Nicky: The crew of Intention woke early on Tuesday morning to raise the anchor and set sail for Epi. After a quick cup of tea and sandwiches were made to keep strength up on the long journey north we waved goodbye to Havannah Bay. With Nicky at the helm and Lee raising the sails the crew were on their way! (We have photos to prove it although Jim did need to take over when the winds came up and the waves rolled!). The winds were gusting at 25 knots and the 2 metre waves were rocking the boat. Lee and Nicky began to feel a bit queasy. Jim and Pam settled in for a read and nap.
As the seas grew angrier we(Lee and Nicky) were harnessed up and attached to lifelines. We learnt to attach the giant pole to the jib whilst hanging perilously out over the waves. We found ourselves raising the staysail, lowering the staysail, raising the mainsail and later helping Jim put in three reefs, all whilst being bucketed with salty waves breaking right over the boat. After several hours the exhausted crew decided to call it a day and settled in to a rather bumpy anchorage at Emae, the halfway point.
Michael, a local, swam out to greet us and was invited aboard for a cuppa. When Pam said she was worried about eating fish, in case they might be poisonous, Michael suggested that he would show her some good eating fish if she had pictures. The ever-resourceful Pam produced her “Most Poisonous Sea Creatures” book and Michael informed her that all were good eating. After a rocky night, we set off a little later than expected (ask Pam) and headed for Lamen Bay, which is a beautiful protected bay overshadowed by a towering volcano on the northern edge of Epi. The seas were much kinder and we arrived in time for a quick snorkel and Nicky cooked her famous tuna fried rice for dinner.
Pam: We were astonished when Michael, a young NiVan from Emae, snorkelled out to visit us. The sea was rough and we were anchored well offshore. So I threw him the tail of the jib sheet to hang onto while we chatted before we invited him aboard. Unfortunately I completely forgot to pull the jib sheet back on board. We were still trailing it when Jim started the engine this morning. Those of you with sailing experience will know what happened next. Yes, the sheet wound round the prop and the engine overheated and the starting motor blew. After Lee and I freed the prop Jim managed to get the engine going again by bypassing the starting motor and starting it manually. I am totally mortified that I could have been so forgetful and am very grateful that Jim has taken it so well. Tomorrow Jim is going to check if he has a spare starting motor, but if not it is a real hassle. It is not a generic part and it will have to be ordered from overseas.