We've just arrived in Palmerston

With the full moon setting in the West, and the sun rising in the east, we had our first sighting of Palmerston, after another slow, but comfortable overnight sail. Schools of flying fish escorted us in. There are currently five other sailboats here. Upon our approach we received VHF contact from Edward, our designated "host family". He was insistent that we anchor, as he didn't have any moorings left. There were two moorings still available, but they weren't his. As mentioned earlier there are three families and they take turns being your host. The seas are pretty big, with large swells and a very scary looking reef. There is no inside lagoon anchoring, so all boats are on the outside of the reef. As insistent as Edward was about us anchoring, Peter was equally as insistent that we go on a mooring ball. Peter won the "discussion" and we are safely on a mooring ball. Edward said he would go and talk to the owner of the mooring ball and see what he could do, but he emphasized for the time being we are "in his house". So, we've already sparked some politics on this quaint island.

We have a large shipment of supplies for Jock Marsters, and when we advised Edward he said that they were aware of that and he will make arrangements for its' delivery. Not sure if this will also upset the apple cart.

We are now to wait on the boat for "customs" to come out. We are rocking and rolling as if we are still out at sea, so this is not going to be a comfortable stopover while we are aboard. We will stay either one night, or two and then begin our next 3 night passage to Beveridge Reef. Thanks to our Ham contact, Peter in California who Peter checks in with every night while we are underway. We will be in touch when we are ready to leave to set up our next schedule. Thanks again Peter for being there with us on all our passages. To our friends and family back home, I will keep in touch by updating this blog daily once we head off on our next passage to Beveridge. Until then...stay safe and remember to smell the roses.