Two days after Phil returned from the States we set sail for Vanuatu. This was a 450 km sail that took us 4 1/2 days. Several days were good sailing, but then the wind died and we had to motor. I had arranged to have Customs meet us at Lenakel on Tanna Island and they confirmed they would be available. However, on arrival despite repeated radio calls on VHF and numerous phone calls we could not contact them from the boat, and we had been advised we could not go ashore until we had cleared customs and quarantine. After several hours we contacted Customs at the airport and they advised us that all the Customs agents had left Tanna Island for the adjacent Anatom Island and would not be back for a month! Fortunately they gave us the name of a substitute Customs officer in Lenakel and advised us we could go ashore to find him. After dinghying ashore we could not find anyone who could direct us to the Customs officer. Just by chance a pickup truck was passing by and stopped. A fellow named Stanley advised he was the transport person for the Yacht Club at Resolution Bay, our next stop, and that he would help us find the Customs man. After several phone calls we proceeded to the nearby town of Isangel where we found him sleeping under a tree! He jumped in our taxi and rode with us back to Lenakel where he opened up the Customs office and did our paperwork. We were then free to land and move around Vanuatu, a very relaxed place. We were very lucky to have bumped into Stanley, since no one else seemed to know how to find the Customs man and we could have spent hours milling around town unsuccessfully.

There was not much in Lenakel, so the next day we made a very bumpy six hour motorsail directly into Southeast 30 knot tradewinds to arrive at Port Resolution. There we made contact with Stanley and arranged for a tour that evening of Mt. Yasur, the active volcano on Tanna Island. The 4 wheel drive there was a very bumpy hour drive. There was a huge canyon tree with beautiful palms and some giant ferns at the station at the base of the volcano. It was then another very bumpy 15 minute ride up to the top of the volcano. There was a lot of smoke and ash belching out of the two cauldrons with occasional firework displays of molten lava bursting up into the sky. It was quite dramatic. On returning to the boat after our bumpiest day ever we were exhausted from the considerable tossing about we had suffered all day long and slept soundly that night.

The next day we ventured ashore and met with Stanley in his village. There I met his wife and kids, and distributed some coloring books, crayons, and kids’ sunglasses. The villages were all very rural with classic thatched roofs. Many were on stilts. They were very small and basic, but all the villagers were very happy and friendly and appeared extremely healthy. There were children everywhere happily playing, and there were chickens and pigs all over the place. The yacht club nearby turned out to be one large room with flags and burgees hanging from the ceiling, but it was unattended and there was no bar or refrigeration. It was really just a meeting place for the yachties. Down on the beach were a number of outrigger canoes that the fishermen had made and used regularly though they did not appear to be of very sturdy construction.

Please see the Vanuatu photo gallery until I have time to incorporate the photos from Vanuatu into the above blog.