Thursday 15 August 2013
lat 15 31.36S lon 167 09.92
This morning’s clinic would be our last and our jaded team had mixed feelings. They looked very tired after their trip to Leviamp from Unmet. Then the night was spent on the yacht which bounced around in the swell so there was no real rest. Breakfast gave everyone a lift and off they went to do the last clinic of this tour. Dave and I stayed on the yacht as the anchorage was not good enough to leave the boat unattended. Around mid morning I went ashore briefly to see how the clinic was going and was met on the beach by a group of children who were enjoying a public holiday. I asked them if they could show me their village and although language between us was limited they seemed delighted and off we trekked. We were lead by a year 6 girl and in common with most girls that age we have met she was very sensible and socially aware. The boys were ultra shy and turned to the older girl for direction. I realised later that that our guide had mapped out a figure of eight route so I could see all the sights. We went past a church which was undergoing a renovation, wove through clusters of huts, through the school, past the school principles hut, past the kava bar and back to the river where women were washing. From there we crossed the river to get to the clinic. When we got to the spot where the police markers were placed after the tragic car accident the children stopped and explained what happened which was related in yesterdays log. At the clinic Isabelle checked the children’s legs and found several with yaws.
Back on the yacht Dave had been running the water maker and when I returned we got ready to receive the team back on board.
The clinic finished at about 1:30pm and we had everyone back on board by 2:15pm. The wind had piped up and I was glad to be leaving the anchorage.
After an early scramble to get everything ship shape for the long trip to Luganville we all settled into a quiet order. The wind was brisk and the seas choppy but once we got the jib drawing and our course shaped around the north end of Malakula the motion steadied and we were making good time. I periodically checked on everyone and Helen said (on the third or fourth time of asking) “we cant get into our cabin”. She explained the door was locked shut. Dave said it has happened before and he opened it by climbing through the deck hatch. But this time the hatch was shut for the trip. So Dave had to use some ingenuity and managed to break into the girls’ cabin. Everyone had fun suggesting the heading for the log along the lines of “man breaks into girls’ cabin……girls delighted!!”
We continued to make good time and arrived at Luganvile at 9:15pm. Denis had already cooked dinner en route so after dropping anchor and all the focus of navigating to the Segond Channel was behind us, Denis was able to put a hot dinner on the table.
Smooth seas, fair breeze and rollicking sail to Luganville
Andrew Latimer
To read older Ships Log posts go to …
http://msm.org.au/category/
To see additional photos of Mission 2 go to …
http://msm.org.au/2013-