Our last day in Port Villa

16/08/2017                                                                                                                                               

Port Vila

Today marked our last day alongside in Port Villa and as such it meant a busy day for all onboard. The day started off early for our skipper Jon, with a morning of meetings to finalise arrangements with the local health workers. For the rest of us the day was all about storing the ship and getting ready to sail, with Mark and Deb taking on the most important responsibility of sorting out the ships food supplies. After a trip to the “Bon Marche” (the local supermarket) for the dry stores and the local markets for the fresh fruit and veggies the boats food stores were full, a welcome sight for all onboard.

Ray and Grant spent the morning onboard awaiting the arrival of medical stores and tidying up the deck in preparation for the sail. We all took time out from our busy list of jobs to have a crew lunch at one of the local burger joints, all of us walking away well satisfied and ready for our crew brief with the PCV medical team. After a long walk, up the hill we had a chance to meet some of the medical crew we would be working with, along with some of the behind the scene crew that are helping to make the mission possible. We left the brief with a better understanding of the finer details of the mission, and a reinvigorated passion for the weeks ahead. We wasted little time after the meeting all heading back to the ship to load the final medical supplies, and tidy and secure all of the deck cargo in preparation of tomorrows sail.

We finished the day with a low-key crew dinner onboard, all of us satisfied that the boat and crew were ready for the voyage ahead. Bring on tomorrow….

Ta ta

Grant