It has been so windy here that we have been having more fun on land than at sea in the last few days. Our anchorage in Baie de Citron was reasonably sheltered, though not perfect, it had the advantage of being close to the beach and to the main road into town. Friends from Fusio joined us in the bay on Thursday, surprising us with cake for morning tea and we caught up with them again for drinks later that night. Thursday lunch was on shore at a local cafe with friends from Malakite. Each time we went ashore we bumped into fellow yachties who were doing the same as us - enjoying the cafes and the chance to provision from the local supermarket.
Yesterday we went walking and I won't cover all the details but after a 4 hour walk into town and up around the ports and to the supermarket we again treated ourselves to lunch at a local cafe - we felt we deserved it! One of our errands was to buy a spare fuel filter and the local garage didn't have one but the kind shop owner phoned around for us to find the one we needed. The place was miles away, so this man, Michel, offered to drive there in the afternoon and pick one up for us. Amazing service - when we called in that afternoon it was there waiting for us. This man is a yachtie himself and owns a local charter boat called Te Fetia. Last night a few more boats joined us in Baie de Citron and one was Te Fetia! Michel came by to say hello and make sure we were happy with the filter! There were ten boats in the bay with us last night and little did we know, but Friday night is not a great time to be there. The local night club was raging on with loud music until after 3am.
So today we decided to find a quieter spot and we have shifted to Isle de Saint Marie. It was only a short journey to get here but we were beating in to strong wind and short choppy waves all the way. It is relatively quiet here, but the wind still funnels around the bay, which helped to dry the washing in a very short time :-) Being the weekend, we have been entertained by locals enjoying the day kite surfing, wind surfing and water skiing. A hobbie cat went flying through the air and capsized in the strong winds at one point and promptly capsized again as soon as they got it right side up. A bit too much wind for some water sports today, but fun to watch.