We were watching the weather closely for a opening to go to Fiji. We had rather strong SE winds blowing for about 8 days. We did not have much time to see all the lovely islands in Tonga, but spend some time with our friends Chantal and Fredy (s/v Micromegas) and Jean-Marc and Odile (s/v Lifou) in Hunga Island.
Our weather opening came and we left for Fiji on Monday afternoon 29 August. The first night and the next day we still had some stronger winds up to 23 knots and the sea swell was big at times. We were expecting this so was prepared for it, although it is uncomfortable. The next 2 days we had lighter winds and calm seas which was great and we actually spend Dinis birthday motoring. Our last day was the best sailing, the wind was blowing between 12 and 15 knots and the seas were calm. We did good time this last day.
We were not going to make it in time for a Friday during the day arrival, so we though to seek anchorage and then make our way toward Lautoka during the weekend. Fiji has big islands and the distance between them is quite long. As we were approaching an anchorage on Friday mid morning both Dinis and myself had a bad feeling as this anchorage lay in a cove that have reefs on both sides of the land, with a less than 0.200 nm width. It was also overcast which make the visibility seeing the reef difficult. We decided that we will just continue...what is an extra night at sea...
To get inside the reefs on our way to Lautoka we have to sail through a pass, the Navula Pass. This pass is about 1 nm in width and on the chart it shows a white flashing white light indicating the northern reef and then flashing leading lights. If you follow the leading lights there is a great anchorage about 3 nm after passing through the pass. We decided that this was a far better anchorage and much safer as you have the navigation lights to help you.
Around 9 pm on Friday night 2 September Dinis confirmed that the navigation lights were working when we saw a cruise ship close to the Navula Pass's longitude and latitude. We saw the cruise ship details on the AIS and Dinis gave the captain a call on the VHF. This confirmation finalized our decision to enter the pass and anchor instead of having to wait at sea for day light.
Well my nerves was just shot when we arrived around 11:45 pm at the pass and we could not see the flashing white light at the northern reef only a red flashing light. The leading lights were quite weak, but Dinis was confident. I could not make out the leading lights and this red flashing light really bugged me as on the chart it showed a red flashing light but much further north than the pass. I was extremely nervous and was giving way to my fear of running into the reefs. By this time Dinis told me to stop my $%#@ and go inside and give him directions from the chart and also from the radar.
As we came closer to the reefs the leading lights became clearer although I still could not confirm this. We were watching the depth very carefully as we will have time to react as the depth drops in increments. I spend the longest 20 minutes of my life inside holding my breath while Dinis followed the leading lights with me checking the electronic charts and the radar. We pass through the pass like professional skippers and we drop anchor in Momi Bay. Afterwards we confirmed that the northern reef's light is indeed red and not white as the chart indicated. I was very happy and thankful to Dinis that he followed his instinct and not allowing me to put my fear onto him. All ended in good spirits.
We will stay here until Sunday and then make the 20 nm to Lautoka for check-in on Monday morning.
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