Evening Ebb

Anchor up at 0515 and we're underway for Noumea, New Caldonia. It's about 250 miles and we plan to be there sometime Monday afternoon. There's almost no wind so the sea is glassy and if you look closely you can see a sheen of ash from the volcano on the deep blue water.

Tanna is a special place and quite different from any of the other islands we've visited. The people were very friendly but you can't help but wonder if the constant interaction with yachts isn't changing their lives in subtle and not so subtle ways. The good thing is that the yachts bring cash which allows them to buy things, but at the same time they represent a way of life that is radically different from the customs that have evolved over the years. Nothing ever stays the same.

Comments

Vessel Name:	s/v Evening Ebb
Vessel Make/Model:	1979 Pearson 365 Ketch
Hailing Port:	Washington, DC
Extra:	The boat's name comes from a poem by Robinson Jeffers: Evening Ebb The ocean has not been so quiet for a long while; five nightherons Fly shorelong voiceless in the hush of the air Over the calm of an ebb that almost mirrors their wings. The sun has gone down, and the water has gone [...] down From the weed-clad rock, but the distant cloud-wall rises. The ebb whispers. Great cloud-shadows float in the opal water. Through rifts in the screen of the world pale gold gleams, and the evening Star suddenly glides like a flying torch. As if we had not been meant to see her; rehearsing behind The screen of the world for another audience. More