Tsunami Warnings

Let me start off with saying that everyone on board Free Spirit is safe and sound.
Our morning started off as usual. Paul checks our emails and starts to make our coffee. I crawl out of bed (7:30am) to the wonderful smell of brewed coffee, sit in front of the computer with my hot steaming cup and read my "news" (emails). As I was reading an email from my mom we started to hear someone calling on the radio. We are currently anchored in the lagoon of Ouvea, New Caledonia 20.43S 166.25E with 30 other vessels who are in the ICA Rally. Solanjo was informing us of a Tsunami warning that was in effect in New Zealand. Due to the 8.3 earth quake in the Samoa. Yes, that leaves us in the line of fire so upon hearing the warning we, and all the other 30 boats, lifted our anchors and headed out to sea. After speaking with the French Navy our warning was till 9:16 am. It was a mass exodus with Free Spirit being the second boat out. We were not planning on sticking around to see what might happen. Now, half the boats were still asleep or didn't turn on their radios so luckily we have "LIZZIE" large trawler with a very loud bull horn that woke everyone up. All of us were out of the cut with in the hour and in what we considered a safe zone. We continued to monitor the warnings from the French navy. At this point we were getting all kinds of info from family back in New Zealand and Australia who said the wave was getting smaller and by the time it reached us it would be non existent so at 9:20 our head boat called in no effects in our location and we started to head back into the anchorage. It was a non event and we were thrilled! We are now enjoying some of our duty free booze we picked up in Vanuatu and are celebrating life.

P.S. School lesson today: What is a Tsunami?

Love you all,
Paul, Michele, Merric and Seanna.

Arrived in Ouvea, New Caledonia

After my eamil the wind died to nothing and we motored the rest of the way...

We arrived in Ouvea at lunch time and spent the last part of the trip enjoying the beautiful views around Ouvea. It reminds us our favorite cruising grounds in the Bahamas. The sand is bright white and the water is crystal blue. Not much more to report until we clear in and start to play.

Passage South to Ouvea, New Caledonia

We had an early 4 am departure set to time ourselves for a daytime entry to the next set of islands (quick 220 mile trip but still an overnighter). With the forecasted weather we anticipated around 6.5 knots. We are in a fleet of 31 boats heading to a incredible islands that have been closed to all cruisers this year. The swine flu has made many, including our friends on Bebe, leave port even under unfavorable conditions. This is the advantage of traveling with the ICA rally this year. We left on time and motored the first hour in washing machine conditions. Then, it felt as though someone flipped on a switch and we had 20+ knots of wind and sailed at 8 to 9.5 knots for the duration. Instead of arriving tomorrow evening we will be in early morning and might even have to slow down. This passage will be on our top of favorites. We hooked a huge fat barracuda and threw him back. Then, our line started to scream out....We hooked a monster marlin. Paul was crying since it was on our "old faithful" lure and when Paul saw it jump out of the water he knew there was no way we would get it in while doing 9+ knots full sail. I quickly turned the boat downwind and got tons of slack in the line (something you would never want to do if you planned on keeping it) and after a beautiful jump the marlin spit the hook out. It was exciting but also a relief. Can you believe we didn't land one fish today??? There is always tomorrow. All is well on Free Spirit and looking forward to an incredible star gazing night. 19.17S 167.23E.

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Port Vila, Vanuatu

After playing in the island for the past month it was nice to pull into port an get some civilization. During our month out we started to run very low on beef and had no pork or chicken. I substituted fish for everything!!!! When we anchored in Awai, Vanuatu we made friends with the family on the island, Solfren and Jossyln. Every day they would pop over and deliver us fresh veggies and fruit from their gardens and I gave her sheets and blankets. We spent one day with Solfren as he was building a new hut. It was incredible to watch the many used of Bamboo and natural building materials he used. Then next day Merric, Paul and Solfren went to go find a pig and the boys spent the morning cleaning and gutting him to be cooked in an underground oven. The girls did all the cooking while the boys sat back and drank Kava. That night while the boys drank the Kava Josselyn came over and had a ball checking out how we live on the boat. She loved the music, hanging out with us while I made dinner. We made friends for life and hope to stop and visit them again. We will be in Port Vila for a week getting ready to head out to New Caledonia. We had to apply for extended visa which will take 7 days to process plus they keep our passports. Looking forward to the duty free shopping the day before we depart. We already started to look in the stores to be prepared on what we want to get. All is well on Free Spirit.

Black Magic, Taboo and the Rom - Ambrym, Vanuatu

Our last three islands we have visited have had their own magic... Black Magic! The beliefs are strong and the cloud of suspicion runs rampant in Asanvari since recently an important person (35 years old) just died from Black Magic. They will assure you that the most powerful sorcerers live on Ambrym. There is a sense of Mystery and credulity that happen to be lurking inside. This active volcanic island surrounded by black sand beaches was our next destination. As we anchored in Ranon we were quickly greeted by Jeffery. Jeffery and his father head up the tours here in Ambrym so we could easily find a guide to bring us up in the hills to experience a traditional Rom Dance. We planned for an early morning departure to watch the dance in the Fanla village. After hiking one hour up the mountain behind someone with very strong B.O. we reached the village. We happily accepted the fresh green coconuts to drink when we arrived. They explained the traditions for the Rom dance and local Taboo. It is Taboo to get closer than 3 meters from the Rom dancers and we are not allowed in the sacred dancing grounds until we are invited in during the ceremony. As we approached the dancing grounds, we peeked through an opening to watch the beginning rituals. The men were dancing and stomping in a circle with a banana leaf belt decorated with leaves and a wrap around only the penis attaching it to the belt, that's it. Everything else was exposed. Imagine our kids surprise when the dancers turned around. The great thing is they didn't comment until we got home. Two of the dancers came closer to us and turned around signaling our acceptance and allowing us to enter the sacred ground. Then came the Big Rom Dancers. They are big and domineering! The mask on their head is about three feet high and they are covered from the neck down in dried banana leaves. They carry a spear that resembles a outdoor torch with beads that make a tribal sound. They surrounded the other dancers and chanted. We felt like we jumped right into the pages of National Geographic.