Subj: A banner day
Date: 10/19/2002 3:01:56 PM US Mountain Standard Time

We found Chuck and Sara in Noumea, New Caledonia, shortly after we checked in. Since high winds delayed our trip from Vanuatu, we were unable to meet their plane. They had 3 days to tour Noumea before we arrived. After shopping in a first rate grocery store and open air market for veggies and stuff we headed out. Our first stop was the Baie de Prony on the South end of the main island. The red earth shined through where mining operations had stripped local vegetation years earlier. We decided to move to Isle of Pines, a small island to the south about 45 miles.
This cruising season we have had notoriously poor luck fishing. Fortunately, we have sailed with other boats who have been kind enough to donate some to us. Even Vanuatu skunked us, however. So without optimism I trailed a line. Just after a big sport fishing boat passed our stern, a fish struck and made our reel sing! We successfully landed a 5'1" Wahoo that took two hours to clean. (Yes, for you skeptics there will be pictures on the next log on our web site.) It produced about 30 pounds of fish, some of which we traded to another boat in the anchorage for fresh bread.
Sunset found us anchored off a white sand beach in crystal clear water. As we looked west, Chuck said that he had never seen the green flash as the sun passes below the horizon. Fifteen minutes later we all saw the green flash and it was entirely unaided by rum!
For the last few days we have had sunny weather and reasonable winds. That is forecast to change, but for now we will enjoy it.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
Chuck Dayton and Sara Evans
S/V High Drama
Isle des Pins
New Caledonia
22 39.5 S
167 26.3 E

Subj: High Drama in Noumea, New Caledonia
Date: 10/15/2002 8:14:59 PM US Mountain Standard Time

This is the year of robust passages. We averaged 160 miles a day for three days, to weather, or into the wind, which isn't bad because were double reefed and on the cutter sail the entire trip. The winds were often blustery, at times up to 30, but mostly in the 20s. On the third day, the sun came out and the wind dropped to a delightful 18-22 knots, and we raised our Genoa. Our boat performed quite well to weather.
We stayed ahead of our sailing companions who sail a Swan 43, a much faster design boat that is also lighter; but we have a longer waterline and that makes the biggest difference. On this passage we sailed more actively, pushing the boat more, even at night. There is a saying that "Gentlemen never sail to weather" which means that smart cruisers always pick routes with the wind behind them because the ride is easier. Fred complimented us saying, "Jeff, you and Ann sure are no gentlemen!" He was surprised at the boat's performance as well as ours. Fred never races, unless there is another boat on the horizon.
Noumea, New Caledonia boasts a modern marina. The customs, immigration, and quarantine officers stop by the boat within a few minutes of a boat's arrival. The entire operation is quite pleasant and quite efficient.
New Caledonia is a French Territory. It produces and exports large amounts of nickel, cobalt, and other minerals. Noumea exhibits all of the trappings of a large modern French city: shopping, restaurants, some tall commercial buildings, resorts, and bakeries that produce delectable pastries. Noumea and it's richness present a sharp contrast from the subsistence economy of Vanuatu.
Chuck Dayton and Sara Evans met us at the dock. They will be exploring New Cal's islands with us for the next few weeks.
Hope all is well with you all. We are safe and sound.
Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
Noumea, New Caledonia

Subj: High Drama at Sea
Date: 10/13/2002 3:01:03 PM US Mountain Standard Time

Comment ca va? (We are now practicing French for New Caledonia.)
We sailed out of Luganville Harbor Saturday morning headed for Noumea, New Caledonia, directly south of us about 410 miles. The wind met and at times exceeded the 20 knot prediction. It is mostly out of the southeast which means that we are sailing to weather, or put another way, we are sailing almost into the wind at about a 50 degree angle. The seas are not as rough as we expected, but about every 5 minutes the bow crashed into a wave and it splashed over the top of the dodger. Once in awhile they hit us. High Drama is so caked with salt; she looks like she came out of a light snow storm.
Yesterday, for the first time in a couple of weeks the sun came out. One's tolerance for high winds and seas goes up dramatically if it is sunny. We think the nice weather will last at least the next few days.
Chuck Dayton and his wife Sara are joining us for a couple of weeks in New Caledonia. I knew Chuck many years ago at Gray Plant Law firm. Although Sara will return to the US in about 10 days, Chuck will sail on with us to Australia. Having crew will be a welcome relief going to Oz. It means that we will get more sleep!
We will sail through the Loyalty Islands, which belong to New Caledonia, this evening. French officials will not let yachts stop there on the way, which is a shame, because we could use the rest and probably won't come back to these beautiful beaches. We should arrive in Noumea on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
19 57 S
166 52 E
The Coral Sea

Subj: Ready to Boogie to Noumea, New Caledonia
Date: 10/7/2002 2:46:24 AM US Mountain Standard Time

Vanuatu has been one of our most fun destinations. We did an around the island tour and saw where Michener allegedly wrote Tales of the South Pacific, (I mean he was a lieutenant in the Navy, how did he get private quarters on the beach?) and nearby there was a shack that we were told was Bloody Mary's Brothel. We drove over most of the old airfields and swam in a Blue Hole. The latter is a freshwater pond inland where the sea forces saltwater up through the limestone into a pool. The limestone bottom gives the water a bright blue color and strips the salt from it. After snorkeling in salt water near Michener's, this dip was a very cool treat.
Unfortunately, after reading Michener's Return to Paradise and also the Lady and the President, by Peter Stone, the story of the wreck of the President Coolidge liner/troopship in 1942, we knew more about what went on here during the war than the tour guide. But it was fun anyway, and we helped the tourism economy.
We have met some more wonderful people. Another Kiwi cruising couple, Ivory Quays (their family had concert pianists in it), a Japanese couple, a German guy, and last night at dinner ashore, an Israeli family. Many people now suggest that American yachties should keep a low profile traveling west, especially past Indonesia, and also consider flying no flag, or a non-American flag. We are just not willing to cross that bridge yet.
We are currently still in Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. We have formally "checked out" of the country, but the weather is pretty uncertain. A weak tropical depression is hanging around north of us, and a big high pressure area is south of us. The low is forecast to fizzle out, but the winds are not supposed to settle below 25 knots until Thursday night or Friday. The seas generate by the reinforced trade winds will not settle until several days after the wind settles down.
When the weather does settle down, we will head for Noumea, New Caledonia, about 450 miles away.
Tata! Lukim yu afta!

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama

Subj: Memories of Luganville on Santo Island, New Hebrides
Date: 10/1/2002 3:31:28 AM US Mountain Standard Time

A dozen yachts from half a dozen countries sail in and out of the harbor each week. Freighters stop here twice a week with a few supplies. Vanuatu Air runs two flights per week. Luganville Harbor in Espiritu Santo, is much quieter now. But between 1942-1945 this harbor was the largest US installation in the south west Pacific.
In early 1942 as the Japanese moved south, taking Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, the Gilberts, and then the Solomon's. The Japanese appeared headed for Australia and New Zealand. After the Battle of the Coral Sea, the their string of victories stopped. The United Sates established bases, first in New Caledonia, and then more northern islands, the New Hebrides. The Luganville Harbor where we are anchored now and the surrounding area housed up to 100 ships, 650 aircraft, three bomber landing fields, two fighter airfields, three dry docks, four hospitals, 43 movie houses, and up to 47,000 military personnel. More than 500,000 military personnel moved through here, mostly Americans, but also New Zealanders and Australians. Many moved from New Caledonia to the forward bases of Luganville and Vila in the New Hebrides. These bases provided the stepping stone to the bloody battle at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the first US landing on Japanese held territory in WWll.
Now, the SS President Coolidge, a luxury liner converted to a troop ship that sunk after hitting friendly mines is a world class dive site for scuba aficionados. So is Million Dollar Point, where after the war the army drove several million dollars worth of jeeps, tanks, troop carriers, bulldozers. etc., into the sea, rather than sell them or ship them home. A B-17 wreck lies in 80 feet of water 100 meters off our stern. Abandoned ammunition bunkers are heavily overgrown with tropical plants.
Today I rode in a small boat across the harbor with a mix of other yachties: two Germans, two Japanese, and three other Americans, all in their 50s to 60s. All conversed in understandable English about sailing. How was your weather on your last passage? What sails did you use? And of course, what equipment needs repair? They spoke about where they are going next now that cyclone season is drawing closer. The group shared a strong bond as sailors. I don't think anyone gave much thought to the irony of the diverse of directions from which we had all come to get here. Ah, the capacity of the human spirit.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
Luganville, Espiritu Santo
Republic of Vanuatu

Subj: Banen Bay, Malakula Island
Date: 9/26/2002 2:04:32 AM US Mountain Standard Time

     We sailed up from Epi Island to Banen Bay, Malakula Island. While at Epi we had a feast ashore that was quite good. No dancing but we met quite a few new cruisers and some land travelers. We gave school supplies to one of the only high schools in the country. Per their custom, they reciprocated by giving us Chinese cabbage tomatoes and pumpkin from their garden. It costs 30,000 vatu, or about $230 US to go to school for a year, and that doesn't include board. I don't know where the families get that much cash here. The principal was a sheer delight, calmly dedicated to making small gains. There are two Peace Corps volunteers who help around the school and got their garden producing a surplus that would enable a small profit.

     Yesterday we attended a traditional dance by the men of the small namba tribe, followed by the women and children. It was all quite elaborate, and interesting. About 30 men and 30 women danced, and a whole bunch of little kids. After the dance, which we supported by a 3,000 vatu per couple contribution, we were invited to a wedding the next day in a village "a half hour walk away."
Islanders don't have much sense of time or distance. But, we attended a Presbyterian wedding celebrated with many hymns and much joy. The service and hymns were in Bislama (Pidgin English) the national language of Vanuatu. I wished that I had practiced more. Outside, where we would have thrown rice, two women doused the groom with talcum powder and sprinkled some on all attendees. It was "just for fun" they explained. The children followed us walking out of the village and broke into charming songs as we walked. My feet did not complain nearly so much with the singing.

     Ann recognized a song a child was singing from the opera Hansel & Gretel by E. Humperdink. When she started singing along, and taught the girl some of the words, and a dance step, an adult asked about the history of the song. Ann explained that it was from a German opera based on Grimm fairy tale. She explained the story that the children were lost in the woods and the witch captured them and put them into the oven to turn them into gingerbread. She felt odd explaining the tale to a group of people whose relatives practiced cannibalism just a generation ago!
We traveled with Fred & Renee from Aldebaran and a couple of Scots, Misty and Peter from Tamoure. Got back in time for a swim.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama

Subj: Port Vila
Date: 9/14/2002 12:45:58 PM US Mountain Standard Time

Last Saturday we motored in calm waters from Port Resolution to Dillon's Bay on the island of Erromango. Dillon's Bay was named by the guy who first learned that there was sandalwood in large quantities on Erromango. They raped the land for the next 20 years, and now very little sandalwood remains. We bought some fish and the fellow gave us a small piece of the aromatic wood. It smelled better than the Wahoo.
Sunday night we motored on calm seas (we deserved some calm weather!) to Port Vila. En route I listened to Doris Kearns Goodwin's "No Ordinary Times", a historical view of the relation ship between Franklin Roosevelt and his wife and family during the days of WWll. It was quite interesting.
At about dawn we pulled into a delightful harbor in the small town (20,000 people) of Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. We picked up a mooring can and took our laundry and garbage ashore. The town is a delight. Australian cruise ships pull in once every couple of weeks and the duty free liquor stores go ballistic. Then the Aussies retreat and life shifts back to the slow lane. We have done a tour of the island in the rain, met two local artists, and reunited with cruisers we have met in other anchorages and other countries. A big slug of boats-50- will be coming in a race from Fiji to Port Vila. They are now postponing the race because of bad weather. We almost entered the race but decided instead to come early. A good decision in hind sight.
After two weeks of sunny weather with gentle trade winds 10-15 knots we are back in the rain for a few days. In a few hours we are hosting Peace and Aloha and Aldebaran for Bloodies and Beethoven. Should be interesting.
Hope that all is well with each of you.
Love,
Annie & Jeff
S/V High Drama
Port Vila, Efate
Republic blong Vanuatu

Subj: High Drama on Tanna Island, Vanuatu
Date: 9/8/2002 3:59:44 AM US Mountain Standard Time

     On our first day the Port Resolution Yacht Club prepared a feast of local foods from a roast suckling pig, chicken, taro, yams, fresh papaya juice, bananas, and a local specialty called "lop lop" which is some kind of root pulp wrapped in banana leaves and pit roasted then served with a coconut milk sauce. We have not tried the local kava because we learned that it is extremely potent and besides, we didn't like the idea of having the village boys prepare it by chewing it and spitting it into a bowl for us. Our hosts seemed to understand.
     The Yacht Club facility is a structure that is four corner posts and a corrugated steel roof. Other than the cash the village raises from tourism, they survive on a subsistence level, almost as they did when Captain Cook sailed into this bay 224 years ago this month.
     After the feast, villagers came and sat in the floor and sang songs for an hour. During a pause, we asked about the meaning of the songs. We learned that the entire village worshipped John Frum. This religion is a local and personal one. John Frum came to Tanna in 1942 and told the people that he would return and when he did, all of their material and spiritual wants would be met by his cargo, "like magic" one fellow said. Until he returns, Frum left some guidelines for leading a good life that the villagers explained were very much like Christian principles. Just where John is now draws different answers from different people. Some people believe that he is in America, while others believe that he has an army of 5,000 men and he lives beneath Mount Yasur, the nearby active volcano.
     We traveled for 2 hours in the back of a pickem up truck to Lenakel, the major village on the island. We stopped at the bank and bought some vatu, the coin of the realm. We visited a local market and met Suzy, a Peace Corps volunteer from Houston. I bought a deep fried bread stick from a delightful elderly lady at the market. The stick has not let me forget it, even after three days.
     On the way home we visited a "custom" village. These are villagers who have seen the onset on "civilization" and rejected it in favor of their customary ways. While at first I thought that they were rejecting only the Presbyterians, which I find quite understandable, I came to learn that they feel they must reject all of modern society to preserve their own heritage. The men and boys danced for us, wearing their traditional nambas, a grass penis wrap with a loop around the waist. It looked uncomfortable but its size and direction tended to flatter the male ego.
     The trip to the rim of Mount Yasur at dusk was the Grande finale. We piled into a 4WD and assaulted the jungle trail to the top of the cone. It resembled a moonscape: grey sand with lava boulders strewn around. We climbed the grey sand slope up the about 400 yards up to the rim of the cone and looked down. Three enormous vents pushed out ominous plums of steam. About every 5 minutes one vent would rumble and belch up black smoke and blow fiery red lava boulders into the sky. Every 30 minutes or so, the other vent would spew forth white smoke or steam, but much higher. As the sun set, the show grew more spectacular. Thinking that the odds are getting hit by a lava projectile exceeded those of getting struck by lightning or getting hit by a coconut, we decided to not mess with Mother Nature any further and took our leave back down the mountain.

The adventure continues!

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
Port Resolution
Tanna Island
Republic of Vanuatu

More supplemental logs: Tonga-New Zealand-Fiji, Raratonga-Nuie-New Zealand, Tahiti, Marquesas