The small village in Amanu is adjacent to the pass where we entered the atoll. There is an old 1930s church and a newer version, a post office, community building, one store (which was closed on Sunday), some basic houses with curtains for windows and a little harbour where kids were playing in the water. There were 3 sailboats anchored in the harbour. The depth is less than 2 meters there and they were very close together. It may be protected but it is Not at all comparable to the private paradise that we have found. We stopped to watch the current gushing through the pass and found 4 leopard rays playing happily in the shallows. They are so graceful, such a pleasure to watch.

With East winds in the forecast we picked up anchor and moved to the SE side of Amanu. What a relief that our anchor came up without any difficulty. Our friends, on the other hand were not so lucky. Their anchor was hooked on some coral. Fortunately the water is very clear so when Robert got into the water with his snorkel and mask he could see which way they had to go to free the anchor. We had agreed to wait for each other to be free before we crossed over. I circled out deeper with Mazu as Peter took the dinghy over to see if he could assist Seven Seas.

As promised our new anchorage is even prettier than the first. It looks like one of those picture perfect post cards that cannot be real. We are anchored in turquoise water 24' deep and can clearly see the few coral spots in the sand below. This was a great opportunity to try the floating the anchor chain technique that is recommended to prevent the anchor from wrapping around coral with a wind shift.. Peter has been collecting rogue buoys for exactly that purpose. He clipped a line onto the anchor chain and tied a buoy to the other end. The buoy floats the chain above the coral. He set three of these along the chain and when the buoys are in line we are confident that our anchor chain is in the same line.

The crushed coral beach is lined with Palm trees and short brush that is easy to walk through. We took a stroll about 200 meters across the atoll to reach the outer edge where the open ocean crashes onto shore. Unlike many of the windward sides of islands that one sees in the Caribbean this shore was pristine and free of garbage. There is a small shallow pass between two motus where we stopped to watch the bright blue parrot fish and a small shark.

Sunday was mother's day. For the past 15 years or so we have hosted a family mother's day brunch for extended family and friends. I was feeling homesick but it was so nice to hear my mom's voice when I called her from the Iridium Go phone. Veronica and Robert came over for dinner and I made Glory Bowls, one of my favourite dishes. Thanks again to Cindy for sending me the recipe. I didn't bring it with me and started the dressing while we were on passage. I couldn't think straight while I was feeling green. I added the tahini, red wine vinegar, garlic, and oil but the acidic taste just made me feel greener. I had forgotten two key ingredients, nutritional yeast and soy sauce, which fortunately I had on board. I am really impressed with the shelf stable tofu that I bought two years ago. It was in perfect condition and yummy. And the canned beets were almost as good as fresh grated beets.

Speaking of Glory Bowls, Sunday was also my sister Jan's birthday. I got to talk to her on the Iridium phone too. She and her daughter Jessie are on a road trip through the Oregon coast. When Jan and her friend Corri were young and single many of their girlfriends were already married or had boyfriends. They did a self evaluation of all of their fabulous traits & wondered why they were the single ones. After all they were "Prime Rib", the choicest thing on the menu. So now Jan finds herself single again but I've told her not to worry because she is a Glory Bowl.

Today is Monday and we spent the morning on shore harvesting coconuts. Peter pulled these lovely orange coloured coconuts out of a reachable tree with the boat hook and hacked them open with his machete. I drained the delicious water into my water bottle and pried out the sweet white meat.

Our sundowner drink today was fresh squeezed pomplemouse, coconut, cinnamon and rum. A true sun salutation.