Anchored at Ai Creek. S 17 degrees 36.3 min. E 168 degrees 14.6 min in 15 meters of water.
Hi ho,
INTENTION set off today on her Vanuatu adventure, Skipper Jim with crew Cathy and Pam from Australia, but first we need to backtrack as the last entry on this blog. It had Intention half way between Fiji and Vanuatu with Skipper Jim and friends and crew Paul, Daniel and John.
As this entry is being written by Pam and Cathy we weren’t aboard for the passage, but by all accounts the passage ended uneventfully on the 22 May when Intention anchored in Port Vila’s quarantine anchorage at 4.30 am.
Somehow Jim wangled permission for all his crew to go ashore that night without having Customs Clearance and the old crew and the new crew met up at the Waterside Bar (the main yachtie watering hole in Port Vila), excellent food and wine was consumed while the old crew and the new crew sized each other up. The evening must have been a success as Jim and the new crew agreed to cruise on together. The old crew had to fly back the USA in a couple of days.
Jim told us (Pam and Cathie) that the definition of cruising is “fixing boats in exotic places”. That saying proved all too true and a veil should be drawn over the next few days spent organising repairs of equipment such as the head and stove (nothing that would affect our safety but do have an impact on our comfort).
During the time based in Port Vila we did do a short sail over to Mele village and anchored off Hideaway Island Resort for a couple of nights. We enjoyed the snorkelling although the reef is still recovering from a cyclone in 2004. One evening you could have found the trio enjoying a decadent sunset cocktail at – pretty special.
Back at Port Vila we picked up a mooring just in front of Iririki Resort, some of our friends plan to take part in the ocean swim around Iririki Island soon – all I can say is take care to dodge the poos from the large yacht anchorage (just joking I am sure that on the day all yachties will be asked to cross their legs during the race).
That brings us to this morning when we set off under jib and engine to charge the battery and headed out of Port Vila with Havannah Harbour on the west coast of Efate as the destination. We both had a ball and started to fantasize that we really are sailors as we rolled around in a bit of swell of Devil’s Point. All too soon we were back in calm water and dropped the hook at Paul’s Rock for lunch and a snorkel – sighting 2 turtles a small shark and a graceful dolphin surfacing around us. We enjoyed the wonderful variety and colours of the coral reefs. Really idyllic and the ambience was enhanced by a local fisherman in a dug out canoe singing melodiously. We hoped he would paddle over with fish for dinner but we weren’t that lucky.
Then it was on again for an afternoon sail to Ai Creek and now we are anchored between a multi million dollar gin palace lit up like a Christmas tree and a modest trimaran enjoying another beautiful red sunset. Jim is cooking his special spaghetti sauce and Cathie Garlic & chives bread in the oven for dinner while I type this blog. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but Cathy and Pam can honestly say that we are taking to this life like ducks to water. Jim might almost turn us into sailors – Cathy is getting pretty nifty with her bowlines and clove hitches but where she really excelled was playing the figurehead on the bow pulpit.
Really special sunset of Fuchsia pinks and red and blue horizontal streaked sky enhanced once again cocktail hour of red wine for Pam and vodka & Tonic for Cathie & I. The crew is doing great with no signs of seasickness or even queasiness in the washing machine waves around Devils Point today. Cathie even managed to produce coffees and vegemite crackers at the onset of the big swells without spilling a drop. They are also gaining anchoring, hauling on halyards, and sail trimming skills. We will be adding new skills as needed.
Jim, Pam & Cathie

After a spectacular evening’s sail, Intention arrived in Port Villa, Vanuatu, this morning about 4:00AM. As it turns out, many of the “aids to navigation” weren’t — at least not at night, with their lights burned out. But, we made it safely past the outlying hazards, using GPS, radar, depthsounder, compass, and two crew on the bow, and then dropped anchor in the quarantine area.
Yesterday, we had a few moderate squalls, with significant rain. We ended up hand-steering the wing-and-wing Intention through the strongest of the squalls, as the autopilot couldn’t quite manage to keep up with the strong, shifting winds. Otherwise, the conditions were perfect — sparkling seas, and mostly clear skies. As we approached the islands, we saw many different types of birds circling overhead.
John earned the “sharp lookout” award, for being the first to spot land: the island of Tanna. Tanna has an active volcano, and we had to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid being hit by the plummeting smoking debris. Well, some of that may be an overstatement, but there *is* an active volcano on the island.
The winds had driven us more south than planned, so we ended up sailing past Tanna, and Erromango, before finally reaching Efate and Port Vila.

As we entered the bay, we were accompanied by a half-dozen dolphins, who cavorted in our bow-wave, leaving sparkling trails of phosphorescence in their wakes. Our friends stayed with us for about an hour, and these dolphins (or different ones?) followed us into the harbor.
Once the anchor was down, we caught a little rest before sunrise, when we hoisted the yellow quarantine flag and waited for the customs inspector to swing by in his skiff. This small chore completed, we are now about to go into town to find some showers. Since today is a local holiday, we can’t clear immigrations today, but we are still allowed ashore, and we will complete the formalities tomorrow morning.
Best Wishes from Intention and Crew!

Sunday, May 20 — Noon (Fiji time)
Greetings from Intention, bound for Vanuatu. Our Noon position is lat 18deg 25min South, lon 171deg 46min East. Our 24-hour run since Noon yesterday is 162 nm. Conditions have been good: wind from the east or southeast at 15 to 20 kts, seas 3 to 6 feet. We sailed through a few mild squalls last night, which brought some much-appreciated rain to wash down the deck.
Our current course is 247 deg true, at a speed of 6.5 kts. We are sailing a bit south of our destination in order to keep the wind at a favorable angle — we will probably jibe when we get closer to Vanuatu.
Meals, as always, have been tasty — chicken burritos for dinner, scrambled eggs for breakfast. So much for the “high-seas weight-loss plan”!
At six PM last night we started standing watch. The watch order was John, Daniel, Jim, then Paul. We have seen no vessels since leaving Fiji — there just isn’t much traffic out here.
Until next report,
Regards,
S/V Intention

Good morning from Intention!
Time: 7:30 AM (Fiji Time)
Position: Lat 17deg 59min South, Lon 175deg 08min East
Course: 270deg true
Speed: 6 kts
Winds: moderate, from the south
Seas: 3 feet swell.
Since leaving Fiji at Noon yesterday, we have sailed about 120 miles due west towards Vanuatu. We have been flying the genoa and a double-reefed main since leaving the pass — Intention is sailing nicely and the crew is enjoying it.
Yesterday evening, Jim made a great dinner of chicken with a pear and wine sauce (with a dash of chipotle) over rice. The rest of the wine was also delicious. The sun set around six, and we started out three-hour watches — Daniel, Jim, Paul, then John. We had a few sprinkles during the night, but conditions have been steady and favorable. Today looks to be more of the same.
The stars, planets, and the streak of lights called the Milky Way were brilliant in a mostly a clear sky with a few dark billows of clouds passing over. Seas coming from abeam on the port side raise and lower INTENTION gently except for the rare rouge wave slapping her hull and sometimes splashing into the cockpit. The night was warm and the watches were easy.
Regards,
S/V Intention

Greetings from Intention and her crew: Captain Jim, Paul, Daniel, and John.
We left Vuda Point Marina this morning (Friday), after pulling in last night for fuel, propane, water, and a great dinner. This morning we bent on the new jib, installed the windvane steering rudder, and headed out around 8:15 AM Fiji time. We are heading for the outer pass through the reefs, and will soon be in the open ocean. Our next port of call will probably be Port Villa, on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. This is due west, about 500 nautical miles, and should take four or five days for the passage. The latest weather charts are encouraging.
We will try to send some messages while under way (but we may not…)
Until then,
S/V Intention

Thursday, November 17

View Article Trip to Fiji

November 15th – ONEATA Passage, after getting thru we turn right to
Savusavu, Fiji. Lat. 18-29.31′ Long. 178-26.00′
Images during night watches. The full moon lights up the surrounding sea
almost as bright as on a cloudy day with the stars occasionally peaking
out from behind the clouds slowly floating across the sky. The trailing
phosphorescence light up the seas and waves as INTENTION’s billowing
sails drives her ten tons of mass slowly over the surface of the planet
toward Fiji.
I can tell the Tongan crew are returning from their ‘funny feeling
stomachs’ to their old selves as they are back to their laughing and
kidding around and their appetites have also returned.
November 16th -
We are in the middle of Fiji’s KORO Sea. Last night I had a poled out
jib and a full mainsail going directly downwind. Upon awakening at five
this morning and after listening to the main flopping in a following sea
all night we lowered the main an set the spinnaker to starboard. Around
noon the wind shifted more from the east and we jibed the sails to
opposite sides. Lowered the jib and sailed under spinnaker alone to
Savusavu making landfall and anchoring in the very protected harbor just
after dusk.
November 17th – Went through the long forms and procedures of checking
into Savusavu, Fiji. This town is about 4 blocks long and smaller than
Neiafu but has much more selection and prices are less in the stores and
the local market. The single main street is a mixture of East Indian and
Fijian peoples and cultures. CI, Lino, and I got soaking wet getting
some exercise walking for a mile out to and back from the hospital in
the rain today to pay some entry fees. No Complaints from the crew. They
are great fun with lots of laughing and teasing along the way. It’s time
to go ashore with the crew for happy hour with the other cruisers at the
Savusavu Yacht Club and get all the latest information.
Jeff, My good friend from Dana Point is suppose to be here in Savusavu
tomorrow and leave on Monday. I hope to see him then.

Monday, November 14

November 5th – John is leaving the boat today to be off on his next adventure. He helped with all the hard work of getting INTENTION ready for departure. He seemed like a permanent crew and I certainly will miss him our friendship and our many wonderful conversations together. The airline is not too reliable. It is run by the King’s son and John was worried about making his the plane connection from Neaifu to an international airport for his flight from Fiji. So He actually did make it all the way to Fiji as he had planned.
November 6th – So both of my crew left within a week of each other. I posted signs and put it out on the VHF morning cruiser’s net about needing crew to Fiji. Took some locals out for a day sail and a swim at anchorage #7 and met some friends there on their boat SYLVESTER.

November 8th – Took to the boat and interviewed two Tongan guys, CI and Celino nicknamed Lino, as crew. CI is a musician at the local Cruiser’s bar & restaurant, the Mermaid, and speaks good English. Lino is younger, a big rugby player & security guard at the Mermaid, has family in Fiji, and understands but does not speak English well.

November 9th – We all met and checked out the boat the two Tongans and another prospective crew, a Fijian lady. She seemed very nice and quite flexible and we all thought she would be a great addition to the crew. Her problem was getting her Passport sent from the capitol of Tonga, Nukualofa. Friday, when it came time to check out she hadn’t received it and will need to fly there to get it. We were sorry to have lost a good
crew member to paperwork.

November 11th – Checked out of Tonga. Teaching my new crew how to sail while traveling to Anchorage #9. We had a swim and BBQ on the Beach. They are learning quickly and are very willing and fun. They have been showing me how to do things the Tongan way. For instance, opening a green coconut by smashing and splitting it against a rock to drink and eat its delicious insides. Or BBQing on the beach by using a green
branch with the bark pealed off as a spit to hold the meat over the fire. I was disappointed they used matches to start the beach fire and didn’t use the old Tongan method of wood friction with bow and sticks or my dad’s old method by rubbing two Boy Scouts together. HA HA!

NOvember 12th – My month in Tonga started out with a great exploration of the Anchorages with cruising friends. I have recently gained a greater understanding of the culture & people by a making friends with lots of locals. Tonga has become a place of caring and loving relationships even to the extent that I could see the locals were taking
care of me in very special ways. I can see myself easily visiting this place again.

November 13th – After saying goodbye to all our many friends we made an afternoon departure from Neaifu. On this Fiji crossing I will also be learning to eat lots of taro, breadfruit, bananas, boiled mutton and beef they cooked aboard before leaving. Crew was talking and kidding around with their friends at the Mermaid Bar on the VHF for hours in Tongan until finally we moved out of radio range. We started three hour watches for the three of us during the the evening and night sailing. The winds are a little abaft the beam and are blowing an easy 10 Kts. INTENTION is moving through the water easily at five and a half to six knots.

November 14th – Lat. 18 deg. 21.24 minuets Long. 175deg. 58.05 minuets @ 0:00GMT 115 NM from Neaifu. Lino does not feel so good. Winds and boat speed about the same.

Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2005 4:34 PM

Vavau group of islands, Tonga.

October 14th – Your day. It’s the only place I know it’s +13 hours
difference from UTC which means it is the same time as Niue just a day
later. We will not actually cross the international date line until our
next passage to Fiji.
Two days ago we Arrived at the port of entry, Neiafu, around sunset and
after their work hours so we didn’t go ashore that night and spent most
of the next day checking in and paying small fees to Customs,
Immigration, and Health. We also explored the town, found out where
things are from town’s people & other cruisers and had our first beer
free at the Mermaid Bar & Cafe that evening.

Neiafu’s open air Market

The next day we shopped for fresh stuff at the local market and sailed
for an hour south to an anchorage surrounded by green tropical islands
and beautiful warn clear blue water & white sand beaches called
“Anchorage 8.” So what is “Anchorage 8?” Mooring has a cruising guide
for its charters and each good anchorage is designated by a number so
that when asked where you are you just say “I’m at 16″ and every body
knows or can look up where that is. It also eliminates the
mispronunciation of the local Tongan words for many of these places.

Town and harbor of Neiafu in the distance

Brimman went spear fishing with SPEEDBIRD one of 6 other boats at #8.
Norway is well represented here as Three of the boats, one being our
caving friends LA FAMILIA, are or have crew from there. We had about 15
cruisers from all the boats meet on a nearby island’s beach for a
cruiser’s pot luck dinner and full moon celebration this evening, even
if it was not a full moon until Monday. We barbecued fish, enjoyed each
others food and company, and stayed on the beach under the stars,
watching the fire and telling stories until almost midnight.

Cruisers pot luck under the stars on this beach

October 15th – We and SPEEDBIRD went diving and spear fishing at
Swallows Cave today. After motoring there we explored the Cave by Dingy.
I then snorkeled into it allowing my eyes to get adjusted to the dark so
as to be able see and dive into the two underwater caves. While
SPEEDBIRD did a scuba dive for about an hour we snorkeled the coral
cliffs looking at the multicolored Parrot and other fish. Brimman tried
to get some fresh fish for dinner but the good sized ones were too wary
and scooted away as he got near.

Looking out of and into Swallow’s Cave

October 16th to 19th – Brimman & I had a nice long half mile swim out to
an island and back today from a quiet anchorage. Walked around the
islands ling sand beach lined with palm trees and talked to some
Australians living here permanently. Rewarded ourselves with beer and
peanuts in the cockpit after. We are the only boat here and enjoying the
solitude.
The mornings are very entertaining with all the schools of small fish
and the larger fish feeding on them. The large schools of small fish
don’t have much going for them but numbers as the larger fish are
feeding from below and the are birds feed from above.
We went back to the town of Nieafu for supplies. Green lettuce,
tomatoes, Cucumber, and our new protein source eggs. After discovering
the bakery owned by, Victoria, an ex-peace corps volunteer the crew has
been going wild eating the warm fresh baked cinnamon, granola, and brown
bread. We’ve eaten 6 loaves with lots of butter and jam in 2 days and
some of it even manages to get back to the boat. We are currently
waiting for friends, LA FAMILIA, to joint us in anchorage #6. Here the
water is clear and clean so I am diving under the boat sponging
INTENTION’s bottom removing the green slime and moss growing along the
waterline.

October 21st – Yesterday The activities for the day were swimming &
diving during the day, Volleyball on the beach with LA FAMILIA in the
evening and after dark ping pong tournament at the island resort. Last
night around 11:00 PM God, or who ever is up there, put on a beautiful
thunder, lightning, wind , and rain storm for our entertainment. The 50
knot winds were exciting for many boats that dragged through the
anchorage, lost anchoring gear, and one boat I know damaged their
rudder, SPEEDBIRD. A Moorings charter boat didn’t have anyone aboard and
was chased across the bay until retrieved. The thunder and lightning
part of the show lasted for over five hours with flashes and strikes all
around us. It is sometimes an advantage to have a small boat as my mast
is considerably shorter than all the rest of the ones all around me so
we are less likely to be struck. Luckily I know of no boats that were
struck. That morning I had dove on INTENTION’s anchor and hooked it on a
coral head so we held firm all night.

Volleyball on the beach

More volleyball and ping pong scheduled with LA FAMILIA tonight and for
Brimman’s special interest the New Zealand Rugby Championship game on
the big screen at Mala Island Resort Bar starting at 6:30PM. We had fish
and chips at the restaurant while watching the rugby finals.

The patio of Mala Island Resort

October 24th – Yesterday we sailed to another beautiful anchorage, # 11,
with a with more sand beaches and a good holding sand bottom. Also we
went in to the Spanish Restaurant for a fabulous 6 course dinner. With
SPEEDBIRD and friends had great fun watching a music group of guitar
playing and singing where we each got to play along with our own chosen
percussion instruments well into the night.

Brimman and a friend playing along with rhythm instruments

Today I’ll be helping to fiberglass SPEEDBIRD’s rudder so they can
continue their island hopping to Fiji or New Zealand. We are next to
them on a mooring with their rudder pulled out sitting in their cockpit
drying out waiting to be fixed. During my daily swim in the anchorage
I’ve been discovering many new the varieties of coral and multicolored
fish.

Anchored next to SPEEDBIRD

October 27th – Next we sailed through a series tight channels out to the
eastern outer reef, Anchorage #30, We went swimming and snorkeling on
coral gardens. Brimman and I took a walk the length of the eastern side
of the island watching the crashing surf from waves traveling over four
thousand miles across the Pacific. It was difficult getting back to town
through those tight channels in the near zero visibility of a torrential
downpour. At one point we were just motoring in circles so as to not go
aground on the reefs around us as we were approaching one of the two
tight passes. The day ended with a great sail back into Neiafu in time
for Brimman to get one of the last spaces for the next day on the local
plane and be able to make his connections to San Francisco. We had a
farewell dinner at a great Swiss restaurant for our last night together
with many toasts and much discussion.

Brimman during the island hike on the outer reef

October 29th – We met Diane, a local, who came to Tonga as a Peace Corps
volunteer and has been serving the Tongan people for the last four
years. She took me for some exercise with a 2 mile hike to the top of
Talau Mountain and had a beautiful view of the town and bay of Neaifu.
We were able to accompany her as she accomplished her tasks of teaching
three classes of English at an outlying school, getting a doctor to
treat a bad infection for a Tongan paraplegic man in outlying town,
invited to a seafood feast with prospective airline executives at
Paradise Hotel to promote more airline competition.

Dianne leading a song with school kids

Teaching English

More Kids

Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 12:10 AM

Email from Jim, via Marvin, via Paul.
#1 of 2

Niue’s concrete dock is an opening in the coral reef and is exposed to the ocean waves and is usually wiped clean in a hurricane so the electric crane hoist is removed before.

Dingy seawall and electric crane hoist. The red dingy on the right is ours.

Coming ashore from the boat is a process of unloading people and stuff at the steps on the left, hoist the dingy from the water onto the white dingy cart using a 4 point lifting harness, and roll and unload the dingy cart at an empty space on the wall.

The anchorage was secure even during the time the wind was blowing from the west and we were on a lee shore (as shown in the picture). Each boat you see is provided with a new mooring as the water is over 80 feet deep in hard angled coral slabs.

INTENTION moored in front of the French Navy ship that stopped during rough weather while returning from New Caledonia.

After checking in with Customs and Immigration, the Police Station, the crew was off to explore the 100 square kilometer Island.

INTENTION”s crew and some of the French Navy crew hanging out ashore.

Friday night while trying to hitch hike we were picked up by the police and taken by the local police car to the south end of the Island to the Wash Away Cafe (above), named because ever one thought it would get washed away in the storms / hurricanes, to have some drinks and dinner. The next day we all rented bicycles and I pedaled there, as you can see by the bike parked out front. I also swam in the lagoon and out the pass. The next bay to the left is called Snake Gulch because it has hundreds of poisonous sea snakes, called sea krates, are living there. They stay most of the time about 30 feet under the water intertwined in balls near the bottom and coming to the surface about every 20 minuets for air. Their venom is suppose to be four times as deadly as a cobra’s bite. We were reassured that they were not aggressive and almost never bit people. The sequence of pictures below were taken by Ann on Novia of a four foot sea Krate swimming up and nibbling on her toes and swimming off. She said “It was the highlight of her stay on Niue.”

Sequence of poisonous Sea Krate snake nibbling on Ann’s toes.

Saturday night there was a performance of Niue dancing given by and at the High School students. The performance was in natural costumes with 5 different dances and evaluated but the their faculty for completing a course for their graduation from HS. We met Keith, a member of the Niue Yacht club, and his wife,Susan, a mathematics teacher at the HS. They very nice to put our bicycles in the back of their car and give us a ride to the dock as it was a ways and we didn’t have lights for the bikes. Keith invited the 20 people on boats in the anchorage to a barbeque happening on Monday, October 3rd, called a ‘Hash House Harriers’ on the north end of the island. We all came to have a great time and celebrate Brimman’s 20th birthday with a 3 kilometer walk, cold
beer, and a feast.

The announcement, the 20 cruisers on a 3K walk, and the Birthday Boy on Monday, October 3rd.

Preparing to climb down into Vaikon Caves and the opening of the first underwater cave under the back wall straight ahead about 6 feet.

On Sunday morning John and I were ashore by 7:30 AM to go caving with a Norwegian boat, La Familia. We were driven to the cave and guided by Willy, the owner of the Wash Away Cafe. After a 20 minute drive to the
trailhead and a 20 minute hike through a jungle with sharp coral rocks everywhere we arrived at the cave entrance. we climbed down a steep slope wit stalactites & stalagmites all around, some to hang on to keep
from sliding or falling. Then we used ropes to traverse and descend further into the cave. An opening and shaft of light shown in from above in first pool of water. See right picture above. We swam straight ahead to the narrow opening paused while Willy went first and we followed 6 feet down and 6 feet ahead coming up into a dark dripping chamber with stalactites on the ceiling. Then down & ahead another 6 feet into another part of the cave to follow the light to climb out of the water up a rope to another more lighted cave and then out through a very narrow opening to the outside just next to the ocean. We rested for about 15 minutes and watched the large ocean waves crashing on the huge flat coral slabs. After a hike back through the coral & jungle we rode to Willy’s Wash Away Cafe for drinks and lunch and a swim.

Survivors celebrating their caving experience.

Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 12:09 AM

Email from Jim, via Marvin, via Paul.
#2 of 2

One of Niue’s many churches & Niue’s Mall – bank, tourist info, internet, stores, etc.

Typical road around the island.

Provisioning here was fun and challenging. Niue is a protectorate of New Zealand and they use NZ$ for all business transactions which entailed having exchange US$. The cost were much better than French Polynesia but not as good as the US.

Grocery store out side

Groceries inside

Attended a local Festival on the south end of the island near the Wash Away Cafe

Got off the boat before 8 AM and rode a rented motorcycle to this fun and interesting local festival. This was much like a county fair. There was lots of food, growing competitions, games , and dancing.

View of the area used for the Festival. The stage is in front of the building on the left.

Coconut Crab Competition

Winner – Biggest Crab

Kids playing with coconut crabs

Coconut crabs in the wild are blue and eat lots of coconuts so their meat tastes a lot like coconut. As you can see, like lobster, they turn red when cooked. The crab on the left is on the menu and soon to be changing color.

Food

I purchased a Niue food plate (on the left) with Mahi mahi, chicken, pork, breadfruit, taro, and banana. So much food I couldn’t finish it. Brimman helped me later.

(above) Crew from LA FAMILIA enjoying their feast.

A selection of delicious deserts besides cakes, ice cream & sundaes (right).

Children’s Dancing

I think these pictures of the children of Niue are self explanatory