Pitufa.at

We arrived in the capital of Vanuatu last week and we’re still getting our bearings, checking out hardware stores and supermarkets–typical cruiser-style We have found plenty of shops so far, but there is less range here and it’s more expensive than in Fiji (as people had warned us ahead).
Port Vila is a pleasant little town with a waterfront with restaurants and souvenir shops–everything looks scrubbed and polished for tourists, even dogs were banned a few years ago so nothing can spoil the holiday impression… Tourism is the main income of Vanuatu, so it’s a catastrophe for the hotels and all their employees, tour guides, etc. that Air Vanuatu has gone bankrupt and there are hardly any tourists flying in at the moment.
The inner harbour of Port Vila is full of sailboats at the moment as the majority of the fleet is passing through at the moment, doing some shopping here before heading out to the many festivals that are scheduled in August. Most boats are on moorings, but we found a nice anchoring spot right behind the mooring field.
View from Pitufa’s deck:

Yesterday morning we left Anatom at 5 o’clock in the morning as we expected light winds for the 50 mile sail up to Tanna and we wanted to arrive with daylight. The winds were stronger than expected and it was a fast, close-hauled sail (5 to 7 knots), so we got to the anchorage just after noon. Port Resolution is a bay located on the east side of Tanna and approaching the bay the easterly swell was breaking spectacularly on the volcanic cliffs and pinnacles that make up the shoreline.
Coming from the south you can’t see the bay until you’re already past it–imagine what it must have been like for the first explorers on their tall ships to find such an unexpected haven in a rough coastline. I would have named it Port Surprise instead of Port Resolution…
This morning the officials came over from the main town Lenakel to check us in–a very relaxed procedure in the Tanna Yacht Club which is overlooking the bay. Now we’re ready to explore Vanuatu!

Some details for those planning to check in here this year: We read that EU citizens get 3 months stay without visa, other nationalities 30 days, but it seems that (at least in Tanna) every arriving crew gets 4 months without additional fees. We paid 5000 Vatu for Customs, 5000 for Biosecurity, 4.800 for Immigration and 3000 for their transport to Port Resolution from the office in Lenakel on the other side of the island. Transport costs seem to vary: yesterday they arrived in 2 separate cars (so 6000 vatu transport), but we got lucky as another yacht was cleared in the same day, so we could share the transport costs.
There are no ATMs on Anatom or in Pt. Resolution, so we exchanged Vatu in Fiji. It wasn’t easy, most exchange offices refused to deal with us as we had neither a ticket to Vanuatu to show, nor a bank account in Fiji. “Singapore exchange” finally accepted the clearance as proof of us going, but then we nearly failed again as we didn’t have a receipt from the ATM, so better bring both

We arrived yesterday at 2 in the morning after a stormy, splashy last sailing night in the cozy protected bay between Anatom and “Mystery Island”. Anatom’s not a port of entry, but you can check in (with pre-authorisation as we had) whenever the officials come here to clear in a cruise ship. Yesterday morning we got an email saying that today’s cruise ship stop was canceled and that we were to sail to Tanna instead–awkward as we were already at anchor at that time…
A local boat stopped by and told us though, that there might be another cruise ship coming on Saturday, so maybe we can check in then.
Yesterday was a public holiday in Vanuatu so no response from the immigration/customs office in the capital, but we’re awaiting news today.
In the meantime it’s howling and raining outside, so we’re happy to stay put inside and get some work done.

It has been another fast sailing day. After ages we have managed to catch a fish again (a smallish barracuda) and we have already processed it and made preserves in the pressure cooker. It’s generally more lively here with little petrels circling the boat and swishing over the waves. We can see Futuna to the north and Anatom ahead, but we still have 45 nm to go and it’s already 5 in the afternoon, so we’ll arrive long after dark.

Usually it’s a nightmare when the wind dies down after a strong blow, as you’re left with high waves and a madly bucking boat. Yesterday the seas calmed down along with the winds, so we used the welcome break to air the boat and do some domestic chores (baking bread, straining a batch of kefir for banana smoothies and Christian even managed to shave without cutting himself .
At noon the wind picked up, Pitufa accelerated from 3.5 knots to 6 knots again and we’ve been racing along ever since.
100 nm to go!

The night was still fast sailing, but now going’s getting a bit slow. According to the grib the wind should pick up soon again. Finally some rays of sunshine this morning! No fish yet…
230 nm to go

It has been a bouncy night with winds of 25 knots+ from the Southeast and confused waves–one of them managed to swamp the cockpit (a very rare occasion on Pitufa). This morning it’s grey again–some sun would be nice.
360 nm to go