Vanuatu: 7 August – 12 August
Journey
We were delayed five days in Musket Cove waiting for a
weather window as the unseasonably strong winds and rain continued. We left on
Friday 7 August with north winds predicted for the first day and then south
easterly winds – all fairly benign according to the forecast. Indeed the first
day was good sailing in the north winds and then the winds turned south at
midnight and we found ourselves going to windward in 22-28kn winds with steep
3m seas coming towards us. After 24 hours or waves crashing over the boat and
very uncomfortable conditions, the winds eased along with the waves and the
rest of the journey was very straight forward.
One of the boats, Sweet Disorder, lost its rudder halfway on
the journey and without steering was forced to call the New Zealand coast guard
who co-ordinate rescue operations in this part of the South Pacific. The
nearest vessel was a fishing boat that went to give them a tow back to Suva
which was the fishing boat’s destination. However, they would not agree to provide the
tow until they had confirmation that they would be paid which delayed getting
the tow in place. The insurance company agreed to the cost and they had a slow
and difficult tow against the wind and waves back to Suva.
The fishing boat stopped before arriving at the island and
refused to continue until they had confirmation that the money was in their
account. The insurance company made the
payment and at that point the Fijian navy came out and took over the tow,
taking Sweet Disorder to Denarau Marina for repairs. They were greeted with a
Navy Band playing on the dock as they arrived to a big fanfare with the Navy
taking full credit for the rescue of a sailing boat on the edge of disaster! It
will take six weeks to get the boat repaired but undaunted they plan to
continue their trip once it is fixed.
Aneityum 10- 12
August
We arrived at the anchorage at 7pm, just as it was getting
dark and we anchored without problem. It was noticeably colder in the evening
than it had been in Fiji although we were only 180 miles further south.
We had a very busy day the next day starting with the tour
of the village by a local guide. There are one thousand people living on the
island in three main villages. We visited one of the settlements where they
live in traditionally built houses from palm tree leaves and bamboo. The
villages are very well kept and beautiful with the villagers taking obvious
pride in their village and their way of life.
It has been six months since Cyclone Pam devastated the
island, stripping all the fruit off the trees, knocking down many of the trees
and stripping the leaves off many of the remaining ones. The guide explained
how they prepare for cyclones, storing bananas preserved in a pit in the ground
covered with leaves and stones, and cooking the roots of a particular tree
which provides sugar and water which they eat in the immediate aftermath. The root of the tree has to be cooked for 3
days and two nights and according to their tradition, three men must tend the
fire, sleeping next to the fire and must not eat and only drink water –
otherwise the root will not cook and cannot be used. They have a cyclone every
couple of years although none as devastating as Cyclone Pam. The villagers took
pride in their ability to be self-sufficient in the aftermath before any aid
can be delivered. As they are the southernmost island, they are last in the
route for the supply ships and they were one of the islands worst hit.
There is still no fruit on the island as the trees have only
been growing for six months now and it will take another few months before they
start producing fruit – bananas, mango etc. Vegetable crops were also
devastated but recovered more quickly. Many houses were destroyed but they have
started rebuilding again
The main village |
The main village has a primary school and secondary
education is on Efate at Port Vila so children have to leave the island at
twelve. One of the downsides of formal education has been the loss of skills
passed on from generation to generation. The children used to work
A traditional fishing net they still use |
In the afternoon the villagers took us to the reef to
snorkel among the coral and fish. We
were taken in a long boat and dropped off to allow the tide to bring us back
across the reef with little effort. That is little effort until the last 100
metres swimming across the tide to get back to the island which made the swim
seem that much longer.
Our dinner |
Later that afternoon we were invited to Mystery Island which
is just off the main island for traditional dancing and a feast. There were
about 30 of us from the yachts and the islanders had gone to a lot of trouble,
spit roasting a pig over an open fire and cooking many of their traditional
foods – taro, kasava and sweet potatoes. The dancing was fearsome and you could
see that the roots as warriors. We had Vanuata
kava which is supposed to be much stronger than either Tongan or Fijian but after
one cup we decided that beer tasted a lot better and fortunately we had brought
some supplies with us, as had the other boats.
The Queen (of England) named the island “Mystery Island” and
the name has stuck ever since. It is
Traditional dancing |
The Chief (centre) welcoming us |
Making fire |
Two minutes later! |
One of the interesting demonstrations is how they make fire.
They It never happened like that when I was a boy
scout!
use a particular tree which is very dry and use a branch from the tree
against the trunk to quickly generate enough heat to light some kindling. It
took no more than two minutes to have a blaze going.
Many of the boats left the next day but we stayed on so that
we could see more of the main island and talk to the locals. Everyone was very
engaging and one even apologised that they could not offer us any fruit to take
away with us which is what they would normally do for visitors from boats.
Apart from yachts, very few people visit the main island on Aneityum as it is
not easy to get to.
PeaceCorp worker in school library |
We met two girls who were US PeaceCorp workers on the island
who had signed up to two years living in the village to provide help – one in the local school sorting
out the library and the other at a medical centre in one of the other villages.
They live and eat with the villagers with no internet access, no trips home during
the period and limited conversations with a few people who can speak English. Both
of them have been learning Bislama which is a common (but second language) in
all of the islands – each island has their own native language which is
different in each island and often different between villages on the same
island. Both girls had been upset that they had to leave the island just before
the Cyclone hit, at the insistence of the US PeaceCorp, to be flown to safety
while the villagers did not have any option but to stay – they have great
attachment to the people of the village.
To celebrate the survival of the
Cyclone, the PeaceCorp produced a video showing how the villagers coped and
were in high spirits in the aftermath despite the hardships incurred by all the
villagers following destruction of their crops, houses and fruit.
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