Living in Port Vila
16 September 2011 | Port Vila, Vanuatu
Dream Caper is now ready for the black anti-fouling paint. The old bottom paint has been scraped off, she has been sanded and two coats of undercoat paint applied. She looks pristine clean!
September 12-16, 2011 Port Vila, Vanuatu
Monday: We had an enjoyable morning watching the US Open Women's Tennis Finals in the comfort of our apartment. We brought one of our bicycles from Dream Caper to show Lemara, an employee at the "marina". She decided to buy both of our twin red foldable bicycles for her twin 13 year old daughters. We are advertising items for sale, hoping to sell them before we arrive Australia. In the afternoon, we did a one-tank dive just outside the bay of Port Vila. After lunch we were picked up by Big Blue Divers and did one dive at Pango Cove dive site where the coral wasn't particularly great but Divemaster Marco pointed out two small nudibranchs, a Notodoris Minor (a 4" bright yellow with black dots nudibranch), and a Blue Ribbon Eel. We saw a pipefish, small shrimp in a carpet-like sea anemone that withdrew and disappeared down a hole when touched, and some large puffer fish. It was a very enjoyable dive.
Tuesday: It rained all day, almost non-stop. We stay holed up in the apartment watching the US Open Men's Tennis Finals.
Wednesday: We did a 2-tank dive this morning, one on the reef and one on a wreck which sank in 1987. It was enjoyable swimming through the various rooms of the wreck. We have enjoyed the 5 dives each we have done with Big Blue Divers. Between dives they serve coffee or tea with cookies and fresh fruit and there are usually 4-5 staff on every trip. Today, there were 4 staff and us, 3 paying divers. In late afternoon, we took the free ferry, only 1 block from our apartment, across to Iririki Island, a resort island we can see from our apartment deck. We played tennis on their fake turf courts mostly in the rain. This kind of surface can be wet during play and is not slippery. When the rain turned to a heavy downpour, we retired to the resort's large restaurant for happy hour and snacks.
Thursday: On our visit to the boatyard, we were told that due to the rain and cloudy weather, the anti-fouling painting and gelcoat repairs will not be completed until Monday which means Dream Caper will go back into the water on Tuesday, after 15 days on the hard. This is 5 days longer than planned, but this is a boat so it is not surprising. We visited with SV Tyee with whom we spent some time in the Tuomotus last year. John, Lucie and their two sons, from Canada, are also heading toward New Caledonia and probably Australia. They too are putting their catamaran up for sale. We find that many people like ourselves have gotten burned out from the many passages that they have had to make while cruising the S. Pacific.
Friday: We walked two blocks up the hill and played tennis on two courts next to the Melanesian Hotel. It felt good to get some exercise and to practice our strokes and serves. After a quick trip to the boatyard by taxi, Steve read and relaxed while Portia listened to continuing legal education internet courses which are required to keep her Oregon State Bar membership active. Since we have a reasonable internet connection in the apartment, Portia has been making a significant dent in the 45 hour requirement.