Off to See the Volcano

Well, we’re off to the southern part of Vanuatu. The winds are backing to the east and then NE this weekend, so we thought we’d take advantage of it and work our way south, so we should be in Tanna tomorrow morning, land of the spewing red-hot volcano, Mt Yasur. J From there we’ll have a better angle on the trade winds to head for New Caledonia, probably towards the end of next week when the SE’erlies set back in.

Julie has settled into the rhythms and life aboard EQ nicely J. She has a calm and relaxed demeanour which I think comes from spending time at sea. I’m quite happy to have her aboard and she is happy to be here, so life is good and the crew of EQ content.

We spent some time in the northern islands of Vanuatu, though didn’t get to see everything we wanted too. There are very few anchorages in these islands that I’d call safe and relaxed places to hang out and leave the boat feeling she’ll be right while we venture ashore. I’d like to have gotten ashore on Ambrym, but there was no good place to set the hook. We did spend some time ashore in the Maskelyne’s. There are a number of projects going on there that I was intrigued to see. Folks we know have helped the villagers there set up a soap factory using coconut oil which has been a success. There’s also a wood working shop and a rural training centre to help train people to find jobs. And some aid workers from Australia have helped them develop and ‘eco-tourism’ business. The islands are really beautiful. I also like that the villagers live as they have for many centuries, the old traditional way. It’s quite funny to see many have cell phones too. So, it’s quite the contrast between the old and new in one place. I’d like to go back there in a few years when we get back in this part of the world to see how our new friends have got on.

Steward our Tour Guide, a lovely guy that took the time to show us around the island.

The Ladies hard at work. The villagers make most everything they have from what is available on the island.

 

Village Life, very simple and easy as.

 

Hopefully they will have dealt with the malaria problem though. We were taking anti-malaria drugs (mefloquine) , but it has not so nice side effects (confusion, anxiety, lethargy, dizziness, headaches, irritability, vision problems, etc) so we switched to doxycycline. We feel much better now and coming back to our regular cheery selves. J

Anyway, we are off in the next hour or so (Saturday morning) for an over-nighter down to Tanna and then off to New Cal for a couple of weeks before we head to Australia the end of the month. We’ll be on Sailmail until we get to Noumea in New Cal.

That’s the news from EQ, where the winds are fair, the seas following and the crew content.

J

Springtime in NZ

So, the daffodils have come and gone, the Iris are up, and everything is budding forth, or so we hear. But it has got Sally thinking about lawn mowers (gawd forbid) and chainsaws (please) and getting the garden in (ok, but we have heaps of yummy produce right here) and a million other projects that need tending to. So, she is off, on her way home, to the ‘other’ world she loves so much.

We’ve been just hanging about in Vila and around the island of Efate without much exciting diving and tramps, though did enjoy our stay up Havannah Harbour on the NW side of Efate. Huge turtles in the bay we anchored in and nice paddling around the area. We did manage to get the bikes ashore and do a little ride up and over the big hill to the north shore and a small village. An old guy with two front teeth showed us a cave (for 1000 vatu, ~$10) with an underground lake. Apparently we could rent there kayak and paddle many kilometres underground, but we didn’t have a torch (flashlight) for the journey, so decided to give it a miss.

After Julie arrived, we were planning to head north to the other islands and then Sally would depart at some point, but the logistics were getting complicated (customs office, immigrations, crew lists, etc) and she discovered a cheap flight back to NZ today, so booked it. It was sad to see her go and on such short notice. But we had three good months cruising about Fiji and a little bit of Vanuatu. It has been a long time dream of hers to do some offshore passages, so am happy for her that she could see that dream come true. We did have some pretty good trips. She wanted to find a boat heading back to NZ, but it wasn’t to be.

Anyway, I wish you well back in NZ Sally-Jane and on to your next adventures. You’re a dear friend and will always be welcome aboard EQ. You’ve been a good ship mate. Wish you could have stayed a bit longer to see more of Vanuatu and get to know Julie.

So, Equanimity has a crew change. I’m quite happy that Julie has worked it out to join in on the adventure of sailing the seven seas (and put up with me J). She loves this lifestyle and I look forward to our budding friendship and the adventures yet to be. She arrives tomorrow and once settled in, we’ll head north to the outer islands and then eventually head for Oz by about the 1^st of November. Not sure yet if we’ll head for Brisbane or Sydney or ???, but we’ll work that out along the way.

So, I better get to doing a boat clean, laundry, etc. before tomorrow, eh. J

That’s the news from EQ, where the winds are fair, the seas following and the crew content.

J

Bye-bye Sally!!!!! Love you dearly and our time together...