![\"Pirate's](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2149\/2222580504_5af2929efe.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSome other friends have been here for a few days already and had
\nprepared a nice area up on a hill on the small island here for
\nthe pirate’s party and barbecue. Several of the boats have young
\nkids and there were a few games planned for them, including a
\ntreasure hunt. There were also some silly games for the adults.
\nEveryone dressed up as pirates (corny, but fun) and brought
\ngood stuff to grill and there were also lots of fresh salads,
\nfruit and other good things to eat. It was a nice group – and
\nit was fun for us to have Ben with us for another party. He is
\nsuch a natural shmoozer and it is clear that all of friends have
\nbecome very fond of him – particularly Alex, Peter and Finn from
\nRisho Maru. The views from the party site were gorgeaus –
\ncrashing waves on the high cliffs – and we spent the whole
\nafternoon and evening up there. When we went back to the beach
\nabout 8:00 P.M. to go back to the boat we found that everyone’s
\ndinghy was there except ours. When we arrived at the party some
\nhours earlier we had tied it to our friend Vera’s dinghy – and
\nhad not dropped an anchor in the sand as we usually do. In the
\nmeantime Vera had had to go back to their own boat to get
\nsomething and had tied us up to someone else. Apparently that
\nother person had subsequently moved their dinghy and had either
\nnot tied us up to anything or had not tied us up properly. It
\nwas not a good feeling. If you lose your dinghy here you really
\nhave no way to get to shore or to explore places – like losing
\nyour car in a place without buses or taxis. We hiked back up to
\nthe party to tell our friends that our dinghy was gone and
\nwithin minutes 3 other dinghies were all in the water helping us
\nfind ours. Mark was with Peter and within just a few minutes
\nthey found it washed up on the reef. Luckily nothing was damaged
\nand Mark drove it back to our boat and tied it up nice and
\nsecure. Phew!<\/p>\n
Today, Friday, we finally had the sun back. Hooray. It is really
\nbeautiful here when the sun shines. We took our dinghy out to a
\nfew areas to try snorkeling – and found crystal clear water –
\nbut unfortunately the coral here is mostly either dead or it is
\nvery new coral – and therefore there are not very many fish. It
\nwas still great to be in the beautiful blue water with the sun
\nshining overhead. Now Ben and Mark are up on deck reading while
\nI am writing this. Tonight there is going to be another
\nbarbecue – and all the musically inclined people here will be
\nsinging and playing. Ben will be drumming on some borrowed drums.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We spent all day Tuesday on the boat in anchorage #11 as it was cloudy and rainy all day long. Peter and Finn from Risho Maru were not feeling well, so we didn’t even visit with them. Miserable weather. By Wednesday it started to clear – at least it did not rain much – so … <\/p>\n