I took Pam to shore for the last time this morning so I am by myself. I am sorry to say “So Long” to all of my wonderful new friends in the ‘Ocean Stingrays’ there in Byron Bay. Hopefully we will be able to cross paths again when I get to cruising eastern Australia.
INTENTION and I are sitting here on a mooring next to Asore resort on an Island just 2 kilometers across the harbor from Luganville. There is a huge school of tiny fish swimming around the boat and there is a school of larger fish chasing them all around the boat. of the larger school looks like yellow fin tuna and another specie, I think, Spanish mackerel about one to 2 feet in length. They are making lots of noise slapping against the side of the hull as well as splashing and jumping around the boat feeding on the school tiny fish. At times the water gets white and frothy with the 30 or so fish jumping and feeding. This has been going on for over 45 minutes and I have had to stop doing this letter because it is such a wonderful show to watch. God gives us these and other beautiful blessings and it’s up to us to notice and watch and enjoy. I feel so blessed. It’s warm and pleasant sitting out in the cockpit enjoying a cold Fiji bitter beer and watching the show going on in the water. It’s High overcast right now but has been sunny most of the day.

Pam: Last Thursday Jim and I sailed a few miles from our anchorage in the lee of Uri Island over to Norsup. I went ashore leaving Jim aboard to rest his sore back. I discovered that there was a well equipped workshop just near the wharf. The Australian manager Hugh and his NiVan mechanic said that they reckoned they might be able to crank the engine.
To cut the story short they did much better than that over the next couple of days, they got the dinghy outboard running smoothly again and, joy oh joy, found that the spare self starting motor did not need a new solonoid but only needed minor repairs. So now we have the engine starting motor back in operation.
Early this morning (Sunday) we motored out of Norsup heading almost due north for the 36 mile crossing to Luganville on Santo. There was very little wind when we left but soon a 15 knot SE breeze came up and we had a most enjoyable sail.
I will be leaving Jim shortly and I thank him for taking me on as crew. I have enjoyed the experience, learnt a lot and regained some confidence that I am not too decrepit to crew (although I still draw the line at the foredeck in a gale). I wish Jim well in the next leg of his voyage – The Banks and Torres Islands.
Jim: I took Lee and Nicky to Norsup airport. They are returning to BB Australia tomorrow, Friday. It is wonderful learning the strengths and weaknesses of each crew person. Watching them grow in their knowledge, confidence and responsibility. And seeing them discovering strengths and capabilities they never knew they had. I am honored to think I may have been able to contribute to their sense of self in a way that they hopefully can take back to their lives and empower themselves as an emotionally, spiritually, and maybe even a physically stronger person.
The other side of the coin is how my relationship with my crew contributes to me in so many ways. Since we are in constant interaction and such close proximity to each other with no real personal privacy or a place to hide on a 37 foot sailboat it accelerates the process of getting to know each other as persons and uniquely as crew. I feel blessed to be in a situation where I can make and enjoy so many new relationships.

Pam: Sunday. We rose early at Banam Bay as Jim decided it was a fair wind for a passage to Port Stanley. The Norsup airport is at Port Stanley and Nicky and Lee need to get a flight on Wednesday so that they are back in Australia ready for the new school semester starting next Monday. By 7.30 am we had the mainsail hoisted and were just about to raise the anchor when Shamus, a decky from the brigantine, rowed across with a gift of fresh baked hot donuts. After thanking him profusely and deciding that he looked a super strong young man Jim asked him if he could crank our engine. He readily agreed and gave it a few mighty cranks. Unfortunately rather than starting the engine he bust the chain on the sprocket of the hand starter. Shamus then headed off with the broken chain to see if the brigantine had any similar, they hadn’t but instead the captain silver soldered our broken chain. Many thanks.
Jim then faced a difficult decision. It was 10.30 am and rather late to leave for Port Stanley but the forecast was for adverse winds for the next few days. He said “let’s go” and we sailed off north up the Malacula coast. At first we had a good sailing breeze but then it dropped and a northerly came in. We finally made Port Stanley on dusk. It was too late to reach a protected anchorage, so we spent the night rocking and rolling. Pretty uncomfortable and none of us slept well, but Lee and Nicky seem to have got their sea legs and no-one was queasy.
Pam: Monday: We sailed out of our rough anchorage hoping to anchor near Lakaturo, which is the small town close to the airport. The wind shifted again and it looked as if it wouldn’t be a good anchorage so Jim made for the lee of (Uri?) island in the Port Stanley area. We could see the airport around 3 km away on the mainland.
We all jumped off the side of Intention and went snorkelling. The consensus was that both the hard and soft coral and the fish were the best we have seen. A little later Nicky went over the side again and came back up the ladder extremely fast. She reckoned that she had seen 5 sharks circling her. Lee poo-pooed this suggestion and reckoned that they were spanish mackeral. However when she went down to have a look she also bolted back up the ladder. Nicky consulted our Vanuatu fish book and decided that they were white tipped reef sharks. The book says that they are inquisitive rather than dangerous so I went down and took some snaps of them on Nicky’s new underwater camera.
Later, while we were having a spot of lunch. some NiVan lads in an aluminium tinny paddled out to us using very inadequate makeshift paddles. They claimed to have run out of fuel to get home which was about a couple of kilometres away on a neigbouring island. Jim gave them enough fuel to get home and they invited us to come back with them to their village. We agreed, but in our dinghy. I should have mentioned that after we handed over the fuel Leon,a rather sheepish New Zealand schoolboy, materialised. He was holidaying on the neighbouring island and was with the NiVan lads. We met Chief John and thinking we were just making polite conversation mentioned helping the lads. It turns out that Leon was staying with Chief John and he was not impressed. I am not sure if his concern was their heading out without enough fuel or bludging fuel off yachties. Either way we fear that they were all going to have a serious dressing down.
Nicky: Tuesday: Lee and I had a bit of an adventure. We decided to go for a walk on this island where we are moored. We thought there was a village at the other end of the island that we could walk to. However, after a trek through the jungle and getting thoroughly lost we heard voices (shouts and squeals) which I thought might be cannibals and Lee thought were the local boys playing soccer. As it was they were a group of men, young men and boys chopping down coconuts to sell the coconut oil. We were very pleased to see them and they said the younger boys thought we were ghosts when they heard us in the bush. They all then guided us back to the beach where the yacht was moored. We were both very relieved. We took some photos and said goodbye. However, they were fascinated when we took off our sarongs and stripped down to swimmers to swim back out to the boat!!
Pam: Wednesday: We were up at dawn intending to sail Intention over to Lakaturo on the mainland so that Lee and Nicky could get to the airport by noon. While we were drinking our early morning cuppa (this crew doesn’t function until it is fueled with tea) the wind suddenly came up and up and up. What to do? Finally there was a brief lull and Jim decided to take Lee and Nicky and their gear across in the dinghy. I stayed aboard to lighten the load in the dinghy. It is now midday and Jim has just returned reporting that they all arrived safely but absolutely drenched. The Vanair office said that the plane was on time so we have to assume that Lee and Nicky are on their way back to Port Vila. Intention seems very quiet and empty without them. We will miss them.
The wind is still howling and Jim and I will stay put until the wind is favourable for a passage to Santo. With good winds We should make Luganville in a day. I reckon we should also stay put while Jim’s back is so painful. He says he hasn’t had a bad back like this for years.

Pam: Thursday: Lamen Bay is a beautiful spot with white coral beaches and excellent snorkeling over coral only 50 metres from where we were anchored. So we had a relaxed mornings alternating snorkeling with numerous cups of tea and coffee. It wasn’t until early afternoon that we got ourselves organized to go ashore and explore the village. We had read in Lonely Planet that the Paradise Sunset Bungalows did a good evening meal. We thought it might be fun to have a meal ashore.
This was the maiden voyage for the dinghy wheels and I am pleased to report that they worked a treat. We were able to pull the dinghy right up the coral beach with great ease.
We rowed ashore and pulled up just in front of the restaurant and the manager was only too happy to book us in for dinner and the crew of two other yachts had already booked. This booking seemed to be the open sesame to using the (very basic) shower and laundry facilities – which we took advantage of later in the day. Then we wandered up the beach and met a group of junior high school boys and after chatting to them they said we could look round their school. Most of the buildings were recently built but our main impression was of the pride and care that went into the maintenance of the grounds. All the coral paths were neatly edged with identical size small rocks and bordered by tropical plants. Not a speck of rubbish in sight anywhere. This can be achieved with local resources, but when it comes to resources requiring cash it was another story. There were NO computers at all for the students.
Then we walked back to the village and Adis introduced himself to us and offered to show us up to the local primary school (Kindy to Year 8)and help us find bread and veggies. I will leave the teachers to talk about our school visit.
NICKY LEE: We met a beautiful teacher called Judy who showed us around her classroom. She taught English and Social Studies to Years 7& 8. With two years training and 8 years experience in under resourced village schools, we were amazed at how similar her teaching methods and classroom management was to those practiced in NSW. The seats, however, were made of rough boards across second hand frames and were tiny and she relied on books from Yachts for her student reading material.
That evening saw the crew of Intention return to the resort for a meal and social interaction with guests and other yachties.

Pam: Friday: We set sail as early (as this not very early rising boat) could manage and had a great sail from Lamen Bay to Malekula Island. While we were underway Jim tried to start the engine by hand cranking. I watched his superhuman efforts which failed to start the engine but did worsen his existing bad back. So Jim said, philosophically, that Intention is a sailing boat so we will sail her. He chose to put into Port Sandwich as after looking at the chart plotter and Tusker’s Cruising Guide to Vanuatu he decided it would the easiest to sail into and out of in the anticipated wind conditions. Unfortunately the wind dropped to a virtual dead calm when we were still a few hundred metres from the anchorage so we took ages to make the last bit. Arriving in Port Sandwich was quite different to arriving at any of the previous anchorages, it was really eerie. The whole coastline was shrouded in haze and we are still trying to work out if it was from forest fires or a volcano. The other factor turning us off the place were the bright red capitalised warning about sharks and not to go swimming. Lee cooked our dinner by torchlight to save electricity(and an excellent tuna pasta carbonara with local bok choy).So all in all we were happy enough to leave first thing the next morning without going ashore and very relieved that there was enough power to operate the anchor winch.
Pam: Saturday: We again set sail (fairly) early, this time aiming for 10 kms north up the coast to Baman Bay (the southern end of Tisman Bay) – which was written up as having good swimming. We are still wondering why sharks are such an issue at Port Sandwich and not at Baman Bay. The sail should have only taken a couple of hours but at first there was hardly any wind and it took us an hour to get out of the anchorage. Luckily the SE wind picked up and we made Bamen Bay in time for lunch. The sun is not being kind to us, at the very time we need it so that the solar panels can keep our batteries charged it has turned really cloudy.
There were two other boats already at anchor when we sailed in. One was a brigantine chartered by an international youth NGO. They were staying for a month fixing up water pipes to 6 local villages. The other was a yacht sailed by an American doctor/nurse/husand/wife (Hank and Leila in Rivendale II) team. They had been running a medical charity for 8 years bringing much needed medical aid to remote Vanuatan villages. This was the same couple that Jim had met before in Port Vila who gave us useful hints about how to treat coral cuts.
NICKY AND LEE After settling in we found a way through the coral to Hanks shore clinic then walked through to the local village in the hope of buying bananas. We were met by 12 year old Douglas, his Mum, siblings and young cousins. Pam asked Douglas if he could take us on a walk. Immediately we found ourselves hurtling through the jungle following Douglas and accompanied by his Mum with babe in arms, all the little ones and his Aunt Jocelyn and her child. We criss-crossed the local stream, waded through mudbanks. When the path petered out we used the stream as our pathway losing shoes, grabbing young ones, slipping, falling down unexpected holes and constantly asking “how far”? Pam was definitely over it as her ankles were killing her and her balance was impossile to maintain. Nicky was asking in clearest voice “will this walk take all day’? Lee had lost clogs and gained a toddler on her hip, yet the guides kept up their pace. We could hear falling water and suddenly saw the most amazing waterfalls which fell into a shallow pool. Pam, overdressed in her island ‘mother Hubbard dress’ was in and under the main falls quickly followed by Lee and all the kids. Nicky and Jim were not going to miss this either and were also soon being drenched as well. This was such a treat and we came away bruised, battered and banana-ed up.

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.