After a good night’s sleep, we decided to enjoy a relaxing day onboard yesterday, getting the rest we both still needed. However, the first task of the day was to get the empty jerry cans ready for collection. We were pleasantly surprised that the full cans were returned by the afternoon, providing peace of mind that we had all the diesel we would need once we leave Uligamu.

Roy was definitely more active than Elaine, though. While Elaine enjoyed a chat to her folks in Ireland, then slept for most of the afternoon, Roy baked some bread and a chocolate muffin loaf, as well as replaced the Racor filter on the starboard engine and started the repairs required to the float switch of the bilge pump in the starboard forepeak cabin, which started to play up on passage for no apparent reason. As usual, it required more time than originally thought, after some troubleshooting revealed that a number of wires had corroded.

Feeling totally refreshed again, Elaine surfaced just in time to receive an invite to join Talulah Ruby (Andy and Paul) for dinner ashore after their son and additional crew member had arrived; we’d already met their first crew member the previous evening. Golden Spirit (Caroline and Michael) would be joining the outing too, but not before we all reconvened on Talulah Ruby III for pre-dinner drinks, following which our dinghy nighttime excursion commenced. Fortunately Talulah Ruby III had been ashore earlier in the day and had completed their reconnaissance, so we all just followed them into the small boat harbour.

Having ordered everyone’s meal ahead of time, everything was beautifully setup for us when we arrived and another evening of fun and laughter with friends ensued.

After our initial glimpse of the little island in the dark last night, we were excited to explore this morning and what a special treat it was. It was probably one of the most interesting little villages we’ve seen during this circumnavigation. Not only was it neat, tidy and spotlessly clean, there were so many unusual items scattered around that Elaine was in photographic heaven.

For starters, there are no cars, no traffic lights, no stop signs and the entire island is beach sand; roads, gardens, pathways, restaurant floors, etc, all beach sand, interspersed with coconut palms, banyan trees, flowers and all sorts of other vegetation. It was a mystery as to how this flora could even grow in the sand.

As we wondered around we saw homes constructed of various materials, including some from palm fronds and others from volcanic rock. There was no particular style per se, but some had shutters versus louvered windows, some were plastered and painted, others not. It was a fascinating mix of homes set out in a grid configuration.

In front of some homes, there were very intriguing “benches” made from a wooden or steel frame and rope, while other homes had privacy screens constructed from plastic water bottles.

Being early morning, women were out “sweeping” the area in front of their homes, while others waited near the small harbour for a water taxi. Being a muslim country, all the woman were dressed in their full body garments and head veils, but mostly, if not all, were in black, unlike other countries we’ve visited in recent years where the outfits are colourful and could be quite exquisite.

We were, however, surprised to find an abundance of noisy crows, which completely drowned out the beautiful sounds of the other birdlife inhabiting the island. Most fascinating, though, were, not only the number of hermit crabs, but the size of them; the biggest we’ve seen and more than what we found in Surwarrow.

After a stop at the local bakery to order croissants, as well a stop at one of the two “grocery” stores we found, to get some fruit, we returned to Paw Paw for breakfast. Afterwards Elaine decided to use her time to get the laundry done, while Roy replaced the Racor filter on the port engine, cleaned the anchor chain and locker, repositioned the full jerry cans in the cockpit, tried to complete the repairs on the float switch, but gave up as Paw Paw was bouncing around in the swell by that stage, as well as helped Talulah Ruby III fix the issue with their chartplotter.

An afternoon nap and a chat to Elaine’s sister in Ireland brought the day to a close.