Sailing around the world

Sailed from Port Vila, Vanuatu's biggest town after sewing our main which split along the seam below the 3rd reefing point.








7,000 stitches by hand with me on one side and Lorna on the other passing the needle back and forth through the original holes the main is back in great shape.










Keep going James! Only 4 meters to go.







We headed northwards via Havannah Harbour, then the islands of Emau, Epi(Revelieu and Lamen Bay), Malakula(South West bay and Malua) and Espiritu Santo, where the US ship Coolridge was sunk at the end of WW2 I think. We did not dive the wreck, it is too deep for snorkelling. After stopping in Luganville we sailed into a beautiful bay on the way to Oyster island in Peterson bay about 15 miles north.

We have met many locals and it is enlightening how little is needed to enjoy a happy and satisfying lifestyle. We have been so used to all the consumer toys and goods that we cannot imagine living without them. The locals enjoy having visitors to their isolated islands. They put on shows of traditional dancing for the cruisers and showed us around their villages. They are very generous and refused payment for food they prepared specifically for us. Maybe it was just the seasoning of our bodies before they put us in the pot. Fortunately that did not happen. They readily trade their veggies and fruit for whatever we have on the boats.

Our most interesting stop was in Lamen bay where they have their annual canoe racing. This event was started years ago by Ian, Edna and their son Anthony from the cat Squid. The locals fit their canoes with sails and mast made from palm tree leaves and branches. To keep the mast in place they rig up a forestay and runners made from strips of palm leaves. These canoes sail up to 6 knots downwind to an island just over a mile away, then they dump their rig and row back. They yachties then competed in a tug of war on the beach but we lost as we did not have enough fat blokes to deal with the muscular and toned locals. That evening we enjoyed a feast prepared by the villagers and we cruisers let off fireworks and expired flares to add more fun and colour to the festivies. Music and dancing completed this enjoyable evening.