Sunday, September 5, 2010 - The Home Stretch and Arrival at Tanna, Vanuatu

The honeymoon is over. We knew the easy three days was too good to be true, and I guess so did Neptune. It seemed last evening and into the night he raised his trident high, rallying forth the winds and then striking the seas declaring it time to let the good times roll! The seas bucked Destiny about seeming to express anger at our intrusion, tossing us like a rag doll. The winds were back up to 25+ knots and howling through our rigging and mast. We were in a bit of a pickle because we had no choice but to slow this mustang down. We could have run with it and made a much smoother ride for ourselves but we simply could not risk a nighttime approach into Tanna, hence we reefed in the main, furled the headsail and set the stay sail (storm gib) and rode the rollercoaster into the night. If you like amusement park rides, you would have loved this one. Topside it wasn't so bad, but trying to sleep below was agony. Thank goodness it was for only one night.

We arrived as planned at the entrance to Port Resolution at 7:30 AM. In 1774, Captain James Cook upon approaching the island of Tanna noticed a great glow coming from the island. He entered this bay to investigate. The glow of course was fiery Mount Yasur, but the Islanders would not let him approach the volcano that they considered "tabu", sacred/hallowed ground. So he contented to name the bay, Port Resolution, after his boat, the HMS Resolution.

We had tried to get here last year, but it just didn't happen. We are very pleased to be here now and look forward to visiting as much of the island as possible. Our friends who have preceded us here say it is their favorite island in Vanuatu

Tanna has a fascinating history and apparently a lot to offer tourists, including a trip up the volcano, which is no longer "tabu" except during special times of the year. "Yasur" in local Tannese means "Old Man" and is believed to be the originator of the universe by the indigenous locals. It is believed that after death, their spirits are returned to the volcano. Some of them must be angry spirits because it sure is still going strong after all these years.
Since it is Sunday, we cannot clear in to the country until tomorrow and may not go ashore until then. We thought we'd set the anchor and then hit the sack, but Frank wanted to rinse the boat down before the salt baked in, and I decided to cook us a formidable breakfast. Then of course after the tossing we took I had to tidy up inside and he got busy outside trying to find the leak in "dinghy". Locals began to drift by in their little dugout outrigger canoes either to investigate the new arrivals or to show us their fine bananas and coconuts for which we could trade batteries, clothing or other goods. Then Stanley from the yacht club stopped by to arrange our transportation into town tomorrow for clearance. We will leave the boat a 6:30 AM. We understand it is about a 2-3 hour ride in a pickup truck and that we are to bring our own seat cushion. This should be fun!

It's 5 PM. We never got our naps, but plan to sleep well tonight because we have to get up early. Oh, and update on my face smash ordeal: I've managed to get by with just a few cuts on my nose and seem to have somewhat quelled the swelling. There is just a bit of bruising across my nose, and it may be spreading to my right eye but it's hard to tell just yet. My friend Julia gave me some homeopathic pills that may help. Everyone thinks my nose is broken but somehow I don't think so.

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August 8 - 9: Vanuatu Passage Part 3

Neither of us got much sleep as the storms and squalls pelted us throughout the night and into the wee hours of Saturday morning. Sometime in mid-morning the waters laid down as well as our fantastic sailing winds and we settled in to day 3 of the journey. John Martin from S/V "Windflower", who is our rally leader, made a VHF announcement that Oyster Island Resort (our destination in Vanuatu) has decided to sponsor a fishing contest and is offering prizes to the largest fish caught and the most fish caught during the passage. First prize is a free night at the resort. You could nearly hear the scampering as fellow cruisers ran about their boats to get their lines in the water. We of course joined in the action. I lumbered out to the aft deck to set our newly rigged hand line. Before long we heard yachties reporting in that they had caught: a bill-fish (either a Marlin or Sword), a 1.5 meter Mahi Mahi, a large Skip Jack, and so on. "Free Spirit" reported an amazing catch; two double-header Mahi Mahi's (that's two lines rigged with two lures each meaning they caught 4 fish at one time). Wow! By mid-day, we snagged a beautiful 42" Wahoo. As I was skinning it Frank yelled down to me to stop deboning and skinning because we were to be judged on total weight. Hmmm. Where to put a fish when the fridge and freezer are full? This leads me to wonder what should we do if we catch a lot of fish? But we continued nonetheless, not catching anymore this day. We continued hearing the announcements as various yachts called in their catches. Some of them were using monster lures landing 8-10 foot billfish. We could not possibly compete. This passage has produced the best stocked fishing holes we have yet to encounter since leaving the US. I think my ex-husband would be in heaven were he to troll these waters!

Saturday night we heard "Kiss II" check in on the Sked. They were mobile again and in the fleet. Great news! The lack of wind became monotonous, making it difficult to stay awake on watch. When there are storms and high seas at least your nerves are alive and adrenaline is up so that there is no difficulty staying alert.

Sunday, Frank and I both finished our books and he announced that I really must read "Getting Stoned With Savages", because it is the author's account of living in both Vanuatu and Fiji. Been to Fiji, heading to Vanuatu so I snatched it up and could hardly put it down. Although Mr. Troost sometimes gets caught up in his impressive literary genius and expansive vocabulary (lots and lots of verbs and adjectives I have to look up), it was a highly informative and entertaining book. He has a great knack for writing. His tales of Vanuatu had us rolling in laughter and quivering in fear. Apparently there are a lot of deadly creatures there, such as a venomous 2 ft. long/2in. diameter centipede that ventured into his home that must be smashed to smithereens to kill because if you just chop at it each piece will continue to thrive independently and regenerate. He eventually was stung by one and became very ill and nearly paralytic! He mentions other dangers that we had read about in our cruising and travel guides such as an alarmingly high rate of malaria and dengue fever, seriously shark infested waters and lots of volcanic activity. We read on Noonsite that swimming at most beaches is not recommended, especially at black beaches and wherever you spot a red buoy in the water. The red buoy is laden with bloody meat to attract sharks! These people are nuts! OK, we are warned but we are also looking forward to discovering the beauty and allure of Vanuatu. If the TV show "Survivor" can allow participants to do a stint in Vanuatu then I think we are going to be just fine.

This was to be another day of motoring with light squalls on and off throughout. We have had some difficulty getting through on the HAM to post our position report, but Sailmail is working for emails. We received sad news that our friend from Denver, Jeff lost his father to a fast attacking and deadly battle with cancer. Our hearts are heavy for Jeff and Jeri Lyn.

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Augusst 6-7, Fiji - Vanuatu Passage part 2

Day 1 was rather benign hosting clear blue skies and very little winds. We had been briefed on expected weather for the crossing that included light winds and 1-3 meter seas until Sunday when we should anticipate a moderate storm to pass directly over the fleet's rhumb line. Nonetheless we had stowed away most projectiles and loose items on shelf tops and counter tops just in case. Frank was reading J. Maarten Troost's second book, "Getting Stoned With Savages", and laughing a lot. I was reading a really, really intense Jonathan Kellerman book. And we set the hand line for fishing. By nightfall we realized we'd not caught any fish nor had we brought in the fishing line but Frank said to just leave it out. He, the easy-going one. Me the not so the easy-going one yapped at him about losing more lures and/or perhaps catching something that would get dragged through the water attracting sharks, but he prevailed and we left the line in the water.

The night was God's own palette. We witnessed a glorious sunset and as the last vestige of the huge orange ball dipped to the surface of the horizon, we both exclaimed "Green Flash!" We saw it, yes we did. Big one this time. The colors that painted the sky entertained us for a while. Then out came the full moon, lighting up the cloudless sky so that we bright sparkling stars and great visibility for our night shifts. We happily noted that we were literally surrounded by nearly two dozen dancing mast lights and tri-color lights as our brethren sailed on through the night accompanying us.

Day 2 as the sun was finally yawning awake over the horizon and I was coming off watch at 7 AM, I noted a very slack fishing line hanging off the stern. We have a strict rule that unless it is a dire emergency no one leaves the cockpit when alone up top. So when Frank awoke I tried not to sound too "wifey" when I told him that it looked like we had donated another (brand spanking new) lure to Neptune, and then I went on deck to reel it in. We both felt a sinking feeling as we noted it was gone. Frank didn't feel like fooling around getting a new one rigged so we opted out of fishing on day 2. Good thing that we did because by mid-day we began what we now know to be the "preliminary storm dance of the seas". The winds refreshed and out came the Gennaker. Sails up - SOG increasing - engine off! We enjoyed a good day of sailing indeed. As the afternoon faded into evening however, waves began building as squalls appeared on the horizon. What was this? This was not on the forecast and not on anyone's GRIBS. We checked rigging and made sure everything was well secured as the pounding began. This would not be a night for restful sleep. In fact we were both on hyper-awareness as Destiny tossed side to side. The seas were very angry and not well formed. With double reefs in both sails we sped through the night averaging 7-8 knots. At the 19:30 "sked" boats reported in with averages of 25-30 knots of true wind, and speeds varying from 6-12 knots with sails reefed. There are several catamarans in the fleet and two large motor yachts. These guys were probably going to out run this thing and were likely to make landfall a full day ahead of the rest of us. I was in the cockpit while Frank was giving our report when all of a sudden we felt we'd been slammed by a tank. The crash came before either of us could react. Oh Lord, what now?! The laptop and all contents of the Nav station area were sent hurtling across the interior, into the galley, slamming into the paneling of the fridge and freezer leaving deep gouges in the teak before landing in a heap on the floor below. Rogue Wave. I dutifully went below to pick up pieces. Phones had come apart, as had most electronic pieces. eyeglasses, flashlights, flash drives, business cards, pens, pencils, books, charts - you name it had gone airborne. Amazingly none of it was broken - just scattered everywhere. It was a mess, but one that was easily cleaned up. It was to be a very long, wet night. But we sailed it! It was great not to have to turn the motor on for about 24 hours.

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Goodbye Fiji! Hello 600 Miles of Ocean! Passage notes part 1

August 6, 2009, departure day. The first horn blew at 9:45 AM, time to weigh anchor and head to Vanuatu. The rally boats have begun the departure dance, sashaying here and there, circling, shouting to one another, bidding farewell to others who are not leaving and positioning to be first in line to make the jump when the whistle blows. As always emotions rise to the surface as excitement mixed with anxiety flows into a powerful adrenaline. There is no feeling to compare with leaving port and crossing an open ocean to head to a new country and a new adventure. We had minutes left on our Fiji cell phone so we used them to call family and friends. As always my Mom cried to hear our voices. She is proud of us and thinks Frank is the hero of the family. He is amazing and the more we are out here the more he amazes me and everyone else. He is still my hero too.

So everyone is ready and we hear a sad appeal from the Kiwi boat K.I.S.S. (you can guess the acronym!); they are having major engine problems. They will not be leaving with us and we feel their pain as they pull out of the rally at this 11th hour. We are second to last leaving - we are not concerned about being in the lead, just relishing these last few minutes in Malolo Lailai's beautiful anchorage. The staff of Musket Cove and some other cruisers sit in dinghies and small long-boats to mark our way out through the Pass and the intricate reef formations, waving goodbye to us all, as the 22 Rally boats begin to spread and reach finding that sweet spot of water to begin the passage. As we clear the outer reefs dolphins shoot toward our bow, swimming along and performing their water ballet almost on queue, as though this is the farewell send-off. Frank and I ran to the bow yelling, "Where is Sandy?". We think they know our boat and were looking for him.

So we have 600 miles of open water ahead of us. We will be checking in on a "sked" at 19:30 each evening on the SSB. We'll also post our position report (the link may be found on our website home page), throughout the journey as long as we are able to get transmission on the HAM. Vanuatu here we come!

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August 1 - 6: Fiji-Vanuatu Rally prelims at Musket Cove

The afternoon of August 1st we arrived to a very packed anchorage at Malolo Lailai. And as well the marina and the moorings were overflowing with yachts as cruisers gathered for departure to various other places. Having no choice we anchored quite far away from the hub, out by three mega-yachts nearly in the pass but not quite. Surely there were 100 yachts in residence, too many to count. The air was buzzing with excitement, as were the VHF frequencies. We missed the official first two days of rally activities that had begun on July 31 yet there was plenty left to get into. We went to shore to see Marsha and Earl of "Mahurangi", just back from the States the previous day and were moored on the dock. After a quick visit with them we made plans to go to dinner one night at the resort and then moved along to meet and greet. "Upps" was also on the dock - our German friends Tanja and Bernd. Bernd's visiting teenage daughter, Jo, was aboard posing to him a big challenge: what to do with a 14-year old who would rather text-message and listen to her I-pod while vacationing with her father and Step-mom in Fiji. Ha! What has happened to our youth? It isn't just in America that the kiddos are immersed in electronic bliss. This just seems so anti social, but it works for them. She said it was too far to walk to the pool, too much work to go kayaking and far too much effort to walk the beach in search of shells. Such stress for a young person in paradise! As pretty as she was she probably would have had a trail of boys and dirty old men drooling after her, had she gotten out a bit, but she was clearly not interested. Sigh.

The dock was literally crammed fender-to fender with yachts and the dinghy dock was three deep with tenders of all manner of size and type. This is the stuff you either love or hate. I loved it! We were once again reunited with old friends and introduced to new ones. Over the next few days many activities were planned for those participating in the Vanuatu Rally. Tonight was to be "grill your own meat and purchase your sides" at the Island Bar. I had TTD's to be ready for departure, and I wanted to spend some time visiting friends who would not be moving on to Vanuatu, hence I missed a couple of the goings on, although Frank did join in on one that I missed. It was an extravaganza out on the sand bar (the one out in the middle of the bay at low tide); a few hours of games and competitive events mostly centered on drinking beer. There were lots of competitions along the theme of "Kiwis verses the rest of the world". It sounded like a lot of fun from the later reports of everyone participating. I happily got a lot of chores done on board so didn't feel badly about missing it.

One night was "W" night. Everyone was to come dressed in a costume, starting with the letter "W". There were to be prizes. We could think of a lot of things that were "W" things, but the challenge lay in how to dress like them! I finally got out the dictionary and began scanning for something reasonable that we could pull off with no access to a costume shop, a sewing machine or any other means of obtaining props. Finally we settled on "waypoints". I took a couple of t-shirts, turned them inside out and drew nautical waypoints on the blank side. Mine represented Houston and Frank's represented Denver. Not the most creative or impressive, but surely original. The party was a gas! There were people who came prepared and well stocked to be "W" things. There were many witches, whales and wannabe's. One fellow was a Warrior; another was Waste (as in trash!). There were ladies who got very creative as in WC (water closet), Women's Day magazine, Wash (she had dirty laundry including bras and panties hanging off her). There were Workers and walruses. One guy was a Warbler, decked in tree branches and a little birdhouse hanging off his head! We laughed a lot and enjoyed the evening immensely. I'm well prepared for the next "W" party, at least mentally.

I tried to get online to catch up on some internet stuff; emails, uploading photos, etc., but alas the Wifi was so overloaded we hardly got any of that accomplished. We are far behind getting pictures on the website but will get to it eventually, perhaps when we arrive in Australia there will be decent Wifi. We attended some breakfast and afternoon briefings, getting ready to depart. Saturday was spent checking out of Fiji, where once again we were fortunate that being rally participants gave us the privilege of having the Customs, Immigration and Health officers brought to Musket Cove.

Our last two nights were spent dining with friends, foregoing rally suppers. Earl and Marsha were taking Mahurangi to Vuda Point to get their fridge and freezer working, so we dined with them one night. Then we supped on Upps the evening before they departed to take Jo to see a bit more of Fiji (from the boat?).
OK, once again we bid farewell to friends, attended our final rally briefing and prepared to make another 600 mile crossing. Although excited, most of us agreed that we had mixed feelings of pre-departure and open water voyage anxiety that will yield to anticipation of the next adventure as soon as we clear Fiji waters.

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