Rain, Rain, More Rain and Joe's Birthday

It is one thing to sit in a nice dry warm house in the rain for days on end. You get tired of it, get a bit stir-crazy, may be grumpy at times, sometimes suicidal or homicidal. But you can escape by getting in to the car and go to the grocery store or mall or friends, etc. When you have to get in to a wet dinghy with the wind blowing 15 knots, it is another thing entirely. We have been somewhat used to the wet but you get tired of it. Yesterday we went out to the Wan Smaol Bag Haos for my first ukelele lesson. We had to dinghy in, walk to downtown, catch a bus, walk in mud puddles (even on the sidewalks), then walk back to the road, catch another bus (no bus stop), get splashed from head to foot by a passing truck going through a puddle, then walk to the dinghy and go back to the boat. Oh well, this is the wettest place we have been in the boat, including Washington. I am sure the Washington folks will cry foul but there it is.

Back to the ukelele - I got my first, long sought for ukelele. I have wanted one ever since French Polynesia where they were everywhere. I have absolutely no musical ability and was even thrown out of junior high band (publicly humiliated actually), but I wanted to try. The ukes out here bear no resemblance to the ones played by Arthur Godfrey and Don Ho. They are hand-crafted affairs, some with 8 strings, which is what I got. Cindy and White Swan had quite the adventure getting it but I will leave that to Cindy to describe. It was my birthday. Arggh!!!! 57 years old! I got a beautiful ukelele made out of laminated wood (not fancy woods) with fishing line for strings. It has eight strings which gives it a rich, double sound. Cindy, Bob and Dianna even found the place to get a lesson for free at the Wan Smaol Bag Haos which is a volunteer community education center for young people. They teach about nutrition, crafts, abuse awareness and coping, other social causes, etc. It is sponsored by Japan, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The people there are super nice and offered to bring someone in to teach a basic class for free.

Dianna on White Swan also got one of the ukeleles and was going to go to the class but caught a bad cold and wanted to stay home for the day, so Cindy and I went. We met several people in succession and thought each one of them was going to be our teacher until finally we met Albert, this young kid with short dreadlocks and a huge smile and intelligent eyes. His English was not the best but more than adequate. We were walked back through some run down buildings and alleys until we got to a nicer building that looked like a small gymnasium from the outside. Inside it was one big room with a large kitchen at one end and some picnic tables at the other with people eating. It was lunch time and everyday they fix a nutritious meal for $2. The building was a gift from Japan and they are very proud of it.

Well, our class was at one of the picnic tables with all these people around. Every one said hello, and several shook our hands (shaking hands is a big deal in Vanuatu). Everyone was oohing and aahing about the ukelele, saying how nice it was, how gorgeous, how super. Obviously it was way beyond the normal run of the mill ukelele that these people normally see and play. Several, besides Albert, came up and grabbed it and started playing these great riffs. One guy took it an tuned it up a bit. Our tuning lesson consisted of him tuning it really fast and us listening to what it sounded like. They said "Make it sound like that and it will be tuned!".

They drug a white board over and drew some strings and frets and Albert showed us all of six chords - three "normal" and three "flat". He did it really fast but was very patient with me. He showed us how to hold and strum the uke (no picks) and we had a lot of fun. It did not take very long but the warmth of these beautiful dark people shown through so much. They are so friendly and warm - some of the best people any where on the planet. The other day we got on one of the busses, which are rally just small passenger vans, and a fellow got on from the side of the road and he was carrying a big bush knife which is like a machete. Long and sharp, they use them for cutting open coconuts, gardening, walking through the jungle and the whole bit. In the US they would stop the bus, call the cops and shoot the guy if he did not put it down. Here they just walk around with them like the old six shooters in the old West.

Anyway, I am very, very happy with my birthday present and have been practising for hours. I am sure the boats around us are sick of it but I am getting better. My fingers are sore and I still need to track down a couple of the locals who helped get the uke for Cindy and thank them. I almost screwed everything up as I wanted one so bad I was going around asking everyone and Cindy was telling them to say there weren't any so I would not get one. That was because she got it done as a secret. I need to practice some more so will sign off now.

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Leaving Port Vila - More Later

We have been busy exploring Port Vila, socializing with friends and getting ready to leave so have not had time nor energy to write a blog. I have also been catching up on internet stuff which is one form of entertainment. It might even be addictive. This is a bad place for that though as the internet connections are very slow. They either go by satellite or undersea copper cables. No fiber-optic cables to Vanuatu yet although there are discussions. Port Vila and the island of Efate have electricity many places but not all and phone service is spotty with many just using pay phones with prepaid cards, like we have here.

Today we plan to leave and go just 23nm around to an anchorage on the northwest corner of the island, called Havannah Harbor. It is supposed to be pretty and much more laid back. There won't be any internet or even phones there. The winds are supposed to pick up for the next several days (25-30kts) so we will just hunker down and relax there. My birthday is tomorrow so I am hoping for a feast. I have been angling for a locally-made ukelele but don't think that is going to happen. They are quite different than any we have seen so far. You can get souvenir grade ones in the crafts market but I really want one that a musician would play, not that I can or will. We'll see. They make them on other islands too.

We had Vanuatu grade kava the other night at one of the local nakamals. This particular nakamal (kava bar) is right on the water above the highway looking over the big bay to the ocean. It is behind some houses off a local street and hard to find without directions. This one gets many tourists in addition to the local kava drinkers. Kava is made from the roots and stems of a big brush plant - Piper Mysticum (sp?), which is a member of the pepper family (as in black pepper). It is ground up and then steeped in water. The water is pressed out through a cheesecloth and you drink the fresh, unfiltered mess. It looks like very muddy water - dark and rich, unlike the weak stuff in Fiji which was only slightly cloudy. This is definitely thick.

You walk in to this "bar" which is just a rough shack with dirt floors, crude benches and a few disreputable sorts sitting or lying around. No music, very little light - very little. You can't walk around until your eyes acclimate to the dark and then you have to walk very slowly and partially feel the way with your feet. The ground is very uneven and rough, going around the trees that still shade the picnic style tables overlooking the bay. The view is actually pretty awesome and four-star restaurant quality so this place is occupying prime real estate. Such is the importance of kava here, the nakamal will probably be here forever.

It is "dirt" cheap to buy. A US buck worth is put in to a porcelain bowls. You can get it completely full for $1.50US. You are supposed to chug this evil looking and foul tasting brew in one slug but us gringos could not and would not. It truly tastes bad, with a strong pepper taste, and immediately irritates the stomach bringing on thoughts of upchucking. Some do later. This is accompanied by the lovely sound of other local patrons spitting and hocking. It causes copious amounts of phlegm to develop in the throat for some, which the normal protocol is to just hock up and spit on the ground. Some evidently suffer more than others and can be extremely vigorous in their hocking - loudly! Cindy and Dianna did not care for this part of the experience too much, and openly wondered if the byproducts ended up of the ground we walked on (yes).

The first gulp immediately has an effect - on the stomach, the lips, the body in general and to a lesser extent, to the head. You can literally drink a gallon of the Fijian kava with almost no effect. Here the first sip gets you started. The first bowl definitely gets you. Two bowls and some people cannot walk. It is hard for me to describe. It is not an "upper" nor is it a "downer". It does alter you. It does affect your motor senses and nerves, slowing things down a bit. My brain did not feel it too much but that may be because my brain is so powerful and can resist it LOL. Some locals have sworn off it though as it makes it hard for them to function productively the next day. This I can vouch for, especially when all you want to do is throw up all day the next day. You must be able to get used to it and not get nauseous. We all agreed that we would never get that far although Cindy and Dianna both said they would welcome the chance to do it again. Bob and I said we would go with them but just drink beers. Interestingly, you can buy Tusker beer there for the same price you buy it in the grocery store and far, far cheaper than at any bars in town. But you don't see too many drinking it there as kava is the reason people go, not just to get any kind of high, but a kava high.

They do serve you a glass of water along with your bowl of kava. This is not to drink, fortunately, as it is the most foul tasting water in my remembrance. You use it to rinse your mouth after you drink and hock. Kid you not. They encourage you to spit on the ground with whatever you can bring up or rinse out. I can imagine some of you out there think I am making this all up in some sick attempt at being gross. This is absolutely gospel with no embellishment. We liked it so much we went to a seedier, more locals-only nakamal after we went out and had spicy Thai curry for dinner. This may be why I was so sick the next day, and to some extent, the day after that. I think I am over it now, but my body still remembers. I only hope that some chief does not ask us menfolk to a village nakamal in our travels.

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Tanna Island - Volcano Pics

This is the lovely Cindy taking helpings from the feast at the Surf Beach Restaurant with Leia who prepares the many dishes with her assistant Suzie (16) in the kitchen. The food is excellent and just outside is a pounding surf to a gorgeous beach about a mile long.














Inside the meeting "hall" at the John Frum village. The singers and players are in the middle with all the palanques on either side. Cindy on the right with me behind her. Very intense experience.















Bob and Dianna from White Swan sitting on the rim of Mt. Yasur, a very active volcano on Tanna. We went twice and this was the relatively calm time! You can see the smallest vent down below. The big vent is between where we were and a ledge below. That is where the big fireworks come from.















Boom!

Yahoo! Starter fixed!

All is well here. I will try to post a few pics with the limited battery on my PC here at the cafe. I forgot the adaptor for the 220v service here.

I got a call this morning from the moorage service telling me that some one from Bodium Engineering was at their office. They wanted me to come in so I jumped in the dink and went in to find a mechanic I had not met and he had pieces of our old starter in a box saying they were kaput, plus a rebuilt starter using my old mounting flange and armature, and the spare starter unchanged (and still broken). I was instructed to install the rebuilt one and see if it worked. The way it was said did not inspire confidence but I took it back to the boat and two hours later got it on and it worked! I also think my start battery is starting to get weak so that might have been part of the problem before.

Will have to use it for awhile to really test it (unfortunately) and we will hope that it works until we get back to NZ where I will get the spare starter rebuilt with a new solenoid. But so far, we are happy and back in business. The winds for the next few days are bad so we will sit tight here and see more of Port Vila and the area. Pics of the volcano next, I promise.

Waterlogged and Sore in Port Vila

Here we sit on our mooring watching the rain come and go, but mostly blow sideways towards us. This is definitely the rainiest place we have been in a long while. Seems like the good ol' Pacific Northwest, and it is winter here, but we have gotten use to sunnier weather. No progress was made with the main engine starter. I did not connect with anyone on Saturday morning. Most garages were closed and the guy I called who had been recommended to us on the local cruisers' net did not speak English well enough for me to get anywhere with him. We will start afresh tomorrow (Monday) morning.

I did take off the spare starter (boy they sure weigh a ton!) and will take both of them in to a truck repair garage and see which one is easiest to fix. They are different makes although they both have Lucas solenoids on them and both will have to be replaced. One might be repairable but it is doubtful. The other is cracked beyond fixing. It will be another adventure to get this done. Today we got out the Honda electric AC generator and charged up the batteries since with all the rain we did not get any solar power.

Today we stayed on the boat all day. I took the starter off, changed the pencil zincs on the main engine heat exchangers, charged the batteries, found a long lost bag of sailing hardware (shackles), and finished a bad book. Cindy read most of the day. We intended to go to the dock and get fresh water in our jugs but the rain kind of put us out of the mood for that so we will do it tomorrow after chasing around for repair shops with two starters that weigh about 30 pounds apiece.

Yesterday we did do some walking around Port Vila. It has a great fresh food market on the bay, much like the ones we have seen in Fiji and Tonga. The women selling their produce are all friendly and very photogenic with their Mother Hubbard style dresses and easy smiles. It is all very hectic with goods all over the concrete floor with the ladies sitting cross-legged on the woven mats. We also walked across town to find a marine hardware store mostly just to go for the walk and see more of the town in the intermittent rain. We found the store which wasn't much but also found a great home furnishings store that would rival the best found in the US anywhere, except that almost everything in it was handmade, excellent quality furniture and accessories. They had some really interesting "tiles" of river rock cemented on to a woven mat, about a foot square, that you could use for flooring either indoors or out. You would need a good vacuum to keep it clean inside but it was very pretty with several different variations. If we had a house and could afford it we would do it completely from this store. It wasn't cheap so must be patronized by wealthy ex-pats or the elite Ni-Vanuatuans here.

We did find a hole in the wall pizzeria last night and had a pepperoni/mushroom pizza that was OK. They did not want us to order a pizza when we got in there despite giving us the pizza menu - they said it would take too long as the oven was backed up. This baffled us because we were the only customers in the place and we did not see anyone coming in for take out. Oh well, it only took 15 minutes and it hit the spot. The walk home to the dinghy dock was very dark and the sidewalk uneven and we talked about all the reported crime in Port Vila but we made it safely. Tonight we are supposed to go to a Vietnamese restaurant with White Swan if they are still up for it. They have been sick and are stir crazy but it is still raining sideways so we will see. Wish us luck with the starters tomorrow as we are stuck here until at least one of them is fixed.

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Port Vila, Efate Island

We came in yesterday to Port Vila which has a very landlocked harbor with deep water mostly and lots of boats so you pretty much have to use a ready-made mooring. They are 1000 vatu a day which is a little more than $10US. We got vatu on Tanna at 94 vatu/$1US. The overnight passage here was uneventful except that our starter was still acting up so I put it on my priority list to check out when we got here. Sure enough the main battery cable going to the starter solenoid was loose but when I tried to tighten it up, the bronze stud broke! Swell!

That meant either a replacement starter or we had to get ours rebuilt. The previous owner of MD left lots of spares on board when we bought her, including a starter with solenoid. I had taken it out years ago and painted it then sealed it up in plastic and put it in a locker for future use. Today was the future. Starters don't have to be difficult if you have access to the bolts holding them in and nothing else is in the way. I had issues with that but got the old one out in a couple of hours of sweat and cussing. This was not turning out to be one of our best moments in cruising (more down below on that).

I dug out the spare starter and it looked so nice with its spiffy paint job and no rust. However, it was a different starter than the one off the engine. Turns out it will fit but the solenoid is in a different spot and will make checking the engine oil a real pain but doable. I tried at first to see if I could swap solenoids but they are too different. When I went to put the parts back together I snapped a connection stud on the old starter making it completely useless. So I went ahead and put on the new one. They are much easier to take off than put back so with a lot more sweat and cussing I got it on. I was feeling much better at this point and even optimistic. I continued on to put on the engine wiring including the battery cable and guess what? The solenoid housing holding the battery post stud crumbled. The solenoid now needs to be replaced on this starter too. I am really feeling pretty low at this point.

It is Friday night here which means I can't even start researching how to get one or both of these starters rebuilt or even get a solenoid. Fiji would have been a much better place to start, New Zealand even better, Vanuatu - forget about it. The population is so small and the economy so poor here there will not be much selection and I am not sure what passes for an electric rebuild/repair service here. I will check local first but I think NZ will be where I end up, which means long distance phone calls and shipping and shipping cost and shipping delays. Of course we can't even run the engine until then so we have to be careful about our batteries and hope that our solar panels can keep up. I do have a little Honda generator which can top them off if need be but it is noisy and takes a lot of gas to run for long.

Now I will backtrack and let you know what else has happened. Yesterday we went in to town to start the paperwork shuffle here. We need to get a Visa extension so we can stay for more than 30 days but we were 15 minutes late and they closed. We went looking for a place to eat dinner and ended up at the Waterfront Bar & Grille which is right on the harbor (duh) by the dinghy dock. While being led to a table I walked under the thatched roof and around a pole and nailed a post/rafter sticking out under the thatch that I did not see. I was practically knocked to my knees. It put a big gash on my head and blood was running down my face and off my nose. The staff gave me ice in paper towels, telling me that they would stop the bleeding - wrong. I got it to stop with copious quantities of paper towels and we went ahead and ate there (pretty good food but not cheap). My head was starting to throb and even two beers did not begin to help.

Cuts out here can be dangerous. Every year someone dies or else loses an arm or leg or finger from little scratches getting infected. The saltwater here is really loaded with bad nasties and of course the environment elsewhere is too. Simon on S/V Galaxie is going through that right now with a little cut on his leg that got infected so he is on major antibiotics. I went back to the boat and washed my head really well with shampoo and clean watermaker water then put Betadine on it. Ditto again this morning and more Betadine tonight.

Wait, the adventure continues. First thing this morning we took the dinghy over to Customs which is about a mile away farther in to the harbor. Our motor died just as we were getting to the dock and would not restart so we rowed the little way in. Earlier when we got started by our boat we noticed a sheen on the water by the motor which I thought was just excess gas from the motor getting flooded - wrong again. The gas line I put on in Fiji was slightly too big and I used hose clamps to seal it off. The hose clamp cut through the line and I was sucking air and spewing gas. We could not fix it at the Customs dock but bummed a tow from a Kiwi who came in to check out. I did get the right size hose in Fiji later but never changed it as I thought the fix would last until I did - wrong.

So, the cosmic forces that be have decided we were too low on Karma and we are being punished. We hope that will change soon. I was just thinking the other day that we have had a very trouble free boat compared to most, and may be that is still true. But this starter issue will be a real pain and we may have to stay here in Port Vila until we get parts. Luckily it did not happen in Tanna - no phones, no internet, no nothing. So we still a little good Karma somewhere but better not screw it up.

Port Vila has less than 30,000 people so is a small town. We have not really checked it out but it has a lot of interesting looking shops and some good grocery stores. It also has a high crime rate and some weird politics. It is a good mooring area though and nice and flat which is a good break after the major rolling we did in Tanna and coming here. So wish us luck with the starter and all will be well.

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More fun on Tanna - Part V

As you can tell, Tanna has been a freaky and magical experience - a big playground for adults and kids alike. Pure and unsanitized. Where 35 years ago they might eat visitors like us, or at least neighbors from the village across the way, but only if it was a big feast day for a special treat. They supposedly don't do that any more but it still is a raw, elemental place which just happens to have nice people in it.

Yesterday was a rest day. There seems to be a limit to how much we can handle emotionally and physically and this place just drains you. But the adventure had to continue..... Last night was local band night at the yacht club above the dinghy landing. Nothing special - just the boys from the village would come by and us yachties could have a BBQ and some beers at the club. You could order dinner there or cook or bring your own. So some people brought stuff to show off and others, like us, brought simple but good food to share. We heard that the band would eat too if we brought enough so we brought extra.

All the yachts were there plus two couples from the bungalows. One of the couples there were having their own freak out because the French husband had developed a bad fever and was too weak to get up or eat. His wife was really worried - no doctors for 130 miles. He was on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories but she had run out of the ibuprofen and was worried he might not make it until the morning when they were flying out to Port Vila. This was potentially very serious. He showed up later and looked run down but was much better so I hope they made it out today on their flight OK. I told them to go to the doctor regardless. He has not been here long enough to have malaria but it could be something else serious.

But that did not stop the party. We all sat down to our meals and passed around dishes even for those that did not bring anything, and a bit later with the boys from the band. The band was a ragtag group of young men and boys. No amps, no microphones. The bass was a big plywood box with a stick on a string nailed to the center of the top. The stick was propped up on the corner of the box top and leaned over until the string was tight and then plucked. It actually sounded pretty good. There were a few guitars and a homemade ukelele. It certainly did not look like much but wow! they really put on a good old-fashioned show. Very low key but they mixed up the tunes. No one was a standout singer or lead. They all sang each song, all local songs that they wrote. They obviously loved to get together and especially to show off and entertain palanges like us.

Many of the kids from the village came around and stayed outside of the open air room and danced in the light that filtered out. The rest of us danced or sat around and listened and tapped our toes inside. The ladies that cook and run the restaurant danced and danced. Cindy and I danced and she danced with the others. It was not really couples so much as a group dance. At first it seemed to start slow but got going and built up and built up until you could almost see the electric sparks in the air from the good vibes that were flowing around. We had a great time. The basket was passed around for the band and I hope all were generous. The boys certainly had a good time and were appreciated by all. The kids dancing had a great time too. Another magical experience out here and all part of why this has been the best so far.

A little tidbit - James Michener started writing his famous "Tales of the South Pacific" while stationed in the Army in Vanuatu during WWII. That's probably one reason I had such high expectations for the rest of the South Pacific before that could not be met. Don't get me wrong, French Polynesia (especially the Tuamotos), Tonga and Fiji were great, but Vanuatu is by far, with only one island to judge by, the best.

Tomorrow we leave for Port Vila on the island of Efate about 130nm north from here. This is a real city and one in which the white folks (the French and English) would not let the dark people in to until very recently. So back to the ugly part of the world. I think it is better now but will be light years from here.

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Freaking out at the Volcano - Tanna V

We couldn't leave well enough alone - we had to go visit the volcano again, this time starting in daytime so we could see what it looked like before dark. It was a smaller group of 8 this time which was more manageable. We got so much energy from the last visit we could not wait to see the volcano again and really did not have any big fear of it based on our first experience. We could see how it could be scary but at the level it was acting up now - no big deal but still exciting to see and feel. Raw power and pyrotechnics. A big glorious light show brought to you by Mother Nature, whom you do not mess with, or if you do, at your own peril.

We had lots of room on the truck but I rode the bumper again to save my back and kidneys. They kept calling me the Fireman since I was hanging on the outside. Legal liability would make this impossible if not illegal in the US. Which makes it even more fun for big kids like us. It's like going to a Disneyland that can hurt you if you let it. Kewl! So off we went to the big bad volcano!

We got there about an hour before dark and trekked up the cone. We had to be back at the truck by 7pm which seemed short but that was the rule. The driver had to get home to dinner. We got up there with a few other folks from various resorts on the island. We found out later we were supposed to have a guide from our village and the other guides were upset by that, especially after our group went away along the ridge to try to get a better viewpoint. The guides there told us later that this area was very dangerous as lava often got blown up over there! The volcano was quiet though and we were about to be disappointed and that it had quieted down since our visit two days before. Then Kablooey!!!!!!!!! The big bang from Hell! A huge bang followed by a huge spewing of rocks and lava, this while it was still daylight so we could see the hot rocks but not see them glow red hot. Cindy was so surprised she jumped and fell on to the razor sharp lava stones around us and scraped her shin really bad. Blood oozing out with nasty looking gashes. It was really not that bad but looked bad. We retreated back to the lookout where the other groups were.

The volcano started really going then. The big vent took over the show and started one bang and pow after another, some louder than others. The loudest ones hurt your ears. Some of the rocks were sent hundreds of feet higher than we were standing and we were standing hundreds of feet from the vent already. Very, very dramatic and very angry like. This was much more intense than the first trip despite the fact that no where near as much lava was ending up on the shelf in front of us like last time. But it was going more often with bigger bangs and more going higher. A little freaky. Some in our group were getting more and more nervous and freaked out. I must be a little twisted as I was liking it more and more.

All of a sudden - another big, big BOOM! It started to look like just another big bang with big hot lava (dark now so the lava glowed bright, bright orange red) going up and up before it fell back and went plop, plop, thud in to the interior cone. But - this time - one of the big hot lava rocks went higher than the rest and kept going, going, going - until it was obvious that it was actually coming our way! (I can't begin to use enough exclamation marks for this story but I will resist the urge to put more in!!!) I couldn't keep my eyes off this whirling (it was making a whish-whish sound as it rotated through the air with its oblong shape) devil both because you are not supposed to and because it was fascinating. Up and up coming straight for the group on the edge. People started gasping but were rooted in place. Where do you go? There is no protection. If it hit you it will burn right through you like paper gauze. Well, it went up and over us and landed about two hundred feet behind us and down the outside of the cone near the trail we came up on. If it had been a big shower of lava like the ones we had seen dozens of times, we would have all just been incinerated where we stood. I thought about how hard it would have been to try and judge exactly where it was going to land so I could jump out of the way just before it it - yeah right! Like you can miss a rock dropped on you from the Empire state building only from a block away.

People really started freaking then. I started laughing like I had dodged a bullet and thought it was funny. The energy level on the ridge was almost hysterical. Some almost started running down the trail but stopped and started nervously talking. The topic was: would it do it again and what would happen next time? I wanted to stay - we still had another half hour before time was up - and I really did not think we were in mortal danger - statistically speaking, or at least more than I could handle. I was outvoted though as the group otherwise thought it would feel better with more distance between us and this mean little spitpot of volcano. So we left but with memories of that noisy spinning hot rock burned in to our brains. I still feel a rush thinking about it. Yahoo!!

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Tanna IV

Hope this is not too boring to you out there reading this. It has been better and better for us so bear with me.

The ride in the dink to shore here is easy when the tide is up and treacherous at low water. There is a big reef right in front of and outside of the beach landing. The dinghy beach is well protected though with no swell and trees to tie up to with some sand or coral depending on the water level. At low tide you have to pole in the last 50yds though over reef rock. Coming in at low water is possible with good sun behind you otherwise you will hit coral heads and the reef. At night you just go at idle speed with a flashlight up ahead and take lots of detours at the last second. There is a steep cliff to walk up off the beach and the Port Resolution "Yacht Club" is there overlooking the anchorage. They have a restaurant and bar (open air like everything here) and some bungalows for visiting tourists, with real flush toilets. It is still roughing it though. No toilet paper in the toilets and the showers might make some queasy. Beautiful spot though. Nice lawn, palm trees, bamboo and grass hut bungalows. More of a backpacker type place.

The village is nearby along the road. There are huts and even a couple of cinder-block houses with tin roofs, but mostly just grass huts. Doors may not exist or may just be a piece of wood, woven mat or cloth. Floors are dirt covered by woven mats which they sit on, cook on and sleep on. Cooking fires are wood inside the huts or in a separate hut. Clothes are dried on lines if they have them or just left on the ground to dry. Clothing is very old, well worn and often torn and sometimes looks dirty but is in fact just very very old. The people here do not use deoderant though and the smell is not for the faint of heart. They are not dirty people, just don't have the same goods we do to spiff ourselves up. It can be overpowering though.

There is always a wave and a smile. The kids are the friendliest as usual. Some villagers are friendlier than others. Some speak English, some French, some both, some only Bislama and the local languages. There are over 20 separate languages (not dialects of the same language) on Tanna alone! Everywhere are palm trees, vines, banana trees, papaya trees, gardens, bushes, cows, pigs, etc. Very lush. Every few years a bad cyclone will come through and blow away the huts and they just rebuild them. They use hollowed out breadfruit tree logs for canoes with the traditional outriggers. Very South Pacific. Every day we have one or more canoes come out with boys, girls or older adults. They come just to talk or often to trade for fruits and veggies. Brian wants to borrow DVD's though that he watches at his hut with his electric generator.

I took on a little project to help the locals. They drink kava every night (men only) and have to grind the kava roots and stems up. They are way past doing the chewing and spitting routine you read about. They have sausage grinders made out of cast iron and one of the handles had broken in half. Welding cast iron is difficult and they asked if any of the yachties could weld it for them. Not very many yachts have welding equipment on board but I volunteered to look at it to see if I could jury rig it. I took some brass bar stock I had for electrical work and doubled it up and had to drill and file out a hole in one end in a "D" shape to fit on the grinder auger with its tapered shaft. Took me two days part time with lots of brass filings all over the cockpit of the boat but I got a pretty good fit. I took it in and fitted it on the grinder but I fear it will not last long grinding big hard roots and tree limbs, which is why the cast iron handle broke in the first place. Made me feel good though to try to help.

We have also made gifts of the flip-flops we got cheap in Lenakel after finding out they needed them. Leia, the woman from the restaurant, was so happy we got them. She loaded us up with bananas, papaya, onions and lettuce. Excellent, organic produce. I almost forgot - we had a little incident the other night coming back from the dinner at the restaurant. We had had a little bit too much wine may be. It was way dark and we were laughing and joking in White Swan's dinghy coming back. They got to MD to let us off and the swell was really big so getting off on up the wildly pitching side of our boat would not have been easy sober and in daylight. Plus our little wooden step we depend on had lost one of its rubber bumpers so we could not use it to make it easier. Cindy went first with the dinghy being held fore and aft by Bob and Dianna and me trying to help Cindy keep from falling as she stood up in the bucking seas. One thing led to another and all of a sudden Cindy starting tipping over to me and then to Bob. The three of us went over the side of the dink in to the cold water, in the dark, with clothes and glasses on. MD was right above us rocking back and forth and bumping the dink. I was worried first about someone drowning, then about losing our expensive eyeglasses then just about how to get everyone back in the dink which we managed. I had to literally pull Cindy out as she does not have enough arm strength to do it herself even when we go snorkeling. We managed to get on to our boat, dripping seawater wet. We rinsed off in fresh water and went to bed and found out the next day that Bob lost a fancy sandal and got his digital camera wet which would not work any more and he lost some of his pictures from the day. Funny enough some kids found his sandal on the beach two days later and returned it. Their are some lessons in all this but I am sure we have not learned them.

Next - Fear and Loathing on the Volcano - Part Deux

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More Tanna - III

The anchorage here has turned out to be very rolly. It was calm the first two days and then the winds clocked around to the east more and we get wrap around swell. Some boats have put out stern anchors but after our bad experience in Fiji we have not. So we are toughing it out rocking and rolling constantly. I wore ear plugs last night to block out the creaks and groans of Maggie in the rolls but slept well.

Tanna has turned out to be our best experience so far in our South Pacific cruise, and in truth, may be the best experience of our lives. I can't believe I am saying this but it may even top our fantastic time on Toau in the Tuamotos. The Fijians are more outwardly friendly (Bula, Bula!) but there is something magical and amazing about the whole deal here that more than takes care of the lack of bulas from the natives. They are very sincere and will take the time to talk to you in very direct manners. They are obviously proud of themselves and do not seem poor in spirit or life. It is without a doubt shorter than our lives in general (Chief Ronnie is 78 and very spry though) with malaria in the wet season, dengue fever, encephalitis and other nasties. They have plenty to eat though and it is easy to get fruit and vegetables. Their sources of protein are limited so they appreciate meat and fish when they can get it. They have beautiful cattle here - plump and sleek with good coats, but only eat beef for special feasts and occasions. The same for pigs and chickens. They feed beef, pork, fish and chicken to the tourists though but not huge portions.

This is still a very underdeveloped island. The one big town, Lenakel, is very poor looking, like many small Mexican towns. Lenakel is over 50km from Port Resolution (named for Capt. Cook's ship the Resolution when he stopped here) via a rough 4WD road that in some places is almost just a track near our anchorage. They have a bridge made of palm logs over one creek that keeps breaking. There was a detour around it which went along the beach but the beach sand is so soft it is hard on the trucks and they can get stuck. They fixed it last week but then another log broke but it is still useable (so far). The road is rough and the small Japanese trucks (mostly Mitsubishi) have to shift in to all wheel drive, low range over some of it. It is also terribly dusty if it has not rained. When we got back from Lenakel we were grinding sand in our teeth and looked like the Desert Rats of North Africa after a jeep patrol over the sand dunes.

As I said in a previous blog, we missed our first truck but made it the second day - a Friday. There were several yachts that needed to go in to town to check in so the truck was going to be full. The local soccer team also had to go to a meet outside of Lenakel but there really wasn't room for all. We ended up with over 20 people in the truck which had narrow bench seats along the sides and a cage welded over the back to hold a tarp in case of rain (which it did). Two locals hung on to the cage and stood on the bumper the whole way in and the rest of us hung on for dear life and to protect our backs and kidneys. The truck would go as fast as it could go wherever it could go and other places at a crawl. When it got steep going up the guys on the bumper had a hard time holding on but they had the best ride using their legs as shock absorbers.

About half way over we came to Mount Yasur, the life volcano that everyone comes to see here. It is not a big huge mountain but more like a little perfectly formed volcanic hill, a uniform grey from the ash and rock it has been spitting out. It may be about a thousand feet high or less from the higher plain it rises out of. During the day you see the billowing clouds of noxious gas it emits and occasionally here the boom of minor eruptions. At night you can see the glow of the lava and eruptions from 20 miles out to sea and even over the ridge where our anchorage is. Ominous for sure. The road goes over the plain at the bottom of the volcano. The surrounding countryside is completely covered in ash and small lightweight lava rock with clumps of hardy grasses sticking out in spots. Amazingly, there are many villages scattered around the volcano but not right at the base. People don't have vehicles here so they walk for miles and miles to trading posts and markets. We are so lucky to be able to hire a truck for the ride, even if we are packed in like sardines ala dust. P.S. It rained on us halfway there and we had to put the tarp over the cage so we were traveling blind along the bumpy road and sweltering in the humid air.

We stopped off at the bank first. It looks very much like pictures of banks in the small towns of the American west. Since it was Friday, a pay day, there were long lines and it took us about an hour to get to a teller to exchange dollars for vatu. The rate was 94.45 vatu/dollar. I was getting money for another boat and my total was 66,165 vatu which is a big bundle. I should have got more small bills but the bundle would have been huge but now I regret not doing so as no one ever has change (like Mexico). We went from the bank to the small general store and got a few essentials like Tanna coffee (superb!), ten pairs of cheap flip-flops for gifts, canned butter and some candy. Later we got stalks of mandarin oranges at the market along with unrefrigerated eggs and other things. We picked up some Tanna kava along the way back to the Port later. We ended up giving the kava to the village when they ran out the other day so have not tried it yet. It is supposed to be MUCH stronger than the Fijian kava. N.B. - read "Getting Stoned with Savages" by J. Maarten Troost for a hilarious and true account of his experiences in Vanuatu and Fiji.

We went to Customs (3000 vatu), Immigration (3000 vatu) and Quarantine (2000 vatu). Forms, forms, forms but all friendly except the Quarantine guy who seemed to be in need of a serious detox program. We kept losing the truck and at one point all 15 of us yachties had to walk about a kilometer looking for another truck after lunch (250 vatu for more than you could eat). The lunch restaurant was little more than a shack with some picnic tables but had a TV with DVDs (Kungfu!). Out back they drug a half a cow in to the kitchen later. I had beef and rice from the previous cow - yummy but not gourmet quality.

The trip back was long but easier without five guys from the soccer team along. I took my chance and hung off the back standing on the bumper. I had a great view and my back was happier. We had already also booked a trip to the volcano that night along with a visit to a Kastom village and the John Frum cargo cult village for music/dancing. This was destined to be a very LONG day and night. We were late getting back and even more people from the anchorage had signed up to go to the volcano so we needed three trucks. However, only two trucks were booked for sure and we would not know if the third truck would make it until it showed up, which it did, but very late, just before dark. You are supposed to go around 4pm so you can get to the volcano in daylight and watch the sun go down and then stay for the fireworks in the dark. Well, we were on the last truck and followed the second truck in the dark. Both trucks went at least twice as fast as they had earlier in the day because we were late. The dust was thick and choking. Our kidneys, already damaged from the earlier long ride, were destroyed. The drivers had no mercy. Thankfully it is not as long a ride but still about 25km each way.

We were absolutely beat by now but excited about seeing the volcano. You go up and up until you are at the very base of the cone on one side (the windward, safe side). There are rocks lying all around you that have obviously been spit out by the beast at some point or another. We were told it was at level One or Two which are relatively safe. One is nothing going on much and Two is spitting and snorting but no lava getting to the lookout. Three is dangerous with lava going up to or over the lookout and you can only stay at the base of the parking area. Mind you, this is not America. No lawyers, no fences, no hand rails. You are responsible for your own safety and tourists and guides have died where we were going. A Japanese tourist ignored her guide a few years ago and went down after the guide told her not to. The guide followed her to try and get her to leave and she said "I paid my money and I am going to get my money's worth". There was a big explosion and some lava rocks blew her head completely off. The guide died after a small piece of lava blew through his chest - melted through one side and out the other.

There is a steep and slippery trail up to the edge of the cone at the top. You are actually at the rim looking down at Hell. Lava is being spit up out of the one "small" vent you can see at the bottom. There are two more vents below a ridge between the lookout and the bottom. They are the most active ones but don't face you directly, which is probably a good thing. The guides tell you not to look away when a boom happens and lava is thrown out. You are supposed to watch the lava so you can duck or move out of the way as it falls!! For real. Yikes! What have we got ourselves in to? Cindy is way nervous but when we get to the top nothing much is going on. It is already dark so we see the little vent glowing malevolently at the bottom. Every few minutes in makes a roaring noise and shoots small pieces of lava up. The lava seems to float in the air in front of us as if the hot gases swirling out can hold them up. They glow hot red for quite a while and seem to violate the laws of gravity. What we could not see at night was that the lava was actually on the steep, steep slope of the inner cone which is like a funnel from which the pieces a constantly being funneled back down in to the forge from Hell at the bottom. The dark makes it look like it is floating on air since you cannot see the dark slope. Very eerie.

Okay, so far, no sweat. Then BOOM!!! out of no where, the larger vent opens up with a crack like the biggest, loudest fireworks you have ever heard. We were thinking this was not going to be much of a show. Then Wham! we were surprised out of our socks (no sandals up here) by the boom with no warning. This was immediately followed by showers of lava and sparks coming out of the hole we couldn't see below us. This happened over and over again with several minutes in between, still with no warning before the report followed by the lava. Some times the lava would be minimal but with huge clouds of sulfur gases billowing up and up, obscuring the little vent that we could see. It was awesome, it the true sense of the work. You knew that if it wanted to the volcano could wipe us out in two seconds before we could even react. Nonetheless, we stayed as long as the guides would let us and got show after show of big burps of lava, some of which landed on the little ridge just in front of us. We still felt somewhat safe though but still jumped with each boom. Some of the women actually went down the hill before the group left as it was more than some could handle.

We were awe struck and definitely thought we got our money's worth (2500 vatu per person plus 1000 vatu each for the driver). We had to go still to the John Frum village around the other side of the volcano base to hear the singing and music. We were now absolute walking zombies after the long ride to Lenakel, long walks there, the long ride back, waiting for trucks, the long ride to the volcano, a steep hike up and then the adrenaline spike at the volcano. We drove straight in to the John Frum village where the singers and musicians were already in the grass hut meeting area. We were led to bamboo pole benches along the sides where we sat with the singers in between us on grass woven mats on the floor. Each man had a guitar or ukelele with one drum and the women sat behind the men in the center on both ends.

Everyone was elbow to elbow, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh. The guitar players in the middle had the necks of each guitar reaching over the man next to him. They all sand and played as if we were not there, with almost no eye contact and no interaction. There were no announcements, no talks, nothing but music and singing. The men would start playing the guitars, then start singing and the women would come in a few beats after the men. This was repeated over and over again with each song. The music reminded me very much of Cajun/Creole style and Southern Gospel all wrapped up in one. Unfortunately, the words to each song were different but the chords and beat were almost always the same. With our tired bodies it became tedious after the second band, and unendurable after the third started. This was now about 9pm and we were beat. The people also did not seem very welcoming although the kids outside the hut were friendly and talkative.

The so-called "cargo cult" of the John Frum group is an odd one. Back in WWII there was a white man named John Frum who seemed like a god to the villagers. He had all kinds of amazing things - machines, jeeps, radios, etc. and they started worshipping this strange man who had endless wealth. Frum left and every since they have been waiting for him to return with his "cargo" of goods and they will then be in paradise. The missionaries have not had good luck in converting many of the other Ni-Van and certainly have not converted the John Frum group and it remains a strong group still. One thins is for certain, they are excellent singers and musicians, they just need a music writer who has more variety in the songs. They will sing and dance all night long every Friday and let tourists come and watch for a fee but they really do it for themselves and could care less if we were there.

We left then and drove back to the Port to get in our dinks and so back to the boats. I road shotgun on the bumper again dodging low trees branches along the way. What a great, if exhausting, day.

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Tanna - the best so far

So much as happened. We have done so much, it has been hard to sit down and write it up. I was having a hard time even getting my head in to it as I did not want to spoil the feelings running through me about the place. This will be a hard blog post to write. It may even sound a bit unbelievable or puffed up. Believe me - I would have a hard time exaggerating about Tanna. This is what we had always imagined the South Pacific to be like. The Marquesas dashed those romanticized ideas about Pacific paradises when we saw paved roads, brand new trucks and cars whizzing along with relatively unfriendly people. The Fijians may be more outwardly friendly than the Tannese as the locals here are shier and a bit more reserved. But, they are wonderful people and would make solid friends if you got the chance.

So the problem here is how to itemize what we have been up to and what we have seen and experienced since arrival at Port Resolution. We had a big yachtie party with the local boys' band last night. The night before was our 2nd trip to the volcano and everyone got so freaked out we left early. I fixed one of the kava grinders here yesterday and the day before. We have met new cruiser friends from all over the world. I have hung on to the back of 4WD trucks standing on the bumper going through over 50 miles of jungle rain forest. We went to an all night singing and dance party at the John Frum village beneath the volcano. We met a woman who had a baby two weeks ago who had named it after a good friend of ours from Canada who had been here over a month ago. Whew! We are just catching our breath and I did not even mention our trip to Lenakel - 30 miles over bad roads - to check in with the authorities and go to the bank. I think I will break these events up in to multiple blog posts and later will post some pics when we get to Port Vila where there will be internet access.

The day after we got here we were booked on one of the local small 4WD trucks to go over to Lenakel to check in with Customs, Immigration and Quarantine in addition to going to the bank to get Vatu bucks. This was last Thursday here. We were going in with White Swan (Bob and Dianna) our good friends from Mexico out to here. Dianna, also known as Martha as in Martha Stewart because she is a cook extraordinaire (Fr sp?), is also chronically late. We were all of 5 minutes late and the truck left without us. So we just goofed off and walked around that day. We walked the long stretch of black lava sand beach of the bay and ended up at the "hot springs" village of Nasori at the head of the bay where we met "Chief" Jimmie who was whacking on a big log with a dangerous looking axe. Men here almost always walk around with some kind of sharp implement, usually a bush knife which is a skinny type of machete, kept really sharp. They start the boys off here with sharp knifes right after they learn to walk - no BS!! I have pictures to prove it. Tottlers (always boys) run around with big honking knifes chopping away at any bush or branch they can find. They will sit on the ground hacking at limbs right next to each other so that you imagine you will see parts of baby brother go flying any second. I think this is a version of the Darwin theory going here - if they are not capable of handling knives early without chopping off their fingers they are eligible to grow up to be adult bush knife carriers. Otherwise.....

The little village above Nasori is where we met Jocelyn and her husband (and chief) Sam with his brother Willy. Jocelyn would be the life of the party in any gathering. She is outgoing, loud, well spoke and intelligent. She also was carrying a two week old baby named Lorelei or something like that. She said she named her after Lauren of S/V Mystic Blue who we have known for the last two years. Lauren is a visiting high school principal from near Montreal Canada who is sailing with Ian who owns Mystic Blue. They were here weeks before us and obviously got to know Sam and Jocelyn very well. Jocelyn named her new baby girl after Lauren and wanted us to know that. I will post a pic of them both next Internet time. This was so cute and so wild. The village huts sit right next to a huge banyan tree on the trail we were on.

We saw a sign for a beach restaurant and were trying to find it when we happened upon Sam and Jocelyn's village. They are the Usua's and Sam is the chief. Willy, Sam's brother, volunteered without us asking to guide us to the restaurant after we could not decide which unmarked trail to take through the jungle. We walked for a couple of kilometers and got to a road we followed down to the beach and crashing surf where this little French restaurant and resort sits. The owner did not hardly speak English but we were able to order lunch and some Tusker beers for us and our guide. The French owner obviously did not approve of us giving a beer to our Melanesian friend and said it was a bad idea but we did it anyway and invited him to eat with us for which the owner wrinkled her nose so more. The French have very strong ideas about natives. They are still my least favorite people and I hate to say that, but over and over again we have been abused and treated rudely by the French everywhere we have been. So I guess I am a Francophobe and should be more enlightened but my scientific background tells me that you have to listen to the overwhelming evidence which is hitting you in the face and accept the facts of life. To each his own I guess.

To top it off, lunch for five with one beer each was over $132 US!! We also had coffee, which we ordered, and fruit salad dessert, which we did not order but got charged for. The main dish was rice with some tomatoes and onions in it - nothing special. A total, total ripoff. The name of the restaurant is Le Vulcain at the Turtle Bay resort. I encourage you and your friends never to patronize this place. We did meet a nice French ER doctor and his wife and daughter on holiday though who now live on New Caledonia.

We walked back to the main village at Port Resolution though and later went to the tiny restaurant on "Surf Beach" on the other side of the peninsula that makes Port Resolution. We had dinner by hurricane lantern with the wonderful lady named Leia who runs it for the village. The meals there are fantastic, with over ten dishes every time. We have been twice, once for dinner and later for lunch. Leia is a delight to talk with, with her 16yo helper Suzie hanging back in the little kitchen. They actually cook everything in the village over wood fires and then bring it down to the beach. The "building" is a woven grass hut with bamboo table and benches to sit on along the walls. There is papaya, bananas, curries, taro, squash, salad, yams, pumpkin, rice and several other things I am not sure what they were. Everything is totally delicious. The squash is called Choco some places but Shoo Shoo in Bislama here. It is a cross between a squash and a green melon and has a delicate flavor. Yum!! I had seconds both times there. And, it cost 650 Vatu or about $6.50 US each, BYO wine or beer. Leia is 37, has 5 kids, one of which is 23 so do the math. Her husband died a couple of years ago, cause unknown. She gave us lessons in Bislama and we spoke of village life and the vegetables, etc. Had a great time so we went to lunch there two days later and might even go again. Highly Recommended!

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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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Enroute to Tanna, Vanuatu

We did leave yesterday from Fiji after all. When we got to the pass through the reefs (Malolo Pass) at noon, it appeared too calm. We got through at 12:30pm and then had no wind. I had to turn on the motor after the boat lost steerage and our autopilot failed. We motored for another mile or so and then I saw whitecaps or breakers off to port and wondered if there was another reef out there that I did not see on the chart. Well, it was the wind picking up as we got away from the Fiji Islands. It started blowing real hard and then the seas picked up and we were off to a rocking and rolling start. It never got up to the 30's like it did for our friends the day before but we saw 20-25kts steady with a big swell coming on to the beam which rolled us constantly.

Since we both suffer from Mal de Mer we had taken a new type of anti-nausea pill we got in Suva. It did the usual - made us tired and sleepy and irritable and lethargic. And, it did not completely stop my seasickness so I had to put on half a scopolomine patch that we had in our kits. They work the best for me. But all this stuff has the ironic side effect of not letting me sleep very well. I stayed up in the cockpit all night and dozed while Cindy slept, or tried to, down below where it is incredibly noisy from the rolling of the boat and the effect on the sails and rigging. Lots of bangs and bumps - constantly. This is not the "paradise" side of cruising, at least for us. We were making good time though.

White Swan was in front, then behind, but as the wind filled in, they slowly overtook us. We do well with wind on the beam but not on the stern so they could outsail us in those conditions. I last saw them about midnight as their tricolor light on the top of their mast slowly sank below the horizon off our port. It was blowing briskly but no rain or clouds.

Today the winds moderated and we are poking along from 3-6kts all day with better seas. Cindy napped while I was not feeling well in the cockpit and could not even read or do puzzles with any enjoyment. It has gotten better as the day has gone on. It is almost 7pm now and dark outside as I write this. Cindy is heating up some excellent beef stew she made before we left Fiji just for the passage. We are debating whether to have a glass of some good red wine we opened our last night at anchor, before it spoils. Normally we never, ever drink on a passage, but we might have half a glass each tonight. I will see if I can sleep down below with ear plugs tonight some and let Cindy watch. We'll see. We have about 300nm to go as the crow flies but expect to vary the direction some with the winds. I think we should be there two days from tomorrow morning, or about when we planned. That puts us in on Thursday morning which would be great as the Vanuatuan (or Ni-Van) authorities supposedly visit Port Resolution to check in a cruise ship that comes by each Thursday. Otherwise we have to grab a ride in the back of a pickup and go a long ways on bumpy dirt roads to the only town on the other side of the island to check in. Tanna has lots to see and do so I would not mind the ride if it works out that way.

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Off (May be) to Vanuatu!

We checked out of Lautoka yesterday with all the dire warnings that we need to leave immediately from Immigration. We got last minute provisions (pre-mix Gin & Tonic, Cokes, veggies, eggs, fresh bread, etc.). We had wanted to go see the latest Harry Potter movie but it stopped the day before so that was out. We also got more soot on the decks from the burning of sugar cane fields and from the nasty dark smoke billowing out from the sugar mill just a mile away. It was time to go somewhere. Ranger and Winbird both checked out that morning and left before us and kept on going as the Grib file forecasts were good. (Grib files are weather maps you can order over SSB email that give you wind speed and direction, pressure bars, rain, waves, etc. for a selected area. Very useful.)

We decided to go ahead and just go to Saweni Bay and hide out for the night as it was too late to get to the pass to the open ocean before dark. The passes are not real narrow but it is still more comfortable to go in daylight. Saweni is just 4nm south so we settled down there. Then we heard Winbird on the VHF. They had just got outside the pass and had 30+kts of wind and rough seas. Not much fun but doable. They had double reefs in all sails and were not happy campers. So we dodged that bullet. We talked to them via our scheduled "private" net at 8am today and the winds and seas had moderated from last night. They had over 35kts last night but it was only 20-25 this morning. The Gribs still forecast only 20kts and dying over the next day so we are going to go south to the pass and poke our heads out to see what it is like. If it is too uncomfortable we will turn around and hunker down in Momi Bay or Musket Cove (illegally) for another night. White Swan and we think we will go ahead and go but we may not. The pass is two hours away.

Cindy and I made an excellent beef stew from local meat and veggies last night and will freeze it for having on our passage so we don't have to cook any big meals, just heat and serve. We had some excellent steaks with corn and a fresh salad, accompanied by some Indian homemade chutney that Cindy got with White Swan at the market. To sample it, the vendor just picked a jar (reused jam jar) off the cart, opened it, and told Cindy to just stick her finger in it to taste it. It was good so she got it but we laughed and wondered at dinner how many other fingers had gone in to that one jar before we bought it. In any case it was a tamarind chutney with a very spicy undertone and excellent with the steak.

So life goes on. We have 470nm to go to the island of Tanna and should be there in 4-5 days. We may have a couple of slow days per forecasts with light winds so it may take 5-6. We are excited about seeing the people and volcanos there but will miss Fiji and the Fijians. The political scene here is totally messed up with the military coup from December and now there are big strikes by nurses, teachers and other public employees. Along with the drop in tourism and the lower prices for sugar, the economy will be hit hard for months and may be years to come. That is a shame as the people are extraordinarily friendly and fun (with the usual bad apples).

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