Photo Gallery - August 2003 

Pictures can be clicked to see a large version of the image.

The Queen Jane at a mooring in Port Vila just off Iririki Island. The QJ stayed at this mooring for almost a whole month, first while Jordan and Jonah flew home to the USA to visit family and then as Jordan recovered from a nasty case of Airplane Flu.

A Nangol Tower at the Vanuatu Cultural Museum in Port Vila. The Nangol Tower is used on Pentacost Island for a harvest festival where men and young boys jump from the tower with vines attached to their feet. The vines being just long enough for the jumper to reach the ground without smashing into it. Reports are that the originator of Bungee Jumping (a man named  Hackett from New Zealand) witnessed this ritual during the 1970s.

One of a series of exhibits of masks at the museum.

An exhibit of Vanuatan war clubs.

A bird headdress worn by a chief of some importance during a ritual.

An exhibit showing an effigy of a high chief used to celebrate the chief after his death. Note the "Namba" worn over the dummy's genitals. In "Kustom" villages in Vanuatu (mainly on Tanna and Malekula) these articles are still worn and usually are the only item of "clothing" worn by males. On Malekula two clans dominate the island's interior. In the North the "big nambas" and in the South the "small nambas". The terms were designed to reflect the size of the nambas worn by men of each clan.

An exhibit of canoes, both paddled and sailing canoes. These examples are not different from those we saw used by natives in the Maskelyne Islands as shown later on this page.

Situated near the museum, this "Nakamal" or meeting house is used for gatherings of the chiefs of Efate Island.

The inside of the nakamal. There must be a lot of chiefs on Efate.

The Western approach to the Maskelyne Islands showing Vulai Island. Located on the SE tip of Malekula Island, the Maskelynes are comprised of half a dozen small islands located just off the mainland forming an enclosed, peaceful series of channels with several protected anchorages.

As we approached the anchorage at Awei Island (to the left) the barkentine "Soren Larsen" was leaving. The Soren Larsen is operated by an Australian as a charter boat taking clients on trips of various length through the islands of Vanuatu.

The Soren Larsen as it steams away from us out of the anchorage.

The approach to the anchorage at Awei with the mainland pictured (Awei Island is off frame to the left). There were three boats anchored there when we arrived, "Valere" from Los Angeles, "Wind Runner" from San Francisco and "Toucan" from Seattle.

It wasn't long after we arrived that several canoes filled with local kids approached. We also had several adults visit us and quietly ask if we wanted to trade for any fruits or vegetables. Having just come from Port Vila and being fully stocked we had to decline. We did find they could provide many nice things in the coming days and we bought from them grapefruits and eggplants. Another boat traded 2 T-Shirts for a giant crab and 2lbs of freshwater prawns (like crawdads).

This group came up after Jonah called them and he handed them a little bag filled with old toys he has outgrown. We make it a practice to give out toys to the kids wherever we go. Jonah has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of old toys which he no longer plays with and really enjoys giving them away.

This sight couldn't be believed if there was no photographic evidence. Our friends on "Valere" called us on the radio and said simply "Go look outside". If they had said go look at the swimming dogs we would have laughed at them. Dogs, of course, are not considered "pets" among most Pacific Islanders. Food would be a better description of their purpose here.

Another shot of the swimming dogs at Awei. We still have no idea why they are swimming, other then to get to the other side of the bay. One thing we knew after this, there were no sharks in this bay (at least not on this day). Interestingly, several of the dogs appear to be "Beagles"! 

This photo shows Kate, Jonah and Heidi from the S/V Chewink of Maine. We discovered 2 days before Kate's birthday that Heidi's birthday was also August 25th. We had Heidi and her husband Cabot for dinner that night and had a lovely time. 

We first met Cabot and Heidi (and their boat Chewink) at Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands (in French Polynesia) in May of 2001. Since then we have run into them now and again. Cabot is a boat builder from Maine and owner of the well known Lyman Morse yard. Cabot and Heidi are on their second circumnavigation, the first one having been conducted 15 years ago with their twin sons aboard on the same boat.

The skipper reclines on the dinghy ashore at Awei Island while Jonah hunts for hermit crabs in the sand. 

Jonah hard at work searching for hermit crabs.

Taken from a beach on the  mainland of Malekula, in this photo we can see the Southern tip of Awei island in the foreground and Vulai Island in the background. The channel used to enter the Maskelynes lies between these two islands.

Jonah and Kate ashore on the mainland of Malekula Island during an exploratory outing.