Village people

We traveled on a very rough road in pickup trucks to visit a local village.

Here we were welcomed with traditional dances.

We then sat down to a meal which included taro, banana, yam, choko, fish, chicken and coffee. All locally sourced, gmo free and organic.

School visit

Climbing the mast

My boat has a 50 foot stick whereas Alora's mast goes 83 feet off the deck.

It was scary as one thing but I had to go up to pull a broken halyard down

Mount Yasur

Went up to the caldron last night and got within 100 metres of the crater. Scary, windy and cold. Journey there in the back of a pickup truck along these roads that were atrocious.

Port Resolution

We went ashore to clear customs and immigration and got a first hand look at how people from Vanuatu live.

Outrigger canoes cut from one tree using an adze. No stitch and glue here.

Arrived in Vanuatu

Well after just 3 days from Fiji we have made it to Tanna in Vanuatu. We are right next to an active volcano and you can see the vents on the shoreline.

Leaving for Vanuatu

This morning we have to negotiate our way through these treacherous reefs to the start line about one kilometer west of here from the marina. Then we have a 450 nautical mile sailing race to Vanuatu west of here. The forecast is for perfect 15-20 knot SE winds initially dying to variable Monday, and there is a huge penalty if we end up turning on the engine. There are 22 boats leaving here and there are 6 other boats in our category. Most are not interested in competition, at least that is what they say!

Musket Cove Marina

There are 22 boats here in Fiji with us getting ready to sail to Vanuatu at 10am tomorrow morning as part of the ARC around the world rally. There are 25 legs of the rally that are actually races and this next leg over to Tanna will be light winds without using the engine. Should be interesting!