In Fijian waters!
My Way
Mike Kopman
Tue 28 Oct 2008 17:30
Bula, (Hello!) we are in Fiji! Although we still have a little under 200 nm to go to Lautoka, our port of entry in Fiji, we entered Fijian waters last night so have kind of arrived in Fiji. We've already passed within a few miles of several outlying islands. Last night there was one tiny pinprick of light on a high island 7 miles long off to the south of us. Amazing that there are people living there and probably have the entire island to themselves! It woud be great to visit if we weren't in a bit of a hurry to get to Indonesia ahead of the cyclone season.
What little wind there was has dropped even further leaving flatter seas and less smoke from our exhausts wafting over the boat - a very welcome change.
Our ETA in Lautoka is tomorrow a.m. Hopefully clearing in won't take too long: when arriving in Fiji you are required to notify them 48 ahead of time by email which makes me think there may be even more bureaucracy here than Tonga. Getting a cruising permit apparently takes up to 4 days - we're only here for 5!
Mike & Sarah