Good day

BT:     2100 UTC-10
POS:    18°18'S 174°23'W
SOG:    8,7 kn
COG:    315°

We have left Neiafu in Vava'u again.

I believe a great time was had by all. People have rented cars to drive around the island. There was a market right next to the barque. There were bars. The weather was great most of the time: there was a lot less rain than was forecasted. There was some concern about a tropical storm was making the rounds in this parts of Oceania, but it decided not to visit Vava'u.

Thursday morning we went snorkeling. The spot was called the Swallow-cave. It was honestly one of the most amazing things i have seen in my years at sea: You could see like 8 meters deep, and there were thousands of little fish (sardine-sized thingies). Dante the Danish Deckie said it best when he said: there were at least ten fish.

Vai's family organized a party for us in their village, with some unfortunate pigs as the main attraction. They were put on a long table. Next to them were taro, various fruits, fish, and lamb in palm leaves. Vai's uncle blessed the dinner with a prayer, and then all ate with their hands, as is the local custom. A big shout-out to Vai's grandmother, Betty, who made one and felt most welcome!

Apart from the food, there was dancing and 4 local musicians played ukuleles. a guitar and a 5-string banjo (much to my surprise, this) They sang the most wonderful harmonies. VC Andrew and I joined in at the end. That was fun, but I must admit the quality suffered from it somewhat....

Because of our earlier snorkeling, it was now possible to leave already on Saturday. So now i write this from sea, where we sail along as mentioned above, but considerably faster in the gusts. I saw 10.3 here inside on the GPS, and outside 11 knots have been mentioned. 

Best Regards

Hans

📷 Amelie Marchand