Leaving Port Vila and Internet Land

Looks like we've worn out our welcome.  Little did we know when we were invited for lunch that we would be the lunch!  Just Kidding.

Just a note to let everyone know we are leaving Port Vila this afternoon and heading for the island of Epi.  We will have no Internet service for the next couple of weeks, so please send important correspondence to our sail mail address.

We went on an all day Island tour on Monday and had a great time.  The Ni-vans we have had contacts with are lovely people.  Once we got out of Port Vila, the potholed roads - known locally as corruption roads, turned into a beautiful 2 lane highway all around the island.  Our guide made sure to credit the countries and primarily America for building the road and paying for its maintenance.  We were glad that America's 65 million is actually being used appropriately, but question our foreign aid when we have to borrow China to pay our bills. China on its own is quite an investor in Vanuatu along with Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

As we leave Port Vila, we will be taking bags of school supplies north that have been donated by a local person.
We'll send periodic updates via the radio.  Follow our track on Find Me Spot.

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on the Sailing Vessel Worrall Wind

Port Vila - The City

Port Vila is a bustling little capital city here in Melanesia.  Tour boats from Australia routinely stop here, disgorging more passengers than there are local residents.  The Lonely Planet tour book is kinder on Port Vila's appearance than we have observed.  It's not a pretty-well kept city, but a duty free pitstop for large cruising boats.   The mural above is of days past or might possibly still be seen in villages in remote islands.  

Today, the men wear western dress and the women are clad in loose fitting, missionary coverups with some island flare, mostly in the way of fluttering scallops reminiscent of grass skirts.  The seamstress business seems to be thriving.  

The city in general is not well maintained (roads, sidewalks, garbage pickup, litter) and pollution from burning and vehicles is thick.  We have heard the same excuse for litter here as we heard in American Samoa.  "The people are used to throwing peels, skins, etc on the ground after eating because traditional foods are biodegradable." thus it's reasonable for them to continue throwing trash on the ground.  Education and incentive is lacking.

What we noticed is that there are few public receptacles for trash and garbage which would be a real encouragement to locals to properly dispose of their trash.   We tuck our garbage in our backpack and often have to walk miles before we can find a legitimate place to drop it.  The locals just toss it on the ground.   Too bad.  Vanuatu is trying to be very accommodating to tourists, but the lack of good trash maintenance is very distracting.

This is the first city that we have been in since French Polynesia where driving occurs on the right side of the road as we are used to it in America.  After driving so much in New Zealand with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car and driving on the left, the cars and traffic actually looked a little odd to us.  The roads are potholed and in very poor repair.  We read in the local paper here that America has given Vanuatu over 65 million dollars for road maintenance.  The USA built the first road around the island during World War II.  We're curious where the road maintenance dollars are going now, and think our congressional leaders ought to be as well.  Seems odd that America pays for road maintenance here.

The people we have met are generally friendly. We took the walking tour around town and enjoyed the open market and museum the best.  Yams are definitely a staple of the islands.  Food in the grocery stores and restaurants is pretty pricey.  We've eaten out twice for a modest dinner and it has cost us over $50.00 each time.  Two bags of groceries, mostly perishables from the grocery store was $116.00.  So yams look pretty good, especially if you are on a tight budget.  There is a lot of filling nutrients in a yam for the vatu.

Yams in a Basket, 600 Vatu, about $7.00

We loved seeing the cafeteria style lunches being served in the market.  Cooked food was laid out on banana leaf covered tables then wrapped in banana leaves to go.  Ladies with pandanus and bamboo-like switches swished constantly over the food to keep flies from landing.

Chicken on a bed of taro leaves and yams

Meals wrapped in biodegradable packaging

Vanuatu Kava is reportedly more potent here than in any other island country.  We have seen little root, but a lot of powder for sale, probably for tourist consumption more than anything.

 One of the most interesting items for sale were the fruit bats.  Guess they are good to grill and are inexpensive enough for the locals to buy.  The traditional way of preparing them is to stuff them into fat bamboo shoots and grill over an open fire.  Not even sure they are skinned first.

We preferred the French pasteries.  These could definitely be the end to our waistline!

Breakfast - Better than Bats, but appx. $30.00 (6 bats)

While we eat, we enjoy watching the people and reading the local newspaper which is a mixture of English, French, and Bislama languages.  Sometimes you can almost think you understand it.

Our trip to the museum was very informative.  We enjoyed the music, sand art,

Finger is never removed from sand..one continuous line over line.

 artifacts (masks, drums, statues, pottery, baskets, etc.)

and the hour long video of the land diving (original bungie jumpers) in Pentecost.  Unfortunately, we won't get to see that activity in person as the season for this ritual activity has past.  It looks brutal.  Men and boys dive off of high towers with vines around their legs.  The vines are measured to just stop before the men break their necks.

We applied for our Australian Visa's yesterday at the Australian High Commission.  These should be ready for us early next week.  When we have these in hand, we will be leaving Port Vila for northern islands.  A local donor dropped off a lot of school supplies in bags at Yacht World's offices.  We are taking several bags with us to the northern islands when we leave.

Tomorrow, we are taking a tour via a van around the island to see some cultural activities and do some snorkeling.  Hope the weather gets better.  It's been overcast with clouds and smoke since we have been here.  It rained last night.  Hopefully, the sun will come out tomorrow!

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on S/V Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Arrived in Port Vila

July 11, 2011, UTC 0800/1900

Latitude: S 17 44.854
Longitude: E 168 18.263

We arrived safely today in the Capital City of the Vanuatu Islands, Port Vila on Efate. Had a lovely, uneventful sail, and arrived before the big waves that are pushing up from the south. Hope to connect to the Internet tomorrow. We will probably be here for at least 4-5 days, maybe longer. It's a bit of a cultural shock after being in rural islands the past few weeks.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - On the Way to Port Vila

July 10, 2011, UTC 0630/1730
Latitude: S 18 42.049
Longitude: E 168 50.263

Left Tanna early this morning,  Enjoyed a beautiful dawn as we sailed away from Mt. Yasura.  We have decided to bypass Erromango and head straight for Port Vila. The weather, wind, waves are lovely and just want to take advantage of the good sailing under a waxing moon. We should arrive tomorrow morning.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind

Vanuatu - Tanna - Mt. Yasura Volcano

Worrall Wind Update from Tanna, Vanuatu
Tanna - Mt. Yasura , Volcano


From our anchorage at Port Resolution on the Island of Tanna, we can see and sometimes hear the eruptions form Mt. Yasura. Plumes of white and black smoke tower above the ridge, and there are occasionally and distant wumpf! On our first morning here, Tuesday, July 5, I got up around 4:00 a.m., having crashed the night before at 7:30 p.m. after our sail from Anatom.

I looked out the pilothouse in the pre-dawn hour, and there was a glowing cloud of apricot orange looming above the ridge. It changed colors with varying degrees of reds and yellows periodically as the volcano rested and erupted, rested and erupted. It was fascinating to watch. We planned to visit the volcano while staying in this anchorage. Mt. Yasura is the primary attraction. We were both nervous and excited about the prospect, as we knew we would be able to get fairly close, closer than we would be allowed anywhere in the states to an active volcano.

We made arrangements to visit the volcano on Thursday, July 7, arriving at the rim before dark but close to sunset so that we could view the volcano from both day and night. The one hour 4x4 truck ride to the volcano was an experience in itself. I felt like a rag doll being tossed around inside the truck as we negotiated the most awful road you can imagine. There were huge ruts, drop aways, and steep inclines. I was glad to be sandwiched in the cab between the driver and Russ so that at least I was not hitting any metal surfaces as we bumped along.

I can hardly wait to post some of the pictures we took while we were visiting the volcano. The experience was spectacular, mesmerizing, and terrifying. We climbed up a steep trail to the outer rim of the crater, where there is a flattened area where visitors congregate. There is an activity number given to the volcano from 1-4. Anything over a 2 is too active and volacano viewing is shut down until the volcano, Mt Yasur, quiets down. The week before our arrival, Yasur had been closed.

While we visited it was considered a strong 2, almost a 3. Even during a 1 or 2, an unexpected blast or increase of activity cannot be ruled out and it is a very risky business. The blasts from the volcano were less than a minute apart. Molten lava in the form of strings, plops, and boulders were being thrown high above the crater's rim. Within the first five minutes that we were there, there was a particularly large explosion that shot up hundreds of meters above our heads and the volcanic debris was coming our way. Everyone started to panic not sure which way to turn. When you are looking up and seeing these big boulders flying overhead, it is hard to determine to how to get out of their way.

Our guide told us not to run, but to keep looking up and carefully step out of the way! Right! One glowing rock the size of a double oven made a huge thwump behind us, halfway down and on the side of the trail that we had just hiked up. Boy that got everyone's attention and notched up our anxiety. Some locals decided to start a bonfire with it.

I was duly terrified. Some of the tourists were having their pictures taken with the volcano erupting behind them. There wasn't anyway, we were going to turn our backs on this monster if we had to be watching for flying debris. One of the eruptions just before sunset was like a nuclear explosion and the grey black smoke rose like a mushroom cloud. 

When we looked up, we saw the most amazing sight! The sun shining through the smoke illuminated a halo like a smoke ring. We don't know what the scientific explanation is for this phenomenon. I took a picture of the ring and have showed it to local people who all believe that it is some sort of sign from the god Yasura.

Our driver/guide said that the last time he saw this ring several years ago, an old man in his village died. He was sure it was a bad omen and that someone else might die. I looked at him, and asked, "David, are you saying that no old men or other people in your village have died since then?" He looked at me quizzically. "No, other people have died since then," he admitted, but he was still sure it was a bad sign. Another man we showed the photo to thought it was a good sign for good weather, and he pointed to the blue skies we were having on the day we showed him the photo as proof of the sign.
When the sun dropped below the horizon, the eruptions became more brilliant against the inky blackness of the night and the crater. There are two higher trails on either side of the flat perimeter for better viewing of the inside of the crater.

 Originally, our guide was going to have us walk up the left hand trail, but as most of the debris seemed to be aimed at that side, he took us up the right hand side to look down. There were probably 30 tourists on the rim.  One explosion was so huge and terrifying I was frozen and couldn't take photos as I was scanning overhead for flying debris. We could smell the blast and feel the tremendous heat against our skin. Our guide encouraged us hurry up and to take our photos so that we could move away from this side as it was not safe either.

We took some video footage and photos and hiked back down to the flat part of the outer rim and then down towards the truck. Wow Wow Wow! That was definitely worth the price of admission.

Exploring the Villages
During the days between Tuesday and Thursday evening, we explored
neighboring villages around the bay where we are anchored. The Melanesian people here resemble the indigenous people of Fiji, although it appears that many of them have lighter hair. Most, however, have very dark skin and would most likely be identified by the casual observer as African. The Ni-Vans (the indigenous people of Vanuatu), speak English which they have learned in their schools; some speak better French than English; and all speak a pidgin English called Bislama. Every island also has multiple internal languages and without Bislama or English, the people would not be able to speak with one another.

Port Resolution has one four wheel, rutted road leading out of it to the main island town in Lenakel on the opposite side of the island. Getting to Lenakel takes three hours one way of torturous bumping along in truck. We were delighted to check in at Anatom as cruisers who check in here at Port Resolution usually must take this round trip, 6 hour ride to Lenakel to present their papers for check in.

When we checked in at Anatom, we cleared quarantine and paid our fee. Customs could clear us, but not collect the Vatu $. We were told we would have to pay that in Lenakel, but they would send someone over to Port Resolution, and we would not have to make the ride over. Immigration came to Anatom the day before we left and stamped our passports, but the agent could not take our Vatu because he had forgotten his receipt book. To keep corruption down, each agency collects their own fee and must deliver a receipt with a registration number on it. The people are very nice but not very organized.

The Customs man in Anatom said he would make arrangements for customs and immigration to come to Port Resolution for us. We thanked him, but had little confidence that this would actually happen, and decided that if they did not come across the mountain from Lenekal we would just pay our Vatu when we got to the capital city of Port Villa on the Island of Efate.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - Checking into Tanna
Tuesday morning about 10:00 a.m. we took our dinghy to the island and hiked up to the Port Resolution "Yacht Club". It is an open air building that has a very casual restaurant (you let them know a day in advance that you are coming and what meal you would like to eat and they will fix it for you). Otherwise, they serve cold beer and that's about it. They have a couple of bungalows (burres) to rent. 

There was an NZed family and asingle man at the little resort. There are only a couple of other boats in the bay, so the tourist population here is quite sparse. The father of the little family that was at the resort had crewed on a yacht from NZ and his wife and children had come over to visit with him before all of them returned to NZ.

 We brought over our customs and immigration paperwork and asked when the customs man would be coming.  Both the yacht club manager and the former crew member laughed and said they rarely come to Port Resolution and that we would have to go Lenekal. The Yacht Club manager said that the officials were supposed to come on Thursdays, but he had yet to see them this season.

Well, Okay! We kind of figured this would happen. We were ready for plan B which was to pay up in Port Villa. Within ten minutes of our arrival and before the laughter and discussion of the disorganization had died down, the Yacht Club manager swung his head through the window and exclaimed, "I can't believe it; customs and immigration are here!"

Well, Okay! Back to plan A. By 10:30 a.m. in the morning we had paid our fees and were completely checked in and paid up. Turns out that there was a super yacht with paying passengers that arrived during the night and they had called in requesting a visitation. We were "lucky" due to the other ship and readilly took advantage of it.

For other yachts coming this way, luck can go either way. Although to be fair, quarantine, customs, and immigration, returned on Thursday when they were scheduled...but guess what? There was another super yacht in the harbor. We would like to give some sage advice here, but there isn't any. Just be prepared to be flexible if you sail here, but save yourself a lot of grief by bringing Vatu with you.
There is no place to get Vatu here and you cannot pay with credit cards or any other currency. When we left Fiji, we had about 18,000 Vatu ($200) which has been just about right for clearing in quarantine, customs, immigration, buying some vegetables, and paying for a trip to the Volcano. Another yacht came in Thursday night and went to Lenakel to check in on Friday and were exchanging another $100 for us.

They left at 7:30 a.m. in the morning and didn't return until 7:30 p.m. that night. (Ordinarily, the truck returns about 2:00 p.m in the afternoon). Friday is payday and the truck bed was packed with people including the cruisers and the NZed Family going home. People were dropped at the airport, picked up checks, went to the bank, customs, immigration, shopped, etc. On the way back, the truck was still full of people, but the truck bed also had cargo. Apparently at one point, everyone had to get out of the truck and push the truck when it got stuck. It was a long and tiring day for everyone. So maybe some good adivce for cruisers is don't try to check in at Tanna on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Originally, our cruising friends from Island Sonata, Ruth and Kelvin, were planning on returning early in the afternoon and then we were all going to the John Frum religious service in Sulphur Bay. Jon Frum "from America" is a man who came "emerged" from the sea to the islands many years ago prior to World War II. The people believed he was a reincarnation of an ancient diety, and would one day return to their island with an abundance of wealth for them. They await the "second coming of Jon Frum.
World War II brought to the island, Americans, many of whom were black like they are", in possession of apparent wealth fueling the fire of this "cargo cult" that Jon Frum would indeed return. From the WWII ambulances and medical center, they liked the red flag with the white cross and adopted that as their official symbol. We thought it was a Swiss flag.

The people who subscribe to this religion believe that Jon Frum told them to throw away their money, kill their pigs, and leave their gardens uncared for (sounds like another man-made-god religion that justifies being lazy and waiting for something). There is evidence on the island of those who subscribe to this creed and evidence of those who do not. The Jon Frummers are also the group of people that express themselves with less inhibitions with song, dance, and music. Their religious "services" are on Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning with continuous song, dance, and music. Sounds like a party! The Frummers welcome visitors and we were looking forward to attending.
However, the truck that was supposed to take us on Friday evening did not return from Tanna until very late as previously explained. The driver was too exhausted to take us anywhere, so we had to miss the party. We were disappointed, but this is Vanuatu and such is the fabric of cruising. Don't worry, be happy, go with the flow.

A Day at School
Yesterday, Friday, July 8, we visited the Port Resolution School and visited the middle school where we gave a geography and science lesson to the students. Science is definitely lacking in the school curriculum here. We talked about planets, and informed the teacher and children that there are only 8 planets. Scientists have decided that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

So instead of saying, My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles, which is a way to remember the names of the planets in order from the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. We created a new way for them to memorize, My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Nuapue (coconuts). We told them about tectonic plates, volcanoes and the Pacific Ring of Fire. The students were raptly attentive. I think I like being a drop in, drop out teacher. Fun to teach when students are attentive, and then we say emam, which means goodbye in their local language.

We have met some very lovely people here. They have been very generous trading with us. They have given us bread, fruit, vegetables, and baskets in exchange for Vatu, D cell batteries, gasoline, air tight containers, t-shirts, shoes, eyeglasses. We took school supplies to the school. These people have very little. Electricity is scant and run by a few sputtering generators. Clothing is a wonderful trade or gift item, especially children's clothing. Solar powered lights are also very much appreciated. Sometimes the people will ask you for things that you have that you do not want to give them, like your "Ipod" or "DVD" player. "I'm sorry, but I do not wish to part with this. It is mine." For the most part, the people are very shy and respectful, but there are some who may think we are from the land of Jon Frum bringing them the wealth they have been foretold.

Leaving Tomorrow for Eeromango and Port Villa on Efate
Today is our last day in Tanna. We are finishing up little projects, printing off photos for people, and we are going to hide a geocache here at Port Resolution. There was a geocache (earth cache) at the Volcano that we will log, but we wanted one that was a place that travel bugs could be left and retrieved. We are leaving Cruising 1 travel bug here and hope another cruiser will pick him up and carry him on.
It's a 55 mile trip from here to Eeromango, and then another 80 miles to Efate. We currently intend to spend a night at Eeromango before pushing on to Efate and Port Villa.


All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on S/V Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Happy 4th of July

Volcano Cloud in the Background

Date: July 4, 2011
UTC/Local Times: 0500/1700

Latitude: S 19 31.522
Longitude: E 169 29.760

It is late afternoon, and we have just arrived in beautiful bay called Port Resolution on Tanna Island in the Vanuatu Islands. We spent over a week at Anatom Island and were able to go ashore due to weather (wind and rain) only 3 times, twice to the main island and once to an outer island called Mystery Island that we had all to ourselves, long white beaches, coconut palms, blue lagoons, and sea turtles.

Mystery Island - Across lagoon from Anatom

We made some new yachtie friends, Derek and Bella from Australia on the sailing vessel Pandana. They are veteran cruisers having been to Vanuatu, Papa New Guinea, Solomons, and other ports of call in Melanesia. We spent a couple of evenings with them including my birthday. They brought over beer they had brewed and some flowers from the island. It was very lovely. Last night we bid them good-bye and hope to catch up with them at another anchorage. They were generous in sharing waypoints, tracks, guidance, and charts with us.

It was difficult to get out of bed by 4:30 this morning, but we got ourselves ready and pulled up the anchor around 5:30 a.m. just so that we had enough light to follow our tracks and get a visual on the reefs on either side. Our ride over was pretty nice today. For most of the day we had blue sky with some clouds, 10-15 knots of wind, 1 -2 meter following seas and a nice broad to full run doing about 4.5-6.0 knots. It took us a little over 9 hours to make the 50 mile run. In the distance as we approached the island, we could see the volcano periodically sending up dark plumes of smoke. This will be the closest thing we get to Fourth of July Fireworks this year. The way points that we had brought us safely right into the bay. We are anchored in about 15 feet of water with a sand and mud bottom, sharing the anchorage with 3 other boats, two sail boats and one power boat.

We are glad to be here and look forward to doing some exploring and visiting the volcano. Hope all of our American family and friends have a great Fourth of July.

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on S/V Worrall Wind.

Birthday in Vanuatu

Hello from Vanuatu. We have been anchored off Anatom Island for one week, having gone into shore only twice as the weather has been windy and rainy. One of our two Dell's suffered a disk error the other day and we could not fix it. So we had to pull out our backup computer (brand new loaded Dell) and are now working off of that until we can get the other Dell fixed. Hopefully, between now and the fix, nothing happens to this computer. There is a bit of terror associated with each keystroke less we do something that would knock this computer out too and we would be without our navigation system, radar and chart plotter.

It is quite lonely here with no access to the Internet. We feel very unplugged and have no idea what's going on in the world beyond this little island. Please drop us a short note to our sailmail address (not our gmail address) and let us know what's happening and how you are so we don't have to worry about you. It may be weeks before we have any Internet accessibility. We are talking very REMOTE and primitive. The last act of cannibalism on these islands was in 1969, the year Russ and I got married. Yipes, not that long ago!

Since our computer went down, I have had to reconstruct our address list. I'm not sure I got the one to the blogspot right. Please check worrallwind.blogspot.com to see if this entry got posted and let me know. Thank you.

Today is my birthday and there aren't enough candles on board for my cake.
Here's a little birthday poem I wrote today while it rained.

Happy Birthday to me! I am now a young 63!
I may no longer be the youngster I was at 62
But still young enough to enjoy Vanuatu.

It's been another busy year since my last birthday
Right out the chute, it was Abby and Neal's Wedding Day.
After three weeks of celebration, family, and home
We headed back to the Pacific to continue our roam.

We sailed from Tahiti to an atoll called Suwarrow
We stayed in paradise with no rainy tomorrow.
Alas to Samoa and Tonga we finally did sail
Where we snorkeled coral gardens and swam with a whale.

As the days grew longer, we blew to the west
And in Fiji, trenched Worrall Wind for a seasonal rest.
We flew to New Zealand and lived on the land
Traveling every direction in a little camper van.

We saw fjords, sounds, penguins and 92
of 101 things Kiwis Must Do.
As the cyclone and wet season came to an end
We returned to Fiji to awaken Worrall Wind, our faithful old friend.

Between raising her sails and cleaning the mold that seemed to thrive,
We took some time to learn to dive.
Now we can descend below the waves
To explore brilliant sea life and to peak into caves.

We sailed away from Fiji, each with heavy heart.
The friendly people were hard for us to part.
We love wherever our anchor is set,
But these were the loveliest people we have ever met.
Vinaka Vakalevu Fiji.

So we blew to Vanuatu
while I was still 62.
On Anatom Island our anchor has set.
Some of the nicest people we have ever met!

More palm trees, blue water and friendly faces.
Come explore me, call these exotic new places.
Beside me is my love and soul mate Russ.
In tempest tossed waters, he has courage for both of us.

Happy Birthday to Me.
I am a young 63.
How will this year unfold for me?

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Anatom Island, Vanuatu

Latitude: S 20 14.266
Longitude: E 169 46.606

At Anchor:
Wind Direction: 25-35 knots from the SE
Sky: 50-100% Overcast

Update: Hunkered down in the wind (June 25 +)

It is Tuesday, June 28, 2011. It's been blowing, blowing, blowing for four days. Sunda night was the worst. We recorded sustained winds of 30-35 knots for several hours. Our little anchor track alarm has kept with a tight pattern, so we are pretty confident after these winds that we are good and stuck on the reportedly sandy bottom here in the Lagoon of Anelacoahat on Anatom Island. Russ has replaced the anchor bridle twice due to chaffing.

This lagoon is not well protected from the wind, but it is from the swell for which we are grateful. Nevertheless, there is a constant white cap fetch from the wind, licking and bouncing the hull of Worrall Wind as she pulls back and from side to side on her anchor.

Saturday, June 25 - It's in the mid 70's and cool with the wind howling. We took hot showers and slept in our stateroom with a coverlet. It felt like a cozy refuge. I was alseep at 7:30 and didn't wake up until 7:00 the following morning. How easy it is to take a good night's sleep for granted and such a decadent joy when having been deprived for a few nights while on watch or trying to sleep when not on watch in the bowels of a washing machine.

Sunday, June 26 - It's a high carb, comfort food day. Made blueberry muffins and hot cocoa for breakfast. The wind is howling still and it's very overcast. There are six boats in the lagoon and most of them have stayed close to their boats today making sure that their anchors hold. We had turkey chowder and cornbread for dinner. Finished listening to the Golden Compass. It was much more interesting than the movie, darker too. We are looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. Our time on the boat with this blow reminds us of the northerly we experienced on Isle Partida in the Sea of Cortez when we first got to Mexico.

Monday, June 27 - Our wind generator has been busy! We are actually producing more amps than we are using. The sun has been out today a little as well. Still blustery and the forecast looks like it is going to be like this for a week! At some point I guess we will venture off the boat. Russ has been working on the dinghy davits and repairing the dinghy. We are a half a mile from shore, and the chop and wind make a journey to land look rough and wet. Snorkeling, hot pools, local school, hike to the waterfall, and exploration of Mystery Island (where the locals believe spirits wander at night) are waiting for us when we muster the gumption to get off the boat. We're reading, working on little projects, and listening now to Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. It's pretty funny, and we are getting a few chuckles out of it. We're just happy to not be in the open ocean! We talked to Skylight and Sidewinder on the radio tonight. Sidewinder is waiting for the wind to subside in Fiji to make a run across Bligh water to the north island. Skylight is tucked away in a protected harbor in northern island of Vanuatu. Trim hopes to leave Fiji for Vanuatu around July 10. We have not heard from Gene and Gloria on Pincoya for a few days, so not sure where they are or what they are doing right now.

It's been one year since we came home from Tahiti for Abby and Neal's wedding. We can't believe how the time has flown by. Abby was to have finished her residency this weekend in Las Vegas. She and Neal hope to meet up with Garyn and Jessica in Washington, D. C. over this Fourth of July weekend.

Tuesday, June 28 - We still haven't ventured off of the boat although we are getting "cabin fever". For about 15 minutes earlier today we were contemplating a run for shore when the wind dropped below 20 knots. Then we heard a "pan pan" (emergency) call from one of the other yachties. It was clear and close by, but we couldn't see the person who was calling. It sounded as if someone was calling on their hand held from an adrift dinghy that lost its engine power. The caller said he would get back with a position. With our binoculars we scanned the seas and saw some activity here and there with some intrepid folks venturing out, but nothing looked amiss. The caller never got back with a position report so we can only hopefully assume, he got his engine started.

It's still blowing 20-25 knots and dark clouds are rolling over the top of the lagoon. We're safe, cozy, and looking forward to some calmer conditions, although the forecast looks like the winds may last for several more days. The family on M/V Emily Grace have been here a week and are anxious to leave tomorrow and find a calmer anchorage. I think they will find one on Tanna, but nothing would get me back out there until the wind calms down. Even after the wind calms, it takes a while for the waves to subside. Veteran cruisers tell us that it takes patience for the right weather window. We're still learning. In the meantime, Russ is busy with projects and started another book. I too am reading, learning Photoshop, and enjoying hot tea.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 5, Arrived and anchored in Vanuatu!

UTC/Local Time: 0217 Saturday June 25, 20011/1317

Latitude: S 20 14.275
Longitude: E 169 46.606

Update: So Glad to Be Here!
According to our weather forecasting information, the winds are supposed to pick up to 25 or more knots later today and last through tomorrow. Our plan was of course to get here before the winds. Well, guess what? They came a day early. Along with the 25+ knot winds came 2-3 meter rolling seas. Last night was just darned uncomfortable as we were between a beam and a close reach with the angle of the wind.

The reach kept us well heeled, but when those rollers would hit us on the beam, we were rolling into the exiting waves and getting a lot of water on the lee deck, squishing through the doors.
As we approached Vanuatu, we also started getting some traffic. I kind of like having the big old ocean all to ourselves and get a little (very) tense when I spot traffic, particular fishing boats with bright lights as it is difficult if not impossible to see which way they are running. I woke Russ up just as he was drifting to sleep around 8:00 o'clock because there were some big white lights in front of us getting closer and closer. There was no AIS identification signal coming from their boat. We could see them on radar and had a visual.
Because the large waves, the radar image was bouncing and we couldn't see a clear direction of their course overground.
Visually, if we see a green light on their bow, we know they are moving across our path from port to starboard (left to right). If we see a red light on their bow, we know they are moving across our path from starboard to port (right to left). If we see both a red and green, they are coming at us. If we see white lights, we know we are coming up on their stern.
Fishing boats are so lit up with white lights, it blinds the eye to any other colors. We know they are either standing still or moving, but don't know which direction. When the waves are big like they were last night and we are on a close reach and moving fast, the approaching boat lights disappear while they are in a trough or we are in a trough, then they reappear and are bigger than the last time we saw them. We know we are closing the gap quickly.
Since were on a close port reach and the traffic was about 1:00 on our starboard side, it would be a close squeeze by if they were moving towards us. We decided to give Hydie a rest and hand steer. After watching them on radar for awhile (they were within 3 miles of us), Russ thought we could probably pass safely and stay on course, but it would be a tight pinch. Every time I tried to angle away from the vessel and more into the wind, the sails would luff, we would lose boat speed and not accomplish a good measure of distance.
Since I was at the helm and a nervous wreck thanks to our friends on Trim who had just written an article for publication of a near-death experience with an out of control fishing trawler, I chose to fall off so that I had more course options, and we would pass them on our port side with a greater margin of space. Little by little, their lights got smaller and we passed them to port. Better safe than sorry.
After that, we started to see more AIS traffic signals, but none that came any closer to us than 20 miles. When Russ got up for his watch, we needed to make some sail adjustments. The wind was shifting around and we were moving too fast. We would reach our destination too early in the dark hours of the morning. We reduced sail and eased off the trim.
An examination of our trailing dinghy presented us with another little Uh oh! The metal loop on the front of the dinghy to which our painter line was tied had snapped off. Now the dinghy was being trailed by a thinner anchor line which was the backup. We said our goodbyes to Avon as we were sure she would be a goner some time during the night. The waves and wind were steadily increasing. We had hoped from our weather information that we wouldn't see these winds until the following day. No such luck.
When Russ woke me at 6:30, I looked out the portholes through sleep blurred eyes to see mountains of water, and oh yes, a real mountain in the distance. We were getting close to Anatom, but had still been moving so fast that we overshot our entrance mark while it was still dark and Russ let me sleep in. Now we had to reduce sail some more and do some back tracking. Russ's first plan was to do a controlled jibe. My plan was to turn on the motor and come about. We decided to go on deck and see how bad the waves really were. It might be too risky to jibe. Our little Avon, believe it or not, was still tethered to us. Jibing would temporarily put the wind and following waves at our back. I was afraid the Avon would wind up on top of our bimini if we jibed.
Once we were on deck, we realized the best thing to do was to bring the boat into a fore reaching position, nose into the wind, slow her down, and still trail the dinghy behind away from the propellor, and prepare the rigging for a sail change. When we were ready to go, I gave the motor just enough throttle to get us out of the fore reach and make the turn. Done! Now we were ready to go on in. Russ called for port control on the VHF. Ha! No one on the island has a VHF. The only response was from a fellow cruiser, Emily Grace. He gave us some encouragement getting through to the harbor and where we might want to anchor.
By 9:30, we were in the bay and anchored with our yellow quarantine flag flying. The bay is a horseshoe of sorts with low lying reefs protecting it from the swell, but not so much from the wind. At 10:00 our first official came out to the boat. He was the quarantine official and we were lucky that he was here. He had just checked out a cruise ship the night before and would be returning to Tanna in less than an hour by way of plane and the small landing strip on the atoll side of the island. We weren't sure whether the officials worked on the weekend. Some do and some are only on the island periodically. The quarantine man was very nice. He asked asked about fruits, vegetables, meats, on board. Nothing seemed to be a problem except he asked us to keep our food on board and not take it ashore. Also, please take any garbage to Tanna and throw nothing over board. He also assured us that the mosquitos on this island did not carry malaria. Nice to know as we had read in an older cruising guide that malaria was a problem in Vanuatu. Seems as if this may now be better controlled. Our quarantine fee was 3,000 Vatu (appx. $35.00). Not sure if this is the standard fee or the weekend fee.
While our "We're here!" adrenalin was still in gear, we cleaned up the boat. It really gets thrashed on a passage, ate some lunch and were finally just laying down for a rest when the customs official came aboard. We chatted with the official, offered him some cola, and got our paper work completed. We have to pay a customs fee in Tanna and go through immigration at that time. Anatom has just recently become a check in port. The custom official is a trainees and not all of the procedures can be completed here yet. Since we are planning on going into Tanna anyway, this won't be a problem for us. As long as we have now cleared quarantine and part 1 of customs, we can come to the island....and yes, we still have a dinghy to get us there.
Snorkeling in the marine reserve and hike to a 50 meter waterfall are the big attractions. This is a very remote little island with no motor vehicles and no grocery store. We'll probably be here 4 days or so resting and enjoying before heading north. Now that we are here, I may not do a daily report, but will keep you posted. Thanks for sailing with us.
All is well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 4 Fiji to Vanuatu - The expected unexpected happened

UTC/Local Time: 0000 June 24/12:00 p.m. June 24

Latitude: S 19 42.456
Longitude: W 171.21.108
Course Over Ground: 240
Wind Direction: SSE 18 knots
Sea Swell: 1-2 meters
Sky: 100% cloud cover

Update: I hated it when Russ says Uh OH!

Yesterday afternoon the wind, waves, and cloud cover increased. Grey skies, grey seas and occasional dribble melted into the blackness of the night. Neither of our watches was remarkable other than the fact that we knew we were going above our course line, and would make a sail correction in the morning. Our starboard, green running light stopped working, and we switched over to our mast tri-color. Ordinarily we try not to use this one as it takes too many amps, but we had the Honda switched on so it didn't really matter. So, fix the starboard running light got added to the short list.

After we had eaten breakfast this morning, I got my inclement weather gear on. It was still spitting rain. Both of us put on our gloves and life vests. The wind was blowing about 18 knots and the seas were 1-2 meters. It was time to go out, un-pole the jib from its beam and broad reach position, and pull more into the wind for our course correction. I was at the helm keeping on course and working the back lines while Russ went forward took down the pole, and adjusted rigging for the jib. We positioned the boat into the wind and had the sails set. We had one last thing to do and that was to re-adjust Hydie to her new wind angle after I got her on the right course.

Russ went behind me to adjust Hydie 2, and I heard a mild-mannered mumble "UH OH!"! UH OH translates into OH SH@#! in my boating vocabulary. "What's the matter!" I asked partially turning around as I was trying to keep one eye on our compass heading and the wind. The dinghy which usually fits snuggly under the solar panels had completely snapped from its bow cable and half of the back cable had broken off. So essentially the three of the 4 connections holding the dinghy out of the water had failed. Our Avon was dangling vertical by one cable. Her stern was high out of the water and her bow was bumping and dancing over the waves scooping in water. It's bottom side was facing us while the interior of the dinghy was facing way from us.

Not only was our dinghy dangling, but we had had all of our snorkel gear (masks, fins, snorkels) , 4 floating cushions, dinghy anchor, paddles, dive flag, and emergency hand pump in the dinghy. Time for a deep breath! Ok, it's not the end of the world if we lost all of that stuff. Let's concentrate on what to do. By this time, it is now starting to rain and the beam seas are splashing on our port side.

We had had a similar circumstance when Hydie's wind rudder blew a bolt last season between Suwarrow and Samoa, and we had to make a temporary repair by taking the rudder off and dismantling Hydie in high seas. Russ went into the engine room, opened up the exhaust valve and engine thru-hole and turned on the motor. We didn't really need the motor, but our plan was to bring WW into a heave-to position and it's nice to have the engine as a backup. On the other hand, it's not nice to deal with the exhaust when you are working on the back of the boat, but the benefit in the event of Russ going overboard and me executing a quick rescue with the engine running was higher than the risk of the fumes and sputter.

Once we had the boat in a heave-to position, into the wind with the jib back winded and the rudder hard over, the stern of our boat was now in the lee of the wind and most of the waves. She could basically float in this position with little or no attention from us while we concentrated on rescuing the dinghy. We secured Russ's harness onto a line and secured the line with some slack to a stern cleat so that he could climb down the back swim ladder (it's about a 10 foot drop down the stern from the fantail to the water) and grab the dinghy's painter so that she would be secure in at least two places.

Before Russ went down the ladder, he cranked down the dinghy's stern cable; the Avon was now floating on the water but still high enough that the water was not flooding through the plug hole in the stern. We always take the plug out so that if it does rain, the dinghy doesn't become too heavy and will drain out the rain water naturally. Once the dinghy was floating, we could see the interior of the dinghy. Surprise! All of our stuff (with the exception of two of our floating cushions) was still in the boat! Our snorkel gear was in a shallow box that had wedged itself under the cable bridle in the bow of the dinghy. Everything else had also slid to the bow and was wedged into place. Lucky! Lucky!

Russ descended the ladder while I payed out his harness line. The dinghy was alternately sliding away from the boat and snapping at the end of its cable then rebounding and slamming against the stern. The bow of the dinghy was pointed away. We were dragging the dinghy by its stern, and need to grab its bow line. I tied Russ down to the cleat so he wouldn't go flying off the swim ladder while I telescoped the boat pole and handed it down to him. After getting a sense of the rhythm, he was able to snag one of the sidelines of the dinghy and pull it forward enough to grab the painter.

We tied off the painter so the dinghy was now parallel with the stern. Russ was going to have to get into the dinghy pretty quickly, once I further lowered the stern cable so that he could push the plug into stern hole. Then we would completely disconnect the cable. I released his harness enough to give him the slack he needed, lowered the cable, and he climbed into the heaving dinghy. He got the plug into the hole and released the cable so now the dinghy was hanging on by her painter. Then he started to hand up piece by piece all of the stuff that was in the dinghy.

The first thing he handed up was the dinghy anchor and line. It was a mass of spaghetti that needed to be untangled, so that we could use this line as a secondary tie. (Does it ever seem like we as humans spend an inordinate amount of time untangling things?? lines, cords, necklaces, computer cables, Ipod earphones, hangers?) Anyway, try doing this in the rain and bucking seas. Bit by bit everything got handed up with the exception of the emergency pump. Russ pumped out the several gallons of water that the bow had scooped up while dangling. At one point, the boat seemed to be filling with water faster than Russ was pumping. I noticed the plug in the back had popped out and indeed the boat was filling with water.

We got as much water out of the boat as possible. We had two lines on the dinghy. It was time for Russ to come up. He suffered a little bump on his head and gash on his thumb. It may come to pass that the dinghy has to be cut free if the seas get too rough and she fills with water, but we'll tackle that if it happens. For right now, she is skimming along behind Worrall Wind with her painter and secondary line secured nine feet up on the fantail. This keeps her bow high out of the water. The Avon has lasted an incredible amount of years and has an able bodied backup waiting in the wings should we lose her. I am not sure why we didn't notice the dinghy dangle earlier when we first went out, unless it happened while we were actually out there adjusting the sails. Sometimes in the roar of the wind and sea, you can't hear everything as it happens. Given the fact that we had lost so little out of the dinghy, I can't imagine, it had been dangling long before we noticed it.

Worrall Wind is back on course, the sky is lightening up, the seas are calming down, and we are about 24 hours out from Vanuatu. We hope to make landfall tomorrow morning. Only one more night watch! Yeah!

So the expected, unexpected happened, and once again we faced the challenge and resolved the issue within an hour. We hope it's the only one this voyage.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind.