Peterson Bay, Oyster Island, Vanuatu
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 1 Aug 2008 02:54
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15:22.705S 167:11.431E
We arrived in this incredible spot more than a week
ago on the 24th and haven't had the urge to move since. It's the first
time we've stayed more than eight nights in one place since we were moored in
our very own oil slick in Ecuador way back in February. We have both spent
a good part of our time here in Peterson Bay recovering from what we've decided
is Post Traumatic World ARC Stress Syndrome (PTWARCSS). Its symptoms are
surprisingly similar to those of a nasty cold or mild flu. We are over it
now, and are very glad we didn't have to endure it while underway from Vanuatu
to Australia with the rally. We've heard from some of the rally boats, and
the trip to Australia was not a calm one. Wizard, the South African boat,
lost its mast about half-way to Australia (the mast came down and they cut all
the rigging and sent the mast and rigging into the sea before it could cause
any damage to the hull). Wizard's crew is fine and last we heard they
were motoring toward two of the other rally boats to take on more fuel since
they weren't able to sail. We don't know why the mast came down and are
anxiously awaiting an explanation from one of the other rally boats. We do
know that there has been some unusually nasty weather south of us, so perhaps
that played a part.
Peterson Bay is about 15 miles away from
Luganville, off the east coast of Espiritu Santo Island. In the guidebook,
it is marked as a cyclone haven because it is so well protected by surrounding
reefs and small islands. One of those small islands is Oyster Island,
where a tiny resort sits. It consists of seven tiny bungalows and a small
restaurant and bar housed in a gazebo. Shoes are optional and even
the bathroom is outside with only a picturesque stone wall to keep prying
eyes from peering in at the fully plumbed and functional toilet and
sink while it is in use. Picture 1 was taken from the Oyster Island beach,
looking toward our boat at anchor in the bay. Picture 2 is the
grounds of the resort with the thatch-roofed gazebo restaurant in the
background. Picture 3 is Don taking advantage of the free wifi on the
resort grounds. Life is good.
We spent the better part of the last week nearly
alone in this anchorage, but more recently the Australian World ARC rally
drop-outs (Southern Princess and Storyteller) have joined us. We call them
the Australian twins because they both own 57 foot Beneteau sailboats that
they purchased and picked up in France four years ago. They have been
cruising together ever since and are now almost home. Last night John and
Irene from Southern Princess celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary and
we all joined them for dinner at the resort. After several after dinner
scotches (for the guys anyway) on board Southern Princess, there was a minor
incident involving a flashlight gone overboard, but Don rescued it and nothing
else went overboard, including ourselves, which is always a good
thing.
In between partying with the Australians and
recovering from PTWARCSS, there has been time to do a little sightseeing
and additional baking experimentation. The town and only
grocery stores are a $20 taxi ride away (both ways), so I opted to attempt
to bake bread rather than drag our sick selves to town on a long and bumpy taxi
ride over the pot-holed dirt roads. Picture 4 is the result. It
didn't taste half bad although it did come out slightly lopsided. If
you don't find the bread attractive, you must at least admire the
improvised cooling rack it is sitting on.
This area is famous for its blue holes and we went
in search of one the other day. It was located about a mile up a small
stream, which was quite a marvelous sight in and of itself - mirror calm water
lined with mangroves, ferns and palm trees (picture 5). We finally decided
we must have found the blue hole when the stream water turned extremely clear
and the hue of the water turned a bit blue (something to do with the minerals in
the spring fed stream - picture 6).
This area is also famous for all the World War II
relics that exist both on Espiritu Santo Island and in the surrounding
waters. The US built a large airbase here and about 500,000 troops cycled
through the area during the war. The Coolidge carrier sunk just
off the coast of Espiritu Santo Island and is supposed to be one of the best
scuba dive sites in the world. There are two US fighter plane wrecks in
shallow water near where we are anchored. Don got ambitious enough to go
look at one with his snorkel gear yesterday and was able to see the prop,
engine, cockpit, tail and one wing of the airplane, but no pilot
(thankfully).
We plan to leave this marvelous place tomorrow and
resume our travels through Vanuatu. We will sail to the north side of
Espiritu Santo and from there sail further north to the more remote Banks Island
group of Vanuatu. We expect to find fantastic scenery and more incredibly
friendly and curious villagers. Definitely an adventure.
Anne
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