Viani Bay 16.45S 179.53E

Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sun 29 Mar 2015 04:34

Yesterday we took off from Savusavu Bay, it was a big change, coming out from protected waters to a very rough sea. It was like the North Sea but warmer.
Very steep, short waves and gusty winds. But at 15.00 we entered the reef at Fawn Harbor, which is not a harbor, it is a big protected bay with mangrove all over the 
shoreline and a big reef keeping the waves outside. As always passing a pass is somehow an adrenaline kick. You have to be on your toes as the currents can take the boat 
fast out of track. It is usually an excitement to have waves crashing and braking on both sides, in this case very close to the boat. And in the middle of this chaos there is an opening
of blue water, sometimes light blue (less than 10 meters), sometimes dark blue (more than 10 meter).On the bow we have Ellinor as extra safety, she checks that we are not running into any coral bommies.
You have to keep a good speed as the waves are pushing from behind  and while you are concentrated to read the depth, the plotter and the reality you hear the sound of water activity, ripples, waves crash and gurgles like a bathtub releasing the last liters of water.


Stayed overnight and this morning we made our way out again, crashing into the waves on their way towards the reefs. Then we tacked away from the coast and finally could take a leg towards
Viani Bay. On the way we caught a good size Mahemahe, but that fish surely wanted to live on, it gave us a fight for 20 minutes and we finally had kt by the boat and were ready to lasso the tail, is swam around the boat to the aft and there is made some trick and came loose. With some disappointment I raised the  rod and took in the line and bait, I had forgotten that the fish had taken me to the port side of the boat. There we have the wind generator and since the wind was around 14-16 knots it gave an ugly sound when it destroyed the bait. KATCHHHHHRKKKSSPRUNG!
Thank god the wings on the generator survived!


Yesterday night  I gave a demo to the kids...
Erika usually has her ipod and headphones on and she sings along. If you have not heard anybody do it I can only say, that
when you cannot hear yourself it is terrible.
Erika did not believe me so I took on a song and sang along- that was so funny according to the kids that they almost fainted...


Lunch underway, spagetthi and fried spinach/garlic/onion