Monday 11 October 2010

Picton Castle bound towards Banam Bay, Malakula, Vanuatu; Monday 11 October 2010 בס"ד

All-hands wake up at 1000. We did some sail-handling as we came into channel between Espiritu Santo and Aore Island outside of the capital, Luganville. Up and stow, and I went to the main topsls. We had to wait an hour or so to clear in, during which time we retarded our clocks an hour. 12-4 and 4-8 got to go ashore once cleared in, 12-4 from 1200 to 1430, 4-8 from 1200-1700, and once 12-4 relieved 8-12, they'd have from 1430-1700. We did two skiff runs in, where we had to do some tricky piloting figuring out the channel through the reefy bits. This was the time to pick up some goods for possible trading, and so once ashore most people hit the ATM and picked up however much Vatu they wanted. After the bank, got soda at a cafe, and WT allowed a few of us to check our Facebook on his iPhone by an internet hotspot. Also enjoyed a cold brew called “Vanuatu Tusker” named for the boar's tusks that are supposed to be the major status symbol around the archipelago nation. Stopped at a store and bought some shorts and swim trunks, and a frying pan to trade. Then headed back to the jetty to get back to the ship. Once aboard, got to painting the inner planking of the old skiff green. After that, did a general sweep of rust and dirt, then rigged up the snatch blocks to the boat falls. At 1700 we hoisted up the skiff after all hands were aboard, weighed anchor, and got underway towards Malekula. While weighing anchor, I went to the chain locker as usual and taught RobUK and Ducky how to properly flake the chain. Right after we were underway, I was working out on the pullup bar when a friendly competition began amongst pretty much everybody. We created the new “workout challenge,” which was pretty much how many full extenstion pullups and backups one could do (one rep being a pullup and backup). I got 5.5, but the winners were the Mate and Clark, with 7 each. It seems today was Canadian Thanksgiving, so we enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving fare. I began to read Tiina's copy of “The Mauritius Command,” and started taking Doxycycline for anti-malarial purposes.