Off On A Lark!

GRIB files look good for a Thursday departure to Vanuatu. The weather systems that have persisted South/SW of us are dissipating so it looks like smooth sailing with the wind on our aft quarter to Luganville. Roughly 800 miles from here in Funafuti, so at an average of 5 knots that should put us there in 7 days.

This morning we made our visit to the Tuesday produce market. At about 8:30 a small truck shows up with numerous crates of veg and papayas. There are usually 15-20 shoppers and everyone is quite civilized about sharing what’s available. Spring onions, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, long beans, lettuce, papayas. None of these are available at the local shops, so it’s a treat. They also have a market on Friday mornings but you have to be there by 6:00am to get a number. Last time we went to that one we arrived at 6:40 and were number 85. Thank goodness we met some fellows from the Australian navy who had signed up for a friend who didn’t show. That brought us up to number 40 so we got more than just a couple of long beans!

So what have we been up to for the 5 weeks we’ve been here?

Connecting with Tuvaluan friends, watching lots of inter island soccer games in preparation for the Tuvalu games in June. This evening volleyball is the game. Our friend Teoni is honing his coaching skills with the teams from Nui (his home island), so that makes watching even more fun.

I’m obsessed with the idea of self-publishing some simple schoolbooks to help the kids here learn English. There isn’t much demand for Tuvaluan/English books so consequently there aren’t any. Teoni has agreed to work with me on the project. What do I know about teaching? Nothing, but I think I may have a clue about how to make learning fun. I know how to make them laugh and they love sneaking up behind me when I’m sitting unaware to wave there hands through my hair while giggling the word ‘Palangi’. That means foreigner or white person.

We’ve had a great time with our friends on ‘Proximity’ who arrived a couple weeks after us. There are also a number of people who come and go on the two flights a week. They’re here to work or volunteer in various capacities and since our paths always seem to cross there’s plenty of socializing on board since they’re curious what it’s like to be sailing the Pacific.

There’s been plenty of local singing and dancing to take in. Tuvalu is great for this since none of it is staged for ‘tourism’ purposes. They hardly know the word here and we like that. I’ve had a local style dress made (imagine me in a dress, what a novel idea) and a beautiful top sewed like one I admired on a young woman working at the hotel. When I complemented her sewing she offered to make one for me. I had fabric on board and without taking one single measurement, just a visual, it fits like a glove. No idea how she did that. No pattern required! I’m more than impressed.

I’ve finished sewing our courtesy flags for Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Bet you don’t know what either of them look like let alone where the countries are. Vanuatu was a hub of activity in WWII (then called The New Hebrides) and New Cal is the French hub of the Pacific.

So, this should be my last post from the beautiful, miserably hot and humid latitudes of our adventure. Yesterday it was 94 degrees and 68% humidity on board. Not a breath of wind so sleeping last night was next to impossible even with the fans on. This morning at 6:15, 84 degrees and 83% humidity. We’re drained, done and hoping that what we’ve been told about the climate in Vanuatu is true.

Stay tuned!