Bay of Islands 2

Nov 7, Vanua Bilavu

Another cloudy day.  Time to leave.  Anchor up, heading across the bay.   Me down below once again still trying to get an internet signal with no luck. This is not the way we entered but the chart shows a passage out of the reef just across from the village here.    Then Alan calls for me to come on deck and help spot reefs.  It is soon obvious that something is wrong.  There are reefs everywhere.  The passage shown on the chart just does not exist, or at least we cannot find it.  With overcast skies and the morning sun behind us, visibility is lousy, making it even more dangerous to continue.  It is not long before we give it up.  We will motor back to the other pass.  We know that one is OK.  Except that It is almost noon, the weather is lousy and we have no schedule. What the heck, one more day in the Bay of Islands.

We ended up spending several more days in the Bay of Islands.  Clear water of the most exquisite shades of blue that we have seen yet, surrounded by steep green cliffs.  Small islands and secluded coves everywhere.  Complete privacy, not a soul around, just the sound of birds with an occasional dog barking way off in the distance.  There is the most incredible sense of peace and healing energy.  The weather was perfect for these few days, brilliant sun, never cold but not too hot.  We read, we slept we swam, we played games and worked on odd jobs.  We took the dingy exploring all of the little nooks and crannies along the shoreline, admiring the magnificent trees that managed to find a footing in the sheer rock.  We spent hours watching the birds in the trees at the very top of the cliffs.  Alan announced that his dream is finally complete.  This is the perfect life. 

We woke up on our last day to find an enormous motor yacht anchoring on the other side of our secluded cove.  Time to leave.

We raise the anchor and reluctantly head back out through the passage in the reef that we came in.  I manage to get about 2 minutes of internet on the way,.  Just enough to confirm that the weather is calm and settled for another week.  When I planned this trip I had identified several islands that I wanted to visit but time is getting short and we do not really know which ones have good anchorages.  After our problems with Navionix in Vanus Balavu we are reluctant to try unknown islands.  So we decide to head straight for Moala.  Maybe we will find someone back in Vuda who can give us waypoints for some of the other islands and we can try again after cyclone season.