Brisbane. Floods in Queensland

The sun is finally shining here again after many days of just rain, sometimes heavy rain. Bundaberg the town we spent a month at in November is now half under water. The Hervey river where the marina is we stayed at has flooded its banks and Our marine store on the river in town is now flooded and hundreds off houses are evacuated and many businesses ruined.

We had initially considered going up the river to the town to stay on pile moorings which are cheaper. But glad we didn't as there is much debris on the river now that could break your boat from it's moorings, if not damage your boat. Many of the roads in the area a closed do to parts of them being under water and bridges damaged. Some areas are having the worst rains and flooding ever recorded and some the worst in 20 years. Many roads in Queensland are closed as portions of them are under water and bridges damaged as well. Most of the bridges they take the guard rails off so the water can flow freely over top. Several small towns have been evacuated, and portions of many other areas evacuated.

The Brisbane river has also flooded its banks in Brisbane putting pedestrian paths and ferry stations under water. Where we are in Manly it is an ocean front marina in a boat basin so no worries about floods here, though we would not want a cyclone to hit a crowded marina like this one. Cyclones don't normally come done this far, that is why we are here, but sometimes the remnants of then do though very rarely.

With all the wet weather I got all my inside boat jobs done, now hopefully can started on the outside.
Added Jan 1/2011. Happy New Year everyone. The nice weather has gone and it is raining again, heavy gray overcast, looks just like Vancouver no November, just alot warmer.

Notice to Sailors

I have been going through other cruisers blogs to research where we are going next and find out where the good anchorages are and what we have to watch for etc., for our up coming trip to Darwin and then Indonesia. I noticed some blogs were helpful and many others had no useful info for a sailor. Then I realized, I could do better as well. So from now on when I get a chance and internet is ok I will put an "Info:" section at end of some posts for each area that will give useful info about an anchorage or port, and gps position of where we anchored so you can locate anchorage on chart.

I have gone back a bit and edited some posts already and added a 'Info:' section using my log book to refresh my memory. Done Bora Bora to Australia and some of Mexico.
Also I have noticed my blog postings are a day out. The date is correct on my computer but the blogger time stamp is on Vancouver time?? We are a day ahead here and plus 6 hours. Dec 25 3:30pm now 2010. Will try to have something for everyone, even mistakes, for those looking for them.

Christmas in Brisbane

I had a quite Christmas down at the boat. Dorothy has flown home for her fathers 90th birthday which is at Christmas. She will also visit Vancouver to get a few things down and bring back some goodies for the boat.
I had some Potatoes, yam, some broccoli and a can of chili con carne for Christmas dinner, yumm. Not many people around the marina, most have gone home. Christmas is definitely not as big a deal here as it is in North America. I pulled the head apart to do some repairs and improve the smells, plus got a few other chores to do while Dorothy is gone.
Found a little tiny hill we can hike up to try to get some cardio when going on our walks. It takes 2 minutes, well maybe less, to get to the top, boy Australia is flat. It has rained every day the last 3 days, though not continuously. A small cyclone hit the coast near Cairns and then downgraded to a tropical storm, had huge amouts of rain there this morning, the first one of the season.
The rain has stopped so time for a walk.

A Trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

We rented a car yesterday for some chores and to explore further afield. We first got a new outboard motor. We got a good price on the old 3.5 HP mercury which I never liked and was always troublsome and traded it in for a new 5 HP Yamaha. Every place we went in the Pacific, 95% of the outboards where Yamaha's and everyone loved them. So with such a larger dealer and parts network and super reputation, what else would you get? Your dinghy is like your car at home, you use it to go everywhere. We row when we can unless it is to far or strong currents and wind.

After that errand we drove to the Koala Sanctuary and paid the entrance fee which was a bit steep, but there turned out to be a lot more here than we thought. There were animals here from the bears to kangaroos, tasmanian devils, dingo's and lots of birds. A lot of the animals were in their natural enviroment and could come and go as they pleased. We had planned to go to another park afterwards to go for a hike, but we spent all our time here at the sanctuary. As we were driving back to the boat there was another thunderstorm warning put out on the radio. Soon the sky was black and then lightening and then it poured buckets, I pulled the car over until the rain slowed down. Later we heard on the radio, 3 people had been killed, at least one was a motorcycle accident. A few miles away they had hail the size of oranges and cars were damaged and had broken windows. The traffic was stop and go most of the way back to the boat. We got in just before dark, glad we don't have to do much driving any more.

'How ya goin'- Manly Boat Basin

After we got the boat settled and cleaned up we did a quick tour of the local area. Manly is a small village on the waterfront with three large marinas. There is a medium size food store, marine store and a few other shops about 15 minute walk. But another half mile away is Wynnum, a much larger town with everthing for shopping. Some are a bit far and we need to cycle to them. There are lots of bike lanes and the waterfront has a walking/bike trail the whole length.
We have noticed almost everywhere so far in Australia they keep the beach front open for public access and walkways along the water. people always greet us with 'how ya goin' rather than 'how are you' and everything is 'no worrys mate' . The weather has finally turned sunny and we have had lots of sun the last 3 days.
We took a train ride into Brisbane the day before yesterday. For $10 dollars we got a ticket than can be used as often as you want on their trains, buses or water cats. We rode into town with the commuters in the early morning then rode the water cats which are very fast ferrys and rode up and down the Brisbane river a bit and got off up river at a park before hoping back on a cat to ride back to downtown area. Then we explored the downtown, went into Boat Books store for a couple of guide books. Some much needed new shorts were bought and new sandles as we are still wearing the ones bought in Vancouver over a year ago.
The rain is back. While I type this it is pouring like crazy outside. The VHF radio just put out a flood and severe thunderstorm warning.

Info:
It is well marked the entrance to Manly boat basin. Watch out going in because just this year they changed the layout of the basin and it does not match the chart plotter or the Beacon to Beacon book and we got lost inside and it was difficult to turn around in the strong wind and confined space. The marina sent a skiff to guide us to our spot.
We are at 27 27.447 S 153 11.397 E in 10 feet. Is a huge marina, a 1km round trip walk to showers and back to your boat if you are near end. Small IGA and good marine store 15 min walk away and better shopping a long walk maybe 40 minutes or a nice bike ride on sea wall.

Mooloolaba and Bribie Island- Then to Manly and Engine Alarms

We left Mooloolaba reluctanly and said we would stop here again on the way up next season as there is still lots more to do here and it is a secure place for the boat.
We left at 5am to make use of the tide heading down Morton bay. The forecast was for NE winds so we hoped for an easy trip down to Manly. As soon as we got out of the channel we new the wind was out of the SE, more head winds in rough seas.
Numerous rain squalls went buy and the wind direction seemed to change from E to SE as squalls came and went. But the going was slow and we knew we would never make Manly before dark so decided to try the anchorage at the South end of Bribie island around in the channel behind island. We dropped anchor about 3pm and rowed ashore to check out the small village here. There was a nice waterfront trail that we took a long walk along and decided that this was another nice spot to spend more time on the way backup next year.
There were lots of birds here and when back on the boat before dark, you could here thousands of birds of all kinds making a tremedous noise.

We were up early again at 445am to get out of channel before tide turned against us and then to catch same down across the rest of moreton bay down to Manly. Again the NE forecast winds never came. The coast guard forecst was now SE to NE winds, great, and they were SE but at least they were light and we motored most of the way.

As a big rain squall was passing over us our engine alarm went of for its first time ever and I immedialtly shut it down. Lifted the engine cover off while Dorothy tried to get boat sailing so we would not get blown to shore. I saw right away the problem, the fan belt had broken and so the engine cooling pump was not turning, over heating engine. Fortunatly we had a couple spares so managed to get the engine going within a half hour. Dorothy got wet from the rain squall as to sail she had to turn the boat so the rain was blowing right in the side of cockpit behind the dodger.
After that everything went fine and we arrived off Manly harbor as another big rain squall came so we delayed our entrance until it passed, not wanting to go in a unfamiliar cramped boat harbor with poor visibility and wind and rain. After we entered we got lost as apparently they changed the harbor layour recently and it did not match our guide book. A couple of fellows in a skiff from the marina staff came and guided us to our spot and helped us in as I had called the marina just before arriving. We made it! Our new home for at least the next month.

Info:
Mooloolaba has a all weather entrance, no real bar to worry about, just follow the leading marks in, the swells steepen abit as you get near shore, but ok. Probably any tide ok, but it does get down to 9 feet or so ounce inside the basin. I felt more comfortable going in with the tide up a bit. Careful anchoring, it is easy to run aground around the edges of anchorage. We were at 26 41.378S 153 07.267E. Anchorage was a bit crowded we were short scoped in 8ft of water. But is a great place.
From Mooloolaba S to Manly we stayed 5 miles out until we got near Bribie Island then stayed close following the inside route round the end of Bribie island in the Beacon to Beacon book $37.00. Or just follow your chartplotter. We anchored on the inside of Bribie a mile south of the bridge, in 24ft at 27 04.946 S 153 09.423 E. In hind sight we should of anchored another 1/4 mile north as where we were, near the dock, it got quite bouncy for an hour with a tide rip and it was calm further up. Was lots of room to anchor. Nice spot to spend a couple of days.

Mooloolaba Australia Dec2010

We have enjoyed our short stay here inspite of all the rain. Last night was a Christmas parade of boats that went up and down the harbour all decked out with Xmas lights.
There are a lot of nice walking trails around here. Several trails along the open ocean beaches and trails down the canals. Lots of shops not to far away for us without a car. Am sitting here waiting for the rain to stop so we can go ashore again. It has been raining of and on for a week now and no end in site.
There has been serious flooding in many parts of Australia so far this season. They say this is the wettest spring Australia has ever had, and the highest their dollar has ever been. Perfect timing on our part.
Very early tomorrow morning, conditions permitting we will head South to Manly though we may anchor for the night of Bribie island and then continue to Manly the next day to work the tides right. There is a lot of tide action and shallow sand banks for miles around here so carefeul navigation is required and working the tides to also avoid wind against tide conditions if possible.

Wild ride heading South

We left Bundaberg port marina at 5am Nov 30 2010. Heading out of the river mouth out into Hervey Bay was a bit of a bumpy ride though nothing like we would get later. The wind was on the nose so made for slow going and we had to motor sail for a while until we could get a better angle on the wind and finally sail. Later in afternoon we had to motor sail some more as wind headed us again and we wanted to get to the start of the Great Sandy Strait behind Fraser Island before dark. We anchored by Sandy point near Fraser Island for the night. It rained some during the night and had rained some yesterday as well. The rain stopped so we inflated the dinghy and went for a walk on the beach and then headed out about 10 am to ride the tide up the strait. Careful navigation is required all through the strait as it is narrow and shallow and must follow the infrequent channel markers, our chart plotter helped alot.

The weather was foggy and of and on rain all day, not encouraging us to stop so we rode the tide up to a very shallow place and then caught the tide change down the other side of the strait and anchored by Pelican Bay ready to head out over Wide Bay Bar into the open sea. Our reservation in Manly by Brisbane was for the 7th of Dec but we needed to move with the weather. The next day they predicted NE winds instead of the usual SE winds so wanted to start South while winds were favourable. We decided to head for Mooloolaba about 50 miles South. There was a strong current in the anchorage and some wind so had a uneasy night.

We were up at 4:45am to catch hi slack at Wide Bay Bar. This bar has a nasty reputaion and many boats have come to grief here. As we left the protection of our anchorage we started punching into the ocean swell entering the channel and of coarse the wind was on the nose. So our motoring speed was down to 3 knots and then we left the channel heading for the first of the 3 waypoints the coast guard had given us over the radio. The sand banks are always shifting so they change the waypoints occasionaly. The seas rapidly got much larger and chaotic with violent boat motion. Our boat speed was now down to 1 to 2.5 knots and the next hour was not fun as the ocean here was like a huge tide rip. After an hour we reached the 2nd waypoint where you turn about 30 degrees to head for the 3rd and last waypoint. Now we were headed for the actual bar and the water which was about 60 feet deep got more and more shallow. We could sea the incoming swells now piling up and getting steep and the tips of some of them breaking. The water got down to about 18 feet which was almost shallow enough to great surf like conditions but not quite. A couple of waves were very steep and the boat climbed up them to crash down on the other side with a huge spay of water. Then 20 minutes later things slowly got better as we headed to deep water and the open ocean. This 2 hours was probably one of our most violent at sea.

We now could turn further South now and start sailing the seas were still quite rough for the conditions. A couple of rain squalls came through which messed up the wind so first there was not wind then 22 knots then 10 knots so lots of sail work and some motoring and chaotic seas.
By 11am things improved and we had a great sail the rest of the day and arrived of the harbor entrance at Mooloolaba about 5pm. We motored in the narrow entrance after being thrown about abit by a few large swells in the shallower water here. Inside was peace and quiet and smooth water. It was high tide now and we only had 11 to 18 feet under our keel as we headed past the marinas to the anchorage. We dropped anchor in about 13 feet and could finally relax.

We saw Rob on Shamatha and rowed over later for a quick hello and for the scoop on the area here. The next morning we toured the town which is a super place with lots to do, much better than Bundaberg.

Sailors Info:
Sandy point anchorage. We anchored in 18ft at 25 13.975 S 152 59.535 E. It is somewhat protected, we had a good night. Not sure what it would be like in a strong wind. Would not want to spent more time here, is just a place to stop for the night. Going through Great Sandy strait was ok with a chart plotter, could be a bit tricky otherwise as there is not as many channel markers as there should be. The theory I'm told is to ride a rising tide up the strait and arrive at the shallow area at high tide and then ride the tide change down the other side. The shallow area is where the N and S flood tides meet. My chartplotter uses the Navionics chips which seemed bang on.

The next anchorage on other side near wide bay bar at Pelican bay was just ok. We got there near dark and there was several other boats there. So we anchored in 18ft at 25 48.736
153 02.324 E. It was an uneasy night as was a strong current and windy making boat point into current, not wind. Might have been better to anchor back a couple of miles on side of channel where we saw some 2 boats anchored. Beacon to Beacon book good for all this area.
Wide bay bar, well, read the write up above. I heard best to transit near Hi slack tide. Also should call VMR Tin can bay for the latest 3 waypoints that guide you through bar.

Last 2 days in Bundaberg

Two days before we headed South we rented a car. Did a bunch of grocery shopping and then in the evening went to the Mon Repos turtle beach/research station where you can watch the logger head turtles come up the beach in the dark and lay eggs.

There was about 30 people there that night and we were divided into two groups. We had to wait about an hour until the ranger spotted a turtle was coming up beach and then we were led down the beach in the dark and stood behind the turtle as she dug a deep hole with her flippers to lay the eggs in. Apparently as long as we stay behing the turtle it is ok they don't leave.
The ranger put a flashlight on ground by hole so we could see better. Then the turtle proceded to drop eggs one by one until she layed 165 eggs and then covered them up with sand and smoothed it flat to hide where eggs were. The ranger stuck a stick in the ground to mark the spot, then the turtle proceeded back down the beach to the water. The ranger then decided that the eggs were laid at the high tide line and needed to be moved up a bit. So she dug up the eggs and dug a new hole higher up and handed eggs to all of us to carry up to the new hole. The eggs are about the size of a chicken egg but have a leathery feel. The hole process took about 3 hours and we got back to the boat about 11:30pm.

The last day before leaving we went for our last bike ride down a nice seaside trail. Often when cycling on the nearby roads, Magpies will fly at your head screeching loudly then circle around and come at you again and again following you for a half mile. We noticed a lot of cyclists have 6 inch twists of wire sticking out of the tops of their bike helments, which apparently discourages the birds. Other people paint a face on the back of their helments.

Kangaroos to boat work

We are settling in a bit here at Bundaberg to a more normal life, which means it is time to go soon. We take the free shuttle bus to town about 16km away 2 or 3 times a week for grocerys and boat items that we can't get locally. There is a medium sized IGA food store about a 20 minute walk away and a good marine store at the top of the dock here. We have a few friends here we have been socializing a bit with here . Delicado has been helpful with info as they have just finished a circumnavigation and are great to socialize with and share a car with. Shamantha with the single hander Rob has also been helpful and I helped him a bit hauling him up his mast a couple of times. Saleena also just pulled in here a Canadian couple from BC. and we had dinner with them last night.

We saw our first kangaroos last night just before dark while walking to the restaruant. There was a long stretch of forested road and there was two kangaroos near the road in the grass, they watched us a bit then bounded away with huge hops.

The weather here has been cool and rainy with lots of wind, locals are saying the weather is worse than normal for this time of year. We get a nice day then two days of on off rain.
The only boat work that urgently needed doing was fixing a sheave at the mast head that disintgraded making it difficult to pull the main sail up. I put a pulley at top of mast which works fine until I can find a sheave that will fit which may be a problem. Change the engine oil, an easy job and fix a couple of small tears in the main sail. But yesterday we found another problem that was not on the 'to do list'. The galley sink drain corroded out and started leaking so got the local marine store here to bring in a new one for us.

Other jobs that we are doing but not necassary are adding a couple for LED lights and replacing a couple of the older ones that are not bright enough. Getting AIS (for identifying ships)on the boat, right now looking at getting the new Stanard Horizon vhf radio that comes with a AIS dislplay. A wind generator and redoing how my reefing lines are run on boom and a dozen other small jobs. And while Dorothy away back home I will do a overhaul of watermaker and a bit of work on the head. Also do some painting on the topsides. At some point we will also have to do a haulout for another coat of antifouling paint. Just like owning a house there is always something to repair except on a cruising boat you do it in exotic locations, and spent a lot of time trying to source things.
We have booked a marina slip in Manly near Brisbane a 180 miles South of us and plan to head down there leaving here around Dec first.

Australia

We left Noumea on Oct 26 2010. We had a good sail the first two days and then the wind went light and we had to motor some and then sail and motor some more. We ended up taking 8 days to get there with the slow sailing and put about 50 hours on the engine. A couple of big rain squalls came through with little wind in them and then another came during night and had winds up to 40 knots for a few minutes and then dropped to 20. Luckily I had the mainsail reefed when I saw it coming on the radar and then took the sail right down as it hit us. There was another weather system coming and we did not want to delay too long getting there, so we motored more than we like.
We got to the bay with Bundanberg about 3am in the morning so slowed down so we did not have to go up the river to the town in the dark. Then the wind came up to about 20 to 25 knots making it hard to go slow so hove to as best we could. As daylight came we motored the mile up river to the Bundanberg port marina and anchored by the Quarantine buoy as we were told to do on the radio when we checked in with VMR Bundy. We were not allowed of the boat until customs and Quarantine visited boat. After a few hours we were told to come to the dock and customs came and did there thing which took an hour and then Quarantine came and took some food stuff of our boat and charged their $300 dollars making Australia the most expensive place to check in the world probably (Visa was $200 dollars each got in Fiji). We will probably stay here for a month and then go up the river to Bundaberg townsite or down to Brisbane. Now it is just great to be finally in Australia.
The boat is in pretty good shape to keep on going if we needed to, just some minor maint items to do. But I want to do a few upgrads and improvements while we are here.

Info:
We followed the red/green channel markers into the Burnett river, no drama in the windy conditions. The first channel markers were missing their red, green paint so we were a bit confused if they were the right markers, again the chart plotter helped. you could not see the triangle or square until you were close. Above article covers customs and calling ahead. The Quaraintine anchorage is right beside the marina, just downstream of it. We anchored at
24 45.551 S 152 23.294 E then moved into marina when told to.
Is shallow, we ran aground at a very low tide going down the fareway between slips, is soft mud. (6ft draft). You bounce around a bit in the marina when it is blowing 20knots outside. Probably not a great spot to leave boat over season. Several people did haul their boats out on the hard for the season and flew home, and that should be fine. Prices seemed good for that and its a separate secured area.

Stuck in the mud

While in Noumea we shared a car rental with another couple on Delicado. We drove amost to the north end of the island exploring and then came down the beautiful NE coast and we also tryed a road that would save us some time that was a red line on map and suppose to be a good road. But this road slowly turned into a narrow dirt road with the odd mud hole but soon the mud holes got larger and then running full speed at one got stuck in the middle so everyone had to get out and push and the car would not budge. After a bit we decided to push it back and got it out and tryed again and got through the mud with just the driver in the car so giving the car more clearance. Soon there was a large creek that went right across road and it was too deep for the car so we had to turn back, so our short cut cost us 3 hours. We stayed in a small cabin in a campground for the night making it a two day trip around the island. The island is not particularily wonderfull, the islands are better except for theNE coast which is great.
We met another Canadian boat Toketie and they are BCA members like us had had a visit with them on there steel boat. After lots of exploring and buying more food in Noumea it was time to leave for the last big passage which is crossing to Australia. This can be a rough passage and is about 780 miles so will take about 7 days.

Port Villa to New Caledonia

We had a pleasant stay in Port Villa and all to soon it was time to leave for Noumea New Caledonia which is 340 miles away. This passage is more to windward and we lucked out with the wind and we could make our course with the wind just forward of the beam. It was another great sail and until we got closer to the island and had to motor for about 12 hours and then the wind picked up and we had a good sail through an easy pass and even got there at slack tide and then it was with us. We arrived in Noumea just before 5pm and found a spot to anchor in a crowded anchorage. The next morning called up Port Moselle Marina on the vhf on chan 67 and they got us onto the visitors dock and arranged for customs and immigration to come down to the boat. We were not allowed off the boat until they came about 2 hours later.

Noumea the capital of New Caledonia is a large modern French city, almost like being in France. This is the first modern city we have been in since leaving Mexico. Prices are similar to back home with some things more expensive and some cheaper. We decided to stay in the marina as it was not very expensive.
We will stay here for about a week and then head West to Bundaberg Australia which is about 750 miles away or about a 7 day passage. Internet is a bit expensive here so can't us it too much.

Info:
Will also do Port Villa at bottom of this after Noumea.
Not much to add to above, nothing unusual here. When we first arrived at Nouema we had trouble finding a place to anchor as it was very crowded and you have to stay out of channel. We anchored in 42 ft at 22 16.834 S 166 25.738 E. Port Moselle Marina was $30 a night channel 67.

The only caution is when nearing New Caledonia and nearing Havannah pass (45 miles from Noumea) it is better to go through it around slack tide, low tide better as flood current sets SW and ebb NE at up to 3-5 knots per the' sailing directions' book. Flood is established 1 hour before LW. Getting there at wrong time can have big breaking seas it says. As we neared the pass we were a bit early so slowed down and we saw 4 other boats all arriving about the same time, had not seen any boats until then. We had no problems, easy going all the way. Havannah pass entrance 22 20S and 167 05 E

Port Villa.
It is no problem entering the main harbor of Port Villa. I believe you to goto Q anchorage first and either call Quarantine up on 16 or yachting world on vhf 68 and they arrange Q for you, and they come to your boat. Since we had checked in at Tanna we did not but went straight to a buoy and then later to customs to check in which has moved to S end of bay by cruise ship terminal, a longish dinghy ride. Later we were told we should have done Quarantine first. We called up Yachting world to get a mooring buoy on chan 68. Lots of buoys here reasonable price, cant remember what. You get water, garbage and a so so shower as well if you pay for a buoy and dinghy dock which is near the overhead wires.
Our position on buoy 17 44.799 168 18.708

Onwards to Vanuatu and a Volcano

We cleared out with customs at Lautuka Fiji and they said we had 2 hours to leave. So we left immedialtly for Port Resoulution, named after captain cooks ship, on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It is a 460 mile crossing or about 4 days. We had a great sail almost all the way and just motored for a few hours at the end. Out came the mosquito nets even though we did not see any, just some flies, because these islands are known to have malaria and we did not want to take any drugs for it. We then talked to another cruiser about the check in procedure.

From Port Resolution the next morning we got a ride in the back of a pickup truck to Lenakel on the other side of the island where customs and immigration is but no good anchorage. It is a two hour ride one way and there was eight of us in the back of the truck with mostly locals and a couple more yachties up front. It was a super ride through time seeing the tiny villages living in the past with cell phones. Many of them have no way to charge their phones so bring them out to the yachts to get them charged.

That afternoon just before dark we got a ride up to Mt. Yasur which is an active volcano and the only one in the world you can get close to. This is also the main draw of visitors to this island .
We got up there a half hour before dark and did the 10 minute hike to the crater rim and could see a lot of smoke and steam, and then a loud explosion and chunks of lava would fly into the air.
As it got dark it was like fireworks you could see every few minutes when it exploded a huge fire show and lots of lava rocks flung into the air. It is also a bit dangerous as every couple of days there was a big enough eruption to fling volcanic rocks up above the crater rim and land in the area where people are standing, and some of the rocks are as big as a chair. The guide heaved one of the trail we were walking up and says that must have come down this morning. If this was in Canada you would not be allowed withing 20 miles of this volcano. Will try to load a video clip here of the volcano.
The locals come out to our boat to sell or trade fruit and veggies to us every day. Another day we were invited up to watch a fire walker do his thing. He invited us to try it but we declined.
The people in the villages are very friendly and the children seem very happy and are often singing. The stop here on Tanna island has been one of the best we have had since leaving home.
Soon it was time to leave and next stop being Port Villa on Efate island, still part of Vanuatu. This was an overnight sail with the wind more on the beam making for a nice sail. This is a bigger town and more commercialized here and more tourist activity here. Lots of Austrilians and French people. There is a great fruit and veggy market here to keep Dorothy happy.
We will stay here about another week and then head over to New Caledonia our last stop before Australia.
Info:
We anchored in 18ft at 19 31.454 S 169 29.752 E. It is a bouncy anchorage, I notice nobody stayed more that a few days here, just long enough to see volcano and the local sights. Most of info is in above write up. No facilitys here at all, just bush and a tiny village. You need to get a ride to other side of island for stores. You can get a beer at a very basic so called yacht club, by the anchorage.
Land your dinghy to your left when facing into anchorage, the far left small beach gives access to the village there and the guys who organize your trip to town and customs or the volcano.