Namena & Coconut Point, Fiji

Our next stop from Savusavu was Namena Island, a small crescent island surrounded by a finger-shaped set of reefs. This is the point where we finally figured out what was up with our chart-plotter: comparing the Garmin charts downloaded on the ActiveCaptain app to the ones “sync’d” with the plotter showed that the charts were not, in fact, transferring. A phone call to Garmin revealed that the charts we had bought are not actually compatible with our plotter, and we would have to exchange those for a different format. This was infuriating, as we’d bought the only charts available for purchase in their app, a long-promised upgrade that had been our reason for buying Garmin hardware four years ago… but at least we were able to get working maps in the end. Captain, oblivious to all this drama, enjoyed our late start as he refuses to drink his favorite water, from the sink, while under way.

After a nice pleasant sail over to Namena, we brought our entertainment system and some floaties over to Acushnet, and watched Moana from the water. Jazz was still banned from getting her ear wet, but was perfectly able to float in the 85 degree water.

We dried off and picked our way to shore through the coral, where we found that someone else had already had our idea and piled up a big collection of firewood around a giant driftwood windbreak. So we set up for a beach fire, and roasted hot dogs on sticks while looking out at the sunset on our boats. This was a pretty idyllic experience.

In the morning we went diving, with Jazz providing shore support.

We’d have stayed longer, as it’s really beautiful, especially underwater… but the wind angle was wrong so the anchorage was rolly and uncomfortable, and Jazz still hadn’t marked off the ten days on her ear calendar (first picture) before she could dunk her head again. Ear drops every six hours, including a midnight wakeup call, pills every eight, and all in all an unhappy Jazz. So we hauled anchor and sailed back north, for a night stop at Coconut Point.

Sailing around Fiji is a daylight thing, because of all the reefs, which sort of forces you to take short day hops. So Coconut Point isn’t a destination per se, but it was a nice calm anchorage, and we brought friends so we had our own entertainment. Andrew made dinner and Acushnet played host, and we had a nice evening watching Firefly on their front deck.

The moon rise was lovely, and Acushnet turned on their underwater lights to guide us back to Villa.

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