Commodore
July 12, 2024

Saturday 13 July – off to Mbavatu bay

With the Bogi Walu coming to an end, the winds are dropping and we decided it was time to move on. A good weather window is opening up for us to go to the smaller islands much further south on Tuesday. So we plan a few little hops inside the reef before heading out the Tonga Passage to go south. We will be sad to leave as we have so enjoyed it here, and have met loads of people and bumped into boats from many countries back. It is always fun to swap stories.

We set off after breakfast to have good light, we have to rely on charts that are not that comprehensive, as this area is still comparatively new to cruising, waypoints entered by sailors and Satellite google maps. All to navigate our way through the hidden bommies and coral reefs. It was still quite breezy when we got out the bay, we motored the whole way, as we weaved our way in and out of shallow areas. There are some markers showing some of the reefs but they are pretty difficult to see. I sat up on the bow, as look out the whole way to Mbavatu bay, relying on our trusty headphones to talk to Rowan if I spotted anything.

The route we took to Mbavatu Bay

Leaving the Bay of islands

Saying good bye to Hijacker

Stunning coastline

Gorgeous little hidden beaches

So many caves

We finally came into Mbavatu bay around midday, it was like a mill pond which was great for anchoring. There were two boats in the bay and we decided to go next to a little island and then tie on with stern ropes. First we were greeted by turtles zooming around and then by a little boy, Cole on his paddle board from the boat Flying Cloud. We decided it was better he was on board as Rowan was on the dinghy trying to tie us to a tree and I was trying to ease the boat back as we were on the limit of our rope and I had to make sure I did not get the rope around the prop. Cole, 5 years old made himself at home, enjoyed the trampoline and was totally unflustered while Rowan and I were sweating it out! We eventually abandoned the idea and moved to another little inlet with a muddy bottom so much easier to anchor in. Cole came with us, he has a Kiwi dad and Swiss mum, plus an older brother. We had met them when we were at the second cave that Rowan did where you had to swim in the dark and swim under a ledge, I was way too scared but little Cole did it, impressing everyone which he is very chuffed about. He has a very precocious older brother, so I think he was enjoying his time with us away from the family. He asked me if I had grandsons, I replied that we sadly didn’t have grandsons or granddaughters! I asked him if he would like a sister, and he said he definitely would because he can’t stand his brother! He assured us it was his birthday tomorrow but he did not know what the date was. Very cute. Rowan finally took him home as we wanted to go snorkelling while we still had good light.

We went out the bay around the headland and had a wonderful snorkel, the best since we have been if Fiji. So much good colourful coral with loads of fish, definitely the best fish life we have seen. Sadly there wasn’t sunshine but we still had a good long snorkel before we got too cold!