Father Lucas and the Service

Hello All,
We checked out of the country this morning with Customs and made our way unofficially to Moto Lava Island 12 miles north east of Sola, Petteson bay. It took us 3 hours to get here hard on the wind. Right before we got here just rounding the point a bit of a squall hit us and put the rail in the water and the 5 gallon shower bag in with it. It was floating ok but we had our hands full trying to get the sails down. Amazingly I never lost sight of it and recovered it after we got the sails secure. When we arrived we were trying to find the place Father Lucas told us to go anchor. The protected side of the Island has a very rocky shore so finding a sandy spot to anchor was a challenge. The whole Island is not charted very well so when we got in close Rafal jumped in the water with the snorkel gear and found a good place among all of the rocks and coral heads to anchor the boat. My position is 13 39.95S 167 39.28E It is very protected here and fairly flat so that is a nice change. On the south end of Motu Lava there is the small Island of Ra and the main village. It is surrounded by a reef and we are told it is beautiful. There is no where to anchor down there so it is a bit of a trek to get there from here. There is no village or anything in our anchorage so it is nice and quiet. I think we will spend at least one night here.

Now for the news your biting your nails off to here, Our Sunday in Sola. We went to the church services and got to see the new minister be ordained. The service was very good and as usual the singing was in perfect harmony.
After the services Father Lucas invited us back to his home. He made us coffee and told some stories. He is such a nice man, talking to him reminded me of talking to my family, always helpful and how ever he can help he will. In his 75 years he has done heaps for the country of Vanuatu and still is. He has set up a small foundation to help kids get through college that can't afford it. After the visit we went to town center and hung out with the whole village getting ready to have a lunch feast. The villages of Moto Lava also came over by skif to join. They had more food there than you can imagine and they even ground roasted a whole pig for the festivities. We were told this doesn't happen to often but because a minister was being ordained they threw a pig party. They had recorded music playing and dancing. They even had a few comedy skits done by some of the local women. We had a great time at the 3 hour feast and after it was over we went back to the boat. If that wasen't enough fun for one day we had to add a night cap. At 7 pm at the primary school we went to watch the World Cup Rugby game between New Zealand and Australia. The school has the only Satellite TV in the village and about 40 locals showed up including us. New Zealand won big time and most of the room was rooting for them. That was a good ending to a good day.

I will let you know how our time is here on Motu Lava. Have a good night.

PEACE