AKAMA REPORT 30
Port Vila & Passage to Noumea
It just dawned on us that many of our correspondents have probably never
heard of Vanuatu, let alone know anything about it. Vanuatu is an
independent republic consisting of more than 80 islands. It is located
about 5,600 km southwest of Hawaii and about 2,400 km northeast of
Australia. From the late 19th century until independence in 1980,
Vanuatu was called the New Hebrides, and was governed jointly by France
and Britain.
Port Vila (17-45S x 168-18E), the capital of Vanuatu, on the Island of
Efate, is the first actual city we have been in for about the past six
months. It has a population of around thirty thousand, many of whom are
foreign expatriates. Added to this, there are many western tourists
(mostly Aussies and Kiwis); it is a bit odd to see so many white faces.
The city has a bilingual, French/English, atmosphere.
We Med-moored (tied up stern-to the sea wall) at Yachting World (YW),
which is the closest thing to a marina. We had electric power and
water, what luxury. To get on and off the boat we literally had to
"walk the plank", about a 12-foot by 8 inch wide plank running from the
stern to the shore. One of the ladies in a nearby boat fell into the
water, getting off of her boat. To make it a bit safer, Maurice rigged
up two lines on either side, with which we could raise and lower the
plank like a drawbridge. He also rigged a rope to help pull ourselves
up at low tide when the angle is steep, or to slow our descent.
Port Vila is a "financial centre", which really means a tax haven. So,
the amount of money around is reflected in the style and maintenance of
the buildings and shops. We noticed that most of the successful
businesses in the area are owned by expatriates, mostly Aussies and a
few Americans; the variety shops, like everywhere around here are owned
by Chinese. The locals are thus relegated to salaried jobs. Although
most must be happy to have jobs at all, we wonder if there is any
undercurrent of ill feelings; none is displayed. Indeed, we noticed
that most of the people display the same sort of happy-go-lucky spirit
that we noticed in many of the remote islands.
This is obviously a touristy town, as there are souvenir shops
everywhere. We did not buy much, as we bought a lot in the other
islands. We were tempted to buy a few local dresses as gifts for people
back home, but common sense prevailed. The dresses in question, we
call "Mother Hubbard" dresses, we are not sure why...something to do
with the cut. Nearly all of the married women here wear them. They are
rather loose fitting and are very colourful. Louise-Ann thinks they
would make a great housedress; here they are worn everywhere. There is a
good female string band that plays outside the Westpac Bank. Every day
they have a different costume, always a variation on these dresses.
Sometimes they wear hats woven from Pandanus leaves.
We are really enjoyed shopping in big grocery stores again; our view on
what might constitute a paradise is definitely altered by our cruising
experience! There are several supermarkets in Vila, stocking many
things that we have not been able to get for months. The down-side is
that everything here is expensive, compared to prices in SE Asia. We
were astounded to see that the shops were openly selling pirated
computer software at about US $20 per disk. Pirated movies go for 8 to
12 bucks a pop. In South East Asia both sell for only a few dollars
each.
Good restaurants were rare where we've been, except at a few resorts.
Some of the restaurants in Vila are very good; we've been trying
different ones for various lunches and dinners. On the other hand, they
charge big city prices. The Waterfront bar and restaurant right at the
marina is a going concern, packed every night, and as Seven Seas
Cruising Association members we get a 10% discount. The best value,
though, is Jill's American Restaurant, which charges about what the rest
do, but gives huge portions. In her menu, Jill boasts that one doesn't
go there to count calories and we can attest to that. There are also a
bunch of French restaurants that looked good, but we ran out of time
and did not try any.
We got a badly needed package of spare and repair parts from the US, via
DHL. We have discovered that Saint Brendan's isle, our mail forwarder
in Florida, can not only supply us with boat parts from West Marine, but
they come at a discount as well. Maurice has been up to his elbows in
the bilges and engine room installing new pumps, switches, regulators
and other mysterious stuff. We have had good luck in using DHL as the
carrier; they seem to be able to get goods through without duty or
delay. We are entitled to a duty exemption as a yacht in transit, but
in some countries one does not get what one may be entitled to.
There are about a hundred boats in the area, something else that we have
not seen for about six months. It is rather nice to get to know a
bunch of new people. Some sailboats arrived from Fiji, having endured a
bad passage. They are part of an around the world in two years sailing
rally. Frankly, we don't get it. We know another couple that did it
in four and a half years and quipped that they would not be in such an
all fired hurry next time. As you all know by now, we are not only not
in a hurry, but for the most part we do not even have a set itinerary,
just a rough idea where we want to go.
One of the other yachts organized a 'round the island trip in a small
bus. We stopped half-way to have lunch at a local resort (very rustic).
One couple, Henry and Gail from MARITIME EXPRESS looked a bit familiar
but we could not place them. It turns out that Henry worked in
Moncton, New Brunswick for Transport Canada at the same time that
Maurice worked there for Communications Canada. They retired a few
years after we left Canada and have been cruising ever since. What are
the odds? But wait, it gets odder. One evening over drinks Gail
mentioned that her sister had worked in Singapore for a time. Get
this...we know her! So, what are the odds!
30 July was the 24th anniversary of Vanuatu's independence. We put up
some tube lights and a set of code flags spelling out "Happy 24 Birthday
Vanuatu". The local boats dressed ship and did a cruise past. To get
the spirit going we blew our horn and others followed suit. All in all,
though, it was a rather low-key affair compared to Canada day at home.
One of the couples that we have been cruising with, Peter and Flavia of
SAMPAGUITA, surprised us by announcing that they are terminating their
voyage here in Vanuatu or maybe in New Caledonia. They've put their
boat up for sale and plan to settle in Vanuatu. They have been busy
looking for a retirement farm (now there's an oxymoron) to buy, and it
looks like they have found one with a coconut plantation, cattle and
hogs on Santo Island. It makes us wonder what we will do when and if we
find a place that we would like to settle in. Neither of us can
imagine living ashore, and at least for now we intend to keep on
travelling aboard AKAMA "forever".
We decided to leave Port Vila on Wednesday, 11 August, thinking that we
would make the 300 mile passage in two days plus another few hours. The
GRIB files showed that the wind would move around to the east and
drop...great for a power boat. Sure enough, on Wednesday morning it was
calm with a light rain and the sailors were complaining that there was
"no air". So we left. However, the wind gradually picked up and it did
not turn east. We had winds of thirty knots with gusts to 45. This
kicked up big waves, some about three metres high. We were both seasick
in no time, Maurice for the first time in his life. Louise-Ann was the
worst and could not eat for two days; she slept quite a bit during
those two days leaving Maurice to do most of the navigating. Moreover,
we could not travel quickly, as we were going right into the weather;
thus we did not get into Noumea until Saturday morning, after three
nights at sea. Poor AKAMA had salt water blown into every crack and
crevice, and we now know where we have several leaks that need attending
to. The worst one is in our pilothouse doors. We were constantly
mopping up.
We will end this report with a few words about malaria, as several
people have asked about it. We take no prophylactic medicine, on the
advice of a friend who is a malaria researcher. Because of our route
and timing, we would have to be doped up on drugs for long periods, and
the drugs can have undesirable side effects. The most common
prophylactic drugs these days are chloroquine and mefloquine (Lariam).
The former is cheap and effective, except that in some areas the malaria
parasites have become resistant. Mefloquin is better, but it is
expensive. Doxycycline is probably the current favourite prophylactic
anti-malarial agent in use around here; but, it has lots of side effects
and proscriptions. Among other things, it can cause thrush in some
women and it can provoke severe sunburn in some individuals. It is
recommended that it should not be taken for longer than three months
without a medical review. So, it is not much good for us.
Our primary line of defence is to not get bitten by an infected
mosquito. So, if we are going ashore in dangerous areas we use bug dope
with DEET, cover up, and try to avoid being outdoors at dusk and dawn,
the periods when the female anopheles mosquito feeds. And, yes, we do
kill the little buggers if we have mossies in the boat, using a standard
domestic killer spray. So far, touch wood, we have made it through
most of one of the world's most malaria ridden zones without any
problem.
So, what will we do if we are infected, you might ask. Well, we carry
creative doses of several drugs. The most interesting is artesunate,
which has been used for many years by the Chinese. We bought it in PNG,
as it not yet licensed for use in Australia, North America or Europe.
It is recommended only for treatment not for prophylaxis. This stuff
kills the malaria parasites and gets you back on your feet in only three
days; one of our friends took it and it really works, and without side
effects. After the artesunate one takes a short course of Fansidar,
which we also carry, and that kills any remaining stages of the
parasite. We also carry creative doses of Mefloquin. Of course, all of
this is not for routine use. If we thought we had contracted malaria
and could get to a clinic ashore, we would go there to get properly
diagnosed.
Well, so long for now. Next report will be all about New Caledonia. |
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Reports-2 
