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Itinerary

Alvei does not have a home port.
We plan voyages of several months and encourage participation in the whole voyage. This gives the crew the freedom to vary the schedule from island to island as it suits them, rather than being constantly run by the need to keep a schedule for arriving and departing crew.
While within an island group we may learn about places of special interest and wander off the prescribed track for a while before returning to our planned journey.

Alvei Itinerary 2012

January to April – Maintenance and provisioning of Alvei on the dock at Calwell Slipway in Nelson, New Zealand..

April - First week in April depart for Fiji. There will be 17 positions for crew on the passage to Fiji.

May – Third week in May arrive Suva, Fiji. Anchored off the Royal Suva Yacht Club we will be provisioning for the Honor Fiji project. Honor Fiji, working with University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Econesian Society, will honor the great cultural legacy of Fiji, while teaching youth to conserve and manage the environment. There will be openings for 5 Fijian youth and 5 international youth, plus 2 television crew and Project director Carrie Martin. There will be 5 openings for Alvei crew for the following 8 weeks. .

June – 08 June 2012
Opening ceremonies for our new project "Honor Fiji" in conjunction with World Oceans Day at USP.
Youth participants aboard the Alvei are encouraged to contribute to the event by sharing their artistic expressions, art, dance or other talents.

June-October During the following 8 weeks we will sail to Takalana Bay Retreat to do work on Moon Reef, a recently declared Marine Protected Area. We will be seeding clams and sea cucumbers along with planting mangrove trees and Bure building. Then we will sail through Somosomo Straight near Dolphin Bay Retreat on Taveuni Island.
Particpants will take part in coral reef gardening and assist in the removal of the Crown of Thorns starfish from infested reefs.
From Taveuni we sail over the top of Vanua Levu to visit Vuaki and Naviti in the Yasawa Island group on the western side of Viti Levu. We will be bringing books for schools and helping with water tank installation. There will be some surfing instruction while there. Honor Fiji will finish in Lautoka.

The Alvei will remain in Lautoka for 10 days of provisioning and orientation for new crew for the next leg of the journey.
There will be 16 available berths from Lautoka till the end of the sailing season. Each location will include a selection of adventure and fun activities.

More information will be available soon.More specific dates will be available closer to the time of the event. If we are delayed by weather or other unforseen circumstances, dates may have to be adjusted accordingly.

Mid October - Begin voyage back to New Zealand

Mid November – Begin summer refit in Nelson.

Please be reminded that all dates are approximate.

VISA ALERT!

If you are joining us in Australia It is important that you obtain a visitors visa before entering Australia. Go online: www.immi.gov.au Visitors visas are free and they are required BEFORE entering the country.

Map of Fiji showing Viti Levu, Nandi and Suva

Map of Vanuatu including capital Port Vila, Santo, Malekula (Malakula), and the Banks and Torres islands to the North

The Maskelyne Islands, South Malekula
The Maskelynes are a group of low lying islands with extensive coral reefs and mangroves off the southeast tip of Malekula. The reefs are the main attraction and dive boats and cruising yachts are regular visitors. The inshore reef conservation areas around Uluveo and Sakao offer good, easy snorkelling. Sakao has good sand beaches.

Uluveo (also called Maskelyne) is the main island in the group. It's a small island, you can walk around it in less than an hour. Uluveo is quite densely populated with three villages. The people travel in canoes to Sakao or to the mainland to plant their gardens. The Maskelynes are well known for their expertly crafted dugout canoes. The main source of income in the group is copra supplemented by some fishing. Tourism is small with only 20 to 30 visitors a year.