17:48:3S 167:55:1E

 

Saturday 27th June 2015

 

Efate, Vanuatu

As dawn came into the sky this morning we were passing within two miles of Vanuatu, the islands loomed dark against the early pale daylight. Four months ago they were hit by a tropical cyclone and are still recovering with buildings flattened and trees uprooted. We decided at the time that we would not visit as the harbour had also been hit. During the night we had seen the loom of light as we approached and as we got closer in the dark we could discern individual navigation lights which is a positive sign that things returning to normality. We looked for FADs which were marked on the charts (fish agitating device?) but could not see them, either they are no longer there or we were too far away. No fishing vessels were seen at all, despite it being the best time of day to fish. Simon has tried his hand at fishing and of course David and I were keen to offer our extensive expertise...and as expected after eight hours of trying he also caught nothing!

 

Sun Princess Cruise Liner – Close Encounter

The day before yesterday we saw The Sun Princess on a reciprocal course, they altered to starboard so we would pass each other on our port sides, a sailing collision rule. I raised them on the radio and thanked them. They wanted to know where we had come from and where we were bound, perhaps they were making an announcement to the liner’s passengers. We looked and waved but could see no one on deck. The liner was pitching up and down in the heavy sea, so possibly passengers were not allowed on deck. They found a crew member from Southampton who was keen to know our circumnavigation plans and told us she would wave when we were both back in The Solent.

 

Miles travelled in the last 24hrs: 153 miles