Port Vila was alright as far as urban centers in the South Pacific go. The weather was calm, and the holding was excellent. The water was jade and cellophane clear. Plenty of cruising boats came and went; a dinner cruise ship with a wild upside down sail cruised by at sunset; helicopter tours launched in the afternoons.
Read MoreA few more photos from our adventures around Tanna: above, the sandstone (ash-stone?) cliffs that herald the entrance to Port Resolution; below, the Dr. Seuss worthy trees that lined Shark's Bay on the southern coast of the island.
Read MoreAnd in the shadow of the volcano grow colossal banyan trees. We only saw those in and around Port Resolution, but they were magnificent and they were everywhere—shading the roads, sliding off cliffs, lining fields of volcanic ash. There is one banyan on Tanna reported to be the size of a soccer field, another the foundation of a guest house...an exciting place to sleep after a trip to the volcano!
Read MoreStanding at the rim of an active volcano is terrifying. Earth seems completely alive, vindictive and grumbling and explosive, like at any moment a dragon or a slew of enraged gods would appear and throw any onlooker into their hellish bowl of gurgling, molten tomato soup.
Read MoreWe left Aneityum six days ago, cruising 50 miles northwest for Tanna with one thing on our minds: volcanoes. Tanna is home to Mt. Yasur, famed as one of the most easily accessible active volcanoes on Earth.
Read MoreWe couldn't to find a guide to take us to Aneityum’s waterfall, but our friend Kenneth was willing to point us to the trail and send us off to explore on our own. The first part of the trail was a road that extended through a sparse field of pine trees still smoking from the fire that burned the night before.
Read MoreWe spent six glorious days exploring Aneityum. Pronounced a-nee-shum, it is the southern most of Vanuatu’s 81 islands that are sprinkled on a roughly northwest-southeast axis in the Pacific waters west of Fiji and northeast of New Caledonia. Aneityum was larger than we were expecting, a mountainous island home to a village of 2,000 ni-Vans (the Melanesian locals who make up 98% of Vanuatu’s population) and fringed with golden beaches.
Read MoreIt was hot and calm in the early afternoon on Sunday. We were 120 miles off the coast of Vanuatu and counting down the hours until we’d be at anchor. Dominic tossed a large pink squid lure into our wake with the hopes of fresh food and a little amusement. I was down below, catching up via email with some good friends we haven’t seen in years (how the list of friends we haven’t seen in years grows longer!) when I heard the happy, frantic clicking of a fish stripping off line from the reel.
Read MoreIn August, our friend Jeff crossed the Pacific from Hong Kong to San Francisco as passenger on a container ship—not to cruise the islands, not to swim with the fishies, just crossing an ocean for the sheer experience of being at sea, surrounded by water and wind. I tried to harness that sense of awe and wonder as we left Fiji last Friday for a 450 nautical mile passage to Vanuatu.
Read MoreWe've spent the last few days enjoying Musket Cove. It's our third time in Malalolailai's largest anchorage, and it feels like home. We are gearing up for our upcoming passage to Vanuatu, so we've spent the mornings inspecting and deep cleaning Helios, the afternoons enjoying long lunches at the cafe and hiking around the island, the evenings breaking bread and hanging out with friends at the beach bar.
Read MoreIt's not all sea fans and adorable baby reef fish out here; often the critters below the surface seem like some of the more diabolical species on Earth. Above, a crown of thorns star fish raises two of its spiked legs to launch an attach on a defenseless piece of coral.
Read MoreOur number one activity in Kadavu has been diving various sections of the Astrolabe Reef. We have visited a few famous hotspots (the Alacrity Rocks, the Naigoro Pass), but most frequently find ourselves jumping in and exploring whatever coral we find near Helios.
Read MoreWe’ve spent the last few days cruising along the northern coast of Kadavu. We’ve been diving the reefs, paddle boarding with dolphin, dodging squalls, swimming with turtles and sharks, and relaxing in the cockpit while the sun paints evening colors in the sky. We’re still eating that wahoo we caught, going on six days of lunch and dinner (and the occasional breakfast) for three. Just another week in paradise!
Read MoreSimilar to the manta pass we found in the Yasawas, Ono has a high current pass filled with microscopic manta food. We dove the pass twice, both times in blustery conditions, but were rewarded with lots of time swimming with our favorite oversized fishy friends.
Read MoreWe left Falaga on August 12 in route to Suva, the most populous city in Fiji and the South Pacific. We really, really didn’t want to leave Falaga, but the ice box and the wine cellar were empty. So when the winds turned a favorable direction, we dove the pass one last time and weighed anchor. The winds were blowing a steady 15 knots from the southeast, making our 200 mile passage to Suva the first downwind sailing we’ve seen since leaving New Zealand in May.
Read MoreAs we hang out on Helios on another rainy day, I thought I'd share a few photos we took while exploring Falaga's lagoon.
Read MoreMoana-i-Cake is the main village on Fulaga, and its inhabitants quickly adopted us as one of their own. After presenting our sevusevu to the 93 year old chief, we were assigned Tai as a host.
Read MoreThe clouds lifted enough by Wednesday evening for us to enjoy some final adventures in Falaga. We went for a dive on the reef outside the pass Thursday morning, spotting two-foot spade fish, an eight-foot grey reef shark, a tornado of four-foot barracuda, and a school of snapper 100 deep. It was magnificent, even if we were racing against squalls looming on the horizon.
Read MoreWe’re going on eleven days in Falaga, and the adventures keep coming, rain or shine. After our initial few days in the village, we moved Helios to an anchorage on the eastern end of the lagoon to be near the pass. From there, we could monitor conditions to go diving. Given the geography of the lagoon, the ebbing current can flow as high as four knots, yielding standing waves and dangerous conditions. Timing our dive with the current was critical.
Read MoreLast Thursday, we sailed south from Munia to Fulaga, a remote island in the southeastern corner of Fiji. It was one of my favorite sails yet: 16 knots of wind on our beam, the Milky Way hanging low and swollen in the sky, so many shooting stars they were practically falling on the deck until the moon rose blindingly bright around 0300. The seas were mild, and the movement of the boat felt like the gentle rocking of a cradle as we navigated between dozens of islands and reefs that compose the Lau group of Fiji.
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