The sail from Musket Cove Resort in Fiji to Port Vila, the main settlement on the island of Efate in Vanuatu was one of the most unpleasant we’ve endured.  Luckily, it was only three nights and four long days.  Sustained winds of 30 knots with gusts up to 42 knots over the course of the passage weren’t the big problem.   As I’ve said before, Peregrina is tough and she can handle most anything that Mother Nature throws at her.  In fact, at one point, we surfed down a wave clocking 12.7 knots on the speedometer – Wahoo!!!  We also recorded Peregrina’s fastest 24-hour sail of the entire voyage with a one day record of 185 miles. FYI – we average between 125-140 miles on a good day so this was stupendous!   The real problem was the deep sailing angle that we maintained with the wind coming over the far aft quarter of the stern and the steep quartering seas which pushed the stern through 30 degree arcs and caused the hull to roll and pitch very uncomfortably.  Real sailors do need MotionEase on days like that, I can guarantee!  I was queasy throughout the passage and the thought of sitting down to a meal was enough to upchuck.  This was a gastronomic leg known mostly for chicken broth and saltine crackers!

Our 10am and 6pm Blue Water Rally cruiser’s “Net” was, as usual, our lifeline to the rest of the fleet and we listened eagerly at each session to hear how all the others were faring under these dreadful conditions.  The news was not good.  Several boats had ripped sails and awnings; our American friends, Steve and Maria, had a “knockdown” on Aspen that literally picked up and threw Maria across the main salon into the galley; Simanderal lost her autopilot the first night out and had to hand steer for the entire trip with alternating two hour watches 24 hours a day.  Enchantress broke her spinnaker pole. Chsalonina had the clew ripped out of her genoa.  We actually had our own little drama as our dinghy was dislodged from the cradle, in front of the mast, at 2am in the morning by a huge wave; coming to rest against the starboard rail and threatening to break through the lifelines.  Peter had to strap on his safety harness and clip onto the jacklines that run from bow to stern on both sides of the deck so that he could inch his way up to the 150 pound dinghy, pick it up and lash it back into place before it went overboard. I was nervous for him but it was just another one of those “My Hero” moments aboard Peregrina and we soldiered on…..

As we would learn the next morning, those same waves proved disastrous for Briet, a Najad 34 skippered by our good friend, Duco Pulle, a resident of Brisbane, originally from The Netherlands.  Little Briet was the smallest boat in the entire fleet.  Duco had finished more than half the 2005-2007 Blue Water Rally leaving Brisbane to join the fleet in Fiji and sailing to Gibraltar.  He was to complete his circumnavigation by joining our 2009-2011 Rally in Gibraltar and sailing with us to Fiji.  Duco was heading back to Brisbane with a television film crew on board to record his triumphant return when a rogue wave swamped Briet over the stern and washed hundreds of gallons of water into the cockpit and down the companionway destroying all his navigational systems, his radio equipment, computers, cameras and most of his paper files –not to mention soaking all the cockpit cushions, salon cushions and all the bedding.  He had to divert to Port Vila in Vanuatu in order to dry out and repair or replace the damage. When we helped him tie up next to us at the dock in Port Vila, two days AFTER this event, he still had almost a meter of water in the aft cabin that is accessed from the cockpit.  (This was where the couple that was filming Duco’s voyage had been sleeping.  Talk about a rude awakening!!!)  Our hearts went out to him as we remembered him telling us in Fiji how the boat had not had any serious trouble during the entire circumnavigation and that everything was “working perfectly.”  That’s basically the kind of “kiss of death” statement that sends most sailors frantically looking for some wood to knock on and, in this case, it did come back to bite him in the butt!

Anyway, as you can imagine, after that passage, we were thrilled to get to Port Vila and pleased that we were among the lucky few yachts arriving early enough to grab a slip on the dock at Yachting World Marina.  We had a great spot right in front of a row of restaurants, internet cafes and boutiques.  They had entertainment every night at the place right in front of us called the Waterfront Grill and the bands were terrific.  We could just jump off the boat and run on the dance floor when the spirit moved us.  Another restaurant/sports bar nearby had all these big screen TV’s and the Brits tried to explain Cricket to me although it was pretty much a lost cause.  Who has the patience to watch a game that can go on for hours (even days!) and the score climbs into the hundreds???

Another great thing about our location was that we had primo seats for the fireworks display as Vanuatu celebrated its’ 30^th anniversary of independence.  They must have gone on for three hours!  Right over our heads!  I can attest to that because the next morning we found ash and lots of pieces of burnt cardboard all over the deck of the boat! There were parades and celebrations all weekend long with lots of music and entertainment from all over the region.  The native dancers from New Calendonia were the best.  They were scary looking dudes covered in mud with wild hair and primitive costumes.  (see photo)

Now it’s time for some history…Vanuatu is unusual in that, up until 1980, it was ruled jointly by the French AND the English!  Back then, it was called the New Hebrides.  They say that the dual administration was referred to officially as a “Condominium” but diplomats privately called it a “Pandemonium!”  Today, it’s still a mishmash of cultures and languages, so you are quite likely to see locals playing the French game of boules on the public courts right next to a spirited Rugby match.  As to languages, thirteen are still spoken here, including a “pidgin” English called Bislama which I found rather depressing.  It’s a sort of “dumbed down” English.  Here’s an example…Instead of saying “Please ring bell for assistance,” in Bislama you would say, “Sapos you nidum help yu ringim bell.”   I’m not making this up, they really talk like this! 

As far as I’m concerned, such bastardization of language leads to the destruction of culture and I’m against it.  But, then again, nobody asked my opinion…

Anyway, in the end, we found Port Vila only mildly interesting and decided to move on to the more remote Maskelyn Islands further north.   But, on our last night there, we set a new record.  Nineteen people sitting in and around Peregrina’s cockpit!  It started out as a little goodbye party for two couples who were heading to Cairns, Australia who we wouldn’t be seeing again but it just sort of grew exponentially and, before we knew it, half the fleet was sitting on Peregrina.  Great fun with good friends….