I woke up early Saturday morning just in time to see the sun start to peak over the Eastern side of Yalobi bay, lighting up the cliffs we were anchored under. I sat with the other early risers onboard, and we enjoyed our coffees in the calm quiet of our anchorage. As the rest of the crew woke up, we had our breakfast, completed our morning chores, and set off for morning adventures! Te Kaihopara crew kindly took a few of our crew to shore to meet with the village chief and offer a bundle of kava, while the others tested out the paddle boards and explored the reef right on our backdoor. Despite impressive attempts all around, it was Grant and Denise who tied for the best paddleboard wipeout of the day.

Checking out the reef from the paddleboard

We took off after lunch from our anchorage on a mission for manta rays. We set the sails, pointed for Drawaqa island, and were off, dodging reefs the whole way up. Anchoring just south of the passage now known as Manta Ray Alley, we all piled in the dinghy with high hopes. We found Te Kaihopara’s crew doing the same, and got the lay of the land from Jo and Hannah. Despite our best efforts, a few drift dives and outboard cutouts, the manta rays evaded us. No matter! We had a stunning sunset in our future and sun downers to be had. We enjoyed our cold drinks on the beach and were even gifted a green flash as compensation for the lack of manta rays.

Sunday morning we woke with a mission: fresh water. John and I had discovered a broken fitting in the water maker at our first anchorage, resulting in a mess in the engine room when we tried to turn on the desalinator. As our water tank was nearing empty, we called Te Kaihopara and asked if they had any water to spare, and they kindly offered for us to raft alongside and fill our tanks. One of the luxuries of sailing with your friends: you have double of everything! But John still was determined to see if he could find a fix, as cruising while on water rations is uncomfortable to say the least, and luckily we had a crew keen to help! John put Grant and Phil to work, and the three of them managed to find a replacement fitting amongst our plumbing spares that was close enough to the original, that after a bit of customization and a few broken drill bits it was fitted into place! We set off to follow Te Kaihopara to our next anchorage in high hopes of the fix.

Up topside, Robyn, Denise, Rose and myself were doing the equally important jobs of navigating us through the shallows and curating a superb playlist to keep spirits high. We made it to Somosomo singing and dancing, dropped anchor in the most Southern part of the bay and found ourselves with a working water maker thanks to the boys hard work! We spent the afternoon relaxing and taking in yet another beautiful anchorage. John and I went to shore to meet the chief of the village and were kindly granted permission to stay as long as we’d like in the bay.

Back onboard, we all enjoyed a freshwater shower and put on our Sunday best, as we had been invited to Te Kaihopara for sundowners! We spent the evening swapping stories of everyone's adventures the past few days since we’d last been together, and finished the night off with a live performance from Peter and Nicky! We returned to Silver Fern for a tuna feast from Denise & Robyn, and all stayed up chatting late into the night (10 pm).

No Water No Problem!

Change of plans

Speed Racing through Bommie Pass