October 10, 2000-Waiting in Vanautu

Hideaway

Usually cruising boats in Vanuatu are waiting for something.

Waiting for mail, waiting for parts or, for a lot of us, waiting for the weather.

The problem is that the islands of Vanuatu lie in a string from Southeast to Northwest. The wind blows mostly from the Southeast. Going up the island chain is easy, coming back is not so easy. Sailing Southeast to Tanna Island or even South to New Caledonia is a wet beat in the typical Southeast Trades. So boats sit in harbors and ports throughout Vanuatu and watch the weather. If the Southeast Trades shift to Northeast, then there is a big exodus as they all try to get to the Southeast. Even if the wind just slackens a little people head out, figuring they can motor or beat into a light wind. This morning the wind was light and the weather report was for Northeasterlies. Several boats up and down the chain headed out going south to the next island or the next country.

On WINGS we are waiting too, but right now its not for the wind to change. We are waiting for our Monday dinner date on a boat called ONLY BLUE to try some of their famous curry. We are also waiting until Wednesday when our Australian visas will be ready. Then maybe we'll leave for New Caledonia or maybe we to will wait for weather.

Meanwhile we are enjoying our little Hideaway anchorage. Calm water, nice view, a pretty island close with a resort and restaurant and bar, and a long beach behind us where the surf breaks. Kind of a South Pacific Tennecatita. There is a school at one end of the beach and in the evenings the boys play basketball on an outdoor court there. We can hear the backboard rattle far into the night.

Today the sun was shining and we went for a snorkel on the reef nearby. It was great. We took some bread to feed the fish and it attracted several schools, some of some quite big fish. When a few dozen two footers came close to our masks with their mouths open it surprised Judy and she let out a yelp. Good thing she was on the surface at the time, yelping underwater leads to salt water in the mouth. Then we went to the shore and walked along the long white sand beach. There is a river mouth there and some local families were doing laundry. They smiled and said "Hi," and the naked kids splashed water on each other. Back on the boat we sewed some more on our torn genoa, and then went on deck to eat lunch and enjoy the sunshine. I heard some sails flapping, crisp like new dacron, and looked up to see a boat tack around and head back out of the bay. They had just come in for a look. I guess seeing another boat here they thought it was too crowded. It was an interesting boat however, low and flat and angular, like a Beeker design maybe, only the main and boom were more like BOC style, with the gooseneck on deck and the boom pointed up sharply. It looked brand new and too radical to be out here cruising, but here it was. A shirtless tanned young man in a ponytail was sailing it and when he tacked a woman's head appeared in the hatch. They went out around the island the hardened up heading for Vila. I watched until they came out behind the other side of the island to see how they looked going to weather. Against the tide and waves, with a small jib and a reefed main, they made steady, if slow, progress. I wished we were out there too to compare boat speed with them. I thought we could beat them to weather, which is true of most boats we see.

I swam from the boat to cool off after working on the sails, and I didn't put the swim ladder out. I wanted to practice climbing up the anchor chain then pulling myself over the bow pulpit. I thought it was a good test of my strength, good for my health. The joke was on me. I got up OK, but in doing so I kicked the side of the boat and agravated a sore toe, so now I am limping again. My strength seems OK, but my stupidity is superb.

In the evening, as light faded in Hideaway, we enjoyed a pleasant cocktail on deck. The colors went from brilliant greens, yellows, and whites to subdued blues and purples as twilight fell. There had been a number of families on the beaches all day, this being Sunday, and in the darkness we could still hear the sounds of children playing in the water. That sound is universal. We also listened to the basketball sounds from the schoolyard, those boys must be getting pretty good by now. We went below for dinner and after dinner we watched the Olympics closing ceremony on TV. At night the boat hardly moved in this quietest of anchorages, we slept well.

Fred & Judy, SV WINGS, Hideway Anchorage, Vanuatu