Current position is anchored at Iles Wallis in the Baie Du Mua off a lovely little island called Ile Faioa  13:23.772S 176:10.563W

 

This season we feel like we have been doing a trapezoid course with a beat to Tonga (our most southerly destination), a reach to Samoa (our most easterly destination) and a run to Wallis which is our most northerly point at 13 22S).  The final leg of the course back to Fiji will also be a reaching leg.  Luckily we were able to arrange the weather so that we didn’t  actually go on the weather to get to Tonga as that is against the rules on Sally!

 

 

We departed Apia, Samoa as planned on the morning of Wednesday 6th September and had a very pleasant two day, 270NM  trip to Wallis.

We sailed and motor sailed our way here and with some speed monitoring & adjusting arrived at the entrance at 8:09am to meet slack water at the the Passe Honikulu.  The passage into the lagoon is quite narrow and is notorious for the amount of current that runs through it so it is prudent to pass preferably at slack water or part way through the flood.  It all worked out well with a very easy arrival.

Wallis is a French Protectorate so the charting is very good and, unlike most of the non-French islands in the SW Pacific, there are a plethora of navigation marks which makes us very happy.

Customs closes at lunch time on a Friday so we figured we would be pushing to clear in before the weekend so decided to drop anchor off this lovely little island just near the entrance for the next couple of nights before heading up to the big smoke of Mata Utu to clear in on Monday.  It is estimated that there are only 10,000 people residing in Wallis with 1500 in Mata Utu so we are not expecting that the big smoke will be that big but it does have a Carrefour Supermarket and an ATM.

 

After a feed of pancakes, which is becoming a post passage tradition, we enjoyed a much needed swim and snorkel.  We were thrilled to see some nice healthy coral and plenty of fishies so looking forward to doing some more snorkelling over the next few days.  We rounded out the day with a few more swims, a couple of well earned beers and a steak dinner before hitting the sack at about 8pm as were both feeling pretty knackered.  Di started giving the bottom of the boat a bit of a clean as it hasn’t needed one this season till now as we only anti-fouled the boat in April but the 16 nights in Apia Marina ensured that the bottom is not as pristine as it was when we left Tonga. It is not too tough a job as it is rather nice being in the 29C water and not a hardship at all.

 

On the inside the lagoon there are plenty of large sandy areas just inside the coral barrier reef so would make a great place for kite boarding – not sure if our level of expertise (or lack of) is quite up to it yet but will definitely check it out and have a think about it if the weather conditions suit.

 

You will note that there are no photos as we have no phone or internet so all comms are via the sat phone but will send some through when we arrive in Fiji in a couple of weeks time.

 

Will report again before our departure to Savasavu.