We overnighted it from Ninigo to Hermit expecting to hit the West end of the atoll in the early morning. We were too early, in fact, and would have entered right into the rising sun and unable to spot the reefs so we sailed on by to the east side and had the sun high up and behind us. We anchored off Luf, the main island. There was actually very little space to anchor as most of the bay was too deep or too shallow. Ben, who is in charge of visiting yachts, jumped in his canoe and led us to where we could anchor.
Hermit has been much visited by passing yachts so the islanders seemed a little less interested in our presence there. There is a new chief, so perhaps that has made a difference. Its a beautiful little place, though. The whole island is Seventh Day Adventist and on Friday afternoon everything shuts down, no one is supposed to engage in work or play until sundown on Saturday.
It seemed the whole island was involved in the "new school"; in fact they were calling it a dream school. They've moved the location to the back side of the island and aways from the central village. We were approached by a delegation from the school and council members most likely for a donation for their school fund. I asked them for a detailed analysis of what it was they actually needed and then told them that hitting up yachts for a few hundred kina here and there wasn't really going to make a difference.
Frida became my best buddy while we were there. She set me up so I could do some laundry and then gave me a tour of Japan Point, where she lived. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't get on the regular "tour" itinerary. She lives there with Nancy and another Nancy and an assortment of kids.
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