First day for Wilson and Danielle on SV Imagine. The first part of it was prepping for leaving the marina in Port Vila; getting supplies, learning safety procedures and getting a tour of our storage capacity. Our afternoon followed up nicely with reading and snacks. Andrew checked in with DHL once again to both good news and bad news. Of the two packages we are waiting on one has arrived, however customs can’t clear them until the third arrives. We’ve been told everything will be ready for pick up on the 14th. We shall see… For now we will go without as tomorrow we will be underway out of the marina into secluded territory for a few days to Snorkel and hang out. Wilson
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I went to DHL this morning for an update. As I walked in the door everyone ran for cover and was suddenly busy elsewhere. After about ten minutes an unsuspecting lady came out of the lunch room and with nowhere to go, she had to assist me. She pointed out one parcel has arrived at their office. Either a very small outboard or its the inverter and shower pump. I asked where is the other one. She told me it is still in Fiji and will be on the next available flight. This could be on the weekend or next week. I asked when will the package in front of me be delivered. Both parcels have to be cleared together so it will be two days after the outboard arrives from Fiji.
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I went to the markets this morning and picked up a few things. The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Just did a few odd jobs while waiting for the new crew to arrive. Like everything their plane has been delayed. Danielle and Wilson didn’t get here till 8.30pm. It was almost 10pm by the time I had gone through the essential things on the boat and we headed off to bed.
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I went to DHL this morning and got updated. The shipment is on the plane arriving this afternoon (hopefully both parcels). It will reach DHL office tomorrow. Customs will clear it Wednesday and it will be delivered Thursday.
Thank you Sue, Darren and Rose for keeping chasing them.
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Early this morning while having a shower I saw another passenger liner pulled into the main warf. So began another stream of water taxis ferrying passengers into town.
The problem is, it’s Sunday. Almost everything is closed. Everyone is at church.
I rowed ashore this morning and found the supermarket was open, so I could get a loaf of bread.
By 1pm a few places opened for the terrorists. But by then I had seen boat loads head back to the P&O liner. By 3.30pm I could hear music eminating from the centre of town. Like yesterday’s liner, this one will leave before sunset. Arriving on a Sunday was bad timing by P&O.

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I woke this morning to find a cruise liner pulling into the main dock. All day there has been a steady stream of water taxis ferrying everyone too and from shore. I didn’t bother to go ashore today. Too meany tourists, and it was raining. I just caught up on a few jobs on Imagine.
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This morning the sky was grey (gray for our American friends). It was still raining with no wind. A fleet of French boats have arrived must be part of a cruising rally. All big expensive boats. So it may get crowded in the next few days. Emma was packed by 10am, ready to go catch her flight back to the land of OZ. We were going to fill up, but the tide is extra low and we can’t get into the fuel dock. This. Means the new crew arriving on Tuesday will have to maneuver Imagine into the fuel dock. I rowed Emma ashore and we said our farewells. The afternoon was just cleaning up ready for the next arrivals.
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This morning Emma went off to explore more of the town, while I went back to DHL. This time I was told the parcels are on hold. One in Nadi Fiji and one in Sydney. There is a flight from Sydney this afternoon but they couldn’t tell me if my parcel would be on it. So I sit around and wait. This afternoon we are just chilling. We have that annoying light rain. Just enough we can’t open the hatches.
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Emma went on a guided day tour on the island. First stop was the reef zoological conservation center where you get up close to baby turtles. The next pond was older turtles getting ready for release into the wild again. They also had coconut crabs, iguanas, fruit bats, a goat and a pig. From there we headed to the Blue Lagoon which is naturally formed water hole, inland, with crystal clear water for swimming. We then went to Eden resort which has a small waterfall cascade you can swim in, we also had our lunch here. Last stop was the Tanna Coffee Factory were we saw how the coffee was made and bought some to take home.
My day on the other Hand, started out good. I went to immigration and sorted out the paperwork for getting Danielle and Wilson (new crew) through customs and onboard Imagine. Then next door to customs to cancel the cruising permit with Emma on board and get a new one with new crew. That’s was relatively easy.
Next call in to DHL to find out where the outboard is. Their tracking app said it was in Port Vila, so I wanted to know of any hold up and when it would be delivered. A simple request.9
When the lady entered the tracking code into their system, her face changed. I heard her say to herself it’s gone back to Sydney. She quickly turned to me and said “it must be on the flight coming in this afternoon. I’ll email you this afternoon with the delivery time.” I’m still waiting for the email and the outboard.
Tomorrow morning I will take another walk across town and ask again where it is, as it was supposed to be delivered before yesterday.

 

We got back into Port Vila last night and this morning moved into the marina. This was so we could pick up the parcels easier (outboard and inverter). Emma took Imagine across the harbour and through the narrow gap at the western end of the harbour leading to the marina. Then she did her first mooring ball. I was on the bow guiding her she glided up to the mooring and stopped perfectly in place. The only problem was that mooring rope was so short I couldnt reach it. So we found another one with a longer rope attached. I also called up Yachting World Marina who sent Willy out to help us. Again Emma stopped right on the mooring, while Willy passed the mooring rope to me and we tied off.
After that it was a trip into town. Emma organised a tour for tomorrow, then we got some fruit from the market. The markets are quite bare as there aren’t a lot that have gardens not effected by the cyclones. Back on Imagine we had a lazy afternoon. The parcels still haven’t arrived. I will have to try and chase them up tomorrow.

 

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