Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Kid Boat Camp Out / Musket Cove and Geoff's Birthday - Navadra Island, Yasawa Islands, Fiji - August 2017

Musket Cove Resort and Marina, Malolo Lailai, Mamanuca Island Group 

We motored out of Vuda Point Marina and made our way to Musket Cove marina to meet our friends from SV Tika.  It was a good first stop to test out the new rebuilt engine.  We pushed it hard to ensure that the engine was running smooth with no hiccups.  It was a good 1 1/2 hour - 2 hour motor ride.  It was a nice motor ride and everything was running well!  Wup Wup!

Musket Cove is a resort with a marina in the Mamanuca Island chain close to the main island of Viti Levu.  There are many small islands in the Mamanuca Island chain.  We started from Vuda Point, which is between Lautoka and Nadi on the map below to Malolo Lailai, which is where number 16 is on the map below.  Musket Cove Resort and marine is tucked inside between Malolo Lailai and Malolo islands.  As you can see from the map, there a many resorts in Fiji.  It really is a vacation paradise.


                             Mamanuca Islands map - Fiji Archipelago

Musket Cove will ruin your calibration of what cruising should be.  This place is very welcoming to cruisers, with a yacht club, swimming pool, bar, bbq's, showers and laundry.  It does feel like a little paradise.

Miriam, Geoff and Horatio and Noah at the pool in Musket Cove.

Marina at Musket Cove.  There is also a very large mooring field where we moored.

Geoff with Greer and Russel from SV Tika.

Navadra Island, Yasawa Island Group
We spent the night on a mooring and the next day, made our way up to Navadra Island, which is in the Yasawa Island chain.  The Yasawa's are just north of the Mamanuca Islands.  It is about a 4 hour motor/sail boat ride to Navadra.  You wills sail past many beautiful islands and also many resorts.  Navadra is not listed in the map below as it is uninhabited.  It is the island that is below left of Kuata Island /Waya Island.  There are no resorts and no accommodations or amenities/water, etc.  It was the perfect place to anchor, snorkel, windsurf, sail and of course have a kid boat camp out!
                                   

Kid Boat Camp Out
There ended up being 7 kid boats over the week that showed up for the camp out. It was a great time to catch up with folks that we have not seen in almost a year and also meeting some new kid boats.  SV Tika, SV Pesto, SV Sang Vind, SV Skylark, SV Outer Rim, and SV Lil Explorers all showed up.

Kid boats anchored at Navadra Island

Meet up on the beach

Some excited kids

The adults were kindly asked by the kids to keep separate from them!

Camp fire before the kids camped out

The morning after. We thought the kids were still asleep, but 

they were already hiking on the beach

Sailing and windsurfing in the bay

The ladies art and coffee morning hosted by Greer from SV Tika

SV Pesto with the rock that the kids hiked to and climbed, in the background.

Some boats had to leave and everyone wanted to see a little more, so some separated and some stayed together to discover the Yasawas.

Musket Cove Marina, Malolo Lailai Island, Yasawa Island Group
We decide to head back to Musket Cove as a big wind was predicted for the area so we wanted to be in a more protected place.  Musket Cove is sheltered, but still we felt the effects of 48 knots in the mooring field.  

The morning after the big blow it was still blowing around 30 knots 
and someone decided to kite board in the mooring field!

After the big wind, everyone wanted off the boat, and we 
decide to go for a little hike around the island with our friends from SV Pesto.

View from the backside of the marina

Pineapple fields

not sure what kind of bird this is?

On our way to the organic farm that provides the vegetables for the resort

A very nice farming operation

One of the farmers overseeing the farm

Eggplant, which is very plentiful in Fiji

Bananas

Mangoes

Swiss Chard which they call Silver Beet

Garlic

Chickens

Airstrip 

Walking on the path next to the airstrip.

Geoff celebrating his birthday in Musket Cove marina

Friends joining in for BBQ and cake for Geoff's birthday


Up next:  making our way up the Yasawa Island Group







4 comments:

  1. Wow! Great adventure! If you wish to own a sailboat or motor boat, might as well read this post first.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Such an amazing and helpful post this is. I really really love it. It's so good and so awesome. I am just amazed. I hope that you continue to do your work like this in the future also San blas tours

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bally's Michigan casino set to open in 2021 | JDH Hub
    The casino 양주 출장마사지 in Michigan is located in the it 의왕 출장마사지 has to wait 여주 출장마사지 two years for opening in 2022. We are excited to 의정부 출장마사지 be working with Bally's 군산 출장마사지 Michigan to open

    ReplyDelete