Sailing around the World, ( Presently in Port Pesolution, Tanna, Vanuatu, South Pacific, )
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 8 Jul 2010 23:17
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Thursday 8th July
2010
We were all very slow getting out of the
scratchers,
there was no wind, so the first thing on the agenda
was look at the top batton which seemed to comming out
of its pocket at the top of the mainsail. we were
also having grief with this part of the sail when we were furling and unfurling
the sail.
Scotty went aloft on the bosun chair, and removed
the batton, which turned out to be badly damaged, all twisted.. cor blimey,
imagine that.
When he returned to the deck, we rolled up the sail
again,, It will be interesting to see how the sail comes out the next time we
use it !
We did some more messing about the boat, and also
got working on putting together our gifts for the Villagers at the " Gift
Exchange"
ceramony being held at the Yacht Club ,
midday........
11.45hrs We all went ashore in the rib,
loaded down with gifts and Daniels bags, as he has to return to
London.
All participating yachts brought their
own gifts to the Yacht Club, ( gifts included, books, copy books for the
school, clothes, roaps,
nails, saws and tools, fishing gear, and lots
of other usefull gadgits,
From there , went to the Village to watch some
local dancing
and foot stomping, Of course , they, both men and
women were all singing and it was a sight to behold.
The singing and chanting is great, we could listen
to it all day......
Then, everyone marched back to the Yacht Club in a
singing and dancing parade, great crack.................some of the locals
nicly painted
for the occasion,
Then the official exchange of gifts took place, and
again a first for all of us to be part of such an important event for the
Natives,
The children sang " This land is our land , and
this land is your land" this brought the house down..
Awsome stuff, really , it was.
This was followed by the locals using their
machetti's to open green coconuts, god, what a skill, 3 chops and the coconut is
skinned and opened.
But then, they start using these weapons as soon as
they can walk...
The coconut milk was really cool and tasty, and the
flesh was soft and delicious,, nothing like what we get at home...
Daniel got a 4x4 truck ride back to the airport,
Gee, what a short trip to the Pacific.
When the ceremony was finished, Aileen, Maggie,
Skipper, and Scotty walked to the village and did a bit of local bag
buying,
Then we went to the local school, where we met the
headmaster, he has 120 pupils at the school, and most of them board there
.
They would love to have internet access and a
computer at the school, as the only internet is at the Yacht Club, and if locals
want
to send an email etc, they have to write it out and
give it to Mr Worry, the manager of the yacht club, and he sends it off for
them.
can you imagine, no secrets around
here...thank you....
Providing this facility for the school
would be a good project for some enthuastic
group.........................
Later we returned to the boat and had a
ziz. zzzzzzzzz
18.00hrs, We went ashore again in the rib,
this time we flaked a submerged coral and split the hull, cripes , not
good,
we will have to try some repairs at our next
stopover... well blast that anyway.
We gave Miriam ( one of the local girls and also
teaches at the school ) a large globe we had on board , this is for the school
,
she was delighted, we also gave her some
other usefull things for a school, and promised to send them a box of copy books
from
our next port of call.
We were really impressed with this place, the
friendly people, the hospitality, the primative conditions they operate and live
in,
The Valcano, the dancing, the dirt track roads, the
wild life, the bats, the tree's and forests, the horn blowing, the hot springs,
WONDERFULL
and yet they all have their mobiles, isint it
gas.
No stress on this Island, and yet no one lives
longer 60 ..........hmmmmmm whats gone wrong !
Skipper was to go wild bore hunting tomorrow, but
in the end decided against it, as this hunt could take all day, and we wanted to
leave
about midday at the latest. ahhh well, there
may be other oppertunities..
Anyway, after presenting Miriam with the globe,
etc. we joined the rest of the crews for a feast , prepared by the
locals,
It included , rice, and all sorts of cooked fruit
and vegitables, fish, and of course the roast pig.
No alcohol, unless you brought your
own...
Again, this was a great occasion. enjoyed by all
.................
as time moved on, it was great to see the local
kids asleep on the floor of the Yacht Club, while their parents took part in the
festivities,
Could you imagine that happening at home in our own
yacht clubs ! Two chances. Nil and F/all.
21.30hrs we returned to the A Lady, now only
3 of us on board,,
We watched a presentation film about " Roratonga "
( cook Islands, ) and it was a great little film.
We all had an early night,
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Signed :- Stephen
Hyde, ( Skipper )
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