Footnotes from Water Music

Our Position. 18.42.73S, 174.08.37W

I suppose one of the inevitable consequences of pretending to be too busy to write a blog is that several days accumulate and then it really does take some time to write. At least in reading it, you can simply skip to the end!

On waking up in Vakeitu, we found that Love Child had once again disappeared - having dragged in the night again. They had apparently tried to radio us at 0200, but we were fast asleep and had the radio turned off anyway - which would not have been much help to others if any
assistance was required. Both Grace & I were then taken snorkelling by two of the dive instructors that were on Windgara. Grace went with Cacsi and came back knowing how to snorkel and even dive under the water. Astonishing progress. Stephen went with Faby to the Coral Garden,
which he claims is the best snorkelling he has done in the Pacific.

On to Tapena Island, where we met up with Hullabaloo, Zig Zag and Love Child for a final dinner before people separated. Hullabaloo (Andrew and Julia) were heading South to Haapi islands along with Zig Zag (Francois and Rosemary from S Africa. These were the two that gave us a
replacement bilge pump switch in Niue, so good to give it back). Love Child is due back in Brisbane by end of September - which might be challenging as James's passport was last seen in Bora Bora. We tried to get the 9 of us into the Paella restaurant for the night, but failed and Julia
volunteered to host on Hullabaloo. The food was delicious and we left having ensured that Hullabaloo will not have a problem from taking too much alcohol into Fiji. Most of the following day was spent with very sore heads, but at least we managed a long walk around the local island
(Pangamotu) and visited one of the 7 churches in the village. We did get to the Paella restaurant with Love Child for a final farewell the following night and bade bon voyage to James, Liam and Sean.

The following morning, our noble skipper decided to take a short cut to the main town for re-provisioning. This required going through a narrow and twisty pass with depths down to 5m. What we didnt need to do was to undertake this at Low Water and with the sun shining in our faces -
meaning that coral and other rocks were impossible to see until almost on top of them. Sadly the fishing rod did catch something - a large piece of coral - that resulted in loss of the lure. Having sucessfully re-provisioned, we set off again and this time went into Ofa at High Water. There
was no danger of grounding then - but at Low Water the following morning, it all looked rather different! Having had a brief walk ashore, we BBQ a T-bone steak, listening to the singing from the local church. We woke to one of the most beautiful anchorages we have been to and, after
swimming round the coral all around the boat and, in places, only a couple of feet below us, we went to find the village. There we were invited into the primary school, where the 30 or so children there sang us a welcome song in Tongan. Their reward was a selection of stationery and
glasses (thank you - Emily Gill).

Time to leave and we sailed through another twisty, narrow passage (this time with sun behind) to visit the Eastern Islands of Vava'u group. We went into Kenatu and decided against staying and so had the chance to do the pass the other way round - ie into the sun! We arrived in the
little village of Taunga in time for an evening snorkel and walk. At the end of the walk, there seemed to be lots of excitement in the village and it transpired that a three year old boy, playing with a 4ft diameter pipe, had fallen and inflicted deep wounds across three fingers of his right hand.
The villagers had no first aid at all and had bound his fingers in his t-shirt. This gave us the opportunity to get out the First Aid kit - which seemed to have everything in it, except what we were looking for. In spite of our incompetence, we fixed him up - having decided not to try to stitch him -
Ian, I am sure you will be relieved on behalf of the boy!).

This morning, we went back to the village and were met by our patient, his mother and Grandmother and half the other locals. As a way of thanking us, they had been weaving us a coconut leaf basket and had filled it with Papaya, coconuts and limes. The latter was particularly welcome
as we have been looking for limes for some time - something for the G&T tonight. The patient was well enough to do "High Fives" - with his left hand!

Today, with light airs and glorious sunshine, we have motored into the Blue Lagoon. We are the only yacht in this anchorage (once again) and it did take some getting into. We have azure water all round, have seven beaches in sight, are sitting under an almost full moon, enjoying the
fresh limes in our drinks and listening to the sound of waves crashing over the reef on all four sides. Not sure it can get much better than this.

Stephen and Grace.