BEQA TO LELEUVIA ISLAND

July 11, 2013

At 1330 hrs we weighed anchor and set sail for either Gau or Leleuvia Is.  The deciding factor was the wind direction and course to be made.  Still sailing with" Catharpin Blue" which is an Island Packet 44' cutter rigged yacht.  She doesn't point as well as the Valiant 40 so was difficult for her to make the 069 T deg  course to Gau which was about 70 nm away.  Additionally, the local chief on Gau was sick and dying so the village was saddened by this.  We thought that it would be better to sail for Leleuvia Is which was about 60nm away.  Now that you have downloaded Google Earth, you can follow the passage from Malumu Bay (18-23' S; 178-09' E) to Leleuvia Is (17-45.5' S; 178-43.0 E).  Fiji is made up of two big islands (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) with another 300+ smaller ones.  We are sailing on the southernmost island of Viti Levu and working our way North to Savusavu on Vanua Levu.

Our main interest in choosing Leleuvia Is is a good safe anchorage with access to the old Capital  of Levuku on Ovalau Is which is 13 nm to the North.  It was home to Fiji's earliest European Settlement and the country's first capital.  It has maintained all the old historic colonial buildings and atmosphere.  This is done by using one of the ferry boats that depart daily from Leleuvia for Levuka.  I would have preferred to anchor in Levuka but it is exposed to the prevailing SE Trade winds and puts one on a lee shore even thought it is protected by a reef system.

We arrived five nm South of the Moturiki Channel at 0130 hrs on June 12th and dropped all sails to lie ahull waiting on first light.  No sailing is done at night in inland Fijian waters due to coral studded entrances and anchorages.  At 0815 we entered the Moturiki Channel and preceded to the designated anchorage off Leleuvia.  There is no "sevusevu" offered here in Leleuvia since there is no Chief: it's a resort.

Dropped anchor in position 17-48.5' S; 178-43.0' E at 0936 hrs.  Leleuvia is a resort facility that hosts backpackers, young adults and itinerants.  The rich and famous do not frequent the place but it is well organized and has a bar, restaurant, small huts and other living facilities.  We are enjoying our stay and waiting on weather to ferry over to Levuku for a day of sightseeing and shopping for veggies and food.

The wind has been blowing strongly out of the SSE 20-25 kts for the last two days.  We can go ashore to the bar/restaurant but would not leave the boat for a day excursion into Levuka.  As soon as we get a weather break, we'll do it.

The water here should make for great snorkeling but the wind has caused a murkiness that diminishes their underlying beauty.  There is a live coral reef and oyster farm very near to our anchorage and I'm waiting of the water to clear up.  Yesterday I dove on our boat and cleaned the port side bottom which only had a small amount of green algae growing on the bottom.  Our Micron 66 anti-fouling is working well.

Environmentally, Fiji is well aware of the importance of preserving their most precious resources.  All resorts are practicing some form of recycling but financial constraints limit more of what could be done.  We, too, try to do our share in keeping plastic, batteries, glass, aluminum cans and other non-biodegradable consumables aboard until we find a proper trash receptacle.

Last night we were at the restaurant which was having a "lovo" for the evening meal. The "lovo" is food that is cook in an underground oven: fish, meat, chicken and vegetables.  Some form of underground oven is found throughout the South Pacific islands.  It provides the most tasty, succulent and perfectly cooked food possible.  This resort has recreated one of the ancient Fijian meeting houses for their central bar/restaurant.  The central supporting posts are over 100' high and a traditionally thatched roof that is watertight: quite impressive.  The resort is very will managed and organized.  There were Fijian musicians from the neighboring island of Moturiki playing a mixture of American country and traditional Fijian: four guitars, two ukuleles and a gut bucket.  The gut bucket was particularly interesting as it was made up of a plywood box, a movable stick holding a single string that  could be moved to be in tune with the cording structure of the song.  Nothing too sophisticated with the music: four cords in, mostly 3/4 or 4/4 time.  The rendition of HankWilliam's "Jambalaya, Crawfish pie, File gumbo" was wonderful.  The Kava (yaquona) was flowing freely throughout the evening amongst the musicians and guests.  It is made in a huge wooden bowl called a "tanoa" which is carved out of a single piece of wood.  These "tanoas are big and can hold a few gallons of the mixture.  The yaqona is prepared and shared from this wooden bowl in half coconut shells (bilo) which are highly polished.  Everyone drinks from several of these in a communal fashion. I drank enough of the yaqona to get a "buzz" but the effects are very mild: slight numbing of the lips, tongue and throat which goes away rather quickly.  There is some perception change that is very slight but not alcohol related.  I have been told that if one drinks too much the legs get wobbly.  I guess it has very mild sedative and anesthetic properties.  At far as I can tell, it doesn't lend itself to the same type of thing as alcohol.  There were a lot of people drinking it and no one appeared impaired.  The taste is slightly bitter and it looks like muddy water.  There is a little ceremony that goes along with each bowl of kava: one clap of the hand and the bowl is handed to you and you toss it down in a single gulp and then clap three times.  Need another one? Clap one more time!  This cupped clap has its own sound:  the palms are cupped so that they make a hollow "thumping sound" (cobo in Fijian).