Vanuatu is a perfect cruising ground, with day sailing along the coast of the larger islands, or a short hop from one island to the next, making it easy to explore.
En route to the next stopover of Ambrym, the Blue Planet Odyssey sailors overnighted in the protected Awei anchorage, part of the small island group the Maskelynes off the south coast of Malekula.
Tucked behind a barrier reef, those boat which arrived first had a great view of the other yachts sailing past the reef.
Although there were no villages nearby, the anchorage was busy with local people in outrigger canoes fishing, searching for octopus on the reef, or going to and from their gardens in the bush.
All the land on the islands belongs to one family or another, even if to our foreign eyes it looks wild and uncultivated – tucked away in the trees can be found carefully tended gardens where people grow bananas and root crops like taro, yam and sweet potato.
With no less than six yachts in the anchorage, the Blue Planet Odyssey fleet became a source of interest, and canoes stopped by so people could have a chat and find out where these sailors had come from.
- Find out about Vanuatu
- Impressions from Vanuatu, by Jimmy Cornell