All went well on Rowan’s early morning shift, as we got way beyond the fishing trawlers, it turned out to be an easy uninterrupted passage. Never saw another boat. Finally around midday we could see Kadavu. We had to go quite far out around Solo reef a volcanic crater. At the centre on a massive rock which is the volcanic plug is an old lighthouse built in 1888. Once we heading around it, the seas calmed and we had a lovely gentle sail down the coast. We had a visit from a huge single dolphin, who came to check us out, but was not interested in riding our bow wave.
Apple maps satellite picture of Solo reef the light blue in the centre is the lighthouse on the volcanic plug. The pass in at the top is called Beagle pass, it appears that boats are not allowed in, we think it is a marine sanctuary
Apple maps (interestingly much clearer than Google maps) close up of the lighthouse
Northern end of Solo Reef with Kadavu island in the distance
All you can see of the reef is the crashing waves
Relaxing sail heading south
It was getting nearer mid afternoon and it would be late by the time we get down to the little village with the airport that Phil and Wendy are flying into, so we entered the reef through a pass that looked pretty easy, we wanted to get to an anchorage in good light. When we finally got to Rowan’s chosen anchorage, there were two other boats rocking and swinging around, it did not look comfortable so we opted to go another 6 miles to a sheltered bay. We got there as the light was fading, relying on charts, Google maps and Rowan’s other sources of knowledge. It sounded like an easy anchorage with thick mud. We had not been in the bay long when there was an almighty thud, we had hit a coral bommie. Luckily the dagger boards are sacrificial to a degree and protect the rudder which is always our main concern. We hastily lifted the dagger boards and managed to easily reverse off. Happily there were no other boats around to witness our misfortune, it certainly makes it easier anchoring in a decent space all on our own, so we know we can swing 360 degrees in the knowledge we wont hit anyone! Rowan dived in to assess the damage, only one dagger board was hit and has not gone through the gel coat, the one rudder had a scratch, such a massive relief to know there was no serious damage.
We ate dinner to the sound of drums in the village. We were pretty exhausted after our overnight passage, so bed was very welcome. I sleep on my good ear as the other ear is still blocked, I don’t hear a thing at night so I had a pretty restful night. Rowan was certainly more twitchy.
Islands inside the reef
The first anchorage
Much drier islands
The village bay
There seem to be a lot of non native trees about, it looks like a lot are dying maybe they are purposefully being killed
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