• The morning after the crazy storm, we took Worm over to the little village across the channel, along with our local guide, Nerriah, to see the baby dugong. It had died last Sunday, so we missed him, but we had a lovely hour with the locals who had taken care of it. When we got ready to leave, the ladies showered us with gifts of pumpkin and chotles(another veggie)with beautiful smiles on their faces, and I felt grateful for the encounter. Guess it was not our time to convene with the dugongs but there is still hope that we will be able to swim with them up on the northwest coast of this island. We had a great sail up the coast of Malakula Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Banam Bay ( S 16 20' E 167 45')with time to enjoy a visit onto another beautiful beach and into a village filled with friendly, welcoming people who proudly showed us around and introduced us to everyone. Gifts of sweet spring onions, island cabbage, another pumpkin, paw paws, tomatoes, and nuts were given to us and we went back to Sidewinder and Java, reflecting on the generosity of such poor people. This morning we gave the family some gifts of our own, said our good-byes and sailed across the ocean to Ambryn. David and I snorkeled this afternoon off Sidewinder, around the nearby south lava rock point in crystal clear pretty warm water, amazed by the different coral here, as compared to other islands. It was awesome getting back into the warm water again. Tomorrow we head up around the corner to Ranon or Ranvetlam Bay and perhaps arrange for a hike to the volcano; depends on how adventurous we are. We still have a lot of places to go and we are running out of time.......seems like we have been moving now way too fast, but it is now all about the weather and getting out of the cyclone zone for a rest. And the beat goes on....... Love to all, Suzi and David