We are leaving Suwarrow tomorrow.... for real this time.

Hello Everyone,

Well it has been a wonderful 8 days in paradise... We have been really lucky with the weather and being able to enjoy Suwarrow for all that it has to offer. It truly is as picturesque as a screen saver. We will be leaving here tomorrow Thursday 13th... and hope to arrive in Tonga on Monday it is a 700 mile passage. We are ready to leave and excited for the passage because it should be really good weather and decent swells to go with us... At some point we will have to motor but I enjoy that because it usually means the seas have died down. We are sad to leave this beautiful little spot in the middle of no where. We have been snorkeling daily, fishing, flying kites, swimming with our shark friends... and some that aren't so much our friends, walking on the beach, climbing trees, making videos, and of course the potlucks on the beach almost nightly and everyone brings their guitars and ukeleles... and we all sing along sitting around the fire under the stars.... just magical!

Yesterday Chris and I had decided to go out to snorkel the channel that comes in to the lagoon with Patrick and Anna... the channels are usually really beautiful because there is a shallow reef on the side and then you have the wall of coral and the drop off that goes into the really deep part. So we are snorkeling along and like usual we see a grey shark swimming about and being a little curious so it is swimming about 10 feet away and then disappears... so we keep going... then it comes back and there are 2 grey sharks... okay so they are swimming around us and then go away... well then about 15 minutes go by and I think what they did is went and told all their friends that we were there because all of a sudden there were about 12 grey sharks swimming toward us.... they at first just looked like they were checking us out since we were in their neighborhood... I don't like it when there are that many within 20 feet of us so I decided to bail and jump in the dinghy with Anna.... so then it is Patrick and Chris in the water and I am hanging my head in the water watching as these sharks are starting to get a little more lets say upset that we are there. They start to come a little closer and swim quickly in a zig zag motion... I pick my head up out of the water and then all of a sudden both Chris and Patrick jump up into the dinghy like they are shamu at seaworld with all their legs and arms out of the water... We asked was it the sharks... and they both said Nooooo... we just decided to get out of the water at the same time... Uh Huhh.. sure....

Today we celebrated Tristan's 14th Birthday... he said all he wanted for his birthday was to not be on passage so we had that covered at least... I found a pound of bacon in the fridge... which is quite treasured around here since there are no shops for weeks... He got all the bacon and was really enjoying eating it in front of all the kids while they were drooling watching him... I explained that it was his only birthday present so he got to eat the whole thing... he did share in the end but had fun with them watching him eat it first... Then our friends from Shine came over and for Tristan's birthday they had made a happy birthday video of him and all the silly things they have captured him doing on film.... it was so touching and fun to watch... we have watched it over and over again... they also gave him a fried egg and bacon sandwich, an almost empty jar of peanut butter, some chocolate milk powder and a card that said the 14 reason why they love Tristan.... So awesome! Then they had taken him away to go play all day... super fun.
We had a spaghetti feed tonight for diner with Shine and the family with twin boys on Por Dos. Lots of people on the boat... lots of kids and lots of fun! Tristan had a great day but in the end.... he really misses home and his friends and the times they spent together... so there was a little sadness to the day as well. These are the times that it hits hard and you really think about home and really start missing what you left behind. Things in a way are so much easier at home, but also in a way so much easier out here because you just have to either plan really good or just do without....

We will all go in to see the ranger Harry tomorrow and make sure we are cleared from the country and we have all of our paperwork together in order to clear into the next country. Then we will be departing around 10am tomorrow with Shine and Por Dos. We are buddy boating to Tonga with them, it is always nice to know that there are other boats out there with you. I really dread the passages... they just take so long and you don't ever get the rest that you need... hopefully the weather stays as predicted and it is a smooth passage down. I am excited for to get there and see what Tonga has to offer... I hear it is absolutely amazing and very welcoming and friendly to cruisers.

Hugs and love to everyone back home... we miss you guys!

Love Heath

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