It took us five days to reach Fiji from Tonga. During that time we were becalmed for 22 hours and sailed in very light winds for another whole day after the calm. Suva is a big modern city with a large busy harbor. We were dwarfed by large ships that come and go around us. We provisioned here and prepared for sailing to other parts of Fiji. There are over 300 islands in Fiji.

On September 4, we sailed over night to the western side of Viti Levu. Inside the barrier reef, we entered an area with many smaller reefs and calmer waters. Navigation can be very tricky here. It’s very beautiful with a dry climate very different from anything we’ve seen in the tropics.

Navigating the reefs off Mololo Lailai island, we hit one of them. We had the latest chart, but one of the few marks had been moved, leading me to believe the farther mark was indeed the nearer, missing mark. There was a dogleg in the reef, so when we headed for the farther mark, we hit the knee of the dogleg. The sun was in our eyes and there was a heavy chop, so the reef was invisible to us. Still, the mishap was my fault. The prudent navigator never relies on just one guide. We should have waited for better conditions.

When we reached the anchorage, we went over the side to survey the damage. We found we had hit the ballast and the skeg. The lead ballast was only scratched but the skeg was crunched on the leading edge. Next day, we sailed to Vuda Marina, 12 miles away, and hauled out for repairs. We will use the “opportunity” to do some routine maintenance we were going to do in New Zealand. We were lucky. It could have been much worse. We could have gotten stuck on the reef and suffered significant damage. We were also lucky to be only 12 miles from a repair facility (rare in the tropics). Finally, we were lucky that Pacific Seacraft had built such a strong skeg: there was no damage to the rudder or shaft.