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Lyttelton Harbour to Nelson.
Our crew of Max (Captain and circumnavigator) Rowena (least experienced but most enthusiastic) and Sam (experienced and boat builder) set off for Vanuatu.
We left Diamond Harbour on May 2nd in the hope of catching the tail end of a southerly, to head north. Well, we got the tail, and the hind legs, with a bit of kick in them too! We sailed through the night, and 30 hours later we arrived in Cape Campbell just before dark.
Dawn with a setting full moon and beautiful weather made up for it all. Then Ship's Cove in Queen Charlotte Sounds, French Pass, D'urville Island, and Nelson last night. Wonderful weather, although a little sparse on good winds. We had our excitment though. Rowena caught a small rip in the main sail early, and a bit of engine trouble had to be sorted.
In Nelson we are sorting a few details of maintenence, re fuelling, provisions etc, and we hope to be away in a couple of days, but of course it is weather allowing.
A few boats away there is a mastless yacht which came from Australia and got rolled. So we know what we may be facing.We just hope for good weather and enjoy whatever comes.
Leaving Diamond Harbour. Crew of Max, Rowena and Sam, being seen off by B&B sitter Ian. Photo by Captain Peter Rea.
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Saturday the 12th, and we will be leaving Nelson shortly, intending to arrive in Tanna Island Vanuatu about the 26th if we do 100 nautical miles a day on average. The weather looks great for a week...after that who knows!~
We didn't get to Abel Tasman after all as the weather wasn't good, and now it is we are off.
Spent a pleasant few days...went to the Wearable Arts Complex....what is there is fantastic, but too expensive for what it is. We've all enjoyed eating out, movies, showers etc, which we won't see for quite some time.
We are all excited and looking forward to it of course. Looks like today we can try out the new spinnaker which will be fun.
So love to you all, and after many sunrises ans sun sets on the ocean, we'll be in touch again.
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Sunset.
Fantastic dawns and sunsets. Bush walks at Ship's Cove, kayaking near incredible rocks with a flaming sky....all part of the wonderful world of sailing.
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found it! Tanna Island!
After 14 days at sea, as we planned, and thanks to Max and Sam's navigating we arrived. It was mostly a very pleasant trip, with the calm seas and fair winds so many of you wishes for us. Just a bit of rough seas to start with, and a few star-less and wind-less nights which meant motoring all through the night. And now, no more watches...we are at Port Resolution, enjoying being in a very traditional "kastom" village. Max will try to help about their solar rechargable batteries, and Rowena will be at the school doing puppets.
We arrived on Saturday the 26th, and visited Lenakel on the other side of the island today (Monday). The volcano was very impressive as we went past in the truck-taxi today. We hope to climb up soon.
It is 15 years since Max last visited here by yacht, and we thought it would be very changed, but where we are now, they are very careful about preserving their culture and traditions, while encouraging tourists, but on their terms. It is all very interesting.
We have a month sailing around, but Internet is pretty rare. Will keep you posted when possible.
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On Erromanga Island we anchored at Dillon's Bay, and went for a long kayak around a headland in search of a beach and cave we had been told about. Great swimming and snorkelling as well. What a healthy holiday!
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Rowena went along to the local school and offered to do something...they were strudying animals in their English lesson, so she taught them a song about the animals at Bergli farm! Also a shadow puppet...a kangaroo was requested...and had lots of fun. The next day when washing clothes at the river with the local ladies, some children suddenly started singing that song, which was a buzz!
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On Tanna island at Port Resolution we were lucky enough to be invited to the formal opening of their new cultural centre. The males were honoured guests, and lined up with the local cheifs to receive a lei. Then followed lunch, singing and dancing and shadow puppets.
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The school at Port Resolution was very happy to learn how to make shadow puppets, and their song and show was shown to guests the next day as part of the celebrations for the opening of the cultural centre. The children were very shy, so shadow puppets were just right for them.
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"One man and his dog, went to dig the garden", The children knew this song so made 10 men 1 dog and all the fruit and vegetables in the garden. Hopefully this is a seed planted too, and they will continue to give shows as fund raising for their school.
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At Dillon's Bay a family in a dug--out canoe came along side, and the wife asked if we could fix her sewing machine. Now as Rowena has a very stubborn and old sewing machine, she thought she might have a chance, so agreed to have a look at it. That one didn't pan out, but the school teachers sewing machine was mended in a joint effort by Max and Rowena, and the word got out. Max attempted to fix a chain saw, but broken parts made it impossible. The Daniel ( in the picture) had a simple connector plug for his solar panel charged light. So Max got his solder iron which workes by being heated on a hot flame. Daniel got coconut husks, they heated the iron and fixed two plugs. HOWEVER....the bulb was broken, and poor Daniel was so disbelieving that Max couldn't fix that too!
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Our first place of arrival in Vanuatu. This was a really lovely place.Fantastic beaches, swimming, snorkelling and kayaking. Good walks, good food and incredibly friendly people. The village wants to preserve their customs and culture, so tourists are welcome, but on their terms, and showing respect. We were most impressed.
But the big highlight was the volcanoe.....indescribable...but I'll try because the photos just don't do it justice...hence none.
A one hour drive through horrendoud roads through the jungle, then onto ash plains with lava rocks...some huge!...strewn around. Then a short walk up the crater at dusk. The volcanoe spews red hot lava hundreds of metres up into the air, with a huge whooosh and thunderous roar. Better than fireworks anyday. Absolutely awe inspiring.
We tired very soon of the civilisation at Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. My essentials were: ice cream, cold beer, telephone and Internet. These were granted with a few extras of 24/7 market stalls for food, and more stalls with clothes etc. Wharf side cafes were great for catching up with the yachties we had meet in other places. A few repairs had to be done, and once again we were blessed with being lucky. Max managed to fix the water pump…he hadn’t dared taking it apart before then as it could have left us with no motor in the middle of nowhere. A G clamp from the hardware store holds the tiller in place.
However once we had refilled our water tanks, bought more diesel and extended our sailing permit we all agreed we were ready to move on. The heat of a small city was astonishing, and didn’t go well with trudging through streets. And we really felt that we had been lucky enough to see the “real thing” in so many ways. We didn’t need to join a tour to see the dances etc…we had been honoured guests at a genuine celebration. So after only 2 nights we headed out for a few hours to an overnight anchorage on the south west of Efate Island. The next morning we had an early start to Emae Island where we found a breathtakingly beautiful lagoon just next to the beach. Hibiscus flowers floated on the surface, and the local chief who turned up with two of his children said it would be fine to kayak up the river and as the locals do, do our washing etc there. That was a happy and beauty soaking time. Then on to Epi island.
At Cape Forland we anchored for lunch…or so we thought. Max and I kayaked ashore and a very cheerful kindy teacher with 10 pikanini in tow came up to welcome us. She offered us a walk back to the kindy, and a visit to her home. It was well over a kilometre and by the time we got to the village the children had gotten over their shyness, and were walking hand in hand with us.
I had noticed that I didn’t see children playing games or with toys….they were looking after young ones or busy with school or helping in the gardens. Most boys had catapults although on Ambrym Island they are only allowed to be used right in the jungle, and not along the coast. This is to encourage the bird life, which is appreciated by tourists as well as the locals.
So inside the little kindy building I was surprised to see two sandpits and drawings on the walls and simple toys made from creative junk. Adelaine the teacher explained that some yachties had visited, and when they revisited had given them the toys they had made from bits and pieces they had. Adelaine then took a long bamboo pole with a forked end, and skilfully dislodged some poblemos ( grapefruit) catching each one with her spare hand as it fell. We shared with the children, left a present for the kindy and headed back to “Sunshine”. After a refreshing swim and kayak we motored on to Lamen Bay in the north, famous for the Dugong or sea cow, and turtles. We all took a long walk in the hope of seeing Lopevi, the volcano rising up out of the sea, off the coast of Epi. We didn’t succeed, but near the village on our return three utes overtook us with wooden seats on the back, or taxi-trucks. This we discovered was the Prime Ministers cavalcade and explained the small navy vessel in the bay. Music and speeches etc went on into the night.
Sam kayaked across to Lamen Island and was lucky enough to see the dugong and many turtles.
Rowena wanted one excursion into the jungle, and Max and Sam decided to join in a day trek to the waterfall. We were on shore at 6a.m. as instructed, but in the end had to walk to the driver’s house and wake him up. He took us to the village of Arlec (see photo of the beautiful shore) where we organised four young boys for guides. All the men had a working bee at the next village, to fix their nakamal (community meeting place) and we had met them on the road with their machetes.
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Although we had our togs with us, we all simply walked straight into the refreshing water as we were soaked through with sweat anyway.
Our guides would get paw-paws, oranges, coconuts and a few other unknown fruits, anytime they saw them along the way. We shared our peanut butter sandwiches with them, more for the novelty than necessity. We arrived back at their village at 4, and a cold beer at Lamen Bay’s Paradise Sunset Bungalows really hit the spot.
By now the tropical heat was very real. We put up a shade cloth over the cockpit (See photo) and at night sometimes funnelled the breeze down the hatch, with a sheet.
We spent the night in Buwama Bay with hot springs and black sand flood plain. Incredible volcanic rock formations, which we could see, close up by kayaking, just on sunset time. (See photos.) In the north of Ambrym the volcano, and the woodcarving attracted us. We anchored between Ranon and Ranvetlan and found their tourist office, a provincial project. We had been wandering along the track to Ranon, and as happens, being greeted and chatting along the way. Sam was able to buy some lovely carvings. In the tourist office they had more carvings, qualified guides and tours. Rowena was attracted to the “Pikanini Play Play Tour” and all decided to go.
We met our guide on the beach and walked through the dusk for 20 minutes or so to Ranvetlan. By the time we arrived it was dark, and once the children had gathered Yanick, who had initiated the project came with a kerosene lamp. Because several children in the village had no mother or father and paying school fees was a problem, Yanick had come up with the idea of a tour about traditional games, with all money going for their education fees. (See photo) They showed us hand games, songs and games. Last of all they had a spectacular “spirit dance” in the dark, with glowing embers attached to a dancing child, and also spinning them like pois…it was awesome, especially as Ambrym is feared by all the other islands as the sorcery centre of Vanuatu.
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From Ambrym we went to the south west of Pentecost Island, which was to be our furthermost point north. Did some snorkelling and swimming, had sundowners and dinner while admiring a fabulous sunset. All through the afternoon young boys had been singing on the beach. We always enjoyed the fact that there was a lot of singing. No T.V. and not much radio means much more musical expression. Anyway, the boys were still singing away after dinner, so in a lull Rowena suggested returning a song.so we 3 burst into “You are my Sunshine.” The wind was against us, so we weren’t sure they would hear us, but when we finished there was a little silence, then cheering whistling and hollering…it had been heard and appreciated! And that is how our magical evening of singsong exchange started. We went through musicals, hymns, lullabies, drinking songs etc in English, Maori, Japanese and German. Then we noticed tenors and sopranos harmonising. We think in the end we had the whole village there on the beach! At last they called out farewells and sang a goodbye song. Rowena sang back “God night Irene” and they sang all the way back to the village, with the song fading out as people reached their homes. It was a very satisfying way of celebrating our last night of going north. Next morning at dawn we headed south.
It was time to start sailing south, so we turned around at Southern Pentecost and headed down the east coast of Ambrym. We sailed past Mt Lopevi the incredible volcano. We had winds with us, and unusually very pleasant ones, so we made the most of it, and didn’t stop until tiny Paama Island. Going past Epi Island we again stopped at Nelson Bay and the children climbed their poblemos tree to sell us some. (See photo)
Next day Max was celebrating his birthday, and we had a lovely sail. Then, on the west side, we headed back to Port Vila ( the capital) on Efate Island, to get supplies. Rowena filled in the log, and found that in fact that day was Max’s birthday! So we celebrated all over again, in style, with cheesecake and Cappuccino.
Meanwhile New Zealand was in the throes of incredibly cold weather. By contrast we were happy to get the cooler weather as we headed south.
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At Port Vila Rowena took the chance to visit the National Museum and the lookout at the War Memorial, where she could see Sunshine anchored in the harbour (see photo). The markets were fun, and we talked with many stallholders, and found fruit and veggies we had never seen before (see photo of Rowena trying to catch a taste!)
Then down the west side to Erromango, where we again stopped at Dillon’s Bay. All the washing was done with the locals (see photo). We gave the village a huge yellow fin tuna we had caught. (see photo)
We tried heading south at midnight, but the winds were too strong, so we headed back in, and tried again the next night.
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At Dillon’s Bay we met up with
Jim and Helen from Canada, in their beautiful schooner “Gaia”
with Chinese junk rig. As Rowena was returning from a refreshing afternoon
swim in the huge river swimming hole, she met them and Max going with
Jason, the chief’s son, to see the rock where the last missionary
had been laid out, before being eaten. At his head and two feet, the rock
has been chipped away. We had a long talk, and Jason told us of the re-enactment
forgiveness ceremony they had, with relatives from Canada invited. Also
their history of being victims of black birding, which means Jason now
has relatives in Queensland.
Dillon’s Bay seems to always have a chronic shortage of fuel and
they have become used to buying it from passing yachts, so we wish them
luck with solving this problem.
As “Gaia” took off into the sunset Rowena got this photo but
it doesn’t do it justice: it was magical.
Then Sunshine left for Tanna Island; stiff winds for an overnight sail,
arriving at Black Sands Beach which is north of Lenakel. Because of the
wind direction it was impossible to anchor in Lenakel.
After anchoring cautiously (a reef juts out in the middle of the bay)
we had to decide the best way to go about clearing out of customs for
Vanuatu. In hindsight we should
have done it in Port Vila where we had access to weather maps and a secure
anchorage. The trouble with Lenakel, which is an official Port of Entry,
is that it isn’t a safe port! So we had to get there by land.
The next morning Max and Rowena kayaked to shore and set off on a lovely
walk to the airport, a 5 to 6 kilometer walk. The strategy was to get
weather maps, and perhaps even clear customs there. At the least, a ride
to Lenakel perhaps.
Just before the airport they got a ride with a “taxi-truck”.
Transport (and Internet time) is expensive in Vanuatu, because petrol
is very expensive. They arranged to get ride to Lenakel (about an hour
away) be ferried around and back out to Black Sands Beach for 5,000 vatu
($N75) To compare, you can get a local meal for 200vatu.
That night we prepared to set off on the 2-week sea voyage back to New
Zealand. Checking the motor we found steam coming out the exhaust!!!!!
A broken head gasket. This was yet another result of mistakes made during
the re-conditioning of the engine before departure.
After the episode with the water pump in Ship’s Cove, NZ, we were
advised in Nelson to take a spare head gasket, so that was lucky. At least
we had that. But there we were on the end of the world, once again with
serious engine failure because of trusting the re-conditioning of the
engine to the wrong person. As our lives had been at stake we were very
angry about it all.
. Max and Sam did brain surgery, prayed there wasn’t a crack in
it and turned the key. It worked! But they decided the engine should be
used as little as possible.
The next morning the wind had shifted so that we could go down and anchor
in Lenakel so we sailed there, and tracked down a torque wrench needed
to finish off the job. We didn’t expect to find an engine mechanic
on the whole of Tanna Island so it was a minor miracle to find a wrench
to tension the head bolts properly. Customs was very helpful, and understanding
about us still being around, and Sunshine was still at anchor when we
got back, so then we set sail!
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This ocean voyage was
a very quick, and rough 10-day voyage. Our destination changed from Nelson
because of tornados coming off the sea and causing havoc in New Plymouth.
We didn’t fancy being part of that, so we changed our plans and
headed for Opua in the Bay of Islands.
By that time we had been in thunderstorms with strong winds, rain and
lots of lightening, for 3-4 days. The wind was in the right direction
mostly, which was a blessing. We only had to use the motor twice, which
we did gingerly, as we still didn’t know if it is still healthy
or not.
So, we surfed the rough huge seas for most of the 10 days, not being able
to cook a proper meal, and certainly not doing any newsletters, as to
sit at the table you had to hang on with two hands to stay there.
Not being able to cook meals, and catching a very yummy dolphin fish meant
that we had a lot of leftover vegetables etc upon arrival in New Zealand.
So Rowena set to busily to store the garlic (from our best crop ever)
in honey, and cook all the kumara etc.
However the big black quarantine bag swallowed our rice (wild rice not
permitted) onions, potatoes etc…. but also the honeyed garlic!!!
You live and learn!
Once in at the marina (because of a storm forecast) we all enjoyed a huge
breakfast, a hot shower, and a toilet that didn’t buck and roll
and try to dethrone you. And if the scales are to believed, Rowena lost
5 kilos. What a great way to diet…the island fruit diet.
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