Yesterday was a busy day with it starting out with Tracy washing the sheets and getting them hung from the shrouds(wires that hold the mast up) of the boat in wind in the teens. It looked like we had surrendered some battle with white sheets flying in the wind. We started the generator again as volts were getting low and the batteries needed topping off and we needed to make more water since Tracy was doing the wash. It's been so dry here that the rangers no longer allow people to fill their tanks from their supplies ashore.

Earlier in the morning, we hauled out our stern anchor(looks just like our bow anchor)and with me in the water and Tracy in Puff, we took it to a safe distance off our tern and dropped it in about 25 feet of water. While Tracy motored Puff over toward Zephyr's stern, I dove on the anchor and positioned it next to a coral head where it wouldn't chafe the anchor line. Tracy climbed aboard, ran the anchor line through to one of our winches in the cockpit and reeled in the line till it was nice and tight. There is a coral head about 40 feet to our port side(left) that is only about 6 feet deep and with the wind coming and allowing for a change in direction, we didn't want to swing over anywhere near it. So now, our bow anchor has floats supporting the chain(along with two snubber lines lead to cleats on deck) so it won't snag any of the coral heads(still did darn it) and we have our stern anchor keeping us from swinging at random in the anchorage. We are nice and safe. Of course, I will still be diving on both anchors early in the afternoon when the Sun is overhead (paranoia is my friend). It makes it much easier to see in the clear water.

In the early afternoon, we took off in our dingy along with 4 other dingys and headed for a small motu(island) that has a nice reef made for snorkeling about a mile southwest of the anchorage. We dropped our small anchor and dove into the 80 degree water. Fish were everywhere and tons of live coral. Many time we only find dead coral when we go down, but not here. It was alive with tons of hard coral and fish we have never seen before. We also came across a "Crown of Thorns". It's a star fish that eats coral and lots of it. It can destroy a reef once it latches onto it. Google it for more info. It looks like a star fish with thorns all over it allowing for great protection against any fish(and human a the spines are toxic) that think it may make a good meal. The only way to stop it is to go down and pry it off the reef, put it in a small bucket of some sort and take it ashore where it will die. If not, the reef will be dead in short order. One of the other divers is planning on doing that this afternoon.

Starting at 1730, there was a shark feeding on the north side of the island outside the lagoon. James and John, the Park Rangers collect fish innards to feed them and once they have enough it's party time for the sharks. It's all part of the entertainment for us cruisers. The water was boiling with a good 30 to 50 sharks, all from 2 feet to 6 feet in length. Black Tipped, White Tipped, and Grey Reef sharks(they are the biggest). James just stood out in the shallow water of the reef and tossed out the entrails. One shark came in a bit too close and James just kicked him away. Once fed, we all headed back for the base camp and prepared for the "pot luck" . There were 17 boats in the anchorage and everyone brought at least one dish to share while the rangers barbecued fish that they had caught over a fire made of coconut shells for a different flavor. It was a huge spread with people from the US, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. It's truly a multi cultural world out here. I will admit that it's nice to hear officials talking in English for a change.

Today, 7 boats are leaving and heading out for Nuie, American Samoa, or Tonga from what we have heard. So far, three boats have entered and dropped anchor. They all spent the night sitting off shore waiting for the Sun to rise. They started coming in just about 0730 arriving at the anchorage just after 0800. More are on their way so we will fill back up again. After I did the dishes, Tracy has started in on more laundry. It's shirts this time so we will have more to wear. We were both starting to run low. It will be nice to have some more to choose from when we make our fashion statement on shore.

The wind is beginning to get stronger as the weather folks had said it would. The folks that headed out will have great winds to take them toward their destination. The three boats that just came in had to motor for several days till they got better wind yesterday. At least our DuoGen is spinning nicely on the stern making free volts for the battery. It might not keep up with our usage, but it will at least take some of the time we have to run the generator in a day or so when it dies off.

So that's the way it's been yesterday. A few more projects and sit here waiting out the wind storm that is coming. At least Tracy is feeling better and is no longer hacking up her lungs in coughing fits.