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July 27, 1999
News from Margarita Port Resolution, Tanna Island,
Vanuatu
We sit at anchor in the shadow of Mt. Yasur, an
active volcano. You can go closer to this volcano than any other active
volcano in the world. Not sure why. Is it that access is easier/safer or
that regulations are less. We'll know in a few days after we go to visit
it. It is very active now, 3 out of a scale to 4 so you cannot go to the
rim. We looked at map of it in the tourist office and it showed two
little stick figure people on the rim, the key said that the little people
represented fatalities. Falling boulders.
It is raining. Has been for two days. We had a
typically boisterous trip here from Port Vila (on Efate Is.) It is about
150 miles as the crow flies. As Margarita pounds it was over 250 miles.
Wind on the nose, big seas. Nasty. We arrived too late in the day to get
to Port Resolution so we anchored on the west side of this island. It is
an open anchorage but nicely sheltered from the normal trade winds, which
blow from the SE. As normal, Emma asked what direction would be bad for
the winds to come from. "The west. That would put us onto a lee shore, a
la Easter Island." Mentioning Easter Island (Easter Bloody Island as we
affectionately refer to it) is enough to put chills down the spine of any
of the crew of Margarita. "But don't worry, it absolutely never blows
from the west." We slept very well after that rough passage. Woke up to
more rain and the same SE wind. Sar and I talked about leaving and
decided not to. Wait for nice weather. We had already missed our
scheduled volcano tour so what's the rush. We decided to have a nice
productive morning, school and work, and then play some board game for the
afternoon. Nice family ring to it. It was cold and rainy outside and
nice and warm inside. Perfect. At about 11 I had a look around. Hmm.
The shore was behind us now, meaning the wind was blowing on to it, lee
shore. Out to sea, upwind, was a nasty black sky. So we decide to get a
move on pronto. I went up to open up the chain locker for Bronwen (the
kids take turns stowing the anchor chain as it falls down into the hold.)
To my serious surprise the chain locker was full of water. Not a good
sign. There is a drain at the bottom so that any water collecting drains
to the bilge from where it is pumped out automatically. That drain was
blocked by a little piece of duct tape. During the sail from Efate, the
bow was buried into the waves on many occasions and each time a bit of
water drains through the anchor chain hole and to the locker. Bummer. So
I cleared the hole and it drained fast. When I got back up topside, it
was howling. In a matter of 5 min or so the wind went from about 15 kts
to about 30. Big difference. More importantly the seas were way up.
That makes it really hard to bring the anchor up, as when the chain gets
tight and then Maggie surges up into the air on a big wave, the chain
pulls very hard and puts lots of stress on everything. So we decided to
wait it out there. I started the engine, put him (Perko, the mighty
Perkins) in forward to take some strain off of the anchor. At this point
the wind was up to 40, and we could not see the shore, about 1/4 mi behind
us through the sideways spray. That scene continued for about an hour.
The anchor held, the wind shifted to the south so that we were swinging
away from the shore. During the worst of it, sustained gusts to 50 kts,
we prepared the anchor line to release it (a la Easter Island) so that we
could escape. We didn't need to. As things started calming down, a cargo
ship came and anchored nearby. He came up from the main harbor further to
the south, so it must have been really stinky down there.
I always say that these sorts of things just don't
happen by accident to people, there is a reason that stuff happens. But
in this particular case, we think we did all of the correct things, it
just came up too fast. After it was over, we made a radio call to Des in
New Zealand. He is a volunteer that runs a radio schedule, "Russel
Radio", for yachts to check in and get the latest weather for the SW
Pacific from NZ and Aus. He had told us the day before to expect up to 25
kts from the NE. I told him we had just managed to survive 45 to 50 from
the west putting us on a nasty lee shore, and that it wasn't a little 15
min squall but a 2 hour blow. He said that sure there was a low to the NW
of New Caledonia, but nothing where we were. We have a friend that would
say " Oh, great. Then we didn't just get slammed. Just a bad dream.
That's good to hear." Anyway, I asked, what about tomorrow? " Looks like
more of the same. . . 15-20 from the NE." That's a good one. They cannot
do weather here any better than at home. My credibility with Emma
continues to wane.
Anyway, that made for a very exciting day. No
board games. We talked about how nice camping is. If it gets nasty
strike the tent and climb into the van. If it gets really nasty, leave
the tent and buy a new one. We're thinking that our next boat might be a
canal barge in Europe.
After the wind dropped, and started to pick up
again, we pulled up the anchor and motored around to the east side of the
island. There is a somewhat protected anchorage at a place called Waisisi.
It is snug from all directions but the NE. Seemed like a good bet,
especially with the latest forecast. We got there just after dark and had
a glass or two of red wine. This morning we woke up and attacked the
disaster in the chain locker. Stuff stowed above it was pretty wet. Sar's
and my bunk is wet. Douglas's electronics lab, books, printer paper,
tools.
The water around the boat was full of dugout
outrigger canoes. Since it is raining, there is no school in Waisisi and
all of the kids join their fathers and uncles and go fishing. They came
for a visit, keeping a distance so that Maggie wouldn't get bonked, to say
hello. We do not speak Bislama very well yet, so communication was
stunted. They were all smiles. We took photos and then gave them some
colored pencils for the school.
We left and came down to Port Resolution in the
steady drizzle. It really feels like home. Except for the palm trees.
And the white sand. And the volcano. And the steam vent. And the canoes.
The volcano rumbles about every 15 min, and lets
out a big mushroom cloud. We have a film of black ash all over the boat.
Tomorrow, if the rain stops, we will go in search of "Willie", our contact
for the volcano tour. We got a deal of $100 for the five of us when
other yachts have been paying $50 each for the ride, and another $20 each
for fees. We are two days late, that may give Willie a bit of
an advantage in the negotiations. ==========
We are in Vanuatu for another 2-3 weeks. We will
head back up north to do the island group up there, including the famous
island of Ambrym and then sail on to Australia. We plan to be there from
Aug through September. Then slowly up through Indonesia and Malaya to
Thailand. Home for Christmas and to see the new millenium in.
=================
OK, good for you if you made it to the end of this
tomb. Big thanks to Steve B. for forwarding this on to you all.
Thank you to those of you that are writing us, it
means a great deal. We all look forward to the mail pickup and it is
great to get letters about the life we put on hold, especially when the
kids get letters from friends. Feel free to email us at this address:
margarit@inmarsat.francetelecom.fr It is not free for us, but as I am
on getting work emails every other day, getting others is very little
added cost. Just don't send attachments or big files without
warning/asking us first.
Neill onboard Margarita in Vanuatu
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