Champagne Beach to Santa Maria (aka "GAUA")
Due to lack of wind, we motored from Champagne Beach to a small, uninhabited island called Lathi on the North Eastern tip of Santo. Anchoring was a challenge on a small, rocky platform. On the way, a large pod of dolphins came racing across from about a kilometre away. They were flying right out of the water, in pairs, as they raced to us. They then played in the bow wave for some time before disappearing. Some of them managed to get several body lengths out of the water. As we approached the island, we hooked a fish. There was still one night of "Wally" left and while we were hauling it in, the fish got away. Not a common occurrence to lose one but at least we still had dinner. As we had been approaching Champagne Beach, we had hooked Godfrey the shark. He had proved somewhat of a handful. However, with Charlie holding him on the gaff, Dave was able to free the hooks from his jaw. Our dentist would have been impressed with his bite of perfectly matching teeth! We saved the shark and lure, but the lure hooks had been damaged, probably losing us the next fish. The following day, we were up early for the 45NM sail to Lakona Bay on the West side of Santa Maria. We hoped for a return of Trade Winds and these indeed arrived after a couple of hours. We then had a perfect beam reach in 12kts of wind, with the boat surging along at 7kts. As we approached Lakona Bay, we hooked something very large. The pull was equivalent to the 40Kg Tuna of several years ago, so perhaps it is as well that this fish also escaped- those damaged hooks again! We had a fantastic time in Lakona Bay, interacting with the Dalov Villagers. William recorded on a short video clip, the fantastic "Water Music" performed by the women clapping and moving their hands underwater (in the sea). We also visited the local clinic, run by "Charles". This is an AUSAID project. The clinic building is great but a few things are not right. There are no lights so night time is a problem. There is no sink for washing things- Charles lugs a bucket along. There are no fly screens on the windows or doors. There are some old hospital beds, but no mattresses or sheets. The supply of medicines is largely from passing yachts and pretty sparse. Some Government supplies arrive sporadically. We intend to obtain four solar lanterns and ask friends to bring them here next year. There is too much more to describe in this blog. We all had a fantastic time here and it was with reluctance that we finally took our leave. A number of the villages waved goodbye f rom the hill top. The CREW
