17:44.00S 168:18.00E

 

After a fairly uneventful 3 day sail, through the rain we sighted plumes of smoke belching from the volcano on Tanna. Our port of entry was Port Resolution which has a yacht club but no officials for the usual formalities. Customs & Immigration officials have to be flown in from the capital, Port Vila on Efate and can frequently be held up for 24 hrs due to bad weather. According to Simon, our customs official, the plane nearly crashed so had to return to Efate and wait for better weather. Simon seemed unconcerned.  During our voyage, Tim and Alan fished competitively during daylight hours and were rewarded with 2 skip jack tuna, returned to the deep and a delicious dorado. The advice to leave 24 hours early from Musket Cove was well heeded. Within 18 hours of our arrival in Tanna, boats still en route were experiencing anything between 50 & 60 kts. We were bobbing around in a pretty roly anchorage but at least our anchor was well dug in to the mud of the harbour and we were enjoying far weaker gusts of wind.

Swarms of children from the local village greeted us on arrival ashore. The ladies of the village were raking the mud path leading from the bay to the village and laying washed-up coral from the beach onto the path to provide a bit of non-skid underfoot. We were given a formal welcome ceremony by the villagers during which there was much singing and dancing. We were treated to two occasions of dancing and on both the format was the same – 3 dances: a welcome dance, another, undefined dance and a farewell dance. They are obviously keen for visitors to ‘move on’. We were encouraged to wander around

the village and sample one of the two restaurants. We made a booking with Sareh, who ran the restaurant/coffee shop and were treated to a delicious fish lunch served with lots of local vegetables followed by a baked banana pudding.  We took a cold bottle of white along with us to complete the dining experience. During our wanderings we spotted the school transport returning to the village. Health and safety hasn’t reached Tanna – I wasn’t able to count the number of children aboard but it is definitely standing room only.

 

During the traditional welcome ceremony there was an exchange of gifts. The yachts had put together many items from a supplied wish list although the request for 32 pairs of football boots in varying sizes was unfulfilled. In return, we were given local fruits and vegetables all encased in beautiful hand-woven baskets. This is the third time a fleet of yachts has visited Tanna and on the two previous occasions, funds have been raised for various projects for the school. The owner of one yacht with us has kindly offered to donate school uniforms for all the children and some of the other yachts are providing funds to assist in the building of further classrooms.

 

No visit to Tanna is complete without a trip to the volcano. I can’t imagine there is anywhere in the world where you can stand so dangerously close to an active volcano – fantastic fun! The volcano definitely did not disappoint. We were driven around the island in pick up trucks along tracks through lush vegetation. The return journey was in pitch dark, the island has no electricity and the only generator seemed to be at the yacht club. The villagers ran the generator for our last evening which was spent enjoying a local feast laid on by the villagers and, of course, more singing and dancing. After the meal, the MC encouraged everyone to get up and dance as he announced the final 3 songs before the musicians would have to leave. Apparently they were booked to play at an all night party the following night so needed to go home and rest.

 

The following morning we upped anchor at 06.30 and set off for Erromango, an island north, en route to Efate. Once out of the harbour, the fishing lines were out and the competition began. Lacking wind, we motored the 50 miles to Erromango. Alan leapt into the lead with a large wahoo from which we took enough for supper and then dinghied ashore with the rest to present it to the chief of Erromango.

Our gift was well received and we were given a tour of the village and surrounding area and presented with a basket of fruit on departure. It was a truly beautiful island with a crystal clear anchorage. We are only sorry we weren’t able to stay for longer. Joseph, our guide wanted to take us to catch crayfish the following morning but sadly we needed to press on north to Efate. We caught the 04.30 tide the following morning and fished all the way to Port Vila where we arrived 12 hours later. Three dorado were caught on the way and Tim won the fishing competition. However, Tim & Alan pooled their catches and dashed ashore on arrival to negotiate with a local restaurant for the sale of the fish. A deal was struck and the four of us drank for free for two nights. Result!