LTY UPDATE: Friday, August 24, 2012
Itchepthav Bay, Aneityum island Vanuatu
LTY time: 16:50 (Vanuatu time = UTC +12)
Location: About 170nm WSW of Fiji
Position: 20 08.479 S, 169 46.633 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 3-10 knots SE True (in the bay)
Seas/Swell: flat
Air temp: 78.8 F 26C
Sea temp: 84.2 F 29.0 C
Barometer: 1023mm
ALIVE & WELL AGAIN
I’m finally back, both online and to the world of the living again! I spent the last seven days quite literally flattened by what now appears to have been Dengue Fever. As I wrote just after I arrived here last Friday, I wasn’t feeling great and figured it was just a bad case of the flu. However it continued to get worse and after doing a bit of research all the symptoms seem to support it being Dengue Fever. This is a mosquito borne virus that lasts about seven days and there isn’t much you can do but sweat it out. In my case it certainly lived up to its name as Dengue fever is also known as “break back fever” and it felt for most of those days that I had broken my back again with intense lower back pain that feels like it is right inside your spine. Along with the cycling fever/chill, severe headaches and pain behind the eyes and all your joints it wasn’t the most fun week I’ve ever spent. However I was in the perfect “sick Bay” in the form of beautiful little Anelghowhat Bay and the surrounding verdant majesty of the surrounding hills and mountains offset by the little palm lined Inyeug island on the other side of me. And so I sat, never left the boat for seven days and just slept, read and ate.
Kustom Ceremony Ashore
But it worked, and yesterday it all seemed to break and I felt human again. Perfect timing as the little village closest to the anchorage had organized a welcoming and cultural event for all of us and I was VERY happy to finally splash the dinghy and head ashore with the other cruisers yesterday afternoon about 3pm. Once ashore they took us to their small little village on the beach where they had several small cabins and a whole evening worth of entertainment, education and eating all prepared for us. It was wonderful as they are SO proud of their customs and heritage and so anxious to share it with us. I think pretty much every man woman and child in the village was involved and the children in particular were a real treat. They ran it as almost an educational seminar with one of the elder ladies acting as the “teacher” as she carefully explained all the different parts of their culture, customs, food, dress and dancing. She would
have several members of the village come forward for example and go through the whole process of creating their “formal” dress which they make from local plants and she explained the whole process as it was being completed right before us. Additionally they showed us how they gathered wild grasses to make their homes, treated and wove Pandanas leaves into baskets and started a fire in less than 30 seconds using nothing but the friction created by rubbing a small pointed part of a branch with the larger branch. They also did several dances that acted out some of their historical activities and it all culminated with a full spread of delicious dishes for dinner. They had prepared chicken with tarrow, and fish with cassava both cooked in a fire pit with lots of coconut milk inside banana leaves. There was also fire cooked Parrot fish, squid & tomatoes ceviche and a very tasty and spicy coconut sauce. I had mine on a traditional “plate” of a fresh cut banana leaf and it was all the more delicious to me now that I felt like eating again and had my appetite back.
They also took us through their way of preparing Kava which is very different that what I’d become accustomed to in Fiji. In Fiji they use the dried root, the older the better and pound it into a powder which they then put into a cloth bag and strain out the kava by ringing the bag over and over to extract the kava flavor and oils, a bit like making tea. However here in Vanuatu they use freshly picked Kava roots and chop up every part into small cubes about the size of a sugar cube and then crush this by putting it through a grinder. It was explained to us that in the old days and still in some cases today, when they are just making enough for themselves they simply chew the root to shred it. But when making larger quantities for a celebration they now use either hand powered or electric powered grinders to speed up and improve the process. The result is quite noticeable in that the Vanuatu Kava is MUCH stronger than the Fijian ones I’ve had. It would still require three or more cups full to have you feeling quite “relaxed” I think but even just after one you can feel a significant relaxing effect that is quite pleasing. Locally they have Kava pretty much every evening to help relax after what is usually a very physically tiring day. Women now also drink Kava much more although there are still ceremonies they don’t participate in and the men and the women do tend to congregate separately in the evenings still.
There is also a very noticeable difference in the people as they are now all Melanesian by ancestry. The children seem to reflect this the most to me in their faces and many of them also have very different hair colours that include a whole spectrum of blondes and reds in their curly locks. I took a number of pictures which I’ll upload whenever I next get a good internet connect so you can see for yourself. For me this was a great introduction to the people of Vanuatu and has me all the more excited about the experiences to come as I start making my way north through the various islands.
On to the Next Anchorage North
As interesting and enjoyable as this all was though the anchorage was getting very crowded by my selfish standards. When I arrived there was just one other sailboat and by Wednesday there was TEN! And so I pulled up the anchor this morning and motored my way the short 10nm up to the NW corner and a tiny little bay I’d seen on the charts called Itchepthav Bay and it turned out to be just what I was looking for; small, well protected and not another ship to be seen! I thought there might be a small village here and I’ve seen about 10 people ashore in the past eight hours I’ve been here but they are all just passing through on their way to villages elsewhere. Works well though because I could finally sneak Ruby ashore for her favorite pastime of running on the beach. The beach is mostly all very well rounded rocks and stones with a few patches of mostly all black lava sand and there are two different palm covered areas where grass has grown up under them and makes for a very park like setting. So we spent a few hours ashore walking and exploring the beach and treed areas before returning to Learnativity, with her shiny new dark blue hull gleaming away in the late afternoon sunshine. I think it is the first time I’ve been able to see her from a distance in this type of setting and really feel the pride and pleasure of the past many months of hard work. No other feeling like that of enjoying the fruits of your labours and brought lots of joy as I slowly approached in the dingy.
Tomorrow I’ll try to get an early start and make the crossing from here to the next island north which is Tanna. I’ll put in at Port Resolution which is supposed to be a very well protected little harbour over on the SE corner. Looks to be about 50nm so should be an easy day’s passage and I can arrive in the early afternoon so I have good light for the visual navigation needed here in these waters that are all filled with beautiful but dangerous (to a boat) coral. The big attraction on Tanna is that it is home to one of the two active volcanoes here in Vanuatu and so I’m hoping that while I’m there the volcanic activity is low enough that I’ll be allowed to walk up to the top and look down into the cauldron below. Just have to wait and see and I’m sure the island will have many other fun adventures to discover while I’m there as well.
Night for now, will write you from the anchorage in Port Resolution tomorrow to let you know how the sail across went and what this next island has to offer.
Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
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