Everyone in our three boat group was up at 4:30 AM today to make the, go/no go, call. It was a no go. Squalls and Thunderstorms were about and the wind was stronger than forecast and from the NW, the worst case from a pass exit in the dark stand point. In consideration of the fact that the forecast indicated a motor sail today and a beam reach sail tomorrow, we decided to postpone our departure.

Hideko and I relaxed on board and watched some more of our best picture marathon. The Life of Emile Zola has been our favorite to date. My friend Jeff gave me program sheets from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, which he received when he attended a multi night program for the 75th Anniversary of the Academy Awards. We have greatly enjoyed reading them and watching the films. We started with Wings, the first best picture in 1927 and have gone on from there. It is a real cultural trip through the past.

Of course visiting Green Island is a contrasting cultural trip. We had a great chat with a school teacher today. She brought us some Green Island Oranges, which are not oranges and are unlike anything we know. They are citrus though. She told me that Green Island felt no real impact from the struggles in Bouganville. They were facing another problem though, which we have found in many places throughout the Pacific islands, not to mention the rest of the world. Overpopulation. She told us that there are over 5,000 people living on this atoll. Things are ok for now but soon gardens will be pressured to produce enough food, and we have already seen that the fish in the lagoon are far from plentiful.

Eric played volley ball with the local crew today. They used to play every day at 3PM but they lost their volley ball. We have volley balls as part of our aid package so Eric was a hit.

My friend Max came to see if I wanted to go night fishing with him. While I really wanted to, we decided to have a quiet night before our early departure tomorrow. It has been another lovely day at beautiful Green Island.