november/december 2016

cruisingworld.com

59

A Spin Through

F · A · B · U · L · O · U · S

In an island nation where the universal

greeting of bula means “WELCOME, FRIEND” and

“G’DAY,” it’s hard to tell which is better — the isles

themselves, or their wonderful people.

by TODD DUFF

The

gray dawn came reluctantly, with occasional drizzle that at times became torrential rain as

increasingly heavy squall lines passed through. We’d left Niuatoputapu, Tonga, four days

earlier aboard our Flying Dutchman 50, Small World II, and the leading edge of the cold front we had been

racing ever since was finally over us. For several hours we’d been plowing through intensifying weather

under triple-reefed main, staysail and reefed yankee. Just ahead lay our destination, Savusavu Bay, on the

south coast of Vanua Levu, the second-largest isle in the island nation of Fiji.

It had been an interesting trip. What had started out as a fairly boisterous passage with 20 to 25 knots

of wind and 6 - to 9 -foot seas had mellowed to an easy broad reach in 15 to 18 knots for most of the next

two days. But conditions changed as we closed in on Fiji. At midmorning of our final full day out, as we

skidded past several low atolls while entering Fijian waters, we watched somewhat apprehensively for

a rapid wind shift expected behind the strong frontal line that was approaching us from the southwest;

with each successive download of GRIB files, it drew closer. By around midnight of the final night out,

as the wind lightened with the approaching trough, we actually reverted to motorsailing. At about 0200,

the shift came, and with it the squalls began in earnest.

A local boat sails into a complex reef pass, common in the Fiji chain. Channel markers are a rarity,

making line-of-sight navigation a key skill for voyaging through the islands.

FijiFijiFiji

TOR JOHNSON