[password] radioactiv?[position] 17 11.516S 178 57.871W?[weather] blue skies, warm calm lagoon waters
[speed] anchored
[heading] anchored?[status] Community Notice: WE HAVE NO INTERNET SERVICE HERE, so please do not think us rude if you are emailing or texting our cellphones as we can?t get internet at the moment. If you need to contact us please email short emails to moonfish@onsatmail.com which we check every couple of days.
Our last morning in Bavatu Harbour was a rather special one. We?ve been cruising with Mahia, Lola, Taranui 2, Sharpe Focus, and Lulu, and to communicate with them we?ve all been on a specific VHF channel so we can keep in touch, but not annoy the rest of the ICA fleet. Anyway around 5:30am on the morning of June 27th 2017, Lola announced that the Kiwi?s had done it, they had reclaimed the America?s Cup. What followed was a round of hoots and yahoo?s on the VHF, and then Mal-ibu on Mahia announced that a champagne breakfast was in order, with eggs, bacon and bubbles a must! We all headed over, Sasha had made up some special baked beans, with chilli powder and some fried onion, Pauline on Mahia had been hard at work making a lovely fruit salad and scrambled eggs, someone (Sasha is not sure who) made beautiful corn fritters, another person had bought sausages, and many had bought bacon which the boys got sorted on the BBQ. With bubbles and pineapple juice, coffees and teas in hand and a massive cruiser potluck breakfast (a first for Mike and Sasha) we toasted to Team New Zealand, and tucked into the food. It was an absolutely superb way to celebrate the win, and all enjoyed another great communal meal, with lots of different dishes to try. After breakfast it was time to head ashore to the yacht club building that was uninhabited, due to the fact it was still being rebuilt from cyclone winston 18 months ago. The flag pole required the flags to ensure the moment was appropriately acknowledged, so we all headed over on the tenders, and raised the NZ flag, and a silver fern flag, and took our photo to capture the moment. Then it was time to adventure around the yacht club building. Tony off Taranui 2 told us it had been a great place to meet, have a cold beer, and do a spot of barbecuing, alas it was still in rebuild mode when we visited it, but we did manage to jump off the dive board / plank that had been constructed over the edge of the stone cliff, which was great fun.
After that it was time to weigh anchor and head to the next anchorage further east, just as we headed out of the mouth of the anchorage, we saw a large number of the ICA fleet heading for Bavatu, so our timing was perfect to stay away from the crowds.
Last night anchored here at Horse Bay, after a much needed afternoon nap Mike and Sasha welcomed team Mahia and team Lola aboard for drinks, which turned into a BBQ for dinner.
Now we plan to head back to the Bay of Islands, which we skipped as the entire ICA fleet were heading there when we up?d anchor at Daliconi village. Each bay is as stunning as the next, with crabs running along the white sandy beaches. Mike and Sasha do enjoy the calm bays of the Lau, and have seen abundant fish life on their snorkelling adventures, with many a turtle, and even a Nemo or two! They are also pretty excited about getting to some of the outer islands to the amazing looking kite and surf spots around the Lau too.

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