Fri 3 Aug

Having been up early to do a workout on Thursday (our first in months) we were clearly on a roll so we dragged our aching bodies off the boat in search of a suitable spot. I saw what I thought was a little patch of beach but it soon became obvious as we got nearer that it was about two square meters – tiny. We could see a grassy patch up over a few rocks so we ascended, me swearing quietly under my breath that I’d much rather still be in bed. Suddenly Tom shout-whispered “Tortoise!” I scrabbled faster up the rocks and threw my phone at Tom so he could take a photo. Ironically the little fella was too fast for us and ran(?) into a hedge just as we got our act together. This was the best shot we could get.

Workout done we went back to the boat, and the wind picked up. We were happy the anchor would hold but decided to stay put until it calmed down which it did at about 17:00. We considered making the most of it and sailing to Palau but frankly, we couldn’t find the energy.

In the evening we went into the village. During the day the anchorage had emptied out from 8 boats to just 2, presumably because of the swell rolling in. We were wondering where they’d all gone to? The answer became clear as soon as we walked up onto the road. Not more than 200m from where we were anchored was another beautiful bay, which was completely flat calm, and full of boats. We contemplated going around but it’d take a good few hours so we stayed where we were.

After a 15min walk we found a little bar with wifi. Well, more accurately the guy tethered my phone to his iPhone, so I refrained kicking off my mammoth 6,500 photo sync, Spotify music download and phone backup. After a beer we fancied a bit of a walk and found on Google Maps a 1.5km route which would take us to a cala nearby, so off we went. The path took us off-road and along a very rocky track. We passed a bunch of people who were on their way back up, and some Dutchies who’d decided to turn around before it got dark. We still had a few hours of daylight left so we continued, and eventually made it to the cala. In fact, it was more like a mini commune complete with permanent-looking tents, men with man-buns playing bongos, wild looking children and women whose hair looked like it needed a good comb. We walked to the beach, took a few pics and headed back before it got dark. Interesting place!