Sailing around the world, ( presently in Port Villa , Vanuatu, )

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Tue 13 Jul 2010 22:03
TUESDAY  13th  JULY   2010
 
Its hard to explain how beautifull these islands are, and there are 83 Islands in total in this group.
We will have spent a little over a week here in total between Tanna, Erromango, and Efate ( The main Island ) the Capitol being Port Villa,
We could spend a year here and not get to see all the Islands,and another thing, one can anchor at most Islands and resorts,
and enjoy beautifull water, snorkling, diving, walking or just chilling out in the sun. 
We never even heard of these islands before we got here, and this whole region is dotted with thousands of Islands,
Some sailors just spend their whole lives sailing around this part of the pacific. What a way to go .
 
08.00hrs,  We all crawled out of the scratchers, it was wet outside, a lot of rain fell during the night.
We got into doing some cleaning and checking all expenses for the last 8 weeks, so we can share them out.
The fridge really needs defrosting, but we might leave that till we reach Australia in a weeks 10 days.
We had a good few emails, many of them outlining how quiet Cork Week has been so far,.
 
12.00hrs  Skipper met Aileen , who had visited the Cathedral, and had a coffee in " Cafe Deli "
The reason we mention this place is they had a beautifull white parrot sitting on the counter,
The parrotts name was " Charlie " and he could talk.  he stuck out his claw to the skipper and said " shake hands" could you credit that.
he grabbed my finger with his claw and shook it to bits.  WOW   wonderfull stuff.........
 
Later, we visited a chineese shop and got some lovely american army type peek caps, plus a LED small torch, all for peanuts,
 
14.00hrs Skipper got some documents signed by the local Notary anrd sent them off to Ireland,
These guys have so many stamps and seals on the documents , that they look like some sort of colouring book.
 
15.00hrs  Skipper and Aileen went out in the ferry to Irriki Island, just a few hundred yards across the bay from the boats.
We met Carmel Homes and her mother (86) while we were there and spent a plesent hour or so with them , a few glasses of wine
and skipper was ready to sing a song with Carmel.. they were from Aus, and Carmel looked like a heavier
version of " Kathleen Watkins "..... they were good company.....
 
18.00hrs, back to the boat and got dolled up for the drinks and prizegiving at the " waterside restaurant"
this was sponsored by  the World ARC and the food was excellent.
belive it or not, we came second in our class in the leg from Fiji to Tanna, despite the fact that we were 45 mins late for the start.
We were like the cats with the cream ...and we all had a great night.
A Lady presented an Irish / european flag , signed by all on board ( all three ) to Sam, the commodore of the yacht club
to hang with his already extensive collection of flags in the Yacht Club,
 
Later , bob, Maggie, Scotty, and a few other crews paid a visit to the Casino, and lost their shirts, but had a great night.
 
All in all, a good day.
 
Thats it for now,
 
Signed :-   Stephen Hyde    ( Skipper )