Uki Ni Masi and Marau Sound

Uki Ni Masi (Ugi on the chart) was a short hop from Olu Malau and we decided to stop at Ahi'a as this anchorage looked a nicer option than the other possible anchorage at Selwyn Bay. We anchored in a sandy lagoon sheltered by a reef. Unfortunately, at a certain state of the tide things got a bit rolly but nothing too bad. Jim made friends with some of the local children and got talked into playing them a movie - this turned into 2 evenings where Jim took the computer ashore and played a movie in the village. I think the popcorn went down even better than the movie, although some of the very young kids were quite fascinated. On the first evening ashore there were fireflies flitting around which I have never seen before. We had planned to leave one evening but were put off by heavy rain so left the next day and had a very leisurely sail, come drift overnight, to Marau Sound. While we enjoyed Uki Ni Masi, we were pestered by the Chief and his son wanting a gift for the 'church' of more petrol than we carry on board.

We approached Marau Sound at dawn, here the hills with patches of mist on them were reminiscent of the Marlborough Sounds. We anchored in a small Bay formed by two islands and a shallow reef behind. When we arrived there were 2 other yachts already there and it was nice to have some company for a change. The snorkeling around here was quite good and we also enjoyed relaxing in the bar at the nearby resort. The bar had a very high, thatched roof and was lovely and cool, especially in comparison to the temperature inside Elenya. One evening we watched some dancing put on for the guests at the resort. The dancers ranged from teenagers to quite young children (with a couple of older women presumably in charge). Some of the younger ones looked a bit lost and some of the girls seemed more intent on trying to stop their leaf tops from falling apart (can't say I blame them) but overall they were enthusiastic and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Our last stop before hitting the big smoke of Honiara was Vulekula Island which is nicely positioned to break the journey from Marau to Honiara into two easy hops. This is a small uninhabited island which used to have a resort on it. We swum ashore and walked around picking out the remains of the resort, including a tennis court. Back at the yacht some kids traded a large bunch of bananas for some instant noodles (thats what they wanted). We do wonder whether someone is now missing their bananas! From there we had another good sail to Honiara.