Current position is anchored in Kavala Bay on Kadavu (pronounced Kandavu) Island.

18:58.524S 178:25.584E

Things didn’t quite go to plan at Nanuya Resort as our chart plotter decided that it was time to have a break and not start up properly.  We figured it is because it hasn’t been getting a lot of love or attention lately as most of the navigation has been done using Motion X which has become a real asset.   Although we have plenty of other chart plotter backups we figure that it is probably good timing to head in again, get a few things sorted for our pending haul-out and also get re-provisioned for what will be our last adventure in the Fiji Islands this season.

We left Nanuya anchorage on the 19^th and headed down to Natavulo Bay for the night before heading back into the Vuda Marina which is always entertaining.  Luckily it has plenty of spots available in the marina as a lot of the yachts are over enjoying Musket Cove Race Week.  Fortunately we were able to arrange for the Raymarine man to visit on Friday and after a few hours had diagnosed the problem and given the plotter a reboot and it is now all fine and dandy again – apparently we had overfilled its brain and that was that.

Mind you in the process of the reboot all the information stored including waypoints, routes etc. has all been wiped so we now get the pleasure of starting to fill it up again.

We ended up spending a week in at Vuda and yet again enjoyed many a meal at the Boathouse including their famous Sunday lunch.  As Mark says Vuda Marina is kind of like a boat storage facility with aspirations of becoming a resort with excellent meals and hospitality plus it is also fun catching up and socialising with our fellow cruisers.

One of our ambitions or plans for our time in Fiji was to head down to the Great Astrolabe Reef which is renowned for its snorkelling and diving however being approx. 125NM to the SE of Nadi, which is straight into the prevailing trade winds, we hadn’t quite figured out how and when we would get there however, luckily enough a suitable weather window turned up got us to do the overnight passage down here on Tuesday 27^th September.  Apparently the same low pressure that is giving us calm and favourable conditions also means the SE of Australia is getting a clubbing!!.  As per the usual we loaded up Sally with plenty of food, beer and diesel and departed Vuda at 9:00am on Tuesday.  We have just arrived at Kadavu Island which is part of the same island chain as Great Astrolabe so we are very much looking forward to enjoying the next week or two here before heading up to Beqa Island  (pronounced Benga) which is famous for its sharks on the way back to Vuda….

A bit of history  - Great Astrolabe Reef was named after the ship ‘Astrolabe’ which travelled and explored these waters, including Australia, in the late 1700’s More instalments to follow.  Astrolabe was skippered by La Peruse and was eventually came to grief on a reef in the Solomon Islands and the crew were apparently eaten by the locals….

More instalments soon on our time at the Great Astrolabe Reef…..