All sails are set, our course is west, as Peter Pan says “second star to the right and straight on ’til morning”, leaving Vanuatu in our wake. It would be impossible for me to capture all that we experienced and soaked up from our amazing stay island hopping through Vanuatu.
During World War II the main island, Espiritu Santo, was a massive army base that housed millions of American troops who were deployed to the island in order to prevent the Japanese from invading. During this time the country was owned by both the English and the French. When the Americans were called out of Vanuatu at the end of the war there were tons of military machinery, vehicles, planes, boats and ships left behind. Rather than handing the machinery over to the local people (the English and French strongly disagreed upon this idea) the Americans simply pushed millions of dollars worth of military property into the ocean. Or so the story is told. It may be apocryphal. The beach where this war material was strewn was named Million Dollar Point after the war. If it was today maybe it would be Billion Dollar Point. You can go there to snorkel or scuba dive and explore some amazing pieces of history.
We first arrived at the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu on October 10 at midday, anchored off the shore of the town of Luganville, and once we cleared in the crew had a few hours to stretch their legs ashore, stock up on snacks, goods, and local currency. The following morning we heaved up the anchor and motored to the island of Malekula, to the village of Banam Bay.
Our time here was amazing. From the moment our crew hopped out of the skiff and onto the beach we felt welcomed. We were fortunate enough to have groups of playful, energetic children take us by the hand and lead us to the village.
As we get deeper and deeper into our grand adventure of circumnavigating the globe, we have learned and come to understand the protocols and customs of entering into small communities for a brief period of time. Every island is exceptionally different from the previous, yet there are many similarities.
Here at Banam Bay, our crew were able to lend a hand within the community; fixing broken cooking pots and welding grills, donating school books and supplies, as well as setting up a medical clinic. Our ship’s doctor, Tomas, of Argentina, and Ted, of North Carolina, a trained nurse, and Stephanie, of British Columbia: together these three fantastic individuals held a two-day clinic in which they reviewed a hundred patients.
After three amazing days of playing on the beach with the children, being entertained with “Kastum” (traditional) dances, eating delicious food and simply having fun we had to say farewell to our Banam Bay family.
Onwards to the island of Maewo, to the village of Asanvari. We arrived early in the morning, dropping our anchor in a gorgeous bay, much like you would see in a Hollywood movie. Rolling lush hills, a white sandy beach with giant trees shading it and a picture-perfect waterfall. Once the ship was secured a swim call was our first order of business!
Once the crew got ashore most headed straight to the waterfall for a refreshing dip and discovered that a large tree had fallen, covering up the swimming hole. The following day 12 or so crew members headed to the site with axes, machetes, hatchets and rope in order to remove the tree, after first asking permission from the village and chief to do so. It took a day and a half of hard, yet fun and rewarding work and the Picton Castle crew had successfully cleaned up the waterfall site, restoring it to its old self.
After three amazing days in Asanvari, we heaved up the anchor and set sails as the sun was rising on the horizon. Back in Luganville, we were able to provision the ship and take on 13 tons of fuel for our 25 – 30 day passage to Bali! And the crew was able to enjoy the conveniences of modern luxury, sightsee and catch up on their correspondence. Visits to blue hole freshwater lakes and WWII heritage tours finding downed bombers in the jungle. The Chinese stores and hardware stores are unbelievable. Lots of ship’s work was able to be completed, during this time we oiled the main deck and cleaned and spot painted the topsides.
Now that we are underway for a long passage, the crew is settling back into their ship life and routine. No more shore distractions. It’s refreshing to be back at sea, focusing on the ship as well as your personal projects, it’s always good to have an ongoing personal task to keep yourself busy. Today has been a busy day, six-year-old ship’s boy Dawson spent the morning building a Lego castle, our rigger Abbey, of North Carolina, took the twist out of the port main brace line, the scullery porthole is receiving a coat of primer and the talk of the town is a new faucet in the inside head! Very exciting.
From: Vanuatu
Towards: Bali
Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
Noon Position: 15°45.6′ S x 165°12.0′ E
Course + Speed: W + 5 kts
Wind direction + Force: SE + 4
Swell Height + Direction: 2 1/2m + SE
Weather: Overcast
Day’s Run: 116 nm
Passage Log: 118.8 nm
Distance to Port: 3100 nm
Voyage: 8602.3 nm
Sails Set: All sails set