29 August, 2011

We arrived safely at Noumea, New Caledonia yesterday.

The rest of the voyage was very pleasant with

light winds and clear weather. This place is a

little piece of France, much more so than Tahiti.

Will post a full update in a day or two.

August 28, 2011

0600H local time

We have been underway to New Caledonia

for the past 23hours and have made a

respectable 155 miles. We are going upwind

and it's a little bumpy but clear and dry.

We are going a little too fast, in fact, as

we will have to slow down  overnight tonight

to make Havanah Pass, the entrance to the

fringing reef of New Caledonia at dawn tomorrow.

It probably can be done at night but I'm not

going to chance it and make an unforgivable

error. The wind is predicted to diminish over the

course of the day so we will have no problem

slowing down. Currently we are at 20 10.9S 167

44.6E on a course of 183M at 7.0 kts. The wind

is 14 kts apparent from the ESE. Seas are 2-4 feet

and the weather is clear and  dry. All well on

board and we might do some fishing today.

Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu

Our time in Vanuatu is almost at an end. We did the check out paperwork cha-cha today and it worked out that is little country has the highest fees for entering and leaving that we have encountered so far. We are fueled up and provisioned to leave at dawn tomorrow. This is a short run to Noumea, New Caledonia of 360 miles and we should be in on Monday morning.
Despite all the fees and silliness we did enjoy Vanuatu. The volcano on Tanna was unforgettable and Port Villa was also very pleasant, especially the restaurants. L'Housetelet was a little piece of France and Chill was really good for lunch overlooking the harbor.
Jessica will post position reports over the next couple of days.

Port Vila Photos

The Mele Waterfalls made for an excellent and vigorous day
I don't think these handholds would be approved by CAL-OSHA


The Port Vila Cruising Yacht Club at sunset. A Yachtie watering hole
The Admiral and friend
View of Hideaway island. Allegedly good diving but when we were there it was overcast and rolly
spectacular waterfalls
The resort at havanah harbor

An example of bislama, the pidgin english spoken by the Vanuatans
The National Cultural Museum
Hat Island, off Efate

Port Vila, Efate Island, Vanuatu

We have spent the past week or so on the hook in the outer

harbor exploring the  rest of the island. We walked all

over the town of Port Vila and visited the  national

cultural museum. We also did a tour of the island by car

and had lunch  at a resort in the spectacular Havannah

Harbor in the north west. There were  some beautiful

beaches and rivers in an unspoiled environment. We had a

new  experience early Sunday morning, namely a magnitude

7.1 earthquake which struck  near Efate at about 0530H,

while on the boat. It was immediately obvious what it 

was and the noise and shaking were not too dissimilar to

that on land.  Fortunately, there was no tsunami. Yesterday,

we went to the Mele Waterfalls  which required a 20 minutes

climb on some interesting trails through rushing  water

from the falls. The weather is a little unsettled at the

moment but looks  like it will improve by the weekend and

we should be able to leave for New  Caledonia by then.

Photos

Mele Island, Efate, Vanuatu

We left Port Vila yesterday and we are now anchored up outside a resort called mele Island where they have a marine reserve and a live reef that is reported to have excellent diving.
I also got the opportunity to test out my repair on the propeller shaft brake which stopped working on this last leg to Efate. It would no longer stop the prop shaft from turning while sailing causing wear on the transmission. We got the boat up to six and a half knots in light air and it seems to be holding fine until I can get some new parts in Oz.
This anchorage is quite rolly and weather is again cloudy so we may move on to the north west of the island of Efate today or tomorrow.

Photos

The Admiral and Josette at Musket Cove, Fiji

Photos

some new friends at the Port Resolution Yacht Club
Pristine beach on Tanna

on the rim of active volcano Mt Yasur, Tanna Island
Two of the four active lava tubes exploding at the same time
Village of Port Resolution, Tanna
Late afternoon at the volcano. you can see the edge of the caldera

approaching the caldera. We could walk to within 100 meters
Ash field surrounding the volcano. the ash killed off all the vegetation
eruptions every two or three minutes. lots of noise and ground vibrations. This needs to be seen to be believed
Totem outside village of Port Resolution
PRYC. The Admiral with local fauna
Callisto in Port Resolution Bay
Approaching the Island of Tanna. You can see the volcano erupting smoke and ash from 20 miles
Sunset on Aneityum
Communal lunch at the independance day celebrations, Anietyum
Entrance to the very exclusive PRYC
Sports day on Aneityum. Boys play soccer and the girls volley ball but they wear more clothes than the Olympic teams
dugout canoe with sailing rig. A common sight in these islands
Kid playing in the creek on Aneityum, holding both his weapons
New friends on Anietyum
This is not East LA but Aneityum. These guys looked like gang bangers but were very friendly

Port Vila, Efate Island, Vanuatu

We got into Port Vila yesterday morning and are now moored up close to the town. There are roads here with tarmac on them and internet and even 2 channels of TV. I looked at the news for the first time in two weeks and perhaps I wish I hadn't with the riots in London and the poor performance of the stock market. I'm probably better off here where all is peaceful. We have met some old friends and look forward to patronizing the local French restaurants and exploring this island.
Photos are being organized as we speak and will be posted shortly

August 7th Sunday

Port Resolution Bay, Tanna Island, Vanuatu We
have been on the island of Tanna for the
past few days and the wind has been blowing
hard. The anchorage is one of the few good
ones in Vanuatu and we have been safe. We
visited the village itself which was quite
small and traditional and also the "Port
Resolution Yacht Club" The constuction of the
native dwellings are a little different from
Fiji but are along the same lines. There  is no
infrastructure or significant tourism here
only a few eco-resorts dotted around the island.
Port Resolution is named for one of Captain Cook's
ships. He was here in this very same spot in 1780.
The main attraction on the island is Mt Yasur one
of the few active volcanoes that one can get close
to in the world and we really were able to get close!
The tour started at about 1600H in an open Toyota
pick up truck. The roads are almost non existent,
just tracks really,  and full of huge holes and ruts.
The journey to the volcano is about 20 Km. and it
took over an hour due to the terrain. The scenery was
impressive though, through rain forest and hills with
banyan and pandanus trees. On approaching the volcano,
the land changed from lushgreen to a sterile ash field
where only a few stunted and scraggly palm trees grew.
You could already  see smoke and hear the rumbling of
the volcano from 2 Kms.
At the volcano itself was a rickety trail which guided
us up to the caldera and we were able to walk around it
to get to within 100 meters of the crater itself. I have
certainly seen nothing like this before. The volcano was
indeed quite active and two large vents intermittently
exploded spewing molten rock and smoke and steam 300
meters into the air. The noise and rumbling was
incredible and Idoubt that we could have got this close
to nature's violenceanywhere in the US. There were no
guard rails, no mindersno ticket booths or concession
stands just us and the mountain. We spent a couple of
hours and got some good photos and then took the truck
ride back to the boat which was again an experience in
the pitch dark. We have spent the last couple of days
just lazing around and walking on a  pristine beach
just past the village. The weather has settled down
today and we will leave for the Island of
Efate and Port Vila today. It's about 130 miles and
we should get in early on Monday morning. Photos of
Tanna and Aneityum to follow when I get some internet. 

4 August, 2011

We are now on the island of Tanna about 50 miles
north west of Aneityum. The weather has cleared
somewhat though it is still blowing hard. We had
a nice down wind sail in 15-20 kts of wind to
this location yesterday and the anchorage is well
protected from swell and surge. The jib furler is
working well again after getting a new belt fitted.
The main attraction here is an active volcano that
we will visit today. Apparently, you can get to
within 100 meters of the crater. The volcano is
certainly active and we saw it spewing smoke and
steam from 25 miles away and getting close to it
should be spectacular especially at night  when
we plan to go. Should get some great photos.
We will stay here for a day or two before going on
to Port Vila on the island of Efate for some
civilization and internet!

Monday, August 1st, 2011 Aneityum Island, Vanuatu

Colin the customs guy showed up at 1000H today and
did the customs clearance. He was very pleasant and
did not seem interested in searching the boat for
hidden booze supplies, which is just as well. The
quarantineguy should be here tomorrow and Colin said
that we can wait until we get to Port Vila to do
Immigration. The rain is pouring down again but the wind
has settled down. There was a brief respite in the rain
this morning and we were able to go ashore for a few hours.
We changed some US dollars into Vatu at the tiny bank and
toured the village. They are still in the midst of their
Independence Day celebrations and today was Sports Day
with local teams competing at soccer and volley ball
accompanied by deafaning Reggae music. We were invited to
lunch but declined.
Vanuatu became independent of Britain and France on
July 30, 1980 and used to be called the New Hebrides.
The people are Melanesian and the speak Pidgin English,
proper English or French depending which village they
come from. We will stay here another day or two until
the weather clears. Next stop is the island of Tanna
where they have an active volcano and the have guided
tours that get to within 150 meters of the crater.
Should be interesting. The jib furler is fixed.
It broke another belt and fortunately I have some  spares.
All other maintenance jobs have been completed
and I have plenty of time for Admiral to beat me at
Scrabble again today.