Europa's Visit To Savusavu

The German cruise liner Europa made a unexpected visit to Savusavu a few weeks ago, with about 250 passengers.

Bad weather diverted her to our shores, which was a blessing for the handy craft sellers & villages who had organized tours to their village.

There aren't many tourist around this part of the country at the moment, so this was a great help for the local traders.

Passengers were seen walking around town visiting the little shops along the shore, so this at least, was a help to the local businesses.

Europa didn't arrive into the port until Midday & left round 8.00pm.
It was a pleasant day in Town, sunshine, with a slight breeze to keep the visitors cool.

The passengers seemed very happy with their visit to our town, Savusavu is a little different to other Fijian ports of call.

Great Day Fishing

We couldn't make up our minds whether we were going to go out or not, so were a little late getting out on the water.

As we approached the usual fishing spot I could see a good work up ahead.
Once all the lines were in the water we made our way to the work up.

It looked like schools of skip jack tuna, we managed a hook up & yes it was Skippies.

There were a lot of birds & fish around, it wasn't long before & we had a nice size Yellowfin Tuna in the boat, about 10kg.

While I was driving, I could see big Yellowfin jumping out of the water in front of the boat, but were gone as soon as we caught up.

This went on for a while, them disappearing just as we got to where they were feeding.

Suddenly the line went screaming out, Terry grabbed the reel while I came down to bring the rest of the lines in.

Finally it stopped taking line & Terry was able to start to reel in line, then it started to peel out again, then went down.

Terry settled in for a fight, & I went back upstairs, at one stage we thought we might have a shark on.
It took about 20 mins to bring it to where we saw colour & then to see it was a nice Yellowfin Tuna.

Once the gaff was in I helped him pull it in, just as it hit the deck, the lure fell out, boy we were so lucky.

Once back at the dock we weighed it, a nice 35kg fish. That was a good day.

Columbus visits Savusavu

When the ship Columbus visited us on Sunday with 340 passengers, the town didn't seem so busy, the Pacific Pearl, had close to 2,000 passengers when she called in last week.

We had a beautiful day, sunshine with a gentle breeze, this made it easier for the passengers to disembark for tours around the countryside & to wander around the shops at their leisure.

There wasn't the crowd getting off the tenders, no queue to get back on & it was a much calmer atmosphere all round.

Not all the shops opened their doors it being a Sunday, but think there were enough open to make shopping interesting.

Their departure was delayed until early evening, so it gave the people in town a lovely sight seeing the ship all lit up, anchored just off the main wharf in Savusavu bay.

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.