Re-anchoring, Repairing and Reviewing

The anchor suddenly was making a bunch of noises and not good ones. So we knew in the wind shift, we probably wrapped around a rock. So we decided as the anchorage emptied out a bit, we would pull the anchor up and re-drop it nearer the southeast shore for better protection from the predicted winds. It was quite a chore and thanks to Bill on "Lady Nada" who stuck his head in the water with a dive mask, we unwound from our hostage holding rock and moved to a new spot.

The last few days also had us doing some repair work for the local villagers. First, Jerry came rowing out to our boat and asked us to give him some medical help. He had cut his leg badly with his machete working in his garden. It was a pretty deep cut and after warning him that we were NOT medical professionals, we cleaned it well and put some ointment and butterfly bandages on it. We told him to not to get it wet and come back the next day and we would re-dress the wound. Haven't seen him back yet. Hope he's okay. He was a really nice man and very grateful, inviting us to come to see his garden one day. Later, another canoe came by with Richard and his son Michael, asking if Michael could fix his generator on shore. Michael said he'd come by the next morning to see what he could do. After several hours ashore repairing cords to solar panels, regulators, battery connections and the like, he came back loaded with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and lemons. The people are so grateful for what you do and they simply don't have the tools or supplies to fix things.

In between people and part repairs, we also got a nice snorkel in along one reef. The coral was pretty healthy and quite varied. There weren't a lot of fish, but we did see a few new things which is always exciting. We saw a few schools of razorfish. These are strange elongated fish that swim head down. They look like feathers or seaweed as they swim by in schools. They were not very shy as they swam around us for quite awhile letting us get a good look. We also saw several pretty good sized pipefish and some interesting gobies and wrasses. The water is pretty cold here though, so even with wetsuits we can't stay in very long.

It is now holiday time in Vanuatu. "Independence Day" is next week – but the celebrations and closing of businesses and public offices have already started. On Saturday, we may head down the road a way to see what is happening at a nearby village where they were building some booths for food. There is supposed to be some sporting events there as well and we love street food! Another boat that is in this anchorage that we just met will probably join us as well so that will be fun.

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