Voyage of the Good Ship Westward

We last reported from Luganville, Espiritu Santo Isl. on our arrival in Vanuatu about two weeks ago.

Luganville proved, as later described, to be “the end-of-the-road” in Vanuatu; it was a humble center for the northern half of the country but did provide a wonderful open-air market and opportunity for a few parts & provisions before, after 24 hours, we moved to a lovely anchorage at the north of Espiritu Santo (Champagne Beach) for a few quiet days at anchor before continuing on to the Banks & Torres Islands.

All the places visited were lush with dense jungle greenery but otherwise impoverished beyond description . . . almost beyond our 21st century understanding; it was stunning to encounter places so isolated, to untouched by time.

Evidence of any central government in this tiny country was light, tradition & community seemed paramount to the order of things.  Infrastructure was virtually non-existent . . . . except for scattered (and very primitive) primary schools & medical clinics.  Solar panels provide a few of the coastal villages outside radio contact but we saw no roads, very few skiffs or outboards (mainly handmade outrigger canoes—-from which hand-line fishing provided sustenance),

We saw only flashlights & fires for illumination, the barest of navigational aids, little meaningful accommodation for tourism and only copra (coconut) harvesting for incomes.  But for those with the few administrative jobs at Sula (in the Banks group) or the willingness to work overseas on fishing vessels, it appeared a truly “subsistence” economy.

But we consistently received warm welcomes from everyone we encountered; visiting yachts are a principal opportunity for outside contact, there was consistent appreciation for our visits and for any thoughtfulness or generosity we could provide.

John, Teresa & I shared a quiet, but delicious, Thanksgiving dinner in the Torres group (chicken breasts, but with home-made cranberry relish, pumpkin & pecan pies!) before departing Friday morning for a slow, three-day slog to windward towards the Solomon Islands—–where we arrived on the 26th after traveling on the edge of a tropical disturbance formed above the Solomons and moving, on a course reciprocal to ours, to our west.

We’re now three days in Honiara, having collected our arriving hands, taken fuel & lubes & fresh provisions and toured the remarkable Guadalcanal battlefields out of which Honiara has grown.

We sail today for Tulagi (20 miles to the north), then on to the western Solomon Islands.  We will later share, when internet is again available, our reflections on the profound WWII  history we have now studied & seen.

All’s well aboard
Westward

After taking fuel at Lautoka, we spent a couple of additional days in the western islands of Fiji before embarking for Vanuatu; this was time quietly, and discreetly, spent . . . . we had already obtained our outward clearance from Lautoka.

We arrived at daybreak today off Luganville (southern end of Espiritu Santo Island) after a four day, two fish, 636 mile westward crossing beneath cloudy skies with persistent 10-20 knot headwinds & frequent, heavy squalls—–all occasioned by a stationary front overhead, stretching from Fiji into the Coral Sea.  Finally tiring of this “rough & boisterous weather”, we diverted on our 3rd day at sea to Luganville from our original Port Vila destination, thereby moving north of the front, providing a day-break (15th) arrival (and eliminating a day of travel between Port Vila and Luganville.

After the extra time taken in Fiji, we’ve only a week to spare for Vanuatu before sailing for the Solomon Islands; our time in Vanuatu will surely be all too brief. We’ll now confine our urban Vanuatu experience to Luganville — Vanuatu’s 2nd largest community (Pop. 12,200 . . .  a small fraction of its WWII size, when it served as a primary staging area for the major, turning-point land & naval battles fought in the Solomon Islands (500 miles to the NNW) 65 years ago).   

After a couple of days in Luganville. we’ll visit islands/anchorages/villages in the northern group of this small, thirteen-island nation clearing outward for the Solomons from Sola (on Vanua Lava Island in the Banks Group) after a small, far-from-home Thanksgiving celebration onboard, with 10,000 miles under Westward’s keel this year! 

On the 27th in Honiara (on Guadacanal) we will be joined by son Spencer and old shipmates from Pacific Catalyst days, Frank Converse & Beth Johnson, for some local cruising in the Solomons followed by passage north to the Federated States of Micronesia.

Sent with warm Thanksgiving wishes to all back home, all’s well aboard

Westward

Monday (Oct. 29th) we took early leave of the rarified aerie of Wakaya to briefly visit quaint Levuka, in fruitless pursuit of our 3rd missing bag.

Mid-day we continued north to relatively isolated Yadua Island, where we visited the charming & welcoming village of Denimaru and presented ourselves, formally, to the village chief to obtain his formal permission to anchor in the bay and visit the island & village; our stay at Yadua was brief, but enchanting (and we were pleased to contribute John’s repair of an ailing local outboard motor!).

Midnight saw us underway westward, once again, across Bligh Waters for day-break arrival at the Yasawa Group—-where we snaked our way through abundant coral to safe & lovely anchorage at Nadala Bay on the west side of namesake Yasawa Island.  We were challenged by the numerous choices of anchorages, each more tempting that the last—-clear, warm waters and clear skies (both 85 degrees!) . . .  healthy, vibrant reefs & coral gardens . . . . white sand beaches against a back-drop of rolling green hills that remind of west Marin headlands in springtime.

A few days languor here was followed by two days more at anchor on the west side of Waya Island—-where we were, once again, burdened with too numerous quiet & convenient anchorages from which to choose! Here’s Westward, sunset at our Waya anchorage; she draped with vital shade-cloth, looking as if she were dressed by missionaries:

These islands, and the whole of Fiji, are places well-worthy of being seen and its welcoming, friendly and well-intended peoples experienced, particularly by boat.  No doubt we’ve allotted too little time in Fiji but there is abundant need to move beyond this region as the summer cyclone season approaches; already we are seeing increased humidity, with heavy rain-showers & lightening storms.

We’ve now come to Fiji’s sugar port, Lautoka.  A high-light of our brief visit here was a long-planned, Tuesday dinner with Warwick & Nancy Tompkins; it was a grand reunion, far from home, with two very seasoned mariners—–”Commodore”, near constantly at sea, and sailing, since his legendary Cape Horn passage, under sail, aboard Wanderbird in 1936! & Nancy, his charming, able and dedicated partner (see: http://www.sailingmuse.com/) .

The Tompkins sailed yesterday, aboard  fleet “Flashgirl” for New Zealand; we take fuel today and clear outward for Vanuatu—-sailing Saturday, bound 522 miles westward to Port Vilat. 

End-November will see Westward again in the Solomon Islands (600 miles onward, to the northwest, some 25 years since the Westward & the Gumpertz visited). In the Solomon’s we’ll gather crew, honor significant battlefields of WWII, then “cross the line” back into the northern hemisphere, into the Federated States of Micronesia by mid-December.

All’s well aboard
Westward

P.S. and yesterday, at Nadi airport, we scored our remaining piece of missing luggage!