Vella Lavella Island
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pos 7:36.39S 156:38.03E Doveli Bay 2015-07-13 A It’s a long passage to
Doveli Cove on the
next island and today it’s no wind, so we’re motoring all the
way. The seas
moderate and change to a long low swell with overcast skies and
isolated rain
storms skirting around us, making reef watching almost
impossible Then, on the horizon we spot
a massive pod
of Dolphins charging towards us like a hoard of angry Indians
taking up station
around the yacht riding in our bow wave. They are magnificent to
watch as with
hardy a flick of their tail they easily match our 6-7 knots of
boat speed. The precision of the station
keeping is
incredible and as one drops off another fills the gap, coming up
for air
without a pause and diving again. After half hour they’re off,
the morning show
over. Now it’s the turn of the
flying fish who
take off in front of us flying up to 80 metres in all
directions. Then a nasty surprise, when
suddenly out of
nowhere this large triangular bamboo tower mounted on a float
appears in the
middle of the ocean. We have since learned they are “Fish
Aggregator Devices”!
They have a net encircling the float the attracts small fish
within its shelter,
this in turn attracts larger fish looking for an easy dinner
which in turn
attracts the larger ones which the fishermen hope to catch. Unbelievably they are
anchored in some 2000
metres of water with a couple of concrete filled oil drums,
nylon rope and a
stainless steel strop at the top to prevent sharks and people
cutting them
loose. In front of us is large
flock of seabirds,
diving down and decimating a shoal of fish that have probably
been forced up by
the Dolphins, who blow bubbles while encircling them to force
them into a tight
ball near the surface for their dinning pleasure. We arrived at Doveli Bay, a
long narrow
waterway with villages on either side and up onto the hill.
Anchoring is a
nightmare, we’re in 80 metres and searching for a shallow patch,
but the sides
of this bay are reminiscent of the Fjords as they are nearly
vertical and we’re
practically ashore before it starts to bottom out. At 20 metres we drop the
stick and motor
gently backwards to help it dig in. Chance would be a fine
thing. The anchor
refuses to grip the rock bottom snagging then bouncing free,
then, to add to
the misery and amusement of “Others” its starts to rain. Not
that mealy mouthed
UK stuff but cats, dogs and buckets. All alone on the bow
operating the winch, I
clutch my multi-coloured umbrella in a futile effort to stop the
lashing of the
rain though, to no avail, we can’t get a grip. With the rain now
washing down
the gunwales in a great flood and heading for firehose strength
we finally lock
into the bottom. The good news is at least
the rain is warm,
and as I go into a recovery mode clutching a beer I steam
quietly. Rain over and our first
visitor paddles
over, Henry, a well-spoken gent who explains to us that the
village has
extended up the hill after a Tsunami hit several years ago.
Fortunately they
had been taught all about them and the procedures to follow and
everyone made
it to safety. A mother and child come
paddling past so we
ask her if the child would like a lollipop, they were over tout
suite. One more
satisfied customer. A quick swim before dinner,
the water is
lovely and warm and although Henry had said there was an
increase in crocodile
numbers they only feed in the morning and evening, they didn’t
come this side
of the mangroves! As we enjoy a refreshing and
medicinally
required dose of quinine (plus Gin) pre dinner, we are
entertained by the choir
practicing over in the village. A Carbonara dinner and a game of
Mexican Train,
then to bed. Bob the Blog |