The weather on Monday still hadn’t cleared up from the weekend but this didn’t stop us going out and about. Late in the morning we dinghied along the western channel behind the reef looking for a spot we’d heard stingrays showed up if we did. The first stop we made on some mooring balls turned out to have some carved stone heads lying on the sea floor. This was interesting but the sea life was pretty poor.
We headed further west past one of those luxury resorts with accommodations out over the water and tied up to some more moorings. Before we were in the water it was evident we were in the right place. We were surrounded by rays and black tipped reef sharks. We assumed the fish must be fed by visiting boats and expected more of the same from us. The water was about 5 feet deep and I must admit I was a little nervous particularly when the rays would often swim under us. Memories of Steve Irwin. Nearby where we were tied off was a deeper channel where large numbers of remoras circulated amongst some more black tipped reef sharks.
Heading back to the boat the heavens opened on us and we arrived feeling very cold and certainly very wet. Even the cold water in the shower felt warm and the warm water felt bliss.
The weather was patchy all afternoon. I tried to further troubleshoot a leak that has developed around one of our through hulls and is gradually increasing – not good news. It started on our trip from the Tuamotus to Tahiti. I was able to stop it once but now it’s restarted and worse than before.
At 5pm we had a BBQ aboard with Whiskers and Callisto. I ran my leak problem by Gerald who has built a few boats. He’s agreed to come and take a closer look today. We had a lot of fun, as ever, chatting, eating and drinking, although I’d lost my appetite. I think I’m coming down with a cold caught from the recent crowds of people we’ve been mingling with.
Today we’re off for a hike to a scenic point called Belvedere then walking down to the next bay to explore the town there before finding our way back here. Should be fun. It’s dark right now but the stars are out. Looks like good weather finally.
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