Tuesday 9 August Galoa Harbour

For most of yesterday the rain fell and the wind howled but we were tucked into the protection of Vatulutu island waiting for an opportune moment to leave. That didn't come until this morning when the wind lightened and the rain eased allowing us to safely negotiate the passes through the fringing reef. It's not an exercise for the faint hearted when the winds are blowing 20 knots and the outside the reef sea is a fury of spume flung against the unforgiving barrier of the reef with a spume and coral free gap 150m wide and 200m long. And then as you emerge into the open sea the swell increases and Jackster pitches nose in, nose out until we can make the turn south and unfurl the sails. Just another day sailing in the tropics.

Galoa Harbour

We entered the pass into Ngaloa (that invisible n before a g) in mid afternoon, again David up the mast and me on helm and a clear, deep water motor up to the creek entrance to Ngaloa village. Our electronic charts showed horrors of rocks and shallow patches that just weren't there. At one point our GPS position on the chart indicated we would have 3.5m depth when the reality was 35m leading us to question when was this bay surveyed and by whom because it was completely inaccurate. Our better indication was to follow the navigation posts maintained by the local boating community and our eyes.
Now we're anchored in the mouth of the creek leading to the village, it's around a corner and beyond a shallow bar so not visible. Looking out from port we could be in the Amazon forest the vegetation is so lush. Looking out from the starboard and I'd swear we're in a Scottish loch. The rain's falling, low clouds over sweeping hills and an expanse of flat, dark water and, for only the second time in all our cruising, we're on our own – no other yachts in sight or within VHF range. It's actually very nice and it's oh so quiet.
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