July 2007 Vanuatu
On a misty Sunday morning, 9 days out of Suva, we had logged 603 miles as we motored into Port Vila harbour and anchored in 5 fathoms of water.
After rigging the sun sail, bottles of rum and beer appeared on deck to be passed around. The rope swing on the lower yardarm was the main attraction. Young Mathew jumped off the fore T’gallent yard and everyone had a pleasant Sunday afternoon.
Monday it was all-go for a major crew change in 3 days. We had meetings with Henk and Nelleke of Project MARC and Terry from YCI. We loaded several tons of cement, wood, plastic pipe and plywood into the main saloon. Next came the 11 YCI people with backpacks and boxes of supplies.
In the YCI group there were 6 ni-Vans, 3 men, Graym, Pedro and Frank, and 3 women, Rona, Katie and Nancy. There were 5 Internationals, one man, Stuart from Australia and 4 women, Lindsey and Katie from Canada along with Bronwyn and Georgina from Australia.
Then an occluded front moved through bringing northerly head winds and a rough 3-metre sea. The wind shifted to the sou’west putting a one metre rolling sea into the anchorage. That night some of the new crew got seasick and several dingys were sunk at the sea wall. We had to wait another 3 days for a fair wind.
Finally, on a Sunday morning, we had a fair wind. However, after swinging to the weather we had fouled the anchor cable around a coral head. Seamus dove on the anchor then came back on board to explain the mess. It took an hour of manoeuvring and several more dives to free the entangled mess.
We motor sailed out of the harbour, across the bay and through a rough sea off Devil’s point. The wind came up from the south, we set the lower square sail and shaped a course for the east coast of Malekula.
The next morning the southern shore of Malekula was in sight, by noon the wind had died away, so, we started the main engine to motor into the anchorage.
The first day on shore began with a welcoming ceremony with the local chiefs. That afternoon the YCI challengers started digging out the water pipe buried since cyclone Ivy 4 years ago.
That evening there was a meeting with MARC and YCI teams. It turned out that the water pipe repair materials didn’t fit the existing pipe. Also, YCI had their small team health projects that paralleled, but differed from, the projects MARC had planned. The topic turned to insufficient communication with new plans to make the most of what was available to work with.
Across the bay, the second week, the site for the foundation of the new yacht club was staked out. By mid-week a bottle of red liquid with a leak in it was found buried at the foundation site. An old man came by and told the group that the dark red colour of the water meant the site was Tabu. This was the scene of a recent land dispute. The YCI people moved off the site.
The second weekend we loaded plywood and timber back on board for the clinic at Sakau. Under grey skied and a light southerly breeze we motored down to Sakau on the southern end of Malekula. The International YCI people went diving on the reef, the ni-Vans spent time on the beach collecting snails. We took the wood ashore and brought back sacks of snails. Sunday midday we were underway again back to Banam Bay for the last two weeks of the project there.
The blocked water pipe was cleared, valves repaired and leaks sealed. New taps were installed and the water was back in the villages. The yacht club was still Tabu for the YCI people so they did their small team projects. There was tok tok on banking. One old chief said, “This is nice, but where is the bank? (The nearest bank is in Norsup, a 4-hour ride in the truck.) There was also tok tok on hygiene, birth control and preventing STD’s. The coral reef preservation area was surveyed.
By the end of the last week there were farewell celebrations on shore with the YCI challengers and their host families. The festivities returned to Alvei with a crew party that included a large bucket of “homebrew” the ni-Van boys had put together.
The day before the end of the YCI expedition we sailed down the coast to Port Sandwich. Monday 30 July, was Independence day for Vanuatu. It was also the day our YCI team flew back to Port Vila.
With Chief Sam and Carl on board from Banam Bay we weighed anchor and sailed north to Luganville. The next morning we anchored in Segond Channel near the Beachfront café.
With only Kat, Seamus and myself on the crew we will be staying here in Luganville till we can find more crew or until the September Project MARC expedition begins.
And here we are,
Evan
After rigging the sun sail, bottles of rum and beer appeared on deck to be passed around. The rope swing on the lower yardarm was the main attraction. Young Mathew jumped off the fore T’gallent yard and everyone had a pleasant Sunday afternoon.
Monday it was all-go for a major crew change in 3 days. We had meetings with Henk and Nelleke of Project MARC and Terry from YCI. We loaded several tons of cement, wood, plastic pipe and plywood into the main saloon. Next came the 11 YCI people with backpacks and boxes of supplies.
In the YCI group there were 6 ni-Vans, 3 men, Graym, Pedro and Frank, and 3 women, Rona, Katie and Nancy. There were 5 Internationals, one man, Stuart from Australia and 4 women, Lindsey and Katie from Canada along with Bronwyn and Georgina from Australia.
Then an occluded front moved through bringing northerly head winds and a rough 3-metre sea. The wind shifted to the sou’west putting a one metre rolling sea into the anchorage. That night some of the new crew got seasick and several dingys were sunk at the sea wall. We had to wait another 3 days for a fair wind.
Finally, on a Sunday morning, we had a fair wind. However, after swinging to the weather we had fouled the anchor cable around a coral head. Seamus dove on the anchor then came back on board to explain the mess. It took an hour of manoeuvring and several more dives to free the entangled mess.
We motor sailed out of the harbour, across the bay and through a rough sea off Devil’s point. The wind came up from the south, we set the lower square sail and shaped a course for the east coast of Malekula.
The next morning the southern shore of Malekula was in sight, by noon the wind had died away, so, we started the main engine to motor into the anchorage.
The first day on shore began with a welcoming ceremony with the local chiefs. That afternoon the YCI challengers started digging out the water pipe buried since cyclone Ivy 4 years ago.
That evening there was a meeting with MARC and YCI teams. It turned out that the water pipe repair materials didn’t fit the existing pipe. Also, YCI had their small team health projects that paralleled, but differed from, the projects MARC had planned. The topic turned to insufficient communication with new plans to make the most of what was available to work with.
Across the bay, the second week, the site for the foundation of the new yacht club was staked out. By mid-week a bottle of red liquid with a leak in it was found buried at the foundation site. An old man came by and told the group that the dark red colour of the water meant the site was Tabu. This was the scene of a recent land dispute. The YCI people moved off the site.
The second weekend we loaded plywood and timber back on board for the clinic at Sakau. Under grey skied and a light southerly breeze we motored down to Sakau on the southern end of Malekula. The International YCI people went diving on the reef, the ni-Vans spent time on the beach collecting snails. We took the wood ashore and brought back sacks of snails. Sunday midday we were underway again back to Banam Bay for the last two weeks of the project there.
The blocked water pipe was cleared, valves repaired and leaks sealed. New taps were installed and the water was back in the villages. The yacht club was still Tabu for the YCI people so they did their small team projects. There was tok tok on banking. One old chief said, “This is nice, but where is the bank? (The nearest bank is in Norsup, a 4-hour ride in the truck.) There was also tok tok on hygiene, birth control and preventing STD’s. The coral reef preservation area was surveyed.
By the end of the last week there were farewell celebrations on shore with the YCI challengers and their host families. The festivities returned to Alvei with a crew party that included a large bucket of “homebrew” the ni-Van boys had put together.
The day before the end of the YCI expedition we sailed down the coast to Port Sandwich. Monday 30 July, was Independence day for Vanuatu. It was also the day our YCI team flew back to Port Vila.
With Chief Sam and Carl on board from Banam Bay we weighed anchor and sailed north to Luganville. The next morning we anchored in Segond Channel near the Beachfront café.
With only Kat, Seamus and myself on the crew we will be staying here in Luganville till we can find more crew or until the September Project MARC expedition begins.
And here we are,
Evan
