What a great night of sleep. Only interruption was to close the hatch when some rain passed by us. Coffee and a beautiful sunrise started the day for me, while Roxy took to capturing the views in watercolor.
Most of the morning was spent waiting to clear into the country, but Carl and I did dive into an AIS (system for boats to see each other) issue. I downloaded a configuration program, which took a very long time with the throttled internet, and we learned it was an antenna issue. We checked out the connections which looked good, and plugging the antenna directly into the AIS transceiver got it working. Narrowing it down to the antenna splitter. Taking a close look, I noticed it did not have power. Oops. Seems when Sky Pond was recommissioned in May that cable was missed. It felt good to have it definitively fixed.
Finally we were called up on the radio and headed into the “yacht club” to meet with immigration, biosecurity, and customs. It was a smooth process and we were all granted 4 month Visas. They asked if we had any USD since other cruisers this week had bills that the bank would not accept do to folds and marks. I dinghied back to grab some in better condition and was able to make the swap and help them out.
We had talked to SV Beluga about joining them on the volcano hike, they had a buddy boat who learned that the family who owns the land at the entrance to the volcano offered a hiking version (normally it is by pickup truck). After clearing in they met with the villager who would guide us and set everything up. Then it was time to prepare for five hours of hiking to the top. We would need food and warm clothes.
2:40 rolled around and we piled into Beluga’s dinghy and started our adventure!
After a good night’s sleep on the hook we patiently waited to be called in by Customs to clear into Vanuatu. We were anxious to get some time ashore so it felt like a long wait but around 10:30am the call came for us and SV Beluga. Afrikitii had just arrived and asked to be checked in as well. It would be a party.
Ashore, we walked up to the yacht club and began the process; immigration, biosecurity, customs. Money passed hands and paperwork completed it wasn’t too long. They had some US currency the bank rejected and asked if we could swap it for new condition bills so I hoped in the dinghy and grabbed a good 20 and 50.
All official we walked into the village. The first thing I noticed was the well manicured the grass and landscaping. Wow, they take a lot of pride in the appearance of their homes. A few “Hallos” to villagers we passed and we caught up with a villager walking towards the beach on the windward side. We chatted as we walked and he led up to a resort like area with a few bungalows and a small empty restaurant. He offered us pizza but we passed and instead took a few minutes to enjoy the beach before returning to the dinghy. Along the way we stumbled on two boys playing with a stick that had a wheel on the end. They ran around “driving” there sticks having a great time. One of the boys had a fancy model with two wheels and a steering wheel. He made it to the big time.
Back aboard it wasn’t long before Finn and Talissa dinghied by to let us know that the volcano hike was on for this afternoon. Wow, the day was going to be a full one. That hike deserves a post on its own…
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