Commodore
August 12, 2024

Tuesday 13 August – seeking calmer waters

We had a very rolly night, the swell seems to come bounding into the bay even though the wind is coming from a different direction. We upped anchor and headed for the other side of the bay, where we found a couple of the other boats who we were with last night, we all had the same idea.

Rowan went for a snorkel on the reef with Patrick the solo French sailor and his partner Catherine. They are on a very sporty looking smallish monohull, called Orion. They had a good snorkel and saw some lovely coral. Catherine was not the most accomplished snorkeler so I think it curtailed their snorkelling a bit.

Once it cooled down in the late afternoon we went for a good walk on the beach between the two islands. This island’s village also has a big school which is surprising, I wonder if it is to do with clans and island ownership? We walked across the narrow spit of land between the two islands. There was a lovely beach, an idyllic location for a rather abandoned looking home. Sadly the surrounding land was covered by the invasive acacia trees, the destruction of the indigenous forest is obvious with all the skeletons of the big trees. Such a big problem here too, after seeing it in the Marquesas, I don’t think it will be possible to reverse the invasion. Really very sad.

We had Patrick and Catherine over for drinks, she is an absolute character. She works in Brittany as an English teacher at the Navy’s Maritime College. All mariners have to pass an exam in speaking English as it is the main language of boats at sea. He has been married before and has kids, it appeared she has not been married and has no kids, they have been going out for a few years and she joins him when she can. She was fascinating as she has lived all over the world, and for many years travelled extensively on her 125 cc motor bike that she ships everywhere. She biked from Canada through to Mexico. Then shipped the bike to Colombia and biked down through all the South American countries to the bottom of Chile. All on her own! And she can’t change a tyre or service her bike, she relies on help everywhere. She worked along the way to pay her way but found everyone incredibly helpful to a solo female biker. She also lived in Edinburgh for 3 years and explored Scotland on her bike. She is a feisty character, not much of a sea lady, but getting used to it, she did not like the rolling last night. So many stories she had, they only left after 9pm, by which time we were way too exhausted to have supper!