Yanuca is a tiny island inside the Beqa lagoon, west of the larger island of Beqa. Our passage from Gau was a very nice, slow, downwind sail. On my watch our max speed was about 4 kts, but it was quiet, and no one was seasick, so there was certainly nothing to complain about. It was a clear, starry sky and I spent the first couple hours of my watch monitoring a large vessel visually and on radar. I’m not sure why they weren’t transmitting AIS. Anyway, they were stationary for a long time, and I was going to pass it about 2 miles away, but then, of course, it started moving right towards our track, probably on its way back to Suva. I changed course slightly to give it a little more room, and we passed about 0.75 miles away. They did not answer the radio.
The anchorage on the west side of Yanuca was beautiful, and we had a nice walk across the island to the village. We went up a hill through the woods, and as we came out of the woods were were at the school at the top of the hill overlooking the village and had a beautiful view of the Beqa lagoon. We talked to a couple of the teachers at the school, and they were pretty passionate in their support of our choices to homeschool. They didn’t have a very high opinion of government having so much control over education.
We made our way down through the village, one of the cleanest, and had a quick impersonal sevusevu and were sent on our way.
On our way sailing into the anchorage, we noticed a small islet nearby, and Tim decided to turn it into an adventure with the kids. He took them to the “deserted, desert island” for an afternoon, although Alex and I opted to stay behind for some peace and quiet on the boat.
A deserted island getaway
Fluenta and Nirvana arrived on our last day there, and the kids all had a great day together playing in the water. It was time for us to depart for the western side of Viti Levu in order for the Bellinis to catch their flight home. We departed Yanuca on Mon, 20 July for one last overnight passage with the Bellinis. This time we left before dark and enjoyed a lovely evening sail into the sunset.
How many cruising kids can fit on a kayak before it tips? Turns out to be 6.
Our last dinner aboard Exodus with The Bellinis (This photo was actually taken on passage from Yanuca to Musket Cove)
Sadly, this time, baby duck didn’t follow.
Gresham Family Exodus 