Living & Learning Aboard the Good Ship Learnativity

Lovin’ the Lau Group in Fiji

I am long overdue to catch up here with blog posts since we arrived in Fiji and it will have to wait a bit longer till I get more time with good connections.  Right now we are over in what is known as the Lau Group of islands in the SE corner of Fijian waters and have been enjoying anchorages in VanuaBelavu island such as “The Bay of Islands” up in the north and for the last few days, including Canada Day, just off the village of Lomolomo and the uninhabited little island of Yanu Yanu.  17 17.731S 17 58.918W if you’d like to see exactly where that is on Google or Bing maps or sat photos.

 

We are about to weight anchor in a few minutes and head out the SE pass through the surrounding coral reefs and head south to see more of the Lau Group islands.  Depending on where Mother Nature decides to blow, we’ll either head to Vulaga (pronounced Falanga) or else Totoya or Matuko which are more to the west of Vulaga.  We won’t likely have any cellular connections till we get past those so no more FB or other web presence for the next week or too but we’ll try to keep posting via our sat phone connections along the way.

For now, I’ll let the photos do the taking with some shots of where the good ship Learnativity has been over the past few weeks. Sorry, no time to add captions right now so just enjoy them for what they are as we do.

		LTY in the Lau Group 2015 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

LTY UPDATE: Friday, September 14th, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Friday, September 14th, 2012
Asanvari Bay, Maewo Island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 17:05 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Asanvari Bay, SW tip of Maewo Island, Vanuatu
Position: 15 22.505 S, 168 08.020 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 50-20 knots (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: flat
Air temp: 82 F 28C
Sea temp: 90.5 F 32.5 C
Barometer: 1017mm

AWEMAZING DAY in ASANVARI BAY

I awoke as usual to first light this morning and enjoyed watching the sky brighten gradually to bright blue as I lay there looking up through the large hatch directly above my aft cabin bed. I have a similar view of the night sky each evening when I go to bed and so my days start and end with these vivid reminders of just how fortunate I am and how amazing the cosmos is. Just as the changing hues and brightness told me that the sun had just peaked above the horizon I heard some odd splashes and the sounds of young voices followed by some slapping on the aft transom steps directly behind my head on the bed. In many ways I’ve learned that you sail by sounds and you get to know each and every one of the thousands of different sounds on the boat and know when something changes or there is a new sound. I hadn’t heard this symphony of sounds for some time but I knew just what it was; my first visitors of the day had arrived!

I’m starting to get used to it but it is still an odd feeling when I first come up on deck each morning and find a whole group of people already sitting on the beach looking out at Learnativity and waiting for me to rise. As soon as I’m spotted on deck the calls, whistles and shouts begin as they try to get my attention and it happens throughout the day and right into the evening in many places. I guess it is partly because wherever possible I seek out small little bays or anchorages that are not charted or popularly promoted in the sailing guides and so I am often the first boat and “white man” they have seen in quite a while. Then as soon as my first visitors discover Ruby and that I’m quite happy to host them onboard, show them around and answer their questions, it seems that more people that I could ever imagine were living ashore come out of the jungle. It is a school holiday for two weeks right now and so there are more children around with all day to do as they please so there has been a particularly large number of them aboard the past few weeks.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post I took a group of about ten boys for a ride with Ruby and I in the dinghy and had a few more of them onboard so word was out that this new boat in the bay was “visitor friendly” and the procession began early. Apparently their enthusiasm got the better of some of the braver ones this morning and they just couldn’t wait for me to be sighted so about six of them swam the 100 meters out to Learnativity “just in case” I was up before six today. It is such an amazing sight that brings such a smile to my face as I step out onto the aft deck and see six young glistening brown bodies hanging on and peering up at me from the bottom swim step, laughing excitedly and sounding like a bunch of young school girls even though these are almost always young boys ranging from about five to twenty years. So that’s how my day started and the procession of visitors from ashore continued for the next two hours and I think I must have had well over thirty of them onboard in groups of four to ten. I was just going to do a short sail of about 15nm up to Asanvari Bay today so I didn’t have to rush to get away and just reveled in the joy and laughter with all my new found Ni Vanuatu friends. (this is how the people of Vanuatu refer to themselves).

Not a bad “commute”! How was yours?? ;)

Once the swimmers had all been out to see me I got things stowed away, raised the anchor and was sailing out of Namaram Bay by about 09:30. The weather was perfect with clear skies and calm seas and although there was no visible wind off to the west of Pentecost I was reasonably sure I’d pick it up once I got up to the north end and out in the pass between Pentecost and Maewo islands. Almost as if I knew what I was doing this is exactly what happened as the wind continued to build as I sailed north and I was soon doing over 7 knots with the full main and genoa out to Port as the SE trades blew through at 1-20+ knots. It was only 15nm up to Asanvari Bay which is on the very SW tip of the long skinny N/S running Maewo Island and I had the anchor down by just after noon.

Asanvari had come highly recommended by Philip and Teri who had been here a few weeks ago and just loved it and I’ve read that every boat that has been here has raved about it. You never know just how a spot is going to strike you though as we are all so different, but this spot is right out of a movie set or poster and is just the most perfectly pristine little tropical jewel I’ve seen in a long, long time. Funny how life works as I found myself thinking over the past few days how Vanuatu was very beautiful and the people most interesting but didn't create the same degree of awe and amazement in me that Fiji did. Then I sailed into Asanvari Bay. If you get the chance do check this location out on Google Earth or Bing as I’m certainly not able to do it much justice with my impoverished prose though I think it would be a challenge for even great writers. I’ve taken lots of photos and videos already and whenever I get a good internet connection, maybe as soon as next week, I will post my backlog of photos up on the blog so you can get a much better idea of just what I’ve been experiencing lately.

Asanvari Bay is a very small arch cut into the SW corner of Maewo Island with a protruding finger of rock and coral creating a small west pointing finger at the south end and then curving in an arc that is probably no more than 2km long along the coastline. At the south end of this little bay there is a white sand beach with about ten or so huts and houses and the villagers I met there this afternoon tell me there is another small village a few hundred yards east on the other side of the point. Unlike Namaram Bay I did not see a single soul ashore for the longest time and then only a few young boys out in their dugout outriggers and maybe three adults ashore. As the shore curves around to the north it goes back to being craggy black volcanic rock until it reaches a large stream that enters the bay and a cascading waterfall set just back into the island that you think must be a mirage it is so beautiful and picture perfect. The shoreline continues on the shallow arch around to the north and changes to steep sided cliffs that have risen up out of the water with some underground forces and comes complete with a tiny cave that I am anchored right in front of. As the arch finishes its curve north there is another beach, this one of highly polished black volcanic stones sprinkled with white shards of dead coral that has washed ashore.

On my visit there this afternoon I met Jason, a man of about 40 I would guess who lives in one of the two small houses there and amongst a large and very fertile plantation behind his house he has two pigs who get their own beachfront palm oasis and seem to enjoy a steady supply of coconuts based on the thick carpet of coconut husks they were sleeping on. Ruby did her best to get them to play with her and they seemed amused by this strange little critter but weren’t up for any games.

I made a brief stop at the waterfall on my slow trip around the bay in the dinghy and someone has gone to a lot of trouble to pour a very substantial concrete sea wall and erect a small little “bar” building complete with stools. However the waterfall itself is Mother Nature at her best and so I just stood in about two feet of this clear fresh water that had just crashed down the rock face of the waterfall above. I’ll go back in tomorrow as the elderly man and woman there said I’d be welcome to come back for a shower and/or to wash my clothes. Now THAT is my kind of shower and laundry facility!!

I could go on and tell you how clear the sea water is, how there was a steady flow of the most beautiful little black and white birds putting on the most amazing aeronautical acrobatic show as they zoomed through the moist air just in front of the waterfall, but I’ll leave it at that and the pictures to follow for now. Suffice it to say that as I try to comprehend how just this one day has started and ended I think you can appreciate why I keep repeating and appreciating just how fortunate I am. As with today I have no idea and no expectations of what great surprises and experiences tomorrow will bring but I’ll be back with more attempts to capture and share this with you. I truly appreciate having you along for the ride albeit limited by my abilities to describe it all to you.

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog

LTY UPDATE: Thursday, September 13th, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Thursday, September 13th, 2012
Namaram Bay, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 17:15 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Namaram Bay about mid-way up West coast of Pentecost island, Vanuatu
Position: 15 37.534 S, 168 07.368 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 3 knots (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: flat
Air temp: 82 F 28C
Sea temp: 90.5 F 32.5 C
Barometer: 1017mm

MOTHER NATURE is SUCH a SHOWOFF!

Been a fabulous few days since I left Uliveo Island and continued making my way up north through the islands of Vanuatu. I stayed in Uliveo for a few days after my friends Teri and Philip left to head south to Port Villa and had the whole little bay all to myself. The locals all knew me by now so they were not coming by to offer fruit and ask for things so it was very peaceful. Ruby and I took a few trips off in the dingy to explore a few more deserted spots and she had her usual great time running nonstop on the beaches and in the jungle on the coastline. Tuesday morning dawned with clear blue skies and the sea was calling me again so it was up with the anchor and I motored my way on a very circuitous route through all coral and the other little Meskelyne Islands and out into open ocean again. The day cleared up and once I was clear of the wind shadow of Meskelyne I picked up the SE trades again which were blowing about 8-14 knots most of the time. The wind does vary here much more than it did in Fiji but most of my headings here are NW so this is all downwind sailing and I’ve been getting lots of practice trying out the new setup of putting my spinnaker pole out to windward and pulling the big genoa out to it so that I have what is called a “wing on wing” sailing setup with the main sail out to one side and the genoa out to the other. This presents a very large sail area to the wind coming from my back and doesn’t take too much to push all 33 tons of us along at 5-7 knots. The boat is also nice and level most of the time as there is no heeling and with the wind from behind the apparent wind (wind you feel on the boat) is much less so it is extremely calm and serene sailing.

I headed for Ambrym island which his home to Vanuatu’s other active volcano and I made my way around the west corner and then up along the NW coast of Ambrym where I was able to carefully hunt out a great little unchartered anchorage. The bottom in most areas here slopes up very steeply from the ocean and then turns to black sand just off shore of most islands with coral intermixed along much of it. Taking my best guess from the guides and charts I have I spied this little indentation just south of the very north west tip of Ambrym and crept in slowly with my eyes carefully going back and forth between watching the bottom in front and beside me and the depth gauge. The black sand makes it a bit more difficult to see compared to the white coral sand in other places but as I crept in towards the shore the depth gauge finally started to show a gradually decreasing depth and about 100 meters off shore I had about 25 feet and was right on the edge of where the coral started to grow on the bottom. Up at the bow I carefully targeted a sandy spot and dropped the mighty anchor and let the wind push me back as I played out almost 150 feet of anchor chain, locked it down and waited for the confirming tug as Learnativity stopped her backwards travel and the chain went taut. The shoreline was composed of small cliffs of black lava and it was speckled with kids who were both coming out to see the unusual appearance of a yacht in front of their small village and having a great time jumping off the cliffs into the warm water. I later found out that it was the middle of a two week school holiday and so each day was filled with the music of children’s laughter as they swam, jumped and played ashore.

I also had a steady stream of them coming out to the boat in their family dugout outrigger canoes. I must have had over 20 of them come to visit over the next few days once word got out that I was happy to have them aboard and let them look around. Many of them returned with treats for me in the form of papayas, coconuts and pamplemouse (sp?) (grapefruit) which I was most grateful for and exchanged this for chocolate, dried cranberries and some Canadian souvenirs. Mostly though they loved the chance to explore the boat, ask lots of questions, and try out the binoculars that were a big favorite with them all. I was also able to give them a few magazines I kept for just such opportunities and which they enjoy for both the pictures of new and different things and a chance to practice their English and reading. Of course teenagers are similar in many ways the world over and so one of the groups of the older ones got brave enough on one visit to ask if I had any wine! Of course they assured me this was only for their parents ;) but I declined and told them this was just not allowed.

Two boys, Amos (15) and Robert (9) were the most frequent visitors and on one of their last visits they stopped by to show me one of the more interesting if somewhat unsettling catches which was a sea turtle they had just caught and killed. They say there are lots of them here and they swim in the rocky areas near the shore and are a relatively regular catch. They were on their way to take this one home for their mother to boil and make into various meals. I asked them if they liked eating turtle and they said it was OK but not one of their favorites.

I looked after several of the boat jobs needing attention such as replacing my main alternator and fixing a troubling seawater leak into the freshwater cooling side of my diesel generator and was reminded how true it is that cruising is the art of moving your boat from one exotic repair destination to the next! Just part of the price that has to be paid to enjoy this phenomenal life of freedom and independence and one I’m happy to pay. That along with more reading, writing and snorkeling and two days and nights zipped by. The water here was finally nice and clear again after being rather murky in the Meskelyne Islands and other spots so far in Vanuatu plus the water was finally back up over 30 degrees Celsius so I enjoyed more snorkeling time though the coral and fish life wasn’t too spectacular.

What WAS spectacular though was the night time entertainment from Mother Nature. I was completely unprepared for the spectacle that awaited me when I came up on deck as part of my regular night time off to bed routine. The night skies are so fabulous when I am anchored in these remote spots partly because I’m the only boat and light source as the small villages don’t have power and so it is completely dark and when the skies are clear of clouds they are filed with more stars and galaxies than I ever imagined possible. It is so black that you can see the galaxies very clearly and they almost look like “cloudy” areas out in the cosmos as they are so dense with such far away billions of stars of their own. I’ve become relatively accustomed to this, though always amazed and in awe of it all and so I’ve made it a habit to come up on deck each night as I’m making my way to bed and check out this cosmic show each night to send my hopes off into the cosmos and to enlist the help of the stars to bounce special thoughts to some of the special people in my life.

Two nights ago though, it wasn’t the distant stars that took my breath away but the land based one. As I looked southwest the whole sky over the rising hills of Ambrym Island were ablaze in the most intense shades of orange and red I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen some pretty amazing sunsets in the past five years but nothing to match this. What I was witnessing was the smoke billowing out of apparently VERY active volcanic cone and spreading for miles above and beyond that was coruscating with the light from the fiery cauldron of lava below! I just stood there on deck with my mouth agape and tried to take it all in. As my awemazement lessened a bit in time I again turned my gaze upward and out into that deep starry starry space over the open oceans to the north when I saw not one, but TWO shooting stars in quick succession. My my, Mother Nature was really putting on quite a show for me tonight and as I was about to discover, she wasn’t done yet! As I was looking upward at the more stationary stars and bouncing my hopes and wishes off them, there was suddenly a whole series of fiery stars zipping around down below the horizon! No, I didn’t have THAT much wine with dinner tonight, they were fireflies! The most enormous ones I have ever seen. As I watched this spectacle for the next long while I was able to see some of the ones that flew close enough to me in the light of the stars and the volcano and I could see that they had large wings like those of a moth and their bodies must have been two to three inches long with this huge glowing end section. I’m not sure what I could ever have done to be so blessed with such spectacles but there I was completely immersed in the fiery side of this incredible cosmos we are a part of as Mother Nature showed off and shared with me what she has going on below me, around me and above me. All this in ONE night! Could I lead a more charmed life? I think not!

This morning sun dawned a bit later than usual as it took a bit longer to make it above the mountainous topography of Ambrym Island and reveal an increasingly clearing and blue sky and an ocean that looked more like a lake as there was not a breath of wind and not a wave or ripple in the water. Hoping that there would be more wind once I cleared the top of the island I felt it was time to continue north and make my way up along the west coast of Pentecost island and perhaps all the way up to the south end of Maewo island where I’ve been told there is a great anchorage and some fabulous snorkeling in Asanvari Bay which is about 50nm away. However my departure from Ambrym was delayed a few miles off shore when the new alternator decided to throw both belts off. With no wind I just shut off the engine and spent the next hour figuring out this newest problem which turned out to just be used fan belts that were not up to the strain of this high output alternator and after replacing them with new ones I have in my well stocked “spares” department, I soon had it working again. But just as I fired up the main engine again the sea water pump alarm went off and I found that its belt had suddenly become too loose! Fortunately that was a quick fix of readjusting the belt tension and I was underway again at last. Better yet the wind filled in a bit later and I was able to setup my spinnaker pole again and have that wing on wing arrangement I mentioned earlier. The SE trade winds were very light and varied from 5-12 knots but with all that sail area this was enough to keep me moving forward at 4-5 knots and enjoy a leisurely and peaceful sail along the west coast of Pentecost Island.

By mid-afternoon I was about half way up Pentecost and the skies were increasingly overcast so I started looking for a good spot to anchor while I still had some good light above me and headed for another small unchartered anchorage by the tiny village of Namaram where I writing to you from now. Similar to the previous anchorage off Ambrym I crept in slowly and found an indentation in the rocks and coral where there was just black sand rising up close to shore and was able to drop the hook in about 25’ off water. This spot is very sparsely inhabited but there are a few homes ashore and I headed ashore in the dinghy to ask permission to stay. There were only a few buildings nestled into the jungle a ways back from the shore and at first it seemed to be deserted but I finally came across some young boys ages 3-7 I would guess and they led me to an adult who then took me to the local chief. Chief Roman was up to his elbows in grease as he was repairing the villages chain saw and after a quick introduction I was able to help him figure out that the carburetor gasket was cracked and letting in too much air so it wouldn’t start. He had some material that could work to make a new gasket and he felt he could do that himself and told me to go enjoy walking around the area. One of the challenges in these small villages is the lack of much skills or tools to maintain things and so they do tend to do without more than with. It makes for a good source of interaction and bartering for me in many places where I am able to help out with my floating tool shop and a reasonable set of skills in mechanics, metalworking and wood working.

With the blessing of the chief to anchor here and explore the area, I went back to LTY and picked up Ruby and headed back ashore where we were soon mobbed by about ten young boys ranging from about 3 to 13 I’d estimate. As usual they are initially equal parts fascinated and fearful of Ruby but once I assure them she won’t bite or hurt them she soon wins them over and they are all petting her, calling her name and having great fun running after her. After lots of fun doing that I was launching the dinghy to head back to LTY when the oldest boy asked if I could give them a ride in the dinghy. So I soon had a dinghy full of ten VERY happy young boys and we were off at high speed for a quick trip around some of the outlying rocks and then back down to the shore in front of their village where we dropped them off and headed back to LTY. I could still hear them laughing and excitedly telling all the other kids in the area about their fun and fast ride in this strange ruby boat. Such a fun way to end the day.

It is now well after sundown and very dark up here in the cockpit, and my thin tropical blood is getting chilled so I’ll sign off for tonight. Depending on how things look in the morning I’ll probably head north again and make the jump over to Maewo Island and what is supposed to be a spectacular anchorage in Asanvari Bay. I’ll be back with an update for you on just how that turns out to be from my perspective and wish you all a good night for now.

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog

LTY UPDATE: Friday, August 31, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Friday, August 31, 2012
Dillon’s Bay, Erromango Island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 17:100 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Dillon’s Bay, Erromango Island, Vanuatu
Position: 18 49.105 S, 169 00.694 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 10-15 knots SE (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: 2ft @ 6 seconds SE (coming from)
Air temp: 78.8 F 26C
Sea temp: 85.1 F 29.5 C
Barometer: 1017mm

DELIGHTFUL DAY in DILLON’s BAY

I awoke to a new day with a clearing sky and it was a beautiful sunny day right up till this evening when the clouds have come back in again and cooled things down quite a bit. Not too much to report today as I’ve simply had a super simple day. Had several more men row out from ashore early this morning as I was having breakfast and traded for some fresh papaya and a few new fruits I don’t know and look forward to trying. Ruby and I went ashore to one of the few small sandy beaches in this bay, most of them are rock cliffs or rock beaches. She enjoyed her time ashore racing around as usual and I got some good shots of Learnativity looking out through some of the large coral outcroppings sculpted by the sea.

Did a bit of snorkeling but I’m afraid I’ve been spoiled with that I’ve found in Fiji the past few years and so it was a bit underwhelming but still gloriously clear waters and always interesting creatures to observe and learn from. I took the opportunity to give Learnativity’s hull a good inspection and clean off a bit of the growth starting around the waterline and all looks very good there. I spent a few hours ashore walking around the village that spreads itself along the river here.

One interesting thing I learned was that they all live on the north side of the river because the south side is where they bury their dead so this is all a beautiful cemetery area. It was the same simple village buildings and quite a large community by Vanuatu standards as they are a people who much prefer to live in small little communities of 10 to 50 people rather than create larger ones. In this case I think it is the river that creates a single area where more can live. Even so, the homes are all quite spread out and what I’m gathering from my walks through these villages is that the people are much more inclined to spend time in small groups than large ones. Though there was an area all cleared off under some beautiful huge trees that they explained was where the ladies held their market to sell their wares each Wednesday.  Two men rowed out to visit and brought me this delicious selection of Popos (Papaya) and Pamplemouss (Grapefruit) which will last me for several breakfasts as you can see.

And once again there was great care paid to keeping the village area and pathways very clear and well-manicured. The soil is very rich so there is great variety of plants, flowers and trees growing. They don’t have any electricity in the village but they do have a supply ship that comes in about once a month from Port Villa and brings things like building supplies, rice, flower and other goods they can’t produce. They also showed me an area where they are cultivating Sandalwood, which historically was a very sought after prize by foreign sailors from faraway lands. Too much so actually in that most of the forests of Sandalwood have apparently long been wiped out and hence the need for this village to try to bring this still prized wood back into prominence. They don’t do any carving or other processing of the Sandalwood, just sell it to buyers in Port Villa apparently and helps them generate some income to purchase the other goods they need.

I’m likely going to pull up anchor about 8pm tonight and make the overnight sail to Port Villa. It is just over 80 nautical miles so I’ll do this passage at night so I can arrive there in good light tomorrow morning. I still need to look after my full checking in as there was no Immigration authorities on Aneityum Island where I first entered Vanuatu. Port Villa is also the largest harbour and city in Vanuatu so it will give me another glimpse into this fascinating country and culture. I’m also looking forward to restocking my galley with fresh veggies, bread, cheese and the like. All the more so given the high French influence of this area so I’m hoping to enjoy some particularly good and different breads, pastries, cheese and wine. I’m also looking forward to meeting up with Philip, a single handed sailor from Switzerland who has become a very dear friend. We initially met when we were both checking into Ecuador about 3 years ago and have serendipitously met up several time since as we both ply the waters of the South Pacific. Philip and Teri have been kite surfing their little hearts out up north in Vanuatu the last month or more and looks like we might be able to meet a bit north of Port Villa and spend a bit of time with Blue Bie and Learnativity anchored together once again.

So life continues to treat me extremely well and I’m doing my best to enjoy, appreciate and savor each moment in an attempt to be worthy of such great fortune. I’ll write more once I get to Port Villa and let you know what urban life is like here in Vanuatu.

Wayne

LTY UPDATE: Wednesday, August 29, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 16:15 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu
Position: 19 31.483 S, 169 29.800 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 5-10 knots SE (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: 1ft @ 6 seconds SE (coming from)
Air temp: 77 F 25C
Sea temp: 84.2 F 29 C
Barometer: 1021mm

FALLING SKIES?

Just ash really, but certainly lots of it the past 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon I heard Mount Yasur give off a big explosion and that along with a wind change has had a steady rain of ash falling on the decks and everything outside. The trouble with having these nice shiny white new decks is that you see every speck of dirt! I’ve swabbed the decks down with seawater twice today but will just leave it till after I leave here to get the rest of it off. It’s interesting in that you can’t see the ash and it has been overcast and rainy since yesterday afternoon but each time you go out on deck there is a larger accumulation of the very black dust from the fallout. Nothing to be alarmed about and it washes off reasonably easy with a stiff brush and small price to pay for the experience of being here and being able to stand on the edge of that volcanic cone and watch Mother Earth do her thing.

One of THE most wonderful things about this lifestyle overall is the direct connection I am afforded with these forces of nature. It borders on being spiritual at times. Standing on the edge of that cone, feeling the ground thrum with the eruptions and then reverberate with the thud of each lava “bomb” hitting the ground around you, smelling the fumes and watching the magical firework display as the lava spewed every upward before falling back to earth was yet another of these visceral experiences for me that creates such a direct connection with this planet and the cosmos overall. I’ve become more and more enraptured and intrigued by physics and cosmology over the past few years and these kinds of experiences only serve to reinforce the very real and direct physical connections I’m learning we have with the cosmos we are a part of.

As I wrote last year, one of the most amazing things I’ve learned is how the very molecules and atoms which make up our body were created by the intense heat and energy in the explosion of high mass supernova stars and so in that sense we are quite literally all made of stardust! Therefore as astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson nicely put it “We are connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That is kinda cool! That makes me smile and feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.” Having the kinds of experiences I seem to regularly have out here sailing the world makes me feel SO much a part of this grand universe, however small. So I will gladly clean my decks of volcanic ash in preparation for heading out for the next leg of this grand adventure.

As you may have guessed I did not sail north today. Woke up at first light as usual to find that it was drizzly and grey and why would I chose to sail in that when I can enjoy a day to rest and relax before a sunny day dawns for more adventure and action? Of course there is also a very pragmatic reason for being a sunshine sailor and that is that I depend largely upon visual navigation in these coral invested waters. As wonderful as all my digital technology of Radar, chart plotters and satellite photos is, there is still no substitute for what I can see with my own two eyes as I come into the next new anchorage and therefore I’m quite practically dependent upon having the light of the sun high overhead to light my way foreword. So it has been a wonderful day spent doing a few boat jobs and a lot of reading and we’ll see what the weather brings tomorrow and head north to Erromango when the sun is back.

I’ll be back to post an update when that happens and let you know a bit more about the next great anchorage I’m fortunate enough to experience.

Wayne

LTY UPDATE: Tuesday, August 28, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 18:10 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu
Position: 19 31.483 S, 169 29.800 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 5-10 knots SE (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: 1ft @ 6 seconds SE (coming from)
Air temp: 77 F 25C
Sea temp: 84.2 F 29 C
Barometer: 1021mm

WOW!!!!!

That’s about the best I can do to try to describe what it was like to stand on the edge of the volcanic cone of Mount Yasur and look down into the boiling lava pit below. It is yet another of those great experiential learning events where you just have to be there to understand it. Something majestic and “raw” about the whole thing. Standing there looking into the “core” of Mother Earth, the moon like terrain of fallen lava rocks all around you. It is a very visceral experience with the smell of the sulphur from the explosions, feeling the ground shake with each eruption and feeling and hearing the lava “bombs” as they land not more than 20 meters away in some cases. Yet another awemazing life experience and learning for me!!

Looking down into Mother Earth herself: Mount Yasur, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

 

I’d made arrangements with some of the villagers ashore for this trip and went ashore in my dinghy about 4pm to meet them. They have a small (Toyota) pickup truck with some wooden seats made up in the back and we crammed about 12 adults into the cab and truck bed for the half hour ride up to the mountain top. Roads were all carved out of the black lava dirt/sand and surprisingly good condition most of the way. They have a little entry way at the base of the mountain where they collect the 3300Vautu fee (about US$33) which I think is very reasonable and goes to support local schools and road upkeep on the mountain. The road goes up very close to the top and you only have to climb about the last 300m up to the edge of the cone which you can then walk around about 1/3 of to get different viewpoints. The volcano is quite active and there were about 15 eruptions or so I’d guess in the 2+ hours I was up there. Some are relatively small and just cough up some molten lava that sprinkles back down on the surrounding inner cone. And then there are some much larger eruptions and explosions where very large volumes of lava come right up and out and flings hundreds of lava “bombs” a few hundred meters up into the air. They make a sizzling sound as they make their upper arc and come back down to earth and you can hear and feel the larger lumps of molten lava, some larger than a big beach ball and many the size of a basketball, as they thump the ground upon landing only meters away on the slopes of the inner cone below you. Huge clouds of dark grey ash erupt with this and slowly rise upward and there is a noticeable but not overpowering sulphur like smell.

The eruptions are all very sporadic of course so trying to have your camera at the ready is a game of patience and timing. I haven’t had time to go look yet but I think I got several very good photos and at least two good video shots that will give you a much better idea of what it was like. I will likely get a good internet connection this weekend or next week when I think I’ll make it up to the big city of Port Villa so I’ll post the video and pictures then and you’ll get a much better idea than my poor attempt to describe it in words. Trust me, it was AWEMAZING and as real at it gets!!!

 

 

I’ve also spent more time exploring ashore and it is equally authentic an experience and a bit like going back in time. The Vanuatu people prefer to live in small little villages and don’t cluster together so even in this small bay where I am there are 5 different villages within about a 2km radius. Several have buildings for Primary and Secondary schools and there are even a few “Cafés” that would serve you if you wanted to apparently.

 

I just enjoyed walking around, learning and looking. You ask permission in each village with the first adult you meet and they are very happy to show you around, answer questions or let you go on your own. In one of the villages there were about 20 ladies and young girls all busy weaving palm leaves together for a new thatched roof on some of the village homes. They apparently last about 2-3 years and they spend about a week at a time creating a whole set of these woven “shingles”. The men look after building the superstructure for the roof (out of branches) and then layering on the palm fronds that he ladies have sewn together. They were happy to let me sit there and watch for about an hour, answer my questions and do a lot of giggling. Amazing to be able to be a part of for a bit.

Their villages are immaculate. Well groomed and cared for, nicely built and lots of attention to details. The walk ways and roads are all made of the dark almost black volcanic sandy soil and they must rake and brush these several times a day as they are so unbelievably smooth and clean that I was almost hesitant to walk on them. Children are everywhere, some helping out with various jobs with the adults, some playing by themselves. There are chickens, some pigs and some cows doing their thing and mostly in the areas on the outskirts of the village. Like I say it is like stepping back in time and feels very special to me that I’m allowed to walk into their world and experience it with them.

Meanwhile back on Learnativity today I spent the whole day doing some needed boat jobs. My house batteries are pretty much done after 6 years and I’m doing my best to coax the last bits of life out of them before replacing them. Two of the eight have dead cells in them now so I needed to do some rewiring to isolate them and I think I’ll be fine for a while now. I really should have replaced them in Fiji I guess but I was spending so much money there on all the other parts of the refit and I always like to squeeze every last penny out of all my equipment so I’ve left it till now. I’ll have a look around the big town of Port Villa when I get there and see what I might be able to source for new batteries there but I’m hoping I can make it up to the Marshall Islands where I have much better options for getting good batteries. I’ve got lots of ways of producing lots of electrical power from solar to wind to diesel generator to the alternators on my main engine, so no shortage that way, but as with what’s keeping solar and wind power from becoming true solutions for electrical power ashore, the issue is being able to STORE all that electrical energy which is where the batteries come in. However I use VERY meager amounts of electrical power compared to most so I’ll be fine.

Tomorrow if the weather looks good I’ll make head off and sail up north to the next island of Erromango. It’s about 55nm so just a day sail and there is also a tiny little atoll about 20nm NE of here that I may stop at and will just wait to see what weather and whim dictate tomorrow. After that is on to the big island of Efate and the big city of Port Villa, largest port and city in Vanuatu, about 30,000 people. I’ll let you know more about these as I experience them and should get a full internet connection in PV so I can upload pictures from the past few weeks.

Till then I wish you well and thanks again for joining me on this amazing journey!

Wayne

LTY UPDATE: Sunday, August 26, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Sunday, August 26, 2012
Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 17:40:00 (Fiji time = UTC +12)
Location: Port Resolution, Tanna island, Vanuatu
Position: 19 31.483 S, 169 29.800 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 5-10 knots SE (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: 6ft @ 6 seconds SE (coming from)
Air temp: 77 F 25C
Sea temp: 84.2 F 29 C
Barometer: 1020mm

GREAT SAIL to TANNA

I was up at first light to make breakfast and get things all ready to go and by 06:30 had the main sail up, then the anchor and we were on our way north to Tanna Island, home of one of Vanuatu's two active volcano's. It was a perfect morning with the scattered clouds dispersing as they day progressed and a good SE wind of 15-22 knots. Ideal sailing weather other than still a bit cold for my thin tropical blood. It was a fabulous and fast sail up to Port Resolution, just under seven hours for the 45nm sail. Swells were rather large out of the SE so must have been some good sized storms down in the lower latitudes which is typical this time of year but these make the ride all the more thrilling for me.

 

Port Resolution is a tiny and reasonably well protected bay on the SE corner of Tanna and you can check it out in Google Earth to get a good sense of it. I’m tucked in close to shore on the SE corner out of the way of most of the swell that hooks around the point and so far it is very comfortable. Some of the local boys/men have already been out in the dugout outrigger canoes just to chat, offering some fruit and the like. One of them is making arrangements for those of us who arrived today (three other boats) to get a ride up to “Yasur” the volcano and it looks good to be able to do that tomorrow afternoon and evening. We’ll leave here about 5pm so we get there in time to see both the sunset and then the fiery display in the night.

 

This is not your typical “tour” and would be outlawed I’m sure in most other places as there is always the danger of being hit by one of the “bombs” as they call them, which are the chunks of just hardened lava as it gets spit out and every year there are a few deaths apparently. However they monitor the volcanic activity and you don’t go if it is being particularly violent. With these kinds of things and most in life, I just play the odds and I figure the odds of getting hit are relatively low and well worth it to be able to peer down into an active volcano and have this overall experience so OF COURSE I’m going! I’ll give you the update tomorrow or the day after as it is likely going to be late by the time we get back tomorrow night.

Otherwise this is another gorgeous spot. I’ve been ashore to walk around for an hour or so and it is like a botanical garden in the small villages. There is even a “Yacht Club” in the form of a small building where you can gather and three small bungalow type huts that I think you can rent. I’ll spend more time ashore and go walk to the larger village and market tomorrow so will know more then. But from my excursions today it is absolutely beautiful, very friendly people and very remote.

Sun has gone down already here (6pm) as the bay is set as most are inside some relatively steep mountainous walls so the sun sets early and rises late visibly. That means it’s getting cold for me and time to go make dinner so I’ll leave you with this short update and have lots more to relate after more time ashore and the trip up to see the volcano.

Wayne

LTY UPDATE: Friday, August 24, 2012

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

LTY UPDATE: Sunday, July 25th, 2010 Niuatoputapu, Tonga

** Photos added July 29th  see below

 

LTY UPDATE: Sunday, July 25th, 2010
11:30 LTY time (UTC +13) = 22:30 (Sat) UTC
Location: Anchored by village of Falehau, NW lagoon of Niuatoputapu Island, North Tonga
Position: 15 56.485 S, 173 46.180 W (cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)

TERRIFIC TIMES in TRUE TONGA

** See photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.hodgins/NiuatoputapuTonga# for more pictures

As usual I’ve extended my stay in yet another spot, this time the northernmost island of the Kingdom of Tonga, Niuatoputapu Island where I’m anchored in a nicely protected lagoon on the NW side near the small village of Falehau. I arrived last Wednesday (21 July) and yet again the whole experience of the past 5 days has been serendipitously super, and so I wanted to get you a brief update on some of the details that made this adventure so memorable.

It is these situations when I really miss having an internet connection sufficient to add photos to these postings, but since arriving in Tongan waters last month, internet connections ashore have been few and far between and even when I do find them they have not been good enough to support uploads the size of photos or Skype calls. I am however taking lots of photos and will do my best to post these, likely next month some time when I get to Fiji I suspect.

* July 29th: photos now added to this and several other posts

This has me rethinking and reexamining my budget to purchase one of the new stabilized satellite based broadband options so I could have broadband internet wherever I roam, but that will have to wait for another day yet. In the interim, I’ll do my best to use my limited writing abilities to paint some pictures for you.

As I’ve mentioned and as you can see above and if you have checked the lat/long coordinates on a map or Google Earth, this is the northernmost of the many islands that make up the archipelago of the Kingdom of Tonga and is apparently the most remote and least visited of all of Tonga. There is actually “Tin Can Island” of Niuafoou which is a bit further north yet but it is completely inaccessible by boat so can’t call there. Here on Niuatoputapu from what I’ve read and experienced this is about as close as you can get to what “true Tongan” culture is/was like, and I’ve been so I’ve been very warmly welcomed into a group largely unaffected by external forces, other than natural ones. They were for example hit by the tsunami I was in last year and are still busy rebuilding homes, roads, etc. But I've been very fortunate and pleased to be invited into their homes and lives and will be heading ashore in a few minutes to join in a Sunday Tongan feast that Cici and Niko are putting on. There is now one other boat that came in on Friday, “Navire” out of Wellington NZ with a very interesting couple, David originally Canadian but grew up since he was 13 in NZ and Janet. We had a fun afternoon hiking up to the highest point here on the island (some great photos to follow) and we've had each other over to our respective boats to enjoy the last 2 sunsets, some wine and good food. (she's an ex chef!)

Everyone ashore, population about 800 are a bit shy but very much want to engage and talk, the children especially. They speak their native Tongan language of course but all but a few are also extremely fluent in English and so the conversations are deep and rich. I’ve been able to barter some of my skills and tools for all their kindness helping Niko diagnose a poor V6 that was running as about a V2 and then pull the camshaft and crank pulley on a diesel van that has blown a timing belt. Fortunately I’m a bit of a travelling tool shop and tools are one of the biggest limitations here. The monthly supply ship came in yesterday and so it was a big day on the island for everyone to get their various supplies from food to building materials to diesel. Several large pallets of building supplies from the Red Cross also were unloaded as part of the ongoing rebuilding after the tsunami. The locals explained how the government workers who are here are busy repairing the roads, which are actually in quite good shape while most of the people are still living in tents or with tarpaulins over the remains of old buildings! Seems to be an all too typical mismatch between what the officials think priorities should be and what the local inhabitants do. Some things are rather universal in this world aren’t they!

I’m now just back from a delectable Tongan feast compliments of Cici’s long hours and ably assisted by Janet who was able to spend most of the morning, after church of course, learning some of the tips and tricks of Tongan dishes and cooking methods. We had a veritable feast of fish and pork (Iots of domesticated pigs running around here) that was done up in coconut milk wrapped in papagayo leaves then in banana leaves and cooked in a fire pit, along with tapioca root and breadfruit that was simply cooked as is in the fire pit as well. And then plenty of a papaya and coconut dish to add even more flavor and color. We ate this all, Cici, Niko, Janet, David and myself with some of their boys coming in and out, on the floor of the excellent new first part of their new home which Niko has built from the wood and other materials they were able to salvage from what was left behind after the tsunami waters cleared away.

So as you can see, I continue to lead an unexpectedly and undeservedly charmed life and am doing my best to wallow and live within each of its moments. But now it is time to head out for the next adventure, I’m leaving in about an hour to sail up to another small remote spot of a pair of island groups known as Wallace and Futuna, about 14S and 176W if you want to hunt them down. These are French overseas territory tied administratively to Noumea, New Caledonia with a total land area of about 93 sq. miles and a total population of about 15,000 spread out over many islands. One interesting thing about them is that the people of Wallis, or Uveans as they are called after the main island, are descended from Tongans, whereas those of Futuna originally came from Samoa. It will be most interesting to see the differences as I visit each one as they are equally different geographically as well apparently. I’m leaving late this afternoon (Sunday here) as I don’t want to get there and go into the rather tricky pass at Wallis until daylight and it should take me somewhere around 36-40 hours depending on the winds and currents. Forecast looks very good for the next few days with wind and seas mostly behind me and little chance of rain, so the window is open and I’m jumping through it.

Hope you are enjoying an equally great weekend wherever you are and whomever you’re with. I’ll post some updates while underway as usual and report back to you about my experiences in Wallis as they happen. I gain a day and lose 2 hours in the process due to the odd fact that Tonga uses Fijian time zone but I’ll likely head for Fiji later on as well so it will wall work out.

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Aboard s/v Learnativity
15 56.485 S, 173 46.180 W
Falehau, NW lagoon of Niuatoputapu Island, North Tonga

Email: [email protected]
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Skype: whodgins
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Posted via email from Learnativity

LTY UPDATE: Wed, July 21, 2010 anchored at Niuatoputapu, Kingdom of Tonga

 
Wed, July 21st, 2010
17:30 LTY time (UTC +13) = 04:30 UTC
Location: Anchored at Niuatoputapu, northern most island of Kingdom of Tonga
Position: 15 56.485 S, 173 46.180 W (cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 15-20 SE
Seas: bit of wind wave inside harbor
Air temp: 85.2 F 29.6C
Sea temp: 83.3F 28.5C
Humidity: 76%
Barometer: 1019mm

NORTHERNMOST TONGA

** See photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.hodgins/NiuatoputapuTonga# for more pictures

I finally finished up all the repairs in Vava’u. The weather was back to being gray, overcast and rainy so it was a good time to be down in the engine room and I spent two whole days down there doing a number of jobs that I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time. Of course I finished installing the newly welded SS exhaust pipe and then tracked down a small exhaust water leak that had been avoiding me for months. Turned out to be some small pinholes on the welded seam of a SS 90 degree elbow that goes through the aft bulkhead. After trying some spot repairs I ended up just cutting the whole thing out and replacing it with a new fiberglass elbow and some new 3” exhaust hose I had on hand. Then I tracked down a transmission oil leak that had also been eluding me for months and finally found it on the hose to supplies pressure for the shaft brake that keeps the propeller shaft from turning when sailing and the engine is off. A very weird problem as it appears that there has been a fitting missing all along and the maintenance guys that did the overhaul when I bought the boat had somehow just threaded the hose into the transmission case. The proper fix requires a new fitting and hose which I don’t have but I was able to repair it with some epoxy “steel”, some SS wire and a hose clamps to be holding well so no more transmission fluid dripping into the bilge!! At the end of the day I was a greasy grimy mess from head to toe but an hours worth of scrubbing with lots of citrus hand cleaner had me back to being clean and smiling, though I was sure rather beat up with lots of scrapes and cuts on both hands and my upper body from squeezing into the transmission and exhaust area. Will be good to get back to sailing and beat myself up in different ways!

And so yesterday, Tuesday here, and as per the other updates you can see, I released the mooring ball lines and motor sailed out of Neiafu and out the NW pass into open ocean. I used the motor to give it a good run and be sure all the leaks were gone, which they were, and then shut it down and settled in for the sail up to Niuatoputapu, the northernmost island of the Tongan archipelago.

As we left the lee of Vava'u the wind picked up and continued to build the whole trip. The forecast had called for 15-20 but in the end it was up to gusts of almost 35 knots by the time I got to Niuatoputapu. I had sun for leaving Vava'u but the clouds continued move in and by mid-afternoon it was fully overcast and looked like rain storms up ahead to the north and west of us. The wind and seas continued to build all night, nothing too bad but certainly a fast, wet gray ride with wind over 25 most of the way. This speed had us arriving in Niuatoputapu just about 13:30 which was what I had hoped as I wanted to have good light overhead for the entrance through what is a narrow and shallow pass but I was a little bit concerned as the weather really closed in with rain and low visibility as I sailed up the eastern coast of this tiny island. However as if on cue, a long blue patch of sky came along just as I was approaching the NE corner and stayed around for the rest of the afternoon and made for perfect lighting as I negotiated small but well-marked little pass on the NW corner. The small natural harbor offers reasonable protection from the SE trades that are really blowing right now, but the land is mostly just coconut jungle and so not too much height and the wind is blowing quite strong where I'm anchored, but we are well protected from the seas and the wind is all the better for the wind generator. With my new bank of solar panels (now have six for a total of 780Watts) plus the wind generator I only ran the generator once since leaving Niue almost 3 weeks ago and so my new energy setup is working very well.

Once inside the harbor here at Niuatoputapu Island, I motored over to the very small concrete dock that some of the guides said you could tie to while checking in but it was too small and the wind was too strong to tie Learnativity up there so I just anchored in about 35 feet to a nice sandy bottom. This is a VERY small island with only about 800 total population and they lie off the beaten path for most cruisers with Western and American Samoa off to the East and Vava’u to the south and I wasn’t sure what they would have ashore for officials. I tried to call them on my VHF radio but didn’t get any response so was busy tidying up the cockpit from the passage when someone called “the big sailboat in the harbor” and it was a gentleman who introduced himself as “Nikko” and could he help me with checking in? So ashore I went in the dingy and Nikko picked me up in his 4x4 and took me into “town”. It was a big help as it turned out for the official building was about 4 or 5 kilometers away and would have been a bit of a walk. There really isn’t a town per se, just a lot of people living along the one main road here in small houses and shacks with lots of pigs, horses and dogs about. The official buildings are all grouped together including the school buildings for about 400 students apparently, and I had a great conversation with the people who were looking after immigration, customs and health and soon had both my check in and check out papers all done and my passport stamped for leaving Tonga. Not sure how long I’ll stay here, will depend on how the weather up ahead but you can’t check out on weekends so I wanted to get my exit papers looked after today and be able to go, likely either Friday or on the weekend.

As he was driving me around Nikko mentioned, not that he needed to, that his truck wasn’t running very well. Basically it seemed to be running on about two of its six cylinders and he wanted to know if I knew anything about motors or if there were other cruisers headed this way that might. After all the checking in was done we stopped at his house and I had a look and was able to find out that his distributor cap and rotor were a real mess with only two electrodes left showing inside the distributor cap. I cleaned it all up as best I could and wrote down the parts he would need and he will try to order these and have the next supply ship that comes about once a month bring them for him.
During this time I met his wife and three teenage boys. They try to help look after the yachties that arrive here; only about 100-125 annually he says and they try to help find some local fruit and vegetables if they can some well water and also offer pot luck on Sundays at their house. As I said this is a VERY small and remote spot so no stores or services to speak of. But tomorrow Nikko offered to take me around to the other side of the island where his plantation is and get some papaya and bananas. He assures me he has more than enough for him and his family and if that’s true I’ll take some on board for the next passage up to Wallis and Futuna islands.

Well, I’m a still feeling aches and pains and bruises from the repair work down in Vava’u and the raucous passage up here so I’m going to head down below for a quick diner and then off to bed with Miss Ruby. Will explore here more in the next few days and enjoy what is apparently one of the only genuine Tongan islands and population left. Great to be back underway and I’ll be back with more after explorations here and when we take off for Wallis, another very remote and rarely visited country island NNW of here.

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Aboard s/v Learnativity

Email when near shore : [email protected]
Email @ sea: [email protected]
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