We are still in Port Vila. A local theatre group is performing in town for a week and we decided we would walk up the hill to watch them. It was to be performed at the Chief’s Nakamal (meeting house). We took our little foldable chairs and trudged up the hill with some friends (along with some mosquito spray) to see the show. When we got to the nakamal we heard wailing and moaning and saw groups of people sitting somberly outside the thatched house. Mark and our friend Nat went inside to see what was going on. Much to Mark’s surprise there was a dead body laid out on a table with women keening over him loudly. It turns out that a very big chief on the island had just died and they were holding a wake for him in the nakamal. Needless to say, the show did not go on. Mark has been busy doing lots of boat prep (still) – working on some problems with our water pump, replacing the VHF radio, changing our propane tanks and other essentials for the boat. Our friends from Intiaq are moored right beside us. We had not seen them for almost two years. They are great people and we hope to see them a lot while we are both together in Vanuatu. We are having pretty quiet days, but seem to socialize with one boat or another most every night. We are anxious to get out of town and sail to a nice, clean anchorage, but are still not quite ready. We promise more exciting blogs soon…… L
Cruising Log of "Sabbatical III"