The seas outside the bay were quite boisterous but as we moved deeper between the headlands things calmed down and the seas flattened out. At the head of the bay it widened out into a sheltered bay with several white sand beaches around its edges.
There were several other boats in the anchorage but we eventually found our spot and dug in the anchor well as we were expecting to spend a few days here.
The Bay here has a small coral reef which the local residents guard well, we have been snorkeling but unfortunately the water seems a little starred up so the visibility is not great, there is however plenty of life around and what looks like healthy coral.
There are no roads into the bay, so, if you want to go anywhere you walk. The next bay over has a bigger village so 2 days ago we got up early and with the promise of shops and a restaurant we set of up the steep track to the top of the ridge between the 2 bays. The views from the ridge were spectacular, jungle, white sand beaches and then ocean, despite the heat we were mostly in shade so the walk was very pleasant. We were guided by a small kitten who attached him self to our group, refusing to go back even when quite forcibly encouraged. He stayed with us until the outskirts of the next village and then disappeared, we didn't see him again until our return trip when we met him "guiding" another group along the track. A very big day out for a small cat.
The shopping was not exciting, some flour and a few other bits but good to find. The restaurant was open so we all enjoyed fresh homemade lemonade and a good meal. We eat well on the boat but it is nice when someone else does the cooking.
Yesterday Heather and I walked the other way to a deserted beach. As it faced the prevailing wind it was a long strip of beautiful white sand with big surf pounding its entire length. We would have braved a swim but unfortunately we discovered, or rather were discovered by, some of the meanest sand flies we have ever met. Still it was a beautiful walk and again the scenery was completely stunning.
One of the residents here, a man called Roger, runs a market garden, Simon and Sally arranged an order and went to pick it up a couple of days ago. We wern't entirely sure what we were going to get but anything fresh is always welcome. In the end they did well, coming back to the boat with mango, banana, lemon, green beans, water melon, aubergine, and manyock. Quite what you do with manyock we don't know.
The rest of our time here has been spent with boat chores, hull scrubbing, Heather has been baking more bread and we have been socialising with the other boats here.
Tonight is the windiest of our time here, gusting up to 30 mph. It is forcast to drop by tomorrow so we may get the chance to move on to a new anchorage or we may not its all down to the weather.
Tim