Thar she blows

We spent a day getting the hydraulic pump on our auto pilot replaced by Trouble in Paradise. Great name for a mechanic wouldn't you say. I may have told you about Ian in an earlier blog. He is from Britain and lived in Canada for a good part of his life. Most recently in Vancouver fixing boats. He never complains and nothing seems to phase him. The next day we were off to Kentunu Island on the east side of Vava'u. On route what to our glorious eyes do appear but a Humpback whale. Zeke's keen eye sight picked out the whales right away and he got some great photos. 

Here you can see the whale glistening in the sun. I've just learned that these are humpback whales not Beluga whales as I previously thought. I stand corrected. After seeing the whales we proceeded through the pass where we saw the Manta Rays but didn't see anymore Manta Rays. We proceeded through a 2nd set of passes that led us to Kenutu Island. Upon arrival we could hear the surf crashing on the other side of the island. 

While there we walked the beach and took a walk to the far side of the island. Upon arrival we discovered a tree house which we of course had to explore. 

We watched the crashing surf from the top of the cliffs.  We walked as far as we could and then headed back to the beach.  When we got there we could hear the waves exploding out of blow holes. We looked for another path to the blow holes but were unable to find one. The tide was out so we walked to the north end of the island and watched the surf crashing there. 

On route we saw some great sea creatures. 

Zeke headed offshore and got some great pictures of fish and saw an eel. 

The next morning I was rewarded with a spectacular sight

With the rainbow is a promise of a great day ahead.  We had a great sail back to Neiafu. Sailing in Vava'u is tremendous as we had great winds and flat seas because it is surrounded by protective reefs.  We tested our new auto pilot hydraulic pump to insure it was working properly. The next few days we spent provisioning for the next 2 months of sailing.