With nothing really to keep us tethered for too long to the little anchorage on Kadavu, we day sailed over to the uninhabited island of Namara. It was half a beautiful sail on flat water and half a bumpy upwind bash. That’s because as we left the anchorage and headed north up the east side of Kadavu we were inside the reef, sailing downwind on flat water. The charts weren’t exactly accurate, so we had to keep a vigilant lookout for bombies, but visibility was good, so there were no issues. After we went outside the north reef and turned more eastward, that’s where it got lumpy bumpy and then after heading back inside the reef more southward back towards Namara, that’s where it was an upwind bash. We had gone outside the reef to do some fishing, but there were no fish there.
Exodus on a day sail from Kadavu to Namara
On our approach to Namara we realized that we *really* weren’t in The Lau Group anymore when we saw a huge cruise ship parked nearby. I guess the nearby island of Dravuni is on the cruise ship circuit and the ship was there for the passengers to spend a couple hours on shore snapping photos of a Fijian village and buying handicrafts. We were slightly amused later when we learned that the villagers buy the handicrafts from Suva in order to sell them to the cruise shippers, probably at a decent mark up.
We’re not in the Lau Group anymore! Cruise ship near Namara
The anchorage off Namara wasn’t great. The bottom is quite filled with coral and we circled several times trying to find a good spot to drop the anchor, all the while Nautilus waited paitently for their turn. We found a decent spot tucked in out of the wind and swell and we floated the anchor chain to keep it off the coral. However, we found that being tucked in out of the wind meant being in somewhat swirly conditions so we didn’t lie nicely in one direction but rather circled and circled as the wind swirled which inevitably meant the floats on the chain would end up wrapped around our bridle.
Exodus anchored at Namara
Yes, Namara is uninhabited, but that doesn’t mean we can just make ourselves at home on shore upon arrival. It is owned and controlled by the nearby island of Dravuni, so convention mandates that we go there to present sevusevu and ask permission to visit Namara. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, so Tim and Hans went together in our dinghy upwind to Dravuni. They presented sevusevu to the chief and were given express permission to spearfish on the reef, and the chief told them they could use dive tanks if they wanted. He said it’s normally not allowed, but if they bring him some fish, they can use tanks. Nice protection of the reef. Tim and Hans also had tea and bread with some of the locals and told everyone who would listen that they wanted to spear some dogtooth tuna. They also visited the local store and when they got back to us, we all felt like celebrating when we saw the eggs, bread, and cabbage. It had been so long since we had such things!
Later, while the guys went spearfishing , without tanks, Katrein and I walked around the island. It was a beautiful beach and a nice walk, and when we got back to our side of the island a man and his wife were there. The wife was fishing near the shore and the man was gathering wood. They asked if our husbands were back with any fish yet, so even though they didn’t say it we could tell they were there to get fish from Tim and Hans after they had broadcast on Dravuni that they were going spearfishing. Fortunately, they hit the jackpot that day and came back with 7 fish, so everyone ate fish that night! Turns out the next day they went back to the same spot and came back with 3 more fish!
Spearfishing Jackpot!
The beach at Namara was great for walking but it was especially great for the kids to play on, since they hadn’t really had a beach since Fulaga. We had a couple of evening bonfires, and since we knew we would be heading next to the hustle and bustle of Suva we savored these relaxing evenings with good friends.
Beach bonfire at Namara
Gresham Family Exodus 