Sunday 8 March – heading west again

The winds were meant to have calmed down today but we woke up to wind blowing hard, Rowan gave us another hour to lie in, hoping the wind predictions were true and the wind would die down. We could not wait too long otherwise we were going to meet peak current against us, 4-5 knots which we really didn’t want to go against. Luckily it did die down and we were soon following Samudra (yacht next door) south of the island. Stunning green landscape that we thought looked a lot like Scotland. However these islands are only briefly green in the rainy season before they turn brown. We had a successful rounding of the island in calm waters which was a real bonus. We motored the whole way as we were going straight into wind. Samudra had their sails up briefly but got pushed quite far off course. We had soon overtaken them and left them behind. We have a few days of no wind which will be perfect for our passage west, the winds at this time of year all come from the west, so it is perfect timing for a calm passage.

We had to go between land and a volcano island where there are lots of warning about currents, we wanted to get there around slack tide which worked out really well as we had gentle current as we passed through. Smaller boats without strong engines have a real struggle getting through some of these narrow points where there are not a lot of options, especially if there is any wind. We had little wind, so it made a very comfortable passage through, the waves were still quite choppy but nothing bad. We finally got to our overnight stop around 4pm. A small village with loads of competing Muezzins (I’ve incorrectly been calling them Imams) calling their flocks to prayer. The slopes around here look farmed, first time we have seen any real agriculture along the coast. There were quite a few small fishing boats out, but none came up to us. The water was very murky we were near a river inlet, luckily we will be leaving too early tomorrow to want to swim.

Samudra arrived just after 5pm, Rowan invited them over for a drink. Corey came over with the sweetest two girls, Gypsea (6) and Nixie (4), Mum, Gemma was not feeling well. We could not believe it Corey is another tug boat driver in Australia on the east coast. The third Australian tugboat pilot we have met sailing. They seem to earn good money and get 3 months off for every month they work. So they just fly back to do their month’s work. The little girls were very sweet, we made popcorn as Nixie has a nut allergy, which they were thrilled with, plus they really enjoyed the trampoline, even though they have one on their boat. Luckily I had repaired our trampolinel and that they are light weights! We had a spectacular sunset with a volcano behind us in dramatic clouds. We went to bed early as we have a long motor tomorrow to get to a suitable anchorage, we will leave at first light.