Fiji to Vanuatu
Boundless 1
Richard Clennett
Fri 26 Aug 2011 21:16
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19.29 S 172.26 E
After spending two nights at Port Denerau Marina
and catching up with Rob, Hannah, Angus and Freya from Sequel 3, (whom we met in
Panama and have kept in touch with since) we cleared out of Fiji at Latouka on
thursday morning and headed out through Malolo Pass towards Aneytium/Anatom,
Vanuatu.
Rob and Hannah, Angus and Freya are heading back to
coastal NSW to live, after many years away - Rob running "big boats" in the
Caribbean and Mediterranean. They are great fun and the children are
delightful.
We arrived at Port Lautoka on wednesday pm,
anchored the boat off as we had been instructed -went ashore to the Customs
office to clear out, only to be told we couldn't clear immigration
until an hour before departure - we had said we wanted to leave Fiji early the
next morning - we're just too honest! So we visited the fruit and veg market in
Lautoka and then returned to the boat, to an hour of verbal abuse from
a crazed frenchman claiming to be "Fijian man" -on a boat on a mooring
there who thought we were on his turf! We re-anchored the boat for some
peace, spent the night there and finally cleared out at 8am thursday -
after Ali the customs boss decided he wanted us to dinghy him out to
the boat for an inspection before we left! To top it all off the boat was
covered in ash from the sugar mill - we were glad to get away from the port!
20miles later we were at the Pass and heading to sea, into a freshening SE 25-35
knots and big seas! After reefing everything, we headed west. Wind finally
settled down to a steady 15-20 knots about 15 hours later and we have had a
pleasant passage since. 2 seabirds, 2 fishing trawlers, no fish on our lines and
we are now 150 miles from the anchorage, expect to drop anchor about 9am
sunday.
Happy Birthday today, the 27th to Susie Gough, we
hope you have a great day.
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