Passage Planning
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Tue 28 Sep 2010 09:02
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Monday 27 September 1426 Local 0326UTC
17:44.33S 168:18.48E
There is a well established pattern emerging
now. When in one place,excitement builds at the thought of vising the next
new place, and one day I just wake up and realise its time to move on to the
next destination. That's what happened this week. Vanuatu has been facinating
but it is time to move on. West again. Following the sunsets, constantly
following the sunsets and so far every one has been balanced with a beautiful
sunrise behind us. So, New Caledonia it is. This is another French Overseas
Territory (how can they justify it?) and we are very much looking forward to it.
Trish to being there and I to the 350 mile passage there and being there. I
have some more heavy duty fishing tackle on board also.
As usual before a passage to another country there
are a lot of preparations to be done. The rig is to be given a once over visual
inspection, fuel and water to check and fill as neccessary, oil to check, in
generator and main engine. Passage planning needs to be attended to, pilot books
or the internet needs to be studied for entrance formalities and port
navigation. Any boat jobs need to be done - the usual list of pumps to be fixed,
electronics to be de-bugged etc etc. I have then to do the customs, immigration
and port clearances - my least favourite job.
Trish also has her own essential list of things
needing done which generally starts with
fixing her nails. Now don't laugh - you might not think this is essential
preparation for an ocean passage but Trish does and therefor if that helps her
get through the passage that bit easier then I think it is essential preparation
too. Trish has been incredible, she is struggling a bit at times and of course
misses family and friends. She does not like the passages and generally takes a
day or so to find her sea legs. But she has stuck at it and she has been
incredible support for me. The same as in my business life at home really. Deep
down I think she's tough and that there is a lot of her fathers seafaring blood
in her..
Vanuatu has possibly been the most unique culture
we have observed so far on this circumnavigation of the world. The common
language that they use is Bislama. This is a pidgeon English. But don't think
"English with a strong accent" this is a totally different and written language.
Here are some examples:- lukum u, nambawan, tanku tomas and a nice simple one
you will all understand - tata! I will tell you at the end of the blog what they
mean.
The diversity of culture, customs and language in
Vanuatu is mind boggling. However in many rural places there is a common belief
in the power of "Kastom". It is believed many people have had a Kastom curse put
on them and that they die from it. I think I already told you we met a man and
his wife who were full time "curse breakers". They either found the offending
material causing harm and symbollically threw it into the sea, or perhaps
sometimes place an "antidote" possitive "curse" on the victim.
On Saturday in Port Vila harbour bay, we were
anchored well outside the other boats, we heard a tap on the hull. Going on deck
I found that a guy had swum all the way out to our boat to ask if we wanted
the bottom cleaned. Well I am planning to haul out in Australia and
therefor did not really want to spend the money scrubbing the whole of
the bottom now. However the Amos had swum all the way out and it was only five thousand Vatu (about £35). Now I have
scrubbed the bottom of Rhiann Marie countless times, (that is both the daughter
and the boat) and I can tell you it is a tough job with a snorkel and mask (that
is the boat) so we gave Amos the go ahead and qualified it by saying if he did a
good job we would give him 6,000 Vatu. So deal done and I picked him up at 0700
from the shore. Before he got into the water he took his gear back off and said
he would have a cigarette first - he only had a single one - which he said
helped him holding his breath with the diving!
Anyway I told him all about the dangers of smoking
and how it caused cancer. I asked if many people died of cancer in Vanuatu and
he said not too many, but many, many people died from having a Kastom curse put
on them by "bad people". Extraordinary. I have spoken to many Ni-Vanuatu people
who otherwise seem to be living in the 21st century but they look you
straight in the eye and tell you these stories and I can tell you they speak in
a hushed voice and are generally looking around when they tell you. I guess it
all acts like a placebo, if you believe it, then it is.
I cannot help but think that the Vanuatu people,
though ethnically are categorised as "Melanesian", have their origins in
Africa. How they look and many of their customs and traditions seem to me,
perhaps in my ignorance, rooted in Africa. They bear no physical resemblance to
the polynesian people or to the asian peoples. History tells us they were the
Lapita people but I wonder where they came from?
Anyway all that is for another day, at the moment I
have to get on with the essential passage planning. First to fix a grey water
sump tank pump that is not working and then dye Trish's hair. I told
you already, don't laugh - this is critical preparation. Shampoo and set
anyone?
Over the last few months I have found a little more
time to read as the boat jobs have become less. I am an avid reader at home and
thought that I would read constantly on this trip, but I have got through
surprisingly few books. On passage I can barely sit still for a minute, tweaking
sails, checking the navigation, making plots and log book entries, writing
blogs, keeping up with the large burden of business and boat business
communication, fixing things etc etc etc. Not only can I not sit still, I can
barely sleep. On passages I am probably not getting much more than three or at
most four hours in any 24 hour period. I have no problem with this, because I am
secure in the knowledge that if my body needs sleep it will take it. The lack of
sleep for most people is a terrifying prospect but I think it is just that - the
thought of not getting the sleep is much worse than not getting the
sleep. On my round Britain and Ireland single handed sail a few
years ago I learned to take 20 minute cat naps while maintaining
a balanced, risk managed watch system. There were no sleep
specialist consultants in the "team", neccessity was my teacher. In fact there
was no team, just the support of my family at home and the stalwarts at
Gael Force running the show there.
Back to reading. My reading list would bore the
socks of most people. I don't read fiction, just history, economics, business,
autobiographies and stories of true adventure and leadership. I finally last
week broke free of a most enjoyable but heavyweight tome "Security
Annalysis - The Classic 1951 Edition". It took me months but since then I have
gone through three books, two of them sailing adventures. Reading them I can't
help but get excited at the challenge and the adventure contained within the
pages. Then I realise that the adventure and the challenge we are on is every
bit as exciting as the stories I have read recently and in the past. I just
hope that I am managing to capture the essence of it all not only for you the
reader but for ourselves to look back on in the future.
Now the Bislama lesson. Lukum u (See you! (later)),
Nambawan (Number One(excellent!)), Tanku tomas (Thank You too much(Thank
you very much)). The locals get a great buzz when I use the lingo. Thay are
already a happy bunch but my efforts at basic Bislama bring on a great big
hearty smile.
Ta ta!
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