Sailing -

We had a successful delivery of the water tanks, concrete, and water. Even with 30 knot winds we had a great downwind run to Epi.

Wonderful visits to very remote villages, and a fantastic feast was prepared for us by our great friend Nina.

Today was more land diving, followed by the devouring of an entire calf by the village! And of course our family. The eating is done on a leaf that you grab from the forest with your fingers. Then there is the kava. Kava is a slightly narcotic drink that if drunk in very high quantities can really mellow a person out. Hence it is drunk in very large quantities, and in my opinion is one of the very few problems that they have here. It plays to much of a role in the young men's lives.

We are going to slow down a little bit now, and only do little 10 mile hops, to some of our favorite anchorages!

Courage 

Feast on Pentecost Island

Entertainment by local string band

Safely made it to Wali, Pentecost for some land diving for the teen girls!! Very excited, quite a cultural experience!! Courage is working on a foot infection after being stung by a sting ray last week, so Cassidy drove us here, hit some big waves, sailed most of the way, and got in between 1-2 am. After this, we slow down a bit again, just had to make it to the last jump of the season!! It is one of those once in a lifetime (if you're lucky) experiences, so I'm glad we made it happen! 

Slaughtered a local cow, cooking for a feast.

Traditional kava root - they make a drink of it

We've seen the cow slaughter this morning, butchering it in the trees, now it's finally cooked for dinner.  The girls are in line with the local plates they just picked in the forest ready to try fire cooked dinner.

Shannon

Local dinner watching the string band and sunset at the beach

The kids have such a hard time blending in . . .

Big party after last land diving of the season!

Shannon

Concrete Offload -

It's wavy and windy out here, but we got it done!  Great teamwork with our crew and locals!  Of course, they needed gas, so we gave them 10 Litres of our gas to get their panga running.  The por panga driver cut his shins on the coral as he came out into the surf to get the gas tank we brought him and got worked by a wave.  We will give him band aids and cream when he returns to give us our gas tank back.  Getting it done!

Shannon

Fish -

We caught two of the bigger Bonita and the cute small one.  We also gathered up the flying fish from the deck.  The local men with us are tickled, they're going home with fish!!

Shannon

Water Tank Delivery

Good Morning Epi - First Delivery Ahead

Offloading

Great news, we got the first tank in the water.  Bad news, we lost it off the rope and there's a bit of a current.  Good news, it floats and we can get it back.

Shannon

Recovered

Second Delivery - This is actually 4 water tanks.

Island of Namuka -

We just passed this beautiful island, Namuka.  Chief Simeon indicated that we could live here for free indefinitely.  Pretty incredible offer!!  Our own private island, sandy beach, mountain!  Have to figure out water and electricity and shelter, start a garden, build a house.  Could be fun!!

Shannon

Cargo Loading

The girls going our provisioning.

Water Delivery

11 Water Tanks loaded

We have one ton of concrete, 600 L of water bottles, and 11 water tanks, the Chief Simeon, Tom (passport administrator), and Willie.  We will deliver to various places along the West Coast.

Non-relief related, we have about $200 of groceries for a friend, Nina, that we met in Jumasume, Epi.  She runs a little store out of her house and usually has to pay shipping, etc, so we offered to bring her some items.  Her store should be pretty well stocked after this!  She will make us a traditional dinner when we arrive.

Shannon

Mini Water Tanks

Mini Water Tanks to be delivered for disaster relief.

 Loading a mini tank.

Our back yard.

Ladder Repair -

Just building a safety net so we don't lose little people down the gap until we have a permanent fix.

Clinic at Point, Epi 6-17-2015

This is my translator, Nina, and me at the first clinic at the tables at Point before going to the aid post.

Shannon

Food aid going to Jumasume, Epi on 6-17-15

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Miranda's first day and we are all excited!

Miranda and Courage going to church on the motorcycle, Vanuatu style.

We are tied up on the sea wall for a couple of days to make loading groceries, loading water tanks and concrete, going to shore to play, and other things easier for ourselves.  Shannon