Wednesday 1st September

Sunday 28th August

We finally left Port Vila, much to everyone’s surprise. We had become fixtures at the nakamal, the Waterfront Bar & Grill, the veggie market, Au Bon Marché Nambas 1 & 2…and we had a whole new lot of BFFs. Not to mention our daily contact with darling Leah and Mark.

Pete and Andrew slaved for two long hot grueling days on the rudder problem. Sledgehammers were all go… If Andrew hadn’t been there, with his diving equipment, his competence and his patience, we would still be up on the (very expensive) slip in Port Vila, trying to solve and fix The Rudder problem. We knew that we couldn’t leave Port Vila with the steering so stiff, and with the autopilot refusing to work. It had been absolutely grueling, just having a day trip over from Erromango to Efate.

Now I am going to ask The Men what the issue was:
Oh dear…they are drinking beer and are very very hot. They gazed at me in horror; what fresh hell was this?? I wanted them to do something??. But…to my great delight Pete took over, as he says, with a gentle smile of enthusiasm!

No, Pete has arisen, after 3 kavas with a gentle smile of (could that be)….enthusiasm?

Pete’s explanation: I do believe that Laura is somewhat overcome by my enthusiasm for my contributing to her blog. Mind you there are some of her followers who believe I am likely to corrupt, defile or simply bugger up her wonderful efforts of writing her blog. On the other hand some of her more nautical followers are requesting a bit more information as to the sailing decisions that accrue.
Here goes :-Whilst in Tassie James and I removed the port side rudder. Two reasons…Firstly I had dinged the rudder in the Whitsundays and it was a bit stiff to turn, but also there had been a deterioration in the autopilot and I thought the stiffness was causing this problem.

We had an engineering firm test the stock for bend, no problem, but it was extremely difficult to remove…much hammering and swearing, but eventually it was dissociated from the boat and tested. Absolutely no bend, and very little to show why it was stiff. A bit of a clean up, removing what appeared to be minimal residue from (maybe) electrolysis and all seemed to be fixed. Certainly the new autopilot that was installed worked without a hitch.

Sadly, as we progressed from Sydney to Lord Howe Island, we started to encounter problems with the autopilot. It would have a “fit” and totally lose direction. By the time we reached New Caledonia it was unable to “Track”. (For the uninitiated that means staying exactly on a rhumb line, as compared with staying on a course (direction). By Efate Laura and I were totally exhausted from having to manually steer the whole way and it was obvious that the steering needed fixed.

The problem was exactly the same as previously, after much effort to get the rudder out there is still little to show for it being so tight. Many suggestions, such as increased water temperature causing increased expansion in the rudder stock, a further ding (no that has not happened), the start of electrolysis and the aluminium stock releasing some small particles of metal which caused scouring of the stock and tightness. Whatever... Andrew spent a lot of time and effort removing some millimeters from the nylon (neoprene) bush (bearing), using his battery operated hookah as this needed to be done from under the hull, and I polished the stock, applied grease and all has popped back in place. OK for the moment, but I can assure you we are not far away from our next challenge.

(This is Pete’s first contribution; I am very happy with it and have only fixed the spacing – he doesn’t believe there should be two spaces after a full stop. And he wouldn’t let me change “needed fixed” – it is apparently an in-joke which everyone will understand (except me…) I have been Laura all day in the village where we spent the afternoon. Local people can cope very well with Laura as a name. Unfortunately we were with a party of Quatre Français, to whom I introduced myself, ofcourse, as Marguerite, so it was all a bit schizophrenic. Pete is very happily still in LauraMode, and is being very nice to me in spite of the fact that his camera had a bit of a damp moment or two in my backpack and now it doesn’t work… I quite like being Laura, it is a whole new world out there when you have a different name!)

I spent my last morning in Vila buying provisions – fresh fruit and veggies from the market, that sort of thing. I also sat sadly in the Waterfront Café with Mark and Leah, sipping our very last fresh lime juices. (They were usually so reliably delicious, but this time…Leah’s had no ice and mine, I fear, had no lime…but never mind!) Very sad to say farewell but…so it goes…

It was a beautiful day and we made very good speed to Havana Harbour, where we anchored for the night. Absolutely beautiful! There is a fabulous resort there, and Cate Blanchett has, we hear, bought land nearby. But…even she was denied access to the resort because she had children under 12 with her!

The next morning we set off for Epi island, famous, in Lonely Planet, for having NO SHARKS. We found a lovely anchorage in gorgeous Lamon Bay, home to, so they told us, turtles and dugongs. Alack and alas we didn’t see any but…it was picture-postcard perfect.

Lonely Planet informed us that there was a restaurant in the village, at the promisingly named Paradise Sunset Resort. It was similar in style to the Port Resolution Yacht Club, but in an enclosed hut, sans cats and dogs. Our welcoming committee to the village told us, after much discussion with the Women Who Cook, that we would be very welcome to come back for a meal at 7.30, with some visiting missionaries, here for an Assembly of God conference. What could be nicer?? We assumed that the missionaries would be dining with us rather than on the menu, and this was indeed the case. Chris and Paul were very nice men. Paul was originally from Launceston and very happy to chat about his home town. Not sure where Chris came from. (Qld?) He was a very kindly old gentleman, and we enjoyed their company very much. They probably enjoyed ours even more because they both revealed a surprising passion for motor car racing and I told them they were dining with Andrew Miedecke. Their eyes lit up and our status went up enormously in their eyes, even though I told them Chris (our new friend from Port Vila)’s joke about the drug and bomb-detecting dog on the plane (it involved the word SHIT.)

After this we had a very early night and possibly slept, all three of us, for about 11 hours… This reminds me – oh why this connection, I wonder? – of a snoring story I haven’t written about yet. One night when we were at the marina in Port Vila, Pete got up to commune with nature on the deck. It was about 2am and he idly glanced around to see if the security guard was doing his rounds. He could see a white shirt, and then wondered to himself if this nightwatchman ever, perchance, took a little nap. Could it be that he was lying on a bench in the café? Well yes…a few minutes later Pete heard a loud snore….

Monday 29th August

Epi was beautiful but we had miles to go so the next morning we left early and went to Avoch Island, just off the coast of Malekula Island. Another gorgeous stetting…I won’t gush too much but if you can visualize little white beaches, thick lush jungle on steep hills and crystal clear water…well yes…Oh and a dear little thatched village with gentle, hospitable people waiting to ply us with kava and pamplemousse…We had a few lovely swims in the warm clear water, and I enjoyed my snorkeling very much because, for once, my mask didn’t try to drown me – I have been having problems with it, so annoying. There wasn’t a lot of coral – alack and alas, most of it is dead – but I did see was quite spectacular, brilliant orange and yellow with schools of tiny luminous blue fish darting around.
Andrew had caught two decent sized bonitos out at sea – lovely little tuna. We gave one to some boys in a dugout. They fish all the time on the edge of the sea, ofcourse, but can’t catch deep-sea fish so they were very grateful. We were sorry later that we hadn’t caught a dozen to give to the other villagers, who were very envious. There were two other yachts in the bay, and we were all invited to a “kastom dance” at 2.00.

I don’t usually like seeing village people being made to perform tribal dances for our edification, it all seems very undignified, but this session was good. They had a whole program which they trotted out for us and our Quatre Français, companions. First there was a speech from The Chief (Jif Andrew), then a welcome song from a lively little string band. Two lovely men called Philip and George then took us for a guided tour around the beautiful village. George wanted me to be the translator for the Quatre Français; in fact what he REALLY wanted was for me to make them keep up with the rest of us… It was like herding cats and after a while I gave up. It was too hot and they paid no attention to me anyway, so I let them come at their own pace. In fact it was the hottest day we have had so far – between 33-36. We darted from one large breadfruit tree to the next…

After an hour or so of village tour, we were led down a wonderfully shady path along a mangrove-rimmed creek to the dancing area. It was all very atmospheric, sitting on a log under the huge shady trees, hearing tomtoms beating in the distance, and hearing a warrior song approaching. I will copy out a bit from Lonely Planet – I am very hot and can’t think of a better way to describe the tribal differences on Malekula:

“Two of Malekula’s major tribal groups are the Big Nambas and Small Nambas, named because of the size of the men’s namba (penis sheath.) Small Nambas men wear only one leaf of dried fibre wound around the penis and tucked into a bark belt. Their semi-kastom communities are built around tamtam, ready to beat a rhythm, and a dance area.”

We were in the World of Small Nambas; apparently the Big Nambas are much more terrifying…and were not all that long ago prone to eat intruders… The dance was just great. The men all wore anklets of dried nuts (very similar to large gumnuts) around their ankles and stamped to make them rattle – very like Morris Dancers’ bells… But otherwise nothing like Morris Dancers; they all had bare bottoms and were painted with ochre. One young man banged the tamtam while three old codgers sang the warrior songs. The dancers were all very fit and in their prime. They marched off in single file back into the jungle, chanting another bloodthirsty song, and were ready and waiting for us back in the village wearing their cotton shirts and shorts, ready to sing for us as the original string band… So lovely; their first song, to a jaunty reggae rhythm was… “The Grand Old Duke of York,” followed by… “Jingle Bells”!! A feast had been spread out on our return – coconuts, navele (native nuts threaded onto sticks,) pamplemousse (pink grapefruit, delicious) and sweet corn. And kava!

One of les Quatre Français, Jean-Francois, has chupachups to give to random children. I was sitting with him and his wife when they were talking about the villagers. “What beautiful teeth they have!” he said. “They won’t have now!” I said, a bit rudely…well…very rudely…

It all cost quite a lot – about $22 per head. But we didn’t begrudge a penny; it all goes back into the village economy, and they certainly gave us our money’s worth. Andrew had done a deal with James, the boy to whom he had given the bonito, and he came back with two beautiful big mud crabs. He cooked them for us for dinner last night, with much chilli and garlic, and it was THE most fabulous meal.

Tuesday 30th August

No lingering about for 2XS! We got up quite early again and set off for our next destination. I think we are in Uri Bay but Pete says Port Stanley. The coast of Malekula, anyway. We were planning on swimming, snorkeling, diving but…all I can hear around me is…snore snore… By the way, Infinity, our big boatfriend from Port Resolution, is right next to us.

Sharks are a BIG theme here in Vanuatu. I think I wrote about the woman Andrew and I were talking to (shouting to!) while dancing at the Waterfront Bar & Grill on Friday? She was saying “Where are you going blah blah blah SHARKS….don’t swim there blah blah blah SHARKS blah blah” so I said, “I really can’t hear you!” and danced off with my fingers in my ears…

And, for example, Lonely Planet says, of Port Sandwich, on Malekula:

“At the wharf, a small golden beach may tempt you in for a swim. Don’t do it! Don’t even paddle. This is the worst place for shark attacks.”

We carefully avoided Port Sandwich and its treacherous golden beach, and went to Port Stanley instead. On the way, Pete was talking to somebody close by on the radio and when he said we were heading here, was told, “Oh no…don’t swim there! The big shark problem in Port Sandwich has now transferred to…Port Stanley!””

But…we have never actually heard of anyone being killed, or even bitten by a shark in Vanuatu. Maybe people are terrified out of their wits if they just SEE one?? Anyway…my snoring boys woke up and it was so hot, the water so beautiful, that we all went for a swim. Andrew and Pete both dived with Andrew’s special power snorkel thingy, and I just snorkeled, not too far from the boat. And…it was beautiful! Gorgeous coral, lots of fish…no sharks!!

Wednesday 31st August

Early start again and off Espiritu Santo. Pete and Andrew launched the sailchute early on in the day and it accompanied it all the way, looking just glorious in the blue sky. Not only looking good; it carried us along at a spanking pace.

Andrew had his fishing lines out, as usual, and while Pete was lying on the net at the front of the boat watching the sailchute and I was sitting at the helm listening to podcasts there was a sudden commotion – a BIG fish on the line! It took ages for the fish to appear in view…a very big Spanish Mackerel, 700 mls in length. We had some for lunch, cooked on the BBQ with teriyaki sauce and it was absolutely delicious. Weehee Andrew! Hunter gatherer and cook!

We got to Aore Resort a bit after 2pm. It had been recommended as a nice place to moor the boat, and indeed it was a most beautiful resort, picture perfect, with a ferry service to Luganville across the channel.. We tied up to a small mooring and Pete took the tender in to work out what the system involved. A very efficient Australian woman owns and runs the resort and she told us we should go to a deeper mooring. Well we tried that but…it didn’t have a rope on it so we drove into the middle of Luganville and dropped poor Andrew off at a dodgy looking concrete jetty arrangement. No nice little ferry…but at least he didn’t miss the plane.

We didn’t go back to Aore; they had such a huge list of regulations I was tired even thinking of reading them. But before we left I did have a wonderful swim; so many fish, and some beautiful coral, I just loved it. Instead of Aore we anchored on the Luganville side of the channel, outside another less posh resort called Beachfront.