Roller Coasters and Tanna Island

Well, we made it this morning to the lovely and ominous island of Tanna in the country of Vanuatu. We had to slow the boat down for the last 30 hrs so as to make our arrival in daylight, which we just did as the sun was coming up on the horizon. None to soon for us and White Swan ahead of us. Our first day out of Fiji was rough but fast and doable. Then we were becalmed for two days and had to motor despite promising and vowing that we would not if at all possible. But you turn on the motor when you can't keep the boat speed up enough to go in a straight line so we did, for almost 48 hrs. Then, White Swan calls us on the VHF radio and tells us they just got the big whammy ahead. The wind went from nothing (0-3kts) to 25kts in the space of five whole minutes. A front was passing through as had been predicted by the Grib files.

The roller coaster ride started then with a vengeance. It was fairly early in the morning and we had time with our warning from WS to roller reef the main sail and otherwise get ready. Never mind that we had gotten lazy and complacent and didn't bother to really, really secure everything down below. The wind and waves kicked out behinds. The flat leisurely seas built and built and built until they were angry monster hillocks trying to put us on our beam ends, and did. We had the lee rail in the water many times. Giant buckets of water came crashing in to the cockpit repeatedly. Finally I had to put on my foul weather gear to attempt to stay dry and to also stay warm as each mile we went further south got a little cooler, especially inside an angry washing machine with no hot water on tap. Plus the boat got on its side and stayed there except for the rolling to the other side just to make things interesting. So no cooking, no walking on the boat like a normal person. You had to crawl along and prop your self constantly to avoid being slammed in to the wood work. Once again, we had grave doubts about whether this was really truly fun enough and may be we should just go back to coastal cruising in the US or Mexico and skip the wild passages in the open.

But just like all the other times, you get in to a pretty place, that is new and interesting, and you forget very quickly about the living hell you just went through. And, we definitely like Tanna Island. I have only had 3 hrs of sleep in the last 36 so am little punchy but we got in and had to get some of the salt crust off of the boat (outside mostly but inside too) and straighten out the mess on the floor boards that had fallen off shelves and other places. Some books came out of a well protected book shelf that have never come out before. We will stow better next time (I hope). It was hard to get around down below because of so much on the floor and we were too tired and the boat too active to want to pick it up along the way.

Tanna and the Ni-Van are way cool though. This is truly what I had always imagined South Pacific islands should be like. They have a few 4WD trucks here but mostly to ferry the tourists around. The tourist facilities here are very primitive which is attractive to a certain type of tourist, but not the kind that likes flush toilets and clean showers. Here they advertise as a special bonus if they have flush toilets or showers at all for that matter. The people are very friendly (we walked in to the local village this afternoon) and many of them speak English. They are very dark skinned with dramatic facial features with twinkling and happy eyes. Which is a good thing with people that stopped eating each other just a short time ago. Missionaries were a special treat when they could get them.

We have to hire a truck to take us on a bumpy long drive across the island tomorrow or Friday to check in with Customs, Immigration and Quarantine. We also have to book a trip to the active volcano just over the ridge from our anchorage. It still throws massive rocks around that are just this side of molten. When you go to the rim with your guide you are supposed to never turn your back on the caldera so you can see where the next lava or boulder is going to land so as to make an attempt to move out of its landing path. Sounds pretty hard to me but they warn you before you go and lawyers are sacrificed to the volcano regularly. Gives the volcano gas though (sorry Eugene!). Truly an adventure tour.

The village here is very rustic and obviously poor by world standards. But the people seem happy and don't know what they are missing I guess. We brought t-shirts to give away and to trade for fruits and veggies and other things. A fellow named Brian came out to Maggie Drum after we anchored in his home-made outrigger canoe - just like in the movies. He only went through 3rd grade school but is quite intelligent and has taught himself English. He speaks very well. I gave him a can of mackerel we got just for this purpose and he gave us some green bananas and a kumura (type of sweet potato). Tomorrow we will give him some D-cell flashlight batteries that he needs for fishing and we will get breadfruit, coconuts and anything else we want from his garden. He had a home-made bow and arrows on board that he fishes with along with a net. He uses flashlights to fish on the outer reefs at night. We also met the local chief near the village. He was short and wiry with grey hair but he looked healthy and strong. He gave us permission to wander the village and take pictures. We also visited a high quality little "cultural center" there that is like a small open museum. It has color photos of various aspects of village life (women and men's circumcision ceremonies, dances, hunting, kava, etc.) This is the real meal deal here folks. Not sanitized. This is not the movie South Pacific or some reality Survivor show. Quite exciting. We feel fortunate to be here.

So, we have almost forgotten about our passage from hell (as the last three have been) and are planning all the things we are going to do here. We booked dinner for tomorrow night at a tiny, tiny little restaurant on the beach with surf so loud you almost have to yell to be heard. The food is supposed to be to die for! Yum! Oh by the way, this is a malaria area so we have to be extra careful about bug spray and covering ourselves. Nasty stuff.

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