The Maskelyne Islands, South Malekula

After about a week, Kim and I were feeling a little better and decided to press north to Malekula Island. The Maskelynes are a group of low lying islands with extensive reefs and mangroves off the southeast tip of Malekula. We had a calm trip and decided to stop in the most protected anchorage behind small Awai atoll. There were two familiar boats there; Worral Wind and Skylight. We visited with them and Skylight had much info to share since they have been cruising Malekula for several weeks. If fact, Brian was repairing his 20th small generator. The locals use these for lighting and changing cell phones and word got out that Brian was handy with a wrench. This particular local had paddled 3 hours to bring the broken generator to Brian. After about 2 hours on the beach, he had it humming again.

 

Awai- This small atoll had one extended family living on it and the local guided us around the island to show us his lovely home on the other (windward) side from our anchorage. He had several buildings for living, cooking, drinking Kava and even a small church with several ancestors buried just outside. Everything was neat and he had obvious pride as he showed us around. Emily made some origami animals for one young girl.

 

 

The local had recovered a transponder buoy that had broken free from a longline fishing rig. Longline fishing is a commercial fishing technique. It uses a long line, called the main line, with baited hooks attached at intervals by means of branch lines called "snoods". A snood is a short length of line, attached to the main line using a clip or swivel, with the hook at the other end. These lines can be miles long and left to drift. Hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks can hang from a single line. At each end of the longline, they place the transponder buoy. When they want to locate and retrieve the longline, they get the exact location from the GPS and when they get within 1000 feet, they remotely turn on the LED lights so that they can find the buoy and pick it up. They cost several thousands of dollars and this was a lucky find!

 

This one contained a battery, solar panel, LED lights, regulator as well as the transponder and GPS. We all discussed if we could re-wire some of the parts to give him his first solar light. We disassembled the buoy and found that the battery was still working. We hauled the buoy back to our boats to tackle the project. I donated some tinned wire and a toggle switch to the project which was completed by Brian. In the end, we had the LED light mounted inside a half coconut shell with my on-off toggle switch mounted to the half coconut. This all hung from the house roof by my wire which led outside to the solar panel and battery still inside the waterproof buoy. During the day, the solar panel charged the battery and at night he could turn on the light whenever needed. It was hard to tell if the local family or the clever cruisers were more proud at the completed project!

 

Avok Island and Children's Day- Each day we were greeted by locals in their dugout canoes wanting to say hello and to trade or sell fruits and vegetables from their gardens. Two young girls came one day from Avok island selling mangrove oysters. We were a little hesitant until we saw them and they looked big and fresh. We bought two dozen for about $5 US and they were indeed delicious. We also made arrangements to visit their village on Children's Day which is a Vanuatu Holiday.

 

 

The three cruising boats emptied our lockers of give-away items and we headed in with our dingy flotilla for a day of fun. We were met by the entire village and welcomed by the elders. Emily and Kim blew soap bubbles for the kids and Emily had more than 20 kids gathered around while she had them making some origami. Watching the concentration on the faces of the children (and a few adults) was neat.

 

 

After the origami lesson, Worral Wind organized a bingo game. Since the players needed to know numbers up to about 80, it was a little bit of a challenge. With the cruisers and some adults helping, the game was soon underway. We agreed to pool our goodies and make them prizes for the winners. We kept playing the game after the first winner had chosen his prize and soon the winners were lined up exchanging their winning bingo cards for a prize. Almost everyone playing ended up with a prize.

 

The Emily Grace plastic whistles were popular with the kids while the older ones were eager for small mirrors and costume jewellery.

At the very end, Tom blew up balloons as fast as we could inflate, tie and set them free above the uplifted sea of hands. It was a great day and the entire village seemed to really appreciate our visit.

 

Tom