Marina Port Vila on Efate island

After covering 80 nautical miles, we arrived in the morning and contacted Port Vila marina via VHF. It took some time before we received a response. The marina has a depth threshold of 2.5 meters at low tide, and Yaghan’s draft is exactly 2.5 meters, so we had to wait for high tide to enter. Since the dock was still under construction, we had to use a mooring while waiting. On December 17th, 2024, Port Vila, the Capital Town of Vanuatu, situated on Efate Island  was struck by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, causing buildings to collapse and roads to be destroyed. At least 14 people lost their lives, and over 250 were injured. Rocelyn, the marina manager overseeing the yacht club, recounted how she fell and injured herself on the dock during the 9-second earthquake that shook the town.

Not far from the marina is the café called Coco-Co. Several women were bustling around in the cool air-conditioned room, which was so beautifully decorated it could have been a posh café on the Australian Gold Coast. The delicious breakfast featured fresh avocado, freshly pressed juice, and tasty omelets. The café had only opened a month ago but was already a busy place. Many of the buildings in central Port Vila had collapsed during the earthquake, so we were glad to see some new beginnings. Port Vila is famous for its “Mamas Market” where Women from the different island sells their delicat handicraft. That market was closed after the earthquake and only a few have come back, now sewing and selling their amazingly colorful dresses in small shops along the street. Judged by how the people dress in Vanuatu, they could win the title “happiest people”.

We moved from the buoy to the marina, proceeding slowly over the shallow water. Near the marina, there is a 19-meter-high electricity cable, while our mast is 26 meters high, so there was no chance of passing under it. Yaghan was able to dock at a four-meter-wide section of the dock, as the rest had sloped into the sea during the earthquake last December. The marina staff were busy rebuilding the concrete dock.

A Sea of colors on the Market

Saturday is market day, so we walked to the large market buildings near the shore. However, there were no sellers, only a giant roof and an empty space. Later, we learned that the roof had become unstable after the earthquake. We asked a man where to find the market, and he kindly led us to the other side of the main street. He stopped a local taxi, told the driver our destination, and soon we were heading up the hills, enjoying a beautiful view along the way. The streets were busy, crowded with traffic and full of potholes. Bislama, one of the official languagues is sometimes easy to understand when you read it out laud.

The other passengers were curious about where we came from and asked how we liked Vanuatu so far. Once again, we felt very welcomed. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at the market, where most products were beautifully arranged on handwoven mats on the ground. We saw fresh peanuts, papaya, cocoa beans, several varieties of clementines and oranges, and many fruits we had never seen before. A sparkling sea of colors with various tropical flowers was the highlight of the market.

South of Port Vila lies the world’s only underwater post office, nestled near the reef of Hideaway Island. Upon arriving, we purchased waterproof postcards and then dove two meters beneath the surface to drop them into the submerged mailbox. Now, we wait to see if they will ever reach their destination! The water was slightly murky, and the corals partly damaged in storms and earthquakes, but we could find some cute nemo fish swirling around the swaying anemones.

RIP Juliette Pita

Before we sailed to Vanuatu, we got our hands on the german book “Vanuatu – Kleines Land im Großen Meer” by Katja Dorothe Buck. She tells the stories of the Ni-Vanuatu (the people of Vanuatu) she meets on the Island of Efate 2019 shortly before Covid closes the boarders all over the world. Weread about a local painter and artist in Port Vila who had become recognized internationally. Her name is or was Juliette Pita. We found out that she had most sadly died only a month earlier. However, we heard that some of her paintings could still be seen at a gallery half an hour away from the center of Port Vila.

At the Fondation Bastien gallery we met Juliette’s lovely daughter Amalia Pita, also a painter. We spent a couple of hours and learned much more of the family story, the painting techniques and the symbolism of the motives. The family come from Erromango, the island we visited before and where we met David who was running the “Yacht Club”. Amalia told us that David is her uncle.

Nilla and Amalia connected big ways and got a picture of a boat symbolizing our lifes journey. Since ancient times, the turtle has represented the feminine, while the fish symbolizes the masculine. Though parting is part of a sailors life, its sometimes more difficult, but the connection luckily remains in the heart.

Havanna Bay

Loaded with Tanna coffee and chocolate from Efate Island, we left the marina and sailed to the north side of the island to Havannah Bay. Shortly after we dropped anchor at Moso Landing beside the only other boat in the bay, we received a visitor. Lawrence docked his long wooden boat alongside Yaghan and offered us some fruit as a gift. When we asked what he wanted in return, he just smiled and said, “nothing.” As dark clouds and rain slowly rolled in, we stayed inside and spent a few days doing boat maintenance.

When the sunshine returned, we snorkeled in the shallow coral garden on the east side of the Bay.

Havannah Bay served as a US Navy base from where the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought during WWII. As Europeans, we learned a lot about the Second World War in school, but it truly broadens the perspective to see the impact the war had on small islands on the other side of the world. The presence of Australian and American soldiers in Vanuatu marked the beginning of a new era of meat production on the various islands. We had read about the small WWII Museum in Havannah Bay and took our dinghy ashore to see if it still existed. It was a Saturday, and as we approached the small museum, with the message “Rust in peace” on the walls, a young man eagerly came forward. He welcomed us proudly and showed us all the items his grandfather had collected from both land and sea.

We had hoped to see Dugongs in the Bay, but they hadn’t hope to see us, so the next day we sailed 66 nm north to Epi Island.