Asanvari on Maewo Island

It is now almost the end of September. We got in to the extinct volcano crater harbor at Lolowai on Ambae Island yesterday afternoon (Friday). I have not written anything for several days since I am trying to get over a bout of dysentery that I picked up last Sunday night (it is now Saturday morning). Not sure where it came from but it got to be enough of a nuisance (all lower end stuff) that I started on Cipro, a strong antibiotic, and Imodium. I won't bore you with the details but it kind of put a damper on my activities and energy so I stayed on the boat mostly for four days straight while Cindy went out and had some adventures. I will relay those the best I can.

Our trip over from the beautiful anchorage at Asanvari was short but not gentle. It was blowing 25kt but thankfully on our stern and we only had to go 11 miles. Yesterday morning we were on shore at the little village shooting the breeze with Chief Nelson, his son Nixon, and a few others (including very cute kids). Nixon and Nelson were doing sand drawings for us in the dirt and telling us the old stories about the man who founded all the tribes there. It was very special and the sort of thing that you only get after you have been one place for several days and get comfortable with the locals and are not so much of a "tourist". So many of our cruising friends have this "check the box" attitude, saying they don't have time to dawdle, so they go here, go there, as fast as they can and just do the highlights - see the volcano - check, see the dance - check, have the local dinner - check, snorkel the beautiful reef - check, and then they are off. They don't really get to know the locals or some of the hidden treasures that are often much more interesting and memorable than the items in the Lonely Planet or cruising guides. Or at least, that is the way we feel and to each his or her own.

While we were relaxing with the Asanvari locals we heard a big powerful ship motoring nearby and thought it was a freighter, which was odd since freighters no longer call on Maewo (a major problem for them). It turned out to be the Vanuatu Navy cutter that we had seen coming in and out of Port Vila. They were in to check cruiser papers and sent a dinghy to shore to tell us to return to our boats and be boarded. We said our last goodbye's to all and went out and then the big Navy dink came over to White Swan, then to us. Six of them came on board, two with guns, in their big boots and politely ask to see all our papers from checking in - passports, ship registration, customs clearance, quarantine receipt, etc. and asked a bunch of questions about where we had been and where we were going. Not intimidating but very official. They shook our hands coming and going and were very courteous. They left then. They had caught other boats without the proper papers elsewhere and will issue a fine (immediate payment required or you get escorted back to Vila and impounded) or for worst stuff, they will arrest you and impound the boat, which they have done. We don't blame them for being careful about their waters. The USCG is much less courteous these days and worse with the paperwork.

Asanvari was another gem of a place to see. The anchorage was gorgeous, with a big waterfall cascading in to the bay right in front of our boats. The island of Maewo is noted for its waterfalls and cascades in fact and you could see others in the distance coming down the very steep and rugged terrain. Of course, everything is covered in the densest jungle you can imagine. The green is practically dripping from itself with big vines covering even the tallest trees and coconut palms interspersed throughout. We all just stare at it all the time. Just amazingly lush and varied. We got in last Saturday just in time to go in later for a big birthday party at the Asanvari Yacht Club for several of the cruisers that were already there. They said there was plenty of food so we were welcome. All eleven boats went in, with one grumpy exception, and we played games before running through the buffet cooked up by Nixon, who is a trained chef. There was coconut crab (a big land crab), fresh water prawns, chicken and curried pawpaw (papaya), rice, all topped off with several birthday cakes made by the other cruisers. They had the local string band come in to play so they were over on one side making music for us while we ate and afterward. It was a blast and only cost 800vt (about $8US) for each of us.

The next day was a rest and relax day (like lots of them) but later they said there was going to be a local custom dance if enough people wanted it so we went in. It went back and forth and they were going to cancel then decided to go ahead on short notice. It was completely different than the other dances we had seen before. First of all, the men (only men and boys), were dressed in grass-woven loincloths with the oddest assortment of hats made of pandamus or grass. It was as if a bunch of kids were told to go make fanciful hats for themselves out of leaves and grass and this is what they came up with. Every hat on the 15 guys there were different. They also had rattles tied around their ankles made of big dried nuts tied on strings and mostly barefoot. A couple of the hardest stomping fellas had old flipflops that looked like they had been found on the roadway of a major expressway they were so blown out and tired looking. They also had an assortment of poles and carved items they used for various dances. It all involved chanting, drumming, hooping and hollering, and tremendous amounts of stomping on the floor (inside the yacht club). Chief Nelson, who is missing most of his front teeth which never stops his big smiles, called out the dances with rhythmic chanting with the men moving around in different ways depending on the particular dance. They all told a story of some sort, with one being the "war" dance. The next to the last dance they went around and grabbed each one of us and made us stomp around in the circle for a long time. It was a hoot!

Cindy, Bob and Dianna did a self-guided tour of the little village the next day, my first full day of being sick as it started the night before. The village is set on a narrow peninsula of land which forms one side of the bay. This is the southernmost part of the island so the outside is ocean across from Pentecost Island where we were before. The peninsula was obviously formed by a couple of small volcano domes ages ago so it is a very pretty landform. There is a small white sand beach in front of the village and coral reefs in front of that. Getting to shore in the dinks involved using our paddles after lifting the motor up or putting down the dinghy wheels to keep the motor off the rocks and reefs. You have to do some serious wading to get in and out anyway. The village is very clean and tidy, but still very poor. As mentioned above, they no longer get any freighters in here so they run out of everything - gasoline, matches, flour, rice, clothes, shoes, medicine, everything. They bummed some gas from one of the boats so they could take the kids to school for the week up the island. There aren't any cars or roads on Maewo - none. All travel is done on foot on jungle tracks and trails or on the beach or by boat. Dugout canoes can go the short distances but it is too rough to go long distances without protection of a bay. They are starting to have to make their cooking fires the old way, by rubbing sticks together, as they have no more matches. They try to keep one fire burning at one house and go there to get a light when they need it but it does not always work. We gave them all our spare lighters before we left.

One of the highlights of the visit, and one that we specifically went there for, I missed. We were offered a special tour up to the taboo bat caves high in the mountains. Cindy went with Bob from White Swan and big, tall Elizabeth, a beautiful Norwegian woman crewing on Ventana. David was the local guide. He had two mismatched shoes, one a watersport slipper, and the other an old tennis shoe which was held together by shoe laces wrapped around and around the sole. It fell apart on the tour and he just wore the one the rest of the way. The trip wore everyone except David out. It started right at 9am and lasted until 4pm. It went up and up and up in the steamy jungle, then down, then through rivers, then up rivers walking in the cascades. From the descriptions and pictures they showed me it was a once in a lifetime experience. The cascades were even prettier than the ones we saw outside of Port Vila. Inside the caves, there were indeed many bats hanging from the tall ceilings. They were not amused by having visitors and flapped around and around and especially did not like having their pictures taken with the flash. The caves are limestone and very near the tops of the rugged backbone ridge of the island. The hikers were near exhaustion when they got back and covered in mud, bruises and scratches. Cindy was also covered in multi-colored dye that bled off of here tie-dyed shirt that she got in Mexico. Her panties ended up tie-dyed too - kind of kinky.

We hated to leave Maewo but have to keep moving on now as cyclone season looms. We will stay in Lolowai a couple of days. It has roads and cars and trucks and a hospital and a few stores. It is only 11 miles from Asanvari but that may as well be a thousand miles for the poor villagers over there as far as buying anything from the stores here. It is ironic that they have the cash from the cruisers but can't buy anything. They asked us to tell any other cruisers that may come later to bring things to them that they are desperate for - matches, gasoline, yeast, flour, shoes, etc.

I am feeling better now and looking forward to going in this morning and exploring. Terry from Anacortes is helping me troubleshoot my autopilot which still insists on quitting while we are underway. My Monitor wind vane pilot needs a complete rebuild when we get to NZ so it is on the growing list of things to do there - it never ends.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com

Loltong Bay on Pentecost Island

We are resting after another long morning, getting up late, getting the dink ready to go in and walking around the village here. It was a beautiful night with a good breeze which means it was cool and no flies. The flies just about ran us out of Ambryn and the heat just about did too. It is now Spring here and we are at about 15 degrees south of the equator, which is very close, and it is stifling hot without a breeze, and sometimes even with a breeze. I am talking about where you sweat in the shade and can't drink enough water to keep the headaches away, where you have two t-shirts every day with one drying out at all times. Deodorant cannot keep up with this stuff. Forget antiperspirant. No way. It is hot!! We are not happy campers when it is this hot and it is not even close to summer yet. The humidity is what kills you though and it is not the wet season. When we think of what it would be like to live here year round in "paradise", we don't know how you would survive. Even the natives complain - now. We don't think they move around very much in the summer but of course they still have to work the gardens and tend to things. Glad we have a choice.

We had another magical moment here on Pentecost at Loltong Bay this morning. We had not even planned on getting off the boats on the way north to Maewo Island. Pentecost has a reputation for a lot of petty theft and unfriendly people in past years and we have plenty to see and do on other islands with better reps. But when we put in the bay last night, we decided we had to check it out. It is a tremendous natural amphitheater of a bay with vertical walls on three sides completely covered in jungle and gardens. The village is at the middle of the bay and partially up one side. There are a bunch of European style houses made of concrete or cinderblocks and it just seems idyllic here. So, after the hard rain this morning we got the dink ready and picked up Bob and Dianna from White Swan and went in through the shallow reefs protecting the sand beach.

On the beach, forming a natural landmark, is a huge banyan tree. It is the only one you can see from the water and it is a darker green than the rest. Banyans are majestic trees with many, many "air" roots coming down around the central core so that it looks to be made up of many smaller trees but the core is huge. We are talking twenty feet in diameter or more. The locals place special significance to them and often have houses or whole villages close to the really biggest ones, and you can see why. They awe you like the sequoias do back in California. Not as tall may be, but special nonetheless.

When we got in and beached the dink we were met by Mary, wife of Chief Luc who was at a meeting at the local Nakamal with some Australians planning to help them build a wharf for landing the freighters. Last night one came in and stood off the outer reefs and sent in smaller tenders completely full of people. The bay shallows really far out so anyone getting in and out of the tenders has to walk in the saltwater for about 10-20 feet before the dry beach. A wharf would really help them. Mary told us we needed to repark the dink on the other side of this little mini-point so we did that. She asked us to come over to her house and showed us a "program" - her word for a menu for a local food meal at her "restaurant". We booked for tonight and also booked the local string band to play for us, and the village. The whole village will show up for any music but we get to pay for it, but it is only about $10, so what the heck.

But, what happened later is what was magical. We walked through the village and noted how different every island and every village has been. Everyone was friendly and we met Mary's kids and her sister's kids, and her sister's kids' kids, etc. Children were everywhere, including naked little ones. Kids out here tend to have gross looking snot hanging from their noses with no Kleenex in sight. The big ones get out of the habit I guess since they look more sanitary. All are friendly though and very interested in us.

After our walk we got back to the beach and there was a gang of ten kids from about 4yo to 10yo, boys and girls, all giggling and wanting their pictures taken. They are the biggest hams out here!! We did that and learned all their names and one of the older girls (about 9) is named Cindy. She thought it was great that her name was the same as my Cindy's and just started giggling for all she was worth, then ran off a few feet before coming back. Turns out she is one of the ring leaders of this pack and one of the most precocious. She has a beautiful smile with sparkling white teeth that should be on a toothpaste commercial, or a glamour ad, what with her intelligent and beautiful eyes. We started yucking it up with the these tykes and ended up trying to throw skippers out in to the bay. They knew exactly what kind of flat rocks to find and threw the best ones to put us older folks to shame. Some had flip flops on and others were barefoot. Even the barefoot ones would tear off down the beach with its rough coral rock rubble as if they were running on grass. Just to tiptoe on this rock would send us to the foot doctor but these guys run full out on it no problem.

While we were running around and laughing and taking pictures, it started to rain. These guys knew exactly how to run up under a big tree that was undercut low down. We could not get under where they were so got wetter. Most of them did not have on shirts so they got chilled and huddled together to keep warm and to stay under. Then Cindy (the young one) started singing and the rest of them started to follow. They were singing mostly church songs for kids but they put everything in to each song, even the littlest and youngest. They had no embarrassment at all and looked us right in the eye while they belted out the tunes. It was amazing and made you just smile on the inside and outside. We all had a blast out there on the beach under the big tree while it rained.

After several, several songs the rain quit for a bit and we made a run for the dink and out to the boat. I found that I have a wound on the back of my right leg that may be getting infected. This is bad as I have to jump out in the water to get in and out of the dink each time and seawater is a nasty soup of bacteria and this is a big no-no. However, I don't have much choice so I will just have to keep doctoring it up and put on antiseptic each and every time and hope for the best. Others have had real problems out here with similar wounds on the legs so I am a bit concerned. I am pretty tough after all this and is should be OK. We go to the restaurant at 6pm tonight for our meal and the string band. We are hoping it does not rain to spoil it.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com

Ambryn Island - Island of Socerers and Volcanos

I have to go back a couple of days which is what seems to happen. When you get caught up in events and have a special time, it seems too soon or early to immediately write it up and get it out on the blog. We have had several times like that and Ambryn Island was one. We only stayed at one anchorage there but there aren't very many. We actually had a report from one yacht that we knew in Whangarei that Ranon was a horrible place to go - the people asked for outrageous fees to do everything and were very unfriendly. We went anyway and found both items wrong.

They do have a formal "information center" and they do have a set of "official" tours and activities that they charge for. When we first dropped the hook in a very open anchorage (no protection for 180 degrees - i.e. a "roadstead anchorage") a dugout canoe came out with a fella about 35yo, named Jeffrey. He was very polite and welcomed us to Ranon and Ambryn Island. He told us where the information center was and that while there were many tours we could pick and choose what we wanted to do or do none of them, but we were welcome any way if we did none. We could walk where we wanted and just hang out if we wanted. He did say that his wife would do a boatload of laundry for 500vt (about $5US!!) or get us vegetables or fruit and bring them out. He could also get fresh-baked bread if we wanted, which we ordered. He went to White Swan and gave them the same spiel and then White Swan gave him the big wahoo that they had caught on the way up from Epi. We saved the one we caught to share with WS for that night and later since our reefer is big and has room.

Later on that day Jeffrey came by but this time on a big fiberglass open boat with three other fellas on board and he asked on behalf of the "captain" if we could sell them some gasoline for the boat. We said we could spare about 2 gallons but would only trade for it not for money. They liked that so we gave them some and they mixed some outboard oil in it and away they went up the coast. Gas is hard, and expensive, to come by out here. We were asked for many things this visit, including one of the most prized items - cow ropes. They know yachtie often have spare ropes from leftover halyards and other lines that have to be renewed periodically. They have a lot of cows that they move from spot to spot and graze but they need to tie them up with cow ropes. The ropes get worn out quickly in the brush with the stupid cows wrapping themselves up around trees and rocks all the time. I cut up one old halyard from the rope locker and traded for the two pieces separately.

White Swan wanted to go see a Rom Dance which is one of the tours you can do here. Ambryn is the only island with this dance and it is done in what's called a "custom" or "kastom" village, i.e. one that still practices the old ways before white men came. The Rom Dance is one of the customary dances and the men dancers wear these very exotic outfits with masks and full dried leaf coverings for their bodies. Not all mean wear the full deal. If not the men are naked except for a penis sheaf called a "namba" and a few leaves here and there. High ranking men, like the village chief, wear different kinds of leaves and/or feathers. They also have anklets with dried nuts that are a type of rattle that shake when they stomp their feet during the dance. The dance is done in a tight circle with the men in the wild complete costumes on the outside and the men without anything except their nambas and leaves in the middle. They stomp their feet on the ground, which is a hard packed but damp sand clearing, to the timing of songs or chants they do. They stomp their feet so hard that the ground twenty feet away shakes, from only about 16-18 men, and later a few very small boys in the middle.

Performing in the dance is a special privilege which you have to buy your way in to. It is kind of a secret society and the masks and costumes are tabu to women or anyone not brought in to the society. The men in the middle are sometimes initiates who are moving up to the full costume rolls and higher status. They have a tabu hut where the costumes are stored and no one but a member can go in or even touch the outside of the hut upon real physical punishment, including beating and banishment from the village. Very serious stuff. I asked the chief afterward how long the dance area had been in use and as far as he knew for at least 13 generations. They had some way to keep track of that. They had big tamtams set up around the area with one big one in the middle. A tamtam is a carved breadfruit tree long that is set in the ground and has a carved head on the top. The lower, and longest, part has a slit in it and is hollowed out behind the slit so that it resonates when struck by a stick. Jungle drums!! All this was used for any ceremonial purpose, like eating the neighbors or missionaries back in the old days. BTW - the Rom Dance is only for fun and secret society stuff - sort of like the Elks or Eagles clubs in the US. It is not religious and does not have any other mystical purpose.

However, Ambryn is home to the most powerful sorcerers in all of Vanuatu. People from other islands are afraid of the power of the sorcerers from here. Part of that is probably due to the fact that Ambryn is still a young and very active volcano. We could not go visit this volcano like we did in Tanna because they had just started the yam planting and it was tabu to go to the volcano during the planting and growing season. The reason is so as not to make the volcano mad from tramping around on it. In past years they have had the entire crop destroyed from acid rain from the volcano when the weather did not cooperate. The entire time we were anchored there the volcano put up huge clouds of noxious gases that rose thousands of feet above the high volcano way above the coastline. If the winds shift more so that these clouds blow over the Ranon area, then the daily rains would wash out the acids in the vapors and destroy the crops. So no messing with the volcano nor the volcano gods during yam season.

After the Rom Dance they put out an array of really good quality local carvings. Ambryn is also noted as the best island for woodcarving, including the tamtams, masks, flutes, flying foxes and other items. Cindy and I bought something entirely out of our budget because it is without a doubt the most beautiful carving we have seen anywhere, including the Marquesas which we thought was top before. It is a quality job done on a two tone special hardwood with a red tone to it. It is a delight to see and to hold. Now all we have to do is get it back home without any scratches.

After getting back to Ranon from the village with the dance (about a 45 minute walk straight up to a ridge top), we were asked if we could help the village by troubleshooting and repairing an AC generator they use for lighting and videos. It figures - no roads, no cars but they have DVDs. We said of course so came back later. Well, one turned in to two, then three, then four. The first one had more problems then we had equipment or time to troubleshoot but we got the next one running and making juice just fine. The third one had no gas and the owner was not home and the fourth one had a missing spark plug and the crankcase was full of rain water so we passed on it. When we got back we had two big garbage bags full of vegetables and fruit from the boat crew we gave gas to two days earlier. Jeffrey pulled me aside and asked if we had any "spirits" he could buy and I said no but I could give him some. We have rum we got in Mexico two years ago that we will never drink so I gave him a liter. You are not really supposed to do this but he seemed really nice and not likely to beat his wife up or anything. Well, that night someone on shore was singing at the top of their lungs and we figure it was him. He also did not show up on the beach to go out to a new sailboat so we think he was sleeping it off at home. Hope he does not lose his job or anything. We will not be sharing any more of our excess booze with the locals any more.

We left that morning and took off for Pentecost Island on our way to Maewo Island just north of Pentecost, and that is where we sit. More on Pentecost in the next blog. Wonderful children on the beach in the rain!!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com

Lamen Bay Adventures - Another Magical Time

Lamen Bay turned out to be a great place to spend several days. The bay is picture-postcard beautiful with some beaches black lava sand and others white coral sand. Every day we watched turtles surface for air all around the boat. Sometimes close enough to almost touch and others farther away. They look like the gophers that come up in the kids game where you try to whack the gopher with the hammer. They come to the surface and all you see at first is their shell just at the surface, then they quickly poke their blunt heads up, take a quick gulp of air, then put their head down. They do that once, twice or three times before diving down, showing the tip of their tail as they go under. They have flippers and are kind of a green color with yellow highlights. Their eyes are huge for seeing underwater. Very cute. There must be at least five or more, one being clearly larger than the rest. They are not very shy, except for motors, and you can snorkel above them and watch. White Swan got some great underwater pics that we will post when we get to an internet cafe.

There are also dugongs there. Cindy went with White Swan and Vicki on Kuna over to Lamen Island and swam with a couple of dugongs there. A dugong is like a porpoise but looks like a manatee with a big whale-shaped tail. They don't have a dorsal fin though and have a blunt, boxy snout. You can probably look them up on Wikipedia online to find out more. I did not go over so missed seeing them myself, but I got things done on the boat including taking apart and rebuilding my big fishing reel, which was a trip in itself after the bits fell apart in my hands and a parts drawing that was not much help in reassembling the reel. I managed though and used it to catch a big Wahoo fish on the way to Ambryn Island where we are now (more later on that).

The villagers at Lamen Bay were really nice. We met the "famous" Tasso at the Paradise Sunset Beach Bungalows Resorts and Restaurant/Yacht Club. Anything that occasionally has Tusker beer for sale at an anchorage is a "yacht club" out here. It does not take any more than a sign, or no sign at all. The beer there was only slightly cool as they have a tiny hotel-room size refrigerator that only runs when they run the generator which is not often. We had a great meal there which I think I wrote about already.

One of the highlights of our visit was the nature tour to the "Million Dollar View" with Atis Jack. Atis is one of the local elders and is missing most of his front teeth. He does have one in the middle on the bottom but it does not affect his speech. He had really good English and lived in Australia for a few years in the 1980's. He is very chatty and informative and put together his tour out of friendliness, ego and a desire to make some money. The tour was only 500 atu each ($5US). He starts from his sister's house, where he had just finished building a new house (hut built out of old tin sheets, posts and woven reeds) for him and his wife, Helen, to stay in when they are down from their house up on the ridge above the beach village. The tour ends up on the ridge and Atis shows you various shrubs and trees that they use for medicine or other uses along the way. There were plants for headaches, wounds, making childbirth easier, and getting your girlfriend to like you more. For the girlfriend you (the hopeful boyfriend) you take the leaf of this ornamental type bush, crush it and put it under your foot and put a sock over it. You then think of your girlfriend and stomp your foot and she is supposed to like you. Yeah right but it is a cute story and I think it has been used more than once. Or else, he just made it up for fun.....

Atis is very articulate though and makes a perfect guide, keeping your interest up and moving you along to the next thing. We met at 9am and it was already getting hot and muggy when we started up the steep slope on a single-track trail up the ridge stopping for plants along the way. Atis had to cut some steps in the slippery clay soil and put some pieces of beach coral in the steps to help us gringos/palanges from slipping down, which happened the last couple of tours before ours. At the top of the ridge is a disheveled, but neat and tidy (if you can picture that) cleared area with a shack house. This is Atis's and Helen's house on the ridge and where their orchard and gardens are. He showed us all the fruit trees and vegetable gardens and told us what each thing is and how they take care of them. Hung up on one small tree are pieces of a wrecked airplane wing or tail. His brother was in this plane when it fell and crashed in to some trees on another island and they brought the pieces over as a memento. His brother and the pilot lived and climbed out of the plane and down to the ground from the trees where they crashed!

Off to the side of the family homestead and towards the bay, Atis had cleared some trees and bush and put us a small shelter with bamboo benches. This is his "Million Dollar View" and how he named his tour. He is a real natural promoter and decided he needed a "hook" for his tour marketing, and it works. The view is excellent and we got some good pictures of the boats anchored in the bay in the blue waters. The tour was outstanding, especially for $5. We will be recommending it to any future cruisers who come by.

At the end of the tour, Atis asked the six of us to come to his sister's house by the beach for a dinner of laplap and kava if we wanted it. We all agreed and decided to each bring something even though he said that was not necessary. And he did not want us to pay him anything. We think it was partially just the native hospitality of these fine people and also a house warming for the new house. The house was furnished with some finely woven floor mats and he drug in a couple of long square timbers and propped them on some stumps for a bench seat. On the mats were all the dishes made by everyone. Cindy made a chocolate cake with some chocolate/peanut butter frosting that went over really well. It went so fast Cindy did not even get a piece. Helen wrapped some of it up in tin foil and kept it for sharing with her kids or herself for later! Helen and her kids had made the laplap. Laplap is a big treat out here as a local food. It is made with different starchy foods like taro, cassaba, yams and/or bananas. Tonight it was yams and bananas. These are mashed up together into a batter like mixture and made in to a big round "pancake" about and inch thick on big banana leaves. On the top of this they put a small layer of "island cabbage" which is like a turnip or spinach green. They built a fire outside over some small lava rocks and get them really hot, then scoop some over to the side leaving a layer on the bottom. The laplap, covered with the leaves, is placed on top of the rocks and then the other rocks are scraped back on top of the laplap to cook it. I almost forgot - they usually also put small portions of meat on top of the mixture before covering it - sometimes fish or chicken but ours was beef.

The laplap comes out almost like a thick chewy pudding. It is tasty but not gourmet fare in our part of the world. Over here it is a staple dish but one that you would make for when guests come over, especially when it is made with yams, which are for "special" guests or special occasions. It was very nice of them to make it for us. Before dinner they made kava, which they seem to make every night any way. Atis's daughters ground up the kava using an old sausage grinder after cutting it up in small pieces with bush knives. It is not washed off very much so has some dirt still on it. This is mixed with water in some old wash basins on the ground by Atis. He takes a cloth and scoops up the ground kava mixed with the water, and wrings the juice out in to another wash basin. He does this repeatedly until he produces a big basin full of this dirty looking "water". On Epi, it is OK for women to drink the kava and to help make it. That was totally taboo on Tanna.

I had promised I would not try it again, but I took a couple of bowls from Cindy and downed them and it was definitely better than I remembered from Port Vila. I still would never make a habit of drinking this foul stuff though. Cindy and Dianna both liked it though and got quite a buzz from it, some much that after dinner and we were leaving that Atis told me to make sure I helped Cindy home in the dink, which I did. Cindy's legs were not working too well at that point. Dinner was quite a success. Atis made a little speech about the house and his guests and did the blessing (he is Presbyterian) before dinner. Cindy thought he was totally cute. All and all, it was a very special day topped off by a long evening with Atis and his family. Pics will show up as before, sometime.

Another part of Lamen Bay was Mis' Katy. Katy is a volunteer from Australia and is a degreed librarian. Lamen Bay is the home to a boarding secondary school with many concrete and tin roofed buildings. The kids come from other villages on Epi and even other islands and stay for weeks at a time and go to school - boys and girls - no "dating" allowed. If they "date" they get expelled after one warning and there are the occasional pregnancies. Hormones!! Any way, Katy is on contract here trying to organize the library, which is a nice big building with proper shelving but minimal reference materials. She is trying to change all that. She is pretty and very outgoing in a direct and blunt manner. She is also missing having a boyfriend here in a big way and even came over to the yachties one night at the yacht club to see if there were any single, 30yo white guys available! Her hormones were obviously showing and she made no bones about it. Very strange and funny to be joking around like that with her. We were all in stitches and laughing so hard it hurt! She is 32 years old and a bit of a vagabond. She is applying to be a camp counselor in the US and has already been picked for an interview after a quick application but she does not have access to email, nor regular mail, nor internet, so she was trying to figure out how to get the thing done. Her contract here expires in January so she does not have too long to wait. We brought her some primer books in English we got in Vila. She will put them in the stacks for the kids who are supposed to only speak English at the school - no Bislama - the pigdin English of Vanuatu. Ex. "Me save toktok Bislama. Naem blong me - Joe."

We had to keep moving though as the season will be over here in one month, so we got up at dawn and left for Ambryn Island for a 42nm passage in light winds. We had to motor almost the whole way, in mixed conditions, including several convergence area squalls where the winds blow at near gale force from all directions with driving rain for about 30 minutes, then go away to a dead calm. We had to get to the upper end of Ambryn so had to go around the west side where we had a great view of the active volcano inland. It was belching huge clouds of steam and ash which we could smell on the way across from Epi, 15 miles downwind. I got some pictures but they don't do justice to it.

At the end of the passage it was blowing a steady 15kts out of the northeast, which is supposed to be a bad direction for the anchorage we were headed for. We scoped it out and decided to chance it with lots of anchor chain out and then the wind died so it has been OK. We also caught our big Wahoo on the way over, then White Swan caught an even bigger one. Ours was over 30# and a very pretty fish. It was hard to get it up out of the water and on the boat as we motored along. My rebuilt reel worked nicely. I gutted the fish in a large plastic trash bag to keep the innards and blood off the decks but that only partially worked and I had to wash the decks twice. We cut it up and put it in the reefer and will have fish for days. WS gave their whole fish to the locals when we got here so they owe us something. Anyway - got to go to shore now. More later.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com

Calm at last - Lamen Bay - Epi Island - Sept 13th

It has been way too windy here, off and on, for the last several weeks. It finally slowed down enough for us to get out of Port Vila (at last) and we went up to Havannah Harbor and had several good days there where it was well protected. We got a favorable forecast and took off to go north for a one day sail to Emae Island with its roadstead anchorage. A roadstead, for you less nautical folks, is an anchorage that is open to the sea. It may be a little indented to give some protection, but normally a roadstead only really protects you from one 180 degree direction, which worked out fine for the one night we were there. It turned out to be very rolly though and we had to find a patch of sand amongst the coral to drop the hook. We did a pretty good job in 40ft of water but the chain still draped a bit over some coral, which we hate. It can damage the coral and it makes the chain growl which will wake you up or keep you from sleeping at all. So we got up the next day (two days ago) and took off for our real destination of Lamen Bay on Epi Island, only 32nm farther north.

We had a fantastic sail in brisk winds just off our stern quarter, so not right on the stern. When we started out the seas were mellow but built and built in the 20kt winds, which then went to 25kt and the seas got bigger. A strong current against the wind made some steeper seas but we sailed along just fine and then got in the partial lee of the island. We thought the wind would die but it didn't but the seas just flattened out and we cooked along at 8kt in flat seas - great!

Lamen Bay is postcard picture perfect. There is a black volcanic sand beach at the head of the small bay with coral (white) sand on one side in the corner. The jungle comes down from the hills right to the beach as usual and there is a prominent hill on one point to the south. Lamen Island sits about a mile out from the bay and there is fringing coral around everywhere. There are villages at the head of the bay and on the island, but the one on the island is the larger (for protection during the cannibal days) but the gardens for both villages are on the main island. So the gardeners paddle across in their outrigger dugout canoes daily to come tend to the gardens and pick up the produce. When the winds are right they use cut down palm fronds as sails to push themselves across. Right out of the "South Pacific". The little "resort" on the beach is very rustic but cute and not very busy. Right now there is a smallish charter fishing boat from Port Vila with some Kiwi quests staying there and catching tons of fish every day. Even yesterday.

Yesterday was a day from wet hell! It blew really hard and strong most of the day, but off and on. And it rained the same way. We actually got in a long walk in the village and along the beach and then got soaked on the way back. We were worried about getting back it was blowing so hard but getting off the hard black sand beach was easy with our dinghy wheels which we learned to use in Mexico. The boat has been damp inside and the cockpit completely drenched with the wild winds. Some of our canvas got torn in the winds. We turned on the wind gauge and saw 30kt winds part of the time and steady 20's. One boat drug anchor (in front of us) and had to reset closer in to the shore. During all this three small freighters came in and came through the anchorage very close to us and the other boats. It was too rough to let off and pick up their small lighters (small flat bottomed cargo carriers with outboards) and get cargo off to take to the beach so they had to come in closer. A little too close to our liking but everything was fine. These guys have to do some amazing things getting cargo on and off beaches and are used to dealing with high winds, big seas and a bunch of dumb yachties in the way.

We booked for the small restaurant for the night and lucked out with the wind and rain as it died down and then quit as we got in the dink to go ashore. The restaurant actually has a concrete floor and some real walls but no screens. The women and men working there are very friendly and the food was excellent. It was a buffet and we had beef curry, fried fish, salads, bok choy, taro, and some sweet potato fritters which were to die for. Everyone had seconds of these fritters. There was an island version of a lemon-meringue pie for desert, which was almost a thick cake crust and small layer of filling with a big meringue top. All very nice and about $10US. Tusker beer was available or you could bring your own so we did both. White Swan and Kuna joined us and we had a great time watching an amazing sunset going on behind the still major clouds.

Today it is partially sunny and the wind has died down. We are planning on going for a little nature tour later this morning. A local takes you on a short hike and points out the plants they use for medicine and other uses. You end up at a little hut they have built on the top of a ridge with spectacular views, so it is good that the sun is out today. Our next island will be Ambryn which has another active volcano, this one still running lava and sending up clouds of ash. It is supposed to be the most magic of all the islands here with the most powerful sorcerers anywhere there. We'll see.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com

Out of Port Vila - in Havannah Harbor

We finally made it out of Havannah Harbor. The southeast trades calmed down and Dianna on White Swan got better (some) so we took off two days ago for just a 25nm trip around the southwest corner of Efate Island to Havannah. Havannah Harbor, and Port Vila, were both huge staging areas for the US Navy and Army in the campaign against the Japanese during WWII. Havannah is a massive and well protected bay with two large bordering islands to the west and narrow entrances. This means our electronic and paper charts are very accurate here as the Navy went to great pains to know the depths and contours here. It is not especially difficult navigation here though compared to Fiji but you still have to pay attention.

Last night we had "sundowners" on the sailboat "Roger Henry". Alvah and Diana Simon on Roger Henry are going to Alaska later this year via the Solomons and Japan then down the US coast and back to New Zealand. We left Whangarei the same time they did earlier this year. Alvah is a frequent contributor to "Cruising World" magazine and the author of "North to the Night" which I probably have already mentioned before. His boat is a custom-made steel boat made in France to his specs for extreme cruising to high latitudes (Arctic and Antarctic).

We have veal the night before last. It was from one of the French supermarkets, the Bon Marche, in Port Vila. The beef and veal are the best overall we have had any where in the world here, including Iowa/Nebraska/Colorado corn fed beef. Don't know what it is but we have had some excellent luck with the meats here and even found (hold on to your seats!) some good pork sausage similar (but not as good as) Jimmy Dean. We have missed sausage probably more than any other food we have had to leave behind. New Zealand sausage is very British and to my taste mealy and pasty. Yuck! But we got enough of this other to last for several breakfasts on board as special treats. We got some excellent unrefrigerated eggs there too. It seems many of you back in the US think that is a terrible thing, but until you have tasted fresh, unrefrigerated eggs, you have not really tasted how good an egg can be. Farmers have known this for years. We have found out the hard way though that you have to get eggs from a distributor here though as the eggs you get in the "bush" at the local villages are just "free range chickens" are usually fertile, meaning they are developing chicks inside. Not a nice thing to break open when you are looking forward to your omelet.

Cindy is up in the cockpit looking for a dugong and a turtle. The little bay we are in has a big, big turtle with a neck about 6 inches in diameter and a dugong. The dugong is a rare creature that is sort of like a manatee in the US. They eat plants and things off the bottom of the bays and are very slow and gentle. We have not seen one yet but Cindy is trying to fix that.

I have been very religious about sending in the Yotreps position reports so if any of you want to see on a map/chart where we are just click on the link on the right side of the blog at the start.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com