Sidewinder visits the Mamanucas and Yasawas

We left Musket Cove with Scream and Moonshine on September 19, with the idea of finally exploring the west side of Fiji and so far it has been beautiful. The weather gods have been with us giving us mostly gentle wind, sunshine, and tame seas while we are traveling from island to island, along with safe anchorages for waiting out big windy days. After our first short trip to the next island north from Malolo, Mana Island, and a great little barbecue on Scream, the three of us had a fun light wind sail....motor-sail......sail........to one of the last island clusters in the Mamanucas, but as we rounded the corner, ....oops, the engine won't turn on for us here at Navadra Bay, making that afternoon quite tense. It was wonderful having the support of Chris on Moonshine, who pulled into the bay, dropped anchor, and jumped into his dinghy to come to our aid, while Scream stood off for a while with radio on, as we tacked back and forth cautiously trying not to hit any of the reefs inside; Chris did help push our bow around on our last tack so that we could be far enough inside to drop anchor. PHEW ! We celebrated our safe landing by having cocktails and dinner on Sidewinder, thanking our friends for being by our side. The next day David changed the primary fuel filter, and  Steve, Chris, and Suzi ( with that elfish tiny arm and hand for final touches inside the engine) then helped him bleed the whole fuel system twice before dear Perkins fired up, and in the long run, ended up finding the on/off switch to be the real culprit we think. We are, once again, reminded of how very grateful we are for reliable Perkins each time we need to motor into the beautiful safe harbors of Fiji's reefed islands. Yay, Perkins!   That same afternoon included a great colorful snorkel out at the point, a sunset bonfire on the pristine beach, and another scrumptuous meal with our buddies on Moonshine that evening.  Before Steve and Darusha left the next day, we all lamented on how much we had missed our travels together from the last crusing seasons; it was so nice to re-connect with them. Chris, David and I spent another day in rainy weather climbing to the top of the big rock point at Navadra Bay and continued the warmth of eating together our last night. We left the next day for the neargy island group northwest of Lautoka, the Yasawas, as Moonshine headed back to Beachcomber Island and Musket Cove.        
We are now in Blue Lagoon, anchored in front of the Nanuya Resort, relaxing and enjoying some down time after sailing up the coast of Waya and Naviti Islands. Our first night we stayed at Manta Bay, but unfortunately did not find the manta-rays. We did go into the Mantaray Resort, ate pizza and chatted with the locals and cruisers from NZ who tried to explain the game of rugby as we watched more of the World Rugby Tournament everyone here is so into, and then motored Worm home in the dark. Unfortunately the next day was cloudy as we worked our way north to the Blue Lagoon, through the maze of reefs, and each time the sun popped out we sighed  with great relief. We did make it, although the sail in the afternoon  was quite rough with 25 kt gusty winds. We are happy to be here for a few days, enjoying mostly sunny weather, along with a nice scuba dive today. We've met more wonderful people, both guests and locals, played v-ball with the Fijians yesterday and today, and are once again, counting our blessings. We will begin our journey back to Musket Cove in a few days and then it will be time to consider readying ourselves for the trek to New Zealand. Hard to believe this cruising season is already closing in on us. Guess we certainly have not been bored!   Love to everyone.  We do miss you.  S & D