After leaving Sola we anchored on the other side of Port Patterson to escape the swell. After a fruitless search for a crocodile, we met the crew of "Nomadess" for drinks aboard. Finally the lousy weather cleared and we took off for the Reef Islands. After a couple of restful days there, we then headed to Ureparapara, a volcanic island.
After anchoring with about another 6 boats, we were again visited by many canoes with mainly children wanting to trade. We spent a few days here, and had an enjoyable visit to the school.
Again, it was time to move on, this time to the Torres Islands, a small group not often visited by yachts. We found anchoring in Hayter Bay difficult - 22m depth meant that we had to put out all of out 66m of chain. Luckily Loch and Beckie from "Xephyr" were in the water so they directed us where to place the anchor.
There was only a small village of one family there, and they had only come there a few years earlier. The lady of the village spoke excellent English as she had worked in the casino in Vila for 13 years. They had a few coconut crabs, and we were keen to try them. They are threatened in other areas, but in these remote islands, they are a pest in the gardens.
We bought 4 and they were enormous, ugly things! But boy, did they taste good!
After a few days here, with rainy weather, we decided it was time to leave and get going to the Solomons, about 200NM north. We reckoned it would take around two days, so left at 7am in overcast, breezy conditions. The overnight trips weren't all that good, being quite rolly. We arrived outside the reef entrance to Graciosa Bay on Ndendo (Santa Cruz) Island around 10am Sunday.