Qamea Island - 16 44.724S 179 46.395W
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Tue 19 Jun 2012 08:43
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We stayed at Matagi (pronounced Matangi) island for 3 nights
and were mighty glad for the decision to put out the stern anchor on the first
night. The forecast was for moderate to fresh winds from the south east and
that's where it came from, but not in the bay at Matagi. To our
surprise we woke to find winds from the west and
they stayed in the west throughout our stay there. Had we not had that
stern anchor out on the first night we would have swung pretty
close to the fringing coral reef, if not hit it. The stern anchor rope
was bar tight and kept the stern pointing out towards
the middle of the bay. The high terrain of the small horseshoe shaped bay
was causing the stronger winds to totally reverse in direction. While
the stern anchor was holding the boat in position, the strain on the rope
was so great that re-anchoring in the middle of the bay seemed like a good
idea. However, it was still overcast with drizzle at times and still not
easy to see what was under the water. So it was an hour's snorkel to check out
the bottom and find a better spot in the middle with a lot more swinging
room. Lifting the main anchor wasn't that difficult for a change,
but so much strain had been put on the stern anchor that it would not
budge. The anchor rope had to be fed to one of our big genoa winches and with
the boat directly above it and lots of force, the anchor finally gave way
and came to the surface. We were expecting it to be buckled or at least a little
bit bent, but it was fine. (It's a Fortress anchor - very light and clearly very
strong.)
On the second night a New Zealand yacht joined us,
but left the next day. So we had the bay to ourselves again. but not for long
as a British yacht arrived. They sailed from Hayling Island in
2009, so just down the road from us (considering the distances involved to
get here). They had also caught a big tuna on passage to Matagi, and gave us
enough for 7 meals. We don't fish for several reasons, but after
eating the freshly caught tuna we're reconsidering! Matagi was a
lovely spot, with good reefs to snorkel on, but it needed good
weather which we're not getting and with the swirling winds in
the small bay, it was an easy decision to leave on the first good
passage day (good light to see the reefs). So it was on to the island of Qamea
(pronounced Gamea) today. It was only 8 miles away, but with reefs and a
pass to negotiate it was a slow trip and took most of the morning. Moderate
to fresh south east winds are forecast again so we chose a bay on the north
west corner. It's a lovely sweeping bay with lots of protection, but much bigger
and more open than Matagi. So we hope we won't get backwinded here, but
we'll put the stern anchor out again, just in case! According to folk
we met in Viani Bay, this area of Qamea is supposed to have excellent coral
reefs to explore. We hope so.
No pictures again as like Matagi, the Vodafone coverage is not
good here and so there's no Internet.We have to resort to sending
small emails via the sat
phone.
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