Labuan Bajo

To All

We spent several quite days viewing the dragons and other wildlife while anchored on the south end of Rinja, we then moved to another lovely spot on it's western shore. Here there were more dragons along with a small gathering of fellow cruisers including our friends on Scarlett O'Hara" whom had taken a different route to arrive there. In this anchorage we had several get together's including a burning of trash on the beach.

Next was the rally stop of Labuan Bajo. This busy town sits on the west end of Flores Is. and is quite a tourist center. It is the hub of tours to see the Komodo dragons and the surrounding scuba dive sites, highly rated around the world. To us a tourist center also means a place where at least a form of western type foods can be had in either restaurants or markets. We did find potato chips to buy but no beef.

The "fleet" now comprised of between 15 and 25 boats, as some came and left, anchored in an area off a number of small beach resorts that catered to the many tourists in the area. The resorts were cruiser friendly and we were welcomed to use there facilities. Our first night on the anchor included a downpour of rain washing away some of the salt and grime. The second night had us enjoying an actual steak dinner for about $9 US.

Being anchored several miles from town we used the services of the local "boat boys". They would ply the anchorage area to sell carvings of dragons, strings of pearls, delivery of fuel or water and also transportation back and forth to town. Here you barter on the price of most everything. Where the first yachts here were given and some paid a price of $20,000 R or $2 US

each way for the trip to shore once the final bargaining was reached it was $20,000 R per yacht round trip. Fuel started at $7,000 per liter. In the end the delivered price was to be had as low as $5,500.

We never did participate in any of the actual rally festivities but enjoyed several trips to the traditional open market, dinner's and lunches out. Kathy managed to find laundry facilities so we are once again stocked with clean clothes.

Now we have moved along to an anchorage on a small island just to the north of Komodo Is. where we have crystal clear warm water. Visibility is perhaps 100' or more with great diving and snorkeling. We spent lots of time just watching the turtles munching away on coral. For the last few days we have also gotten rain which is nice keeping things clean and water in the tanks. In another day or so we'll be off westward again to the island of Lombok.

We wish you all the best and hope that you too are enjoying life. Let us know how you are doing but just remember that on this email you need to always start a new message. J&K

The road to Bali

To All

After several days in the lovely anchorage at the north end of Komodo Is. where we enjoyed great snorkeling especially watching the turtles munching coral it was time to move on. Next stop Lombok.

Lombok has become a bit of an extension of Bali taking up the overflow of visitors. From Komodo we did an overnight 135 mile trip to the island of Madang arriving in the morning and then departing the next morning for two consecutive days of 40 miles trips to arrive at the anchorage of Medana Bay, our next rally stop. We entered Medana bay to find it very crowded. We managed to anchor in a depth of 80 feet but far to close to other yachts for our liking. We tend to be conservative in anchoring situations and decided that we would rather move approximately 3 miles away to the Gili Air island anchorage and skip the rally events than stay in what we thought was a risky spot.

Gili Air was quite nice, especially as we were able to get a mooring to secure to. The island is about the size of Balboa island and filled with small hotels, beach front restaurants, dive shops etc. There are no motor vehicles with transportation by walking, bicycle or small horse drawn carts. We spent several days just relaxing on the boat or one of the palapa bars. We did also manage to do the important job of getting our Indonesian visas extended. One bonus of the anchorage was our discovery of finding small dead fish that had been chased into our dinghy. These were either feed directly to the cats or used for bait to catch a number of bonito which I then cleaned for use as cat food later.

Bali! We arrived at the anchorage yesterday morning after a 16 hour trip that even included some wind in which we were able to sail. Wind seems to be a rarity here lately. Here again we were greeted by the "boat boys". First leading us thru the reef then with offers to supply fuel or other market items. The local boats here are a bit different, what looks like a log canoe with outriggers on both sides. They are either paddled or have a very unique motor. Picture a large gas powered weed wacker, then add another 6 feet to the tube with a propeller replacing the end string. Next the whole thing is mounted to the side of the canoe. Start up, rotate the prop down into the water and off you go.

Later today we will go ashore to see what adventure are in store for us here. Hopefully this all finds you enjoying the end of summer and the change of seasons to come. We wish you the best. J&K

Indo continues

To All

Once again we have been busy here enjoying the sights and sounds of this exotic land. Some of the sounds, prayers from the local mosque at 4 am or the village fishing boats powered by one cylinder diesel engines with no exhaust muffler going by at all hours are not to good for sleeping but still provide an interesting look into the local culture.

We departed Sabu in the afternoon of the 14th of August for an overnight passage to Sambu. We had continued to be busy in Sabu with more tours and my having to repair our engine drive refrigeration system. It seems the boat never lets you rest as if it's not one thing breaking it's some other important system. Our passage was mostly a motor assisted sail with only a slight problem of an alternator squeal caused by a loose belt due to a broken bracket, something else to get fixed.

We arrived in the early morning got anchored and aided one of the other yachts as their anchor fouled on a large, 200lb. old discarded one. It took several of us to get things freed up. Next it was into shore to see what the rally staff had in store for our stay. The stop in Sambu was the most organized yet. On stepping ashore we were warmly greeted by several English speakers and asked what they could do to help us. I was soon whisked away on a motor scooter to get the alternator bracket welded. 15 minutes later I was back to the dinghy landing bracket fixed at a cost of $1 US, it would have been only $.50 but I had no change. Our next 5 days were busy with dinner's, tours, an occasional boat project,a visit to the local outdoor market and the town swimming pool.

One highlight was the celebration of Indonesian Independence Day. The morning began with a very formal flag raising ceremony followed by several tug of war matches and the most interesting the climbing of a greased pole to retrieve a flag. He who got the flag was awarded one million Rupiah or about $100 US. Quite a prize when you consider the average wage is $2 US per day. That evening was a "gala" dinner with maybe 25 food vendors providing different verities of Indonesian cuisine. They also had a local "brandy" more like white lightening.

Sambu is noted for their weaving of "Ikats". They are made from handspun thread and the dyes are made of bark, roots and leaves. The cloth is woven on a back-strap loom and individual threads are dyed. Motifs include animals, people and figurative, totemic objects. The textiles are used for clothing, ornament and ritual gift giving. We visited several villages to view the entire process and make purchases of some beautiful examples of this unique art.

One lowlight was my fix of the engine drive refrigeration system did not last. The replacement compressor works but we have developed a gas leak and I lack the copper tube flaring tool I need to repair where I believe the leak is coming from. Thankfully we have a 12 volt back-up system but it is not quite as efficient.

Our next stop was to be the west end of Sambu but we instead diverted to Rinja island. Here we are anchored in very quiet spot perhaps 50 yards from a beach where we can see the Komodo dragons sauntering by. We have also seen monkey's, deer and wild pigs. The Komodos, truly a monitor lizard supremo, are huge from 3 to 10 feet long.

We will be in this general area for the next week or two before moving further west toward Bali.

That's it for this edition of the Indonesian travels, we wish you all the best. J&K

Namberia Beach, Roti Island

To All

The past week has been especially busy. Today we have moved down along the island of Roti and are anchored in a break in the reef with 7 other boats. Off our starboard stern we can watch a near perfect just overhead wave breaking along the exposed reef. The water is in the mid 80's and the wind offshore with about 25 surfers in the water. Off the port stern another ridable wave but not the quality off the big lefthander. We've been told there is another good though smaller wave a bit further away. That's it for the surf report.

When last we left off we were preparing for another "Gala" diner hosted by the mayor of Kupang, it was great with not to many speeches but good food and socializing amongst the rally participants. The next morning Kathy and I ventured off to the market via the local transportation bus, a "Beemo". The "Beemo" is a very small van but holding 12 passengers. The conductor rides in the sliding side door. They follow specific routes and is $2000 R or $.20 US. We managed to find the supermarket that had virtually nothing but were unable to locate the vegetable market. The lack of our speaking any Indonesian and their no English led to most of the difficulties. Later that day Kathy did manage to visit the open market with the assistance of our guide Martin whom will be joining us as we head of to Roti island for our next rally stop.

Roti island is a short sail from Timer and our first stop was an anchorage at the northeast end. Here we experienced winds of 30 kts for two straight days. the good news was we also had several hours of solid rain giving the boat a good wash. Our first real rain since back in mid May in Vanuatu. Another short sail brought us to the town of Baa which was our next rally stop. As the rally fleet had split in Kupang we were now only about ten boats strong, which was good allowing you to get to know your fellow yachties. The activities in Baa were non stop from our arrival on the rd till yesterday the th of August, everything from bus tours to view the sunrise to the ever present gala diner with a traditional dance show. We enjoyed all that we attended but missed some and were still near exhaustion by the finish yesterday morning. We also enjoyed having our Indonesian fried Martin along and he was most helpful especially with the ever present language barrier, though I now can at least order a beer and say a few key phrases in Indonesian.

Still without the watermaker and needing fuel Friday afternoon was busy. Fueling was an experience. There of course is no fuel dock, in fact there is no gas station. We took our fuel jugs in the dinghy to a small shack on the beach where they were filled from a 55 gallon barrel to a large bucket then using a one liter can poured through a funnel in to our jugs. This was for both the diesel and gasoline. The price $4500 R or about $.45 US per liter. I think that's about the cheapest we have gotten fuel since 2001 in Venezuela.

We will be staying here watching the surf and catching up on projects for the next several days. Tomorrow will be another bout with the watermaker, this time rebuilding the pump. There is a rumor that we can possibly get laundry done, a bottom cleaning is needed and just hanging out relaxing. I have not picked up my book in four days.

So that's it here in Indonesia, we wish you all the best and hope you are healthy and enjoying life. Remember "Live life while your alive". J&K

Indo Adventures

To All

The saga of Kathy and Jerry aboard the good ship Po Oino Roa continues. We enjoyed our stay at Nembrala and if in my aged condition I was still surfing we would have stayed a bit longer but it was again time for us to move on. In Nembrala I made a last attempt with the watermaker, rebuilding the pump along with disassembling the entire unit to try and locate the problem to no avail. We'll just continue on buying water and pray for rain. Before departing Nembrala we visited the local once weekly market to stock up on fresh produce and treated ourselves to a breakfast out. The cafe and bar, run by an Aussie surfer had great food and prices. Two orders of scrambled eggs with toast one orange juice and a large beer $7 US.

For our next stop the island of Savu or sometimes spelled Sabu about 80 miles distant we left in the late afternoon for an early morning arrival. Our "rally" group has dwindled to 8 boats. One French, six Aussie and ourselves. We had a nice overnight sail with no motoring always a plus. Our anchorage is fairly protected with water 20 feet in depth and lots of the locals moving about in their fishing boats from small paddled canoes to large 70 foot craft. On arrival I was asked if I was a diver as an earlier arriving fellow yachtie had dropped his small generator over the side. Two quick free dives later I had it recovered. Of course it was now his project to attempt to get it running again.

Once again we were loaded into a "Polizi" truck and transported to a beach for a traditional welcoming dance, drinking coconuts, given hand woven scarves, viewing of dancing ponies etc. Then to a village to see the hand spinning of cotton and weaving of cloth and baskets. This village also had ceremonial rocks where still today animals are sacrificed. Another bit of historical significance was a rock carving of an old square rigged ship reportedly done by Captain Cook on his visit here. We have seen other carvings in Vanuatu of the same type.

After a rest on the boat we were in for another evening adventure. A bus trip to the local Regents, big chief, village and house for more dancing and dinner. Our bus made the "chicken" busses of Mexico look like Rolls Royce's! The doors would not close, most of the back window was missing, the seats had been recovered in rice bags to no avail as the stuffing was still coming out and mostly missing. After a 1 1/2 hour ride at an average speed of 15 mph we were warmly greeted. As we were we welcomed in to the regents house we got both a handshake and traditional nose to nose rub. This was followed by more of singing, dancing and eating a meal of goat. The goat was cooked in 3 different ways along with rice and a vegetable.

Back to the bus! Did I mention that the driver always parked on enough of an incline to roll start it. As it approached for our loading we could see only one working headlight. So as you can now foresee our trip home in the dark took considerably longer, especially as the one working light managed to fail about every 15 minutes requiring some sort of wiring repair under the dashboard. All went well as we returned to find our dinghies still tied to fishing boats at the end of the wharf and we were soon back to the boat and ready for a good nights sleep.

Today, with no activities planned we get a chance to clean up the boat a little and with Indonesian phrase book in hand go on a shopping trip to town.

This is a grand adventure and we're taking lots of photos that once we get to Singapore we hope to be able to upload to a blog and share with you. Our best to All. J&K

Passage and Arrival

To All

Our passage is complete and we have now been anchored here in Kupang, island of Timor since our arrival on Wednesday, Kathy's birthday. We had a good passage making our normal 120 to 130 miles each 24 hour period. The wind was quite variable with periods of calm and times of 25 to 30 kts. This made for lots of sail changes, meaning times when we both had to be up, Kathy driving and me going to the mast to either tuck in or shake out reefs in the main sail. For you non sailors reefs are ways in which we reduce the total sail area by either raising or lowering the sail. We also have two foresail's, a jib and a staysail, that we let in or out by rolling them up on what is called a furler. A nice thing about the passage was leaving with 60 other boats allowed us to always be in visual and radio contact. Especially nice was that we only experienced a few mechanical problems.

Since I know some of you have neglected to google Indonesia and have no real idea where in the world we are, perhaps if I say Bali you have a better idea. Here are a few basic facts that I have gathered from different sources. The total population is in the area of 190 million belonging to 300 different ethnic groups. It has the worlds largest Muslim population. Indonesia is the worlds largest archipelagic state scattered over more than 2 million square miles of ocean and composed of more than 13,000 islands. It basically lies north of Australia and southwest of the Philippines. Between 5 degrees north and south of the equator. The money here is the Rupiah and on changing money in Australia we became instant millionaires. One US dollar is equal to 10,000 Rupiah. So far it appears goods and services are quite inexpensive here and after the high cost of everything in Australia that will be most welcome. If you want any more on the geography or history you're on your own.

The first boats arrived in Kupang on the 27th and we followed in the early morning of the 28th. We had been cautioned that being in Indonesia the first thing to remember was they had no conception of time, the amount of paperwork needed for checking in was astounding and lastly patience was most important. Customs and quarantine officials arrive within 20 minutes of dropping our anchor and were most efficient. Lots of papers were involved with us supplying several copies of our crew lists, documentation, passports, cruising permit etc. As in most 3rd world countries officials love stamps, we have one with our boat name and documentation number so on every piece of paper they would stamp and we would follow suit. We were done, at least with the first step in about 15 minutes. Later when we went ashore Kathy, being the captain, had to go through the same thing more papers and stamping. The good thing was this was all done at "Teddy's Bar" where I could enjoy my first "Bintang" beer. The rally organizer's had done a very good job having everything set up and running smoothly, of course that's why we had joined a rally. Beers and lunch were consumed. Two lunches consisting of one beef steak sandwich and one of about a dozen very large prawns, 2 bottled waters, five large [650ml] beers 270,000 R. It was then back to the boat for a quick rest before we were to be back on shore to attend a "gala" dinner hosted by the governor. We were bused to a large outdoor facility where we had a nice dinner, saw a number of traditional dances and other entertainment along with the required speeches. All in all a big birthday event for Kathy.

As cell phones seem to be a necessary evil, our job for Thursday was trying to get at least one of the three "locked" phones we own unlocked and a local SIM card installed. We also hoped to get our dongle modem working so we could get internet service on the boat. After 4 and a half hours with a local tourist guide and a taxi we now have one phone working and get the internet here in the anchorage. The costs, all in US $! Guide $10, taxi $25, SIM cards $1.50 each, internet connection $5/month, labor to unlock the phone $10. The phone was the most amazing. Picture 25 small booths in the front of a clothing store all selling and repairing the latest in phones, blacberries, etc.. Yes, I said repairing. I watched as phones were taken completely apart, circuit boards soldered, LCD screens replaced, re-assembled and given back to the customer. All at a labor charge of about $10/hr.

Today Friday we have been taking it easy though tonight is another dinner hosted by the mayor of Kupang. We did cleaning and putting away on the boat and as we are still without a watermaker the never ending job of procuring bottled water. Tomorrow we will go to the open fruit and vegetable market and spend a bit of time touring around the city of Kupang. As the rally has scheduled stops and activities at approximately 16 towns or villages over the next 3 months we will be moving on shortly with the next stop the island of Rote with at least a few days in several different anchorages.

For us there is lots to see and do in a country that we had no conception of, I hope you enjoy reading of our adventures and I am still hoping to post some photos. We hope this all finds you happy, healthy and enjoying the summer. J&K

Anchor down in Darwin

To All

After a fun filled 6 day passage we arrived in Darwin early yesterday morning. We hope this finds you all well, happy and ready for the 4th of July weekend.

One item about cruising along the Northern Territories of Australia is both the currents and the tides. Lots of planning goes into the timing of entering and leaving ports and anchorages. At Thursday Island while the tidal ranges were not large due to the fact the wind from across the entire Pacific funnels through the reefs and islands of the Torres straits there are tremendous currents. We timed our departure from Thursday correctly and were soon being carried along by 7 knots of current making 10+ knots of boat speed. We would have probably gone backwards had we had to try to motor into it. Once clear of the surrounding islands the current dropped but the wind, 25 to 35 knots pushed us along nicely. With so much wind and the forecast for it to continue for most of the passage we did not even use our main sail and instead flew only our small staysail and were pushed anywhere from 5 to 7 kts depending on the wind for the next 5 days. We had a following sea of 6 to 10 feet that hit somewhat on the port stern quarter causing a rocky rolling motion. Perhaps imagine a mechanical bull on slow speed going from side to side and fore and aft. Then think about trying to cook meals, cruising isn't just beautiful anchorages and doing nothing but reading a book. The days and nights continued, our log entries noting "all the same" with just a new position.

The notable exceptions to the sameness were our twice a day radio talks with "Scarlet O'Hara' and "Linda", "Scarlett" ahead on the same route and "Linda' behind moving along the coast of Papua New Guinea. Australia is very protective of their coastline and we would get almost daily radio checks by their customs airplane wanting to know your last and next port of call. There are also ships to watch out for. This is a main route for traffic moving along the top of Australia. It seems most meetings are in the middle of the night so when on watch you need to be keeping your eyes open and look around fairly often. Radar would be very helpful but ours has not been working for quite awhile now. Our last few nights we were also blessed with clear skies and a full moon, we even had a partial lunar eclipse to view. Of course the big excitement was on the first afternoon catching an approx 40lb. 50 inch long wahoo. So now use your imaginations once again to visualize trying to fillet a big fish on your hands and knees on the back deck of a rolly polly sailboat. Fun!!

As we closed with Darwin we must once again try to figure both tide and current. In Darwin where the tidal range can be as much as 25 feet the current is tidal driven. The other consideration is to arrive in daylight hours. We did OK, no terribly adverse currents but did arrive in the dark. As we were not exactly sure where to go we just drifted in the quarantine anchorage area until a passing pilot boat assisted by directing us to a small yacht anchorage area. With daylight and talking to another cruising yacht we made our way to our present location in Fanny Bay where most of the fleet of cruising boat are also.

Next, the dealing with "officaldumb"! As we had cleared into the country we were just to notify customs of where we were anchored, easy. Due to the cats, we have quarantine issues and must be anchored out and they cannot go ashore, sounds easy. AQIS, quarantine, does not seem to have a radio but we finally managed to call them on a phone at the local yacht club. Their first question was if you're ashore who is supervising the cats. Now were anchored 3/4 of a mile from the closest land and though they can Blue and Hazel are not olympic swimming candidates, they prefer to sleep in the sun and eat fresh caught fish. Now the next afternoon AQIS has not come to visit to inspect the cats or contact us as they said but after several relayed messages through customs we have been advised that they will be here tomorrow at 2 pm. We've been told that AQIS wants to check on the cats every few days, you know they may go on a swim about, I guess we'll get further information] the cats] on that tomorrow.

We'll be quite busy here in Darwin the next 3 weeks getting ready to head off to Indonesia and beyond. Especially the next 4 days as our friends as our Aussie friends that we met in the Marshall Is. and are now back in Cairns come for a visit. So the rocking and rolling is done for a bit, let the fun begin again.

Once again we miss family and friends and wish you all a "safe and sane" 4th. Enjoy!! J&K

OZ

To All

We have arrived in Thursday Island, Australia. Our check-in is complete and was very easy, even the cats. We missed updates the last 2 days as radio propagation was poor and we were unable to connect with the net. More to follow. J&K

Moving and Again and live life while you are alive

To All

Well once more we're moving along. We have spent 4 days here in Thursday Island. first it was the paper work shuffle which was surprisingly easy, then cleaning up and recovering from the 12 day passage and finally getting ready for our next passage on to Darwin which should be about 6 days.

Our arrival and check in on Thursday Is. was interesting. Australia is very strict regarding quarantine and the bringing in of foods and of course our cats. The regulations spelled out on their web site talk about all the food items you cannot bring in, fruit, vegetables, meat[ canned,cooked,fresh,or frozen] cheese, eggs, milk, nuts, seeds, etc. etc.. We were prepared to give up lots of our stored provisions. The quarantine officer who did our inspection took 2 pieces of fruit we had left and then said are you going to eat the other forbidden items. I answered yes and we lost virtually nothing. Our friends on "Scarlett O'Hara" didn't fare as well but still only lost meat and eggs. Most surprisingly the cats have been an almost non issue. They are considered ships pets and basically are confined to the boat. We must anchor out or use a mooring and when the boat is unattended they must be locked below but no mandatory inspections. As normal with moving from port to port we must let both quarantine and customs know our plans.

After a rough 12 day passage catching up on sleep is a priority. The first 2 nights it's an easy 12 hours. Next it's hoping to find a laundramat, a meal in a restaurant and the all important catching up via the internet. We found the laundry facilities but in involved a $10 ferry ride and no dryers, so once again it was washing in the bucket, hand ringing and line drying. I will admit we only did the necessities and hope for better laundry in Darwin. The grocery shopping was OK for the small island town we were in. The restaurants were the biggest disappointments! Lunch, a burger with chips[fries] for $19 Au or about $18.50 US. Dinner was $22 Au and neither was of very good quality. Drinks in one of the local pub's was fine $4.50 for a bottle of beer and we just bought the whole bottle of wine for $22 rather than $7/glass.

We now have everything ready for the next 750 miles to Darwin. The weather has been sunny and dry but the winds continue to be in the 20 to 30 knot range. From talking to the locals here that is what is normal for this time of year so tomorrow off we go.

We won't be checking in on any official radio nets but I hope to still send in position reports so you can follow our progress. We are looking forward to Darwin as our friends Mitch and Robyn are coming up from Cairns for a visit and then it will be busy busy getting ready to head off to Indonesia.

That's it from here, we wish you all the best. Remember "Live life while your alive". J&K

Malaysia First Impressions

To All

As the subject states first impressions: hot, humid, SMOG! Our morning temp at 6 am is 80'. Humidity the same. The temp will rise to about 90' later in the day. Hey, what do you expect at only one degree off the equator. The air pollution is the most irritating. The only time you can actually see the blue sky is immediately after one of the thunderstorms and then it is only in patches, otherwise it's like a high gray fog. We have gotten rain almost everyday and it is accompanied with lots of thunder and lightening and provides a welcome cooling. So that's our wx at least here at the southern end of the peninsula.

So far Malaysia seems quite 1st world. We are near the city of Johor Bahur and just across from the island of Singapore, an independent country. Johor is modern with good roads, shopping malls, traffic, a good bus system and it appears most necessary services. Of course the one that are lacking seem to be those having to do with the marine industry. That said we have made contact with someone regarding our watermaker and hope to learn more in a day or so. The marina we are staying in is basic with no pool or stores for groceries or marine parts but it is FREE. There are several restaurants and a small mall within walking distance or as I said the public transit is good.

We have managed to get a broad band internet connection and it is reported to work throughout Malaysia, all for about $20 US/month. Now if I can figure out the "blog" perhaps I will be able to post some photos. either that or I may start sending these witty bits on our yahoo with photos attached, I do know how to do that, sort of. If any of you have suggestions let us who only have the computer skills of a 5 year old know.

Not much else for today, even with the heat we need to try and get some little boat jobs done, Kathy's favorite is washing anything using the unlimited water from the hose. A day trip to Singapore is planned. We wish you all the best. J&K

Vanuatu part III Sailing Dreams

Vanuatu part II

To All, first to let you know that we suffered no ill effects from the earthquake here in Vanuatu. We were awakened by a vibration at 0415 hrs and figured it was a quake. It was not till later that we found out about the tsunami warning and then that it had been canceled. That's our 4th tsunami warning in the past year.

Now on to more Vanuatu adventures. We had a nice sail to Epi Is. further north in the Vanuatu chain. Our destination, Luman Bay is noted to have several "dugongs" that you can possibly swim with. A "dugong" is a mammal that is similar to a Manatee though having a tail like a whale. Unfortunately we only sighted turtles. We did visit the village but it was very quiet. I managed to put another patch on a leaky dinghy. The anchorage was exposed to the swell and very rolly and after a short stay we were off to visit the island of Ambryn.

Ambrym has another active volcano and is also know for the fine wood carvings the villagers do and the "Rom Dance". We had a flat calm anchorage off the village of Rannon , though it did suffer from volcano smog. After the hook was down we were visited by a local inquiring if we would like to see the "Rom Dance". He worked at the visitor center which was nothing more than a hut on the beach. The price to view the dance was 4000 vatu or $40 US per person. He would arrange to have the dance performed and guide us to the village which was about an hour's hike away for 2500 vatu. We were to meet the next morning at 8am. The hike to the Vanla, village for the dance was mostly uphill along a twisting path through the forest. Connie and Kathy found it quite strenuous but managed. Once in Vanla we were greeted with a great hubbub of activity. We were to see the dance but the village was also preparing for a wedding the next day and all of the women were preparing the feast. There was a butchered cow hanging and the meat was added into the "packages" that were being made. Each package was several layers of banana leaves followed by taro root, yams with the meat and salt on top. These were then bound up to be cooked in the ground on hot lava rocks. Next was the dance. The village women are not permitted to watch the dance but tourists may. The Rom dance is about grade taking as a man moves up in the village structure. The dancers wear either the "namba" costume, penis sheath tucked up into a belt so it sticks straight out with testicles hanging. This includes the young boys who are also dancing some about 8 years old to the old chief who told us he was 68. Then other dancers wear brightly painted masks made of banana fiber and a thick cloak of banana leaves. The dance is a lot of foot stomping keeping a beat to the chant that the dancers are doing. After the dance we were shown some of the traditional sand painting. One of the men using his fingers to draw a picture in the sand. This features delicate loops and circles done without raising the hand but lifting different fingers. They illustrate local legends or messages. Next we were able to look at a number of carvings in both wood and stone that were for sale. Of course several souvenirs were bought. On getting ready to depart we were given about 2 kilos of the fresh beef that was being prepared for the wedding feast. We later had it for several meals. The next several days were spent relaxing, visiting Rannon village, and looking about the general area in the dinghy.

On Friday it was again time to move. We were headed to Pentecost Is. where we could witness "land diving". The original form of bungee jumping. The dives were originally done to insure a successful yam harvest, now a tourist attraction. We arrived at the jump site Saturday morning with our guide "Shame". The fee to watch was 7500 vatu or $75US. The dive is made from a tower built of sticks and perhaps 50 feet tall on the edge of steep sloping ground and is done in a "namba". The divers are aged from about 9 years to their late 20's. The younger boys dive from lower levels moving higher as they age. With a vine secured to their legs they literally dive from a platform extending out from the tower and do a face plant in the dirt. The vine and collapsing of the platform slows the decent but they hit with quite a force. We watched 7 dives and saw no injuries. An interesting observation was the first thing each diver checked on landing was that his "namba" was still in place. The diver's are accompanied by another group of chanting and foot stomping "namba" clad men.

As Connie' time with us was getting short the next day we were on the move again to Luganville, the second largest city, and where Connie would be able to start her journey home. More upcoming in part3

As always we love to hear from you, just remember to always start a new message not use the reply key as our system is through the high frequency radio. We hope you are enjoying life too. J&K

Vanuatu part III

To All

A short ending to our Vanuatu stay. We spent time in a lovely anchorage just before Connie's departure called Oyster Bay. There was a yachtie friendly resort where we spent happy hour and a nice dinner. The drawback was getting to the anchorage as we seemed to drag a bit on the shallow sand bottom entrance. No problems just a bit of paint loss.

After Connie's leaving us it was time to start getting ready for departure to Australia where in July we join up with a rally through Indonesia. first order of business was laundry and at $209 per load tho have it done we opted to do it by hand in buckets. Isn't cruising fun! Next was provisioning, fuel and check out of the country. All went smoothly and tomorrow I'll send the first installment on passage making

Vanuatu from the log of Kathy and Jerry aboard Po Oino Ora

To All, we hope this finds you all well and enjoying spring time on the other side of the equator. When last we left off we had just arrived in the island nation of Vanuatu and were looking around the capitol of Port Villa. Here's the start of some of our recent adventures. To begin with Vanuatu was granted independence from the rule of Britain and France in 1980, one guide book states there was cannibalism into the 1960's, also there is a high incidence of malaria. There are some very unique adventures to be had in this tropical paradise.

After our initial clearing in and visiting some of the sights of Port Vila, Kathy and Connie were off to visit the active volcano of Mt. Yasur on the island of Tanna. As I stayed aboard in port Vila, I will plagiarize some of Connie's mail back home of their trip and have Kathy edit my commentary. They booked a 24 hour trip, flight, jeep to primitve bungalow, village visit dance, a night excursion to the volcano. sounds nice. Well sometimes things are a bit misleading regarding 3rd world tours. The jeep was a broken down Japanese double cab pickup, at least they had seats, the road unsealed rutted with river crossings and no bridge. the bungalows were primitive, raised wooden platforms, thatched roofs, grass woven walls, a single light bulb and outside toilet. The beds did have nice mosquito netting. It seems the cooks specialty was omelets and cooked squash for lunch and dinner, breakfast was a fruit plate and toast with jam. The point of the trip was to see the volcano, Mt Yasur, rumored to have been erupting continuously since the time of Captains Cooks visit. The truck was ready for departure but suddenly there was an additional 1000 Vatu charge each ($10.00) or they could walk the 3 miles thru the moon scape lava fields to the rim and then back in the pitch dark. They paid and were eventually refunded. On the trip to the rim their ears were assaulted with the rumbling thunder of the explosions taking place deep in the earth. Kathy said it was like the sound of jet planes, crashing waves and thunder all rolled into one. Once there and after dark they witnessed the fire from the caldera and the lava rocks being shot high into the air. The photos look like a 4th of July fireworks display. Next the rain came and they were to be in the truck. Back at the Jungle Oasis bungalows the generator was out so it was candles for dinner. They were entertained by a local band, not very good they seemed only able to play one tempo, before retiring to listen to the sounds and feel the ground shaking of Mt Yasur as a bedtime lullaby. After raining all night they were ready for their departure. Back in the truck and down the muddy slippery road, Stop, its time to see the Dancers at a local village, a 10 minute show, dressed in custom clothes, a line around their waist and a Namba wrapped around their penis with the rest of the parts hanging in the breeze. Moving on down the road, we stopped once more the river has risen and now the driver is hesitant to make the crossing. After watching for several hours and seeing a drop in the river the girls volunteered to wade across if perhaps another truck could then pick them up, after all they did have a flight to catch. Finally the driver decided to give it a try. Well they made it and several hours later I met them at the waterfront bar where they were in great need of some libations after an unforgettable adventure.

Meanwhile back on the boat I had been successful in doing some shopping. The highlight was finding the supplies for my beer making that I have not been able to purchase since the Marshall Is. Home brew once again! I also managed some boat projects as they're never ending just like mowing your lawn. Got the boat fueled and did our check out so we were ready to head off the next day for further adventures.

Saturday 8 May we along with our friends aboard S/V Linda and S/V Scarlett O'Hara made the short sail around Devils Pt to Havana harbor. It was a calm peaceful anchorage. John & Renee of "Scarlett O'Hara" joined us for the cocktail hour to hear the telling of the girls volcano adventure then it was early to bed as we were to get underway to Epi Is. further north. We would be on a somewhat "fast track" as Connie was due to return home 21 May and there was lots to see before then.

Po Oino Ora in Vanuatu and offshore passage from Fiji to Vanuatu

To All

After a year in Fiji it was once again sailing in the Blue Water. the passage from Fiji to Port Vila Vanuatu was plotted as 516 miles or for us figuring on about 130 miles in a 24 hour period a 4 day trip. Kathy and I stand strict 4 hour watches when on passage and Connie as guest was exempt from official watches. Instead she probably spent more awake time than either Kathy or I. It was especially nice that Connie had no problem doing galley chores.

Thursday 0930 hours out the pass and sailing on a course due west for Vanuatu. We were accompanied on this passage by 3 other boats. Meaning we all leave the same day but during the trip we really never see each other but do keep in contact via radio. The boats being different sizes and types with varying speed capabilities also means quite different arrivals.

The first 2 days were just lovely sailing. Wind aft of the beam and anywhere from 5 to 14 knots. The first day out we caught a nice sized tuna to add to the already stocked freezer.

Next we had some light winds and had to fire up Miss Perky. By keeping the RPM's down she had no "hot flashes" and we continued on our way.

As we move along we get daily weather reports through our sailmail internet provider and all looked as winds continuing in the 10 to 15 knot range till Tues. 4 May when we should be safely anchored in Port Vila. We were keeping on our schedule but no one let the wind gods know that they were to stay in the 15 knot range. Sunday evening the winds began to increase. Now we were having 25 to 30 with higher gusts. Sailing still with the wind aft of the beam we were comfortable but now we were going to fast speed of 7.5 to 8+ knots. and our arrival time was projected to be in the middle of the night. One rule we like to never break is entering an unfamiliar anchorage in the dark. The solution put a third reef in the main. So out on deck I go get the reef in and we continue on at a mere 6 to 6.5 knots but we will now arrive in the early morning daylight.

Monday morning after a very nice passage we were anchored at the quarantine buoy in Port Vila. The last of our group to arrive but two of the boats choose to enter during the night. On arrival we are once again required to do the paperwork shuffle. First we're boarded by the health officer. We can't bring in any fresh fruit so that goes in a bag. We lie and deny having any beef on board as we don't want to give any of our frozen up. The biggest concern is of course our two cats. We know that they are not allowed on shore and as we will be either on a mooring or at anchor there is not a chance of that anyway. We move from the "Q" area onto a mooring and then it's off to town to complete the formalities, immigration and customs.

Now your assignment is to google Vanuatu and see where we are and what we can be doing. A little insight. Vanuatu is a independent island nation in the west Pacific ocean. The islands are volcanic with a number still active. In 2007 Vanuatu was termed the "Happiest Country in the World". The money here is vatu with an exchange rate of 100 to 1 with US $.

We will only be here for a short time and it appears there is a lot to see and do so updates may be coming more quickly. We hope this finds All healthy and Happy. J&K

Passage Making

To All

We hope this finds you well and ready for summer. It's winter so to speak here with day temps in the mid 80's and surrounded by the deep blue sea.

We departed Vanuatu last Saturday. All our preparations had been made and we slipped off the mooring ball at 0900. The initial part of this passage is 1350 nautical miles to get us to Raine Is. off the northeast coast of Australia. There we go through a pass in the great barrier reef and then on to Thursday Is. off Cape York. Lots of different factors come into play trying to plan for a passage. First we consider weather but then again the forecasts are only accurate for at best 3 days. On short passages we like to figure an arrival time to avoid weekends where we might incur overtime charges for customs etc. For this passage our first 3 days of wx looked OK so off we went.

The first days winds were light and from all points of the compass but always enough to sail. We were traveling with our friends aboard "Scarlett O'hara" but as their boat normally averages a knot faster than us having visual contact only last into the first night. We do keep a radio schedule with them to talk twice a day and then we are also checking in to the Pacific Seafarers radio net which is who posts our daily position reports so you can follow along. That would be found under pacsea.org and then our call sign KG6IDC along with the yotreps site.

The 2nd days afternoon bonus was landing a nice size 20 to 25 lb. tuna. This especially made the cats happy as the love their fresh fish. On "Po Oino Roa" while underway we stand a strict 4 hour watch so one of us is always up. It takes a few days to get your sleep routines working and on day 2 your always tired so the cats were the only ones to enjoy tuna that day. We have all been enjoying it since.

The next couple of days we continued sailing along in nice SE tradewinds averaging 6+ knots of boat speed. We normally figure our passage to average 5 kts. or about 120 mile a day. We were ahead of schedule. We get wx forecasts via email and the outlook was for lighter winds which as long as we can sail was OK by us too. Late Friday evening the light winds were upon us. With the seas from the port stern quarter along with the wind things aboard were rocky and rolly. We would sail when possible and motor when necessary. The forecast was for this to continue most likely till our landfall.

Surprise, surprise when I came on watch Sat at 2100 or 9 pm Kathy was sitting in the middle of the cockpit tethered in with her harness on and eyes glued to the sailing instruments. We had 35 kts and she had seen a gust to 45. It's quite amazing how calm it can be below and rocky and noisy in the cockpit. It's now 20 hours later and the conditions continue. Current 37 t0 40 and gusting higher. We're sailing along with 3 reefs in the main and just the tiniest bit of staysail out now at speeds of 6.5 to 7.5 kts. I just got the latest wx and they continue to say we ought to have winds in the 15 kt range. It appears as we're in for another bumpy rolly night.

Now Monday morning and our wind and large seas continue. "Scarlett O'Hara" is now at the pass through the reef so on our evening radio sked we'll hear how things are. We should be there on Wed. morning.

That's enough for today as I need to now check wx. More later J&K

Finally

To All

Well it seems as though it has been quite a while since my last writing and it has. I had actually begun this two weeks ago but then due to a computer crash I am just getting back to it. You know while I was working nothing I ever wrote on my note pad ever erased itself, I can't say the same for computers.

I believe we last left off with cyclone "Tomas". We were quite fortunate to have moved from our previous location back to the marina at Vuda Pt. where we had no affect from "Tomas", many areas of Fiji were severely damaged. We spent from mid March till mid May in the marina, doing more of the necessary boat projects.

Mid March brought our friend Connie from Annapolis,Md to visit us in Fiji. Connie planned to stay with in Fiji until our departure to Vanuatu, make the passage with us then spend another few weeks with us in Vanuatu. Connie became what we "yachties" refer to as our "pack mule". Her luggage consisted of 3 large bags. One for her and two for us. It is amazing what can not be bought in many of the countries that we seem to be in, hence visitors are always welcome.

After 6 weeks in the marina on Connie's arrival we were immediately under way out to Musket Cove, one of the favorite yachtie spots in Fiji. After a few days decompressing in Musket. I also had to spend 3 days cleaning the boat bottom, just as you must mow your lawns, we headed off to another island, Navadra, which we had not visited before. Navadra is inhabited by goats only but has nice beachcombing and snorkeling. After a couple of days we had a weather change and move off to Waya Is. in the Yawsawa island group of Fiji. Here we visited Yalobi village. On arrival, anchoring off a village it is customary to visit the "Ratu" or chief and present him with "sevusevu" or a gift of Kava. Kava is the local "grog" a drink made from the yaqona plant. We visited Tom the chief, were accepted into the village and presented with shell necklaces. We only spent a short time in Waya , then a nice sail back to the tourist area of Denarau. Here we took a slip in the marina for a couple of days to let Connie take in some land sight seeing before we took off for Vanuatu.

After spending the last year enjoying the friendly "Bula Bula" atmosphere of Fiji it was time to take our leave and continue on with our westward travel. Before leaving on what would be a 4 day passage we first had to stock provisions, fuel, food and beverages, next it was a visit to the officials, finally ready to go.

We departed Lautoka intending to stop at a bay just prior to the exit pass to hoist the dinghy on deck and make final checks to see that the boat was ready for sea. Well we only managed about 5 miles before our recurring engine overheating problem reared it's head. OK, plan B. We stopped at another anchorage where I could check on what might be the problem with the faithful Miss Perky, our Perkins diesel engine. After making the normal checks and finding no obvious problems we have decided Miss Perky is just experiencing hot flashes and we just need to treat her gently. This means when running the engine we take it slow, but as we have nothing but time no problem.

The next morning Thursday 29 April we're up early, 0500, making final preparation. Anchor up at 0700 and we're off. The end of chapter 1 for reasons of email length.