May 27-28
Hi All,
The challenges continued….we left Havannah Harbor around 8:30 am expecting conditions to not be ideal…forecast was for 15-20kts with 6′ seas all beamy…not trawler window but doable, after all this was only a 4-5 hour 35nm cruise so we could put up with it….well, what we got was 25-30G35 kts and 6-9′ seas….yuck city…..at one point we rolled +/-40 deg and the Admiral said enough…fall off….so we started tacking 40 deg…..which meant some times we are going into to the seas and other times it is behind us and relief!!!! This lasted for 3 hours and then started to calm to 18-22G25 but the seas calmed to 4-7’….much better…..a sailboat about 5 miles ahead of us reported gusts up to 40 kts…arghhhhh!!!
We have been listening to Dave on GHR (SSB net) who does the weather and he has been discussing how the underwater mountains in Vanuatu play havoc with the currents and the volcano mountains can actually turn the SE tradewindson the west side of an island to north winds….holy weather batman!!!! We actually experienced some of this island wind funneling effect in the Eastern Caribbean….we did not like it there and I don’t think we are going to like it here either 🙁 (((( What he said today was we probably had some of that but also got into a micro pocket of the nasty stuff….oh, do we feel special!!!!
But we did make the delivery for Butterfly Trust to the island school (260 total students, grades 1-9, 27 students are boarders from other islands) so a successful trip!! Emae was right in the path of TC Pam and the eye went right over the island. You can see the visible damage to all the tress, especially the palm tress…still almost denuded. We talked to several people and it is just amazing how cheerful and optimistic they are….they all waved and had huge smiles. Everyone does speak to the horror of the actual cyclone…the nosies, the rain, the salt spray, the power of the wind….. and the hardships they have faced rebuilding….but you can also since the pride they have for surviving and 2 months later doing much better than expected.
Here is the update email I wrote Dave & Lynn who head up the Butterfly Trust:
We made contact with Richard (the school principal). His # is 777 6267 not 777 6769. I think whoever the person was on the wrong # finally got to Richard who called us. We dropped off the 12, 20-lb packages of food and dry goods this morning. He was very grateful and said many times thank you to you, Butterfly Trust and the people in New Zealand. He remembers you when you were here about a month ago.
He indeed said that the school was not given much aid supplies. The island has had 2 aid shipments and are awaiting their 3rd. He said the government indicated there would be 4 such shipments. Joseph (the Chief) is in Vila trying to arrange the 3rd shipment. He said they still have some supplies and the crops are starting to come back….it seemed mainly root crops and cabbage and tomatoes are coming soon. We heard another boat dropped off some food seeds yesterday and he indicated he thought they had enough seed. The coconut trees look devastated….he thought most would die and they would have to replant. But, they thought bananas in a year and mangoes this season!!
We did not really have any school supplies on Mystic…..we gave out a lot last year in Fiji and we just never restocked….our bad!! We donated VT$5000 (US$50) to the school for supplies. He said what he needed the most was exercise notebooks and pencils. We will try and pick up some supplies in Santo to be ready for other schools.
I think the school is probably in the same shape as when you saw it a month ago….maybe 4-5 buildings need roofing and another 2-3 need to be rebuilt….but all the classrooms looked in good shape. They mainly need roofing and building supplies which he said the government would supply eventually. Richard was just in Vila and brought back 2 large tents to act as their storage shed until a new one can be built.
The Sea Mercy boats (Persephone, Daramy and Buffalo Nickel) were here for 4 days. They said they did some repair projects but didn’t drop off much in supplies. They were on their way to Tongoa, Tongariki, Buninga and Epi. S/V Lyre had reported on the Net that these islands need a lot of help!
We heard on the Net this am that the Maskelyne’s are in need of help…..basically everything….food, home and building supplies, clothes, etc. We are going to Epi tomorrow (Friday) and then onto Maskelyne probably on Monday. We will call…..from you email…. “Obed Kamsel of Pellongk Village, the chairman of the committee. His phone number is 710 8414” ……on Sunday to let him know we are coming. We will probably drop off the supplies we bought in Vila with Obed, given the need described on the Net today. We bought some nails, hammers, saws, machetes, rope and tarps.
We took some pictures which we will send when we get decent Internet…..the Digicel tower here was destroyed and the TVL is 2G….fast enough to do emails but we have yet to get a webpage!!
So, that was our day…..we thought about doing a snorkel when we got back to the boat, but it was dark and misting and still breezy and a little cold….so a winter nap sounded better….au contraire….Kathy says the fresh water pump won’t shutoff…..ugh…..well, 3 hours later we have found no leak….but pump #1 will not prime….and pump #2, yes we are redundant for this exact situation….. after taking the inlet apart a few times starts to behave, there is a check valve that often gets fouled…..arghhhhhh!!! We sort of knew these pumps were on their last legs and we brought a spare with us…but really, both pumps act up at the same time…go figure. Anyway, with pump #2 working we gave it a rest and will change out pump #1 on another rainy day!!
Oh…it gets better…..in our search for the mysterious water leak, we find water in the laz….as in my tool pouch….WTH…..long story but both of the laz hatch drains are plugged and when we took some water yesterday from those gnarly seas, it backed up and flooded the tool pouch which is right under the leak…..ugh, ugh, ugh…..well, after the water pump drama, we rested and then cleaned the tools and I tried to unplug the little drains….how did that work….not so good after a lot of spray in the face, even the snake did nothing…..but, got one sort of working and will have to take these drain hoses off for a good cleaning…..another rainy day job…..in the mean time we put a bucket in the laz to catch the water 🙂 ))))
Yep, livin the dream 🙂 ))
Next up is Epi and we hope a protected and calm anchorage. We have now been at anchor 5 nights and have had to use the flopper every night….rock n roll baby!!!
Hope all is well,
John
Mystic Moon