We spent a couple of hours manhandling the anchor chain in the morning, using JeldiJeldi and my dodgy driving of PolePole we finally managed to unwrap the chain which had done a complete 360 degrees around a big bit of coral. We are having unusual North West winds changing to the East which is what has blown us around the coral. The chain is surprisingly heavy and it took a good couple of hours of exertion to get us untangled. Luckily there was no wind, so an ideal time to get us untangled as once the wind turns East it remains East, and fingers crossed we will not move about and get tangled again.
The boat next door to us popped over to see if we needed a hand with our anchor chain, they too had been unwrapping theirs. They have been here a while and told us the 3rd pass is the best snorkelling. So we set off at 1pm with slack tide in mind to the 3rd pass which is about 2 miles away. With the water as flat as a pancake, as there is no wind it was a quick comfortable ride there. We did a drift dive on the South side first which curved round pass an abandoned village, just a couple of modern looking houses and a church. The coral was spectacular and the conditions just brilliant, the coral beds continued for absolute ages. We did a drift on the North side and followed the channel down the centre of the pass, it was absolutely spectacular, the coral colours and the huge abundance of colourful fish. There is so much going on with the fish it is hard to take it all in. With the current taking us in we did not have to move a muscle, just our eyes and brains trying to absorb it all was all the effort needed. Really my kind of snorkelling. So thrilling to see after being rather disappointed about the coral and reefs so far. It must have been so spectacular when it was all alive. I just hope the coral here on the 3rd pass manages to survive. It is boiling hot without any wind, and the water is like swimming in a hot bath. You can see when the tide changes and the warm atoll sea meets the cooler sea water from outside, the water goes all hazy just like a heat haze you see on land. We enjoyed a good few hours snorkelling out there.
In the evening we invited Kane and Quinn for supper, left over chicken stew to be accurate, but it was still quite tasty and Quinn was very appreciative. Poor chap is so hot in this heat, very sweet how devoted they are to each other. We had a very chatty evening and enjoyed a very good bottle of Rose that Widge bought us in Panama City.
The 3rd narrow pass, by far the best snorkelling we have done so far
The south side of the pass with coral stretching all the way along the beach
North side of the 3rd pass
Rowan remembered the Go Pro ……miles and miles of coral and thousands of fish
Sorry! Another stunning sunset
Kane and Quinn leaving after they both enjoyed a chicken supper!
Discover more from sailingpolepole.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
