September 9, 2024
We watched the stick in the shore to find high tide (along with help from the tide charts) and just before 8am started our slow march out of Oyster Bay. While not overly concerned there was still some anxiety crossing the pass. Thankfully our route was good and we saw a low of 0.7 meters beneath the keel. Turning north,…
September 8, 2024
Another rainy morning but the forecast was for clearing by 11am, making our planned trip to the Riri blue hole a possibility. We would get patches of sun and then it would fill right back in to complete cloud cover. I held out hope and around 11 we saw some blue sky and decided we were going no matter what.…
September 7, 2024
Hopes were high to dinghy up to the Maleluvu blue hole today and with fingers crossed we had our coffee and breakfast. Around 8am the call was made, we were going for it. It was a bit of a bash heading to the mouth of the river with the wind still kicking up chop between islands. Around the shallow sandy…
September 6, 2024
A couple of low keys days due to weather, the biggest excitement was our move up to Oyster Bay, leaving the soon to be crowded Palikulo bay (14 boats ended up waiting out the wind there). It was just a nine mile hop but it did have one tricky entrance over the reef where we saw only 1.1 meters below…
September 4, 2024
Carl was hit with a possible minor cold so plans where changed, delaying our move to Oyster bay. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon paddleboarding to shore and then walking the beach. A number of groups were hanging out, some fishing, some listening to music, and some just lounging around. I reached a spot where the beach disappeared,…
September 3, 2024
After striking out at the two locations in Luganville for the Millennium cave tour, yesterday afternoon I decided to give it one more go and tried calling. A number of rings later I had a booked tour. Carl and I were on the road a few minutes early and unlike yesterday the 4×4 truck arrived on time and we were…
September 2, 2024
Weeks since our last provisioning, it was time. Yesterday we flagged down a taxi driver and scheduled an 10am pickup. About twenty minutes early Roxy and I arrived at the spot and began waiting. A few taxis and a mini-bus stopped to ask if we needed a ride. We explained we had scheduled a pickup and were asked if we…
September 1, 2024
Dugongs spotted! As we enjoyed our morning coffee on the bow, I spotted a dugong twice as it surfaced for a breath. A bit far to swim to it so just a spotting. But they are around. Late morning we piled into the dinghy with our snorkeling gear. Families were enjoying the Sunday day on the beach as we laced…
August 31, 2024
Lots of discussions on plans the last couple days, with an eye on what the weather would let us explore. After downloading the files it was clear that going to Rano, where SV Nimrod had an incredible traditional dance presented by the Smol Nabas in 2016, was not in the cards. A huge bummer as it was the highlight of…
August 29, 2024
We had read that a “Spirit Cave” was at the next stop. Wanting to squeeze it in today we made an early start for the 30sih mile passage. Soon enough the anchor was set and an outrigger was headed our way. A short conversation led us to realize; this was the chief’s son, he gifted us two pamplemousse, and there…
August 29, 2024
Did the tagline get you to click? Well before I get into that I want to start with an awesome morning. What made it awesome? Around 10am I noticed an outrigger with four ladies and a boy paddling towards us. Upon their arrival, they presented a bag to us with bananas and coconuts in it as a gift. How incredible…
August 28, 2024
With plans to snorkel a reef that had excellent reviews we made an early move eleven-ish miles north. As soon as we were comfortable with the anchor we paddled into shore. It took a bit of searching but we found a very direct route with a steep up and a steep down into the village in the next bay. A…