On to Efate and Port Vila
From Tanna Island, we sailed about 9
hours with one reef in the main sail and the genoa to Dillon’s Bay on Erromango
Island. Unfortunately, it was raining. No locals came out to the boat
and we didn’t go ashore. We left the next afternoon for an
overnight sail to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. Instead of going
too fast and arriving early, our timing and speed were good on this
passage and we arrived outside the entrance to Port Vila about 2
hours after sunrise. The weather didn't cooperate, however, and a
severe thunderstorm rolled in. We considered trying to race the
massive black clouds and get into harbour, but as we saw SV Dream
Catcher swallowed up by the dense cloud and the lightening started
coming in thick bolts, we turned around and slowly motored back into
the sunshine. About 2 hours later, the storm had passed and we were
moored off of Yachting World in Port Vila.
After having limited access to a
variety of provisions, we were in heaven at the Au Bon Marche supermarket in Port
Vila. The brie, prosciutto, chorizo, breads, wines… it was
fabulous! In the local market there were raspberries, pamplemousse,
mangos, avocados….
We met up with Tom and Lynn on SV
Roxanne and made plans to explore the nearby islands to the North of
Port Vila. We first anchored off Lelepa Island, snorkelled a few
times and explored one of the larger caves on the island before we
had a rainy day. Then we motored a bit further to Moso Island. In
between rain showers we explored the beaches. After a few days, we
moved on to Pele Island.
We spent several days at Pele, meeting
many locals, eating lots of papayas and drinking fresh coconut milk.
Lynn, from SV Roxanne, and Dina walked to the local school and
dropped off some school supplies. One afternoon, Lynn and Dina were
guided up to the top of the mountain by four boys, Rexon, Chris,
Samuel and Stephen. The hike was rough and although one of the boys
carried a machete, the razor grass left various cuts on arms and
legs. The view was worth the hike, and the unrestrained joy and
singing of the boys made it priceless.
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Lynn talking to two local boys in a tree on the beach |
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View of Kakula Island from the top of Pele Island |
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Local boys having fun on the hike |
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Posing for a portrait |
The next day Lynn brought the boys out
to visit both boats.
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Tug-of-war with Malcolm using one of the winches |
We moved the boat a short distance and anchored closer
to Kakula Island where SV Kiapa, SV Tranquilo and SV Roxanne were
kite-boarding. Tom, from SV Roxanne, kindly lent Malcolm his kite to
practice. A small storm front was approaching and Malcolm did not get
the kite down soon enough. A strong gust came, caught the kite and
dragged Malcolm off the beach, into the water and slammed him into an
anchored dinghy. The kite came down for a second but got more wind
and dragged Malcolm under the dinghy. Malcolm and Tom got the kite
down and found it had suffered a torn air bladder. Malcolm suffered a nasty gash on his foot and various bruises and scrapes.
The good news was Tom is a doctor.
There was a question whether Malcolm needed stitches, but Tom was
able to glue the cut closed on Malcolm’s foot. The bad news was
Malcolm was unable to swim for several days. More good news was that
where we were anchored there were many turtles and each evening they
would swim all around our boat.
After a few days, we made our way back
to Port Vila. We said, Goodbye, to SV Roxanne when they sailed to New
Zealand. Then we put Good as Gold comfortably to bed for the
cyclone season. She is securely nestled up on the hard at the Port
Vila Boatyard.
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Waiting for the trailer |
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Hauling out |
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Hauling out |
We flew to
Sydney, Australia where we will be staying with our friends, Jamie
and Kimberley, while our Japanese work visas are processed. We will
spend the South Pacific cyclone season/Northern Hemisphere ski season
(December to April) in Niseko, Japan.