Hello all from the northern Lau group.

We are finally able to connect after having been without communications over the past 4 days. The local cellular tower has been out of service for a week, and we were (inexplicably) unable to connect through our satellite phone. After several days of trouble shooting, and finding no problems on this end, we had multiple back-and-forth conversations with tech support and engineers at Globe Wireless who kept insisting that it was not their problem, but was a vessel issue. Finally, after a change of settings on their end, we successfully connected to the satellites and are back in communications.

We are anchored at Ship Sound in Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu Island. The "bay" is small, located inside the fringing reef, and entry is a bit tricky. We found 13.5 feet of water at mid-tide as we passed through Shoal Passage into the small Ship Sound anchorage. We are surrounded by many small and one large volcanic island amid turquoise blue water. I see a photo-op from mast head in my future.

We will be here for several days before heading back to Dalconi Village on Monday with plans to attend a lovo (traditional Fijian earth pit cooking) and Fijian dancing and singing.

It h


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