That about sums up today. Well not quite, but close.

Morning starting with the last of the rain and clouds. I got up (again) sometime around 0400 when a gust of wind blew one of the paddleboards off the cabin top and it banged on the deck waking me with the usual scare of hitting a reef in the dark. OK, just the paddleboard and back to sleep.

Enter morning and a pot of coffee waiting for the clouds to part – which they did on schedule around noon. Good, the day is going according to plan. We had a quick lunch and pulled anchor to head to a new part of the lagoon since we had some sun to guide the way. I’m getting more comfortable reading the water depth by the color of the lagoon, so we headed into completely new territory where there are no other boats. We’re in a beautiful spot in among the motus. We’re surrounded on three sides by maybe a dozen little islands. Some are just 20 yards wide and maybe 15 feet tall. We’re anchored in about 15-20 feet over sand. It’s a small spot with just enough room to swing and stay in that depth. Just beyond our 100 feet of anchor chain it shallows to four to six feet at low tide. Not enough to float Charisma, so it was important that we set the anchor carefully to allow just the right amount of swinging room if the wind shifts.

Evening finds us under a cloudless sky, by ourselves in our lovely little anchorage with an infinite blanket of stars overhead. There are so many stars that it’s hard to pick out the constellations. We’ll probably stay here a couple days. It’s in a nice spot not too far from the village anchorage so it’s easy for us to dinghy in, yet it’s a private spot with no other boats – largely because it’s out of the way. You have to be a little adventurous to wander in here instead of sticking with the safety of the deeper, safer spots.

Ann had a special time today. Here she is to tell about it: (By Ann) I have wrestled with the idea of entertaining my weaving friends on Charisma but I know that I could not limit it to the number that would fit on Charisma. There are at least ten, if not more, of these darling women who I would love to have aboard but it would take multiple dinghy trips and a much bigger boat. Enter Sue, from Spruce. Sue is also an apprentice weaver trained by the best here in Fulunga but, yahoo…her boat is much bigger! And Sue and Andy are leaving Fulunga tomorrow so when she called and asked if I wanted to be part of a tea party aboard Spruce to say goodbye, I was thrilled! And Sue did it up in grand English style. Not only was there English tea, with lessons on how to properly extend your pinky, but there was a demonstration on how to properly prepare an English scone. There were cucumber sandwiches, egg sandwiches and loads of sweet things to indulge your sweet tooth (these non-English items I was able to help supply).

The first dinghy...

...and the second boatload.

Crowded but loving it.

And, no Tara, that's not how you stick out your little finger when you drink tea.

The best part of today was being able to return the generosity that these ladies have shown us. The ten ladies who were ferried to Spruce in two large dinghies actually got to sit and enjoy being pampered. They loved the tea and devoured all of the goodies. How fun it was to tell them to eat and enjoy, more….more…more. They are always spoiling us when we visit the village so it was extra special to be able to spoil them. Laughter, love and the most beautiful smiles in the world!