Tuesday 13th May 2008
We wake up to another glorious day –Stewy and Annie have breakfast but Ian not feeling too bright this morning! We clear out the spare room and at 10am our new crew, Brian, is delivered to the boat from Tallulah Ruby, piped aboard to “It Takes A Worried Man” by Lonnie Donegan. We’ve got alternator problems and after speaking to Ronnie, Ian and Stewy turn the boat upside down looking for the spare – it’s nowhere to be found so we’ve now borrowed two alternators , very kindly lent by Andreas, Strega, and Steve, Kasugi. Brian and Stewy get busy on the problem while Ian and Annie go ashore with laundry and to book a hire car for the afternoon. At noon we set off on a tour round the island – Ian’s condition is not improving…. The tour does not take long as it’s only 32km right round. We stop at a beachside snack bar for lunch and at a little maritime museum which has a collection of models of famous boats. The famous Bloody Mary’s Restaurant is unfortunately fully booked for a private party. Back to town where Stewy and Brian head off to walk back to the boat while Ian and Annie do a bit of vittling and meet Cleonie, stopping for an ice-cream very kindly bought for us by Chris. Ian and Annie then meet the most expensive laundry woman in the world at the dock (£100!) and head back to the boat. We’re invited over to Kealoha for sundowners but feel bad as we’re all punctured and not much crack, so head home for a very early night. We’re so knackered we don’t even cook dinner!
Wednesday 14th May
After a good 10 hours, we’re up at dawn ready to embrace the day! We potter about the boat doing odd jobs – still can’t locate the elusive spare alternator. Stewy and Brain go ashore to the local scrap-yard where they find two old alternators. They strip the brushes off the regulators then solder them on to the existing alternator – hey presto, it works! We celebrate with a beer. Annie radios Into the Blue to tell Dr Ed she has some of the anti-biotics he was looking for to treat Paul’s dog-bite. Ed pops over and we chat about various ailments and where we’re going next. There’s a split in the fleet as some are going to Suworrow, others to Rarotonga. Annie’s read that although Suworrow is supposed to be a stunningly beautiful nature reserve, its over-run with rats that are not afraid of humans. As there is nothing else there apart from a caretaker, Annie’s vote is to head for Rarotonga, (especially if we can’t even go ashore to BBQ in Suworrow!) and pick up some of the islands en route. Brian ‘s voting with Annie, Stewy’s quiet so far , Skipper undecided - to be continued! We decide to dinghy to the motu across the lagoon to snorkel and explore. We call by our neighbours, Cleonie,on the way to invite them over for sundowners later on. They are just about to up anchor and head down to Bloody Mary’s – as we’re very easily led astray we decide to go with them , so jump aboard , tie our dinghy on the back and off we go! It turns into a good wee session , we arrive in another lovely bay , tie onto a mooring and sit and enjoy ourselves so much that by the time we decide to go ashore, Bloody Mary’s has closed until 6! We do the sensible thing and go off snorkeling on the reef, following David from Kealoha who has already sussed out the good sites. We see a huge ( green spotted! ) moray eel, as well as all the colourful fish and coral gardens. Back to Cleonie for more beer and popcorn, then ashore for a few rounds of bloody marys at Bloody Mary’s!. It’s a lovely restaurant with very interesting loos – the ladies wash basin is built like a miniature rock garden and when you pull a wooden handle hanging from the ceiling, a cascade of water trickles down like a waterfall into a pool at the bottom ,surrounded by flowers. The men’s is even more interesting and Stewy takes a few photos! We decide to motor back to our anchorage and have a joint dinner with Cleonie aboard JDI3. Chris makes some delicious starters, and Annie cooks up steaks, veg and mash. Everyone has copious amounts of red wine and when we realise 4 out of 8 have conked out round the table, we decide it may be time for bed! There’s only one of Cleonie still standing! - Darby’d again!