The winds early this morning died so Mary Margaret and I remounted the head sail since all of its repair work was done. After that I raised the main and inserted a new bolt into the batten and its batten car, finishing the repair that the main sail needed. We were fortunate to have this reprieve from the winds since it would have been difficult to complete these two tasks with the higher winds that were to arrive later in the day.

While coiling the various lines we have to use when raising and lowering the main sail we received a hail on our VHF from our friends, Dave and Peggy, on S/V Rhythm. I looked up and saw them rounding the point as they were entering the river here. What a surprise! After offering Dave some advice as to where to anchor we were then hailed by S/V Grommet and finally S/V Solar Planet. All three boats were coming in at the same time. To enter this river it is best to enter about an hour before high tide and all three boats timed their respective arrival with this stage of tide. They had all come from Ilha Bazarut, a beautiful anchorage about 150 nm to the north of here. They had sat out the recent storm at that anchorage.

Once everyone was anchored and all settled, I lowered the dinghy and drove first over to S/V Steel Band. We had planned on inviting them over this afternoon for sundowners to get to know them better. However, with everyone now in our anchorage, we decided to have a real get together and invited each of the boats also. Thus, I went to each boat and made the offer. Not too surprisingly, they all jumped at the offer. Cruisers are such social people whenever we get together in an anchorage. This is probably because we spend so much time sailing by ourselves that getting together and sharing stories and experiences and company is a nice alternative.

We had a lovely time catching up with everyone and getting to know Pascal and Marten a bit more. Even Mia, one of the teenage daughters on S/V Grommet came. She is such a gem and we appreciated her coming over.

Tomorrow, the storm is supposed to arrive. However, the most recent GRIB file shows that it may not be as strong as originally predicted. The weather map shows that the previous storm, which is now to the southeast of the southern tip of Madagascar, is intensifying and it is probably sucking a lot of energy from our area into it. This would result in the new low, which is spawning from the continent of Africa instead from the South Atlantic Ocean, having less energy to draw from. Let's hope so, at least.