Greetings from yacht Ensemble.
We had a busy day yesterday.
After a morning snorkel ( - yes more sharks) - and Magali's first attempt at the Paddle Board - we got a lift with Mike and Karson (Wind Dancer) and Jonathan and Heather (Matilda) to Bird Island. (Magali asked 'What's on Bird Island?' - Mike answered - 'Birds'.)
The island was full of nesting Frigates and Terns. Some of the nests had chicks - while others were still with eggs. There were thousands of them!
After a quick picnic lunch we went for a walk to what we thought was a near-bye ship wreck - 'about a quarter of a mile away...'. It turned out to be a nearly 1.5nm away - and a three hour round trip. We walked across the old coral - and then through the water that was about 10cm deep. We saw baby sharks and pepper moray eels. A great hike!
For dinner we had Wind Dancer (Mike, Karson and Terry) over for a BBQ. We then went briefly over to the Beach BBQ and finished the evening with a Scotch tasting at Peat Smoke (Bowmore and Loghfraig).
Wind Dancer is thinking of making a 'dash' for Samoa ahead of the approaching storm. We think we'll wait it out here with the rest of the fleet - and enjoy this Pacific paradise a bit longer. We've heard there are Manta Rays in the cove...We'll see what we can find.
Cheers
Dave & Magali
23May2012 192