Captain’s Log: Ambae, Maewo and Pentecost

July 4-11

Hi All,

I last updated the blog we were still on Aore and thinking about leaving. We indeed found a good window and left Aore last Saturday…..a little over a week ago. Well….I say a good window….sort of…..the best window was Friday afternoon to early morning on Sat but we were hoping conditions would be still ok….well, missed it by 3 hours….so for 3 hours or so we had 20-25 kt winds on the beam and 4-5′ short period beamy seas….we did ok….sped up a little so the stabilizers were more effective and of course, Mystic got all salty again…but not too worry, we are on the rainy side of Vanuatu and we have had a lot of rain the past week or so….like the PNW but 40 deg warmer:)))

We did not start the passage all that well…..first, our bridle was all wrapped up in the mooring line and took us forever to untangle….we then got about 100 yards off and the main engine dies….I try starting it and it turns over but nothing….WTH???? I jump down to the ER and do not see anything obvious….oh crapola….so we start Mr Reliable…..the Yanmar, and go back on the mooring…..thank goodness for the Yanmar and thrusters. I finish my coffee while pondering what to do….visions of sitting on the mooring and calling in techs/parts. So, I decide on a checklist of what to check….first is fuel but I thought all that was ok as the GEN was running….maybe the fuel pump, which we do have a spare…..but, what do I find…..the return line was off….I had switched fuel tanks the day before….I turned on the valve and started the Cummins…..didn’t even have to bleed it….so, the question still remains…..how did the GEN continue to run with no fuel return line????

Well, in spite of being totally chagrined for this stupid operator error, those kind are the easiest to fix:))))) So, off we went on our 50 nm passage to Lolowai on Ambae. The first 3 hours were rough….no fishing….but then we got into the lee of Ambae for the next 4 hours…..sweet as….fished but no catching:((((

We anchored one bay over from Lolowai….Vanihe Bay….a beautiful horseshoe shaped anchorage surrounded by cliffs and trees full of fruit bats!!! Bella Vita was here with us so nice to have some company for a while!!!

The next day we dinghied over to Lolowai and met a Dr Bage who runs the hospital. The hospital has 30 beds and services Ambae, Pentecost and Maewo islands. We delivered the 2nd autoclave for Butterfly Trust. Here is the email I sent Dave and Lynn:

We finally made it to Lolowai to deliver the 2nd autoclave yesterday. We found Dr Bage and he was very grateful and appreciative. He gave us a tour of the hospital. The New Zealand Rotary group is doing a lot of construction/updating to many of the buildings. There is also a large array of solar panels…..several hundred, that is to provide power to a desalanization plant and for the hospital. The Dr indicated it has been completed for a while but the government for whatever reason has not given permission to turn it on. He was not sure if he would have power for the autoclave. He did indicate they have small generators however.

He said he is treating mainly sore muscles and injuries. We asked about malaria, dengue fever et al and he said it has been a long time since a case of malaria. He stated he thinks by 2017 malaria maybe eliminated in Vanuatu. He gave credit to education and to the distribution of mosquito nets.

The village and hospital seemed well supplied and he indicated there was very little damage from Cyclone Pam!!

We then had a deligtful tour of the village by this 12 year old boy named Jackie. He spoke 4 languages and loved to speak English…..a very confident boy!!!!

Brett and Stacey came over afterwards for a July 4th beer….well, you know how that goes….start at 1:00 and then it’s dark….but at least we were on Mystic and they did manage the dinghy back to BV safely….another July 4th done proud!!!! We didn’t have any fireworks, but did have a wonderful whale and dolphin show that we enjoyed during the afternoon hours, just off our stern!

Oh, while in Vanihe Bay…..we had decent internet and did a facetime audio call to Josh, Courtney and Sadie….it worked really well….not as good as a video call where we can see everyone but it was still good to hear voices and catchup with family!!

The next day the anchorage got a bit rolly so we left for Asanvari on Maewo….about 10 miles away. Another gorgeous and somewhat protected bay!! We met Alex who owns the land around the waterfall. We spent an afternoon watching the waterfall and looking over the bay towards Ambae….a very picturesque tropical island view with all our boats in the bay. Alex was a very interesting man. He has 3 sons and 1 daughter….all 4 are college educated…2 are national athletes and have traveled the world for various Games. Alex himself is the President of the Maewo Tourism Bureau and travels all of Maewo and surrounding islands helping people to develop various tourist interests. (tourism is the #1 income source for Vanuatu). Most of the people on Maewo are only educated through grade 6 and have such a comfortable and happy, although very subsistent, life and that they are hesitant to change. This island is known for their fresh water prawns which we had for lunch….delicious….maybe more like the big crawdads we had in Louisiana but this was done in a coconut sauce with rice and vegetables and was close to a CO!!!!

We did some snorkeling but unfortunately there was considerable damage to the reef…we think storm damage but not sure:((((

Next we came to Loltong on Pentecost. Unfortunately the weather was not so good….rain, wind, rain, wind and more rain and wind….Mystic was salt free for sure. Brett and I went into the village….very wet and muddy…..a pretty big village with a catholic mission…..the villagers were very friendly and many were bringing their bundles of kava as a trading boat was coming soon…..they get $1-2/pound which is not very much for all the work involved. However, we met a young man who had built several houses/buildings from his savings from kava over many years. We met Matthew and Mary who run the yacht club for visiting cruisers. We arranged to come in later for a local women dance and dinner. Wow….the dinner was outstanding…..there are about 10 courses of various native dishes….several lap-lap dishes…..taro or banana or pumpkin leaves used to wrap around cassava and then boiled with coconut milk…..delicious…..lots of different yams…..a salad of sauteed fresh vegetables…..and an omelet with various vegetables that was outstanding……we all were so full we could hardly finish the sweet pamplemousse for desert…..cost of dinner…..$12pp…whoa!!!

We have had some nice wildlife encounters lately….Humpbacks (at a distance), pilot whales, lots of spinner dophin, and even a dwarf Minke whale yesterday, so LIG. Not many fish, though….Just that one large tuna that we caught with D&D, but we do still have tuna steaks frozen, so all is not lost!;)

We moved south to Londot on Pentecost yesterday…..this is the home of the land diving but it is over for this season….another gorgeous setting and you can see the Abrym volcano about 15 miles away. We hope to do some snorkeling and maybe a scuba dive as there is supposed to be a nice reef and a WW II wreck….we shall see. Next week there is a ROM festival on Abrym….supposedly one of the better dance festivals in Vanuatu….after that we will be thinking of working our way to Port Vila and finding a window to go to New Caledonia.

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon