Day 10 & 11, Te Kaihōpara, Yasawa Islands. Let me tell you about another village, stranded sailors, a strong breeze and winged sea creatures.

We started Tuesday off at the top of Yasawa Island. Half the crew went ashore in two groups, one to the village of Yasawairara and the other to a beach for snorkeling. A few tired faces stayed aboard on ‘anchor watch’. Arriving to the village in the form of drowned rats, Jo presented the kava to their chief who just laughed at the damp salty root but thanked them anyway. The water in the bay was of ‘Bombay Sapphire’ quality - the same blue as a full bottle. Patti, Lisa, Sally and Jo toured through to the school where the children sang songs and performed for their new guests, then came out to the beach the long way through the village. Upon arrival, there was a panicked moment when the dinghy wasn’t there! It was then pointed out that the dinghy was on the other beach to the village so we had to traverse the rocks to get back to it.

On the way back to Te Kaihōpara, a broken radio transmission didn’t get the message through that the snorkelers had shifted to the larger beach. The poor snorkeling sailors almost became deserted but at the last moment, we managed to get the info to the dinghy and they found John and Simon, who were still alive and in one piece. Once the boat was stowed, we whipped up the anchor and motored out through the reef. As soon as we could (after much begging from Patti) we set lots of sail with the aim of sailing the remaining 35NM down to Drawaqa Island. Sure enough, we set the mainsail and unfurled the genoa and rolled along at 5kts. Luckily the wind was steadily increasing and within 2 hours, we had 25kts of wind and were having a speeding competition. John 9 won with 10.2kts, John 11 got 9.5kts, I got 9.2kts and Simon got 8.5kts of boat speed, which meant we cruised into our anchorage at a civilized hour of 1700. On the way we were surrounded by a large pod of spinner dolphins! Dipping and weaving across the bow, there was much delight from the whole crew. Watching us anchor from the rocks ashore were a family of bleating goats to which the ladies all went “awwww”. We settled in to a cozy night of one-pot-pasta dinner and passive music, with the promising sunset of a good day tomorrow.

Waking up on Wednesday, I looked out my porthole to smooth baby blue water and a yellowed tinge to the green hills beside Te Kaihōpara. It’s gonna be a good day! Shame I had to get out of bed… but we were excited! Togs on, we hopped into the dinghy in search of manta rays again at low tide slack water. Much to our amazement, we were the only boat there for a while, then a bit longer, and for a few minutes more. No rays, no locals. We puttered off to the Manta Ray Resort to see what was up. The tide was too low this morning! Not good for manta ray hunting apparantly, and were told to try again at high tide. We did what any normal person would do and ordered an espresso coffee (massive thanks to Sally who had her wallet!) at the resort while the sun heated the beach. Caffeine down, we toddled off back to Te Kaihōpara to waste away the day. Lunch was quesadillas filled with leftovers and suddenly the fridge was looking particularly empty - lucky we’re going back to the marina tomorrow (the person who provisioned the boat did well huh, you’re welcome). I had a nap, I’m not sure what everyone else did, until high tide time. After moving the mother ship one mile closer, we conveniently had everything ready to go from this morning’s mis-timed attempt and headed out on the dinghy again. Oh my manta! There was a ray right there! Quick team, jump in! I managed to see the manta ray on every dive and it was such a spectacular gentle beast that was actually quite large close up! Yeah! Five drifts later, the tired crew and I flopped back into the dinghy some more graceful than others.

Smiles of amazement kept spirits high as we tidied up and moved the ship around to the next island around where we had a booking at the resort for dinner. Paradise Cove Resort collected us in a long boat to take us ashore to enjoy their hospitality. Fantastic service in a beautiful location, I’d highly recommend this spot to holidayers and cruisers alike. All full from pizzas, the gentle boatmen managed to transfer us all back toTe Kaihōpara without getting wet. It’s a different world on a long boat compared to our dinghy! Tucked up in bed, we could hear the screeching fruit bats onshore and Simon dreamed of John 9 being chased in the dinghy by a large shark. I’m pretty sure they’re still friends.

Hannah - Chief Mate - Te Kaihōpara