Into the Yasawas

0800 position 16-42S 177-34E. At anchor off of Yasawairara Village, Yasawa Island, Fiji

The wind never did fill in yesterday as forecast so we ended up motor sailing all the way to the Yasawas. I was a little nervous about a shallow spot we needed to cross over while rounding the north end of Yasawa Island. The chart showed it getting as shallow as twenty four feet, but one is never sure about the accuracy of the charts down here. We did have some waypoints that I downloaded from another cruiser that used this route which means it was deep enough.... for them... We slowed down as we approached the shallow spot and watched the depth sounder closely. Eric stood lookout on the bow. It never got shallower than seventy one feet.

Van Diemen rounded the northern tip of Yasawa Island and entered a beautiful bay completely lined with wide white sand beaches. We felt our way in through the coral heads and anchored in twenty five feet of water over a sand bottom 200 yards from the beach. The village of Yasawairara sat nestled in the coconut trees behind the beach and in front of the 200 foot high hills running down the middle of the ten mile long by quarter mile wide island. The Yasawa Islands, ten large islands with a bunch of small ones scattered around for scenery, run north-south along Fiji's western flank. The islands are volcanic, lined with white sand beaches, and surrounded by coral reefs. It is one of the most revered cruising and diving meccas in the world. If our first stop here at the group's northern most anchorage is typical, I can see why.

Rob and Renee went SUPping during the afternoon and met a couple of locals on the beach who invited us in for church and lunch today (it's Sunday here). I redeemed myself at cribbage by beating Eric for the second time in a row (the first was a skunk). The crew finished the evening by watching the movie "Jaws" on my computer. It may be a while before we get back in the water.

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