Back to Port Vila

Saturday, 3 September to Saturday, 10 September, 2016

With the winds forecast to ease and move to the east, on Saturday it was time to head back towards Port Vila. We left early in company with Varakai - a 30 tonne steel yacht. She certainly relished the conditions, punching through the sloppy seas that were stopping us regularly. We put in a double reef when the wind got to 25 knots but Varakai soldiered on. Nigel was pleased to record a PB of 10.7 knots and we both averaged 7.6 knots for the passage back to Port Havannah (not that we were racing). We anchored in Esema Bay for the next 3 nights and were sorry to see that Blue Gold was still aground nearby.

A pretty village

We took the last of our donations ashore at Tassiriki village on Moso Island. A long boat followed us into the beach and we discovered there was a chief’s meeting this morning (Monday morning team meeting). There were 3 chiefs in the boat and Chief Carl and his wife Elvin were most welcoming. When we said we had some donations for the clinic he told us his brother (Kemi) was the chairman of the clinic.

Warren explained to Kemi he was a Broncos fan

We also had some donations for the school where another brother, Paul, was principal. The school was built with European Union funds and was in good condition.

Only 2 teachers for 90 students at the school

Alvin was only second in charge of the Women’s Group which received more donations.

Cyclone proof building built with climate change funds

Carl explained that the island had 5 chiefs and one “Paramount Chief”, David above them in the hierarchy. Each island has its own system. Nigel had explained that on Ambrym (which we didn’t visit) chiefs were ranked from 1 to 12. This was small village with about 300 people and 4 churches.

Small but cheery clinic built with Canadian funds

On Tuesday, we sailed back to Port Vila to prepare for our crossing back to Lifou in New Caledonia. We reprovisioned, bought duty free fuel and alcohol and cleared customs with the other rally boats on Friday. We are now at Mele in preparation for an early start tomorrow morning.

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