The leg from Tonga to the Lau Group in Fiji was just 300nm. A slightly awkward distance for us; it wasn’t really far enough for 2 nights at sea but having to clear customs in the morning meant that we couldn’t do it in one night either. The majority of the fleet left on Tuesday morning but the faster boats in the fleet (ourselves, Ægle and Take Two), all decided to leave as late as we could on Tuesday 9th afternoon and then try to go as slowly as reasonably possible so that we would arrive at dawn after the second night at sea.

Well that was the plan! Unfortunately the forecast was for strengthening winds, up to near gale force and even with 2 reefs in the mainsail and rolled genoa 12 hours after we’d left we had already passed the whole fleet and covered 105nm and were on track for one of our fastest days sailing. We ended up dropping our mainsail completely but were still doing 7-9 knots. The sea was awkward to say the least and both Jamie, and unusually Anne-Laure, were feeling rather green.

By 3am on the second night it was clear that nearly the whole fleet was going to arrive at the Tongan Passage too early and before dawn, which was not recommended for the entrance through the reef. We’d resorted to bare poles (no sails at all) and were still sailing at around 5 kts, everyone started zigzagging to put some extra miles on the route and finally just after sunrise the first 10 boats went through the passage with 32 knots of wind and headed to the anchorage at Lomaloma. We sent a video message back to Sasha and Blair on Silver Moon who wanted to know more about the conditions in the pass.

Normally Vanua Balava Island in the Lau Group is not a port of entry into Fiji but with 20+ boats arriving World Cruising had made special arrangements and flown in the team of customs, immigration, biosecurity and police to clear us in. This was great for us as the Lau Group is one of the best cruising areas in Fiji. Unfortunately it wasn’t so good for the officials, the anchorage was completely exposed to the strong winds and by the time they got to us 3 of the 7 were seasick. It was the fastest clearance ever, only 15 mins and no inspections at all. As soon as we were cleared the fleet motored round the top of Island to the Bay of Islands where we could shelter from the impending storm. The morning after our arrival the Fiji authorities issued a notice banning all movements by vessels less than 15metres due to the dangerous sea conditions.

Being stuck in the Bay of Islands wasn’t the worst place in the world to hang around for a few days. It was a stunningly beautiful set of anchorages with multiple tiny islands, huge flying fox bat colonies, caves and great snorkelling and inevitably yet another few get-togethers on Offbeat in our role as party boat.

After 4 days we were keen to move, although the strong winds still hadn’t died down, but we decided to set off for SavuSavu on Vanua Levu, the second biggest island in Fiji. There is a brand new marina at Nawi Island which has a narrow channel on the approach. It didn’t look too scary and after calling the marina enroute they said they’d help us if we arrived at night and would put us temporarily on one of their superyacht docks until morning. We arrived at 4am and to our surprise they actually sent one of their boats out to guide us into the dock.

Nawi Marina was a real culture shock but a very pleasant one. A modern marina, where everything worked, a pool, 2 bars and 3 restaurants it was the first luxury we’d had since Tahiti over a month before. In the end we spent about 5 days there exploring the island by car, buying a beautiful pearl and having it set for Anne-Laure, buying provisions at the market and generally pampering ourselves.

Unfortunately time was moving fast we needed to get to Musket Cove by July 1st. This is on an island at the bottom of the Yasawa chain. The Yasawa Islands are a remote, sun-drenched archipelago of around 20 volcanic islands located northwest of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu. Jamie had been to the Yasawa’s just over a year ago and wazed lyrically about the beauty of the region. Famous for dramatic peaks, white-sand beaches, and crystal-clear waters, they offer a perfect tropical getaway with no roads or cars. Nearly every island has its own chief to whom you must pass your respects with the Sevusevu ritual before being welcomed to the island ashore or at anchor.

After 2 short day sails through the reef strewn coastline we arrived at Yasawa-i-Rara at the top of the chain. We went ashore and found the chief’s house. He was in residence together with his 86 year old mother who it turns out was the paramount chief for the whole island group. We sat down and chatted to them both for about 30 minutes and handed over our gift of Kava roots. As we were about to leave he invited us back to join them in the evening as their pastor had recently passed away and as it was the 10th night they were holding a feast and gathering to mourn him. We returned at 7pm, were welcomed on the shore by a group of young children who had been sent to guide us. We then drank kava with the chief and the menfolk from the village and ate a meat cross-legged on the floor.

The following day we headed south to the Blue Lagoon, a stunning anchorage where we flew our drone to get some outstanding shots of the island group.

Next stop was Manta Alley, a unique narrow and deep channel between two islands where Manta Rays come to feed and be cleaned by wrasses. We took out dinghy round to the aptly named Barefoot Resort and then did two drift dives along the channel accompanied by one of the marine biologists from the resort. These animals are amazingly graceful and it was a truly exceptional day.


It was hard to believe that we were nearly at the end of our epic journey. We had just one more stop at Navadra Island before another short motor in near calm conditions down through the reefs to Musket Cove on Malolo Island where we would leave the World ARC.