And sometimes you get the bear. This last weather rotation got us a bit worked up, as after examining the prognosis charts and daily forecasts we felt we were looking at pretty similar potential outcomes. The wind clocked around to the West and blew hard enough to create a pretty choppy anchorage, and with a day to go before the full anti-clockwise rotation to the Southeast we figured we could either risk the abuse up by the pass or just say the heck with it and wander on down to the Southeast end of the atoll while we had good light. We invited all the boats in the anchorage over to pore over the weather data with us, and we shared our waypoint route down to the Southeast anchorage. We’d made the trip numerous times and had a safe path along with having marked the sneaker bommies.
Right after lunch two American boats, SV Rapture and SV Easy departed. Once out into the lagoon they reported seas not much worse than in the anchorage, so we got underway ourselves along with the English vessel SV September A.M. Soon we were joined by the French boat SV Caroligui. The chop in the Southeast anchorage was a bit rougher than that we had left, but reports from SV Ari-B and SV Windward up by the passes indicated that the wind was dying off and the water flattening. We anchored with a lee shore, but with confidence in the holding and the wind swinging around and dying off. We were rewarded appropriately and spent a restful night, a relief after the previous night that found me sleeping near the helm station fully prepared to get underway at a moment’s notice. Yesterday in dead flat conditions we reanchored in 10’ of water under the keel and sand all around – no chain floats required. Throughout the day rain showers moved through the area and visibility was poor, reinforcing our decision to move on Friday while we had some sunshine. Screw you, bear.
Lassie the abandoned puppy was thrilled to see us and she endured her medicated shampoo and oil with grace. She also gobbled up lots of food and her worm meds and delighted in the human companionship after several days of being alone. She’s looking pretty good, growing fur and filling out a bit. If we can keep cruisers coming to this anchorage, feeding and caring for her she’ll turn into a healthy dog and may even find a home.
Yesterday we had everyone in the anchorage over to participate in coconut cream making. I had already demonstrated how to husk a coconut using an “O” at the copra camp and had then opened 6 coconuts for the festivities. Isabel showed folks the utility of our Vitamix blender and how to squeeze the ground coconut flesh in a nut bag. Everyone left with a jar of coconut cream and a big smile. September asked us and Easy over for dinner and we scarfed down something like 6 pizzas before I had to return briefly to JollyDogs and do my thing as net controller. It was a lovely night and by the time dinner was done we were all facing Southeast with a light wind blowing. Later in the evening the wind climbed to perhaps 25 knots and the heavens opened, bucketing rain for nearly an hour.
Today I replaced a failing power switch for the inverter, then held a trash burning ceremony on the beach, then we busted out the kite surfing gear for an afternoon of fun and games. It was gusty and difficult for my very low skill level but still fun and a good workout. Isabel declined to kite in the challenging conditions but was gracious to provide life support for me. After returning to the boat and cleaning up it was time for a bit of guitar practice. Yes, I still suck, but maybe just a little less.
The French boat (Luc, Isabelle and Taylor) invited us over for a glass of wine and snacks this evening and we passed a lovely time before retiring to JollyDogs for a quiet night. It’s gotten cold out – down to about 77F and with the chill factor probably down in the low 70’s or less! Probably have to bust out the blanket tonight. . .
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