Pacific Pearl Visits Savusavu

Yesterday news was received that the Pacific Pearl would be visiting Savusavu, this was brought on because of cyclone Atu.

Because the cyclone passed over Vanuatu, the ship had to divert away from the cyclone, so came to Fiji instead.

This was very fortunate for Savusavu, as it has been a while since a ship this size has visited us.

The Savusavu Yacht club had just finished alterations, & Captains Table had recently open its doors for business, so this was well timed.
Pacific Pearl will leave this afternoon.

Catching Mahimahi

Last weekend we were all watching the low above Fiji wondering if it would develop into a cyclone.
Thankfully it moved away to the west, before it formed & ended up hitting Australia.
Watching the pictures on TV we couldn't help feeling sorry for all the people that lost homes & property.

Yesterday was another lovely morning in Savusavu, we thought we would take Searov out for a run, & look at the new fad that has been put down on the Koro seamount.

Not long after leaving the lighthouse, we had a nice Mahimahi on, a little later another in the box.
We finally reached the fad but nothing was working there, we worked it for a while then decided to head towards the other seamount which we usually go to.

There was a lot of birds working on this one, but nothing would take our lures, & they were moving so fast. There had to be fish around but deeper down, finally we got a skippy.

On the way home we had a triple strike, this was a lot of hard work for Terry as he was on the deck by himself, I came down & started to bring in one of the lines until, he had brought in the first Mahimahi.

I needed to turn the boat so went back up, as I started to climb the ladder the Mahimahi hit the back of my leg with it's tail, thankfully I wasn't any closer.

Once I had the boat in position Terry brought in the second Mahimahi & started on the third.

I could hear banging in the cabin & on investigation found the first Mahimahi had worked itself into the cabin, some cleaning up has to be done in here later.

Soon the third Mahimahi was in the box & after a short breather, we were on our way home

Another lovely day on the water & to top it off 5 nice Mahimahi, biggest one being over 12kg, others between 9 & 7kg.

Fishing Mahi Mahi

We haven't been out for a few weeks as Terry had to take a part to New Zealand for servicing.

He installed it on Friday so took Searov out for a run on Sunday to see if everything was working.

Everything seemed to be working well so decided to carry on & do a fish.

There was a lot of action on the mount when we go there, but it seemed like small stuff, we got a couple of Skippys, but nothing big seemed to be amongst them, so decided to look for something a bit bigger, elsewhere.

Soon we had a nice 10kg Mahi Mahi in the boat, a little later we had another Mahi Mahi on, this time it was a bull & he was jumping all over the place, this was a worry as we had a few lines out at the time.

Eventually he was in the boat, & into the box.
Now it was time to head home as it was getting really hot out on the water.

Last week we had a unexpected visitor, land in our property.
Close to midnight a truck traveling on the road beside us, stalled & came down the hill, & overturned into my garden.

No one was hurt but it took away a lot of my hedge & garden.

They got a crane in the morning to pull the truck out, but this also started to slide downhill & took more of the garden out as it came to a stop.

Eventually they took our advise & brought in a digger to pull the truck out.

Now I have to start getting cuttings to do a replant, I lost a lot of the red torch ginger plant, but fortunately the roots are still there, so it shouldn't be too long before they grow up again.

Good Days Fishing

We left the dock just at dawn, seeing the sun rising to the left as we headed out, was a lovely sight.
This great big red ball rising out of the water.


We had decided to leave early as there was a soccer match at 11am we wanted to watch, at the sea mount nothing was working, so we could have had a couple of hours more in bed.

Nothing really started to show until about 8.30. then we had these big work ups, we had friends on another boat, doing the same thing as us, circling the school, going through them but nothing happened.

Then we both had a Mahimahi on, both in the boat & we are on our way again, another hook up this time it is a nice Yellowfin Tuna, just over 12kg, is in the box.

Other big schools working up ahead so head off in the direction, this time the outer line starts to reel off, Terry yells out to come down & bring in the other lines, while he takes the rod, line keeps reeling out.

Terry tells me to hurry as he is just about spooled & needs me to start backing up. I am just about up the stairs when the Marlin snaps the line, & starts to jump out of the water, at one stage I thought it was heading towards us.

No time to grab the camera before it is now jumping & traveling off to the left of us. Our friends in the other boat got a great display as they were just behind.

Gone is the Marlin, don't really like to catch them, so don't mind, but have lost a good lure.

We end up loosing another lure & a Mahimahi, but after 15mins playing it, Terry lands another Mahimahi.

We get a small Barracuda on the way in, just to finish the day.
This has been an eventful day for us, & as it is now about 32 degrees, it's time to be home in the shade.

New Years Eve 2010

Wishing everyone that might read this blog, a very Happy New Years Eve.

This morning was one of the better mornings we have had for a while, so hope this will be a good sign for 2011.

The town of Savusavu has been fairly quiet this week, as it was a holiday until Wednesday, most people are still on leave until next week, enjoying the break with the family.

We were thinking of going fishing yesterday, but had fuel being delivered, so decided to leave fishing for another morning. There has been 2 price increases over the last month, so it is nearly $2 a litre for diesel, making it fairly expensive to do a run out to the sea mount.

As we haven't been out recently, so haven't any new photos, I'll just show some from earlier this year.

A Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all.

After weeks of rain, yesterday was one of the best days we day in a long time.
This morning is even better, after a beautiful moonlight night with clear skies, today is lovely sunshine, blue skies with a light breeze.

We went out earlier in the week but didn't have a good catch, just a few small Yellowfin, not sure if it was because of the full moon or eclipse, but the fish just weren't there.

Was glade it wasn't just us, as the other charter boat was out with us & had the same problem, they didn't catch anything.

Guess that is why they call it Fishing & not Catching, it is just luck on the day.

There is a lot of very small fish out there, but it is too small for our lines, Fijians call the fish Salala, they catch these fish with hand lines using bread mixed with a little amount of sardines (for the smell)on very small hooks.

At night one can see lights from local boat all round the harbour, fishing for these fish, they are small but give you a good fight, & are a lot of fun catching.

A friend was trolling around the reefs hear his place yesterday & caught a very nice GT, so that went on the barbie last night.

Well that's me until the next time, just in case it is in the new year, A Happy New Years to everyone.

Cyclone Season

Well, it is that time again, when we have to be prepared for Cyclones in the area.

Already we have had the first warning, but luckily, the tropical depression didn't develop into a cyclone like they thought it might, & slipped down to the south weat of us.

We got so much rain the week the depression was moving towards us, that Savusavu experienced a few land slips.

The road to Cousteau Resort was closed off for a day, so all the guests had to be transported to the resort, from the Copra Shed Marina, by their dive boat.
This also makes a lovely approach to the Resort, as it was a lovely calm sunny day, & a boat trip is always nicer.

There were also minor slips on the way to the Airport from town, these were quickly cleared by the PWD department, so wasn't a major problem.

With all the rain & thunderstorms around, we haven't managed to venture out to see if the Yellowfin are still around, maybe next week?