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The time was spent in Vila shopping for provisions, fixing things on the
boat, getting new batteries, painting the decks, etc, etc.
Friends drop in
Larry and Alison joined us on the 30th July in time for Donna's birthday party at
The Melanesian. It was a great night with family and friends in
attendance. Photos at
 . The following morning was spent at the markets and
supermarket stocking up. Our first night's anchorage was in Hideaway Bay, but the cloudy weather meant that
snorkelling was out.
Next morning, Paul caught a bus into Vila
to go to the bank for Solomon Is dollars and malaria treatment. After
that we were underway for Havannah
Harbour with a nice
sailing breeze pushing us along. We anchored right near a waypoint in one
of the guides and had a restful night. The sun was shining next morning
so Larry and Alison enjoyed a swim and walk ashore. It was then time to
weigh anchor and head further north for our overnight anchorage on Emae Island.
A sticky problem
The only problem was that the anchor and chain were attached firmly to the
bottom, 60 feet down. We tried circling one way and the other, but it
just got tighter. Larry snorkelled down a bit so see what was there; it
was clearly something manmade. A neighbour came over to lend a hand and
snorkelled down the 60' to investigate. He and then his son managed
to get some of the chain free, but eventually he had to use his SCUBA gear to
free it. As a result of this problem, we left Havannah 1.5 hours later
than planned. THis meant arriving at Emae at 6:30pm in the dark.
Our computer program showed where we had anchored 2 years ago, so we headed for
that. Just as we got our anchor down, two men came over in their dinghy,
and told us to anchor near them where it was better. We followed them
over and re-anchored in slightly better conditions, but still in coral.
The next morning the chain was caught in the coral but we managed to break
it out without too much effort. We then sailed quite well up to Epi Island
but as soon as we got along it western shore, we ran out of wind.
We tried the MPS, even getting it up first go without a tangle, but the
breeze just died, so on came the motor for the remainder of the journey to
Lamen Bay.
Lamen
Bay
I was surprised to find that we were the only boat in Lamen Bay,
as it is a popular spot with the cruising community. Four more boats
joined us the next day so we arranged for all of us to eat in Tasso's
restaurant that night. Again, sunshine was pretty scarce, but Larry
managed to get in a short snorkel next morning. He didn't see Bondas the
tame dugong - apparently he has some wives over at Lamen Island
so spends more time there. We were given a tour of the Epi High School
extensions by the Principal Mackin. This was a major A$1.2M Ausaid
project which built new classrooms, dormitories, laboratories and library.
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We were unpleasantly surprised when we saw our decks that morning; they were
covered in volcanic ash from the volcano Lopevi which was about 9 NM upwind of
us. The ash was black, gritty and very pervasive, but we managed to sweep
and hose most of it off.
Maskelynes
We left
Lamen Bay in overcast conditions with quite a
strong breeze behind us. We trolled our fishing lines in the hope of
catching some dinner but as usual, the result was zero. We arrived at Sakao
Island
anchorage to find 4 boats already there. We anchored on the point in about
10m in sand and coral. The next morning we found that the wind had swung
around to the southwest, pushing us towards the shore. We finished up
sitting on top of a coral bommie, but couldn't move until the tide came in.
So we went ashore to meet Chief Willy Who we had met two years ago. We had
a traditional lunch with him and his wife Rachel, then returned in wind and rain to find that we were clear of
the bommie, so we took off for Port Sandwich.
Port Sandwich
This port is on the southeastern corner of Malekula Island,
and is a very calm anchorage. All of the guide books advise against
swimming as there are sharks! We went to the southernmost anchorage and
were soon visited by a local, Ezekial while Paul was being given a haircut by
Judy.
He insisted that we visit him the next day at 3pm.
We had planned leaving earlier than that, so told him that we could come at 1pm.
Before going ashore, Judy and Alison did some washing.
We found Ezekiel having a shower out in the open!
After he dressed, he then took off into the hills of his farm, yelling out to
his wife to come and join us. He couldn't find her (after about 30
minutes) so we went into one of his buildings for some oranges and a chat.
He then produced a mountain of fruit and vegetables including
two complete bunches of bananas. We declined to take it all - we
just didn't have the space - but did take quite a few bananas and pampelmousse.
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It was raining and visibility was so poor that I turned on
the Radar while still in Port Sandwich. We decided then that we wouldn't
go on to Lamen
Bay
but stay in the main anchorage of Port Sandwich. Larry and Alison
were sent on a walk to find some bread, successfully.
Banan
Bay
We had spent a very few enjoyable days here previously and wanted Larry and
Alison to have the same experience. We arrived from Port Sandwich around
midday and soon after went ashore to find Chief Saitol. He looked quite a
lot older than last time, but he is 78! He could arrange a kastom dance
for the following afternoon, but time was getting short for Larry and Alison to
get to Norsup and their flight back to Vila.
The only way that they could see the dance would be for us to stay the extra
day, and they catch a truck at 6am the day after. With the weather the
way it was, this was not a pleasant option, so we regretfully advised the
village that we couldn't stay.
The trip to Norsup started well, sailing out of Lamen Bay
but eventually the wind died so we motored. The autopilot also played up,
going off course quite dramatically, so we had to hand-steer the rest of the
way.
Norsup
We anchored off Norsup
Island in about 10m on
sand, well sheltered from the winds. The following morning, there was
enough sun for Larry and Alison to snorkel along the reef, before packing their
bags. The dinghy was severely overloaded with 4 adults and about 6 bags
but we made it ashore without any mishap. We walked along the shore,
spoke to a few people but were struck by the general atmosphere of
unfriendliness. This was the former French administrative centre for
Malekula, and that might be a reason for it. Anyway we found a shop and
bought some fruit for lunch. The next job was to find a truck to get us
to the airport. After about 10minutes, one appeared so we all piled in.
Norsup Airport is not an impressive
sight! The building was burnt down 5 years ago and hasn't been
re-built. A small tin shed about 8' * 10' is the checkin
'facility'. But first we had to wait for the plane to arrive from Vila, unload the stuff
for Lamap (near Port Sandwich), fly on to Luganville, then
return to Norsup. This took about an hour. After the plane
returned, all the passengers and goods for Lamap and Vila were loaded before a departure at 3:30,
about 30 minutes late.
We caught a truck to Lakatoro, to the south of the airport. Here we
were able to buy chilli sauce! and bread, etc.
Norsup Island was pretty good shelter so we
stayed the next day while I investigated the problem of the autopilot. I
found that the hydraulic ram had come unscrewed, and was detached from the
frame! To get at it meant unpacking many bags and supplies which were
stored under our bunk. Once this was done, the repair was fairly
straightforward, then all the 'stuff' had to be
re-packed. The next day a test showed that all was OK.
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