Ai Creek, Efate Island, Vanuatu
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 27 Jul 2008 01:54
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17:36.320S 168:14.604E
On Thursday 7/17, we left Port Vila and sailed the
short fifteen miles north to a beautiful spot on the west coast of Efate
Island. No village here, just a creek emptying into a very
protected bay (picture 1).
Cleone arrived just after dark, and with some help
from Don got settled nearby. Soon after that an invitation
to cocktail hour arrived via the radio and Don and I were off in the dinghy
to spend our last happy hour on Cleone with James, Young Will and Young
Elizabeth (Norfy, Cleone's fourth crewmember, is temporarily crewing on
Kasuje, which left from Port Vila to Australia earlier....making for yet
another unhappy good-bye). Young Will was suffering from transgressions of
the night before (more good-bye parties) and after serving us our drinks,
promptly fell asleep in the cockpit, not to be heard from again (very unusual
for Young Will). After a bit we returned to Harmonie, knowing that we
would see Cleone again in Luganville before they left, but also knowing it was
our last quiet (very quiet in Young Will's case) happy hour together.
Definitely a bittersweet moment.
On the bright side, after thirteen months of
pestering from Don, I finally had the urge to bake English muffins (or as the
English would call them, muffins). This is highly unusual behavior for
someone who before moving onto the boat didn't attempt anything even
remotely related to baking for the previous ten years. They didn't
come out half bad. A bit too thin, but other than that, they actually
resembled Thomas's English Muffins and tasted nearly as good. Here's the
picture to prove my newfound muffin baking ability.
The next day we were visited by a local man selling
fruit out of his outrigger canoe. We agreed to buy a giant papaya for 200
Vatu ($2), but when we didn't have the right change, the fruit seller suggested
we make a trade instead. 'Ok, what would you like to trade for?' we asked
him. 'A t-shirt.' he said. Done. I grabbed one of the
t-shirts Matchship had given us in Panama (Matchship was the Panama Canal agent
that we despised for their shady practices). Don had hardly worn it
and it seemed like a good deal....a free t-shirt for a giant papaya. Both
parties walked (or floated as the case may be) away from that deal
happy.
Later that morning we moved on to another anchorage
on the north side of Efate Island, which is where we held our last dinner with
Lady Kay. At least this particular good-bye is only temporary.
Happily, we will see them again after they return to New Caledonia (where they
will be leaving their boat) from England in late September.
Anne
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