Makogai and Gannets

On Saturday, October 8 we left Savusavu at 9:30am and motor sailed down to an island called Makogai in an attempt to leave Fiji. It had rained all night and there was no wind. We joined 2 other yachts from New Zealand called Ruby June and Relapse. We ended up motoring for 9 hours to reach Makogai but it seemed more enjoyable in the company of others who were in the same boat! The yacht Relapse helped us get through 2 tricky coral reefs in the 'save a tack passage'. Their son Ash went up the mast to spot the shallow reefs so we could safely pass through the deeper water. If it wasn't for their help we would have gone around the reef which would have taken much longer in time, fuel and engine hours. We reached Makogai island at 5:30pm and managed to negotiate the last reef on our own and anchor before dark. During the 9 hour trip we were in visual and radio contact with the 2 other yachts. Relapse were catching and losing fish while Ruby June announced that they had caught 2 Booby Birds (Gannets) and were putting them in the pot for dinner after they had plucked the feathers off. I was horrified to hear this and said to Ian 'isn't that illegal'? We didn't really know the crew of Ruby June but fell for their story hook line and sinker. We invited both yacht crew over for drinks on board Faraway that night but said we would skip dinner fearing that Ruby June would bring over the cooked Booby birds and we would have to be polite and eat them. It was only after several drinks and a lot of concern on my part that Ruby June revealed that they were actually joking with us about cooking the birds and had made every effort to release them after accidently catching them on fishing line. What a relief and what a shame that we had been 'had' at the same time. The drinks went well into the night and we didn't finish up until 1:30am in the morning. Luckily the anchorage on Makogai island was beautiful and calm but the island had a sad history. It was a former leper colony in which over 1000 people had died. The next day I went over to the island and the locals performed a Kava ceremony (without women) then gave us all a tour of the island including the cemetery. The island was now a clam and turtle sanctuary. Unfortunately the last turtle had been released back to the ocean the week before we arrived. There were lots of clams being bred in large tubs that were once used as baths in the leper colony. They had 2 large clams in 1 tub that were 18 years old and they were used to lay eggs for the sanctuary. There were hundreds of 1 and 2 year old clams in the baths waiting to be re-homed on coral reefs owned by Fijian resorts. It was an extremely interesting tour and I learned a lot of facts about the colourful clams and the breeding program. Unfortunately it was time for Ian and I to leave Makogai and after lunch we said our goodbyes to the New Zealand yachts and lifted the anchor. We sailed in the late afternoon to Ovalau island to clear out of Fiji. The island was only 15 miles away and we managed to sail there in 2 hours due to strong winds. We didn't arrive until after 5pm though and Customs had left for the day so we decided to wait overnight and clear out on Monday.