I suppose if you're not a diver, you would find our lives pretty boring right now since that's how we're spending most of our time lately. But we only have a few weeks left of the season so we've gotta get it all in! We tucked into an anchorage in Havannah Harbor off the coast of Efate for the weather system that passed and everything worked out. It dragged it's heels a little bit getting there but that allowed us an extra day to play around in the water. First we went trolling in the dinghy along with Jan Bart off Victory. He is an expert fisherman & we're little sponges trying to soak up all we can from him. We came from the deep into the shallows and I felt like the dinghy was shaking a little. The reel hadn't budged but we thought maybe it had gotten stuck on the bottom as we putted along. I got in the water to free it, but it turned out we had a grouper on it & it swam into a hole with our lucky lure. All three of us dove down to help free the fish, and save the lure. We let it go since groupers have ciguatera- we know! Then, we just anchored the dinghy and poked around snorkeling for quite a while. It' so fun to just swim along looking for things and there was no one around anywhere; so peaceful.

The next day, the barometer plummeted and it rained & blew 40 kt gusts for the morning but then the system passed and the sun came back out. My kind of bad weather! We used the morning to fix some things on the boat and I got heavy in to pressure cooking 2 different types of beans. Like bread & pie crusts, I haven't mastered beans yet. They never really soften up no matter how long I cook them. Well anyway, now we're sick of them for a while so I can start all over in a few weeks when we get "in the mood" for them again. We settled into a long game of dominoes on Victory for the rest of the day.

On the sail over to Emae island, something big hit our lure, then took the entire line and oh yes, we lost the lure we'd saved 2 days before. No more Big Mac, chapter closed. We stopped at a day anchorage on Cook Reef to do a dive but it was so rolly we felt uncomfortable descending and not being able to keep an eye on the boats so we just snorkeled. It was OK but we weren't in the right place for the "spectacular diving" we'd read about and we knew we wanted to get out of there in good light so we all hauled anchor and continued on to Emae.

Emae is a relatively small island that doesn't see very many sailors. The 6 of us did a long walk to explore it and met several very friendly islanders. We met several chiefs from neighboring villages that were attending a meeting, when we passed by the school we met a bunch of the kids, and then we met 3 guys on the road that reached out to us with a handful of some kind of fresh nut that they'd just harvested from a tree. They were holding the nuts in part of a banana leaf, using it as a bowl. They tasted similar to almonds and were very good. The guys couldn't speak much English but still, the whole encounter was so warm. These people really live off the land. They're happy & have tight family groups. I'm amused at the homemade toys that the kids have to play with. We've seen a stick with a ski shaped piece of palm stuck through one end that the kids push along on the dirt road, I've seen two half coconut shells with holes drilled in the center and string tied through each hole. The kid holds the strings up in each hand while standing on the coconut halves and walk around on them like shoes and it kindof sounds like a horse. We've seen sticks with coconuts used for wheels and volleyball "nets" made from pieces of vine tied together. I wish I could be the bearer of new toys for them but so far I've only ever given colored pencils and similar. I need to stock the boat up with balls and group outdoor toys. Vanuatu has a very wild feeling to me, the most remote country we've been in. At first I was reeling from our experiences in Fiji and now, like a guy said on the radio net this morning, each island that we visit here just gets better & better in a way. The diving certainly has, but also something in our thinking has too, perhaps just perspective. Anyway, we had a great walk and then jumped in the water afterward for a snorkeling expedition that lasted until almost sunset. That's when all the creatures are starting to come out for the night. We saw a very curious octopus, with the last of the sun's rays shining right into his hole, so you could see everything he did. If we backed away, he'd stick his head up like a periscope to see if the coast was clear. We're all finding so many flatworms & nudibranches now it's funny. One was bright pink looking like a piece of chewed bubble gum, others look like ribbon candy.

Yesterday, we left Emae to sail over to another island named Tongoa, famous for..... you guessed it: DIVING and after a lot of whining about how we'll probably not catch any more fish ever again, Jon reeled in a bull mahi. It's great to have the fish, sad to take it though. It bit the pink squid so I guess maybe we won't starve after all.

We've come to know that in both Fiji & Vanuatu, the local people value the skeleton and head of any fish we get. They've said time again that that is the best part of the fish to them. Since they don't have boats or gear to get the ocean fish, they appreciate these from the cruisers. So, we made an appoint to bring in the remains of the fish after Jon filleted it. They were happy as ever to get it. He tried first to explain that we'd caught it on the way here and would they like to have it, but the guys he met on the beach didn't speak English. So he gestured with the bag of fish holding it toward them. Their eyes lit up, they said tank yu tumas and then headed up toward the village right away. It felt good, like nothing would go to waste. What he should have said was "yu wantem?" and he would've been understood right away since that is Bislama.

We did 2 dives on the North wall of Tongoa. It was written in the cruising books as an awesome spot and it was! Pictures are what is needed here but sorry, no internet. It was so great to finally do a wall after not having many opportunities lately. I love to look out into the blue for big fish. The reef was PACKED with life and color. It doesn't seem possible that all that could be real. There seems to be every shape, texture and color present. When we first descended, we were all piling up on the same spot, waiting to show each other things we've found. I've never seen so many large cowries, sometimes 3 in a crevice on the wall. It always makes me think I'm in an Easter egg hunt- these shiny, perfect shells just sitting there slightly hidden in a little indentation or among a soft coral. Fascinating diving and it is so addictive.

But then tonight was our last night with Victory since they're heading to New Caledonia this season, then to Australia while we're saving it for next season so we have more time in Vanuatu. We had one last happy hour on Blue Rodeo all together and then said our goodbyes. I find that this is by far the most painful part of cruising. Intense friendships develop & then inevitably, you must part since everyone has their own agenda & dreams. With any luck, we'll run into them again someday. In sailing circles, it surely isn't out of the question.

Tomorrow we'll head off to the next island- Epi along with Blue Rodeo. It's supposed to have the manatees. It'll be weird to not have Victory on our tail pushing us to sail as fast as we can since that's what we've been doing lately- so fun. Maybe we'll relax instead and pick up a book for a change! But I don't think so.

Lukim yu! (goodbye)