This morning: bit of a sleep in after the big night. Quintessa headed to Sabara (feeling they ought to put in an appearance) and Smart Choice ended up following, with similar feelings of obligation. Salacia left to go exploring. Avante stayed in Robinson. Allusive and Symphony went on an exploratory trip of our own and ended up stopping for lunch at an island called Panawina, in a little bay on the western side of the island close to Ui Gari Passage. Allusive anchored first and were greeted by the magistrate, a Robert Nelson, who said we were welcome ashore. We were the second and third boat to visit this year. We went ashore after pre-cooking lunch, where we were met with much interest and enthusiasm. The teacher, Mari, took us on a walk through the crab-hole ridden graveyard to reach the school. You really had to watch your footing! The children were thrilled with balloons and balls and school things and ended up singing us a beautiful song (which I recorded on the camera). Back in the village we spoke with Robert Nelson again, who showed us a bit of the process of making bagi. We saw a long string of unfinished bagi and a couple of strings of completed necklaces. I asked if they were special or if he was looking to trade or sell them. We all said we had things on our boats to trade and he said he'd follow us out. We were, however, quite keen to get away - heading for an anchorage half way to Nimoa - with that self-imposed deadline to be anchored by 4pm to avoid trying to navigate through coral in poor light.

Back at the boat, we organised some things for the school. Mari came out to collect the school items, bringing one of her sons with her. He traded a couple of fresh eggs with us for a t-shirt. Another trade boat came and we ended up with a huge conch shell. I hope we can keep it! Not sure what the rules are with taking shells back to Australia... Finally, (with us still hoping for a quick getaway) Robert Nelson came first to Allusive and then to us. When he came to us we found him a pair of distance glasses and he told us he had been upset when we were at shore. We still aren't entirely sure what the problem was, but we believe it was that we were only there for a short time and he hadn't been able to prepare for us (welcome wise or gift/trade wise). He insisted we arrange to come back, for bagi, I think, and we agreed that we would. I was concerned I had made some cultural blunder by asking about bagi. I do remember trying to word my query in a sensitive way, by asking if it was his special bagi or something he wanted to sell... Anyway, he wants us to come back and trade with him for bagi after the rally. It would be great to go back there as it is a poor community overlooked by the rally and he hasn't been paid by the government for his role as magistrate since January. However, the wind often has its own way of deciding our passage for us.

We weighed anchor and headed out Ui Gari/Ubonabona Passage, but found ourselves in rough, confused seas with strong winds right on the nose, slowing our progress considerably. After some radio consultation, we headed back in and anchored in the bay on the north side of Gigila Island. The guys from Allusive came over for a pleasant Happy Hour. The anchor groaned and grated over coral all night, with winds blowing strangely into the anchorage from the north, but everywhere else from the southeast.