The overnight passage from Matuku to Kadavu was mostly pleasant with the exception of the variable winds which kept me changing heading and sail area throughout my watch (which started at 2am). We had a lot of squalls after the sun came up, which made timing our pass entry a bit challenging. We aborted our approach once as a squall overtook us, but we went through on the second try just a little after low slack water. We had about 1 kt of current flowing in, which meant we had wind and current in the SAME direction, which makes a huge difference. (Wind against current creates standing waves.) The pass water was flat calm, and entry was about as easy as it gets, even with 20kt wind and swell coming straight at the pass.
There is a write-up in one of the homemade cruisers guides we all use by someone who exited this pass with current and wind in opposite direction and had huge standing waves, and because of that single description everyone seems to think that this pass is crazy. More than one skeptical person retorted back to us, “you’re going through THAT pass?” However, in our experience, the same pass can be crazy difficult or totally easy, it all depends on your timing, and we nailed this one. A little bit of planning and a little bit of luck can make all the difference.
The reef we passed through is part of the famous Great Astrolabe Reef, and everything you hear and read about The Naigoro pass is that it is supposed to have amazing diving, “some of the best in the world.”
Tim, Hans, and Brenden snorkeled in the pass the next day. I’m sorry to say that they reported back that it was nothing special. Perhaps “best diving in the world” means “best diving that tour operators go to” and we are spoiled by places like Minerva Reef and more recently, Fulaga.
The best part of the Naigoro pass was that Nautilus caught two tunas on the way in so we had a huge steak and tuna feast on Exodus that night.
Gresham Family Exodus 