password] Tsar12
[position]16 96.40S 179 15.0 E
[weather]cloudy sky wind 10-12 knot SE seas 1m temp 27
[status]after pushing ourselves to arrive in SavuSavu in time to get cleared before the found on arrival that it was actually a public holiday and got charged $580 Fijian to clear which was really disappointing but not much we could do about it.
The night before as predicted the wind died off before we cleared Taveuni so we motored the last 50nm but that was better than motoring 150nm which is what it would have been if we hadn?t kept the pace up.
Despite having to motor those last few miles it was probably the best leg sailing since being away with winds of generally 14-28 knots and seas just on the right angle and not too steep . P?zazz really relished those conditions and for us to hit 21 knots fully laden and often see 15-18 knots at times was really exceptional- she was never pressed and just loved surfing down those waves.
However it was unfortunate about the gennaker - we dried it out and laid it up on the grass lawn outside the SavuSavu yacht club and it looks as though the repair we did ( with strong tape) in the head didn?t hold - the end result isn?t pretty and I fear it may be unrepairable but will wait until we get back to NZ and see. After that the screecher did an amazing job especially as the wind lightened on our approach to Taveuni and it made a huge difference over just having had the jib up.
SavuSavu turned on the rain for us on Friday night with a tropical downpour which filled our tanks to brimming again. The next day - Saturday was like a big festival as the prime minister was there to open an internet service.
Talking about internet - it is so refreshing to be able to buy reasonable data packages again and have reasonable speed- FRench Polynesia is way behind the times in this aspect and it made things frustrating at times.
Sunday we motored our to Cousteaus resort just inside the reef entrance and had a dive and spent the night there. To our surprise in the afternoon Blinder ( Grant and Jude ) and Obbession ( Leister and Lisa) turned up so it was catchup on P?zazz for sundowners with sushimi.
Today we stocked up at the local market- great range of produce - as it will be our last market opportunity for prob 3 weeks as we head towards the yasawas . Firstly we are just an hour away from Namena reef - 20 nm south of SavuSavu where we whole to be able to spend a couple of nights behind the island and enjoy the world class diving it has to offer. There used to be a dive resort there but it got wiped out in cyclone Winston 2 years ago and they are still rebuilding it.
Bring on Fiji !
Just as we were about to leave SavuSavu - Different Drummer arrived who also was on the rally last time we were away so was good saying hello to them as well. I get the feeling there will be a lot of familiar boats around once we get to the mainland.
Even watched the All Blacks play Argentina on sat night in the bar at the yacht club .

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