Sunday 23 May Beach barbecue

More snorkelling with the mantas this afternoon and in the evening a pot luck beach barbecue. We hadn't come across the term 'potluck dinner' before we began cruising. It's when a groupf of people get together for dinner and all bring a dish to share. In the Caribbean the American boats get competitive on the level of their share dish. In the Pacific where there are limited fresh supplies and ships stores have to last for months, dishes are more straight forward.


For our beach barbecue tonight we got permission from the land owner to build a fire and to use the tables he's built for cruisers. Our fire was fuelled with dry coconut fronds and wind fall coconuts which burn very well. It must be the oil in them. Everyone takes their own meat and a veggie dish to share. We had savoury rice, pastas, nasi goreng, potato salad, coconuts, olives. A feast and approximately 10 boats of all nationalities were there including the British owners, guests and crew of a luxury yacht, Umatalu, which was in the bay. Their chef provided the best food of the night and one of their guests, Patrick, owns a vineyard in Bordeaux and brought his wine. Owners Hamish and Lavinia were fascinated with our story of learning to sail late in life and setting off around the world. Another wonderful evening of meeting new people and swapping stories around the fire with a moon overhead.