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V337 Vanuatu Banks Islands Voyage Log 1.

Santo and the northern Banks Islands

Espiritu Santo is a wonderful Island. We anchored just off of Luganville throughout our layover between voyages. We had a few crew changes while we were here. Lucinda, our cook, was flown to NZ for some medical care and replacing her is Tully who joined us in Lautoka, Fiji as a deckhand. Peter our bosun flew off to another ship in Norway and Captain Matt Chapman has now joined us here just the other day. With Matt came another deckhand Dan and a familiar face Darren - Shetland Daz, chippy extraordinaire and a fantastic story teller. On our last voyage we also picked a familiar face to the Soren. Isaiah Bong from Ambyrm Island here in Vanuatu is with us again to help on deck and on shore with all the relations and history. With all this new crew the old hands took a bit of time to explore the island.

Highlights of Santo were some of the Blue Holes, a massive spring that feeds a relatively large river. The name comes from the colour. Geoff and I kayaked up the river with not another soul in sight. Twisting through the dense rainforest till we came out into a clearing with the most brilliant shade of blue you’ve ever seen. Crystal clear and extremely deep. It was funny to swim again in fresh water and it was a lot more work that I remember it being! Another must see in Santo is the Millennium caves. Maho, Liz, Sarah and Eric (two Voyage Crew from last trip) went on  hike/float to Millennium Caves. They said it was amazing and encouraged everyone to go when we return to Santo in a few weeks.

Monday August 29 we went alongside at Simpson’s Wharf where our new Voyage Crew joined us. We took on water and after the tanks were full and all the fruit vegetables and beer were loaded on board we let out lines go and sailed away to Shark Bay. When we arrived, half the people on board went ashore to explore the old fish factory and half went to explore one of the wrecked ships and the amazing coral and sea life surrounding it. Cool stuff seen? Try tons of hard and soft coral of every colour imaginable, lots of fish, Anemones complete with clown fish, a sleeping sea turtle, a sea snake, a lion fish and a massive colour changing octopus. We stayed until the light was almost gone from the sky.

Back on board we had a lovely meal down below. A good chance to get to know our new crew. We have some crew from Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, UK and the United States. Some are on for their second voyage in a row and others are back from previous years. New faces came on smiling and are already quickly learning lines and ship routines. There is a lot of information to take in the first day on board and on occasion there is a face looking rather confused and lost. But after a quick reminder and a demonstration the light bulb comes back on and life continues are usual.

Today we are anchored off of Vanua Lava and voyage crew are just coming back for lunch after exploring the small town which is actually the largest we’ll see till we arrive back in Santo. A short stop here then it‘s off on our way to Rah Island for Fridays activities. That will definitely deserve it‘s very own blog.

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V337 Banks Islands Blog No 2

The Snake Dancers of Ra Island

It’s about 6pm on Friday and it’s been a very awesome day. We raised anchor around 7:30 this morning and motored over to a spot not far from the beach. It was low tide and getting ashore was a bit tricky. The small boat could only go so far and the rest of the way is by foot through the coral and grasses at about knee height for about 200 feet. The sand was perfect. Everything you dream of in a tropical island beach. We walked round the point and with Isaiah as our guide he led us through the paths that wind through thatch roof villages and thick dense rain forest to the other side of the island. Here we found a large contingent of people. Men, women and children lined the shore and were cheering and laughing as they looked across the small channel over to Rah Island.

September 2nd is their annual festival. Celebrating their heritage and their ancestors. When we arrived there was a swimming competition going on. We waited patiently for the “taxi”. A large outrigger canoe painted a bright “ New York Taxi” yellow came to pick us up 5 at a time at a cost of 10 Vatu one way. Cheapest taxi fare I’ve ever paid. We found the rest of the crew on the other side where we were greeted with flower necklaces and kisses on the cheeks. A string band played on the beach and , as always with the ni-Vanuatu, the laughter continued. After the swimmers were out of the water we were told to follow the band to the next performance. We made our way through the village to the chiefs hut. There were black palm carvings everywhere and lots of space to dance. The string band played on and a small mat of carvings were put out for us to buy. After a few songs, and after most of us had played with a tiny piglet in it’s very own little raised hut, we were ushered down to the beach for lunch and the famous “snake dance”. After a sort of fashion show of traditional “kastom” ceremonial dress we all joined hands in a circle and said grace before lunch. Lunch was buffet style under a thatch roof open hut on the beach. Our dishes were massive leaves. We piled on fresh fruit and fish, taro and chicken and some other things that we couldn’t identify but were pretty tasty. After sitting down to eat we started to hear singing.

Down the beach came first the singers and drummers. Next came the dancers painted black with white stripes. They held a large leaf in their mouths and wore a crown almost like a nest on their heads. Around their mid-sections they wore a sort of woven underwear and had many anklets and bells. In their hands were long thin branches with feathers and orange pom poms. The dance was amazing. It represents the highly venomous sea snakes that are found in great numbers here in Vanuatu. Just off the beach from where the dance takes place every year there is a tiny island with two single palm trees on it. When the tide is high sea snakes can be found in abundance here. The drummers beat wildly on their hunks of hollowed out wood and the chanters go faster and faster. Then everything stops and the dancers slowly wind their way round till the drumming begins once more. Faster and harder they dance shaking their feather covered branches. We could have watched them for a very long time. After the dance was done they invited us to come and dance with them. A few brave souls did and laughter rang out from all around. Then they made their way to the wooden platform over the water and dance round there and made savage faces for all our cameras. One adventurous dancer came into the audience and nabbed Ingrid and stole her us onto the stage. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that but it was a good laugh.

After the dancers danced away and lunch finished up we made our way back to the chiefs hut where the women took their turn at dancing. I love the drums in the South Pacific. The rhythm is unlike anywhere else in the world. So intense and lively. The women’s dance was lovely and they have quite quick feet!

After the dance we were informed of the canoe race at high tide. A race round the island in out-rig canoes. Until high tide around 4pm we were at our leisure to stroll round the island or hang on the beach as we saw fit. Most people lounged on the beach under the shade of the over hanging trees. Some of us sought out some Kava. It was really neat to see fresh Kava prepared right in front of us. The roots were peeled and chopped up finely… then they were put through a sausage grinder of sorts. (hey work with what you got!) then it was rinse well then put into a sort of cheesecloth and steeped in water like a vile tea. Then it was filtered through another cloth into a bucket. At a cost of 20 vatu a shell it was excellent fun. Geoff found a tiny kitten to play with and after a few shells we were all feeling very… relaxed. After the rain started (yet again) we left the outside circle and made our way to the nakamal to finish our Kava. The scribbled letters on the bar read “ Enjoy and Relax”. Done and done.

After finishing the Kava we made our way back to the beach and lazed in the shade with kids building sandcastles and playing with hermit crabs.
Around 4pm the race started. Canoes lined the shore decorated in flowers and grass. There were two races. Mens and womens. I’m sure the wind, rain and waves made for an especially difficult paddle round the island.

After a nice walk round half the island we hailed our “taxi” and paddled back across the channel. A walk along the beach with the tide lapping at our toes and the sun casting rays on the ship through the rain clouds we made our way back to the pick up spot. We arrived back on board just as it really started to belt down hard.

Now with the rain falling and all bodies back home we’re heaving up anchor to go spend the night at a more comfortable anchorage. Sione’s dinner smells lovely, I can’t wait to taste it.

I think we’re planning on heading up to Ureparapara and who know what lies in wait for us there.

Everyone is raving about the days events and I think it’ll be hard to top it. I’m off to go set up the dinner table… mmmmm food.

Till next time, Fair Winds my Friends

Marsha Book, Purser

See the Picture Gallery from this voyage here