In the morning I went ashore to pick up Siwa, the villager who is an occasional dive master at a nearby resort. There is a manta ray spot nearby that the village at Buliya charges $40 per head to visit. This is a lot of money for something that is free elsewhere. Many of the cruisers here are keen to see the mantas and although we are willing to pay the $40 (on a no show no pay basis) we are trying to get a concession for the cruisers here. The thinking being that they are more likely to attract cruisers to the area (Naqara had none last year and one the year before, they say) if they can drop the price for us. The village elders were out so a decision could not be made on our request. Nevertheless, I took Sila over to the spot where the mantas show. We searched for a while, as did another pair of locals in their dinghy. Unfortunately, no mantas were there so our plan for the morning was scratched. Instead, Anne and John took the dinghy to go snorkeling nearby while Helen and I rested.
In the afternoon, we had hoped to go diving. All the good spots are on the west coast of Ono. Siwa had gone out with the Osso Blancos and Jacksters in the morning. They’d had a rough time in the area where the winds had shifted to the SW. He had decided that an afternoon dive would be untenable so that idea was scratched too.
However, the day wasn’t a complete washout. The weather was definitely improving. Although we had a few patched of rain, we did have more than a few patches of sunshine which warmed us up. In the evening, a beach party with bonfires and dancing had been planned by the villagers. We all prepared some snacks for the villagers and headed ashore at 7pm. Due to increased winds, the bonfire idea had been abandoned. We were taken to one of the nearby huts where the villagers were all set up. As we approached they fired up their instruments and went into song. I was asked to share the message that when each song started we could select one of the locals to dance with. And that we did.
Grog (cava) was freely flowing. Somehow we decided we would sing them a song in return. However we could not find a song for which we all knew the words. In the end we picked Let It Be. I went back to the boat to pick up some beer to give to the villagers (for which they were very well chuffed) and to print out some lyrics. Our eventual rendition went pretty well I think.
The evening ended with the now familiar Isa Lei being sung. By the time we returned to the boat it was 11pm – very late for us cruisers.
Weather permitting we’re going to have another try for the mantas this morning. We need to make the trip to Musket Cove either this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon. The trade winds are beginning to reestablish themselves so either day should work well for us. The ocean swell is looking better, in terms of being lower, tomorrow and the direction should improve. With the winds also expected to be more easterly I’m expecting it to be warmer. So I’m plumping for a Sunday/Monday overnight passage. The only question now is whether to leave from here or to sail somewhere a little further west this afternoon to improve our wind angle and shorten the distance. We’ll see.
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