Welcome to Gypsea Heart

This blog documents the adventures of the sailing vessel Gypsea Heart and her crew Rankin & Sandy. Thank you for visiting our blog and we encourage y'all to poke around and explore. We have many features which will enable you to keep track of us and in touch like subscribing below. We hope you enjoy your visit and follow our adventures.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Baie Maa, New Caledonia – Happy Halloween!!

I mentioned in our previous post that we were driven out of Signal (Te Ndo) Island due to wind conditions which made the anchorage uncomfortable.  The wind was blowing about 20 knots by the time we left Signal around noon which made for a quick sail North to Baie Maa about 5-6 nautical miles away.  Baie Maa has some nice protection from all winds except Westerly and good holding, so makes for a comfortable anchorage though the snorkeling isn’t as good here.

The Rocket Guide talks about the animals around the bay.  There are suppose to be some deer, turkey, sheep and local birds, however, they are not wild.  They are owned by the extended family which descended from a German man who swan ashore there from a shipwreck last century.   Unfortunately, we didn’t see any deer, turkeys, or sheep.  Though to our surprise, later in the afternoon, we saw a Unicorn!!!

Unicorn Sophia
This beautiful Unicorn, named Sophia from the boat Kailani, came by Gypsea Heart trick or treating.  What a wonderful surprise!!  Unicorn, Sophia, was our first trick or treat guest to visit Gypsea Heart ever, and to our dismay, we didn’t have ANY candy aboard.  We did give Sophia, the Unicorn, a granola bar for her halloween basket, and she graciously and happily accepted it.  Thank goodness otherwise Rankin would have been obligated to perform a trick or something.  Sophia was the best unicorn we have ever seen. We were really sad to see her gallop off to the next boat, but understand there was more trick or treating to do for the night was young.

Unicorn Sophia onto her next boat
We stayed in Baie Maa for about a week.  Though we had beautiful sunny skies, the winds were up, and this bay provided us with great shelter.  Being in one place for a week, gave us a chance to catch up on boat chores like waxing the topside.  UGH!!  We put it off long enough it was time.  I think I’ve mentioned there are times when Gypsea Heart, 47 foot catamaran, feels like a 94 foot boat.  It seems like lately there have been MANY of times (i.e bottom cleaning, marina fees, topside waxing, etc.).  Rankin did most of the waxing work though we did "team up" for part of the job in the beginning.  While he was finishing up the waxing, I was polishing all the hatches and the strataglass (and we have a lot of hatches and strataglass) .  If anyone has a way of cleaning strataglass without streaks and without scratching it I am ALL ears.  I was doing the “wax on, wax off” thing for quite a while.  I think it took us two or three days to wax and clean the boat.  Finally, it was time to have some fun.

We were invited over to Kailani (Harley, Jennifer and Sophia) for happy hour along with Astarte (Michael and Barbara).  It was our first visit aboard Kailani, a beautiful Deerfoot 63, nice, sleek, go fast boat.  It looks like a wonderful boat for a family too with Sophia having her own cabin aboard containing all her books and stuffed animals (she gave us a very good tour).  We had a really nice time getting to know Harley, Jennifer and Sophia.  It was hard to leave, but we made an early exit knowing that children have a little earlier bed time than us though not much earlier.  If you want to check out Kailani’s blog go to www.laughterjourney.com .  I’ll also list it on this site too.

The next day Astarte organized a bocce ball game ashore and invited us, Kailani and another family from the sailboat Rapaki.  Pete, Shell and LeRoy (just turned 5 on Nov 4th) from New Zealand live aboard Rapaki.  Everyone had a great time though I can’t tell you who won all the games, I know that Barbara and Jennifer kicked the guys butts.

LeRoy
Pete & Harley
Sophia showing us how it's done
Jennifer, Shell & Rankin
Michael & Rankin
One morning before the wind kicked up, I kayaked around the bay.  In the northern portion of the bay, there’s a camping area.  I didn’t walk ashore, but watched some teenage boys skipping rocks on the water and then bury their friend in the sand up to his armpits.  It looked like another great camp site.

Besides just having fun, I did a little work helping out Pete (Rapaki).  Just to add a little boring part, his computer was suddenly unable to receive weather faxes.   With our Single Side Band (SSB) radio, we have the ability to download weather faxes from New Zealand while we are under way (no internet).  So it was important for us to get this working again before his departure to New Zealand.  We spent a little time one morning and got it working again then Rapaki was off for Noumea.  First they were celebrating LeRoy's birthday with cake (we are so sorry we missed it) and then a few days later Shell and LeRoy were flying home to New Zealand.  Pete will be sailing the boat to New Zealand with his nephew.

Speaking of New Zealand, it's that time again where we start to get ready for our sail down to New Zealand.  We’ll keep you posted when we make the departure, but for now our next move is to sail back to Noumea.  Until then …

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Ilot Te Ndo (Signal Island) – Dive bombing seagulls!


We arrived here on Sunday, October 30th my dad’s birthday … HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!.  After a fantastic sail, we dinghied over to Astarte. During cocktail hour we admired this beautiful sunset behind Gypsea Heart.  What a great way to start an evening.

Gypsea Heart

Then we were treated to a spectacular dinner with our main course being Veal Cordon Bleu with rotini pasta and salad.  The main course was followed by a delectable chocolate pudding topped with mini chocolate chips.  MMMMM!!!  We were so pampered and loved every minute of it!  We enjoyed wonderful conversation about movies, music, books and even touched upon our past work lives a bit.  Michael and Barbara have both had very interesting work careers in the “TV bizz” which they shared with us along with some very funny stories ... can't reveal too much for privacy reasons.  They are both also avid readers, so often they will share with us books they have read like “Getting Stoned with Savages” by J. Maarten Troost, “Kingpin” by Kevin Poulsen and several others. Thank you so much Michael and Barbara for a wonderful evening!!  Rankin has read “Getting Stoned with Savages” and he has encouraged me to read it too which means he gives it a good review.  It is on my list along with “Kingpin which I can’t wait to read.  However, I am still working my way through the Game of Throne series for which I am 75% through Book 3 “A Storm of Swords”.
 
After such a wonderful dinner last night, I needed to get a little exercise.  Rankin enjoyed his morning coffee aboard Gypsea Heart along with some quiet time while I kayaked ashore and circumambulated (a new word I learned from Barbara) the island using my toe shoes that my sister, Angie, gave me some time ago which I just now started using.  Sorry, Angie, I just forgot they were in my closet though great little shoes.

Toe shoes

There’s a nice walking path around the island which runs along a beautiful white beach.  Apparently, many local people come by small power boats and camp on the island for the weekend.  The camp sites are very nice with picnic tables, grills and covered areas which I saw being used to string up some hammocks.   I can see why people would like to camp here the camp site views are stunning.  My nephew, Donnie, and his family are no strangers to camping, and as I was strolling around this island I couldn’t help but imagine how much they would enjoy camping out here … check it out, Donnie!

Camp site
Camp site view


It took about an hour or so to circumambulate the island and that included time to read all the posted signs which were in French and English (thank goodness).  All along my walk, I kept seeing these fairly large burrows in the ground, and I couldn’t help but wonder what creature occupied them. On the south part of the island, there’s a tall white column about 10 meters (30 feet) high.   Per the signs, “Captain Tardy de Montravel had chosen this islet as a a sea-mark for vessels heading for Port-de-France. He erected a "triangular pyramid made of wooden spars and coral blocks 10m in height". In 1860, Captain Saisset replaced the spars with a pyramid of coral stones and rubble. A tall coral limestone column still stands on the islet. This is what gave the islet its name of "Signal" (marker in French).  The islet was named Senez Islet by Captain Tardy de Montravel in memory of Officer Vincent Senez, who explored the bay of Port-Laguerre in Paita.”

Signal
On the opposite side of the island, I saw a huge nest which I thought was for a sea hawk, but apparently there are ospreys on the island too (per the signs).  The nest did look a lot like an osprey nest, however, seagulls were occupying the nest.  To  my surprise, they were dive bombing seagulls too.  As I walked along the path which wasn’t that close to the nest (at least in my opinion), I was attacked by seagulls.  They were loudly squawking and swooping down upon my head.  I ducked my head and ran along the sandy path while trying to avoid stepping into any burrows until I could safely reach a tree and took cover for a while.  The seagulls were persistent, so I had to make a break for it running and ducking from tree to tree.  This went on for a while until I was finally out of range.   Sorry there are no pictures or video of this experience … too bad, huh!  I am really sorry Rankin missed this experience. 
  
Osprey nest
Burrow
Now that I was safely out of harms way, I noticed some of the plants on this island.  One had red and green leaves which I thought was interesting (see below) and Michael on Astarte later told me it was a poinsettia.  Besides cooking, I don’t have a lot of experience with plants either which is probably pretty obvious now.  The only poinsettias I’ve seen have had solid red leaves.  I didn’t know that poinsettia leaves could be red and green at the same time.  Pretty plant!
 
Poinsettia
Signal Island is a marine reserve, and all land and sea life are protected.  There are five species of seabirds which nest on the island.  There are three species, the Tahiti petrel, the black-winged petrel and the wedge-tailed shearwater which can be seen at night on the islet where they dig burrows.  This explains all the burrows I saw around the island (they were everywhere).  When I was hiding from the seagulls, I heard some cooing sounds from one of the burrows too.  The other two species are the red-billed gull (most common species) and the bridled tern (only observed in the hot season).  There are also osprey here too, and of course, seagulls.

We didn’t snorkel this visit, because the wind picked up which made the anchorage uncomfortable.  However, below are a few pictures from our last visit to Signal.  The sea life is beautiful here and there are many turtles swimming about.  During our last visit here, we snapped a photo of this guy (sorry for the quality).

 
We couldn’t stay long at Signal Island, but it was a pleasant visit and we really enjoy visiting this island.  We left Signal on Monday, October 31st and sailed North to Baie Maa for some protection from the wind.  You’ll never guess what we saw at Baie Maa ... keep reading!!!

Noumea, New Caledonia

We spent a quick couple of nights at Port Moselle marina.  We did some quick grocery shopping, enjoyed some fast internet and tried very hard to get the iPad fixed with no luck.  No worries, I'll get it all worked out in New Zealand.  We were antsy to get back out again, because the weather is gorgeous.  

Our friends, Michael and Barbara on the sailing vessel Astarte were also at the marina upon our arrival.  It gave us a chance to enjoy a Happy Hour at the nearby bar/restaurant then we found a good pizza joint around the corner where we grabbed our "to go" pizzas for PIZZA NIGHT aboard Gypsea Heart!! MMMM!  Love those spontaneous plans.   Below is a picture of our pizza chef (sorry it's not a great picture).

Pizza Party!!!

Besides the wonderful pizza, we had a great evening catching up with Astarte and just laughing.  Today, we finished up our little chores like filling water tanks, taking out trash, and stocking up with more fresh fruits, veggies and internet time then we left the marina.  We had to be out of the marina by noon or they charge us another day, so we got otta there.  

We had a very pleasant sail, though way too short, West to Ilot Te Ndu (Signal Island) where we picked up a mooring.  This is a marine park and currently there's lots of snorkelers in the water from a commercial power cat moored nearby.  The only other boats here are Astarte and the New Caledonia Coast Guard.   We'll be making a splash soon and will keep you posted.  In the meantime, we've been invited to join Astarte tonight for a "surprise" dinner ... can't wait, I love surprises!!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Ilot Amedee, New Caledonia

We left Ilot Ua around 8 a.m. after listening to the Gulf Harbour Radio net on SSB (8752 Mhz which begins at 6 a.m.).  We had a beautiful sail to Ilot Amedee taking the scenic route (which is not the most direct path) and traveling along the very edge of the Southern Lagoon reef.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the we cruised along at a moderate ~5 knots with just the jib (most forward sail).  

We could see where Ilot Amedee was located several miles off because there's a lighthouse on the island which of course can be seen from miles away.  It only got prettier the closer we sailed to it.  Per the Rocket Guide, Ilot Amedee is a Natural Reserve (Southern Lagoon Park), and there are mooring balls in the area so people will not anchor and harm the reefs.  

Ilot Amedee

Good thing, because as we were leaving Ilot Ua our windlass (the thing that raises and drops our anchor) deciding not to function in the down direction.  We discovered it will actually lower the anchor using the weight of the anchor; however, if there's nothing pulling it will not drop.  I am not doing a very good job explaining the issue, so let's just say we can still anchor but it was good to just pick up a mooring instead.  We also discovered a "head" (toilet) issue in our owner's cabin head.  Now, I am really not going into any details there either, but Rankin cleared it up.  Thank goodness ... it's a nasty job.   We were finally settled but only after I dropped the boat hook (which luckily floats) while trying to bring up the mooring ball.  A lovely man moored in front of us assisted us with secure Gypsea Heart to the mooring.  After such a wonderful sail, the windlass, head and mooring issue were all left behind us.

I would love to tell you that we had a fantastic afternoon and evening, but alas, it wasn't in the cards.  First, the Rocket Guide indicated there was internet here which there was but very, very slow ... practically non- existent until I placed the phone on the stack pack (the highest point on the boat without raising it using a halyard).  We were still content at this point, because we could at least get email messages plus we were going to run off snorkeling anyway.  Shortly thereafter, the wind must have switched directions with a more Northern component, because the waves were rolling in.  Nope, we didn't see it in the weather forecasts.  Oh My!  It was one of the worst experiences we've had in an anchorage here in New Caledonia.  We were facing into the wind and waves which caused us to pitch forward, aft, forward, aft.  UGH!!!  I think we had 2 foot seas rolling into the mooring field.  UGH!!!  I was feeling pretty ill ... nothing like being seasick while on a mooring.  

Rankin could tell I was feeling pretty ill, so he offered to cook dinner.  YIPEE!!!  What a wonderful treat ... things are starting to look up again.  I thought it was quite a romantic gesture for Rankin to cook dinner for me.  I was feeling pretty special ... the tune "Love is in the Air" was playing in my mind.  SPECIAL NOTE TO FAMILY MEMBERS:  Prue and Steve, you may want to look away at this point.  

Rankin fixed us a gourmet meal of canned ham, blackeyed peas and rice.  MMMM!!   

.

I have to admit I am not a fan of canned ham, but  I truly loved watching my Texas Southern Gentleman cook me a gourmet meal.

Cooking Captain
Too many pics
Bon Appetit




















It was a lovely dinner.  It was still bouncy most of the night, but did settle down a bit much later in the evening.  We left for Noumea the next day with a memorable experience from Ilot Amedee.  Au Revoir!!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Five Islands Area, New Caledonia (UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2014 with links & pics)

Yes, yes, it has been awhile since our last post. Our friends on Evergreen (Heather and Jon), Panta Rhei (Larry and Karen) and Blue Rodeo (Mark and Anne) are so diligent about keeping their blogs up to date it puts us to great shame. They have wonderful blogs with exciting, interesting and funny adventures (I will provide their blog addresses as soon as we have internet). Even though we have sadly traveled our separate ways now, reading their blogs allows us to keep in touch enjoying their experiences giving us the feeling like we are still with them during their adventures.

With their blogs in mind, I have been thinking about our blog a lot lately. Sometimes, I have felt that our blog was well a bit repetitive. Same stuff different island kind of thing. After mulling things over a bit, I thought perhaps a change in format was in order. Sure we'll still have some of that beautiful island stuff, though now we'll also include some everyday things which the cruising lifestyle brings including boat and various repairs, recipes, "how make do without when that store is NOT just around the corner", and "you know you're a cruiser when ...", etc. I thought it would also be nice to solicit thoughts and comments from anyone and everyone who reads our blog which may not be many (if any) people at this point. Well, perhaps this new format and it's continual updates will bring our family and friends back ... let's hope so.

So, what have we been up to lately. As the title of this blog indicates we are in New Caledonia now, wonderful little French islands located in the South Pacific. We are anchored at Ilot Ua which is part of the "Five Islands". For those cruisers or anyone else who's interested, it's a lovely anchorage with an uninhabited little idyllic island to provide a bit of protection; however, it may be a bit rolly at times for monohulls. There have been occasions when the waves wrap around the island and have rocked us a bit. We'll post our anchor spot on the Venture Farther website which you'll read about further down.

The weather has permitted us to be here a week now (nice calm conditions about 10-15 knots from SE mainly), and I honestly don't believe Rankin ever wants to leave. The beauty and the solitude is something that he enjoys. We have slowed things down now which I am sure some of our cruising friends are wondering how much slower can we go. We've both been enjoying some reading. Rankin is reading a Bernard Cornwell series of books. The first series I believe is called the Saxon series, which he has read five of the books though we believe there are more books in the series though we don't have internet to check it out yet. Now, he has moved onto the Warlord series written by the same author. I have been reading the Game of Thrones series written by George R. R. Martin, and I am currently on book three "A Storm of Swords". We've already watched all the Game of Thrones HBO series to date, so why am I reading the books? Well, I personally find that the books are usually better, but mainly because I can't wait for Season 5 to find out what will happen next. I know it's sad.

Beside reading, I have been doing a lot of cooking lately which has been a bit of a challenge. First, we currently have limited supplies. Since we'll be traveling to New Zealand soon it's time for us to empty the food stored aboard the boat. New Zealand has pretty strict (though fair) rules about food and things they permit into their country. For instance, there's a pretty strict limitation on any fresh fruits and veggies brought into the country. We understand these rules and do our best to respect the rules of each country, so we are emptying out our stores. However, we still need to have enough food for our approximately six day passage South to New Zealand.

Second, my iPad died ... UGH!! Since I usually get seasick during our passage, I prepare meals in advance and freeze them. So, I have been doing a bit of cooking (and unfortunately eating, but that's another story). My cooking skills are very limited, so I rely a lot (very much actually heavily) on recipes which on occasion I tweak to our tastes. I have a wonderful iPad App called Paprika Manager which I use daily and LOVE IT!! I won't bore everyone with the reasons why I find this app FABULOUS, so if you're interested in my thoughts, the cost, etc. just drop me a comment in the comment section below, and I'll get back to you. However, as I mentioned before my iPad recently died (UGH!!). The good news is I have contacted Apple (a long story) and it's under warranty. The bad news is we are about 30 nm from Noumea where I believe (though I don't know for certain) that I can get the iPad repaired or replaced. Since I use my iPad daily and consider it an important piece of boat equipment (though I am not sure Rankin agrees), I was devastated when I couldn't bring it back to life. Many of my recipes (not to mention other stuff) are located on the iPad, so now what. Okay, I have been scrambling a bit searching through the few "hard copy" recipes books I still have left trying to find something tasty to cook with the limited supplies I have aboard. For me, with my limited cooking skills and knowledge, I found this a challenge. Well, I came across this banana bread recipe which was not the best banana bread recipe (since that's on the iPad), but very tasty especially considering that I ran out of butter and bananas (at least fresh/old bananas).

Banana Nut Bread (Cookbook: "Ship to Shore I" by Capt. Jan Robinson)
1/2 c margarine (I used ~1/2 c of vegetable oil since I didn't have butter or margarine)
3/4 c sugar
1 egg (I specifically looked for a recipe which used only 1 egg since I am running low on eggs too)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 c flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c mashed bananas (I used bananas which I had in the freezer and just let them thaw a bit)
1 c chopped walnuts (out of walnuts so left them out)

Cream sugar and margarine. Add egg and beat thoroughly. Add sifted dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in mashed bananas, lemon juice and walnuts. Fill one 9 X 5 X 3 loaf pan - ungreased (I did use cooking spray to grease pan). Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

This was a pretty tasty banana bread considering the limited resources at our disposal. We usually rate our recipes 1 through 5, 1 being poorest rating and 5 being the best. Rankin rates many things a 4 and I think this was no different; however, I would rate it a 3.5. Good in a pinch, but I would prefer our other recipe which is stuck on the dead iPad. UGH!!

Since we find the water here in New Caledonia quite chilly (can't tell you the temp yet), we have spent more time than usual on the boat. We have done some snorkeling though we first cover ourselves from head to toe in wet suit gear then mentally prepare ourselves before making the chilly plunge. BURRRR!! Thank goodness the days have been beautiful and sunny and the water visibility has been good which makes for perfect snork (short for snorkeling) conditions. During one of our snorks at Ilot Kouare (south of Ilot Ua), we spotted at least half a dozen or more porcupine fishes hiding under what we call "table top" coral. Porcupine fish are very skiddish and hide under overhangs, "table top" coral, etc. and it can be difficult to get a good photo of them. I snapped a picture of one porcupine fish who's was so cute he's now my new Desktop page. I will post a picture as soon as we have internet. I've decided he's cute enough to deserve a name, so feel free to send us your suggestions. 

What shall we name this cute little Porcupinefish?

The coral was alive and beautiful which makes this snorkel spot worth sharing. Our friend Jon on the sailing vessel Evergreen has created a website called Venture Farther (www.venturefarther.com) which allows people to post snorkeling, diving and anchoring spots all around the world, so the information can be shared. The website is free and all you need to do is register, so it's worth checking out. Besides sharing various spots, there are many other features this site has to offer like the ability to download Google Earth charts to kap files which can be used for navigation. We will post our information to Venture Farther, as soon as we have internet. Definitely, check out this site. As soon as we have internet, I will include a link from our website too.

Our other water adventure has been cleaning the boat bottom. Now that we have a catamaran, there are occasions when we feel like we went from a 45 foot monohull to a 94 foot monohull ... cleaning the boat bottom is one of those times. Even though Gypsea Heart is only 47 feet, she has two hulls which can mean double the work. Our strategy for boat bottom cleaning is I clean the stuff near the surface with a snorkel while Rankin cleans the deeper section (i.e. keels, props, etc.) with a hooka. By the way, a hooka is device which pumps air to a regulator, so you can dive shallow depths without a tank. My description could be better, but I think you can get the gist of it. It took us two days in the cooler water to clean both hulls well, and the bottoms were not too bad just a little "scummy" stuff which came off fairly easy.

This past week was a "spring break" type holiday in New Caledonia, so we have seen several chartered catamaran boats come and go from the anchorage during our stay. One day, an English speaking French Captain from a chartered Lagoon catamaran stopped by along with two children (they didn't speak English). He (I forgot his name shortly after he told me, so I'll call him "Captain") brought us some fish. The Captain said it was a Wahoo or Waloo though it was hard for us to determine which fish he said, because of his accent. He caught it while sailing between Isle de Pins and Ilot Ua. The fish was about 4 feet long and around 50 lbs then he handed us a large chunk of fish which we gladly accepted. We gave him a bottle of wine in return then invited them aboard for a bit. We chatted a bit about sailing the Southern Lagoon, fishing, cooking (because he's the chef aboard too). Then he gave us some leaves from a plant he called "False Tabacco" (I will post a picture soon) which he explained helps prevent ciguterra. He got them from the island and said to boil about four leaves in a cup of water for a 3-5 minutes, remove the leaves, add about a liter of cool water to the boiled leaves mixture and then drink up. For those who aren't familiar with ciguterra, I found a description of it in "The Cruising Chef Cookbook" by Michael Greenwald which states "Ciguterra is a neurological disorder. It is caused by consuming reef fish which in turn have eaten smaller fish which contain toxins. The toxins are concentrated in the flesh of the larger fish. There is no quick test for it, no sign of its presence in the fish, cooking does not destroy it." We had a lovely conversation with him though now I am not as keen about eating the Wahoo or Waloo ... we'll see. 

False Tobacco ... solution to ciguterra???
The Captain has been our only visitor though we've had a lot of entertainment. We have had about half a dozen mackerel tuna swimming about chasing and catching the tiny fish (not sure what they are) hovering around the boat. We can't see the tiny fish well, so do not know the type of fish. The tiny fish don't have much of a chance, because while the tuna chase them from the bottom there are birds flying around above to catch them. There's a lot of splashing activity around Gypsea Heart. I took some pictures though I haven't look at them yet. If they turn out well, I'll post some.

Well, I believe our adventure ends here today or maybe tomorrow. Our next stop should be Ilot Amedee which is just 12 nautical miles South of Noumea before continuing to Noumea for a quick touch and go for possible iPad repair (YEAH!) and quick provisioning. Our current plan is to hang around the islands near Noumea and wait for a weather window for our sail to New Zealand.

We hope you will enjoy this new format and find the variety a bit interesting. Feel free to post any comments or thoughts we'd love to hear from you. Until next time ...


We enjoy reading about their new adventures ... .

UPDATE:
We're back.  I wanted to add a few updates now that we have internet.  I have included links for our friends websites which I mentioned above.  The links are located on the right side of the screen under the heading "Sites to Visit".  I've also included a link to the wonderful Venture Farther site which is an excellent site for cruisers, divers and snorkelers.  In addition to the links, I've included the pictures of the Porcupinefish (yes, it is all one word) and the False Tobacco plant.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a great picture of the birds and tuna hunting the little fish, so sorry!

We enjoyed one more night at Ilot Ua which meant one more beautiful sunset before we traveled to Ilot Amedee.