The last few days of our expedition on Te Kaihōpara saw lots of sailing, wildlife and fun. I’ll continue our story where I left off last time though, when we were heading ashore to have dinner at Gunu Village.

Dinner at Ili’s house was a banquet for 23 people! The crew off both Silver Fern and Te Kaihōpara were joined by 4 others who were staying at the village on a homestay experience. Crab legs, octopus salad, sea grapes, shark, Fijian spinach, cassava, pawpaw, pumpkin and red plantain were some of the highlights of the delicious dinner. We were ferried ashore and back by a long boat manned by two children and an adult! The moon that night was stunning, it was one day short of a full moon. As we came back to our lovely vessel, the saloon lighting made it look like she was alight with fire! I probably won’t use the orange and red light combination again.

A milky peach sunrise woke us the next morning, the sea was flat and the wind was still. We wasted no time hauling anchor and heading out into the blue. The wind was forecast to pick up as we headed north so we threw up some sails and started a wind-dance. Dennis got stuck into the galley and whipped up a truckload of pikelets for breakfast then promptly felt seasick and couldn’t eat any! We saved him some though. A beautiful 15-20kts of wind filled in and we had a wonderful sail all the way into Oarsman Bay at Nacula Island. We had turns helming outside and enjoyed the opportunity for some proper sailing - reading our direction off the sails instead of the chart plotter. In the distance, whales were breeching. Fully trimmed up, we were scooting off towards Tuvalu at a rate of knots before Dennis (now a salty seadog) threw Te Kaihōpara into a tack and out the other side. Back tracking we aimed for a gap in the reef and took the sails down. Once the anchor was set, Nicky, Peter, Nic, Steve, Max, Sue and I mooched ashore with snorkel gear while Jo, Dennis and Sofia headed around to the village to donate bras and goods, and Lisa kept anchor watch having been up with a sore tummy all night. The coral and fish life here were stunning! Inquisitive fish who came up to you, schools circling big brain coral and all sorts of colours popping up from the rocks. It was finally time to go back to the boat and get ready for dinner. Sofia had organised a treat for us - Dinner at Nanuya Island Resort! She has lots of connections and is highly regarded in this part of the Yasawas from her massive efforts at providing better healthcare for the villagers. Go Dr Sofia! One friend - Joe - collected us in his long boat and dropped us off where more friends were waiting to greet their treasured doctor friend. We had a marvellous dinner of pizza then were entertained by a group of local families singing and dancing. What a special night this was. I can’t forget to mention the blue super moon that rose as we were zooming across to the resort. Jo (skipper) shouted out to Joe (longboat man) to stop the boat so we could all watch it rise, and we’re all grateful she did.

Morning came again and this morning’s activity is going to the underwater caves! The crew got picked up and zoomed off to swim in the caves famous for featuring on the Blue Lagoon movie (starring Brooke Shields). They had a fantastic time seeing the massive vertical walls and the inside cave where it’s so deep you can’t see the bottom, even with a torch. Arriving back to Te Kaihōpara, everyone was buzzing about what a beautiful feature the caves are. It’s the second-to-last day on our cruise and we had a mission to get to the Champagne Beach this evening. Out of the bay, we set the main, and the mizzen, then the genoa and finally the stay sail. Full sail! Then Dennis caught a yellowfin tuna and we had to slow down so he could wind it in. We whizzed north and sailed past our anchorage as we were enjoying it so much. Eventually, the beach was calling us so we turned around and put the sails away. Dennis and I had a quick stop at Yasawairara Village to drop off bras and sevusevu. We then moved 2 miles south to the Champagne Beach at Naloto Point. Nicky kayaked ashore while everyone else took the dinghy in and towed a second kayak. We snorkeled and walked and explored the beach, including a resort under construction which was abandoned by its developers several years ago. The sun went down and we managed to see a green flash as it dipped the horizon. Quickly back to Te Kaihōpara before it got dark, I put everyone to work and we deflated the kayaks, paddle boards and got the dinghy back onto the foredeck. Te Kaihōpara is ready for the big sail back to Vuda Marina tomorrow.

6:30am - wake up! It’s time to get ready and leave towards Vuda. We saw more whales spouting in Yasawairara Bay and then dolphins close beside us. Up went the mainsail, only halfway though as we were expecting up to 25kts. Around the top of Yasawa Island, we encountered large chop and masses of water and spray all over the boat. Those windscreen wipers sure are handy! Lisa and Nic succumbed to seasickness and were sleeping in the wheelhouse as I rounded the top of the island. Steve, Max, Sue, Nicky and Peter pulled out the staysail and then the engine overheated! Oh no! Thankfully we were around the worst part and the crew pulled out the genoa so we could keep sailing forwards and away from the reefs. The wind angle increased and we put more mainsail up. Soon we were sailing off at 9kts in the right direction under Steve’s careful helming. Swapping over, Nicky, Sue and Max all had turns steering then finally Sofia too! Meanwhile, the others were constantly trimming the sails to keep up boat speed as the seas flattened and wind decreased. Peter and Jo produced scrambled egg quesadillas for lunch and there were smiles all round. Now the engine had cooled off a bit, we went into the engine room and discovered the coolant pump belts had hopped off their wheels. That resulted in a certain chief mate getting extremely dirty to stretch them back on, under the kind eyes of Steve and Dennis who offered to help. And what do you know, the engine didn’t overheat this time. That was fortunate as the wind has completely dropped off and we are now motoring through glassy seas the remaining 20 miles to the marina. There were dolphins in the distance and lots of fish jumping. Lisa has woken up and Peter is asleep now, while some of the others are having a shower to freshen up before we arrive on land.

What a fantastic Yasawa Island cruise on the majestic Te Kaihōpara.

- Hannah - Chief Mate - Te Kaihōpara