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24 hrs

Things on board are going well, with everyone settled into their rhythm of watches and daytime naps.

I never thought in my life I would ever say I am looking forward to going to the supermarket, but after the outrageous prices in French Polynesia and the scarcity in Tonga of anything more exotic than Spam, I am really looking forward to the supermarket in Port Vila!

The breeze has been up and down, giving us periods of motoring and steady sailing. A big plus is that we have been seeing patches of blue sky and even some stars at night, though it’s still far from tropical. At this point, blue sky is becoming an event worth mentioning.

Charles Dickens had a similar writing spot

We are on track to arrive first thing Friday morning and, in fact, will have to slow down a little to make sure we don’t arrive at 3am. The area to anchor in Port Vila while you wait for clearance is squashed in between a few reefs and I would much prefer to arrive in daylight.

The long-term weather forecast is looking about as good as it can get for heading across the Coral Sea, so I’m keen to keep things moving. I’m aiming to be in Mackay for the 26th, and hopefully the 25th, which at this stage partly hangs on the authorities in Port Vila allowing us to make a speedy departure.

I’m going to follow up with CIQP in Vanuatu this morning to prepare them for our clearance and departure. We have a few things to do — go shopping (yay!), get fuel and water, and I am really hoping I can pull a few strings so we can get on the dock in town, otherwise it’s going to be extremely tricky. It would also be nice to get dinner ashore.


There are also several bureaucratic tasks we have to complete, and it’s incredibly frustrating. To get outward clearance, you first have to go and pay the port fees, which are charged by the ton.

It’s completely nonsensical for a yacht. We have to take a $20 taxi to town, fill out forms in the office, wait while it all gets entered into a ledger, get the invoice, go to the next window and wait again while the person you were previously dealing with walks over to the window you are now at, and then pay $1.32, wait for the change, get another $20 taxi back to Customs and present the receipt.

So, approximately $40 in taxis, several forms, two offices, a ledger and a considerable amount of waiting — all to pay $1.32.

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