A pack mule good-bye and fixing things in Oyster Island (again), Vanuatu

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 16 Sep 2009 02:23
15:22.452S  167:11.407E
 
Note:  Scroll down to see the picture and description.
 
Early on August 26th, we left Port Orly and motorsailed 5 1/2 hours southeast back to Oyster Island and semi-civilization.  Most of the ICA rally boats were gone by the time we arrived back after being away nearly two weeks, so the anchorage that looked like a mini floating city with more than twenty-five boats clustered in it when Billy and Tracy arrived, looked almost empty with only ten or twelve boats.  We positioned ourselves as close to the Oyster Island Resort (which is really only a handful of bamboo bungalows and a small open air restaurant and bar) as possible in order to pick up the wifi signal that sporadically emanates from the aerial mounted on the resort's office roof.  It was less than ten seconds before Billy and Tracy, armed with I-Phone and mini-laptop, were scrambling around the deck trying to lock in the wifi signal.  The sight was not unlike watching one of those documentary films where the UN supply truck arrives in a ravaged village and all the starving people descend on the truck, jostling for position with their hands up begging for food.  Yup, that was exactly the way Billy and Tracy looked - after two weeks cut off from the communication collective, they were internet starved and would have done anything (short of jumping in the water with their water sensitive electronic devices) to get a better signal so they could re-connect with the world.  Maybe we've been cruising too long, because although we are always happy enough to re-join civilization, we never feel desperate to re-connect.  With Billy and Tracy it might have been more the need to reconnect with their own generation (rather than the world in general) after having spent what must have felt like a lifetime with a bunch of old, retired boat people.
 
That night we had our last dinner together at the resort restaurant (curries all around).  The next morning at the very ungodly hour of 6:30, we dinghied Billy and Tracy and their large luggage to the resort, where we then transferred ourselves and the large luggage to the resort's small aluminum boat, which took us the short distance to the shore of Espiritu Santo Island where a taxi was waiting for us.  We loaded the large luggage (which was lighter without the collection of boat parts) and ourselves into the tiny taxi and bumped over the rutted road twenty-five minutes to the Lugganville airport.  We stayed long enough to ensure that the plane to Port Vila was on time and that there was no trouble with check-in, and then we said our good-byes.  Two weeks with the Pack Mules and it felt like it was over in a flash.  It's amazing how time can move so slowly and so fast all at the same time.  A space/time conundrum for sure.  Later, when we got back Oyster Island after visiting the market and 'supermarket' in Lugganville, the boat felt very empty - like some of the life had been sucked right out of it.  We very much enjoyed having Billy and Tracy on board and hope others (hint, hint) will be adventurous enough to follow in their footsteps and come to this side of the world for a couple of weeks to experience the odd world of boating with us.
 
Now on to the boat fixing report.  Throughout Billy and Tracy's visit and the few days following their departure, Don managed to fix everything on the list and then some...
 
First and foremost, the washing machine was fixed.  As Tracy reported in her first blog entry, it took several tries and a relatively high level of frustration in addition to a slight bout of hyperventilation, but the washer was fixed and now spins like a top.
 
Second and almost as important, the new base for our toilet was installed.  For reasons that probably don't need to be explained, this is a very good thing.
 
Third - The autopilot that malfunctioned on the way to Vanuatu from Fiji during the night of ugliness was fixed.
 
Fourth - The bulb was replaced (again) in the anchor light at the top of the mast.
 
Fifth - One of the electric winches decided to keep turning even when the switch and one of the breakers was shut off, causing mild panic since we were sailing at the time and feared the winch would pull the head sail sheet so tight that something would break.  It didn't occur to us immediately, but we could have simply removed the head sail sheet from the winch and rolled up the sail to avoid any damage.  We did do this eventually, but not until after mild panic had set in and yelling occurred.  Luckily nothing was damaged.  After some investigation while lying in the cockpit locker (necessary in order to get at the underside of the winch), Don discovered that the contacts are worn out on the solenoid.  He put a temporary fix in place that should hold us until Australia where we plan to a big chunk of boat maintenance next year. 
 
Sixth - The exhaust elbow.  It hasn't been replaced yet because the fix Don and John put in place in Fiji seems to be working.  Installing the new exhaust elbow is something Don decided would be best done when tied to a dock in a place where some supplies and services can be found in the unlikely event that something goes wrong during the operation.  So we will wait until we arrive in Port Vila before installing the new exhaust elbow.  It has been painted though.  Don took care of that while were anchored in sunny Port Orly.
 
Seventh - Rebuilt the main engine water pump.
 
Eighth - There probably was more, but isn't that enough? 
 
We stayed at Oyster Island for four nights.  Lady Kay met us there on the third day and then we left them on the 30th to meet Storyteller in the next bay to the south. Michael and Jackie stayed behind to wait for Jackie's daughter Kerry to arrive from the UK for a two week stay (they plan to retrace their steps to the islands in the north with Kerry).  Our plan was to travel with Storyteller south to Port Vila, taking about two weeks to make the trip.  More on our trek south later.
 
Picture 1 - Don resting comfortably in the cockpit locker while he investigates the electric winch problem.
 
Anne
 

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