police headquarters) and ask for Janine or Caroline.

With high winds predicted we moved to the south west end of the island. We swam and planned to settle down there for a few days rest. This place is called the blue lagoon which is an atoll inside the main atoll. This means that we are surrounded by reefs.

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Daylight came and the wind was still right behind us. So we kept the motor running. It wasn’t as nicer day as when we set off, mainly cloudy. Fatigue was already setting with B having a headache. As the day went on we ran into squalls. The weather continued the same throughout the night. It was getting harder to do the shifts, but as soon as daylight came it didn’t seem as tiring. Day two continued to be the same untill the afternoon when the wind shifted back to beam. Overall we did good time and late afternoon we sighted land. The sun was setting by the time we reached the atoll entrance and as soon as we got through the pass it was dark. We still had an hour of zigzagging through the reefs and bommies to get to the harbour. We called customs on thr VHF radio and got no response. Although the outer reef gave protection from the the swell it didnt stop the wind. We anchored off the main (only one)wharf and fell into bed.

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it was twelve o’clock (lunch time) by the time we set off. It was a beautiful day, 10 to 15kt wind off the beam, 1.5 to 2m swell chasing us off the back quarter. A dream sail out in deep blue sea. We were doing great time reaching up to 8kts of speed as we surfed the waves.

Night time came and as we continued sharing the shifts it got harder to stay awake as the night went on. The wind didn’t make it easy as it move directly behind us. This gave us three choices. 1 use the spinnaker (too hard in the dark with a 2m swell off the back quarter). 2 jib back and forth zigzaging our way (taking a lot longer). Or 3 turn on the motor and run with the main sail to one side (tied back with the preventer). We oppted for 3 it was far easier with us being tired. We were still able to keep a speed of 7.5 to 8kts.