In the morning before we left Port Resolution, Tanna to make passage to Port Vila, Efate, a man in an outrider canoe passed close to us and I asked if I might take a photograph. The man was quite willing. He was about to go fishing in his canoe which was very obviously made from a hollowed log with no varnish or paint to enhance its beauty.
We noticed that although the villagers on Tanna are very poor, none of them looked as though they had insufficient to eat. However, obesity was not a problem here. 45% of the population, which is growing at 3% a year, is under 15 years. We saw only one person who looked older than 45, a woman who was present during the gift exchange ceremony but other WARC participants were advised that there are a number of elderly people in the village.
We motored most of the way to Port Vila as there was insufficient wind to sail although we did motor sail briefly on a couple of occasions. On arrival at Port Vila, we had to pick up a mooring buoy and Dick went below to manoeuvre the boat using the second lot of controls. The controls for the starboard engine did not work from the flybridge. Once we were tied securely to the buoy, we had lunch and then went ashore to explore.
The fresh produce market which is open 24/7 though closed on Sunday, had adequate supplies to see us through the weekend although we didn't shop until after lunch on Saturday. The SPAR supermarket also had plenty of produce. We didn't get to see the other 2 supermarkets until later in the week.
Saturday night we went out to dinner and had an extremely good meal though the prices were not inexpensive by any means, despite the contrary advice in the Moon guide. Having been occupied by both the English and the French, the cuisine is second to none. Sunday, Oisin joined a non-WARC boat and took part in a local regatta. The boat on which he was sailing was 2nd across the finish line but he didn't know what position they actually achieved on corrected time.
I did a stock-take and spent the day creating an up-to-date list of all the produce on board Tucanon, including medical products. This is for the Australian officials when we arrive in Mackay. From the list of items not permitted to be brought into the country, it looks as if most of the stuff on board will be confiscated. I am hoping that my detailed list might be sufficiently lengthy to spare me losing all my provisions. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what we will be able to take on board in Mackay as each region has its own laws and what we can utilize in Queensland is not going to necessarily be acceptable in the Northern Territories.
Monday evening we went to a pot-luck supper at the house of the commodore. During the day, a number of WARC participants joined the trip to abseil down a waterfall and had a brilliant time. Others hired a car and explored the island. Tuesday we hired a 15 seat vehicle, in conjunction with six other people and toured the island, stopping at Havannah a really excellent restaurant, for lunch. That evening there was a rally supper and prize-giving and despite eating heartily at lunchtime, we still managed to consume a large quantity of very good food and wine.
Snorkeling off Hideaway island, we were able to post waterproof postcards, in the underwater post box.
Wednesday we were able to refill the butane bottles and stock up with fresh fruit and vegetables. Finding the supply of butane was a real bonus as this is usually not available here. It was then time to prepare meals and snacks in advance of the start of the next leg. Oisin was "borrowed" by Brown Eyed Girl which is short-handed, for the passage to Mackay, so we have had to rethink our watch system. As we didn't know that this would happen until the day before leaving Port Vila, we missed out on celebrating early, Oisin's birthday on the 16th. He departed from our boat after breakfast on the 15th, before we left our mooring and made way to the fuel pontoon.
After fueling we bobbed around in the bay until leg 11 commenced at noon. We were off on the 1150nm passage to Mackay. We had a beam reach, blowing force 3 as we set sail but by 13.50 it had increased to a force 4. By 3pm we were sailing on a broad reach. As both of our parasailors had been damaged and not yet repaired, we sailed under main and genoa. By the 4th day at sea the wind was blowing up to force 7 with moderate seas. We put 2 reefs in the main and 1 in the genoa. Fortunately this state didn't last beyond 36hours when the wind decreased to around 15 knots and the sea reduced and became more comfortable. By 5am on Tuesday, 20th, the wind reduced to a paltry 1-3knots and it became necessary to switch on an engine. This has to be rather a fast leg as all boats have to arrive at Mackay finish line by 17.30 on the 23rd or be classified as DNF(did not finish). There is no leeway for lack of wind. The only solution is to use the iron sail. I guess that if we haven't arrived in time for the authorities to come aboard before 18.30 on Friday, we will have to remain on board until Monday, thus missing the rally party on Friday night.