Day 31 Turning turtle

Waves hitting the shore
More swells - After No Regrets was safely in their new location, I went back to bed to try to recover. Mark, Kurt and Andy stayed on deck to make sure we were safe from the swells. At about 1:30 a wave broke in front of us. White water came onto our deck and Southern Star lunged upward to ride the wave. Our dinghy was tied to the port (left) side and was thrust upward so violently that it capsized; spilling its contents into the bay.
Andy quickly donned his swim fins and was in the water for the second time that night. He rounded up everything that floats including our Crocks (shoes) and a few miscellanea. Mark and Kurt righted the dinghy but the motor had been submerged and would not run. By now we were all on deck to survey the scene. Our only real loss was the dinghy anchor but it was clear that remaining in that anchorage was too risky. We recovered our stern anchor by backing down to it using the boat’s engine. Then we motored forward and wound in the main anchor.
By the time we were safely anchored next to No Regrets, it was 3:30 in the morning.
Within an hour, we were joined by Dirigo and Surprise. Surprise had suffered damage to their rudder when one of the large swells tossed them first upward and then slammed them into the bottom. Far Niente lost their stern anchor in the melee but was able to stay on their position. Little Golden Lion, the smallest boat in the “fleet” at 39 feet, had no problems but they also put their dinghy to work helping others get settled in the night.
By the time we got back to bed, it was 5:30 and Mark remained on deck until 7:30 to ensure we were safe.
A new day - The serene anchorage we entered 6 days ago had turned into surf city.
No Regrets found their dinghy on the rocks. One of the two pontoons had deflated and had several punctures and the motor was under water.
Kurt saw the surfers and began unpacking his board just as Nick from Piña Colada came on deck with his board. Kurt hitched a ride and spent the next 3 ½ hours getting the kinks out and riding some waves with the locals. I think he and Nick (from New Zealand) out shined the local boys.
Mark took the dinghy to the Mobil station and came back a few hours later rowing. We worked on the motor together for another hour and finally got it running better than it had since PV.
Far Niente spent half the day looking for their stern anchor and almost capsized their dinghy in a breaking wave. Eric reported later on the radio that he thought they were certainly going over. He had pointed the bow into the wave and gunned the engine. Their little inflatable tipped up to a 70º angle and thankfully crested the wave just in time.
We did another boat clean up in preparation for an early departure on Easter Sunday.
On shore there was party to celebrate a fishing competition. There was fantastic live music and the fisherman who had gone out at 4 AM were preparing for the judging. Mark and Andy went ashore to have a look (I had to stay within running distance of the head). They reported that the winner had caught two grouper weighing about 145 pounds each.
During our hurried move last night, we bent the shank on our stern anchor. This is a piece of steel about two inches wide and ¼ inch thick and it was bent at a 30º angle. They took it to shore and asked if anyone had tools to straighten it.. One of the locals - a rather large sized Polynesian lad - jammed it into some pipes and bent it back by hand. Only in Polynesia.
Kurt came back from surfing, tired, sore and satisfied.
Everyone was in bed at 8:30 as we prepared to leave early the next morning for Fatu Hiva.