Sunday, December 28, 2008

Savusavu Christmas




Well Christmas in Savusavu is the same as on any other tropical island, I guess.
This year, we had a beautiful sunny day, except for a short rain shower in the morning, just to cool the place down.
On Christmas eve, there was a rush to the shops to get that last minute gift & groceries that was forgotten earlier.
It is just amazing, to see so many people in the town, they must come from all over the island to shop here.
The days leading up to Christmas were very quiet, but I think the shops made up for all the lost trade in one day.
All the Government workers got their pay on Wednesday, so there was a lot of money paid out.
These pictures were taken, when one of the cruise ships visited us, earlier in the month.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Savusavu Homecentre.



Being a quiet week, we spent time, just doing maintenance on the boat.
It takes us 2 days to antifoul the bottom of Searov, as we don't have a slipway to have her docked.
She has to be put on the beach, & paint one side at a time, when the tide goes out.
This week we had very high tides 2mtrs, so it was the right time to do the job.

A week or so ago MH Homecentre opened their new shop in Savusavu, this is a huge improvement on the old shop.
We were entertained by a group of dancing girls, while being served cocktails.
It was a enjoyable night out.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Savusavu Sun Rise






Early on Friday morning I took these shots on the way out of Savusavu Bay.

It was a beautiful calm day, & the sun was just rising as we passed the Cousteau Resort.

On one side of the boat, we had the sun rising, & on the other side, was this lovely blue colour, that seemed to come from the sea & carried up into the sky.

On the way back into the harbour, the setting had changed again.

On the water, the scenery always changes, & you never get tired of looking at it.
It has such a calming affect.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Savusavu Airport


This is the news we have all been waiting for
.
Flights are to commence flying back into Savusavu, on Monday morning.
This is good news for people living overseas, who return to Savusavu for Christmas, to be with their families.

There have held test flight since Thursday, testing the new runway, & it has now been given the ok to start operations.

With the closure of the Airport 4 months ago, people had to travel to Labasa to catch a plane, this was a strain, & time consuming, on a lot of travellers.

Now, we hope the tourist numbers will start to pick up again.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Trip To Koro Island




Well it is the last day of November, so we have to be careful & keep updating the weather in case, a cyclone should form, as we are now into the hurricane season.

We had a trip to Koro Island, yesterday morning, to pick up a couple that were visiting the island.

During the night, we had some very heavy rain, but when we left Savusavu around 7.00am, it was a little cloudy, but the seas were nice & calm.

The trip back wasn't too bad, except for about 15 min when we got into a storm, just before we reached Savusavu harbour entrance.

Have included a picture of some flowers, to add a bit of colour.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Pacific Dawns Last Savusavu Visit For Year





We were up just after 4.30am, & witnessed another beautiful sunrise.
This morning Pacific Dawn was coming into Savusavu, on her last visit for the year.

The weather man had predicted rain for today, so we were happy to prove him wrong.
It wasn't long before Pacific Dawn could be seen in the early morning light, she had all the lights on, so it was a lovely sight, gliding along the sea, there wasn't a ripple on the water.

Again a few tours were organised, but a lot of the passengers did their own thing.
Hiring taxis to look around the island, or enjoying the local bands at a couple of places.

There were a few, very happy groups that boarded the tenders, that had spent some time at the bar, sampling the local brew.

Farewell Pacific Dawn, look forward to seeing you next year.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Korean Ambassador




The thunderstorms are still around, usually after lunch we start to see the dark clouds forming, but the mornings are really beautiful, clear sky's & calm seas.

Last Sunday, it was very unfortunate that a young boy was killed, on his way home with a group of friends, when he was struck by lightening.

The group had gone out looking for mangoes, a friend was up the tree & the boy that was killed was holding a bamboo stick, trying to get at the mangoes.

The friend in the tree was thrown out of the tree,& the lightening struck the bamboo stick, & killed, the boy.

A few days ago we had the pleasure of taking the Korean Ambassador to Fiji, on a harbour cruise. Fortunately we had one of the clear days.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Thunderstorms In Savusavu




Over the last few days, we have been experiencing tropical downpours & thunder & lightening.This week Fiji experienced hail storms & a whirlwind.

One of the strikes, even blew stuff in my computer, I had switched it off at the wall but forgot to pull the plug out.

Have learned my lesson, yesterday the power was off most of the night, but luckily we now have power, though a friend across the Savusavu Bay is still without it.


We went out last Sunday, it poured really heavy out where we do our fishing, we saw the big yellowfin right at the boat, but they just wouldn't take anything.


Terry tried just about every combination of lures, but had no luck hooking up a big one.

Luckily we did manage to pick some fish up, but nothing big.


A couple of other boats that were out, had the same result, the big ones just wouldn't take anything.

A few more photos of the Tuna that Paul caught.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Paul Lands His Tuna




Paul was in the chair, & working really hard, after 1/2hr Paul was getting a ribbing from his friends, tell him to work harder, to hurry up & bring the fish in, so we could carry on fishing.
The fish just wasn't coming up, at this stage we thought it could be a big bronze whaler shark, Paul was getting a little tired, but just kept working the fish up, a little bit at a time.
Just over a hour it started to surface, then we got a look at it.
It was a lovely yellowfin tuna, as he came up, we saw a big shark swimming close by.
Now, everyone was shouting FASTER FASTER.
We got it to the boat, using 2 gaffs, the fish was eventually in the boat.
Everyone was cheering, & Paul had a great big smile on his face, now it was time for a beer, after all that hard work, he deserved one.
Congratulations Paul.
Will add photos of the Tuna on shore later.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Great Day Fishing




This is a continuation of the last blog.

Ahead of me in the distance, I could see what looked like a frenzy of fish.
It surely was, there were birds & fish everywhere.

We had some really good strikes, but lost about 5 lures in the process, caught a few more large skipjack tuna, but nothing big was staying on.

It went dead after a while so went looking again.
Shortly, there was another group of birds working, so made our way towards them.
Wasn't long before one of the lines went screaming out.

All the other lines were brought in & Paul took the chair.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Another Fishing Day




19th October

When our clients booked to go out today, we thought it might be canceled in the morning, as the weather forecast was predicting strong winds.

This didn't happen thank goodness, so we left the dock a little after 6.30.

About 5 minutes out from the lighthouse, some birds were spotted, & a few fish were seen jumping, so lines were put out to see if we could attract something.

Nothing did, so we pulled lines in & headed off to the usual spot.

To start off, nothing much was working, we had a few strikes of skip jack tuna, & landed a couple.

After a while of working the area we moved away for a while to see if something was working elsewhere, it was.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Savusavu Fishing


15th October.

The day started fine, but by the time we had the boat ready, & were waiting for the Guest to arrive, the heavens opened, & the rain just poured down.

We really didn't expect them to arrive, as a lot of the people that book charters, aren't really fishing people, most just like to do something different while on holiday.

Anyway this couple liked to fish, so the rain didn't deter them one little bit.
Once out of the harbour the rain disappeared, but there was still a swell running, this also didn't worry them, so we were heading off to find some fish.

The day ended up with them catching 6 yellowfin tuna & 4 skippjack tuna, plus a barracuda.
They left for the resort with half of the fish, before I could take a picture of the whole catch.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Savusavu Cruise





1st October.

Business has been fairly slow the last few weeks, what with the Airport closure & weather, we haven't manage to get out fishing.

We did have a harbour cruise, but this was early in the morning so the pictures are a bit dark.
We didn't put out a line as it was inside the bay.

With the Airport still closed, we have had 4 trips to Labasa airport, picking & dropping of friends.

This is a long trip for someone that has come in from the US, & if the plane is delayed, like it was on Friday, it makes the day even longer.

Everyone is hoping that our airport will open on time next month.
If this happens, we may have more tourist visiting our hidden paradise.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Fishing in Savusavu With Mike




20th

Set out this morning just a little after 7.00am, seas were nice & calm, but looked like we could be heading into some rain.
About a hour into the charter, we had a couple of small yellowfin & 1 skipjack tuna on board, then it went dead.
After half a hour looking around & seeing nothing, we moved to another spot.

Soon we saw birds working, & as we reached the spot we had a double hook up, while Mike & Terry were working the rods, I saw 4 more Mahimahi jump out of the water, & swim right across the lines.
Mike lost his fish just at the boat, so Terry gave him, his fish, then tried to sort out the lines.
Fish in the boat & lines untangled, we set out again, we had 3 more in the boat in a little while but also loosing a few.

In the distance I spotted a good work up, it took a while to reach as they were moving really fast.
It was worth it, as Mike landed a nice 8 & 10kg Albacore.
Now it was time to head home, Mike had had too much Kava at the resort last night, so wasn't feeling too well.

On the way home we lost another Mahimahi just at the boat, & landed another.
We came home with 5 Mahimahi, 2 Yellowfin, 1 Skippy, & 2 Albacore.
A good days fishing.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Short Fishing Charters




Last week the trade winds started to blow quite strong again, & as usual people wanted to go out fishing.
The first charter on Friday morning had to be canceled because the winds were blowing a steady 20knts.
Saturday, the 4 people arrived at the dock, but 1 Lady was showing signs of having had a heavy night, not good for the conditions.
Once pass the Lighthouse, the seas started getting rougher.
About 15mins after the lines were in the water, we were into a school of yellowfin.
The first fish was just on board when, the Lady called out, to take the boat back to shore, now.
That was the end of that charter, the other couple were fishing people, so were disappointed that it ended that way, but there isn't much we can do when someone is throwing up all over the place.
Thank goodness the charter on Sunday was better & they managed to catch fish, mind you, we lost a few, & Terry had a Repala just miss his throat. The Mahimahi was by the boat & Terry was going to gaff it, when it through the hook.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Great Day Fishing





27th August.

I am a bit late writing this one up.
It was such a beautiful day, Terry & I decided to take Searov out to give the engines a run, as we hadn't been out for over a week.

We were a little late getting away, & when we got to the mount, only small fish seemed to be around.

After working the area for a hour & only getting small yellow fin, we thought we would move away, when suddenly, one line went screaming out, then we saw it, a nice Mahimahi.

We were a lot happier now, that we had that on board.
It wasn't long before, we had 2 more Mahimahi.

After this, we decided to head for home, as it was getting really hot, out on the water.

On the way home we picked up another 2 Mahimahi, so that was a great days fishing. 5 Mahimahi & 4 yellow fin.
The biggest Mahimahi weighed in just under 15kg.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Savusavu The Hidden Paradise




This is the name given to Savusavu, many visitors that arrive in Savusavu are taken with the beauty of the place, we have such a lovely bay.

Yesterday, the Pacific Sun cruise ship was in port for her last trip to Savusavu, for this year.

Once more, we were very fortunate weather wise, another beautiful sunny day.

Many of the tourist went on tours that had been organized, some took taxis to resorts for a swim & others just wanted to walk around the town & shops.

There was a local band playing at the Yacht club, entertaining people that were sitting under the trees.
A few danced to the music, others just sat & enjoyed the day.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Savusavu Weather




17th August
The weather has been really fantastic for the last couple of weeks.
Terry was busy, painting on the boat last week, so wasn't able to get out on the water until Sunday.

This time we took out a Father & 2 young sons.
They hadn't ever caught anything, or used rod & reels, so this was going to be a new experience for them.

They were late getting to the boat, as the resort had forgotten to pack them breakfast.
We finally got away from the resort jetty, just before 7.30, & already the sun was up & it was starting to get hot.

There were fish around, when we arrived at the fishing spot, & soon had a double hook up, it took a while to bring the fish in, as Terry had to show them the workings of the rod. We lost a few fish, but at least they were learning how to use the equipment.

By the end of the charter, the boys had managed to master bringing fish in very well.
Just as we headed in for home, Dad caught himself a nice Walu, this was a excellent ending to a very, relaxing day on the water.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Fishing Charter






The weather today, is what everyone would want, on their holiday to Savusavu.
Lovely sunshine, with a gentle breeze blowing, just enough to keep you cool.


We had to do a transfer to Koro Island on Friday.
As luck would have it, the winds were blowing a steady 20-25 knots, when we left Savusavu, so it wasn't a very pleasant trip for the couple.


About 10 mins out of the entrance, we saw 2 big lots of birds working just ahead, think it must have been a school of Mahimahi.


Unable to fish, as we had a 2 hour trip ahead of us, we just had to look at the birds diving into the water.


These photos were taken a little while ago, on one of our charters.