Port Vila

Well we've spent a few more days in Port Vila than we intended but we have got pretty much everything done that we needed to. We had a small crack in our boom that we had welded, stocked up with duty free diesel and have now cleared out for the Solomons. We will start heading north on Monday all going well. Getting the boom fixed was easier than we expected. After one false start we found a place that does Al welding and it was relatively simple to take the boom in the dinghy and then some nice guys on a local barge let us walk up through their dock, from which it was a short walk up to the workshop. So it was actually an easier mission than when we took the boom off Earenya, which we carried from Princes Wharf through the Viaduct (getting odd looks from people drinking their morning latte), and over towards the near side of Westhaven, at least it was a smaller boom. While waiting for the boom to be fixed we have done sundry jobs on the boat and caught up with various people we know from NZ or have met in Vanuatu as everyone seems to have ended up here at the same time.

We have also gone for 2 dives on the wreck the 'Star of Russia' in the harbour. The visibility was not as good as we have got used to here, but the wreck is interesting, particularly the masts which still have some rigging, tops, futtocks etc, which is discernible. We also saw a sea snake (banded sea krait), our first in Vanuatu.