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Richard Martin
Wed 13 Aug 2014 08:56
We left Vila early yesterday morning - and had a pleasant enough sail for the first 50 odd miles - 20 to 25 knots 45 degrees off the port bow. Then it suddenly died, and swung 40degrees to be dead ahead! So we motored the remaining distance into a lumpy south easterly. Getting into the anchorage at 8pm was easy given that we had our track and anchor position in the system from last time. So it was just a case of finding the spot, dropping the anchor and cooking a late dinner. But it was a strange sensation doing it in complete darkness.
In the morning Chris was wanted to go for an early swim. Apparently he will only get in if the water temp is above 10 degrees (when I heard that I recalled the comment someone made about mad dogs and Englishmen). Anyway when he found out that the water temp was 30.1 degrees he was out of the boat and into the water like greased lightning. He dived in and came up smiling. Dick had a slower start to his day. He just followed his normal morning routine - and managed to flush the toilet while I had the watermaker on.
Later in the day we went for a walk through the village and came across a village event that involved 2 local football teams playing - mostly in bare feet on an incredibly uneven surface. Vanuatuans are passionate about their football. The curtain raiser was a team of around 10 year olds playing football with a ball the size of a cricket ball - and they were good. We sat down to watch the main game but were soon invited to sit beside the chief and watch it with him. It was a great experience. He was a guy in his late forties who had good English, all his teeth and a smart digital watch. In Vanuatu terms he had style. He had followed the World Cup (his house had a TV dish powered by solar arrays) so knew all the teams and their results. They were all very friendly and I even got asked to address the throng. Not sure how much they understood given I don't speak pigeon and the feedback on the mike was deafening. But it was a nice thought.
Its off to Port Resolution early tomorrow - hoping that the elements are kinder to us this second time round.