Comfort in Familiarity

The big day had finally arrived. After months of thinking we wouldn’t see them in Fiji, we were finally catching up with Ian and Ann. Long story short, they are our buddy boat from the Aura days and one of the main reasons I agreed to buy another boat. Sailing with friends is great for sharing thoughts on weather forecasts, anchorages and playing Mexican train. Did I mention Ian is a great cook?

 Arriving in Fiji early in the season, we always hoped we would catch up with Ian and Ann sooner rather than later. They had all types of appliances and boat stuff on board that we bought in the Christmas sales, such as a microwave, Instant Pot, air fryer, vacuum cleaner and a 34kg Rochna anchor. But like all sailing plans, this one didn’t work out quite how we had hoped when we caught up with them in Tonga last year. In our defence, we really didn’t give much thought to what we would do once we got FELIS to Fiji. We knew we had friends visiting and had a list of possible improvements we wanted to get done, but our brain capacity didn’t extend beyond day-to-day life on the boat. Ann and Ian (yacht Tourterelles) were delayed by six weeks because of a broken genoa furler and the need to find a suitable weather window from New Zealand. They had hoped to reach the Lau group, but strong winds resulted in them heading to the Yasawas.

Our wonderful friend Dianna was to join us in just over a week and was happy to catch the Yasawa Flyer ferry and meet us in the Yasawas. After the usual provisioning routine, we headed to our favourite ‘One Dollar Bay’ while we waited for Ian and Ann to cross from Yadua Island to the northern Yasawa islands. Once we knew they were on their way, we could finally make a plan to meet. So we headed to the bay of Malakati village. It was a lovely bay with good depth for anchoring and a stunning white beach surrounded by tall cliffs on all sides. Once we got the anchor down, we soon understood what people meant by the bullet winds that blasted through the anchorage. At times the whole boat shook, and I found it rather disturbing. Shortly after arriving, Tourterelles came into view. Words can’t describe how happy we were to see them. As soon as their anchor was set, they came ashore with a bottle of bubbles to celebrate our overdue reunion. We went to shore and performed an informal sevusevu before heading back to FELIS to blow up the lilos for lilo time on Torterelles.

The rest of the week flew by in a blur. Of course, we had strong winds forecast, so we moved to another favourite anchorage: Blue Lagoon. We had a fun week: walks across the island to Lo’s tea house, snorkelling, dinner on ours where I cooked moussaka and enjoying the local Lovo. Unfortunately, Di was meant to join us for the Lovo, but she was delayed. After five nights at the Blue Lagoon anchorage, it was time to check out a new anchorage we hadn't been to before. In all fairness, it was only 5nm miles through a narrow pass. When we arrived, the wind was still up, but the shallow anchorage (6 meters) and the crystal-clear water made up for the 15-knot winds.

Di finally arrived to a picture-perfect day. She looked splendid as she waved from the top deck on the ferry, wearing a fuchsia pink shirt.  Si dropped the dinghy to collect her, and I was a little concerned they wouldn’t let her board it. It was organised mayhem as all the local boats jostled to collect their guests. With Di finally on board, they headed to the resort to collect her bags. Once onboard FELIS, the celebrations kicked off with tequila shots, a bottle of bubbles, and a delicious quiche (my usual welcome fare). We took the dinghy to shore for a swim and a walk on the shore.

I accompanied Di on her first snorkel in years, as she is prone to ear infections. The snorkel didn’t disappoint.  The shelf was covered in beautiful coral, but the fish made the snorkel so special. Lots of schools of small and big fish. Lots of different varieties…if only I had the GoPro pointed in the right direction. Later that afternoon, we ventured to the Blue Lagoon resort for sundowners with Tourterelles and Raven. We ordered the pina coladas, but Dickies, Musket Cove still has the best.

Any tour of the Yasawas isn’t complete without a couple of days at One Dollar Bay. We arrived at low tide, and we had never seen so much exposed reef. Unfortunately, the swell was coming into the bay from the NW, so we moved to Somosomo, the next bay next to the village. We took the dinghy ashore and visited Chief Ben to present our Kava. The following day we went back to One Dollar Bay. The swell had decreased, and we went for a lovely snorkel. Later that evening, we headed to Torterelles for a curry night. Di and I made chicken Tikka pretty much from scratch, including grinding the spices. The swell increased overnight, and we were all pleased to be on our way the next morning.

The next anchorage was another first. We sailed down to Drawaqa Island and anchored near the Manta Ray Pass. We didn’t see any manta rays as it was too close to low tide, but we did do a couple of lovely snorkels. The first was the pass where Ian and I jumped in, but the current was against us, so we aborted. We went back towards the anchorage and tied the dinghy to a float.  The water was crystal clear, and the fish and coral were spectacular. As was always the case over the season, more wind and rain were forecast, so it was back to Muscat Cove to enjoy our last few days with the fabulous Di.

We scored our regular anchor spot in 20-knot winds. After six visits over the season, we had become well accustomed to Musket Cove. We walked across the island and came across the graves of the Aussie owners who made Musket Cove such an iconic Cruisers haven. Enjoyed the best Piña Coladas at Dickies Bar and a prosecco at the yacht club.

We were fortunate to celebrate Di’s birthday on board. We had the music ready…we just needed Di to wake up. At 8 am, after much anticipation, we cranked up the radio with Stevie Wonder's ‘Happy Birthday’. A sleepy Di appeared but woke up quickly enough with plenty of dancing around the saloon. We prepared a hot breakfast of fried eggs on toast and champagne. Soon after, Ian and Ann arrived for espresso martinis and tequila shots. We then headed out in the rain to the shore. This not being our first rodeo, we organised a golf buggy to take us to the Lomani resort for a fabulous birthday lunch with mahi mahi on the menu, plenty of champagne (thanks to Di), and everyone coming out to sing happy birthday. If not for the rain, it would have been the perfect day.

Unfortunately, like all good things, our time with Di came to an end, and we had to bash into the waves to get back to Denarau. It was a fabulous time with plenty of laughs, amazing cocktails, great food, and the comfort of great friends.