There are navigational hazards all over the oceans and lagoons.  These can range from natural reefs and bommies that are just below the surface to lost containers, FADs (fishing devices), debris and trash,

We are constantly watching the ocean in front of us and utilizing multiple charts and satellite images to ensure a smooth passage.  This would be whether it is 1200nm or 8nm.  Distance doesn’t matter when things can pop up at any moment.

We were leaving Atchin and heading to Aore island which is a 10nm sail.  We had full sails as there were light winds predicted.  

What Can You See?

Matt called me over to look out at the ocean.  Hmmm, I could see a color difference ahead so we both checked the charts.  We were running navionics, B&G, Rocket Guide, Garmin, satellite charts from three sources and I am on the bow as a lookout.  This is our norm.

Me looking for visual changes in the ocean and or reefs / bommies.

At first glance we could not see any reason as to why the ocean goes from dark blue to a lighter blue.  I looked closely at Navionics.  Everything appears clear (left image)….until you zoom in (right image) and click on the small dot when “reef” shows up.  Well, that is one obstruction we want to avoid.  

But on the satellite charts there are two areas of concern.  The oval shaped one below is the one we spotted after we zoomed in to Navionics.  However, the long skinny one, just below the boat never showed up.  What the heck?  Well, no matter what it is, let’s avoid it!

As it turns out, we believe that the light coloring in the satellite chart could be a cut in the fringing reef where a creek emerges from the forest.  But, despite this possibility we decided it was best to go around it.

Aore Island

We arrived safely into Aiswari Bay on Aore Island.  It is a tricky entrance where you have to have good light to navigate around the reefs that line the entrance.

You are rewarded with a super calm, beautiful anchorage once you are inside the pass.  We were looking for an isolated anchorage where we could work on boat projects and let my hands heal.  

Matt took this time to go for a few paddle board trips, we walked onshore (which is pretty much the only thing I can do) and we worked on small boat projects.

We had beautiful sunsets (top) and sunrises (bottom).

What Do You Do With Injured Hands?

I organized our spices.  Yep, that is exciting.  We had all of our spices in an upper cabinet.  The problem was you could not see anything beyond the spices in front.  So, they ended up getting moved around a lot making it difficult to find what you needed.

So, I gathered my label maker, labeled the lids and we moved them to a drawer.  Sweet as!

Go Sun

Our good friend Rena on sv Moana gifted us with a Go Sun.  I had never heard of them before, but of course Matt was over the moon with this new oven.  All it needs is a little sun and you can bake bread, pizza dough, baguettes, veggies, potatoes and more.  Our first try came out pretty darn tasty!

Malokilikili Bay, Malo Isalnd

We had a “light” weather window and decided to motor sail10nm to Malo Island.  We had passed by a pretty bay on the way to Aore Island but could not enter due to the wind direction.  Since, the winds shifted and decreased, we thought we would go check it out.

We are headed to Malokilikili Bay just off of Malotina Island (which is just off Malo Island).  There are a lot of reefs and bommies in this area.  The best time to enter is when the sun is straight up, clear skies, and calm seas.  The tide is 2m at 0 tide and we have a 1.3m draft.  Doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.  But we are able to navigate around all the bommies and anchored in a sandy spot.

All of the dark spots in the turquoise water are bommies or coral heads.  The white or gray areas are reef.  Can you see Sugar Shack in the photo above?

The photo below shows you how close we are to one large bommie.  We dropped our hook in 3m, put out 15m of chain, plus 5m of bridle.  We could have anchored further up, but we set the hook good and decided to leave it.  

Super beautiful, calm, protected spot.  We enjoyed a nice long walk around Malotina and then took the dinghy over to Malokilikili.  We met a few locals who took us around to each of the 4 villages on the island and even managed to score some fruit!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We visited Malokilikil and Aore Island in late July 2024.  In our last blog I share the unfortunate burning of my hands….