This blog begins the voyage home for Chimere after more than 4 months of [hyper]active service throughout the lovely islands of Vanuatu.
The last 3 days have been a conglomerate of meeting new blokes, travelling together, arriving in Port Vila and being greeted by Rob Lat and Martin Burgess, before finally meeting Chimere herself at Yachting World, Port Vila. Our activities since arriving have included unpacking and repacking pretty much everything (food, supplies, tools, equipment, dinghys) and provisioning for the return voyage including fresh food, water, fuel. Chimere has been thoroughly checked from bow to stern, masthead to keel, engine serviced, halyards run, steering adjusted, dinghy repaired and cleaned out. Out course and best timing for sailing have been negotiated, explained and plotted, along with weather apps consulted to prepare us for what lies ahead.

Of great significance in our journey has been meeting and getting to know our crew, who are:
– Skipper: Cameron Heathwood, seasoned pilot, ocean racer and cruiser who would rather be on a boat somewhere (oh, he is!).
– First Mate: Rob Lott, crusty sailor, constant friendly evangelist and teacher of us all in almost everything.
– Second Mate: Ray Clark, chief fixer of complicated stuff, adviser, boat owner and….Dad really.
– Bosun: Jonno de Puit, ships builder, cyclist and Laser sailor, about to learn heaps.
– Chief Cook and Baker: Gwilym Seibel, passionate food purveyor and connoisseur, always up for a laugh.
Some highlights from the last few days include:
– Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu – letter of support received for exemption from port dues – currently being negotiated.
– Rob Latimer having a 20 minute private audience with the Vanuatu President – Pastor Moses.

– Experiencing the drop in centre that Chimere is and meeting many interesting and interested folk.
– Sending Cam up the mast for some cool photos (and some odd jobs),

`
– Going to the friendliest fresh fruit and veggie markets for supplies and a great feed.
– Seeing brown faced smiles wherever we go and meeting yachties from the world over.

Planning to be up early tomorrow and away heading west across the top of New Caledonia through the Grand Passage.

Catch you tomorrow.

This entry is filed under 2017 Return Voyage, 2017 Ships Log. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.