Rain, Rain Go Away!

Just another "bad hair" day! This is the last place we four
WARC 2014 gals will all be together for at least a year.
Sherry with three UK gals: Pat, Susie and Joyce

One of the highlights of the visit to Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu is the interaction with the villagers. The World ARC has been coming here for many years and has formed a bond with this community. The World Cruising Club and those of us who sail with them participate in the festivities which include a Welcoming Ceremony and Gift Exchange, a Village Tour and a Feast put on by the villagers at the Port Resolution Yacht Club. In addition, the sailors participate in work projects in the community.

Stuart and John have been good traveling companions for us.
We have gleaned much knowledge from their experiences.

We enjoyed the dancing of the Welcoming Ceremony as it was different from other places we have been. Here both the men and the women and some of the older children all participate in the dances. In this village, the dancers were more fully clothed than in some other places. The dancing is done in a specific area of the village.


 

Following the prayer, the dancing and words of welcome, we all proceeded to the lawn of the yacht club to continue the celebration. The women had woven hats and necklaces for us and placed them on us as we entered the festival area.


Once we had all gathered, the children sang for us. I must say, the faces of these beautiful children will always be imbedded in my memory as will the sounds of their voices. They are so sweet! It was a steady drizzle of rain and the wind was cool, but they just kept singing with all of their hearts. It was a special moment.

 

The rain continued to pour all day, but the festival went on as if it were a sunny day! It was probably more uncomfortable for us with all of our wet gear! It was chilly so I imagine the villagers were also cold as they were not as covered.

Following the singing by the children, the gifts from the villagers were brought out and piled on the lawn. Then the gifts from the WARC boats were brought out as well. It was quite an impressive pile of things!

The village women made these neck pieces and hats for all.

The leaders of each group spoke a few words and then the village gifts were passed to the sailors. I was simply overwhelmed by the generosity of these people who have so little!

We received two handmade baskets filled with fruits and vegetables – most of which I had no idea how to cook! I felt like we should be giving this food to them. Maybe the WARC paid to have it brought in, but even so, these people need it more than we do.

The school children sang a number of songs - in the rain!

The gifts from the WARC were very specific requests for cooking pots, machetes, dishes, food, etc. The list had been distributed to the WARC boats earlier and was generously fulfilled. In addition, items for the yacht club, including mattresses, were brought by the yachts from Fiji.


The village divided the gifts up by tribes, with the chiefs then subdividing it so everyone gets something. This World ARC tradition has been going on for a number of years and it is quite a moving experience. I am glad we sailed here to participate in it as it will be a lasting memory.

 

The presentation of village gifts for us.

Our gifts for them.

My special carry out guy!

I love the basket and fan. I almost had to take out Pat to get it!

Oh, dear! What have we here - and what do I do with them!!!

 

Vanuatu: Recovering from Cyclone Pam

A rainy day doesn't stop the locals from fishing.

The passage from Musket Cove, Fiji to Port Resolution was soggy! We were caught in a trough between two tropical storms mustering cyclone strength. One was to the northwest and the other to the southeast. The result was a lot of clouds and constant rain in the middle where they met! That was where we were sailing for three days. While it was never dangerous, it was somewhat miserable. Then add to that my seasickness! I am sure you are tired of hearing about that – just as I am tired of experiencing it!

This guy welcomes yachts, but keeps the goods for himself!

Once we wiggled our way into the bay at Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu and got anchored, the rain continued for four more days! Everything on the boat is damp or wet – including us. Since it is officially winter here, the winds were a little cool - fleece weather. Together the wind and rain made us uncomfortable. But then I looked at the villagers in their minimal clothing and the houses that don’t really keep out the rain … Who am I to complain!

Typical island transportation with fishing net.

We are very glad that we joined the WARC for the trip to Tanna. It felt like being with family again, but more importantly, the World Cruising Club and all of the World ARC Rallies before us have a vested interest in this village of Port Resolution. It is one of the projects supported by WARC participants. Of course, this year was especially important following the cyclone.

The children are always the welcoming committee on the
beach and they love to have photos taken.

Tanna was devastated by Cyclone Pam. We were pleasantly surprised to see how green it was after seeing photos from March where every leave was stripped from the trees. The leaves are growing back, but it will be another year before the trees produce fruits: breadfruit, papaya, coconuts, mangos, etc. In the meantime, people are living on very little. Rice is a staple, but not readily available now that the aid has ended. Gardens are producing some crops, but the main root vegetables will not be ready for harvest until November.

On our way to see the tribal villages in Port Resolution area.

As in all areas, there are those who “have” and those who “have not.” Here it a political thing, as well. With a scarcity of food, those who have access to the land will not allow others for garden on it. Those who do not have land access are starving. The wild taro crop will not be ready for months and there is little other than fish to harvest.

We knew things would be minimal, but I didn’t realize how severe it would be. The people are proud and they do not ask for things, but willing accept what is offered. In their tradition, if you give them something, they must give you something. They seemed somewhat embarrassed to accept a gift from us and we declined a gift from them. We have enough, but their giving spirit shows on their faces.

Another Hallberg-Rassy owner, Katie and Jim, who are currently in Turkey and Greece, sent us money to buy things for specific people in Port Resolution. We had a wonderful day of walking through the villages with a young lady named Maria to find the individuals and deliver notes from Katie and Jim, in addition to the items we bought for them.

Tanna village

When we moved
out of our house, I packaged up fabrics (from my many unfinished projects), thread, elastic, needles, sewing machine needles and other items to give to them. We had purchased canned meats in ring-pull cans (can openers are not a tool in their kitchens), powdered milk and rice to share. I wish we had bought more. We were going to go shopping before we left Fiji, but our quick change of plans nixed that! We had collected various tools and clothing items in New Zealand and distributed some of those here. In general, Tanna is more “developed” than Avokh Island where we intended to provide the most support, but Tanna was hit hard by Cyclone Pam, so it seemed right to share here, too. Of course, we don’t know what we will find in Avokh Island up north.

 

Taking Care of Business in Fiji

What a happy weekend with family for a great event!

Unfortunately, we missed seeing the Lau Group of islands, which are very primitive, due to our trip to the USA for Nick’s PhD graduation. The family time was well worth it, though! So our main business in Fiji this time was to have the boat hauled out and the antifouling paint applied to the hull. We need fresh paint to clear in to Australia where they are super-strict about the biosecurity. I find this amusing in a way because Oz (as Australia is called out here) has more dangerous creatures than any place on the globe!

 

The other item of business was dealing with a black pearl pendant with a local businessman in Nadi. Ali, our driver, takes people to merchants where he gets a little commission. That is fine. What wasn’t fine was the representation that the piece of jewelry was white gold! The pendant is, but the chain wasn’t even silver! It turned black on my neck.

 

While he did replace the chain with what he said was a silver one, I have great doubts since he took it off a rack that is sitting out in the open. First of all, if it is a sterling silver chain, it would tarnish in the open air and secondly, I don’t think it would be out of the case. When I challenged him on whether or not it was sterling silver, he said it was silver. I asked if it was silver plated. He said it is silver! We will see when I start wearing it. I think I will be buying my own white gold chain. He had a lovely one, but I was not about to give this guy more money!
 

When we have a driver; we run numerous errands: Vodafone top up, provisioning, pharmacy, fresh market, etc. so we get it all done in one trip. It costs less than renting a car for the day and Ali knows where to go and how to deal with the traffic. And it is much less stressful for us!

 

We sailed over to Musket Cove to participate in the World ARC events before the 2015 WARC left for Vanuatu. It was fun seeing our friends who are leaving us and heading to Australia with the WARC, plus meeting current WARC sailors. Our intent was to hang out at Musket Cove for a few days and then explore other islands.

  

The Musket Cove Resort entertainment.

In an overnight decision, we decided to go to Vanuatu with the WARC! Feeling a little torn about not hanging on the hook in Fiji for a couple of weeks and participating in the WARC events in Tanna, we went for Tanna. So we quickly readied the boat for the three day passage to Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu. We were not fully provisioned as I had planned to return to Lautoka at the end of July to stock up for the Vanuatu month! Hopefully there will be good provisioning when we get to Port Vila in a couple of weeks.

So off we go again …  No sad “goodbyes” in Vuda Marina as we did not go back there. Fortunately, we were able to fuel up in Musket Cove. I do wish I could have said goodbye to all of the ladies at Vuda Marina and Millie’s group, but I think it would have been emotional knowing that we won’t see them again. Vuda Marina was a home away from home. Vinaka!

This will now give us more time to work with the people on Avokh Island in the South Maskelynes of Vanuatu. We have a boat full of things for them and plan to install solar lighting in their community building. It looks like we will be in Vanuatu for over two months - if they let us!
 

 

 

Ahhhh! Happy to Be in Fiji Again

AAHHH! Nice to be back at Vuda Marina!

The sail from Ha'apai, Tonga was amazingly fast. And the sails were reefed the whole trip! The wind was in the high teens and twenties with gusts to thirty. The swells ranged from 4-8 feet. The conditions overall were good - sunny, warm, etc. Just fast and bumpy. For me, it was the old mal de mare issue. I wish I could get a handle on it, but it always wins. Delta, Alpha, Mike, November!

I am not sure when we actually arrived in Fiji - Saturday or Sunday. I assumed it was Sunday as we crossed from 174W to 178E, passing over the international dateline at 180 degrees. However, I now know it was Saturday. The actual change in date has a very crooked line and doesn't really happen at 180 degrees.

 

This was the most interesting sunset ever!

Concerned that we might have Customs and Immigration issues for arriving too early and not checking in until Monday, we spent two nights on the quarantine ball. Our anchor and feet never touched their ground until cleared by BioSecurity and Health officers on Monday. Fortunately, we did not have any issues clearing in. Whew!

The welcome at Vuda Marina is always joyous. The staff comes to the Customs pontoon to sing their Fijian welcoming song. I love the staff here and it was heartwarming to see them all on the pontoon. It felt like we were coming home!

Trillium looking good with a fresh bottom!

Things have changed some. Millie's store in the marina has been closed by the management. This is very disappointing as there is no store at all now! The store was run by the local women who supply produce from their village cooperative. Therefore, there is no ice cream, ice, eggs, meat or cold drinks or beer available.

 

Being enterprising women, Millie and her staff have set up a little roadside stand just outside the marina gates! Three cheers for them! I will support them every day we are here! She cooks rotis in the morning and caters several lunch entrees at noon! Marina staff and yachties show up for lunch! Millie, you go, Girl! 

 

And I get to have my favorite latte again. There is water
in the saucer under the sugar to keep the ants out. Clever idea.

It is said that you can't go back again. There is some truth in that the second time around is not as magical. Things change. People come and go. So it is never the same! This time I am missing our World ARC friends that were here with us last year. We had such fun with Merc and Bob with the Merc's special birthday night at First Landing. Unfortunately, the gate to the resort is still locked so we won't be going there as often. To bad because their food is very good and the music is great. I guess we know it is time to move to new areas while we still cherish the memories of the past.

Time to Go West, Sailors!

Here we are leaving Tonga for Fiji.

As the Pacific Cruising Rally moves to Vava'u, we will sail alone to Fiji some 550 nm. We are flying back to Portland, OR for our youngest son's PhD Cloaking ceremony. Dennis will return to Fiji to have the hull  bottom painted while I fly to Michigan to see our granddaughter for a week. Then I will return to the boat. There will be five more weeks in Fiji so we will sail around Fiji and visit places we missed and those we loved. From there, we will go with the Pacific Cruising Rally to Vanuatu and deliver our goods.

A couple of evenings of Sundowners on fleet boats

The passage to Fiji put me on the Passage Diet again. The Pahia Bomb didn't work! With just the two of us, my seasickness makes it challenging. It seems to be happening more frequently, too. I try to fight it, but fail most of the time. I counted that I have at least ten more passages before I am back on land. I need to get a handle on mal de mare.

We are all on Trillium for our last night

The passage to Fiji was under grey skies all the way, with mainly little showers. The seas where confused in the area where the sub tropical current was against the swells. The good part is that where there are clouds, there is wind. As a result we haven't used the engine at all. The engine would only give us another knot and we don't want to get there before the weekend as we can't clear in until Monday without paying off-hour rates. And why do that! Although miserable for me, the sail was fast as we got to Fiji in less than four full days. That is flying!

Here is the reason we have Sundowners so often. It is
just too beautiful not to enjoy with friends!

We spent a lovely weekend on the quarantine mooring outside of Vuda Marina. I wasn't sure if it was Saturday or Sunday when we arrived since we crossed the 180 degree mark on our way across from Tonga. The actual International Dateline jogs through the islands so as not to have two different days in one country. Unfortunately, without the Internet, I had no way to check it out. Hopefully the officials won't give us grief if we were on the mooring too long before clearing in with them.

It is always nice to come "home" to Vuda Marina in Fiji.

We are heading to the USA for Nick's PhD cloaking and graduation. His whole family will be in Portland, OR to celebrate his achievement! I am going on to Detroit for a little granddaughter love. We have been missing each other! Dennis will return to the boat to oversee the antifouling bottom painting and other projects.

 

 

We are still undecided as to where we return to NZ in November or sail to Brisbane AU. There are pro and cons to both. The suspense is killing me - as is the mal de mare! So that is the latest from S/V Trillium.