LUGANVILLE - the lost post
Luganville is not a very big town, but has a wide main street that is continuously traversed by taxis. These are mainly small Daewoos or similar, owned by the Chinese businesspeople who also own all of the stores. There must be at least 20 of these stores often side-by-side which carry a huge range of goods, from bread and milk to clothes to hardware and fishing gear. There is a market at the southern end of town which, on the day, can provide a great range of produce at very cheap prices. How about $1.20 for a hand of bananas?
We anchored with about 10 other boats off the Beachfront Resort, about 1km south of the town. It had good holding, but the sou'easterly winds could cause it to get a bit bouncy. The management of the resort was very yachtie friendly, providing free water, and a laundry at reasonable cost. We were on the waiting list for a mooring at the Aore Resort about 1 mile on the other side of Segond Passage.
Our first task was to get to the Post Office to collect a parcel sent Express courier by Ian and Kellie on Wednesday. Not there on Friday, went back Saturday but they were closed for that day. Not there on Monday either! It finally reached Santo on Tuesday despite having reached Pt Vila on Friday.
Naturally there was a fair bit of shopping to do, the LCM supermarket had the best range of fresh imported vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and onions. They also sell Magnums!
Evicted from resort!!
We were finally allocated a mooring on Sunday so went over. The resort has a ferry which takes guests to Luganville. Yachties can come if there is room, paying 250VT for the privilege. We needed fuel, and discussed the various options with the manageress. I decided that I would use the only ferry that fuel could be carried on, 7am. I took my 3 empty jerries on Monday morning and returned with no problem. On Tuesday I took my 3 jerries to the jetty for the 7am ferry where the manageress was waiting with 4 guests. She said that I couldn't go with the guests. I expressed my displeasure at this decision and the need to get fuel. She relented so on I went. I had arranged with the proprietor of the servo to borrow some extra containers. She lent me 5 so I returned to the resort with 8 containers. I was met by the owner who accused me of not following "the rules", over-riding the manageress, and told me to pay up and get out immediately! Great person for a people-oriented business!
Starting problems & Dan the man
I had decided that the resort was too inconvenient for the various things I needed to do, so was going to leave anyway. One of the problems I had to resolve was intermittent operation of the starter motor. Its a bit hard to clutch-start a boat, so its important that the motor will start when needed. I had heard of an Aussie mechanic called Dan who could fix anything. I found him and got him to come out to the boat. He said it was the main solenoid, so proceeded to remove it. Of course it wasn't easy but he finally got it off and took it back to his workshop. It was too far gone, but he found that Kevin, (another Aussie) at Santo Engineering across the road had a new one in stock! What are the odds?? It was a mere $180 but I needed it.
More antibiotics and R&R
The other problem was Judy. She needed a new starter motor too! She had had a series of sinusitis attacks which she treated with antibiotics. These hadn't really done the job, and she was very run-down. We went to the hospital and saw a nurse practitioner (not quite a doctor) who prescribed more antibiotics. A week later and still no improvement so we returned but this time she saw a real doctor. He prescribed a more powerful antibiotic and said she should rest for the next 5 days. We had been constantly moving since Larry and Alison had joined us in Pt Vila, so it was easy to follow doctor's orders. We decided that we would not go to the festivals in the Banks that we had been aiming for. We joined our friends in Palikulo Bay, just east of Luganville. It was a delightful anchorage, well protected and with a nice beach. It was only 20 minutes from Luganville by taxi (if you could find one).
Our friends Barbara and Mike on 'Lev" arranged for a bus to take us to Champagne Beach and the Blue Hole. The crews from two other boats joined us for the day. Champagne Beach is visited by cruise ships, but we had the place to ourselves. A nice snorkel, followed by a picnic lunch was a great outing. On the way back we stopped at the Blue Hole which is exactly that, fresh crystal clear water of a real blue colour. The water temperature was cold at first but quite refreshing.
After a few more days of lazing about we moved about 10 NM north to Peterson Bay and Oyster Island. The restaurant is highly spoken of, run by Jean-Pierre. We had an enjoyable but expensive meal of lobster with "Cookie Cutter" and "Musique".
Next stop was Port Olry as it is a better anchorage than Hog Harbour and we had already been to Champagne Beach. That meant another 20NM trip in good sailing conditions, alas again with no fish. We went ashore the next day to visit the town, but weren't impressed. The whole town had been devastated by a cyclone in 1998 and been rebuilt. but the houses were mainly lined up with no gardens - very bare. We did manage to buy a few things at the local co-op.
More photos are at
