10 July 2010
This translates as goodbye to Tanna in Bislama language. Bislama was adopted as a common language in order that all the tribes could converse with each other so diverse and varied were their local dialects. It was hard to go. It was a very special place indeed. We motored along Tanna's east coast. Now I really understood why Captain Cook named these islands the New Hebrides. From the sea the similarity between the Scottish islands off the west coast and here is remarkable. Since independence however they have been renamed Vanuatu meaning Land Eternal. In the foreground gentle rolling hills reveal a land that is green, grassy savannah plains interspersed with huge area of forest. Fumaroles puff up their plumes of smoke between the trees at regular intervals. Punctuating the skyline are rugged peaks with Tanna's most outstanding feature Mount Yasur, clearly visible from a great distance. Dry and dust like in appearance it belches out its mushroom gases, the ash plains of its steep brown slopes giving a complete contrast to the greenness of the surrounding vegetation. Finally the wind arrived around 2pm and we sailed in a gentle 12knot breeze under poled out genoa, main and mizzen. We continued on throughout the night having a few squalls which sent Voyageur racing along at up to 8knots. She really does have a will all of her own. When we want her to go fast, she seems to stubbornly refuse. Now with the most light and fickle winds she seemed to get into a groove and throughout the night we over took one yacht after another. I suspect that like us she does not like to race. After all she has nothing to prove. We know perfectly well she has an ocean pedigree of the finest order. By 6am it had all died down and with just 20nm to go we motored the rest of the way into the huge protected harbour of Port Vila, the island's capital and a safe and secure berth along the quay of Elsie and Brian Stoneham's Yachting World.
Susan Mackay