Vanuatu

We arrived in Port Vila harbour, Vanuatu, on a Friday morning after an arduous 4 days and nights crossing from Fiji. As we called into Customs on the VHF to begin the check-in process, a voice friendly to Ruby Soho came over the radio. Chris from Dragon Fly was already in harbour, a boat that our crew knew well. He gave us the low down on getting into the country and a warm welcome, zooming over to greet us in his dinghy.

It was a relief to be in such a beautiful, protected harbour after facing the swell of the open ocean. The crew took immediate advantage to pop a bottle of bubbly, and to clean boat and bodies before relaxing aboard. And all could rest easy by the way, as Chris delivered the news that Obama had won the U.S. election.

We took the dinghy to shore and were very excited to be on terra firma once again! Also, Port Vila turned out to be a very cute little town, with a small souvenir market and a great coffee shop with free wifi and a view of the harbour, where the crew spent a few caffeine-fueled sessions of email catch up.

After mooring Ruby Soho at the dock, we took advantage to run a few errands including stocking up on fresh produce at the local market, where the people were very friendly and relaxed. It was the lowest pressure from sellers that we had encountered throughout our trip, which made for a fun experience of exploring the options from the local gardens.

We continued to re-discover our favourite little coffee shop in the harbour to carry on catching up with “real life” on the net. So funny that free internet cafes, which were so hard to find in Australia, were so easy to find in less developed countries like Cambodia and Fiji!

We arrived in Vanuatu on a Friday night, which meant we started things right with a thorough exploration of the happy hours around town. We bought some tasty Vanutian beef that we made into shish-kabobs for an early dinner, and then the evening started at 5pm with a visit to the Grand Casino Hotel patio for happy hour drinks with a view.

At 6pm we promptly moved up to the other bar in the hotel where there were free canapés (woohoo!), and once again, happy hour. It certainly doesn’t take much to make a thirsty crew of seven happy!

We then wandered down the street in search of entertainment, which we found aplenty at the Anchor Inn.  With a live band and livelier dance floor, we settled in to drink and dance the night away.  The ladies dominated the dance floor, and occasionally they were even able to get the boys out to cut the rug for a few of the songs. Jen proved her worth as a valuable “wing woman” and managed to score a good-looking girl for our friend Dan, and with her friends she added to the merriment of the evening.

The next day we had plans to rent a car and drive around the main island of Efate, part of the Vanuatu Island chain, and the island that has Port Vila and the International Vanuatu Airport.  Things started off normally, as we made our way to the Cascades, a series of inland waterfalls. However, as we pulled into the parking lot, Alex suddenly made the last minute excuse of having to meet up with a local carpenter who would be working on the boat while we were in town, and left us with plans of returning in an hour. We were sad that he had to go, but it was a beautiful spot and we enjoyed walking along the pathway towards the falls.

When we reached the top, the scenery made the entrance fee more than worthwhile; the waterfalls were gorgeous, and made a fantastic backdrop for our “Vogue cover shoot”!

We splashed around for a bit, then headed back down to enjoy a drink at the bar, where Alex met up with us again. The next plan was to head towards a beach for snorkelling, and given that it was not a very large island, we were surprised when we got lost on the way and ended up at the airport. Alex jumped out to ask for directions, while Adey went off in search of a drink…things were getting decidedly strange. Suddenly, we see a familiar brown figure running towards us behind Alex – it was our good friend, Ashlin Alexander, all the way from Australia!!  We had been completely duped, and it was great, as we had no idea that he was coming to spend a week with us on the boat.  Also, he met a lovely girl on the plane, Jude, and we all ended up hanging out that afternoon as well as the following weekend when upon our return we partied with Jude and her girl friends who had flown in separately.

That night we went out again on the town after a “big family” Vietnamese Pho dinner at the local restaurant. We met some local Rastafarians who were super friendly, gave great recommendations for a local bar and ended up spending the night hanging out with us.  We moved on to Shakers, a cool bar with dance floor, and then ended the night at a kava bar.  This was a really interesting experience, as kava is a local root that is ground and strained into a cucumber-mud tasting concoction.  It is very popular with the locals, especially the men, and Vanuatu has a reputation for having very strong kava compared to places like Fiji.  It numbs the mouth, gives a feeling of relaxation, and is supposed to be taken with no alcohol.  A very weird and interesting drink! The kava bar was also quite colourful with a bunch of locals hanging out in the dim light of candles.  We mosied up to one of the kiosks and had the usual three cups, which are essentially chugged because of the bad taste. It was cool to find a “real” kava bar through the locals (there were definitely no other tourists around!), and afterwards we all stumbled back to the boat for a good night’s rest.

The next day we got up early and took the rented car for a four hour drive around the island.  We found a natural hot spring and mud baths where we could splash and roll around for a small fee.  Run by a family of locals, the water minerals and mud were reported to have healing powers, so we all got down and dirty. This classy affair and the surprise arrival of Ashlin provided the perfect backdrop for a classic man-meet photo.

Vanutian Spa Life!

We returned the car rental at noon and then spent the next few hours getting ready for a short overnight crossing from the main island of Vanuatu, Efate, to the more northern island, Epi.  The plan was to spend a few days in the north and slowly make our way back down to Efate in time for us to catch our plane back to Canada, and for Ashlin to head back to Australia.

The crossing started off well, with beautiful sun and calm winds, and we had a chance to admire Dan’s new tattoo, a gorgeous bit of art that covered his entire calf.

However, it wasn’t long before the seas were tossing us to and fro again, and we went back on our shifts for the overnight sail. 

We arrived at Epi in the morning, and it was a beautiful island with black volcanic sand, a bay teeming with turtles and a cute, clean and quiet little village.  We went ashore to meet the chief, and brought Fijian kava as an offering.  After receiving permission to explore the island, we snorkelled with the large turtles around our boat. A family from the village paddled by and we had the fun opportunity to donate clothes as a memento of our visit to their waters.

With the underwater exploration coming to an end, the boys got to do some bonding Zoolander style, seductively showering together off the back of the boat.  Ahhhh!!! The ladies were obviously powerless against this performance...

We went back ashore in the afternoon to explore the island and meet some of the locals. Adey and Ben struck up a friendly soccer ball circle on the pier with one of the older boys, and the younger kids would run around just waiting for the chance to jump into the water to be the first to grab a stray ball, and also showing off their own formidable soccer skills.

The girls sat on the pier and chatted while watching the beautiful sunset. It was a peaceful afternoon that continued with some cheap beers and dinner at the only hostel on the island.

We spent the next few days boating around, and Ashlin got a chance to practice his seamanship by going up on the mast to help with some maintenance work.  Of course safety is first on the boat, so he had on the full get up, and dangled off the mast with ease…

Ashlin also got to compete with Alex and Ben’s fishing trophies, reeling in a whopping…3 inch fishy. Way to go, Ashlin!










All were later duly impressed when Ashlin was selected to grace the cover of Yachtsman of the Year magazine...

Patricia tried her hand at jibbing, which was an unproductive but relaxing pastime on the boat.

At a smaller village on another island that we passed on our way back towards Vanuatu, we stretched our legs with a hike up to a telecommunications tower on a hill. We had met the locals the previous night, when the boys got to enjoy a typical kava ceremony, with the added benefit of the concoction being strained through a pair of old shorts. Yum. On the upside, a local came on our hike the next day and showed us the hidden paths to get around. Our walk to the top was rewarded with beautiful views of the ocean.

We arrived back to the main island of Efate on Friday, with our planes home leaving the next day. That night we partied it up, meeting with Jude and her friends for some crazy dancing at the yacht club.  Adey had declared a “hair-off” earlier in the trip between himself and Ben. That night the completion was extended to include Jude and an impressive crazy old party guy, who easily took the crown. 

It was a full night of fun, and we stumbled home in a happy daze to jump into our beds and dream about sunny seas.

The next day we had to say our goodbyes to the amazing crew of Ruby Soho. The sailing ship was headed on a 10-day crossing to Bundaberg, Australia, and our incredible journey was drawing close to its end! It had been a wonderful three weeks of adventure on the high seas. Our sailing knowledge had increased by leaps and bounds, and we were so fortunate to have had a “real” crossing experience.

As we boarded the plane, it finally hit us – we were actually going home! After a year of travelling around the world, on a trip that we had been dreaming about for a very long time, we were feeling a mix of emotions. It had been the most wonderful, amazing experience, but it was also great to be heading back to our favourite city in the world, Vancouver.  We have realized how fortunate we are as residents of Canada in such a beautiful setting, and despite visiting many surreal places during our trip, none were as pleasing to us as our own hometown.  This realization has been one of the many benefits of this trip.  We are also more aware and grateful for what we have, and after spending months in tiny hostel rooms, a campervan, and a boat, our Vancouver apartment and our usual possessions will seem very grand indeed. 

Thankfully we had a visit with our friend Amanda Potts during a stopover in LA to distract us from thoughts about our return home. We met her at the restaurant Encounters beside the airport, and it was an excited frenzy of stories and catching up on each other’s lives while we took full advantage of our limited time together.

Another way to have an easier transition to coming home is to have a friend surprise you with an airport pick-up and arrival gifts, which is exactly what our good friend Brydone did. It was so great to see a friendly face in the arrival lounge, and to be able to just relax on the way home. It also didn’t hurt that we had the most amazing tenants in the world, who left our place professionally cleaned, with brand new bedsheets, pillows, towels and bathmat, as well as a bottle of wine and flowers. Very nice!!

On reflection during those final flights home, we knew A Year In the Life had been well spent. It was a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, stupendous, glorious, unforgettable, crazy, impulsive time. But an experience such as this is only worth undertaking when you’ve got amazing people to share it with. In the end, that’s what really matters.

Thank you to our friends and family who followed us and supported us on our adventures - you were with us in spirit every step of the way.  What we’re most looking forward to is coming home to you!

Passage from Fiji to Vanuatu

Our first ever open ocean sailing began on Monday afternoon about 4pm as we left “Tom Hanks Island” and our glorious Castaway re-enactment filming behind. It would be a 500 mile journey to reach Vanuatu, a distance the captains estimated would take about 4 days to complete. The watches were set with the crew split into four teams, each to be on duty for 2 hours at a time. As we were seven on the boat, Adey was teamed up with his trusty MP3 player, "Colby", and the mighty time filler – Windows Solitaire.  Ben with Jen, Alex with Shannon, and Patricia with Dan rounded out the pairs.

  

Leaving the island and making our way towards the open ocean left the new crew with a feeling of nervous excitement. As if sensing the mood onboard, a pod of dolphins surfaced to splash in the waves alongside Ruby Soho putting a huge smile on our faces and giving us a memorable send off. We had a good sail that day under a mix of sun and cloud harnessing the power of 20 knot winds from the south. The inexperienced sailors spent this day working through the instability of their new environment with the help of seasickness pills and bouts on deck for fresh air. All stomachs stayed strong.

On Tuesday the weather turned a bit dark and the skies opened up on occasion, drenching those on shift with delicious drinkable water. This also provided the added benefit of keeping the sailor smell down to a minimum on the boat. The wind was similar to the previous day, but the swell began to increase, a bit of foreshadowing for the days to come. Alex pulled in a nice chubby Skipjack tuna after a good half hour battle with the strong fish. Fortunately given the effort, the crew pronounced the fish delicious and chef Horbal’s breaded creation was quickly decimated. The watches continued overnight on schedule and the crew sailed into another day on the open ocean.

On day three, the wind came around to the north and then onto the nose and we beat into it with sunny skies and large swell sometimes building up to the height of a good-sized bungalow. During his morning shift, Ben pulled in a 20lb Mahi Mahi on the hand line, reeling it in under arm power pull after pull. Mahis are a very unique looking fish with colourful bodies, a large dorsal fin and a rounded bull head.

Under Alex’s instruction, Ben killed and cleaned the mighty fish, a process that took more than an hour of concentrated work in heavy rolling seas. Chef Horbal then met his own high standards, slowly and delicately assembling a platter of sushi for the crew. More than being a fun fish to catch, Mahi’s are also very delicious!

The conditions continued to be very heavy, and when not on shift most of the crew spent time lounging in their bunks. On this day all felt rough with the seas tossing Ruby from side to side and banging hard underneath the main cabin, causing dishes and meals to go flying and crashing roughly into the hulls causing resting crew to bounce into the air out of their bunks. A great tuna pot pie was whipped up by the chef, which was promptly consumed and kept down with the help of medications and a quick return to resting.  This might be the time to give another big shout-out to our favourite sea cook, Dan Horbal!  Throughout the trip he kept whipping up delicacies from the on-board kitchen, even in the most turbulent waters. Here is a picture of him with his own baked bread which he made while we crashed along the stormy ocean. Amazing! This was truly a luxury cruise ;)

On the fourth day the wind mercifully started to shift back to the south and we sailed on a reach towards our destination. This more comfortable sailing angle combined with the glorious sunshine gave us a chance to enjoy the ride. Ben and Dan picked up the boat instruments and worked through some of Dan’s party songbook, culminating in an almost bearable version of “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”.

The clear skies also allowed us to enjoy the starry nights on our overnight shifts. The views were sparkly above and sparkly below, with the phosphorescence twinkling in the wake of the boat as it cut silently through the water under the power of the wind. With no light pollution in sight and no boats for miles around making the stars too numerous to count in the sky, it was easy to feel at once insignificant, and yet connected to some energy flowing through our vast universe.

 In between the sailing action, little projects are always taking place on the boat, some more productive than others. Alex was always tinkering with something mechanical, finding a way to get down and greasy at every opportunity (thank goodness we had an on-board mechanic!). Ben felt a bit left out in the project category and so took on the challenge of mending the strap on his water bottle that had finally given out after a year of use. The crew enjoyed watching this project evolve over the several hours of careful planning and execution, losing count along the way of the number of tools involved.  

At midnight that night, after relieving Ben and Jen, Alex decided to “Hove To” about 15 miles off of Vanuatu since it was certain that we would make landfall in the middle of the night. This manoeuvre essentially stalls the boat by opposing the two sails and pointing it up into the wind. Four hours of rolling and banging ensued as the waves beat relentlessly against the boat with the crew resting uneasily. After taking over at 4am from Dan and Patricia, Adey and Dan set the boat sailing once more, attempting an easy pace to time our arrival for first light, something the strong winds made difficult.

At 7am on Friday morning we pulled into a large bay leading to the mouth of Port Vila harbour and a very welcome shelter for some weary sailors. The crossing was completed and what a beautiful sight! We celebrated our arrival with a well-deserved breakfast mimosa and enthusiasm for the adventures to come. Ahoy Vanuatu!

Fiji

Landing at Nadi airport in Fiji, we completed our customs paperwork and burst through the exit doors to find our good friend Dan Horbal waiting for us in the arrival lounge. Happy reunion! We loaded our gear into a taxi, including two surfboards carried since Australia, and made our way to Port Denarau where the sailing vessel Ruby Soho and her crew awaited us.

We knew this fine ship well, from the early days when it was just a crazy dream shared by three good friends (Adey, Jen and Alex), until today, more than a decade later, when we would finally step aboard. Ruby was beautiful! A 48 foot Catamaran with 3 berths and two bathrooms in each pontoon, a beautiful big galley and dining area with hardwood and white leather seats and ample room to lounge outside in the seating under the cover of the bimini. We could see that we were really going to be roughing it!

Adey, Jen and Alex had been on the boat since beginning their trip around the world in the Caribbean in the fall of 2011. Since that time they sailed successfully through the Caribbean sea to the Panama canal where they crossed through to the Pacific, spending time in incredible locations like the Galapagos and various remote islands of the South Pacific. Dan joined the crew about 6 months later in the winter of 2012, taking a leave of absence from work to become the master chef and reliable sailor that he is today. Shannon, Alex’s girlfriend, hopped aboard in Tahiti a few months before we arrived and so we had an ideal group to show us the ropes and share good times!

An acquaintance of Shannon’s from Vancouver was also onboard for a few more days of a two week visit, the wily Japanese Canadian named Noriko. That night we stayed in port sharing stories and beverages with the backdrop of a very distracting sunset…

The following morning we motored over to Musket Cove on Malolo island and latched on to a mooring buoy amongst a fleet of other boats. The ladies promptly jumped in for a snorkel while Alex and Ben plotted a surfing mission to some of the spectacular reef breaks nearby.  The ladies had a blast in the water and followed this up with a walk about on land, exploring the island resort, swimming in the pool and hanging out with fellow “yachties” on the patio with a beverage in hand.

Meanwhile, Ben and Alex set anchor from the dinghy and jumped in to challenge the reef break known as “Namuto Lefts”. It was a strong current to paddle through, but Ben managed to get in position and catch a few of the most gorgeous waves of the trip. Slow moving and breaking evenly, the walls of water seemed to pick him gently up onto his board and carry him along in a steady leftwards direction. The only unsettling factor was the clarity of the water which allowed the surfer to see clearly to the coral reef below giving the impression of being mere feet above the razor sharp edges underfoot.

Afterwards everyone returned to the boat to pick up supplies for another island mission. Our amazing onboard chef, Dan Horbal (aka Chefball), dreamed up an amazing spread, with marinated chicken to be barbecued over the wood fired grilles on shore. The grilles were at the far end of an outdoor beach bar, where a DJ played music under the stars at night. We shared food, drinks and stories with the crew of boats Ruby Soho had met along the way.

We returned to the boat once the bar shut down, where Ben and Dan provided a stringed concert, followed by a dance competition held by the ladies. Patricia narrowly won the dance competition and Jen stunned the on-looking crowd and dance participants alike with unbelievable choreographed moves remembered from her childhood training. 

The following day the captains decided to relocate Ruby much closer to the surf break, anchoring for protection in the lee of tiny and beautiful Namuto Island. This small patch of land houses an exclusive surf resort where tourists pay to stay and be provided with boat service over to the nearby surf breaks on request. Not a bad destination!

While most of the crew snorkelled on the protected side of the island, Alex, Ben and Patricia headed off in the dinghy to go catch some waves. The current was much easier to deal with on this trip, but the waves were a bit more inconsistent with greatly varying size and power. Given patience though, everyone was catching some fun rides. Our team encountered a bit of a scary moment when Patricia opted to try to ride out a particularly big wave. Ben paddled over the same wave and witnessed the beginning of the unpleasant experience. Patricia got tossed from her perch with the heavy wall of water crashing overhead, causing her leash to break free of her board and stranding her on her own in the surf crashing over the reefs.  Very scary!

Luckily another surfer had just finished a ride and was alert to the situation. Paddling in he offered Patricia his board and signalled to the surf boat for a pickup. With the last of her reserves, Patricia paddled over to the boat and was hauled in by a friendly local man named Abo and transferred to the dinghy with Alex waiting aboard. The two zoomed off to chase after the runaway board while Ben was able to confirm with a series of waves that everyone was ok. Thanking her rescuer profusely moments later while the two waited for another set, Ben observed “That was a pretty big wave, eh?!”. Our surf hero calmly replied: “I’ll give her one thing, she’s got some pretty big balls.”

The dinghy returned with only Alex aboard as Patricia had been dropped off for a well deserved rest. Ben caught one last amazing wave, a very memorable one, and looked back longingly at the crystal blue water as the two surfer compadres powered back to join the rest of the crew onboard Ruby. This artistically blurry photo was captured from Alex's video of Ben's final Fiji ride.

On arrival, Chefball once again delighted with a surprise platter of gourmet nachos – Ben’s favourite!

Noriko had to leave the boat after having spent the past two weeks exploring the beautiful group of islands known as Fiji and so we made our way back to Port Denarau. We set out to have one last dinner together and ended up finding a great hole-in-the-wall curry restaurant back in the city of Nadi. Fiji is known for its great curry and this place did not disappoint. It was authentic right down to the amount of sweating we did sitting in the stifling restaurant while the family owners ran between the kitchen and dining area with bowls of all manner of curry and fresh rotis. Delicious!

The next day involved chores and official duties as we were preparing to make a long voyage to the islands known collectively as the country of Vanuatu. We arrived early morning in the port of Lautoka where the customs office was located and Alex, Shannon, Ben and Patricia took advantage to get in a run before their time at sea would begin. 

Our experience in Fiji was a dream. A big “Bula” (Hello) and “Vinaka” (Thank you) to the wonderful people we met there. We hope one day we’ll return!