June 2 – June 6
Hi All,
It’s a very cloudy day with a “disturbance” coming….called a polar dip….not exactly sure what that means but we will get supposedly some convection, rain and wind coming our way later today and on Sunday. We are anchored in Port Sandwich on the southeastern side of Malekula island. This is a very protected anchorage…..the calmest yet….no floppers….yeah!!!!
I left off the last blog at Lutes Village in the Maskelyne’s. Wow, what a wonderful time we had at that village. Very warm, friendly and very happy people.
We celebrated Kathy’s birthday the day after having kava. Kathy felt fine but I was pretty tired, lethargic and lazy…..but no rest for the wicked. People were waiting for the bags of clothes around 7:30am….yikes….so we loaded up the dinghy and I took them ashore….no problem as about 20 kids came out to haul off the bags.
From there we met Stewart and crossed the island to Pelonk village about a mile away. We found a canoe and were paddled out to the clam sanctuary. This was started in 1991 by the local village to help preserve all the varieties of clams found on their reef. There were hundred’s of giant clams…..some up to yard long and maybe 2′ wide…. as well as hundreds of smaller ones. Sadly, there was some cyclone damage and about 50% of the clams looked sick. No one knows if they will survive. Evidently, the clams eat the algae that grows on them and during the storm they were covered in sand as well as the waters were very murky and not letting the sun get to the algae. Those that were alive had brilliant colors….bright greens, blues, turquoise.
Later that night we had Kathy’s birthday dinner…..as she will say, it is not a “zero” so no big deal….and she has not joined the “club” yet so she was feeling pretty young. This year we went to Omak butcher outside Whangarei in New Zealand to buy all our meats. We did not care so much for the butcher we used last year but this was a father/son shop and just what you want from a butcher. The steaks were excellent…..well marbled and cut thick, just the way we like them…..yes, we still think corn fed USA beef is the best, but this was right up there. We had bakers and grilled tomatoes and of course, a 2002 Limited Silverado Cab….whoa…..now that was a “10”!!!!!
The next day found us back in the village…..we went on the “lisepsep” cave tour….they just started this tour in the last year and Jerry told us we were the first “Yanks” to visit the cave….the land is owned by Jerry. The lisepsep and her daughter lived near Jerry’s village. Many families in Vanuatu have a lisepsep living nearby, catching only occasional glimpses of these mystical creatures that share the land with them. Most lisepseps are friendly but this one was not. She was greedy and stole many pigs and chickens, making noise and waking the villagers up at night. The people grew weary of her so they came up with a plan to punish her. They tricked her into an area where they tried to beat her, but she ran up the hill and then flew away to Ambryn…about 20 miles away, where she vented her anger by becoming the noisy and still very active Ambryn volcanoes. She left her daughter who still wonders the island but lives in peace with the villagers. They even have a stone carving of the lisepsep…..no one knows how old this legend is but it has to be 100’s of years old if not more!!!
From there we visited a soap factory which is located in the 3rd village. LeAnne and her husband, both Kiwi’s from Auckland, have been coming to this island for over 15 years. They built a desalination plant for the school complete with enough solar panels to run the plant and provide power for the school. During the dry season….well, let’s just say it might rain less…..the wells and water collection tanks in the villages might run dry, they all can come to the water plant for much needed fresh water. LeAnne has started making soap from all the coconuts…..just another way for the villagers to earn some income. They grate the coconut and then squeeze out the oil which they combine with a little caustic to make the soap. LeAnne gave Kathy several bars to try. LeAnne said they now have a big order from a big store in NZ, maybe called Trade Aide or Zone….they were all very excited and hope the business will grow!!
It was late afternoon coming back to the boat and we invited Stewart out for some refreshments and of course, we had many other visitors come also….mainly kids in the late afternoon. We look up and we see a sailboat approaching….it turns out to be Brian and Sandy on sv Persephone….wow….we first met them in the Tuamotus 2 years ago and then last year in Fiji…they are avid divers like us and we have done many dives with them!! So we took everyone over to greet them and after a while Stewart invited us to the village for kava….oh boy!!!! People had just been paid by the boat “Big Sista” for their fish…..they have turned to fishing until the coconuts grow back and they can make copra….they earn US$3 for 2 pounds of fish!!!! So we had quite a festive crowd having kava…..Kathy had 2 small bowls and I had 3 rather large bowls…..whoa….ok, this time I felt the effect…..not a high but just a strong calming and peaceful feeling….like all is well with the you and the world!!!!!
Well….we both paid for the kava binge the next day…..again very lethargic and just no energy. We both just laid around all morning although I did do some work in the hot engine room. One of the 4″ copper straps that runs to the copper plates on the bottom of the boat had corroded from when we had the port thruster seawater leak 2 years ago. I had noticed it a while back and people have been telling us our transmission is a bit weak so I am hoping that is the issue!!
Later that afternoon we went to a “Smol Namba” dance. The dance involved 9 men from the village dressed in traditional nambas or penis sheaths with Navake nut pods strapped to their ankles. This dance tells traditional stories from the village (this one was about hunting) and can only be performed by men who have ceremonially killed a pig. Local woman are not allowed to see the dance performed…although ok for tourists which seemed a bit odd…. and we were taken to a secluded dance spot far away from the village. The performance itself is moving and rhythmical with a tamtam beating behind the rattle of the seed pods as the men stamp their feet. Paul, born in 1923 and one of the oldest, wisest and quite charming man was beating the tamtam and singing along told us of trying to pass the traditional song and dances to the younger generation….so how is it going….oh, you know, they never listen….yep, universal:))))
Lobsters…..don’t worry David and Dana….Mystic is now well supplied. We bought 10 nice size lobsters from a local hunter for US$4/lb…..we bought 13 pounds!!!!
Yesterday we made the 14 nm passage to Lamap and Port Sandwich. We had an autoclave to deliver for Butterfly Trust…..here is the email we wrote Dave and Lynn:
We sadly left Lutes village yesterday after 4 wonderful days and made it to Port Sandwich. Wow, what a gorgeous and CALM anchorage!!!! We went in to the Rainbow Store and had a very long and delightful talk with Rauc and Noelle….what a fun couple….and they have great respect for you guys!!!!
They told us to go at high tide to deliver the autoclave to Lamap. Hmmm….sometimes we can be dense….so we take off in the dinghy only to discover it is indeed low tide and even at the dingy landing there is no way in…..the beaches are all protected by lots of coral. So, back to the anchorage and we walked….yes, we both seemed clueless…..but Rauc thought the clinic might be closed on the w/e so we thought Friday was our only chance:))))
The smaller autoclave does not weigh all that much, but it is big and clumsy and I was pretty pooped by the time we got to the clinic. But, what a great walk….all the people and especially the kids were all so cheerful and friendly….but, you did not warn us about speaking French…..who knew:)))))
Lydia and Helen were very glad to receive the autoclave and immediately had us take it to the Dental clinic room which is locked. We were a little unclear how they are going to get trained on how to use it….we think they said they will wait until you guys come and train them. Per you recent email maybe the doctor on Caduceus can train them. BTW, we did hear Caduceus on the SSB net this am!!
The clinic did not seem that busy and it was very clean and organized!!! We continue to see a lot of evidence of down trees, but the coconut trees seem in better shape that other places. Rauc said the same thing as the people at Lutes, that the cyclone knocked down all the coconuts so now no more copra until the new ones ripen. And, all the fruit is gone. But, we saw more coconuts on these tress than anywhere else!! All the homes and building seem in good shape. We saw more use of concrete and cinder blocks on these houses than anywhere else!
So….now we sit having a “snow” day…..although Kathy has the cleaning bug:))))) There is no snorkeling or diving in Port Sandwich as there used to be a cow butchering operation that attracted a lot of mean sharks. That operation has since closed but all the locals tell you do not swim…no problema on that!!
We will probably take off to the north part of Malekula island on Monday, weather permitting!!
Take care!!
John
Mystic Moon
