Having spent most of yesterday working on the engine problems and doing chores, we planned to have a day of exploring today, before we start our two day passage tomorrow to the main set of Solomon islands. It was already baking hot first thing in the morning, so Rowan went for a swim.
He decided to swim over the anchor and to his horror found us tangled on a huge bommies, and in 20ms of water again! Before my second cuppa tea I was up, we needed to get off while it was still perfectly calm. Thank goodness Rowan bought all that diving gear. We had to rig up a line so that Rowan could communicate with me, 3 tugs meant pull up the anchor chain. We finally got it off, Rowan dashed back on board, only to discover the actual anchor got caught on something. In he had to go again, at least this time not with tanks, it was just a case of moving the boat forward. All so stressful, with added hassle of one engine not working, so manoeuvrability not as easy.
The hassle to find another sandy patch in shallower water amongst all the reef, was too much. We departed a day early for our next islands. We were off by 11am. It was not ideal as there was so little wind, but we decided to just pootle along very slowly. Very relaxing. In these calm conditions it was ideal to get Sporty Spice (sail) out at last and try her on the repaired furler. What a relief that all worked out perfectly. Now we just need to try out our big pink spinnaker again, but we will leave that for tomorrow, we have done enough for today! It is very hot, especially without much breeze.
Going slowly we took forever to pass Tinakula volcano, google searches say it is one of the most remote active volcanoes. It is only 3.5kms wide and last erupted in 2023. The one side has a big scar from a lava flow, otherwise it is a lush green island. We could see a few smoke plumes and Rowan spotted some tumbling rocks. Certainly did not want to get much closer! It is permanently covered in cloud as it rises to 851m above sea level. It is not inhabited, not easy to land as it has steep sides running into the sea.
It was a very gentle night watch for me, making our way very slowly with the wind barely getting above 10kts. A big squall did arrive just before I was due to wake up Rowan at midnight. He actually heard the wind pick up and was up to take over, which was nice relief for me.
Approaching Tinakula volcano
On the other side we could see the big lava flow
Sporty Spice up
Our track to the Reef Islands from Lata, then heading back past Tinakula volcano
Close up of the lava flow area, a few plumes of smoke
Dramatic sunset
So red!
Leaving Tinakula behind in a pink glow
Discover more from sailingpolepole.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
