Cleone - Vanuatu - Part 3, Port Vila

Diving and Sails pre-occupy us in Port Vila.

 

There was a small fleet of boats crossing overnight from Tanna to Epate, on which is sited Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu.  As daylight broke and we neared the entrance to the bay leading into Port Vila, the skipper spotted a small tear in our mainsail.  Mostly because of this, we stayed in Port Vila for rather longer than intended.  But it was also because we needed a break, and because Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, offers all the modern amenities one could wish for - ATMs, telephones (but not for the Skipper's Mobile), Internet and so on.  More to the point, it also houses Vanuatu's only sail-maker, but more of that anon. 

 

As the harbour opened up before us, we lingered until engine troubled Kasuje was safely alongside, escorted by a work-boat and Keoloha's dinghy.  The passage to the moorings involved a sharp right-angled turn close to the beach in order to avoid the reef off lying the resort island of Reriki, passing under some high-tension cables and tying up to a stout warp on a snug Yachting World mooring close to Reriki's jetty, and not too far from the delights of the town.  Our first priority was the sails - they're up there amongst the most important items about the boat, along with the hull, mast and rigging and ahead of the engine.  As we arrived, Phil drew up alongside in his dinghy.  (We first met Phil and Fay when we were goint through the Panama Canal - he's an amazing bloke, who built his own boat (56') in less than a year whilst carrying on with his other work as a boat-builder).  Without pre-amble, Phil said "I hear you've a problem with your sails.  You'll find the only sailmaker in the area is over there on that big steel ketch" and with gem of useful information, he promptly left us to settle in.  This was a good start, and as soon as we were secure, the Skipper departed in the dinghy.  Monday morning was going to be sail-day; if we delivered the mainsail early, it should be fixed by Tuesday or Wednesday.  The Skipper returned in a more relaxed frame of mind, and the sun being by now well over the yard-arm (ie it was nearly lunch-time) we drank the tradional arrival beer together in the cockpit and made plans.  Elizabeth wanted to do some serious diving, Will had his friends to catch up with (some of them he had not seen for a couple of days) and the Skipper kept his powder dry. The next day, Sunday, was the prize-giving.  In the morning, we folded and measured the sails, cleaned Cleone up and set off for the Prize Giving party (Will and the Skipper) and for some diving in the nearby bay (Elizabeth).  Much to our surpirse, Clone took Class Honours for the leg from Tonga to Fiji; we were very pleased, and Will got a good cheer as he collected our bottle of wine! 

 

By the end of the day, the Skipper had arranged to fly up to Espiritu Santo (Santo) for some diving on the famous wreck of the American troop carrier, the SS Coolidge, with friends from Quasar, leaving early on Monday morning.  He departed, leaving Cleone in the capable hands of Elizabeth (more diving) and Will, who had been "set up" to go and tackle the task of polishing Kealoha's mighty mast - much to Adrian's bemusement and the mirth of David and the Irish Cultural Attache!  Arriving back very late on Tuesday and expecting a repaired mainsail to be ready for a day-time departure, the Skipper was in a relaxed mood.  But it was not to last; early the next morning, Eric the Sailmaker was alongside in his dinghy.  Bad news; the mainsail had been seriously weakened by exposure to the strong sun of the Pacific.  It was worth repairing - just - but would probably not last very much longer.  Decisions decisions, results to follow.  It took all of Wednesday to repair the mainsail, and Thursday morning to stitch up the old Genoa to give it a chance of getting us to Australia.  Every cloud has a silver lining, though, and this gave us a chance to catch up with the admin, for Elizabeth to do a bit more diving, for Will to do a bit more socialising and for us all to bid farewell to Jus'doit, who have very sadly now left the Rally.  The Skipper spent Wednesday morning in an Internet Caff, arranging Cleone's haul-out in Cairns and sending a flurry of e-mails to sailmakers and so on, and the next moring walking miles to buy electrical insulating tape, only stocked outside the town, for some reason.

 

The sails were ready as promised.  We set off on Thursday for Espiritu Santu, breaking the trip into 3 legs.  We spent the first night in Ai Bay on Efate in the company of Harmonie and Lady Kay.  Yesterday early in the morning, we felt our way gingerly out through a gap between two off-lying islands with the GPS insisting that we were firmly on land rather than in the middle of the channel.  In the days before GPS we would have been perfectly happy with eyeballing our way out at maximum speed!  And outside was Keoloha, lying snugly in a little bay, and getting ready to drop off her visitors back at Port Vila to fly home to UK; we shan't see them for a bit as they then go straight to Australia.  Last night we anchored off Epi in a quiet and sheltered bay.  It would have been nice to linger longer on these attractive islands, but the rally schedule demands otherwise, and we are now motoring north through a calm morning towards another overnight anchorage, this time on the island of Malakula, just short of Santo, where on Sunday the fleet will assemble once again for our departure for Cairns.

 

 

James, Elizabeth and Will

Yacht Cleone

off the Coast of Epi

Vanuatu