Aradonna's blog

We had a delightful anchorage in Lelepa island, crystal clear water, white sand beach, snorkeling the reefs. We would have loved to stay longer, but decided to take advantage of the light winds for rounding Devils Point. We were glad we did - it was a dream ride - a complete contrast to our last experience of this notorious headland. Yesterday in Port Vila we spotted some familiar boats from Gulf Harbour. Dreamtime, Red Herring II, Rireana. We are now in Mele Bay for a few days. Swimming, snorkeling and relaxing. Caught up with Marc and Constance last night and had dinner at Paradise Cove. A fabulous setting and a wonderful meal! The 71ft yacht they used to have and sold in Gulf Harbour was called Chasse Spleen. They still talk about their 7 years of cruising with a wistful look in their eyes, though they have been land based for two years now.
Over the last month we have really appreciated the various upgrades we attended to during the summer in NZ. Many items were repaired, maintained and improved of course, but three things have made a huge difference to our cruising experience. The first is the water maker. Being able to make our own fresh water has enabled us to go to remote places without having to worry about the quality of local water supplies. We can even wash our dishes and ourselves in fresh water instead of salt water now. Yay! The second thing that has made a real difference is the solar panels. Our need for solar power was highlighted when we had no motor on the way back to NZ, but now that we have solar, we are really noticing a difference to our everyday cruising. We no longer need to run the motor to keep the batteries topped up. The solar power keeps up with running all the usual electrics on board, including the extra electric fridge we installed (which has also been exceptionally useful). The third upgrade that has made a difference to our cruising, is not an upgrade to the boat, but an upgrade to Heather! Last year, Heather struggled to spot marker buoys, small canoes, and various landmarks. Karl would point out reefs and potential hazards long before they came into Heathers field of vision. In February, Heather had a cataract operation which has removed the misty blob in front of her left eye and now she can spot tiny objects from miles away! It is a refreshing change to be able to see where you are going.
The day is warming up again, so time for another swim!

We really enjoyed our time in the Maskelyne islands, calm clear water, swimming, snorkeling, exploring deserted islands - fabulous. More seeds were delivered, to locals from surrounding islands who came by in dug out canoe to see us. Next we hopped across to Epi island and stayed a couple of nights in Lamen bay. For those who would like to see where this is, the GPS position is: 16 35.754S 168 09.769E Lamen Bay is home to sea turtles and dugongs! We were lucky enough to encounter these amazing creatures. We saw a few sea turtles grazing on sea grass while we were snorkeleing and we got reasonably close to them. We were able to dive down while snorkeling and swim along side them - but the turtles made sure we were just out of reach! Later, as we sat in the cockpit soaking up the sun and enjoying the scenery, a couple of dugongs surfaced near the boat. Also known as sea cows, these animals are similar in size and shape to seals, but they have a large snout that they use like a vacuum cleaner to gather sea grass from the ocean floor. In the afternoons they surface with a burst of air and then a lazy loop, to return to the bottom again. Nice to see! Lamen bay is also home to an extended village of over 500 people, plus a full boarding school with 200 teenagers attending high school. The kids come from all over the island of Epi and also from other surrounding islands to attend. We learned that kids who do not get good marks at primary school will often just remain in the village to help with fishing and cooking and farming. Kids who do well at primary school will be sent to high school and those that do well at high school will have the chance to go further. Many of the ones that have the aptitude and attitude to succeed at school will move away from the village and begin a whole new life as they map out a career in Efate or perhaps overseas.
We visited the school and met Judy, the deputy Principal, who was in charge that day, along with key members of staff. They were very excited to get vegetable seeds from us as they have a science program in the school where the children learn to grow vegetables - and they needed seeds for this program. Seeds will also be distributed to the community from here too, so everyone will benefit. Cyclone Pam has caused some damage here, high winds and flooding wiped out fruit and vegetable crops, but the buildings here are more substantial and did not suffer too much. Trying to keep 200 teenagers in line probably creates a bigger challenge! We met Joseph, the local baker, and had a tour of his bakery. Wood fires are used to heat a kiln like structure to form an outdoor oven. Another hut has a bench where the dough is kneaded by hand. Stacks of loaf tins tower precariously beside the ovens. Joseph explained his labour intensive process. He has been making bread every day for the village since 1976. The day we visited he had made 50 loaves, and some days he makes more. Amazingly, for such crude apparatus and no real temperature control, each loaf was perfect! We purchased a couple of loaves, fresh white fluffy bread, still warm from the oven. The outside an even golden brown on all sides - more evenly cooked than what we can make in our gas oven on the boat! We have now been away from NZ for one month - the first month has flown by!! Up until a few days agao, however, we had not caught any fish. Last year in Tonga and Fiji we were feasting on Mahimahi and Tuna 3 or 4 times per week. In fact, we got so used to catching 90cm Mahimahi and 60cm tuna that we purchased a large landing net and a 1m long cool box to put the catch in for this trip. The large cool box has been sitting waiting and the net has been at the ready for the last month, but without fish, they have remained bright and shiny and new. Our luck changed a few days ago and we and our first catch. A small tuna, not much bigger than the lure we had out! It did not need the landing net and would very likely fit into a teapot, so we didn't need the coolbox! (Don't worry Sarah, we didn't actually use the teapot!) But this little tuna did not go to waste - Karl prepared it on the BBQ while Heather fried up some potatoes - fish and chips for dinner! Today we caught two more of these l ittle tuna. A good size for the BBQ and very tasty! We hope to have use for the landing net and the large coolbox in coming days.
Last night we caught up with Paul and Monique, a Dutch couple from a yacht called "Full Circle", aptly named as they plan to circumnavigate the globe. After a few drinks on board Aradonna we invited them to stay for dinner and had a fun evening together. Luckily we were not relying on fish for dinner last night! Tomorrow we will round Devils Point again to get back into Port Vila. In the light winds that are forecast it should be a smooth ride compared to our first experience. Fingers crossed.

After seeing the devastation of the island of Emae, it was a stark contrast to see the lush rainforests of Malekula island yesterday, seemingly untouched. Today, we landed on Pentecost, again, there is little evidence of wind damage to trees here. What we did find, was flood damage from the sea surge during cyclone Pam, which damaged houses and wiped out their gardens! They have had no vegetables since the cyclone and were grateful to get seeds for cabbage, watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin and carrot. The chief of the village, Don, explained there are about 40 people living here, in two communities. He will make sure the seeds are distributed fairly to the people. One enterprising young lad, Tolly, who is 15 years old, tried his best to do trade with us. He came out to our boat in his dug out canoe and asked for clothing, food, money and dvd's! We declined, but suggested instead that we would come ashore later and see him. When we went ashore, he was ready with coconuts for us to drink and we asked him to be our guide, to show us the land diving tower. He took us for a walk and showed us the tower, but we were not allowed to get too close. The village here sells entry fees to see the land diving for 12,000 vatu per person - equivalent to NZ$180 each!!! We again declined, happy enough just to take photos of the tower itself. We have seen bungee jumping, for free in NZ! Our guide suggested we might buy him a mobile phone, or some kava or give him 5000 vatu for being our guide. A bit cheeky this lad! In the end he was satisfied with 300 vatu we gave him in return for his guidance and coconuts. A dozen or so children helped us bring our dinghy ashore and relaunch it again both time we went ashore. The boys were carrying long bush knives. We learned that boys as young as 4 will have their own bush knife, and at the age of 6 they learn to climb coconut trees to cut coconuts from the top!

After a very peaceful night in the sheltered Havannah Harbour, we had a rather bouncy trip up to Emae. Left Havannah just after 7am and arrived at Emae at 1pm. Beautiful reefs and clear water enticed us for a snorkel and a freshen up before going ashore. We set off walking the 5km to the school but half way we were collected by a local ute who gave us a ride in the tray of the ute, along with dozens of coconuts! There are 10 villages on Emae, with a total of over 800 people. We took our seeds to the school and handed them over to the Principal, Richard. He will liaise with their island Disaster Committee and ensure the seeds are divided up fairly to the 10 villages on the island. Emae was hit very hard by cyclone Pam. The mango trees and coconut trees have been stripped of all branches, fruit and foliage. Many large trees have been uprooted and lie on their sides. Skeletons of thousands of trees stand twisted and broken, pointing bare tips skyward like the set of some horror movie. This island depends on copra production for income. There won't be any copra here for a very long time.
We met up with people from the three Sea Mercy boats who are doing wonderful work here in Vanuatu, the good folks on Buffalo Nickel, Darramy and Perspherone (or something like that!)to make arrangements for some of our seeds to be delvilered to the Shepherd Islands. There are several islands in the Shepherd group. The largest, Tongoa, is getting aid from Vila. But smaller islands are missing out. Buninga Island is only 1.5km across, but 90 people live on this tiny island. Next to Buninga is Tongariki, only slightly larger in area but more than double the population of Buninga. These people have had very little help, mainly due to their isolation. There are no safe overnight or strong wind anchorages at these islands - and landing is difficult without vessels being set up especially for the task. Fortunately, Buffalo Nickel has a special tender made for the job and Darramy travels alongside to provide the hands on help required to get things ashore in difficult spots. We delivered a p ortion of our seeds to Darramy this afternoon, they are leaving early in the morning from Emae, to transport them to these two tiny islands who are desperate for seeds.
From Brian and Sue on Darramy we learned about some more needs they had discovered in the islands. Many small fishing boats, both aluminium and traditional dug out canoes, were damaged in the cyclone. Often just small holes, but definitely not sea worthy! These vessels not only provide food for the village, but they also sell fish to the markets to get income. While boats remain damaged, many families cannot fish for food, or income. What they need is fibreglass matting and fibreglass resin to repair their boats - and someone wiht the knowledge to help them do repairs. Water tanks and roofs also have small holes that can be fixed with fibreglass repair. Any boats coming from NZ or from Fiji could bring some supplies and help out - please! Also, any vessels coming this way, please bring roofing nails, screws and fastenings to secure guttering and downpipes back on to roofs so that water tanks can be used to collect water again. Another need is water taps/valves for the base of water t anks. Some aid organisation has delivered loads of water tanks to the islands, but they didn't come with a tap on the bottom! Until they get these valves, the tanks are useless. Please spread the word to any vessels coming this way - these items do not take up too much room on a yacht, but are desperately needed.
Tomorrow we head to the Maskelyne Islands - we are hoping for a better passage than the one we had today!