Luganville - Vanuatu

We slid into Luganville on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu at about 1:30 pm and anchored in front of the town, hopped into the dingy to go see the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine people. This is not hard, just time consuming as it entails visiting three different offices and a trip to the bank then a trip to the Govenment Cashier, all at different ends of the town. Each place has it's own set of forms to fill in and the cashier closes at 3:30 pm. There was a very long line in the bank, so yes, we were not completely sure that we would have the process done in one afternoon. Oh we stress so much. We did get the formalities done and even had a bit of time to pick up phone SIM cards - must be connected you know. Back to the boat - we had to sweet talk the fellow, whose house dock we used without permission (how were we to know) to unlock the yard gate so we could get our dingy - then get to the boat. We upped anchor and moved across the channel to a slightly more protected area in front of the Aore Resort. This is a bonus as we are tired of boat food and are very happy to all pile into the dingy to go out for dinner. Glen and Trish are quite sporting and thought nothing of trusting our wobbly little boat to deliver them to shore and back. Even though we have had a wonderful crossing from Fiji to Vanuatu, we are all very happy to be sitting calmly in still water.

Well we waste no time - the next morning we are up early, getting our dive gear all in order so we can go dive the President Coolidge with Aqua Marine Divers. This will be Glen Gurr's first ocean dive! The dive master whisks us down to a numbing 100 ft below the surface to see the ghostly remains of the once proud vessel. Her hull is still mostly intact and she lays on her port side. Wreck diving is not really my thing, I don't like to go into small dark places under so much water, but this was more an exploratory dive around the exterior, so O.K. There are divers who come from all over the world to dive this old ship numerous times to penetrate every nook and cranny. All but two of the 5000 plus personnel escaped with their lives when the ship was intentionally run aground in an attempt to save her after she had run into some of her own country's mines. But the holds are still filled with her cargo, weaponry, etc. An underwater treasure box. Our second dive of the day is equally interesting and pertains to WWII also, Million Dollar point. This is where the US general ran every piece of equipment that the US army had in Vanuatu off of a long jetty into the deep water, when the presiding French/English governments of the day refused to pay for what they perceived was equipment that was going to be left behind anyway upon the US withdrawal after the war. Trucks, tanks, bulldozers, jeeps, cranes - you name it - is all in a mountainous heap of tangled wheels and metal just off shore in about 100 ft of water. This dive I liked, the sea life has made it's home amongst the litter which is nice, but it is just such a shocking waste when you think of all the good this equipment could have been used for, in this developing country, in it's after war life. We replayed all of our adventures for Trish when we got back to the boat. She had spent a leisurely day on the upper deck reading and watching the activity of the surrounding bay.

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Final Stretch to Vanuatu

It has been a great day on the water today. We spent the majority of the day enjoying ourselves on the upper fly bridge. First land encountering should happen at 7:00 am Sept 26/11 when we pass between Pentecost and Ambrym Islands. We'll angle north toward Luganville on Espiritu Santos from there. I am imagining that I can smell land even as I sit here typing. In truth it is possible, it's just I don't believe my senses are that acute, so it must be wishful thinking. Current position - 16.10.353 lat and 168.44.554 long - 2:51 am Sept 26/11. (I believe we have a time change here, so it is probably only 1:51 am - it is dark! O.K.?)

A speck on the radar (another vessel) ran parallel to us for the better part of the day before the boat hailed us on the VHF radio. It is the catamaran "Beach House" whose owner and crew we met in Viani Bay. It was entertaining to hear of their travels in the midst of our now "old" crossing experience. Small things are greatly amusing right now.

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In the Middle

We've reached our mid way point on our trip from Fiji to Vanuatu. Strangely it looks exactly like every other point along the way since we lost sight of land - Go figure! Also a bit of a surprise is the number of fishing vessels (four so far) that are exactly on the same route as us, but in reverse, so with all of this ocean around us, the possibility of a head on collision is rather high. Glen and Trish are holding up well with the water conditions being very nice, just an easy swell and not much wind, so the boat doesn't move around too much. It is a pleasant 23 degrees right now at 4:20 am as I write (type) this and it was up to 25 during the day. For the google earth people, we are at 16.50.171 lat and 171.48.978 long. A very tiny speck in a very large ocean.

It seems that the Coolidge dive site in Luganville is very popular and that there are a lot of tourists in Vanuatu. Our friend boats, Jackster and Oso Blanco have emailed us to say book now so we can get a spot to dive this week. You can only dive the sites with local dive companies and they are fully booked. Who'da thunk? So we have. The Coolidge is a WWII ship that sunk after hitting friendly mines (that sounds so strange!) Also in the same vicinity is what they call "Million Dollar Point", this is where the US army bulldozed all of their equipment into the ocean when the French decided not to pay for it, opting instead to take what they wanted when the US went home. So no money, no equipment! We are looking forward to seeing both of these underwater steel graveyards.

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Leaving Fiji for Vanuatu

So I guess you can tell that we're back on the boat, based on the flurry of blog entries, I finally have time to write. We had such a frantic month at home trying to fit all of our work in that all of my good intentions for uploading lots of pictures and writing adventures never happened. Even out here on the boat, my freest time for writing is when I am on late night watch and everyone is asleep. Yes, I can multi task - watch so I don't run over anybody out here and write at the same time.

We arrived back in Fiji Sept 20 along with our friends Glen and Trish Gurr. We have a few days before we can head out as we await baby calm ocean waters and winds. We really want this to be a good experience for Glen and Trish, having them be sea sick for the first part of their holiday just wouldn't be good. A market experience fills one day with a stop at an Italian deli - yes, really - with wine tasting and food sampling, thus toping up the ship's stores for travel. Glen and Glen finished the AC glycol top up without any further excitement (we had to import a proper pump in our suitcase). Now we are one day out on our way to the island country of Vanuatu. Supposedly a little bit less developed than Fiji with lots of wilderness and equally friendly people.

I need to tell everybody about packing our suitcases. We have all of our clothes on the boat but each time we travel from home to the boat we have two full suitcases. Full of boat parts, coffee beans, cheese whiz, Miracle Whip, Lindt Milk Chocolate bars, magazines, books and whatever else we need that we can only get at home. Quite funny at screening times in the airports. So far so good with not having anything taken away from us.

The current conditions on the water are - 2 meter swell, short period intervals, light wind and dawn is happening. All is pretty good. Lat 17.31.093 S. Long 174.58.777 E.

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Fiji Highlights

Fiji has been everything and so much more than we had expected. The people stand out with their friendly welcoming attitude. They all holler "Bula!" and smile widely when they meet you. The landscape is beautiful, though no more so than any of the other island countries that we have been to. The weather really has been pleasant. Hot, but not too hot, sunny and the occasional rainy day. The diving has been nothing less than superb. My number one spot has to be the "chimneys" by Namena Reef. The visual excitement of seeing such voluminous clouds of brilliantly colored little fishes that move with the unison of a single thought will stay in my memory forever. I don't need photography for me to recall the awesome beauty of the clustered soft corals with their kaleidoscope colors or the thrill of finding two miniscule red and yellow cleaner shrimp in a crevice. My number two favorite diving spot is shared by Nananu i Ra and Jack's Viani Bay - Rainbow Reef. Both fantastic beyond description. Basically, you can fall into the water anywhere is Fiji and have a good dive

A tumble of feelings occur when you shower on the swim grid of the boat for all of the world to see. (Don't worry, I'm wearing my swim suit so I don't freak anybody out.) The bay is calm and secluded (almost) and the sun is gently shining, warming the cool fresh water that rinses the salt away. Feelings - giddy, because it feels like a guilty pleasure - vertigo, as I lean my head back over the ocean behind me, eyes closed - tingly toes, my heels are hanging over the edge of the swim platform and my toes are my only solid contact (will I fall backward?) - happiness, for the freedom of it all. Showering off the back has become something I look forward to after a day of saltwater activity. Fiji is the perfect environment.

We will definitely return to this country, sevu sevu and all.

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Nananu i Ra back to Port Denarau

Our next day diving with Papoo off of Nananu i Ra is a change up. We head out into extreme current and claw our way along a rocky outcropping to a spot where sharks are known to feed. Just reef sharks, so we are not afraid of being the main course. There are quite a number of sharks there and lots of other kinds of fishes who are attracted to the extra food that the swift current brings. Luckily - in my mind anyway - we didn't have to watch the sharks chewing their way through the other fish. I guess they were already full before we happened on the scene. Our second dive was a lovely maze of rock tunnels, passages and outcroppings, lavishly covered with plump soft corals in every color and magnificent fan corals. I have not yet found a sea horse here and no frog fish. All of the local divers tell me they are here in Fiji, but maybe it is just their habit of saying "yes" to everything

Papoo and his shop sponsors, Jane and Charles, held an impromptu party/feast in the evening. Glen, I and Abbie picked up the couple we dove with the first day from their resort in our whaler and made our way to Papoo's shop. Another boater, Philip, and his friend were there too. We brought the beer, Jane and Charles brought the food and Papoo brought the kava. It was a fun night of good food and good conversation. This is our final exploration destination in Fiji as tomorrow we will make our way back across the north side of Viti Levu Island to Port Denarau and that was our starting point two months ago.

It takes us the better part of 8 hours to make the trip from Nananu i Ra to Denarau. The day on the water is one of the finest we have ever had. It is dead calm, the water is so flat that the boat barely causes a wake as we make our way. The reefs are completely visible, such that we could make our way through all of the narrow channels without our charts (a real rarity). Obviously we are on the upper deck soaking all of this finery up. If you appreciate and enjoy the wonderful days, I think they last longer and become more memorable. Glen, not one to spend over long romancing on the splendid surroundings broke the calm by catching a little skip jack ( a type of tuna). A short time later we were all savoring fresh sashimi for lunch and we'll have seared tuna on the BBQ tonight. Yum!

Back at the dock in Port Denarau it is the usual wash the boat and get everything stocked back up and any little repairs taken care of for our next foray into the ocean when we return after our month at home. So it is a couple of busy days before we fly. One of the tasks we need to have done is increasing the percentage of glycol in our air conditioning system so that the compressors don't freeze up should we ever decide to turn on the AC. Two Indian/Fijians from a local refrigeration company come to the boat to do the work along with Glen. So they have to pump the glycol into an already pressurized system. Glen's little on board pump turns out to not be strong enough so the fellows go and get one of their own. They get it all hooked up dockside where the container of glycol is and Glen is monitoring the input down in the lazarette. On goes the pump, BOOM! There is sticky glycol everywhere, all over the back cockpit,floor, walls and dripping from the cockpit ceiling, the hatch to the upper deck was open and the glycol erupted through it to spray the whaler and half of the upper deck. Glen sprang out of the lazarette hatch with a loud "WHAT THE ____!", thus shocking several passersby and causing all of the adjoining boat crews to pause in their work and catch the excitement. Standing on the dock, the two technicians are drowned and dripping with glycol, their stunned expressions convey complete confusion and befuddlement. The one guy is slowly shaking his head as he stares at the blown seals in his pump. Glen is ranting about the mess and this poor fellow still can't believe what has happened to his pump. Remember that these guys are supposed to be the experts!!! Well that particular job did not get done and luckily glycol is easy to clean up. We had quite a giggle afterward, mostly about the tech's stupified reactions.

Our time at home was Aug 18 to Sept 18. Fantastic weather at home too.

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Musket Cove, Yasawa children and Kava