Sailing in Fiji – an overview

Paikea Mist

We were lucky to have six weeks sailing the islands of Fiji on Kristine’s parent’s 50′ Benneteau Paikea Mist. Most of our non-sailing time was spent in the water; we did one or two scuba dives almost everyday.

Island boy from Totoya

Interestingly, we were one of the last boats to sail Fiji’s outer islands, the Lua Group, on the old permit system. In this system, boats had to apply for a permit to visit the outer islands.  The permit was expensive and the paperwork was tricky to fill out and get to the proper officials for approval. The result is very few boats sail these islands, preserving the native Fijian way of life (and making the locals of some of the more remote islands incredibly excited to see you!). We were just leaving the last island when we were told boats no longer need a permit. Instead they will pay the local village a fee to anchor in their bay (in Fiji the village chief owns both the land and the water surrounding his village). This change will certainly create many new opportunities for the islanders.

Dive site

The sailing itself was fantastic experience for us. We did night shifts, sailed in big seas and big winds, navigated through coral reefs and anchored on various surfaces.  Six weeks was also long enough for us to get a taste of the cruising lifestyle; we learned a bit about provisioning (their are no real stores in the Lau group, so we had to stock up for about 4 weeks), we caught fish, Kristine practiced cooking from cans, and we traded nicknacks for fresh food from the locals.