From Barry. Lynne was attacked by 6 dogs at the residence where we were to spend the night this past Thursday in Thio. The dogs pulled her to the ground and were biting viciously. I went to her aid and tried to kick the dogs away from Lynne and was myself attacked and pulled to the ground. Fortunately, the woman at the residence got the dogs to retreat after about one minute and before life threatening injuries occurred. Lynne sustained major trauma to her left calf and both arms along with other substantial bites. Lynne's hands and fingers were only slightly injured. We were given first aid at the clinic in Thio immediately. Lynne was taken by a 1 1/2 hour ambulance ride to the hospital in Noumea while I followed in the rental car. She started receiving treatment as soon as she arrived and underwent surgery that night to clean out wounds and get sewn back together. She has not suffered major muscle or nerve damage. My injuries were superficial on the right ankle and shin. Considering the severity of the dog pack attack, we are both very fortunate that the attack did not continue for a significantly longer time, we did not get bitten on the face or neck and the damage is not substantially more severe with major disabilities the rest of our lives. Lynne will have significant permanent scars on her arms and calf.
Lynne has been well cared for by the medical system in New Caledonia, from first aid, ambulance service, prompt emergency room service, surgical care and recuperative care. The surgeon did such a good job sewing all of the pieces together that he should work on Humpty Dumpty next. Lynne had so much thread sticking out from her body initially that she looked like a porcupine. By comparison, Lurch looks like a normal person. Lynne is able to get up and walk to the toilet and use her arms and fingers. She is still leaking a little blood in a number of places. The surgeon said that Lynne might be able to leave the hospital on Wednesday, but time will tell. The nurse that handles wound care is excellent and Lynne shows no signs of significant infection. A lot of the thread that was initially sticking out of Lynne's body after surgery has now been removed. We speculate that it was being used to wick fluids out of the wounds.
We have re-booked our flight to Auckland, New Zealand for Thursday morning on the chance that Lynne would be discharged from the hospital Wednesday. Whether we spend any significant time in New Zealand, or fly to California ASAP has not been determined yet. We do know that Lynne will not be on Sunrise anytime soon, if ever again. We are also very fortunate that this incident occurred in New Caledonia near Noumea, which is very First World, and not in Vanuatu, which is definitely Third world.
While we were at the medical clinic in Thio receiving first aid, two Gendarmes arrived and said that we needed to make a report in Noumea. When I arrived at the Gendarmerie in morning and asked for directions at the recruiting office, they called an appropriate person. Soon, several men in succession arrived and spoke with me. I was asked to come back at 11:00 am when a translator would be available. I returned at that time and was questioned for 3 hours by 3 or more Gendarmes and the translator. At least two of the Gendarmes were from Thio. One was the commander of the Gendarmerie in Thio. They had come to Noumea to take our reports personally. None had the slightest resemblance to Inspector Clouseou in Peter Sellers' famous Pink Panther movies. One of the men I had spoken to earlier came out for the third time, gave me his card and said to call if I thought of anything else or needed anything. His card said that he was the Commander of the Gendarmerie for New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna. I was given the name of a person in the French-American organization in Noumea to call if we needed any help. I received a call from the US embassy in Fiji asking if we needed any assistance. I was also given the phone number of the Fijian embassy or consulate in New Caledonia to call if we needed any help. Fiji handles US diplomatic affairs in New Caledonia. Then the Gendarmes went to the hospital and spent another 1 1/2 hours taking a report from Lynne. We estimate that they have put in 40 man hours so far dealing with a serious dog bite incident.
Sunrise has arrived in Opua. The delivery crew said that they had a nice passage for the most part, with no significant problems.
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Plans
Simon sailed off this afternoon on Sunrise in weather we would have avoided. But Simon is a sailboat racer.
We have a rental car until Oct 19 when we fly to NZ. Now that all the work has been done to get Simon off, we are starting to have a vacation land touring Grande Terre, New Caledonia.
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We have a rental car until Oct 19 when we fly to NZ. Now that all the work has been done to get Simon off, we are starting to have a vacation land touring Grande Terre, New Caledonia.
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Lunch with a Kagu
And, so, we had to move off Sunrise, rent a car and start a new land life. We spent 8 nights in a Noumea Youth Hostel which was on hill and which had a beautiful view overlooking the city of Noumea and her many bays and harbors. From there we went to Noumea's museums, cultural centers and the aquarium. Our favorite outing was to the Parc de Riviere Bleue where we had lunch with a cagou/kagu. We sat down for a picnic lunch next to a sign that said, "Sentier a Cagous" (Trail to the Kagus) when up walks a kagu. We think he was interested mostly in our chocolate cookies. Contrary to what the bird book and pamphlets say, kagus are most definitely not shy. We took lots of great photos, said our goodbyes, got back on our bikes and down the road came to a trail to the Giant Kauri tree another site known to have the kagu. We saw more kagus and the very rare Crow Honeyeater, an endemic like the kagu. From there we took a long route home seeing the Chutes de Madeline in the far south of Grande Terre seeing a lake like Lake Mead behind a dam, the source of the power to run a huge nickel processing plant between Yate and Goro. The main road was closed and we ended up on roads that made Last Chance Canyon's washed out trails look good. These "roads" had potholes the size of our little car. We took another road trip there 2 days later and visited the dam, some mining ruins, read all the points of interest signs and spent productive time birding.
3 Kagu
1 Crow Honeyeater
Many New Caledonian Crow which is renown for its use of tools, mainly holding sticks in its bill to dig insects out of tree trunks.
1 White-bellied Goshawk.
Horned Parakeet
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3 Kagu
1 Crow Honeyeater
Many New Caledonian Crow which is renown for its use of tools, mainly holding sticks in its bill to dig insects out of tree trunks.
1 White-bellied Goshawk.
Horned Parakeet
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Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Plans
Simon sailed off this afternoon on Sunrise in weather we would have avoided. But Simon is a sailboat racer.
We have a rental car until Oct 19 when we fly to NZ. Now that all the work has been done to get Simon off, we are starting to have a vacation land touring Grand Terre, New Caledonia.
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We have a rental car until Oct 19 when we fly to NZ. Now that all the work has been done to get Simon off, we are starting to have a vacation land touring Grand Terre, New Caledonia.
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Thursday, October 3, 2013
Sweet Sorrow
We are coming to the end of our tropical cruise and we are having thoughts about what a great boat Sunrise is, where we have gone together, how she's been our home for 12 out of the last 24 months, a major focus of our life for the last 20 years and how beautiful she is and… boo hoo, tearing and choking up. We had a beautiful and fast sail in perfect wind the other day with Sunrise her most graceful self. We had thoughts about maybe we should re-think selling her when - FORTUNATELY - we met a small boat going the other way, beating into the strong wind, rolling and horribly pitching and laying over about 40 degrees. Then we remembered the tough passages and, well, it is probably a good thing to part ways while most of our memories are good.
New Caledonia really is beautiful with her clear multi-blue water, sparkling sandy islands and fantastic bird and sea life. The sailing is great in the flat water of the lagoon and everyone speaks English to us when we try to speak French to them.
Simon arrives on Sunday to take her to Opua, New Zealand. Oh no, here I go again.
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New Caledonia really is beautiful with her clear multi-blue water, sparkling sandy islands and fantastic bird and sea life. The sailing is great in the flat water of the lagoon and everyone speaks English to us when we try to speak French to them.
Simon arrives on Sunday to take her to Opua, New Zealand. Oh no, here I go again.
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Monday, September 30, 2013
Oh, wow! Sea Snake City
We forgot to mention yesterday that the rugged limestone shoreline (ancient raised coral reef) around all of the islands at Gadji had chitons everywhere. OH WOW, CHITON CITY! We have seen maybe a couple total during the last two years and here were hundreds or thousands. One of the interesting things of exploring is the uneven distribution of all types of creatures. That way, there is always something interesting to see and admire. We ended the day by taking photos of the "Green Flash" as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
Our trip from Gadji to Ilot Ndo challenged us with narrow passages through surrounding reefs, coral reefs needing avoidance and current pushing us one way then the other. We were rewarded with an island of our own, no signs of humans and multiple shades of turquoise water. There were lots of ospreys, brown noddies, black noddies, silver gulls and the usual tweety birds. After taking this all in from Sunrise, we were shocked to hear a helicopter approaching and were stunned when it landed and 3 people emerged. Barry says I should not use the Kiwi term "whop whops" to describe our location because then see what happens - Whop! Whop! Whop! Here comes a helicopter! He also is guessing that the term might have come from the fact that you need a helicopter whop, whop, whopping to get to such a remote location.
We walked completely around the island, observing, photographing and oohing and aahing. In the process, we saw innumerable tracks in the sand where snakes had crawled from the sea to the land or back. And then we saw a sea snake on the land. And another. And another. It was "OH WOW, Snake City! Eventually, we counted 14 sea snakes crawling on the land and beach. We don't know why there are so many on land and we haven't seen a one in the water - well, one. Perhaps they are there to lay their eggs. Maybe you could google and let us know. We also found 2 broken Chambered Nautilus shells and some turtles while on Sunrise.
This afternoon we snorkeled one of the best reefs ever. There was a 30' drop off, healthy hard and soft coral and beau coup de fish and other critters. The water temperature is a bit cold even when wearing our spring wet suits. I,Lynne, have the same O'Neill wetsuit I've had for the last 25 years and, despite lots of use, it is still in great shape. Also, my preferred mask is still the 25 year old Sherwood. We saw a shark, a number of giant clams (including a monster, 14 inches wide with a bright purple mantle one, a first), a huge Crown-of-Thorns seastar, and some really big Napoleans and groupers. There were some large violet sea urchins with very long, thin spines and bright turquoise markings on the shell. There were red sea urchins with long fat spines the diameter of your little finger and nobby red shells. There was also a most unusual sea urchin with very long, thin white spines interspersed with shorter brown spines the diameter of a needle. Nearing the end of our snorkel, I commented to Lynne that there were absolutely no mollusks other than the giant clams. Swimming back to the dinghy across the shallow sandy top of the reef, there were the mollusks, both alive and empty shells. There were at least 10 different types. One was a beautiful miter about 2 ½ inches long with a clean, colorful exterior. Since it was alive, we put it back.
The last few days, we have been in the middle of a high pressure zone, so there is very clear air and no or just a few clouds. That means that we have been able to see the "Green Flash" every night. By setting the camera to take pictures two stops under-exposed, the "Green Flash" photographs nicely. But when we have used the same camera to take a video, the exposure setting is normal and the green color washes out and hardly shows.
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Our trip from Gadji to Ilot Ndo challenged us with narrow passages through surrounding reefs, coral reefs needing avoidance and current pushing us one way then the other. We were rewarded with an island of our own, no signs of humans and multiple shades of turquoise water. There were lots of ospreys, brown noddies, black noddies, silver gulls and the usual tweety birds. After taking this all in from Sunrise, we were shocked to hear a helicopter approaching and were stunned when it landed and 3 people emerged. Barry says I should not use the Kiwi term "whop whops" to describe our location because then see what happens - Whop! Whop! Whop! Here comes a helicopter! He also is guessing that the term might have come from the fact that you need a helicopter whop, whop, whopping to get to such a remote location.
We walked completely around the island, observing, photographing and oohing and aahing. In the process, we saw innumerable tracks in the sand where snakes had crawled from the sea to the land or back. And then we saw a sea snake on the land. And another. And another. It was "OH WOW, Snake City! Eventually, we counted 14 sea snakes crawling on the land and beach. We don't know why there are so many on land and we haven't seen a one in the water - well, one. Perhaps they are there to lay their eggs. Maybe you could google and let us know. We also found 2 broken Chambered Nautilus shells and some turtles while on Sunrise.
This afternoon we snorkeled one of the best reefs ever. There was a 30' drop off, healthy hard and soft coral and beau coup de fish and other critters. The water temperature is a bit cold even when wearing our spring wet suits. I,Lynne, have the same O'Neill wetsuit I've had for the last 25 years and, despite lots of use, it is still in great shape. Also, my preferred mask is still the 25 year old Sherwood. We saw a shark, a number of giant clams (including a monster, 14 inches wide with a bright purple mantle one, a first), a huge Crown-of-Thorns seastar, and some really big Napoleans and groupers. There were some large violet sea urchins with very long, thin spines and bright turquoise markings on the shell. There were red sea urchins with long fat spines the diameter of your little finger and nobby red shells. There was also a most unusual sea urchin with very long, thin white spines interspersed with shorter brown spines the diameter of a needle. Nearing the end of our snorkel, I commented to Lynne that there were absolutely no mollusks other than the giant clams. Swimming back to the dinghy across the shallow sandy top of the reef, there were the mollusks, both alive and empty shells. There were at least 10 different types. One was a beautiful miter about 2 ½ inches long with a clean, colorful exterior. Since it was alive, we put it back.
The last few days, we have been in the middle of a high pressure zone, so there is very clear air and no or just a few clouds. That means that we have been able to see the "Green Flash" every night. By setting the camera to take pictures two stops under-exposed, the "Green Flash" photographs nicely. But when we have used the same camera to take a video, the exposure setting is normal and the green color washes out and hardly shows.
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Saturday, September 28, 2013
S&S
Ilot Ndo. Paradise!
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All Things Bright and Beautiful Under Water
We had glorious snorkeling on the outside drop-off of the reef. From Barry: We tied up the dinghy on the lee side of a small island and swam around the island and over the reef to the outside. The coral kept getting better and better the farther we got to the outside of the reef. However, the incoming current and swells made the swimming more challenging. There were a few beautiful clams, including a giant and an all-black one. The water was very clear, providing outstanding visibility. On the outside, the reef just disappeared from sight, going straight down. There were a great many different species of hard corals and a little bit of soft coral. There were a great many fish on the edge of the reef. A considerable number were over 2 feet long. One of the drawbacks of New Caledonia is that there is a lot of ciguatera toxin in the reef fishes. Therefore we have not been fishing here, and the fishing would be awesome. The neat thing about the ciguatera here is that nobody else is fishing for reef fishes, so there are huge numbers of fish to see. The quantity of fish is as good as "The Aquarium" reef just inside the eastern pass of Rangiroa atoll, where we were last year. Toward the end of our snorkeling, it was easy returning to our dinghy. We just swam in, letting the surge from the swells push us along relatively effortlessly over the reef. Between the snorkeling and dinghy rides, this area has been the highlight of New Caledonia. Beautiful. Full of life. Sheltered water. Mild wind.
We found a mixed flock of about 30 Pacific Golden Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones resting on a rock/islet near Sunrise. Our dinner time dinghy ride was beautiful scenery of coral caves, bridges, coves and mushroom-shaped rocks. For sure, Baie de Gadji is Osprey City! We have great Osprey photos and, also, videos of the sharksuckers feasting on pieces of croissants being thrown into the water.
A food speciality on the Ile des Pins is land snail. It has a pretty shell about 4 or 5 inches long. I bought them "already prepared" in the shell because that sounded like a new taste treat that we could handle. After cooking we discovered that the whole entire snail was still in there with antenna, lungs, guts, everything. We hope the fish enjoyed the escargot . Ditto the national dish, bougna. When it was served to us it was prepared with black pepper which both of us detest. The only other food news is that, because it was my birthday yesterday, I put sparkling purple sprinkles on my potato salad.
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We found a mixed flock of about 30 Pacific Golden Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones resting on a rock/islet near Sunrise. Our dinner time dinghy ride was beautiful scenery of coral caves, bridges, coves and mushroom-shaped rocks. For sure, Baie de Gadji is Osprey City! We have great Osprey photos and, also, videos of the sharksuckers feasting on pieces of croissants being thrown into the water.
A food speciality on the Ile des Pins is land snail. It has a pretty shell about 4 or 5 inches long. I bought them "already prepared" in the shell because that sounded like a new taste treat that we could handle. After cooking we discovered that the whole entire snail was still in there with antenna, lungs, guts, everything. We hope the fish enjoyed the escargot . Ditto the national dish, bougna. When it was served to us it was prepared with black pepper which both of us detest. The only other food news is that, because it was my birthday yesterday, I put sparkling purple sprinkles on my potato salad.
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Friday, September 27, 2013
Oh, wow! Osprey City. Plus all creatures bright, beautiful, great and small
9/28/13 Now we have 3 Sharksuckers that look like remoras with an oval suction disc on top of their heads. The people on The Rose had 7 and they told us to feed them. So this morning we threw bread in the water, out from under the boat they came, and we watched, photographed and took video of them. Also, 6 Common Stingarees (rays). Yesterday we spent the late afternoon in the company of 6 or so Ospreys - young, old, fighting, fishing, flying, carrying a Black Damsel (we think) fish, screeching at each other and posing majestically. Took Rubber Ducky out for a spin over reefs and around islets, seeing birds, sea creatures and 3 other boats in a huge turquoise lagoon complex with beau coup de bays, islands, reefs and sand bars. All this is in very shallow clear water so we could "snorkel" from the dinghy. Yesterday we added the Red-throated Parrotfinch and Shining Bronze Cuckoo to our life list. We saw a green dove but could not identify it. We have seen 62 species of birds since leaving NZ in May of which 44 are life birds. Day before yesterday, Ilot Moro yielded 2 copper and black banded sea snakes of unknown species on shore. I either stepped on the sea snake or right next to it; it was hard to make an accurate assessment because I was busy leaping and screaming. I'm not afraid of snakes but it is surprising what instinct does. We recorded 2 Buff-banded Rails, 2 ospreys fishing and flying with fish in talons and 4 Lesser Frigatebirds plus the usual fantails, honeyeaters, gerygones, Swiftlets, Cuckooshrikes and Sacred Kingfishers. We are so so grateful to be here living this life!!
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Thursday, September 26, 2013
S&S Gadji
Anchored at Ile Tianloro in Gadji Bay NW corner of Ile des Pins. Here 2 days or so.
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Wednesday, September 25, 2013
s&s
Safe and sound Baie de Uamaeo which is spelled 6 different ways in our guides. Barry took me out to lunch at a nice restaurant for my birthday. Then bird watching. There is no restaurant anywhere where we will be on the 28th.
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cup
Please let us know who wins the America's Cup. Go, Kiwis, go! (from mom) Go, Team Oracle! (dad)
Sea is glassy. Sky is cloudless. Beautiful! Leaving about 1100 for Uamaeo/Oamaeo Bay W side of Ile des Pins.
OK. Off to Ilot Moro to birdwatch
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Sea is glassy. Sky is cloudless. Beautiful! Leaving about 1100 for Uamaeo/Oamaeo Bay W side of Ile des Pins.
OK. Off to Ilot Moro to birdwatch
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Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Safe & Sound on Ilot Moro
Anchor down at 1025 on Ilot Moro. Wow! Beautiful reefs and islet with sunny clear sky.
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Ile des Pins
Excellent birding opportunities on Ile des Pins and we have added about 10 lifers (birds never seen before in our life). Interesting history of convicts being shipped from France and imprisoned here. When we first arrived the skies were cloudy and rainy and we certainly didn’t agree that the Ile des Pins is the most beautiful island in the world. Today, however, it was clear and sunny and “stunningly beautiful” just as the books say. What a difference the sun makes.
The bay where we are has internet. It is stunningly slow and irritating. Most of the pictures that I’ve tried to put in our blog or put in Facebook have failed by timing out. I agree with Barry – we were happier when we had no internet and didn’t even try. Today is our last day of internet for tomorrow we leave for remote anchorages. If you want to keep up you really should check our blog: svsunrisenews.blogspot.com or google svsunrise.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Birds and Ile des Pins
Birds we have seen in New Caledonia so far:
Silvereye
New Caledonian Myzomela - Ile Ouen
New Caledonian/Goliath Imperial Pigeon - Ile Ouen
Red-vented Bulbul in marina
Silver Gull same as Red-billed Gull in New Zealand
House Sparrow in Noumea and marina
Black Noddy 1000s on passage from Ile Ouen flying, diving, fishing, sitting.
Brown Noddy 100s on same passage diving, fishing.
Great Crested Terns at sea and resting on reef - as in all South Pacific
Gray-eared/Dark Brown Honeyeater - Ile Ouen
Osprey at sea, fishing
Common Waxbill in city
Purple Swamphen, same as Pukeko in New Zealand
Rainbow Lorikeets - Noumea Central Park, same as Vanuatu
White-faced Heron - same as New Zealand
Spotted Dove in Noumea
Fan-tailed Gerygone - Ile Ouen and same as Vanuatu
Common Myna in Noumea
Also turtles, very large. A sea snake in Port Moselle harbor,
There are many more sea birds here than in Vanuatu. Our theory is that in New Caledonia the French have a military presence and keep out the illegal Southeast Asian fishing fleets. More fish equals more sea birds. We see the war ships patrolling off south Grand Terre.
Our sail from Grande Terre to Ile des Pins was fast, smooth and lovely. More turtles here and the yacht, "The Rose" which we met in Surrarow.
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Silvereye
New Caledonian Myzomela - Ile Ouen
New Caledonian/Goliath Imperial Pigeon - Ile Ouen
Red-vented Bulbul in marina
Silver Gull same as Red-billed Gull in New Zealand
House Sparrow in Noumea and marina
Black Noddy 1000s on passage from Ile Ouen flying, diving, fishing, sitting.
Brown Noddy 100s on same passage diving, fishing.
Great Crested Terns at sea and resting on reef - as in all South Pacific
Gray-eared/Dark Brown Honeyeater - Ile Ouen
Osprey at sea, fishing
Common Waxbill in city
Purple Swamphen, same as Pukeko in New Zealand
Rainbow Lorikeets - Noumea Central Park, same as Vanuatu
White-faced Heron - same as New Zealand
Spotted Dove in Noumea
Fan-tailed Gerygone - Ile Ouen and same as Vanuatu
Common Myna in Noumea
Also turtles, very large. A sea snake in Port Moselle harbor,
There are many more sea birds here than in Vanuatu. Our theory is that in New Caledonia the French have a military presence and keep out the illegal Southeast Asian fishing fleets. More fish equals more sea birds. We see the war ships patrolling off south Grand Terre.
Our sail from Grande Terre to Ile des Pins was fast, smooth and lovely. More turtles here and the yacht, "The Rose" which we met in Surrarow.
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Turtles
Turtle in Pilot Bay, Ile Ouen. In fact, we see turtles so often that we forget to report. On way to Ile de Pins, no wind.
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Venus and Saturn
Are next to each other. Take a look!
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Tuesday, September 17, 2013
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is much more beautiful and unspoiled than I imagined with much bare red soil and pine trees which are the shape of well-used pipe cleaners. Aside from the pine trees the vegetation is sparse and low growing due to the ultramafic soils - full of minerals, especially nickel. It is not volcanic like Vanuatu, but rather a piece that broke off Gondwanaland leaving Australia behind, according to the books. There is much floating pumice here and it could be that the same pumice we sailed through last year has blown this far. We knew we were in a different world when we sailed into the southern lagoon of New Caledonia. The water became flat calm, the soil was bright red, there were those weird trees poking up and everywhere were white sand islets brilliant in the sun. And it was cold because we have sailed south almost out of the tropics now.
Our Port Moselle Marina neighbors are fun and interesting and from all over the world. The younger couple on our port side are from Finland and the British Nick and Kathy on Impala are on our starboard. We have been with Impala many times in Vanuatu and we enjoy their company.
Saturday we walked the capital city of Noumea and toured the New Caledonia Archives Library where we learned about the nickel mines. Nickel mining is the big deal here in New Caledonia.
Half the people are Melanesian Kanaks, and the other half mostly French. The Kanaks, like the niVans, are into Rastafarian/reggae music, garb and hair-dos. When we missed the last bus down the hill, a Kanak man stopped and generously gave us a ride into the city. He also generously offered us a joint asking "Marijuana?" It was the only word besides "merci" that we had in common but it is amazing how well charades and pointing works.
The bad news about Noumea is that it stinks of sewer and cigarette smoke and the people speak French. The good news is that if we try to speak French, people will speak English back, I think because it is less painful than trying to understand our French.
As soon as we got boat chores done in Noumea we left for a beautiful little islet just 6 miles south of the city. It smells good and is quiet and peaceful - aahhh.
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Our Port Moselle Marina neighbors are fun and interesting and from all over the world. The younger couple on our port side are from Finland and the British Nick and Kathy on Impala are on our starboard. We have been with Impala many times in Vanuatu and we enjoy their company.
Saturday we walked the capital city of Noumea and toured the New Caledonia Archives Library where we learned about the nickel mines. Nickel mining is the big deal here in New Caledonia.
Half the people are Melanesian Kanaks, and the other half mostly French. The Kanaks, like the niVans, are into Rastafarian/reggae music, garb and hair-dos. When we missed the last bus down the hill, a Kanak man stopped and generously gave us a ride into the city. He also generously offered us a joint asking "Marijuana?" It was the only word besides "merci" that we had in common but it is amazing how well charades and pointing works.
The bad news about Noumea is that it stinks of sewer and cigarette smoke and the people speak French. The good news is that if we try to speak French, people will speak English back, I think because it is less painful than trying to understand our French.
As soon as we got boat chores done in Noumea we left for a beautiful little islet just 6 miles south of the city. It smells good and is quiet and peaceful - aahhh.
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Monday, September 16, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
s&s
Safe and sound in Port Moselle Marina next to our friends on Impala. Friday the 13th is our lucky day - they speak English in the marina!! Plus, after the lightning, all the rest of the trip has been perfect. Accidently turned off inmarsat breaker again so let us know if you get position reports. Sorry!!
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Land Ho
Approaching Havannah Pass, can see land, and glow of Noumea lights.
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Lucky to Be Alive
Very grateful that the 3 of us - Barry, Lynne and Sunrise - are alive and well. The sun is shining, a butterfly just fluttered by and we are bobbing around in a beautiful cove. Not anchored, mind you, that would be illegal because we haven't checked into New Caledonia yet. Last night from 3 am to 7 am was another story. 8 knots of wind forecast. The highest we recorded was 42 knots. Then there was the lightning, thunder, rain that stung your skin and almost blinded you, the howling rigging and the ocean crashing over the deck. I told Barry that if we are struck dead by lighning, I've loved being married to him and loved our life together. I don't know why the lightning didn't hit us with our mast sticking up 50 ft - the tallest thing in hundreds of miles.
Anyway, safe and sound so far. Bob around here until this afternoon when we leave for Havannah Pass, arriving in Noumea and check-in about 2 or 3 pm.
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Anyway, safe and sound so far. Bob around here until this afternoon when we leave for Havannah Pass, arriving in Noumea and check-in about 2 or 3 pm.
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Saturday, September 7, 2013
Survivor in Port Havannah
From Barry: Wednesday, Sept 4, we motored to Port Havannah on the island of Efate. Although our course has changed from SSE to SSW from yesterday to today, the wind has clocked and is right on the nose again, for the most part. The mainsail provided minimal drive all day. There were a few brief times that we were seduced into putting out a headsail, but would soon be luffing or backwinded and forced to roll it up again. It was a relief to enter the narrow northwestern channel into Port Havannah, a deep bay between Efate and the fringing islands of Moso and Lelepa. We are told that Moso and Lelepa are "famed" as the locations of one of the "Survivor" TV shows series. We anchored off the mouth of a small creek in nice sheltered water. Port Havannah was also used as a sheltered anchorage by our ships during WW2 and there are supposed to be numerous relics of those times to be found by divers.
5 September. We took a dinghy ride up the creek for about ¾ of a mile looking for birds. We heard many, but only got brief glimpses and took no pictures. We also snorkeled in two spots, but the visibility was only fair and the coral fair for the most part. We did see lots of small colorful fish at the second location, along with a number of small to medium clams, two pin cushion starfish and a bunch of large "feeding tube" creatures, all of which we had also seen in French Polynesia. Our neighbor here is a megayacht named "Blue Gold", home ported in Port Vila and when we dinghied past we were invited aboard by a NiVan, Nixon of Asanvari fame. We got to see how the other half lives! We got a complete tour of the ship from bridge to engine room. Made in Italy, the yacht had beautiful, large sitting and dining rooms and numerous cabins, two kitchens, a large laundry room and large engine room. The bridge was impressive. On the other hand, the yacht had seen better times and was badly in need of repair in the showers, electronics, engine room and a few other places. We were told that the yacht is owned by a Dutch businessman who visits infrequently. Since the water maker had been sold off, they were in need of some good drinking water. We supplied them with 15 gallons. It is a lot of boat for a crew of two relatively inexperienced people to maintain (Nixon and his girlfriend).
6 September. We went up the creek again in the dinghy soon after it got light. The birds were very active and calling up a storm (birds in Vanuatu have 2 or 3 espressos when they get up in the morning) but hard to get a good look or picture. Eventually, we got some fair to good looks and some pictures of Rainbow Lorikeets, Pacific Emerald Doves, a Grey-Eared Honeyeater, two Pacific Black Ducks and a dozen shore birds, either Bristle-thighed Curlews or Whimbrels. Lynne is going nuts trying to figure out which it is. Midday, we moved the boat near the southwest end of the harbor (where they filmed Survivor) to get a shorter hop to Port Vila in the morning. We also saw Pacific Reef Heron and Mynas. By the way, the shore birds were Whimbrels.
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5 September. We took a dinghy ride up the creek for about ¾ of a mile looking for birds. We heard many, but only got brief glimpses and took no pictures. We also snorkeled in two spots, but the visibility was only fair and the coral fair for the most part. We did see lots of small colorful fish at the second location, along with a number of small to medium clams, two pin cushion starfish and a bunch of large "feeding tube" creatures, all of which we had also seen in French Polynesia. Our neighbor here is a megayacht named "Blue Gold", home ported in Port Vila and when we dinghied past we were invited aboard by a NiVan, Nixon of Asanvari fame. We got to see how the other half lives! We got a complete tour of the ship from bridge to engine room. Made in Italy, the yacht had beautiful, large sitting and dining rooms and numerous cabins, two kitchens, a large laundry room and large engine room. The bridge was impressive. On the other hand, the yacht had seen better times and was badly in need of repair in the showers, electronics, engine room and a few other places. We were told that the yacht is owned by a Dutch businessman who visits infrequently. Since the water maker had been sold off, they were in need of some good drinking water. We supplied them with 15 gallons. It is a lot of boat for a crew of two relatively inexperienced people to maintain (Nixon and his girlfriend).
6 September. We went up the creek again in the dinghy soon after it got light. The birds were very active and calling up a storm (birds in Vanuatu have 2 or 3 espressos when they get up in the morning) but hard to get a good look or picture. Eventually, we got some fair to good looks and some pictures of Rainbow Lorikeets, Pacific Emerald Doves, a Grey-Eared Honeyeater, two Pacific Black Ducks and a dozen shore birds, either Bristle-thighed Curlews or Whimbrels. Lynne is going nuts trying to figure out which it is. Midday, we moved the boat near the southwest end of the harbor (where they filmed Survivor) to get a shorter hop to Port Vila in the morning. We also saw Pacific Reef Heron and Mynas. By the way, the shore birds were Whimbrels.
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We Have a Plan
Do boat chores here in Port Vila until Tuesday afternoon, Sept 10. Monitor windvane needs welding, 4 alternators not working? Winches need servicing. On Tuesday we need to check out and get fuel. Yesterday went to supermarket, ATM, shoe shopping, out to eat 2 times, topped up cell phone, delivered 6 loads of laundry to Yachting World to be done. Then... it's off we go to New Caledonia, a 2 or 2 and a half day passage.
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Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Moving South
I got up at 2:15 am and went out to look at the volcanos for a long time. There is not just a steady glow, rather eruptions. Don't know why I find them so interesting. Orion was up, standing on his head as he does in the southern hemisphere. I stay up later than Barry because the really good news is on from 8pm until 9 pm from Australia. That's right - 9 pm is late going to bed here. It's pitch dark at 7 pm and Barry can't stay awake past 8.
Sept 4, 0100 here in Vanuatu. The volcanos, now 50 miles away, are too far to see anymore.
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Sept 4, 0100 here in Vanuatu. The volcanos, now 50 miles away, are too far to see anymore.
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Sunday, September 1, 2013
Night and Day in the Islands of Vanuatu
The big deal about the megapodes and dugongs is that they are both listed as vulnerable to extinction. This is noted in the Lonely Planet so most visitors are aware but, sadly, most niVan in the custom villages are not. To maintain the population of a species, the ancient chiefs had tabus at certain times of the year and in certain critical places. There is a tabu on megapode eggs now but the word needs to be spread. (Tabus in Melanesia are like our hunting "seasons" and regulations. )
We feel very welcome in this village - we now have 50 bananas aboard. Can you put them unpeeled in the freezer and use for banana bread later? Someone please answer, we have no way to google. We also have cabbage, popo (papaya), pamplemousse, mandarins, regular grapefruit, island cabbage, bok choy, snake beans, yams (not like ours), kumalas (sweet potatoes), limes, nuts, taro, laplap and tomatoes. In addition, 2 families made the effort to follow the hens in order to find their nests and find 8 eggs for us. Snake beans are big striped beans and are delicious. When I say big, I mean like the various sizes of zucchini. Of course, all this fresh-from-the-garden produce is delicious.
Today, being Sunday, we went to church - this time AOG (Assembly of God). We were inspired by the prayers and sermon even if we only understood about a fourth of it. There was great singing and guitar playing. (I think I said that Melanesians and Polynesians could teach white people how to sing. However, this afternoon we listened to Handel's Messiah on Sunrise and I take back what I said.) In church the children played on the floor and 2 of the children had real shoes - brand new. The shoes were good because you could take them off and use the laces to tow your shells as you drove your shoes around the floor. They had no real toys but used shoes, sea shells and coins to play with. After, we shook everyone's hand but, fortunately, there were only 24 adults and 15 children this time.
When we arrived in the village for church, we were again impressed with how tidy and well-kept the village is. Everyone was out and about cooking and cleaning. The young children were naked and happy, but when the parents noticed us they ran to get underpants to put on the children. Hey, we like naked! (I'm afraid the missionaries are giving us white people a bad reputation.) We birdwatched while waiting for church which, we were told, would start when we heard the guitars play. Sure enough, the guitars played some chords and everyone ducked into the house to put on their Sunday best clothes, emerged a few minutes later and went into the church.
From Barry: The buildings are constructed differently in this village from what we have seen elsewhere. In this village, the walls are sheathed with horizontal strips of palm wood. Many of the windows have covers that are hinged at the top. We have seen these window covers before in Fiji. In other villages in Vanuatu, the walls are made of woven bamboo strips or woven palm fronds or pandanus and the windows often have a lattice, perhaps to keep the dogs and chickens out. This village had a dirt road passing through and bicycles which we haven't seen before.
It was another beautiful sunny day today. The twin volcanoes of Ambrym over 30 miles away are silhouetted against the sky. It was another terrific day climb the volcano. Tonight, the glow of the erupting molten lava is reflected off the bottom of the smoke or clouds over each of the volcanoes. Awesome! We are here in the dry season. And dry it is. Our boat is so encrusted with salt crystals that it is starting to remind me of Searles Lake in Trona. I am very envious of Brad and Debra on Starlight. They have such a large desalinator that they have a fresh water deck wash-down system. We have to wash our boat off with buckets of salt water. We could sure use a good rain. However, we are so thankful for the modest desalinator that we do have that makes enough fresh water for us to drink, cook, wash dishes and bathe. Life is not only good, it is terrific!
From Lynne: I spent hours the last 2 nights on deck looking at those fascinating volcanos erupting - and the stars, the Milky Way, Venus, Scorpius, the Southern Cross and those 2 bright stars in Centaurus which point to the Southern Cross, the occasional meteorite and the dark, dark shore. When the sun goes down that's it out here in the boonies/whop whops. Except for large areas around the 2 main towns of Vila and Santo/Luganville there is no electricity in Vanuatu. Just try to imagine - virtually no clocks, mostly no watches (lack of batteries), no stoves, ovens, propane or any gas, nor lights, fans, radios, TVs, CD players nor any major or minor appliance. There is nowhere to re-charge your cell phone (called a mobile here) unless you are lucky enough to have little solar panels. No wonder they still communicate with drums and loud hooting. We have seen a few generators in places heavily visited by tourists (like the bungalows near Yassur volcano).
Monday, Sept 2 Yesterday we dinghied along the rocky cave-riddled shore and looked at the underwater reef life from the dinghy. We've spotted large turtles and searched to no avail for dugongs. Today we snorkel the reef, do boat chores and wait here in Foreland Bay on Epi Island for the wind to abate for our trip to Efate and Port Vila.
Birds: White and dark morph Pacific Reef Heron, Pacific Swallow, Glossy Swiftlets, Common Mynah in the village only, Dark-brown Honeyeater (sings like a mockingbird), Metallic Pigeon, lorikeets, and kingfishers heard. Oh, and piglets, chickens, cows and a few dogs wondering around in the village. No cats.
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We feel very welcome in this village - we now have 50 bananas aboard. Can you put them unpeeled in the freezer and use for banana bread later? Someone please answer, we have no way to google. We also have cabbage, popo (papaya), pamplemousse, mandarins, regular grapefruit, island cabbage, bok choy, snake beans, yams (not like ours), kumalas (sweet potatoes), limes, nuts, taro, laplap and tomatoes. In addition, 2 families made the effort to follow the hens in order to find their nests and find 8 eggs for us. Snake beans are big striped beans and are delicious. When I say big, I mean like the various sizes of zucchini. Of course, all this fresh-from-the-garden produce is delicious.
Today, being Sunday, we went to church - this time AOG (Assembly of God). We were inspired by the prayers and sermon even if we only understood about a fourth of it. There was great singing and guitar playing. (I think I said that Melanesians and Polynesians could teach white people how to sing. However, this afternoon we listened to Handel's Messiah on Sunrise and I take back what I said.) In church the children played on the floor and 2 of the children had real shoes - brand new. The shoes were good because you could take them off and use the laces to tow your shells as you drove your shoes around the floor. They had no real toys but used shoes, sea shells and coins to play with. After, we shook everyone's hand but, fortunately, there were only 24 adults and 15 children this time.
When we arrived in the village for church, we were again impressed with how tidy and well-kept the village is. Everyone was out and about cooking and cleaning. The young children were naked and happy, but when the parents noticed us they ran to get underpants to put on the children. Hey, we like naked! (I'm afraid the missionaries are giving us white people a bad reputation.) We birdwatched while waiting for church which, we were told, would start when we heard the guitars play. Sure enough, the guitars played some chords and everyone ducked into the house to put on their Sunday best clothes, emerged a few minutes later and went into the church.
From Barry: The buildings are constructed differently in this village from what we have seen elsewhere. In this village, the walls are sheathed with horizontal strips of palm wood. Many of the windows have covers that are hinged at the top. We have seen these window covers before in Fiji. In other villages in Vanuatu, the walls are made of woven bamboo strips or woven palm fronds or pandanus and the windows often have a lattice, perhaps to keep the dogs and chickens out. This village had a dirt road passing through and bicycles which we haven't seen before.
It was another beautiful sunny day today. The twin volcanoes of Ambrym over 30 miles away are silhouetted against the sky. It was another terrific day climb the volcano. Tonight, the glow of the erupting molten lava is reflected off the bottom of the smoke or clouds over each of the volcanoes. Awesome! We are here in the dry season. And dry it is. Our boat is so encrusted with salt crystals that it is starting to remind me of Searles Lake in Trona. I am very envious of Brad and Debra on Starlight. They have such a large desalinator that they have a fresh water deck wash-down system. We have to wash our boat off with buckets of salt water. We could sure use a good rain. However, we are so thankful for the modest desalinator that we do have that makes enough fresh water for us to drink, cook, wash dishes and bathe. Life is not only good, it is terrific!
From Lynne: I spent hours the last 2 nights on deck looking at those fascinating volcanos erupting - and the stars, the Milky Way, Venus, Scorpius, the Southern Cross and those 2 bright stars in Centaurus which point to the Southern Cross, the occasional meteorite and the dark, dark shore. When the sun goes down that's it out here in the boonies/whop whops. Except for large areas around the 2 main towns of Vila and Santo/Luganville there is no electricity in Vanuatu. Just try to imagine - virtually no clocks, mostly no watches (lack of batteries), no stoves, ovens, propane or any gas, nor lights, fans, radios, TVs, CD players nor any major or minor appliance. There is nowhere to re-charge your cell phone (called a mobile here) unless you are lucky enough to have little solar panels. No wonder they still communicate with drums and loud hooting. We have seen a few generators in places heavily visited by tourists (like the bungalows near Yassur volcano).
Monday, Sept 2 Yesterday we dinghied along the rocky cave-riddled shore and looked at the underwater reef life from the dinghy. We've spotted large turtles and searched to no avail for dugongs. Today we snorkel the reef, do boat chores and wait here in Foreland Bay on Epi Island for the wind to abate for our trip to Efate and Port Vila.
Birds: White and dark morph Pacific Reef Heron, Pacific Swallow, Glossy Swiftlets, Common Mynah in the village only, Dark-brown Honeyeater (sings like a mockingbird), Metallic Pigeon, lorikeets, and kingfishers heard. Oh, and piglets, chickens, cows and a few dogs wondering around in the village. No cats.
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Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Hike to See Volcano
From Barry: On Monday night, the sky cleared of most of the clouds and we could see the orange glow of the molten lave reflected down from higher clouds. Tuesday morning dawned with the cone of the volcanoes silhouetted against the sky. This suddenly looked very promising for ascending to the rim of the cone to look down on the molten lava. Arrangements were made by Patrick and Rebecca to have a truck transport us from Ranon to Ranletvan village about 1 or 2 miles to the west to pick up the guides and then take us up the hill to the trailhead. We were leaving about 10:30 in the morning instead of the recommended 7 am. I was very grateful for the 30 minute truck ride, as it did a lot of climbing up the mountain. At the trail head, it turned out that the only guide/porter was Joseph. The other two NiVans in the truck were there to fix the truck as necessary. I had two day packs, two small sleeping bags (one for padding) and my large camera. The guide books said that the guides carried your gear up the mountain, but that was not their expectation. Joseph generously offered to carry one of my day packs and Patrick and Rebecca each carried one of my sleeping bags along with their minimal gear. Then the hike began, going up fairly steeply through the forest.
After about 2 ½ hours, we dropped down onto the "ash plain" composed of cinders in the old caldera. The plain is fairly flat and walking on it was like walking on a sandy desert wash. Never-the-less, the ash plain is heavily vegetated with brush, bamboo, tall grasses and a few trees. We walked in the dry river beds for 2 more hours until we got our glimpse of the closest volcano cone. To our dismay, we could only see the bottom, as the top was shrouded in cloud. Our prospects suddenly looked very bleak. In another half hour of walking, we reached the "hut" where we were to spend the night. The hut consisted of a thatched roof with no walls or floor. After resting for a bit and eating, we started hiking again across the ash plain to the base of the cone. After another half hour, we started ascending up a steep creek gulley and then up a steep ridge. When we reached a spot on the ridge where we could get a good view, we stopped and assessed the situation. The cloud ceiling was about 200 feet above us and the guide said that the rim was about another 1 ½ hours hiking away. We stopped and rested and waited to see if we might get lucky and have the clouds dissipate. Instead the clouds were getting lower and it was starting to mist. With no hope of seeing the volcano, we headed back to the hut as the last light of day dimmed.
It was very hard walking the last half mile to the hut in the dim light on black ground since we had not gotten out our flash lights. The guide had set up a large tent, but it was not clear if the tent was only for him or all of us. At bed time, Rebecca decided to go into the tent and I soon followed. Patrick said that he was content to sleep under the shelter. I offered Rebecca one of my sleeping bags, but she said that she was fine and did not need it. Later in the night, Rebecca got very restless and I asked her if she was OK. "No, I've been shivering for the last hour." She gratefully accepted the extra sleeping bag and went back to sleep. Two hours later, Patrick came into the tent and snuggled up to his wife. He had toughed it out as long as he could and had finally given up.
As dawn broke, the mountain was still shrouded in cloud. We ate breakfast, packed up and headed back to get to the trail head by 10 am to meet the truck. There was no time to start back up the cone in hopes of the clouds clearing. We passed two men with a dog going the other way. They were out hunting and their dog had caught a megapode. Between the locals hunting and the gathering of megapode eggs near the hot springs, the future for megapodes looks bleak.
All-in-all, my legs and feet held up pretty well on the first day, although had we ascended to the top, the additional hiking would have been pretty brutal for a person my age and who walks as little as we do living on the boat. By the time we had hiked back down to the trailhead, my knee and toes were starting to suffer from the downhill trek. So, I am back from a long exercise to futility! Or is that futile exercise? Whatever, I am back.
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After about 2 ½ hours, we dropped down onto the "ash plain" composed of cinders in the old caldera. The plain is fairly flat and walking on it was like walking on a sandy desert wash. Never-the-less, the ash plain is heavily vegetated with brush, bamboo, tall grasses and a few trees. We walked in the dry river beds for 2 more hours until we got our glimpse of the closest volcano cone. To our dismay, we could only see the bottom, as the top was shrouded in cloud. Our prospects suddenly looked very bleak. In another half hour of walking, we reached the "hut" where we were to spend the night. The hut consisted of a thatched roof with no walls or floor. After resting for a bit and eating, we started hiking again across the ash plain to the base of the cone. After another half hour, we started ascending up a steep creek gulley and then up a steep ridge. When we reached a spot on the ridge where we could get a good view, we stopped and assessed the situation. The cloud ceiling was about 200 feet above us and the guide said that the rim was about another 1 ½ hours hiking away. We stopped and rested and waited to see if we might get lucky and have the clouds dissipate. Instead the clouds were getting lower and it was starting to mist. With no hope of seeing the volcano, we headed back to the hut as the last light of day dimmed.
It was very hard walking the last half mile to the hut in the dim light on black ground since we had not gotten out our flash lights. The guide had set up a large tent, but it was not clear if the tent was only for him or all of us. At bed time, Rebecca decided to go into the tent and I soon followed. Patrick said that he was content to sleep under the shelter. I offered Rebecca one of my sleeping bags, but she said that she was fine and did not need it. Later in the night, Rebecca got very restless and I asked her if she was OK. "No, I've been shivering for the last hour." She gratefully accepted the extra sleeping bag and went back to sleep. Two hours later, Patrick came into the tent and snuggled up to his wife. He had toughed it out as long as he could and had finally given up.
As dawn broke, the mountain was still shrouded in cloud. We ate breakfast, packed up and headed back to get to the trail head by 10 am to meet the truck. There was no time to start back up the cone in hopes of the clouds clearing. We passed two men with a dog going the other way. They were out hunting and their dog had caught a megapode. Between the locals hunting and the gathering of megapode eggs near the hot springs, the future for megapodes looks bleak.
All-in-all, my legs and feet held up pretty well on the first day, although had we ascended to the top, the additional hiking would have been pretty brutal for a person my age and who walks as little as we do living on the boat. By the time we had hiked back down to the trailhead, my knee and toes were starting to suffer from the downhill trek. So, I am back from a long exercise to futility! Or is that futile exercise? Whatever, I am back.
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Safe
Barry got back safely and he says he is almost in one piece. They did not see the throat because of all the smoke and clouds.
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Monday, August 26, 2013
Wild and Wonderful
Barry has gone off on a wild and wonderful adventure leaving his lame wife behind. I am feeling sorry for myself! We are anchored off the small island of Ambryn which is basically a volcano with 2 active vents. At night we see the 2 vents glowing and changing brightness as they erupt. He and the neighbors, Patrick and Rebecca on BrickHouse, are hiking up to the rim and looking in at the boiling throat. They chose a perfect day with no smoke hiding the view. They will spend the night so that they can see the molten lava better in the dark and because it is such a strenuous hike. This is a bigger, better, less accessible volcano with better views than Mt Yasur which we climbed in May. Patrick and Rebecca are a young couple sailing the world. (Everyone we meet is younger than we are - I think we are the oldest people in all of Vanuatu!) Rebecca, being a woman, has good judgment and can tell Barry to "Get back from the edge!!" Barry, as you know, has a severe case of testosterone poisoning.
Oh, no! It's 4 o'clock and the volcanos are covered in cloud and smoke. That might make a view impossible. At least Barry took the camera with the telephoto lens and said he would photograph all the birds he sees on the way. The first third goes through jungle so maybe he'll see montane birds we haven't seen yet. In the meantime I am having a less than thrilling day inventorying all the prescriptions and medicines we have on board. All I can say is that I am Very Grateful that we have had no need of them. It's mind boggling to think of all the illnesses and afflictions that we don't have - an astounding number of things!
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Oh, no! It's 4 o'clock and the volcanos are covered in cloud and smoke. That might make a view impossible. At least Barry took the camera with the telephoto lens and said he would photograph all the birds he sees on the way. The first third goes through jungle so maybe he'll see montane birds we haven't seen yet. In the meantime I am having a less than thrilling day inventorying all the prescriptions and medicines we have on board. All I can say is that I am Very Grateful that we have had no need of them. It's mind boggling to think of all the illnesses and afflictions that we don't have - an astounding number of things!
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Friday, August 23, 2013
Turtle
A thirteen year old girl came aboard and said she wanted us to buy a live turtle from her. We answered with our standard "We don't buy (or eat) turtles. We only like to see them swimming free in the ocean".
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Thursday, August 22, 2013
My dad's Log
Thanks to my brother, Steve, and Katie who got it to me.
USS Dupage
9/1/1943 Ship went into commission, New York. (Boarded ship 8th of
September)
9/11/1943 Left New York for Norfolk, VA
10/1/1943 Left Norfolk for West Coast
10/22/1943 Arrived San Diego, CA
1/13/1944 Left San Diego for overseas duty
1/21/1944 Arrived at Pearl Harbor
1/22/1944 Left Pearl Harbor for invasion of Marshall Islands
1/31/1944 *D-Day - Hit Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands
2/5/1944 Left Marshalls
2/10/1944 Arrived at Funi Futi in the Ellice Islands
2/13/1944 Left Ellice Islands for Guadalcanal
2/18/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
3/18/1944 Left Guadalcanal
3/21/1944 Arrived at New Caledonia
4/4/1944 Left New Calidonia
4/7/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
4/8/1944 Left Guadalcanal
4/11/1944 *Operation of Emirau Islands
4/14/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
4/26/1944 Left Guadalcanal
4/28/1944 *Arrived at Cape Clouster, New Britain
5/1/1944 Left New Britain
5/3/1944 Arrived at Russell Islands
5/4/1944 Left Russell's and arrived at Guadalcanal same day
6/4/1944 Left Guadalcanal
6/8/1944 Arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
6/12/1944 Left Kwajalein Islands
6/15/1944 *Invasion of Saipan, lying off beach as floating reserves
6/19/1944 First Jap plane to show up was shot down
6/20/1944 Second Jap plane to show up and was shot down
6/21/1944 Third Jap plane to show up, within range, was shot down
6/25/1944 Orders to return to base
6/28/1944 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
7/17/1944 Left Eniwetok Island
7/21/1944 *D-Day Invasion of Guam
7/26/1944 Left Guam
7/30/1944 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
7/31/1944 Left Eniwetok Island
8/5/1944 Arrived at Espirito Sando, New Hebredes ***********This is Luganville, where we were at anchor at the Beachfront Resort*************
8/14/1944 Left Espiritu Santo An expat described the US Navy operation right there on the beach where we were eating lunch.
8/16/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
8/20/1944 Left Guadalcanal, arrived at Russell's the same day
9/8/1944 Left Russell's to invade Peleliu, Palau Islands
9/15/1944 *D-Day Peleliu
9/27/1944 Left Peleliu
9/30/1944 Arrived Hollandia, New Guinea
10/13/1944 Left New Guinea for invasion of Leyte, Phillipine Islands
10/20/1944 *D-Day Leyte, left the same day
10/25/1944 Arrived at Hollandia
11/9/1944 Left Hollandia for Leyte with reinforcements
11/14/1944 Arrived at Leyte, left the same day
11/20/1944 Arrived at Manus Islands
11/30/1944 Left Manus for Aitape in New Guinea
12/1/1944 arrived at Aitape, New Guinea
12/28/1944 Left Aitape ofr Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Phillipine Islands
1/9/1945 *D-Day, Lingayen Gulf
1/10/1945 *Left Lingayen, hit by Jap suicide bomber
1/13/1945 Arrived at Leyte
1/26/1945 Left Leyte to invade San Antonio Bay at Luzon, Phillipine Islands
1/29/1945 *D-Day, invaded San Antonio Bay
1/29/1945 Left Sand Antonio Bay for Leyte
2/1/1945 Arrived at Leyte
2/11/1945 Left Leyte for Manus Islands, Admiralties Group
2/18/1945 Arrived at Manus Islands
2/19/1945 Left Manus for Pearl Harbor
3/2/1945 Arrived at Pearl Harbor
3/3/1945 Left Pearl Harbor for States
3/9/1945 Arrived San Francisco, U.S.A.
5/14/1945 Left San Francisco
5/16/1945 Arrived Seattle, Washington
5/20/1945 Left Seattle
5/27/1945 Arrived Pearl Harbor
5/29/1945 Left Pearl Harbor
6/6/1945 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
6/18/1945 Left Eniwetok Island
6/22/1945 Arrived Ulithi, West Carolines
7/1/1945 Left Ulthi
7/5/1945 Arrived Okinawa, Ryukyos
7/8/1945 Left Okinawa
7/12/1945 Arrived Saipan
7/13/1945 Left Saipan
7/14/1945 Arrived Guam
7/15/1945 Left Guam
7/18/1945 Arrived Eniwetok, left same day for States
7/28/1945 Arrived San Francisco, U.S.A.
8/12/1945 Left San Francisco
8/24/1945 Arrived Eniwetok Islands
8/25/1945 Left Eniwetok Island
8/29/1945 Arrived Ulithi, West Carolines
9/2/1945 Left Ulthi
9/5/1945 Arrived at Leyte
9/8/1945 Left Leyte
9/10/1945 Arrived at Subic Bay, Luzon, Phillipine Islands
9/11/1945 Left Subic Bay
9/12/1945 Arrived at Linguyan Gulf, (San Fernando)
10/1/1945 Left Linguyan Gulf for Japan
10/6/1945 Arrived with occupation forces at Wakayama, Japan
10/26/1945 Left Wakayama
10/27/1945 Arrived Nagoya, Japan
10/29/1945 Left Nagoya, Japan for Home
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USS Dupage
9/1/1943 Ship went into commission, New York. (Boarded ship 8th of
September)
9/11/1943 Left New York for Norfolk, VA
10/1/1943 Left Norfolk for West Coast
10/22/1943 Arrived San Diego, CA
1/13/1944 Left San Diego for overseas duty
1/21/1944 Arrived at Pearl Harbor
1/22/1944 Left Pearl Harbor for invasion of Marshall Islands
1/31/1944 *D-Day - Hit Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands
2/5/1944 Left Marshalls
2/10/1944 Arrived at Funi Futi in the Ellice Islands
2/13/1944 Left Ellice Islands for Guadalcanal
2/18/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
3/18/1944 Left Guadalcanal
3/21/1944 Arrived at New Caledonia
4/4/1944 Left New Calidonia
4/7/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
4/8/1944 Left Guadalcanal
4/11/1944 *Operation of Emirau Islands
4/14/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
4/26/1944 Left Guadalcanal
4/28/1944 *Arrived at Cape Clouster, New Britain
5/1/1944 Left New Britain
5/3/1944 Arrived at Russell Islands
5/4/1944 Left Russell's and arrived at Guadalcanal same day
6/4/1944 Left Guadalcanal
6/8/1944 Arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
6/12/1944 Left Kwajalein Islands
6/15/1944 *Invasion of Saipan, lying off beach as floating reserves
6/19/1944 First Jap plane to show up was shot down
6/20/1944 Second Jap plane to show up and was shot down
6/21/1944 Third Jap plane to show up, within range, was shot down
6/25/1944 Orders to return to base
6/28/1944 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
7/17/1944 Left Eniwetok Island
7/21/1944 *D-Day Invasion of Guam
7/26/1944 Left Guam
7/30/1944 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
7/31/1944 Left Eniwetok Island
8/5/1944 Arrived at Espirito Sando, New Hebredes ***********This is Luganville, where we were at anchor at the Beachfront Resort*************
8/14/1944 Left Espiritu Santo An expat described the US Navy operation right there on the beach where we were eating lunch.
8/16/1944 Arrived at Guadalcanal
8/20/1944 Left Guadalcanal, arrived at Russell's the same day
9/8/1944 Left Russell's to invade Peleliu, Palau Islands
9/15/1944 *D-Day Peleliu
9/27/1944 Left Peleliu
9/30/1944 Arrived Hollandia, New Guinea
10/13/1944 Left New Guinea for invasion of Leyte, Phillipine Islands
10/20/1944 *D-Day Leyte, left the same day
10/25/1944 Arrived at Hollandia
11/9/1944 Left Hollandia for Leyte with reinforcements
11/14/1944 Arrived at Leyte, left the same day
11/20/1944 Arrived at Manus Islands
11/30/1944 Left Manus for Aitape in New Guinea
12/1/1944 arrived at Aitape, New Guinea
12/28/1944 Left Aitape ofr Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Phillipine Islands
1/9/1945 *D-Day, Lingayen Gulf
1/10/1945 *Left Lingayen, hit by Jap suicide bomber
1/13/1945 Arrived at Leyte
1/26/1945 Left Leyte to invade San Antonio Bay at Luzon, Phillipine Islands
1/29/1945 *D-Day, invaded San Antonio Bay
1/29/1945 Left Sand Antonio Bay for Leyte
2/1/1945 Arrived at Leyte
2/11/1945 Left Leyte for Manus Islands, Admiralties Group
2/18/1945 Arrived at Manus Islands
2/19/1945 Left Manus for Pearl Harbor
3/2/1945 Arrived at Pearl Harbor
3/3/1945 Left Pearl Harbor for States
3/9/1945 Arrived San Francisco, U.S.A.
5/14/1945 Left San Francisco
5/16/1945 Arrived Seattle, Washington
5/20/1945 Left Seattle
5/27/1945 Arrived Pearl Harbor
5/29/1945 Left Pearl Harbor
6/6/1945 Arrived at Eniwetok Island
6/18/1945 Left Eniwetok Island
6/22/1945 Arrived Ulithi, West Carolines
7/1/1945 Left Ulthi
7/5/1945 Arrived Okinawa, Ryukyos
7/8/1945 Left Okinawa
7/12/1945 Arrived Saipan
7/13/1945 Left Saipan
7/14/1945 Arrived Guam
7/15/1945 Left Guam
7/18/1945 Arrived Eniwetok, left same day for States
7/28/1945 Arrived San Francisco, U.S.A.
8/12/1945 Left San Francisco
8/24/1945 Arrived Eniwetok Islands
8/25/1945 Left Eniwetok Island
8/29/1945 Arrived Ulithi, West Carolines
9/2/1945 Left Ulthi
9/5/1945 Arrived at Leyte
9/8/1945 Left Leyte
9/10/1945 Arrived at Subic Bay, Luzon, Phillipine Islands
9/11/1945 Left Subic Bay
9/12/1945 Arrived at Linguyan Gulf, (San Fernando)
10/1/1945 Left Linguyan Gulf for Japan
10/6/1945 Arrived with occupation forces at Wakayama, Japan
10/26/1945 Left Wakayama
10/27/1945 Arrived Nagoya, Japan
10/29/1945 Left Nagoya, Japan for Home
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Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Cave of the Moon
Here's one of my favorites: Prince Charles is nambawan pikinini blong Kwin. Just pronounce every letter. The letter A is always pronounced ah and the letter I is always pronounced ee.
From Barry: We anchored for the night at Narovorovo, where there was some protection from the wind and swell moving north up the coast. In the morning, we moved south some more to Sanasom, where I went ashore to arrange a visit to the large sea cave called Cave of the Moon and some petroglyphs. Two young women with children were my guides. A large number of other children also tagged along. One of these young women hoisted her two-year old child onto her hip. The child hung on to her neck with one hand and waved a bush knife the size of a large kitchen knife around her back with the other hand. The National Safety Council in Vanuatu is not very active, if in fact it exists. We are always seeing young children playing with large bush knives. And nobody in Vanuatu uses a life jacket when they are in their dugout canoes or when 20 people are piled into a small fiberglass motorboat with the gunnels nearly awash. The women also guided me to the Cave of the Sun, a smaller cave in the limestone. The locals piled rounded river rocks up in stacks all over the cave. Some spiritual significance? No, probably just getting a quick start making stalagmites, as many stalagmites could be seen having a core of river rocks. Kind of like cultured pearls. Nearby, under an overhanging cliff, there were a large number of petroglyphs. I went back to Sunrise and took my lame wife, Lynne, to the Cave of the Moon in the dinghy. She then waited in the dinghy while I went back to the petroglyphs and Cave of the Sun to take pictures. Afterwards, we punched Sunrise directly into the strong afternoon wind and swell for several hours to reach the calm, protected anchorage at
Asanvari at the very south end of Maewo. There, we found two other yachts, a "yacht club" and a bar. Back to civilization!
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From Barry: We anchored for the night at Narovorovo, where there was some protection from the wind and swell moving north up the coast. In the morning, we moved south some more to Sanasom, where I went ashore to arrange a visit to the large sea cave called Cave of the Moon and some petroglyphs. Two young women with children were my guides. A large number of other children also tagged along. One of these young women hoisted her two-year old child onto her hip. The child hung on to her neck with one hand and waved a bush knife the size of a large kitchen knife around her back with the other hand. The National Safety Council in Vanuatu is not very active, if in fact it exists. We are always seeing young children playing with large bush knives. And nobody in Vanuatu uses a life jacket when they are in their dugout canoes or when 20 people are piled into a small fiberglass motorboat with the gunnels nearly awash. The women also guided me to the Cave of the Sun, a smaller cave in the limestone. The locals piled rounded river rocks up in stacks all over the cave. Some spiritual significance? No, probably just getting a quick start making stalagmites, as many stalagmites could be seen having a core of river rocks. Kind of like cultured pearls. Nearby, under an overhanging cliff, there were a large number of petroglyphs. I went back to Sunrise and took my lame wife, Lynne, to the Cave of the Moon in the dinghy. She then waited in the dinghy while I went back to the petroglyphs and Cave of the Sun to take pictures. Afterwards, we punched Sunrise directly into the strong afternoon wind and swell for several hours to reach the calm, protected anchorage at
Asanvari at the very south end of Maewo. There, we found two other yachts, a "yacht club" and a bar. Back to civilization!
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Priorities
Priorities? 1: Not falling over waterfalls. 2: Not missing out on the fun.
From Barry: The island is made of calcified coral, so the water in the river is full of calcium carbonate. It deposits travertine on the wet surfaces. The locals have done a fine job making pools with walls of rocks or clumps of coral and have also dug irrigation canals and made terraced ponds for growing taro. The travertine cements everything together. It reminds us a little bit of Bali and the terraced rice fields everywhere. The two young people that we meet become our guides and do a fine job helping Lynne climb up the travertine and across the falls, holding her hand and steadying her. Afterwards, we invite the two, Arnold and Elsie, out for a tour of Sunrise and give them facemasks for gifts for helping us and also give them the money that the village collects from tourists for visiting the cascades. Since this anchorage is exposed to the prevailing swell moving up the island, we up anchor and move two miles south to a more protected spot, where we enjoy the full moon while eating dinner.
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From Barry: The island is made of calcified coral, so the water in the river is full of calcium carbonate. It deposits travertine on the wet surfaces. The locals have done a fine job making pools with walls of rocks or clumps of coral and have also dug irrigation canals and made terraced ponds for growing taro. The travertine cements everything together. It reminds us a little bit of Bali and the terraced rice fields everywhere. The two young people that we meet become our guides and do a fine job helping Lynne climb up the travertine and across the falls, holding her hand and steadying her. Afterwards, we invite the two, Arnold and Elsie, out for a tour of Sunrise and give them facemasks for gifts for helping us and also give them the money that the village collects from tourists for visiting the cascades. Since this anchorage is exposed to the prevailing swell moving up the island, we up anchor and move two miles south to a more protected spot, where we enjoy the full moon while eating dinner.
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Monday, August 19, 2013
Dolphins and Waterfalls
Boat chores and reading about our next anchorages filled Monday morning. Then snorkeling a nearby reef and a lovely bath and washing in the waterfall - the prettiest shower of my life. I wore the splint Barry made with the tongue depressor and my toe did fine.
Tuesday morning and we are being entertained by the local dolphins as we eat breakfast. Then we move Sunrise south down the coast a little to visit a spectacular waterfall. The villagers call their waterfall the eighth wonder of the world. The hike up the cascades was itself beautiful and fun. The many cascades and falls were amazing - and big! We crossed back and forth across the falls and I found myself hanging onto the ledges with my toes - all my toes, even the broken or dislocated one. All that walking in water dislodged the tape and splint but I have my priorities.
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Tuesday morning and we are being entertained by the local dolphins as we eat breakfast. Then we move Sunrise south down the coast a little to visit a spectacular waterfall. The villagers call their waterfall the eighth wonder of the world. The hike up the cascades was itself beautiful and fun. The many cascades and falls were amazing - and big! We crossed back and forth across the falls and I found myself hanging onto the ledges with my toes - all my toes, even the broken or dislocated one. All that walking in water dislodged the tape and splint but I have my priorities.
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Paradise
You will accuse me of sounding like Huell Howser, but it just doesn't get any better than this. We are all alone in this majestically scenic bay. We took an early morning dinghy ride to the reef, cliffs and caves. We saw Swamp Harriers and a possible Brown Goshawk again. We saw the 300 plus flying foxes (fruit bats) up close. They were hanging in several trees above us. They would occasionally flush and we would have most of them wheeling around above us for a few minutes before they would flutter back into the trees, grab a branch and flop upside down. We saw a flying Wandering Tattler, a Barn Owl fly in to roost, and nesting Pacific Swallows. Upon entering one sea cave, we found that it was Crab City - 0h, wow! A Pacific Reef Heron (dark morph) glided in and we heard kingfishers and doves calling. Later in the afternoon we are joined by locals in the ubiquitous small Vanuatu fiberglass boat with motor looking for dinner with a spear gun. Then 3 niVans kids doing what 10 year old boys do at the beach. Barry gets his snorkeling gear on and his scrubbers out and spends an hour cleaning the propeller and waterline of Sunrise. Both were getting pretty shaggy. Lots of gooseneck barnacles were growing on the top of the rudder and the hull by the rudder. It's their favorite place. One black baby lobster about ¼ inch long was scurrying about the hull above the waterline. We have seen them before, same place and doing the same thing. He checks the anchor and finds that it has been nearly pulled out because we are drifting all around it. The sandy bottom has been raked by the anchor chain being dragged sideways. We reset the anchor, probably to no avail, as afterward the boat drifts around in circles, gently pushed by the wind eddies in the lee of the cliffs. As darkness approaches, a catamaran glides into the bay and anchors near but not too close to us. All is well.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Vanuatu Life and Life on Sunrise
As the sun dipped to the horizon Saturday afternoon, there were no clouds nearby. Out came the camera. As the last of the orange sun disappeared below the horizon, there was a brief "flash" of yellow-green light. We captured an image of the famous "Green Flash" again and it looks as good in the pictures as it does to the eye. Having spent most of his career dealing with optical physics, Barry is always on the lookout for interesting atmospheric optical phenomena like the green flash, double rainbows, sun dogs, halos and such.
Bright and early Sunday we left Sunrise in Rubber Ducky to head down the coast a bit to the village church. We arrived at 730 am because we were told that church started at 7 am (that's not a typo, just being realistic). About 8:15 they blew the conch and at 830 they rang the bell and that is when church really started. Walking up the path to church we heard some snorting over to the side of the path - a pig. Then peeping - chicks. Upon approaching the village we found every inhabitant standing and looking at us. We are sure that many of the children have never seen a "white man". We used the time from 0730 to 0830 to bird watch. Coconut/Rainbow Lorikeets, Cardinal Myzomelas, Glossy Swiftlets and Uniform Swiftlets. An elder niVan, Silas, befriended us and we were grateful, because he spoke pretty good English. The Anglican Church service was very familiar and we could join in much of it. We found out women do exist in this village of Merino because we saw them all there in their side of the church. There were 2 church buildings, a new concrete one and a smaller wood post and woven mat one. Guess which one they used. They were packed into the smaller one with rows of people standing outside. After church we took a group picture and many individual photos as requested. We were given a meal of taro, chicken and island cabbage - yummy. All the food cooked in the earth oven has a wonderful smoky flavor. The afternoon we spent on Sunrise receiving visitors bringing gifts of food and coming aboard to see Sunrise, asking to see our photos and posing millions of questions. Word spreads at the nakamal, as we told you. "We heard you have a photo album." We are impressed with the desire of these very bright people to know how everything works and their interest in our life and country. There is not a whiff of envy; they know what a good life they have. Vince's album is perfect because it has fishing and hunting and they can relate. We asked about killing and eating fruit bat. They shoot them with a rock from a sling shot and then kill them with a stick - different than the shotgun version which was different from the prior kill them with a stick version. In Bislama, they killem ded (hit it and knock it out), then killem ded finis (hit and kill it). Speaking of killem, it means to hit. So you killem the gong. A piano is wan bigfala - i gat tith. Sam (some) i waet (white) sam i blak. Taem you killem i singaot. By the way, fruitbat is very tasty per our visitors. Still no one has heard of Disneyland.
We told them we might leave tomorrow so they brought extra food for the journey and thoughtfully picked some of it green so it would ripen later. Now we have 22 drinking coconuts, more than 20 pamplemousse (some as big as volley balls), 10 bunches of bananas, a giant yam, cooked taro, beau coup island cabbage, 10 papayas, 4 heads of lettuce and a bag of capsicums (bell peppers). And a shooshoot which is what they call the green cocoa pods that we eat as a vegetable. Other islands use the word choco or cocoa. This illustrates the myriad languages spoken in Vanuatu - at least one language per island and there are 83 islands.
Oh, and I found out you get extra credit for having a father who was in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in World War II. Add that to having a granddog named Ziggy and I'm doing OK here.
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Bright and early Sunday we left Sunrise in Rubber Ducky to head down the coast a bit to the village church. We arrived at 730 am because we were told that church started at 7 am (that's not a typo, just being realistic). About 8:15 they blew the conch and at 830 they rang the bell and that is when church really started. Walking up the path to church we heard some snorting over to the side of the path - a pig. Then peeping - chicks. Upon approaching the village we found every inhabitant standing and looking at us. We are sure that many of the children have never seen a "white man". We used the time from 0730 to 0830 to bird watch. Coconut/Rainbow Lorikeets, Cardinal Myzomelas, Glossy Swiftlets and Uniform Swiftlets. An elder niVan, Silas, befriended us and we were grateful, because he spoke pretty good English. The Anglican Church service was very familiar and we could join in much of it. We found out women do exist in this village of Merino because we saw them all there in their side of the church. There were 2 church buildings, a new concrete one and a smaller wood post and woven mat one. Guess which one they used. They were packed into the smaller one with rows of people standing outside. After church we took a group picture and many individual photos as requested. We were given a meal of taro, chicken and island cabbage - yummy. All the food cooked in the earth oven has a wonderful smoky flavor. The afternoon we spent on Sunrise receiving visitors bringing gifts of food and coming aboard to see Sunrise, asking to see our photos and posing millions of questions. Word spreads at the nakamal, as we told you. "We heard you have a photo album." We are impressed with the desire of these very bright people to know how everything works and their interest in our life and country. There is not a whiff of envy; they know what a good life they have. Vince's album is perfect because it has fishing and hunting and they can relate. We asked about killing and eating fruit bat. They shoot them with a rock from a sling shot and then kill them with a stick - different than the shotgun version which was different from the prior kill them with a stick version. In Bislama, they killem ded (hit it and knock it out), then killem ded finis (hit and kill it). Speaking of killem, it means to hit. So you killem the gong. A piano is wan bigfala - i gat tith. Sam (some) i waet (white) sam i blak. Taem you killem i singaot. By the way, fruitbat is very tasty per our visitors. Still no one has heard of Disneyland.
We told them we might leave tomorrow so they brought extra food for the journey and thoughtfully picked some of it green so it would ripen later. Now we have 22 drinking coconuts, more than 20 pamplemousse (some as big as volley balls), 10 bunches of bananas, a giant yam, cooked taro, beau coup island cabbage, 10 papayas, 4 heads of lettuce and a bag of capsicums (bell peppers). And a shooshoot which is what they call the green cocoa pods that we eat as a vegetable. Other islands use the word choco or cocoa. This illustrates the myriad languages spoken in Vanuatu - at least one language per island and there are 83 islands.
Oh, and I found out you get extra credit for having a father who was in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in World War II. Add that to having a granddog named Ziggy and I'm doing OK here.
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Saturday, August 17, 2013
Ziggy Marley and a Kindly People
It is a very good thing to have a granddog named after Ziggy Marley when you are in Vanuatu. Barry invited 3 niVans into the dinghy for a tour of Sunrise. 7 other young men paddled out with him so we had 10 visitors on Sunrise this afternoon. As usual, we showed them the album that Vince made of family and the collages that Simple and Katie made of the Morin side of the family. Then we moved to computer photos and there was Ziggy as a little puppy. This is our son's dog, Ziggy. Ziggy Marley?? Yes, Ziggy Marley. All 10 roared their approval. Does the dog live in the house? Does the cat live in the house. Affirmative met with amazement. Dogs are treated poorly here and we don't even know why they have dogs. Anyway, they brought island cabbage and pamplemousse and promised laplap and popos (pawpaw/papaya) for tomorrow. They wanted nothing in return but, when we offered rope, that sounded good. They asked about the musket on the wall. It is for spear fishing but we don't use it - we haven't used it in 10 years. This is the second time a visitor has asked about the "musket". We told them we loved Vanuatu and the Vanuatu people. They said, yes, niVanuatu are a very kindly people. And they are. And we are glad they know it and that we get to know them.
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Friday, August 16, 2013
Heaven on Earth
Aug 17 Saturday
We left Ambae for a perfect sail north to the north end of Maewo, a seldom visited island. Our 2002 cruising guide book says that Maewo (My woe) is heavily forested and sparsely populated. That was then and this is now. About half the forest has been cleared for coconut palm plantations on this west coast. The fast sail was ideal - small following seas, broad reach, 15 knots of wind, bright and sunny. This anchorage has about 1 square inch of suitable bottom for dropping the anchor. It took 2 tries but we found it. Then we had shy visitors, about 4 teenagers in their aotrigas. At first they ran to get their kanus launched and they deftly paddled a quarter of the way to Sunrise before being overcome with shyness and returning to shore. Then they would come a third of the way, then half way until, after an hour or so, they came alongside. They gave us drinking coconuts and we gave them rope. Sweet.
It is hard to describe how thankful we are to be in such beautiful place having such a heavenly time! Last night we had total darkness on shore, moon shining on puffy clouds, stars, cooling breezes. This morning we were entertained by a pod of about 20 spinner dolphin searching for breakfast near Sunrise for a few hours. The Spinner Dolphin eat squid, fish and crustaceans. They are about the size of a human and are found in warm waters around the world. We spent a long time watching their entertaining antics and their feeding system of encircling the prey (fish we pressure). The locals say they are here every day. Speaking of entertaining, if you have a need to be the center of attention, this is the place for you. We are surrounded from dawn to dusk by aotrigas built and paddled by boys about 8 to 14 years old. More drinking coconuts were delivered and we gave banana bread and almonds. Toktok with Christian, Kevin and Jimson, the coconut delivery boys. We have reached our limit of coconuts - 18!
As usual we went for a morning dinghy ride around the scenic bay and we could see coral gardens and critters from the boat. It is a very good thing to be doing all these things out here in nowhere with someone you really really like! Because this is our last fling on Sunrise, we are happy we chose Vanuatu to visit.
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We left Ambae for a perfect sail north to the north end of Maewo, a seldom visited island. Our 2002 cruising guide book says that Maewo (My woe) is heavily forested and sparsely populated. That was then and this is now. About half the forest has been cleared for coconut palm plantations on this west coast. The fast sail was ideal - small following seas, broad reach, 15 knots of wind, bright and sunny. This anchorage has about 1 square inch of suitable bottom for dropping the anchor. It took 2 tries but we found it. Then we had shy visitors, about 4 teenagers in their aotrigas. At first they ran to get their kanus launched and they deftly paddled a quarter of the way to Sunrise before being overcome with shyness and returning to shore. Then they would come a third of the way, then half way until, after an hour or so, they came alongside. They gave us drinking coconuts and we gave them rope. Sweet.
It is hard to describe how thankful we are to be in such beautiful place having such a heavenly time! Last night we had total darkness on shore, moon shining on puffy clouds, stars, cooling breezes. This morning we were entertained by a pod of about 20 spinner dolphin searching for breakfast near Sunrise for a few hours. The Spinner Dolphin eat squid, fish and crustaceans. They are about the size of a human and are found in warm waters around the world. We spent a long time watching their entertaining antics and their feeding system of encircling the prey (fish we pressure). The locals say they are here every day. Speaking of entertaining, if you have a need to be the center of attention, this is the place for you. We are surrounded from dawn to dusk by aotrigas built and paddled by boys about 8 to 14 years old. More drinking coconuts were delivered and we gave banana bread and almonds. Toktok with Christian, Kevin and Jimson, the coconut delivery boys. We have reached our limit of coconuts - 18!
As usual we went for a morning dinghy ride around the scenic bay and we could see coral gardens and critters from the boat. It is a very good thing to be doing all these things out here in nowhere with someone you really really like! Because this is our last fling on Sunrise, we are happy we chose Vanuatu to visit.
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Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Hanging Out
We are going to hang out with the fruit bats/flying foxes in this corner of paradise for a day or 2 while my toe heals. Vanihe Bay, NE tip Ambae.
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Oh wow, Bat City!
Vahihe Bay, NE tip of Ambae. Incredibly beautiful bay with crystal clear turquoise water and 300 or so fruit bats just yards away from us.
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s&s
Anchored in boulders at Loone Lakua on Ambae. We have no wind and no swell and no current so hopefully we stay safe & sound. At the beginning of our anchoring process we had 10 observers, then 20 then 30. Waving and whistling and hooting (like hooooo in a very very loud and high voice). We feel welcome!
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Saturday, August 10, 2013
Good Anchorages and Sailing
The wind is blowing from the west and that only happens here about 4 times a year. The normal tradewinds are SE about 15 knots. Taking the wind direction into account is essential to choosing a good anchorage. We have chosen well. We are protected from wind and swell by surrounding mountains and reefs.
I am utilizing the Peace Corps Bislama lessons and will try and stick in a few words. There are teenage boys on shore without a "kanu" - what they call their aotriga (outrigger). They want magazines. They can build themselves a boat and paddle it out here like everyone else. And they can bring produce to share. Anyway, they are standing ashore and hooting which is actually very effective. They use that same voice in their custom dances to communicate also. Before the last few years of cell phone towers in most places that voice and the tam-tam were the only means of long distance communication.
Yesterday was too gnarly to go out to the best reefs for another snorkeling adventure. But today was glorious and beautiful sailing to the far north end of Malekula. Anchorage has incredibly clear water and we can see the anchor down in 35 feet. Great happiness.
Barry either has Malarone poisoning again or pneumonia we think. He says he is never again taking anything that starts with "mal". Not funny.
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I am utilizing the Peace Corps Bislama lessons and will try and stick in a few words. There are teenage boys on shore without a "kanu" - what they call their aotriga (outrigger). They want magazines. They can build themselves a boat and paddle it out here like everyone else. And they can bring produce to share. Anyway, they are standing ashore and hooting which is actually very effective. They use that same voice in their custom dances to communicate also. Before the last few years of cell phone towers in most places that voice and the tam-tam were the only means of long distance communication.
Yesterday was too gnarly to go out to the best reefs for another snorkeling adventure. But today was glorious and beautiful sailing to the far north end of Malekula. Anchorage has incredibly clear water and we can see the anchor down in 35 feet. Great happiness.
Barry either has Malarone poisoning again or pneumonia we think. He says he is never again taking anything that starts with "mal". Not funny.
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