Vanuatu

S/Y Aspen – August 8, 2010 – Log #47
Position: 17 degrees 44’ S 168 degrees 18.0’ E (UTC +11 Hours)
Enroute to Australia

We had a nice stay in the country of Vanuatu. We made landfall in 38 knots of sustained wind at Port Vila, Vanuatu on their independence day. Fireworks streaked into the air and covered the sky in front of us as we sailed in. We thought they were just happy to see us!

There were bands playing in the harbor as we gained shelter from the beating we had taken getting here. The sheltered harbor a very enjoyable place to be at 12:30 in the morning.

One of the many highlights of Vanuatu is to visit the live volcano on Tanna, a neighboring island. We went with a group of our British friends from the Rally. Vehicles can drive within about 300 yards of the summit of the active volcano Mt. Yasur so all you have to do is hike up the loose ash to the crater's rim. From there you can look down into the bowls of the simmering beast. Well, it really isn't simmering, it is shooting lava, boulders and steam higher than the rim we were standing on. The volcano is in a constant state of erupting!

We stared, mesmerized, at the fury beneath us as we stood on the crater's rim. Then darkness settled in around us, leaving only the brilliant red hot lava spurting into the air. Each eruption occurred less than a minute apart with some eruptions much larger than others. The bigger eruptions created an air blast that pushed us backward, away from the crater, followed by a roar that was deafening. The ground shook under our feet and the volcano tried to build the crater rim higher and higher. Luckily none of the flying lava came in our direction but we were constantly aware of where the projectiles were in relation to us.

We were the last ones to leave the rim of the volcano that memorable night after witnessing the ultimate power of nature. We would not have been able to get within 20 miles of a volcano like this in the US, that's for sure!

Once back on Aspen we had the usual preparations to make before our next passage - onward to Australia. There were welcoming parties to attend, trips to the grocery store, repairs to complete on Aspen from the bashing she took to get to Vanuatu and Steve even had time to run a half marathon that was staged on the island.

Runners came from Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Samoa, Marshall Islands and the other islands of Vanuatu to compete in this international race. Maria came along as Steve's cheering section and watched the field of 45 runners sprint out of the only stadium in Vanuatu, toward the countryside. Steve ran with a pack of runners who were barefoot or in socks, no shoes. It seems that the locals are not accustomed to wearing shoes and do not wear them when they are running either. This is a poor country by most standards and shoes are pretty far down the list of essential items. Steve even saw one runner who must have been given shoes by the race sponsor, take the shoes off at the 2nd mile and hide them in the bushes so he could pick them up after the race.

Luckily for Steve there were rain showers throughout the race, cooling things off a bit but also increasing the humidity. It was hot! The course was an out and back route where you simply run far away to the turnaround place and then head back to the finish. The turnaround place seemed a little short to Steve. Running back toward the stadium and with the stadium in sight captain Steve was directed to turn around and do the out and back again! Geeze!!

Normally this would not have been a long distance to run but since captain Steve had not run for the past 7 days while sailing, the distance was taking it's toll. There were aid stations every 3 miles with local water and coconuts. Drinking the water in Vanuatu is not the best thing to do so Steve just got dehydrated instead.

After the 2nd out and back part of the race the stadium was now welcoming the runners home. Watching Steve cross the finish line admiral Maria, with our friend Donald who is also in the Blue Water Rally, stood there with many of the local population cheering and clapping. Captain Steve may not walk properly for some time now he thinks.

The sail to Australia should take us about 10 days and we hope the weather is nice to us this time!

Sail on sail on Aspen...