We left Tonga in high spirits. Having throughly enjoyed Tonga and the cruisers community it had to offer. We also were headed to Fiji to meet Millie’s parents and receive our new main sail.

Prior to leaving the UK we had our boat measured for a new set of sails. This was  because our current sails are 20 years old and we were expecting to need to buy a new set on our journey. Having ripped our sail on the way to the marquesas, we have been sailing with reef two for the last few passages. We ordered a new sail back in April and it was due to arrived in Fiji a week after us! We were very excited to get this special delivery! 

During the passage, the wind was relatively consistent with one squally night which kept us on our toes. 

We were also very conscious of the reefs around Fiji. The South Pacific is particularly notorious for not being well charted and it can make navigation challenging at times. We sailed through the Lao Islands of Fiji which had many reefs around which could only be seen when fully zoomed on the chart plotter. This made night watches busy as you were constantly needed to monitor the course as we were worried about diverging off and sailing into a reef. 

On the last day of the passage we sailed up the west coast of the island. When the sun rose, a beautiful mist rolled down through the valleys to unveil the land. You could also see the surf breaking on the reef that surrounds the island. 

We arrived around 5pm and collect a mooring ball in Denarau. This was the most commercial port we had been in for a long time. It felt strange to arrive somewhere so busy. With party boats and day trips returning from a day on the smaller islands, it the most people we’ve seen for a little while! We plan to stay here and collect our sail and wait for Millie’s parents. Once they arrive we will enjoy some time cruising around and also some time on land! 

Tonga to Fiji

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