Tuesday May 20th
12 noon, S 09deg 56.88 E 165deg 04. 41
After a very squally night during which winds pushed
the KUNA to the north of the route, wind stopped forcing
us to motor again. Nothing particularly interesting
happened, except we caught a dolphin fish with a squid
lure, making for a good dinner! Given the very small
route distance difference, I decided to go via the Reef
Islands, to reccie the anchorage there, behind pidgin
Island, in case I could not anchor in Taumako. The new
route involved going further south, threading between
Nupani reef which hosts a large seabird colony and
Tinakula, a young volcanic island, culminating 800
meters above seawater. The top of Tinakula is bare.
Apparently, at night, one can see it erupting on the
western side at the moment, but no luck. In amongst
the low clouds, we just caught a brief glimpse of it
as most of the night was rainy and clouded over.
