Friday 11th July
After a restful night we breakfast on bacon sandwiches then the dinghy’s stowed and we’re bound for Erromango by 8.15am. Sailing conditions are perfect – we’re on a broad reach with 20-25 knots of wind, 8-9 knots speed and clear blue skies cruising along the coast of Tanna . Leaving the Tanna coast we alter course for a downwind run and goose-wing the sails heading for Dillon Bay on the west coast of Erromango. Both Annie and Alex take a turn on the helm; Alex hits a top speed of 13.5 knots as we’re surfing down the waves – a great sail, the best for a while. We arrive at 3pm and are accompanied briefly by some dolphins who play with our bow. There are 5 other Arc boats already anchored and 2 others arrive behind us. After lunch all head ashore except Phil who is still jet-lagged and needing to nurse his poorly bottom. Stewy gives him some of Avril’s special nappy rash cream and we hope for the best – our resident Doctor Alex reminds us she is on holiday… The dinghy route in is up a river – it’s very shallow so Stewy turns 90’ towards Elizabeth ( who is on her way back out) for advice – Elizabeth does not seem to register and Stewy calls her “wooden top” which causes much hilarity! Ashore we’re met by Donal, who welcomes us to his village and tells us something of the history, including the story of the first missionary who was eaten shortly after he landed. Apparently his outline is carved on a stone at the other side of the river ( short and fat!) but we don’t have time to go and see for ourselves. Donal is very apologetic for the eating of the missionary but we reassure him we’ve all done terrible things in the past. The bay is also known for it’s sandalwood trees, some of which are growing in the village. We’ve taken some gifts ashore which we give to Donal for distribution. Some food is being prepared by the villagers but there’s probably not enough for us as we’ve just arrived. We thank Donal and others very much but are actually quite relieved as we’ve eaten quite a bit of local food recently and are therefore happy to be eating aboard. James, Cleone and Don, Harmony have spent the afternoon trying to mend a liittle village generator – unfortunately without success. We head back to the boat for some home cooking and an early night as we plan to leave very early in the morning.