We had read that a “Spirit Cave” was at the next stop. Wanting to squeeze it in today we made an early start for the 30sih mile passage. Soon enough the anchor was set and an outrigger was headed our way. A short conversation led us to realize; this was the chief’s son, he gifted us two pamplemousse, and there was a “dispute” with the cave closing it. We made plans to paddle in to shore to attempt to fix his solar/inverter/battery system later this afternoon and say goodbye.
After lunch as we were getting ready a dinghy left the beach and we waved over the couple in the other yacht in the anchorage. They had some great information for us about Luganville and this village. With that we paddle in and were quickly met by Malcom, the chief’s son. Once the boards were secured, he led us to his home as his nieces and nephews followed along.
He had a nice home with a courtyard covered in a palm frown canopy. It was a nice chat with all of the typical topics of conversation and we had a chance to meet his oldest son David and his wife. With time burning, I suggested we look at his electrical system. After giving it an assessment and doing some troubleshooting, I was able to determine that the issue was with the connections between the inverter and the battery. With no tools I could only temporarily fix it but I left instructions which should make it easy for him to repair. Next up was a battery powered amplified speaker. At this point Carl and Roxy headed off to a fresh water swimming spot while we dug into this project.
It was a complicated disassembly but finally we cracked it open. It had a surprisingly small Lion battery pack that unfortunately was something else I could not fix. We found a replacement one on Amazon and spent some time searching for shops in Luganville. That did not look promising but his son thought that a computer/cell phone shop in Port Vila might have it. So hopefully they can get someone to pick one up for them. I snapped some pictures and sent to him via Facebook before we reassembled it.
Work done, I headed for the river for a swim. Roxy and Carl had already returned to Sky Pond so I was soloing it. I headed up the river, maybe three hundred meters and it was gorgeous spot after gorgeous spot. The rocks in the river had a tan sand/film and I was surprised they weren’t slippery, a good thing since I had flip flops on. I took a couple dips in the water at different pool to cool off and to get the sand/sweat washed off.
Back at the beach were a big group of young kids. The “Hellos” and “How are you?” led to finding out the names of the older ones but dinner was coming up so I had to say goodbye, which one of the youngsters hollered, “Goodbye white boy!” to which all of the other kids erupted in laughter. Yet, another fun interaction.
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