Left mooring 17:10
Learned that as we had no quarantine flag flying when we came in the district officer took it that we had been cleared at Tulagi and so the refusal to come out in the rain. Can’t say as I blame him.
The pilot book describes the weather here as unhealthy and that’s no lie. I never saw it rain so much. About a week before we came it rained nine and a half inches in one day. It is always raining and a break in the weather is not expected for sometime.
Some of the boys went to a tea with Exy, Nora, and the two kids. The first thing Exy told about was how good the brats were. I found out from the gang that they, especially Arthur, werer as good as portrayed. Exy certainly praised the kids for their good behavior. If I ever have kids I’ll whale the tar out of them if they’re not good in front of company.
Left after supper and boiled out through the reef at seven knots with squaresail and raffee set and a native on deck.