First Impressions - So Far So Good

Well, shore looks pretty good from here.  A police boat was nice enough to come by with 9 big guys (not super official looking) and make sure we didn't disembark until customs and immigration came to clear us.  Well, apparently there was a snafu in our plan.  The immigration guy was flying in for a 1 pm appointment, but the flight was canceled, so there is no immigration here.  The police boat came by at 3:30 and asked if we'd be here Saturday to take care of it.  It is Tuesday the 21st.  We are supposed to run a medical clinic here, then hit a few more ports and be at the island of Tanna to resupply (another issue) by the 26th.  So we can't wait 5 days to clear in (and after 14 days on a boat, we can't wait 5 days to hit the shore!)  So phone calls were made, but no decisions were.  We had pre-approval to land and clear in here on this date thanks to Sea Mercy, so now we just see how it all plays out.

In the meantime, we are re-distributing our loads, trying to get the "life units" and "medical units" organized as units for distribution.  We did hear that this village has rice and food, but needs medical supplies, so we are tentatively thinking that we'll keep a life unit for another more needy village, but we'll run a medical clinic here if we can get to shore.

Port Patrick was the worst hit village on this island as we've heard, so we are looking at if/how we can land there, apparently it's a small entrance on the windy side of the island.

This village is in a well-protected anchorage.  The outlying island looks more browned and cleared off, but the mainland has concrete structures with intact roofs.  Even some thatch roofs are intact.  The trees are all funny-looking half trees, like a child's drawing, with leaves only on one side of the trees.  You can see where the brunt of the winds blew and in what direction.

We were supposed to resupply in Tanna, but apparently that plan also took a turn.  The resupply didn't come in due to cyclone Solo that just passed through here and delayed our trip.  We are going to remain flexible and do what we can.  Maybe the extra life unit that isn't needed here can be useful if Tanna doesn't get the supplies in.  It's going to be interesting because we of course need to follow all the regulations and requests of the Ministry of Health, while at the same time trying to provide the most useful help in the most needed areas.  I have lots of kid's clothes to give, but apparently there were some rules involved with that.  I will not give them as part of Sea Mercy because I don't want to disrupt any of their reputation here, but maybe as person to person onshore to a "friend".  I have no idea what the rules are, making it even harder, but we'd like to offload the clothes and we understand them to be in need of clothes, so it seems like a no brainer to me . . .

Life is good, we are anchored and calm, we are in for a great adventure, and we had an excellent fresh Dorado dinner.

Shannon