Now in Maskelyne Islands - Malakula, Vanuatu
Sea Mist > Sold to New Owners July 2016
John and Cheryl Ellsworth
Thu 6 Oct 2011 05:38
Finally !!!....>>> we managed to tear ourselves away from the comfort zone
of Port Vila that had been our home for more than 4 weeks....and we had a
great sail today with good wind and sea conditions to zoom us North-westward
some 80 nm to find this quiet anchorage in amongst these sparsely populated
islands....and we are anchored here all by ourselves...a most peaceful
setting, for sure.
We have had a few local folks in their dugout canoes come by this afternoon
to say hello on their way back home to their respective islands at the end
of a long day of tending to their gardens on the mainland. VERY FRIENDLY
people, and most curious about us and our journey with Sea Mist.
Unlike Efate, where there is an abundance of government staffed agricultural
know-how to support the indigenous farming/gardening, the folks on these
islands where are now, only grow traditional vegetables and fruit....yams,
taro, bananas being the main output. On the island immediately beside us,
there are many coconut palms planted, but only on this one island....which
supplies all of the other islands' coconut needs; the locals don't want
coconut trees growing elsewhere as the coconut tree roots roam far and wreck
the fertile land that is so valuable for their primary crops. So no
tomatoes, lettuce, raspberries, pamplemouse, cucumbers, etc that we have
become so used to in Port Vila at the market....and these items were not
just available to us but their quality is absolutely the finest that you
could find anywhere in the world....and VERY inexpensive to boot!!
We now only have a couple of weeks left to roam around this next 100 miles
of Vanuatu islands before we have to pick a weather window and make the run
to Oz.
We should report that we solved the technical issue that was preventing our
ability to load photo blogs.....only problem >> we solved the issue just as
we were leaving Port Vila.......>>>....so bear with us until we can find
internet capability again....that may not be before Oz....we don't know yet.
Cheers to all.....the Seamisters