Salt Lines welcomed the sunrise on the shortest day of the year with a foredeck full of downward dogs and savasanas, as Melissa led her daily yoga class and Matt suffered through his 173 pushups for the day. I did an excellent job supervising the morning workouts as I drank my tea, soaking up the sun and enjoying a slower start to the day than the rest of the crew.

After yoga class dispersed we set up the sunshade on deck, pumped up the paddleboards and headed for shore! Matt and I stayed onboard to do our morning chores, along with Jeremy who set to work making fresh focaccia for everyone for lunch. To those of us who have spent time living onboard a sailboat, we know just how special freshly baked bread is. I personally consider it a true luxury, and judging by how quickly the focaccia disappeared as it came out of the oven I'd venture to say everyone onboard would agree.

After recovering from our post lunch food comas, we made another trip to shore for some swimming, snorkelling, walking and exploring. Uoleva island greeted us with white sandy beaches and crystal clear water, and aside from the lovely little eco resort tucked away halfway down the beach, we were the only ones around!

Our crew enjoyed the sunset ashore with music and lots of laughs, and made it back to the boat just in time to watch the full moon rise over the beach. If our research is correct, (which I'd give it a 50/50 chance) the full moon and winter solstice align once every 20 years or so, making it that much more magical of an evening on Salt Lines.

Yesterday morning we made our way North to check out a new spot and tuck away out of the forecasted 30 knot gusts. We put up the staysail and a reefed mizzen and happily sailed up to the end of an island called Foa, to find an anchorage recommended to Matt by a previous crew of ours. After some very impressive manoeuvring through an absolute minefield of reefs we found our way to a sandy patch right off the beach and dropped anchor for the night.

For sunset, the whole crew went to shore to check out the infamous happy hour at the Sandy Beach Resort, which turned into a pizza party on the beach admiring our excellent anchorage. After a look at the updated weather forecast and the possible routes for either heading North or staying and exploring more of Ha’apai, we came up with a plan for sailing to Vava’u over the next couple of days.

Upon arrival back at the boat, we were greeted by the anchor drag alarm sounding. As we were surrounded by extremely shallow reef, Matt and I decided we would both sleep much better if we moved the boat. So with the help of Ken and Jen, we reset the anchor in a patch we prayed was all sandy bottom. The anchor gods must have been listening to our prayers and taking pity, as our anchor happily held all night.

This morning I dropped off some of our crew that was keen for a snorkel in the coral reef between Foa island and Nukunamo island, and sent Matt to find a rental car and do a quick run into town. After returning to the boat I started on my morning chores, but was interrupted by a call on the radio from the owner of the resort saying all our swimmers were being swept out to sea by the current and were in need of a rescue in our tender. Naturally, I went into full Baywatch mode rushing to their aid, expecting to find half of them drowning and the others to have already drifted out to volcano Tofua by the time I arrived. To my relief, I found a full crew happily floating around the reef, enjoying their lazy river current taking them from one side of the island to the other. After I triple checked everyone was alive and accounted for, I went back to the boat to resume my morning work.

There is a buzz about the boat as we prep for our passage up to Vava’u, everyone helping with the food prep, cleaning, and stowage. We are hoping to arrive early tomorrow morning and spend the rest of the week exploring!

 Cheers!

-Liv