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American Spirit II - Day 185; Hello to Gloria, Volcanic Ash on Foredeck, Snorkeling, Village & Volcano Tour and Heading to Efate; Wednesday, July 9, 2014



First off I want to say Hello to Gloria, mother of Tracey from Folie a Deux. Tracey advised me at dinner last night that she is another avid follower of the American Spirit II logs. You're going to enjoy the log today, Gloria!

We found out this morning that at 1:00 AM there were two 6.3 earthquakes northeast of the island of Efate, an island we're going to Thursday. We found this out via a text sent to Joel.

Up at 6:45 AM. Cloudy, but not as overcast as the day before. Some blue sky visible and the wind had died to 15 knots. A number of dinghies were seen heading to shore at 7:00 AM to watch the soccer world cup semi-finals. Germany versus Brasil. Germany won 7-1. A lot of happy sailors in the fleet.

Angela was up early at 8:01 AM; and found some volcanic ash on the foredeck. She was wearing her sun glasses. First time we've needed those in 3 days.

During the 9:00 AM Rally Control broadcast, it was confirmed that all rally boats will have the village and volcano tour this evening, instead of tours spread over two days. Good call Paul!

Angie was a little under the weather due to a reaction to Doxycyline, an antibiotic she was taking for malaria prevention. She had bought some Malarone, but since that malaria preventative almost killed me in 2010, she decided not to press her luck.

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs; lamb breakfast sausages; chilled, cut up pineapple; and bread.

After breakfast we took the dingy to the volcanic steam vent on the west side of the bay, then into the black volcanic beach to take a 'steam vent tour.' Just before getting to the shore, I asked Joel to give me his camera; which Angela then put in our 'dry bag.' A dry bad is a waterproof bag that keeps your belongings dry even if you drop the bag in the water or under water. At any rate, Joel then got out of the dingy to guide us in and an out flowing of water tripped him up and he went down, up to his chest in water. His cell phone was in a jean's pants pocket, but quick action on his part saved the phone. However, cotton pants and a long sleeved cotton shirt do not mix well with sea water.

On shore we met Anna, and for 1,000 Vatu dollars she took us on a tour of the steam vents. Along the way she took two bananas and put them in a pool of hot water, then put rocks on top of them to keep them under the scalding water. This will cook the bananas and we'll eat them at the end of the tour. The hike was arduous, and the trail was covered with millions of tiny, red ants that crawled all over you feet and tried to climb up your legs. Fortunately, they were not fire ants and did not bite or sting you. But it looked really creepy walking over a trail that was moving in front of your eyes. She also put on some 'makeup' made from the hot soil due to the volcanic venting. Near the top of the cliff face overlooking our anchorage we stopped at a large steam vent/pool area. It was so hot that if you'd jumped into the water, you were cooked!

Once back at the beach, Anna cut up our now cooked bananas and gave us each a sampling. Before doing so she washed her hands and then grabbed some leaves off of a nearby tree to use as plates for our treat. It actually tasted like baked potato. Go figure. We then went swimming in the 72-75 degree water to get any ants that we'd picked up off of our bodies. We didn't want to carry any ants to our boat.

After returning to the boat, we quickly grabbed our snorkeling gear and dingy anchor and headed off to a location in the east side of the bay that a book Angie was reading had recommended for snorkeling. After anchoring the dingy, we all hopped into the water. Joel and I, who have been snorkeling our way across the South Pacific, saw corals that were colorful and many perfectly formed. A fantastic display of coral! Mushroom shaped; brain coral; fabulous staghorn; fire coral; etc. Few fish, though, which was surprising. We swam thru 15 foot deep coral canyons. Angie and Chet also made it to a small beach, where they saw a lot of black crabs. The water was warm, except that there were a lot of cooler thermocline areas that were much cooler. However, the water can't be less than 70 or 72 degrees as coral won't grow in temperatures that low. Climbing back into the dingy is always interesting. Without a ladder. We actually use a 'stirrup' and a rope tied across the back of the dingy with knots on it for you to grab and pull yourself into the dingy.

Once back on the boat we had lunch: hot dogs and left over eggs and sausage from breakfast. Plus Oreo Cookies for dessert.

Charlie from Celebrate picked us up in his motor boat at 2:00 PM and delivered us to shore for the 3:00 PM village and volcano tour. Because he gave us the lift, we were able to deflate and put away our dingy before the evening's activities. That would save us about 20 minutes later on. Just before getting into his motor boat, Jane from Seaduced had made a broadcast stating that one of the bakeries in the village was short of sugar. A half dozen boats, American Spirit II included, offered to provide white and brown sugar and yeast. Seaduced picked these up and delivered them to the bakery. This bakery makes 13 loaves of bread a day for the village.

Eight pick up trucks were loaded with up to 10 of us apiece. In our pick up truck, four of us were able to sit in the truck; and 6 in the back of the truck. The road to the village was dirt; and often rutted with bushes growing in the middle. Many natives were walking along the road as we drove by. I 'high-fived' many of the children as we drove by. We slowed down to go thru large puddles.

Once at the village we observed the villages singing while dancing in a concentric circle, many layers deep. Like football players crunched together before a game starts, with one person, the coach, in the middle. Men with g-strings on; women bare breasted; and children. Many had grass headsets on; and paint marking their faces. The med wore some sort of straw item of clothing attached to their waist and in an upright position on the front of their bodies, depicting their sexuality. I'll leave it at that. Much of their dancing had them jumping up and down. Certainly the most primitive display we've seen since Panama. I videotaped all of it. After the dancing one of the males put on a 'how to make fire' demonstration; and then the natives sold some wares to us. I bought a 'tomahawk' club-like weapon for 1,000 Vatu dollars. This village dancing and singing was one of the most remarkable things I've seen in my life. If we had come to Tanna just to see that and not the volcano, it would have been worth it.

We then hopped back into our pick up trucks and headed for the volcano. Before finally getting there 30 minutes or so later, the road became steeper; one part was cut into a hillside; and the last stretch was so steep and muddy with steam vents billowing out on the right side as we passed that two concrete ruts were constructed so our vehicle wheels could maintain traction in the ascent. We finally arrived and parked at the base of the top of the crater. Black volcanic ash was everywhere. After climbing up a concrete walkway, we reached the top of the crater. Before getting there we could hear the volcano. It was the most foreboding sound I have ever heard in my life. Nothing you see on TV can prepare you for the sound of what you're hearing. Two deep rumbling staccato type sounds in quick succession, repeated every few seconds. The sort of sound you might hear watching a science fiction movie. Once at the top it became clear that there were two different areas at the bottom of the crater that were erupting. About once every 5 minutes, an eruption would occur throwing red hot rock, lava and smoke billowing into the sky. The red hot rocks and lava would then rain down in front of us. A sign at the beginning of the walkway did say 'think safety.' Yeah. There is nothing safe in where we're at. Some time ago (I don't know how long ago), a Japanese tourist was supposedly killed at the volcano. Hit by a rock or some flying lava. Don't be surprised to read some day that 200 people viewing this crater at sunset got blown off the mountain and incinerated. This volcano is billed as the 'most accessible' in the world. I believe it. I had been to a volcano before in Hawaii, where we watched lava flow by, close enough that you could feel the heat and watch it enter the ocean and steam. But this was far more incredible. One of the top three things I've seen in our circumnavigation so far. Right up there with the snorkel at Kicker Rock at San Cristobal in the Galapagos, where we swam with dozens of hammerhead, white-tipped, black-tipped and Galapagos sharks. In the background you can see the ocean.

We made it back to our pick up trucks using flashlights. There are no street lights at this location. No building. No ticket taker booth.

Once back at the Port Resolution Yacht Club, Charlie from Celebrate delivered us to the boat. Within 15 minutes we were weighing anchor and under way, picking our way thru the anchored boats in the bay. Once out of the bay we could see the occasional red fire and smoke plume of the volcano. You could smell the volcano many miles and hours out to sea.

Because we wanted to reach the Yachting World Marina in Port Vila, Efate island in daylight, we opted to motor sail at a faster RPM speed than we normally do. 2,200 RPM instead of the fuel saving 1,600 RPM. The former burns 1.2 gallons of diesel per hour; the latter .6 GPH.

Dinner consisted of freeze dried Chicken and Rice; Sweet & Sour Pork with Rice; plus chilled fruit cocktail. By 9:00 PM everyone was in bed except me, as I was doing the first watch - 9:00 PM to midnight. 3/4 moon out; and lots of stars. Port Vila is 140 miles away. We're hoping to get there by 4:00 PM Thursday. Angela and Chet have a flight home at 4:00 PM Friday.

We cleared the end of Tanna around 10:00 PM; and at 11:30 PM the island of Erromango was on our starboard bow. The wind was 9 knots; our boat speed 7.1 knots.

Brian Fox



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