'SYLFIA' Sailing with a purpose

By sofia kuczera

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'SYLFIA' Sailing With A Purpose

Project 2014-03-21 23:33:37 +1300

Thank you for all your generous donations!! we are still going until the 1st of May and we'd love to raise even more money to assist the remote islands of Vanuatu  - please pledge if you'd like to contribute towards our project. this is our story:

3 years ago our Amazing father, Bernard Kuczera, sadly went missing at sea in the Bay Of Islands. He left behind an extraordinary legacy. He had designed and built numerous sailing yachts and together with my mother their adventurous spirit took us around the world. They brought us up on the yacht in which we experienced many different environments and cultures. During our travels we witnessed some of the hard ship of living in the less privileged parts of this world.

Having had sea water pumped through our veins from a young age, my brother and I continue the seafaring life in our own style: my brother in marine engineering and me sailing aboard the greenpeace ships. We are now looking at putting these skills to use and cant think of a better way to hounor our dad and share his legacy.

We have decided to take on an adventure of a lifetime, sailing our fathers final Masterpiece 'Sylfia', a sturdy 80ft steel ketch designed for expeditions. This coming May we will set sail from the Bay of islands to Port Vila in Vanuatu. We are currently in full preparation, taking supplies for 6 months, and family and friends make up the crew of 10. 

so grateful to receive new toys!

 

A few years ago we visited some of the islands of Vanuatu and learnt how friendly and appreciative the people were of any extra resources.  I remember visiting some of the remote schools and was taken back by how little they had, even a simple pencil was so valuable to them.  If they happened to have any paper they would use it so sparingly and write on every centimetre.  Memories like that are a part of the reason why we would like to go back and assist the local communities.

 

 

 Hospital

 

We would like to be of assistance and would like your help too!

 

  maternity Work shop

 

During our trip we are looking at supporting a few different aid projects and we have already been donated a range of resources such as clothes, tools, and books.

 

We still have some space on board and would really like to take with us some specific items. Your donations would enable us to take basic health care and educational supplies which are in huge need, for example; pencils, text books. and soap as children are very prone to scabies due to poor hygene. Also Joining us is our local Kerikeri midwife Betty, who has been to vanuatu before and will teach workshops on midwifery, we would like to bring supplies to support the local mothers and babies in the remote islands of Vanuatu.

 

This is where we need your help!!!

Our target amount is $500 but we would like to raise more, which means more resources and valuable materials we can provide to the local communities in the remote islands of Vanuatu . Every little bit counts! 

 

Thank you!Hello

Comments

Updates 10

So Many awesome memories, here are a few to share with you all!

08/01/2015 at 11:35 PM

We did it!!!

05/11/2014 at 7:16 PM

Kia ora!!
Here we are at anchor in Opua!! Arrived this morning with a freezer full of tuna after 9 days at sea! A beautiful morning comming into the bay of islands, what a feeling to be home!

The last few days we had light winds which meant a lot of motor sailing and calm seas.We were entertained with fishing, more fishing and fish eating, also dolphins escort and great albatross sightings! To be fair ,we also had lots of great live music and laughs(or was it cabin fever?).

Looking forward to a good nights sleep before sailing back to our mooring tomorrow via turtle island to pay dad a little tribute. What an experience this voyage has been. Its only really just sinking in that we made it!!!We couldn't have done it without the tremendous amount of support throughout. A HUGE thanks to all those who helped put together this amazing voyage from the preparations to the sailing and for supporting us through the tough and good times.

We are going to be at the stone store the end of the week to offload the boat and to have a party saturday night! from 7pm onwards, please bring a plate.

Attached is a link of some memories from the first part of our trip.

Ready to tackle the seas again!

18/10/2014 at 7:36 PM

 Here we are enjoying the last of our time in the lagoon, waiting for a
 good weather window to sail the last leg of our adventure home.

 Our new crew arrived, consisting of half french, half kiwi, some whom
 have flown in and some who we have picked up here in New Caledonia.
 We have had an eventful first day on board with sail training in the 25kt
 breeze, exciting mooring picking up manoeuvers, swimming with turtles,spear
 fishing and discovering white sandy islets.

 The last month has been spent at a rather slow pace which has also been
 nice, also to digest all our adventures we had over the last few months.
 We have been enjoying family time, discovering picture perfect islets
 amongst the turquoise lagoon and its great sailing, going to great spear
 fishing spots in the south with our local cousins and discovering the
 colourful bio diverse reefs. Sometimes going a little further to the outer
 reef to find surf in which we can moor right next to and paddle to the
 break from the yacht which has been great fun! We have discovered the
 inland New Caledonia and its rich red earth with rivers and been lucky to
 be invited to paraglide tandem and fly like a bird over the mountains. We
 feel ready to tackle the ocean again and come home.

 We have also made the tough decision to put Sylfia for sale on the market.
 We have realised that it takes lot of energy and money to run such a boat
 and all the responsibility that comes with it. We feel like we have given
 her a really good 'blast' this trip and sure we would have made dad proud.
 Although sad we feel ready to let her go.. We both have different projects
 in the future and feel that the boat wouldn't be used to its maximum
 potential if we would keep her, so we are looking for someone to take over
 the good ship Sylfia and take her on some more epic missions!

 Standing by for departure we will be in touch soon with an update of our
 trip home!

Bonjour from New Caledonia!

17/09/2014 at 3:54 PM

The turn around of crew on board is hot, not much time for the bunks to cool down before the next team are in. Aunty Elodie and cousin Laura arrived  fresh from France and from New Zealand; aunty Wiga with  Alice, Julie, Pauline and Chis. After a couple days of “city activity” and re-provisioning we set out from Port Vila towards Erromango. It became a never ending tacking duel as we had underestimated beating into the20knots  trade winds for 80 miles. The hours slowly ticked by and every tack we had to roll a few sea sick casualties just  to get to the winch to put in the tack, bodies spread all over the floor and deck just wanting to give in to neptune.  (I’m sure the Kava session of the night before didn’t help either!) It was much like a hospital! After 36 hours we eventually sailed into the calm water of Dillon’s bay, Erromango.  It has been the most frustrating leg of sailing yet.

 

Arrival to Erromango was most welcome ! A local man David showed us around Dillon’s bay village where a nearby fresh water swimming hole was a big highlight. We enjoyed  bathing all the salt away, and also visited the nearby  caves  where his ancestors were buried over a hundred years  ago.  Pretty amazing to see the skeletons still intact. Over the past 7 years David has been building a yacht club/accommodation with help from the passing yachties.  It’s a slow progress with many resources sourced locally.  The planking is milled locally and produced a really nice looking place.   We gave him some items to sell to help fundraise for his project and also fixed his broken generator (which had halted construction for nearly a year!)  

 

Erromango was again a different landscape to the other islands with rugged cliffs and not much vegetation.  It used to be covered in sandal wood and kauri trees but have since been logged and traded for next to nothing to the Chinese in the mid 1800’s .  Sylvan and Roddy rode on the motor bikes with a local guide to see one of the biggest Kauri trees remaining.   A ‘not far’ walk turned into several hours and eventually they arrived at the trees; very similar to the Kauri in NZ just with just slightly bigger leaves. It was a nice reminder of home.

 

Sylvan was also invited to go hunting with some of the local boys. After walking for miles in the bush, the pack of dogs tore off and holed up a few pigs.  The boys took off after the dogs and after catching up dispatched the pigs using  a spear made of a machete blade tied onto a stick. After making a fire and cooking  some freshly caught pig pieces, they walked back to the village with a leg each over their shoulder.

 

40 cent breakfast of local specialties cooked by the mammas was an attraction each morning.   The women were interested in new recipe ideas and mum using what she could find in the bilge performed an “on board cooking show” which was a big hit. It was really nice to make connections with all the local children and other villagers who were endlessly confused how we were all related. So many women on board who look so similar and only 3 young men??

 

Our next destination was Tanna where we would pick up the remaining uncles.   Before departing we surveyed the weather closely to make sure we had a bit more east in the winds so it was not dead on the nose all the way!  This passage we enjoyed a much smoother sail and a yummy underway treat.  Roast wild pork with crackling and all the trimmings for those who weren’t sea sick (although a lot less this time round!)  We arrived in Port Resolution ahead of the ETA and made another brave night entrance under a brightly moonlight sky.

 

Our days in Tanna were spent re-connecting with the people we had met 11 years ago when some of us were here last.  Many of them remembered Dad for his help salvaging useful parts of a wrecked yacht.  It was great to have that existing connection and were  welcomed very warmly. The very last of the donations- 8 boxes of clothes, medical and school books were distributed to different areas around the island.  We had saved all the warm clothes to give to Tanna as it is a lot further south and it is one of the only islands where people live inland up in the hills.

Because customs is located on the other side of the island in a poorly sheltered anchorage, Roddy and I went on an administration mission to clear customs by motor bike! Tanna is definitely a destination I recommend. Not only because you can stand on the crater of mt Yasur volcano and watch it spew chunks of lava and smoke with thunderous booms but also because of the diverse environments, beautiful beaches and friendly people still living very traditionally. The riding on the ash plains was a blast, such a change in scenery after riding through the lush jungle.  Long stretches of black ash at the base of the volcano created a black desert, different wind swept formations, sharp sulfur clouds seized our lungs and no life around made it feel like another planet!  I was on my own coming back through the desert and ended up a bit lost on the edge of a big crevice with no trace where I had been or where I had to go! The wind was so strong it just wiped the tracks clean! I finally made it back just before dark, a bit shaken and covered in ash but content.

 

After eating our quota of feasts consisting of lap lap, taro and manioc and with bilges full of banana, papaya and coconut we bid sad goodbyes to our friends.  What an experience we’d had in Vanuatu.  We were so very warmly welcomed wherever we visited.  Now 13 on board (the unlucky number!) we set off with a nice beam wind toward New Caledonia cranking 9.5 kts!  With this great speed we made a record number of fish hooked in one day, 4 tuna and 2 mahimahi. The lot was quickly devoured in all manner of ways; raw, fried, smoked, baked, pickled, dried and shared around!

 

Mum, her brother, her bothers future wife and sister sailed together over 25 years ago and now were together again with the next generation.  There was plenty of reminiscing about the sailing all those years ago.  Everyone adapted well to life on board and with good winds we crossed over to New Caledonia in no time, through the sketchy Havannah pass without any problems and in to the largest lagoon in the world. In the lagoon we were treated to smooth sailing with no swell in the nice trade wind breeze.

 

The passage to Noumea took a mere 48 hours and resulted in hardly any seasick casualties, only a tummy bug which now was starting to get out of hand... passed on slowly but surely from one to another when ones immune system was down it would just come and knock you down for 24 hours, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. All except 2 members ended up getting it. Luckily it died out with just a couple more casualties without contaminating the whole of new cal…

 

The next week the weather was average and the engine was spitting the dummy with fuel leaking into the oil… this time was spent reuniting with our New Caledonian family, mostly involving food, food and more food stacked high on tables of surrounded by 40+ people. It was really special to have all the family from France, NZ and New Caledonia altogether!

 

Noumea is a shock after Vanuatu, people don’t say hello to you anymore as you walk in the street, there is an emptiness, they run from one appointment to the next. The material world has taken over and the inequalities are even larger, indigenous land rights issues with new mines left right and center. What a contrast after being in such remote places where people still live very traditionally, closely to nature in a sustainable way, cultivating their own gardens and hunting for their meat and fish. Land is not “owned” as we know it but instead a person is seen to be a custodian and takes pride in caring for that land It is passed on through generations and is where they build their huts, using surrounding material from the bush. They live simply and realize that they don’t need much more than what they have now. What we found is they are thirsty for education. This is where we hope we were able to assist the most, bringing educational material and sharing knowledge; whether it was in engineering/electrics or with midwifery and women’s workshops they were always very open and keen to learn new ways. Always sharing and giving to one another with a smile on their face, these are rich people- those who live on ‘Island time,’ time that is spent with their families and friends. It makes me realize even more how scary our world is and how lucky we are to visit these parts before our western ways take over.

 

The next month we will be based around Noumea and doing trips around the lagoon.

Still have a few spaces to sail back to NZ around mid October let us know if you are interested!

Update from Pam!

02/08/2014 at 6:19 PM

To the fading strains of the Marseillaise the last crew change took place on 14 July. 5 of us arrived on the Air New Zealand flight, some of us with 7kgs of luggage and others with rods, hooks, lines, floats, spears, spearguns ,wetsuits, 5 foot long flippers……..I should have been prepared but life is always full of surprises. After a scrumptious dinner prepared for us on board by a departing Roddy and Sofia, we settled ourselves in for the night and our next day departure for Emae. Fishing began in earnest on our first passage but to no avail.

Emae provided us with swims and snorkelling , lovely walks and for some of us, first contact with these amazingly warm and friendly people. We had Betty with us and took some supplies to the hospital, stopping off at the kindergarten for some chats and photo fun. We met up with Mick and Annamieke and Chay on Moonfish and all left on a fish catching mission en route to Epi Island. This is when I was given my first peek into what fishing passion is all about. Mick is another passionate fisherman and the competition was on. Sailing took a back seat, not to mention arrival at destination, as we zigged and zagged along the contours of astoundingly beautiful islands with stunning views of volcanoes and the fishermen stared unceasingly at the sea and tutued endlessly with gear in mortal fear of Moonfish catching more fish than us. On arrival at Revelieu Bay, another picturesque anchorage adjacent to colourful reefs, frantic radio contact revealed that Moonfish had caught a large mahi mahi and to add insult to injury they gifted a large portion to us. Luckily, thwarted fish catching satisfaction did not stop the boys from smoking and then eating the delicious catch.

Revelieu Bay was another rich source of friends, coconuts , pamplemousse and spawned a last minute night dive where the boys claimed they got 2 crays which miraculously “escaped” from the back deck before we had a chance to turn them into bisque!

The next leg of the journey was to Leman Bay and was made variously by bicycle by Nadine and Betty, a long, strenuous and steeply hilly journey made much more exciting by the absence of brakes; by kayak by Annamieke and Billie;  fishing on Mick’s boat by Silas and Chelsea; sleeping on board by James and Ollie and sailing by Sylvan and Pam. Mick, if I remember rightly, caught a fish.

Leman Bay and Leman Island were the high point of the trip for this crew member.   Apart from the beauty of the kayaking and snorkeling and the turtles swimming around the boat all day long, the dugong came to visit and even swam with Billie (some of us were very jealous!).We visited the hospital and talked at great length with the nurse in charge there. We visited the kindergartens and took part in the children’s day celebrations, doing drawing and crayon/dyeing activities with the kids and reading books and playing games with balls and yoyos and balloons with them. We attended the Independence Day celebrations on Leman Island (bit of a theme going on here) and brushed up on our bislama. No Cutem tree, no cutem tree (global warming song) and Nadine’s favourite on the gate of the copra factory “yu not kam insaed”. Pam likes “basket belong pikanini” for womb from Betty’s woman’s workshop for new mothers, another highlight. ( See us privately for some more choice morsels from that session, cause of great hilarity among the island girls.)

 

2 short Adventures

·         Pam and Betty decided to kayak round to the next bay but failed to take the current into account and so arrived too late to make it back by nightfall. Emergency accomodation needed to be found but some necessities were in short supply. Dinner out was delicious but the night got pretty cold!

·         Tom came by the boat to visit on his outrigger dugout. Nadine asked if she could have a go and she and Pam got in and had a jolly paddle round the bay.

 

The Coconut Oil Factory

 

An interesting motor into a gale causing a flurry of homeless women to appear on the cabinsole of Sylfia (photos available on request) brought us to the copra factory. We were given the guided tour by the manager who had previously succumbed to Sylvan’s inimitable Kuczera charm. We were left to work out the health and safety rules ourselves they seemed to include, manager wears steel caps, everyone else is barefoot and thorough greasing with coconut oil of metal rails on steep, high staircases.

A climb to the top of said staircases reveals worker or two inside giant hoppers shoveling copra. Of course this means Ollie immediately leaps into the hopper and start shoveling whilst local worker looks on at this keen volunteer workforce with mild bemusement stepped up to increasing disbelief when James joins him and starts digging in like a dog, piling up the copra behind him while disappearing deeper into the blackness. Meanwhile Nadine has asked the hapless worker at the first stage so many questions that production has come to a grinding halt. Despite this, all available buckets and containers were filled with the delicious smelling oil and offers of payment waved away. Had there been and 100 litre empty tank on Sylfia we could have surely gone into business. Oh that Kuczera charm!

 

There are so many things I have missed out in this missive. Dinner with Chief Willy’s family, food on and off the boat. eg today’s afternoon snack: take a cracker, plaster it with peanut butter, sprinkle liberally with freshly roasted, hot peanuts, slap on a slice of ripe tropical banana and top off with cinnamon sugar. Yum. All piss taking aside, we got to eat loads of delicious fish caught, filleted, smoked and served up thanks to our fishing obsessives. Top skippers, awesome fellow crew members, great conversations, loads of laughs many more fishing stories of course.

Last night we sailed back to Efate. There was a lot of wind and wave action, the kind of trip when every little task is a mission. The ship works perfectly, crew, watches, equipment and above all leadership. I never felt a moment of doubt about the safety of the ship or the competence and sound judgement of the skippers. Big pakipaki for Sofia, Sylvan and Sylfia.

Endnote

 I have learnt now to recognize a passionate fisherman. In the middle of a conversation,  and that can be a very noisy moment on a boat with eleven people, you just need to whisper “big fish” and all the heads that pop up, exactly like a meerkat sensing approaching danger, that’s them!

 Ollie, favourite passionate fisherman, hooked a black Marlin at dawn this morning, in the midst of the chaos. Sadly for him it got away. I’m glad they got to meet and that the marlin is still swimming the warm silky waters of Vanuatu. Next time, Ollie!

Update from Greta

17/07/2014 at 2:55 PM


An update from Sylfia written by Greta;

I’ve been on board for three weeks now and it’s been absolutely awesome.Sylfia made it to Santo to collect some new crew members and wave goodbye to others. We stayed in a beautiful bay (Sarunda) round the coast from Luganville for a few days of snorkeling and dive adventures , trips to town and for us newbies, it was a great way to settle into island life. Then it was further up the coast to Turtle Bay with six of us sailing and the other two travelling up on the bikes. More snorkeling, kayak, bicycle and motorbike missions. The motorbikes were a delight when in action but an endless frustration when malfunctioning, which unfortunately was more often than not.

blue hole missions

One of the highlights was kayaking  up the rivers just near the boat, crystal clear water covered by lush jungle. After about an hour weaving in and out of this magical world which seemed so far from all else, we arrived at a magnificent blue/turquoise swimming hole. To our delight we found hanging from the trees some wicked swings to plunge straight into the refreshing freshwater.

 

After a few days up the Santo coast we had to do a quick motor back to Luganville to get fresh water as the forecasted rain showers completely missed us! We docked at the wharf once one of the many huge cruise ships hanging round Vanuatu had departed. We filled the tanks with water -  3,000 litres for a measly 300Vatu (Nz$4). Fresh water showers and washing meant there were smiles all round and a local friend of ours came on board for dinner bringing a box of cold beers which went down a treat.

The following morning we set sail for the less travelled west coast of Malakula –  meaning we had to give up hope of reaching the northern more isolated islands.  Our original plans of heading up to the  northern banks and Torres islands groups ended up being a little more of an adventure than we had anticipated.  As the return sail against the predominant trade winds would mean a long uncomfortable sail back south to Efate with time restraints ,we decided for more land time over sailing time, sad to have missed these remote parts out but also  happy with our decision. 

jungle

Malakula has far exceeded everyone’s expectations. We’ve met so many lovely locals who’ve welcomed us in. We’ve been spoilt with fresh coconuts, papaya and grapefruit and have been able to distribute lots of donated supplies to the local schools and medical centres; so thank you to all those who helped with this back home. They’ve been hugely appreciated by the people we’ve met. From our first brief stop in Malua Bay, we headed south to Dixons reef where the locals have initiated a marine reserve with rotating catch areas. We anchored for 4 days surrounded by colorful reefs and little coral islands. 

reef

Next we hopped over to South West Bay where we spent a week. We befriended a 73 year old Ni-Van called Albin who invited us to his Kastom village and explained to us the way his ancestors used to live. Albin then took a bunch of us on a 3 day hike into the hills in the pouring rain which was hard going and incredibly muddy but an awesome adventure all the same. It was fascinating to see some remote highland villages and we thoroughly enjoyed getting kava-ed with the locals in the evenings.

Albin

 

kustom village

 

After being politely asked to move as we had anchored right in the flight path, Roddy, Betty and her daughter Sara landed fresh from Kerikeri on the grassy airstrip, just a few hundred meters from Sylfia.  Betty is a  midwife and  spent the next few days engaging with the locals and conducting workshops with the traditional birth attendants and nurses, teenagers, mothers and mothers to be. People came from near and far to share  her knowledge on natural birth and family planning. It was really great to see so many people interested and appreciative of these valuable teachings.It’s been an incredible few weeks of warm weather, dozens of swims and plenty of silliness- the dress up box has been getting good use. There’ve been many good adventures, no shortage of delicious food and good vibes galore. As I write we’ve been greeted by a bunch of pilot whales playing in our bow wake!

bettys class

Adventures

16/06/2014 at 5:14 PM

Here is another little update from the sylfia crew !

 

After leaving Vila we spent some time in Epi Island, we first visited the south east where we had some boxes to deliver to a specific family and school. The bay was exposed to the trades and not charted. Hardly any cruising yachts visit, there are no roads, only local ferries so it’s pretty remote! We only knew where it was because they had made a fire, put up a red flag and sent a canoe to welcome us. The anchorage wasn’t even that deep and the sandy bottom provided good holding, just really Rolly and windy. We carried the boxes of goods along the rich black sand beach, fringed by lush tumbling jungle, from our landing place to the village further up the bay.

The family gave us the warmest welcome with stunning leaf necklaces, an abundance of fruits and even a pig for us, needless to say we were very grateful! All of the crew were pretty moved by the experience!

 

 

Next we landed in Lamen bay, it was stunning as well. Our stay included disembarking the dentist chair and about 15 other boxes of goods for the hospital, schools and communities trust, as well as personal items from Epi’s fruit picking workers in Kerikeri! We have a lot more freeboard now! We were once again received like kings with fresh fruit and a chicken; "how would you like it, alive or dead?". Epi was really beautiful; more lush jungle, nice beaches and good snorkeling including the visits of friendly turtles all around the boat. Sylvan and the cousin Jeremy were taken out for a spear fish with one of the local boys and came back with about 5 rainbow runner fish- similar to a small king fish.

We even got the windsurfer out for a play. Not much luck had though, the wind was quite gusty and variable, we had a hard time staying up. Not to mention the whole gang of kids on the beach laughing at the silly white person on some weird object making a fool of them self! I guess I would have laughed too!

 

We left on Sunday in the early hours to Uluveu isl (Maskelyne islands, southern Malekula). Our friends had visited this island over a period of 10 years on their yacht Ranui, and found this densely populated island that had contaminated fresh water and health issues that came from a lack of clean water, resulting in scabies covering the children’s skin. They decided to create an NGO and set up a solar desalination plant involving some pretty amazing technology. They now have enough capacity to supply the community with fresh water only using solar energy! Originally to eradicate the scabies, soap was made with coconut oil and flavors from the island. It then evolved to setting up a little factory only involving women to make soaps for themselves and their communities, as well as selling some to make money for the trust.

 

Due to the waters being uncharted we were guided in by a local boat through reefs and around bommies to find an idyllic little bay just big enough for Sylfia to tuck into.

Once inside, we were greeted warmly by the local school and project committee members who had been planning our arrival for months ahead. All very formal there were speeches, blessings and refreshments. we knew this was coming, so we had rehearsed and taught the Frenchies the song ‘Tutira Mai nga iwi’ to sing in response. To our surprise the locals already knew the song!!

 

The next days consisted of helping the women out in the soap factory to prepare soaps to take back to NZ to sell for them. Sylvan was straight away employed in the very well-equipped workshop, trying to troubleshoot and help fix tools and maintain solar set ups. The crew also conducted workshops on maintenance and operation of tools and electrics.

We have much more to learn; from the culture to understanding island politics. But everyone has been very friendly and all crew very grateful to be here :).

 

After a very relaxing trip over to Ambrym we arrived at dusk. The mystic light was very suiting to the feel of the island. Again, this place was very different to the each of the other islands we had visited. This was the land of black magic, wood carvings and Volcanoes!

While 6 of the crew hiked up the volcano, I stayed and looked after the boat with Sarah and Jeremy. Nice to have a bit of quiet time as 10 people living in a small space can be pretty intense at times! We also went on a wave seeking mission around the outer reefs. Jeremy is crazy about surfing and has been going crazy as there has been no luck with waves yet, but today we had finally hit the jack pot! There were nice ones, even small tubes .. Breaking strait on the reef though, so definitely not for some.. but he had a blast!

On our way back from the reef we saw a dugong fluke up. Further along saw some mad dolphin shows, with all sorts of flips and playing in the dinghy wake. Then, a small whale just casually cruising and checking us out for a good 15min, it got pretty close up too. Just to top it off we had a stunning rainbow in the background. We were pretty stoked and were only a little bit jealous when the others got back and said they had a great hike up the volcano...

 

The volcano team reported it was totally not what one would expect, with different layers of vegetation as the trek went higher. From lush greenery mixed with lava rocks, to the ash plains, with little specks of life, then the harsh volcanic grit. At the crater, the cloud of steam blew away for a brief few minutes to look straight down 300m into the boiling cauldrons of lava. This was not an erupting volcano as in Tanna, but it sure was alive. The team spent the night in a little grass hut just down from the summit, before hiking back down through the stunning scenery.

 

We left in the beautiful sunset light with a clear view of the volcanoes. As dusk hit we found ourselves navigating to the fascinating fiery orange glows of Ambrym and Lopevi volcanoes; a little spooky but how magic!

 

Here we are in Espiritu Santo Island, Sylvan spent his 21st birthday diving the cooliage wreck with his new gear! It’s a renown divesite, a 200m long ship lying from 30 to 60m deep and a really impressive dive, as you can explore the interior this state of the art ship (from the 1940’s). Sylvan returned buzzing, exclaiming it was the best dive of his life! Even though the party ended really early we still made the most of the occasion, dressing up, drinking and eating a feast!

 

The frenchies ready to fly back to the other side of the world and our mum is flying back to spend some home time for a month. In return we have 3 lovely ladies to join the next part of our adventure! We don’t have a set plan where we will visit next although we still have many books, medical, and clothes to deliver!

 

 

Land Ho!

25/05/2014 at 6:50 PM

Here we are all safely arrived in Vanuatu!!

 

We are currently in Port Vila reprovisioning, receiving new crew and farewelling some.

 

We arrived on the 16th of May into Anatom island after a great trip across from NZ

Holding watches and steering the entire way our awesome crew played a big part in getting us here in good time, averaging around 100miles a day.

 

We eased into it with smooth weather and not much wind which finally stabilized and increased after few days of motoring, We ended up with squally 25kt SE breeze towards the second half of the trip, the last few days were spent uncomfortably rolling around surfing down waves which helped us knock off the last few hundred miles while dodging under water volcanoes and catching our fair share of mahi mahi and tuna!

 

Amongst the seasickness we found ways to entertain our selves with boat improvement projects, dress up parties and hair cuttings including several Kgs Nicks locks !! Of course eating was high on the agenda and we still have fresh fruit and vegies left thanks to the community garden, we sure didn’t have any risk of getting scurvy!

 

This brought us to arrive to the entrance of Anelghowhat bay just after sunset on Thursday the 16th, earlier on Sylvan and I agreed to only make approaches to strange harbors including breaking reefs during day light hours.. but none of us were that keen to stay another sticky sleepless night bobbing around waiting for day light to come..

 

We studied our navigation options including various paper charts and a couple of different electronic chart versions with 3 different GPS receivers, checked they all matched, plotted some way points and decided to brave the challenge in trust of all modern technology. Surfing in to our harbor approach, with winds gusting up to 30kts, popping a few gybes in and even with a tiny rag of a sail still making 7kts, it all calmed down as we came into the Leigh of the reef and made it safely to good anchor holding ground, Thankful for the moon, technology, beds that don’t move and dad watching over us!

We woke up to beautiful lush greenery surrounding us and rain showers of fresh water to bathe all the salt away. All in good spirits, eager to explore!

 

After spending a couple days in Anatom island making wobbly attempts walking on dry land and discovering the colorful underwater wonders we set sail  for the day to Tanna island where we had an amazing welcome by the local community who knew the boat and our father who had visited the island in previous years. They all claimed to be his ‘best friend’

 

The first night we visited the active volcano yasur where you stand on the edge of the crater and look down as she explodes, sometimes higher than us! very impressive and you feel as though you shouldn’t be so close to such an incredible force.

 

 

Over the few days spent in Tana island we delivered some medical supplies to the hospital that were packed specifically  from a source in New Zealand. Nikki and Barry felt very welcome there ,they were taken for a visit of the very organized caring  hospital, felt the gifted resources were going to be in very worthwhile  use  and were presented with handsomely homemade  weaving .

One of the highlights was visiting the schools, the children were so happy to see us and when we started handing out the books the children and the teacher were delighted!

The crew also visited the local preschool and played sing alongs with the guitar.

In return they cooked us this amazing feast of Lap Lap and introduced us to there back yard of Lush edible food forests, beaches with fish to be caught from and an incredible sense of community. This is the place to learn from about sustainable living,  looking forward to sharing and learning  from them as we sail north!

 

 

 

THANK YOU!!

04/05/2014 at 9:06 AM

A Giant THANK YOU!
For all the immense help and support we have received to make this project come to life!  
 
 We have had a overwhelming response with donations from near and far and can assure every nook and cranny on board 'SYLFIA' has been put to good use! 
 
Our good ship resembles somewhat something like Noah's ark..except no animals.. yet!  We have it all from  boxes of Medical and hygiene supplies, books and education materials,toys, tools and electrical items to help with repairs, even a dentist and wheel chair!  in all the spare spaces we have managed to stuff with bags of clothes.. 
 
So here we are in our final couple of days putting our land lives on standby and waiting for the right weather window to come and blow us hopefully nicely from opua to the island of anyatuum  expecting around 7 to 14 days of sailing time.
 
The time will come right and we will set sail with a little piece of all you generous people who want to help make a difference. 
 
 
I can just see the hundreds of smiles from the Nevan people throughout the shores of Vanuatu.
 
We will be in touch with more following the communication opportunities!
 

THANK YOU! Please continue to support our project!

09/04/2014 at 4:43 PM

Kia ora! Wow A very big THANK YOU for all your very generous support! cant belive we have already almost reached our traget of $500! 

We would like to raise more, which means more supplies and valuable items we can provide the local communites in the remote islands of Vanuatu . Please spread the word!

 

In the mean time all is coming along nicely between painting, woodworking, saftey, provisioning and all the logistics that comes with preparing our yacht for the big departure in 3 weeks!!! can't wait!

Will be back with more updates soon!

 

    Pledgers 19

    Willem van Rijn
    17/04/2014 at 7:44am
    Marilyn Marsh
    16/04/2014 at 2:15pm
    Jessica Lowe
    16/04/2014 at 12:01pm
    Homelands Community Gardens
    13/04/2014 at 8:49pm
    Angela Woods
    12/04/2014 at 9:04am
    Andrea Millar
    11/04/2014 at 7:25pm
    Elodie HUGUES
    11/04/2014 at 12:02am
    Raymond Cansick
    10/04/2014 at 11:41am
    Peta Norris
    10/04/2014 at 9:11am
    Anonymous pledger
    09/04/2014 at 9:31pm
    Anonymous pledger
    09/04/2014 at 9:30pm
    Emma
    09/04/2014 at 12:27pm
    Emma Briggs
    09/04/2014 at 11:02am
    Rory
    05/04/2014 at 8:11pm
    Simon Travaglia
    04/04/2014 at 11:52am
    Anonymous pledger
    03/04/2014 at 9:59am
    Frits
    03/04/2014 at 9:03am
    vazzoler
    03/04/2014 at 8:12am
    Marshall
    03/04/2014 at 12:16am

    Followers 4

    Followers of 'SYLFIA' Sailing with a purpose

    'SYLFIA' Sailing With A Purpose

    Project 2014-03-21 23:33:37 +1300

    Thank you for all your generous donations!! we are still going until the 1st of May and we'd love to raise even more money to assist the remote islands of Vanuatu  - please pledge if you'd like to contribute towards our project. this is our story:

    3 years ago our Amazing father, Bernard Kuczera, sadly went missing at sea in the Bay Of Islands. He left behind an extraordinary legacy. He had designed and built numerous sailing yachts and together with my mother their adventurous spirit took us around the world. They brought us up on the yacht in which we experienced many different environments and cultures. During our travels we witnessed some of the hard ship of living in the less privileged parts of this world.

    Having had sea water pumped through our veins from a young age, my brother and I continue the seafaring life in our own style: my brother in marine engineering and me sailing aboard the greenpeace ships. We are now looking at putting these skills to use and cant think of a better way to hounor our dad and share his legacy.

    We have decided to take on an adventure of a lifetime, sailing our fathers final Masterpiece 'Sylfia', a sturdy 80ft steel ketch designed for expeditions. This coming May we will set sail from the Bay of islands to Port Vila in Vanuatu. We are currently in full preparation, taking supplies for 6 months, and family and friends make up the crew of 10. 

    so grateful to receive new toys!

     

    A few years ago we visited some of the islands of Vanuatu and learnt how friendly and appreciative the people were of any extra resources.  I remember visiting some of the remote schools and was taken back by how little they had, even a simple pencil was so valuable to them.  If they happened to have any paper they would use it so sparingly and write on every centimetre.  Memories like that are a part of the reason why we would like to go back and assist the local communities.

     

     

     Hospital

     

    We would like to be of assistance and would like your help too!

     

      maternity Work shop

     

    During our trip we are looking at supporting a few different aid projects and we have already been donated a range of resources such as clothes, tools, and books.

     

    We still have some space on board and would really like to take with us some specific items. Your donations would enable us to take basic health care and educational supplies which are in huge need, for example; pencils, text books. and soap as children are very prone to scabies due to poor hygene. Also Joining us is our local Kerikeri midwife Betty, who has been to vanuatu before and will teach workshops on midwifery, we would like to bring supplies to support the local mothers and babies in the remote islands of Vanuatu.

     

    This is where we need your help!!!

    Our target amount is $500 but we would like to raise more, which means more resources and valuable materials we can provide to the local communities in the remote islands of Vanuatu . Every little bit counts! 

     

    Thank you!Hello

    Comments

    So Many awesome memories, here are a few to share with you all!

    08/01/2015 at 11:35 PM

    We did it!!!

    05/11/2014 at 7:16 PM

    Kia ora!!
    Here we are at anchor in Opua!! Arrived this morning with a freezer full of tuna after 9 days at sea! A beautiful morning comming into the bay of islands, what a feeling to be home!

    The last few days we had light winds which meant a lot of motor sailing and calm seas.We were entertained with fishing, more fishing and fish eating, also dolphins escort and great albatross sightings! To be fair ,we also had lots of great live music and laughs(or was it cabin fever?).

    Looking forward to a good nights sleep before sailing back to our mooring tomorrow via turtle island to pay dad a little tribute. What an experience this voyage has been. Its only really just sinking in that we made it!!!We couldn't have done it without the tremendous amount of support throughout. A HUGE thanks to all those who helped put together this amazing voyage from the preparations to the sailing and for supporting us through the tough and good times.

    We are going to be at the stone store the end of the week to offload the boat and to have a party saturday night! from 7pm onwards, please bring a plate.

    Attached is a link of some memories from the first part of our trip.

    Ready to tackle the seas again!

    18/10/2014 at 7:36 PM

     Here we are enjoying the last of our time in the lagoon, waiting for a
     good weather window to sail the last leg of our adventure home.

     Our new crew arrived, consisting of half french, half kiwi, some whom
     have flown in and some who we have picked up here in New Caledonia.
     We have had an eventful first day on board with sail training in the 25kt
     breeze, exciting mooring picking up manoeuvers, swimming with turtles,spear
     fishing and discovering white sandy islets.

     The last month has been spent at a rather slow pace which has also been
     nice, also to digest all our adventures we had over the last few months.
     We have been enjoying family time, discovering picture perfect islets
     amongst the turquoise lagoon and its great sailing, going to great spear
     fishing spots in the south with our local cousins and discovering the
     colourful bio diverse reefs. Sometimes going a little further to the outer
     reef to find surf in which we can moor right next to and paddle to the
     break from the yacht which has been great fun! We have discovered the
     inland New Caledonia and its rich red earth with rivers and been lucky to
     be invited to paraglide tandem and fly like a bird over the mountains. We
     feel ready to tackle the ocean again and come home.

     We have also made the tough decision to put Sylfia for sale on the market.
     We have realised that it takes lot of energy and money to run such a boat
     and all the responsibility that comes with it. We feel like we have given
     her a really good 'blast' this trip and sure we would have made dad proud.
     Although sad we feel ready to let her go.. We both have different projects
     in the future and feel that the boat wouldn't be used to its maximum
     potential if we would keep her, so we are looking for someone to take over
     the good ship Sylfia and take her on some more epic missions!

     Standing by for departure we will be in touch soon with an update of our
     trip home!

    Bonjour from New Caledonia!

    17/09/2014 at 3:54 PM

    The turn around of crew on board is hot, not much time for the bunks to cool down before the next team are in. Aunty Elodie and cousin Laura arrived  fresh from France and from New Zealand; aunty Wiga with  Alice, Julie, Pauline and Chis. After a couple days of “city activity” and re-provisioning we set out from Port Vila towards Erromango. It became a never ending tacking duel as we had underestimated beating into the20knots  trade winds for 80 miles. The hours slowly ticked by and every tack we had to roll a few sea sick casualties just  to get to the winch to put in the tack, bodies spread all over the floor and deck just wanting to give in to neptune.  (I’m sure the Kava session of the night before didn’t help either!) It was much like a hospital! After 36 hours we eventually sailed into the calm water of Dillon’s bay, Erromango.  It has been the most frustrating leg of sailing yet.

     

    Arrival to Erromango was most welcome ! A local man David showed us around Dillon’s bay village where a nearby fresh water swimming hole was a big highlight. We enjoyed  bathing all the salt away, and also visited the nearby  caves  where his ancestors were buried over a hundred years  ago.  Pretty amazing to see the skeletons still intact. Over the past 7 years David has been building a yacht club/accommodation with help from the passing yachties.  It’s a slow progress with many resources sourced locally.  The planking is milled locally and produced a really nice looking place.   We gave him some items to sell to help fundraise for his project and also fixed his broken generator (which had halted construction for nearly a year!)  

     

    Erromango was again a different landscape to the other islands with rugged cliffs and not much vegetation.  It used to be covered in sandal wood and kauri trees but have since been logged and traded for next to nothing to the Chinese in the mid 1800’s .  Sylvan and Roddy rode on the motor bikes with a local guide to see one of the biggest Kauri trees remaining.   A ‘not far’ walk turned into several hours and eventually they arrived at the trees; very similar to the Kauri in NZ just with just slightly bigger leaves. It was a nice reminder of home.

     

    Sylvan was also invited to go hunting with some of the local boys. After walking for miles in the bush, the pack of dogs tore off and holed up a few pigs.  The boys took off after the dogs and after catching up dispatched the pigs using  a spear made of a machete blade tied onto a stick. After making a fire and cooking  some freshly caught pig pieces, they walked back to the village with a leg each over their shoulder.

     

    40 cent breakfast of local specialties cooked by the mammas was an attraction each morning.   The women were interested in new recipe ideas and mum using what she could find in the bilge performed an “on board cooking show” which was a big hit. It was really nice to make connections with all the local children and other villagers who were endlessly confused how we were all related. So many women on board who look so similar and only 3 young men??

     

    Our next destination was Tanna where we would pick up the remaining uncles.   Before departing we surveyed the weather closely to make sure we had a bit more east in the winds so it was not dead on the nose all the way!  This passage we enjoyed a much smoother sail and a yummy underway treat.  Roast wild pork with crackling and all the trimmings for those who weren’t sea sick (although a lot less this time round!)  We arrived in Port Resolution ahead of the ETA and made another brave night entrance under a brightly moonlight sky.

     

    Our days in Tanna were spent re-connecting with the people we had met 11 years ago when some of us were here last.  Many of them remembered Dad for his help salvaging useful parts of a wrecked yacht.  It was great to have that existing connection and were  welcomed very warmly. The very last of the donations- 8 boxes of clothes, medical and school books were distributed to different areas around the island.  We had saved all the warm clothes to give to Tanna as it is a lot further south and it is one of the only islands where people live inland up in the hills.

    Because customs is located on the other side of the island in a poorly sheltered anchorage, Roddy and I went on an administration mission to clear customs by motor bike! Tanna is definitely a destination I recommend. Not only because you can stand on the crater of mt Yasur volcano and watch it spew chunks of lava and smoke with thunderous booms but also because of the diverse environments, beautiful beaches and friendly people still living very traditionally. The riding on the ash plains was a blast, such a change in scenery after riding through the lush jungle.  Long stretches of black ash at the base of the volcano created a black desert, different wind swept formations, sharp sulfur clouds seized our lungs and no life around made it feel like another planet!  I was on my own coming back through the desert and ended up a bit lost on the edge of a big crevice with no trace where I had been or where I had to go! The wind was so strong it just wiped the tracks clean! I finally made it back just before dark, a bit shaken and covered in ash but content.

     

    After eating our quota of feasts consisting of lap lap, taro and manioc and with bilges full of banana, papaya and coconut we bid sad goodbyes to our friends.  What an experience we’d had in Vanuatu.  We were so very warmly welcomed wherever we visited.  Now 13 on board (the unlucky number!) we set off with a nice beam wind toward New Caledonia cranking 9.5 kts!  With this great speed we made a record number of fish hooked in one day, 4 tuna and 2 mahimahi. The lot was quickly devoured in all manner of ways; raw, fried, smoked, baked, pickled, dried and shared around!

     

    Mum, her brother, her bothers future wife and sister sailed together over 25 years ago and now were together again with the next generation.  There was plenty of reminiscing about the sailing all those years ago.  Everyone adapted well to life on board and with good winds we crossed over to New Caledonia in no time, through the sketchy Havannah pass without any problems and in to the largest lagoon in the world. In the lagoon we were treated to smooth sailing with no swell in the nice trade wind breeze.

     

    The passage to Noumea took a mere 48 hours and resulted in hardly any seasick casualties, only a tummy bug which now was starting to get out of hand... passed on slowly but surely from one to another when ones immune system was down it would just come and knock you down for 24 hours, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. All except 2 members ended up getting it. Luckily it died out with just a couple more casualties without contaminating the whole of new cal…

     

    The next week the weather was average and the engine was spitting the dummy with fuel leaking into the oil… this time was spent reuniting with our New Caledonian family, mostly involving food, food and more food stacked high on tables of surrounded by 40+ people. It was really special to have all the family from France, NZ and New Caledonia altogether!

     

    Noumea is a shock after Vanuatu, people don’t say hello to you anymore as you walk in the street, there is an emptiness, they run from one appointment to the next. The material world has taken over and the inequalities are even larger, indigenous land rights issues with new mines left right and center. What a contrast after being in such remote places where people still live very traditionally, closely to nature in a sustainable way, cultivating their own gardens and hunting for their meat and fish. Land is not “owned” as we know it but instead a person is seen to be a custodian and takes pride in caring for that land It is passed on through generations and is where they build their huts, using surrounding material from the bush. They live simply and realize that they don’t need much more than what they have now. What we found is they are thirsty for education. This is where we hope we were able to assist the most, bringing educational material and sharing knowledge; whether it was in engineering/electrics or with midwifery and women’s workshops they were always very open and keen to learn new ways. Always sharing and giving to one another with a smile on their face, these are rich people- those who live on ‘Island time,’ time that is spent with their families and friends. It makes me realize even more how scary our world is and how lucky we are to visit these parts before our western ways take over.

     

    The next month we will be based around Noumea and doing trips around the lagoon.

    Still have a few spaces to sail back to NZ around mid October let us know if you are interested!

    Update from Pam!

    02/08/2014 at 6:19 PM

    To the fading strains of the Marseillaise the last crew change took place on 14 July. 5 of us arrived on the Air New Zealand flight, some of us with 7kgs of luggage and others with rods, hooks, lines, floats, spears, spearguns ,wetsuits, 5 foot long flippers……..I should have been prepared but life is always full of surprises. After a scrumptious dinner prepared for us on board by a departing Roddy and Sofia, we settled ourselves in for the night and our next day departure for Emae. Fishing began in earnest on our first passage but to no avail.

    Emae provided us with swims and snorkelling , lovely walks and for some of us, first contact with these amazingly warm and friendly people. We had Betty with us and took some supplies to the hospital, stopping off at the kindergarten for some chats and photo fun. We met up with Mick and Annamieke and Chay on Moonfish and all left on a fish catching mission en route to Epi Island. This is when I was given my first peek into what fishing passion is all about. Mick is another passionate fisherman and the competition was on. Sailing took a back seat, not to mention arrival at destination, as we zigged and zagged along the contours of astoundingly beautiful islands with stunning views of volcanoes and the fishermen stared unceasingly at the sea and tutued endlessly with gear in mortal fear of Moonfish catching more fish than us. On arrival at Revelieu Bay, another picturesque anchorage adjacent to colourful reefs, frantic radio contact revealed that Moonfish had caught a large mahi mahi and to add insult to injury they gifted a large portion to us. Luckily, thwarted fish catching satisfaction did not stop the boys from smoking and then eating the delicious catch.

    Revelieu Bay was another rich source of friends, coconuts , pamplemousse and spawned a last minute night dive where the boys claimed they got 2 crays which miraculously “escaped” from the back deck before we had a chance to turn them into bisque!

    The next leg of the journey was to Leman Bay and was made variously by bicycle by Nadine and Betty, a long, strenuous and steeply hilly journey made much more exciting by the absence of brakes; by kayak by Annamieke and Billie;  fishing on Mick’s boat by Silas and Chelsea; sleeping on board by James and Ollie and sailing by Sylvan and Pam. Mick, if I remember rightly, caught a fish.

    Leman Bay and Leman Island were the high point of the trip for this crew member.   Apart from the beauty of the kayaking and snorkeling and the turtles swimming around the boat all day long, the dugong came to visit and even swam with Billie (some of us were very jealous!).We visited the hospital and talked at great length with the nurse in charge there. We visited the kindergartens and took part in the children’s day celebrations, doing drawing and crayon/dyeing activities with the kids and reading books and playing games with balls and yoyos and balloons with them. We attended the Independence Day celebrations on Leman Island (bit of a theme going on here) and brushed up on our bislama. No Cutem tree, no cutem tree (global warming song) and Nadine’s favourite on the gate of the copra factory “yu not kam insaed”. Pam likes “basket belong pikanini” for womb from Betty’s woman’s workshop for new mothers, another highlight. ( See us privately for some more choice morsels from that session, cause of great hilarity among the island girls.)

     

    2 short Adventures

    ·         Pam and Betty decided to kayak round to the next bay but failed to take the current into account and so arrived too late to make it back by nightfall. Emergency accomodation needed to be found but some necessities were in short supply. Dinner out was delicious but the night got pretty cold!

    ·         Tom came by the boat to visit on his outrigger dugout. Nadine asked if she could have a go and she and Pam got in and had a jolly paddle round the bay.

     

    The Coconut Oil Factory

     

    An interesting motor into a gale causing a flurry of homeless women to appear on the cabinsole of Sylfia (photos available on request) brought us to the copra factory. We were given the guided tour by the manager who had previously succumbed to Sylvan’s inimitable Kuczera charm. We were left to work out the health and safety rules ourselves they seemed to include, manager wears steel caps, everyone else is barefoot and thorough greasing with coconut oil of metal rails on steep, high staircases.

    A climb to the top of said staircases reveals worker or two inside giant hoppers shoveling copra. Of course this means Ollie immediately leaps into the hopper and start shoveling whilst local worker looks on at this keen volunteer workforce with mild bemusement stepped up to increasing disbelief when James joins him and starts digging in like a dog, piling up the copra behind him while disappearing deeper into the blackness. Meanwhile Nadine has asked the hapless worker at the first stage so many questions that production has come to a grinding halt. Despite this, all available buckets and containers were filled with the delicious smelling oil and offers of payment waved away. Had there been and 100 litre empty tank on Sylfia we could have surely gone into business. Oh that Kuczera charm!

     

    There are so many things I have missed out in this missive. Dinner with Chief Willy’s family, food on and off the boat. eg today’s afternoon snack: take a cracker, plaster it with peanut butter, sprinkle liberally with freshly roasted, hot peanuts, slap on a slice of ripe tropical banana and top off with cinnamon sugar. Yum. All piss taking aside, we got to eat loads of delicious fish caught, filleted, smoked and served up thanks to our fishing obsessives. Top skippers, awesome fellow crew members, great conversations, loads of laughs many more fishing stories of course.

    Last night we sailed back to Efate. There was a lot of wind and wave action, the kind of trip when every little task is a mission. The ship works perfectly, crew, watches, equipment and above all leadership. I never felt a moment of doubt about the safety of the ship or the competence and sound judgement of the skippers. Big pakipaki for Sofia, Sylvan and Sylfia.

    Endnote

     I have learnt now to recognize a passionate fisherman. In the middle of a conversation,  and that can be a very noisy moment on a boat with eleven people, you just need to whisper “big fish” and all the heads that pop up, exactly like a meerkat sensing approaching danger, that’s them!

     Ollie, favourite passionate fisherman, hooked a black Marlin at dawn this morning, in the midst of the chaos. Sadly for him it got away. I’m glad they got to meet and that the marlin is still swimming the warm silky waters of Vanuatu. Next time, Ollie!

    Update from Greta

    17/07/2014 at 2:55 PM


    An update from Sylfia written by Greta;

    I’ve been on board for three weeks now and it’s been absolutely awesome.Sylfia made it to Santo to collect some new crew members and wave goodbye to others. We stayed in a beautiful bay (Sarunda) round the coast from Luganville for a few days of snorkeling and dive adventures , trips to town and for us newbies, it was a great way to settle into island life. Then it was further up the coast to Turtle Bay with six of us sailing and the other two travelling up on the bikes. More snorkeling, kayak, bicycle and motorbike missions. The motorbikes were a delight when in action but an endless frustration when malfunctioning, which unfortunately was more often than not.

    blue hole missions

    One of the highlights was kayaking  up the rivers just near the boat, crystal clear water covered by lush jungle. After about an hour weaving in and out of this magical world which seemed so far from all else, we arrived at a magnificent blue/turquoise swimming hole. To our delight we found hanging from the trees some wicked swings to plunge straight into the refreshing freshwater.

     

    After a few days up the Santo coast we had to do a quick motor back to Luganville to get fresh water as the forecasted rain showers completely missed us! We docked at the wharf once one of the many huge cruise ships hanging round Vanuatu had departed. We filled the tanks with water -  3,000 litres for a measly 300Vatu (Nz$4). Fresh water showers and washing meant there were smiles all round and a local friend of ours came on board for dinner bringing a box of cold beers which went down a treat.

    The following morning we set sail for the less travelled west coast of Malakula –  meaning we had to give up hope of reaching the northern more isolated islands.  Our original plans of heading up to the  northern banks and Torres islands groups ended up being a little more of an adventure than we had anticipated.  As the return sail against the predominant trade winds would mean a long uncomfortable sail back south to Efate with time restraints ,we decided for more land time over sailing time, sad to have missed these remote parts out but also  happy with our decision. 

    jungle

    Malakula has far exceeded everyone’s expectations. We’ve met so many lovely locals who’ve welcomed us in. We’ve been spoilt with fresh coconuts, papaya and grapefruit and have been able to distribute lots of donated supplies to the local schools and medical centres; so thank you to all those who helped with this back home. They’ve been hugely appreciated by the people we’ve met. From our first brief stop in Malua Bay, we headed south to Dixons reef where the locals have initiated a marine reserve with rotating catch areas. We anchored for 4 days surrounded by colorful reefs and little coral islands. 

    reef

    Next we hopped over to South West Bay where we spent a week. We befriended a 73 year old Ni-Van called Albin who invited us to his Kastom village and explained to us the way his ancestors used to live. Albin then took a bunch of us on a 3 day hike into the hills in the pouring rain which was hard going and incredibly muddy but an awesome adventure all the same. It was fascinating to see some remote highland villages and we thoroughly enjoyed getting kava-ed with the locals in the evenings.

    Albin

     

    kustom village

     

    After being politely asked to move as we had anchored right in the flight path, Roddy, Betty and her daughter Sara landed fresh from Kerikeri on the grassy airstrip, just a few hundred meters from Sylfia.  Betty is a  midwife and  spent the next few days engaging with the locals and conducting workshops with the traditional birth attendants and nurses, teenagers, mothers and mothers to be. People came from near and far to share  her knowledge on natural birth and family planning. It was really great to see so many people interested and appreciative of these valuable teachings.It’s been an incredible few weeks of warm weather, dozens of swims and plenty of silliness- the dress up box has been getting good use. There’ve been many good adventures, no shortage of delicious food and good vibes galore. As I write we’ve been greeted by a bunch of pilot whales playing in our bow wake!

    bettys class

    Adventures

    16/06/2014 at 5:14 PM

    Here is another little update from the sylfia crew !

     

    After leaving Vila we spent some time in Epi Island, we first visited the south east where we had some boxes to deliver to a specific family and school. The bay was exposed to the trades and not charted. Hardly any cruising yachts visit, there are no roads, only local ferries so it’s pretty remote! We only knew where it was because they had made a fire, put up a red flag and sent a canoe to welcome us. The anchorage wasn’t even that deep and the sandy bottom provided good holding, just really Rolly and windy. We carried the boxes of goods along the rich black sand beach, fringed by lush tumbling jungle, from our landing place to the village further up the bay.

    The family gave us the warmest welcome with stunning leaf necklaces, an abundance of fruits and even a pig for us, needless to say we were very grateful! All of the crew were pretty moved by the experience!

     

     

    Next we landed in Lamen bay, it was stunning as well. Our stay included disembarking the dentist chair and about 15 other boxes of goods for the hospital, schools and communities trust, as well as personal items from Epi’s fruit picking workers in Kerikeri! We have a lot more freeboard now! We were once again received like kings with fresh fruit and a chicken; "how would you like it, alive or dead?". Epi was really beautiful; more lush jungle, nice beaches and good snorkeling including the visits of friendly turtles all around the boat. Sylvan and the cousin Jeremy were taken out for a spear fish with one of the local boys and came back with about 5 rainbow runner fish- similar to a small king fish.

    We even got the windsurfer out for a play. Not much luck had though, the wind was quite gusty and variable, we had a hard time staying up. Not to mention the whole gang of kids on the beach laughing at the silly white person on some weird object making a fool of them self! I guess I would have laughed too!

     

    We left on Sunday in the early hours to Uluveu isl (Maskelyne islands, southern Malekula). Our friends had visited this island over a period of 10 years on their yacht Ranui, and found this densely populated island that had contaminated fresh water and health issues that came from a lack of clean water, resulting in scabies covering the children’s skin. They decided to create an NGO and set up a solar desalination plant involving some pretty amazing technology. They now have enough capacity to supply the community with fresh water only using solar energy! Originally to eradicate the scabies, soap was made with coconut oil and flavors from the island. It then evolved to setting up a little factory only involving women to make soaps for themselves and their communities, as well as selling some to make money for the trust.

     

    Due to the waters being uncharted we were guided in by a local boat through reefs and around bommies to find an idyllic little bay just big enough for Sylfia to tuck into.

    Once inside, we were greeted warmly by the local school and project committee members who had been planning our arrival for months ahead. All very formal there were speeches, blessings and refreshments. we knew this was coming, so we had rehearsed and taught the Frenchies the song ‘Tutira Mai nga iwi’ to sing in response. To our surprise the locals already knew the song!!

     

    The next days consisted of helping the women out in the soap factory to prepare soaps to take back to NZ to sell for them. Sylvan was straight away employed in the very well-equipped workshop, trying to troubleshoot and help fix tools and maintain solar set ups. The crew also conducted workshops on maintenance and operation of tools and electrics.

    We have much more to learn; from the culture to understanding island politics. But everyone has been very friendly and all crew very grateful to be here :).

     

    After a very relaxing trip over to Ambrym we arrived at dusk. The mystic light was very suiting to the feel of the island. Again, this place was very different to the each of the other islands we had visited. This was the land of black magic, wood carvings and Volcanoes!

    While 6 of the crew hiked up the volcano, I stayed and looked after the boat with Sarah and Jeremy. Nice to have a bit of quiet time as 10 people living in a small space can be pretty intense at times! We also went on a wave seeking mission around the outer reefs. Jeremy is crazy about surfing and has been going crazy as there has been no luck with waves yet, but today we had finally hit the jack pot! There were nice ones, even small tubes .. Breaking strait on the reef though, so definitely not for some.. but he had a blast!

    On our way back from the reef we saw a dugong fluke up. Further along saw some mad dolphin shows, with all sorts of flips and playing in the dinghy wake. Then, a small whale just casually cruising and checking us out for a good 15min, it got pretty close up too. Just to top it off we had a stunning rainbow in the background. We were pretty stoked and were only a little bit jealous when the others got back and said they had a great hike up the volcano...

     

    The volcano team reported it was totally not what one would expect, with different layers of vegetation as the trek went higher. From lush greenery mixed with lava rocks, to the ash plains, with little specks of life, then the harsh volcanic grit. At the crater, the cloud of steam blew away for a brief few minutes to look straight down 300m into the boiling cauldrons of lava. This was not an erupting volcano as in Tanna, but it sure was alive. The team spent the night in a little grass hut just down from the summit, before hiking back down through the stunning scenery.

     

    We left in the beautiful sunset light with a clear view of the volcanoes. As dusk hit we found ourselves navigating to the fascinating fiery orange glows of Ambrym and Lopevi volcanoes; a little spooky but how magic!

     

    Here we are in Espiritu Santo Island, Sylvan spent his 21st birthday diving the cooliage wreck with his new gear! It’s a renown divesite, a 200m long ship lying from 30 to 60m deep and a really impressive dive, as you can explore the interior this state of the art ship (from the 1940’s). Sylvan returned buzzing, exclaiming it was the best dive of his life! Even though the party ended really early we still made the most of the occasion, dressing up, drinking and eating a feast!

     

    The frenchies ready to fly back to the other side of the world and our mum is flying back to spend some home time for a month. In return we have 3 lovely ladies to join the next part of our adventure! We don’t have a set plan where we will visit next although we still have many books, medical, and clothes to deliver!

     

     

    Land Ho!

    25/05/2014 at 6:50 PM

    Here we are all safely arrived in Vanuatu!!

     

    We are currently in Port Vila reprovisioning, receiving new crew and farewelling some.

     

    We arrived on the 16th of May into Anatom island after a great trip across from NZ

    Holding watches and steering the entire way our awesome crew played a big part in getting us here in good time, averaging around 100miles a day.

     

    We eased into it with smooth weather and not much wind which finally stabilized and increased after few days of motoring, We ended up with squally 25kt SE breeze towards the second half of the trip, the last few days were spent uncomfortably rolling around surfing down waves which helped us knock off the last few hundred miles while dodging under water volcanoes and catching our fair share of mahi mahi and tuna!

     

    Amongst the seasickness we found ways to entertain our selves with boat improvement projects, dress up parties and hair cuttings including several Kgs Nicks locks !! Of course eating was high on the agenda and we still have fresh fruit and vegies left thanks to the community garden, we sure didn’t have any risk of getting scurvy!

     

    This brought us to arrive to the entrance of Anelghowhat bay just after sunset on Thursday the 16th, earlier on Sylvan and I agreed to only make approaches to strange harbors including breaking reefs during day light hours.. but none of us were that keen to stay another sticky sleepless night bobbing around waiting for day light to come..

     

    We studied our navigation options including various paper charts and a couple of different electronic chart versions with 3 different GPS receivers, checked they all matched, plotted some way points and decided to brave the challenge in trust of all modern technology. Surfing in to our harbor approach, with winds gusting up to 30kts, popping a few gybes in and even with a tiny rag of a sail still making 7kts, it all calmed down as we came into the Leigh of the reef and made it safely to good anchor holding ground, Thankful for the moon, technology, beds that don’t move and dad watching over us!

    We woke up to beautiful lush greenery surrounding us and rain showers of fresh water to bathe all the salt away. All in good spirits, eager to explore!

     

    After spending a couple days in Anatom island making wobbly attempts walking on dry land and discovering the colorful underwater wonders we set sail  for the day to Tanna island where we had an amazing welcome by the local community who knew the boat and our father who had visited the island in previous years. They all claimed to be his ‘best friend’

     

    The first night we visited the active volcano yasur where you stand on the edge of the crater and look down as she explodes, sometimes higher than us! very impressive and you feel as though you shouldn’t be so close to such an incredible force.

     

     

    Over the few days spent in Tana island we delivered some medical supplies to the hospital that were packed specifically  from a source in New Zealand. Nikki and Barry felt very welcome there ,they were taken for a visit of the very organized caring  hospital, felt the gifted resources were going to be in very worthwhile  use  and were presented with handsomely homemade  weaving .

    One of the highlights was visiting the schools, the children were so happy to see us and when we started handing out the books the children and the teacher were delighted!

    The crew also visited the local preschool and played sing alongs with the guitar.

    In return they cooked us this amazing feast of Lap Lap and introduced us to there back yard of Lush edible food forests, beaches with fish to be caught from and an incredible sense of community. This is the place to learn from about sustainable living,  looking forward to sharing and learning  from them as we sail north!

     

     

     

    THANK YOU!!

    04/05/2014 at 9:06 AM

    A Giant THANK YOU!
    For all the immense help and support we have received to make this project come to life!  
     
     We have had a overwhelming response with donations from near and far and can assure every nook and cranny on board 'SYLFIA' has been put to good use! 
     
    Our good ship resembles somewhat something like Noah's ark..except no animals.. yet!  We have it all from  boxes of Medical and hygiene supplies, books and education materials,toys, tools and electrical items to help with repairs, even a dentist and wheel chair!  in all the spare spaces we have managed to stuff with bags of clothes.. 
     
    So here we are in our final couple of days putting our land lives on standby and waiting for the right weather window to come and blow us hopefully nicely from opua to the island of anyatuum  expecting around 7 to 14 days of sailing time.
     
    The time will come right and we will set sail with a little piece of all you generous people who want to help make a difference. 
     
     
    I can just see the hundreds of smiles from the Nevan people throughout the shores of Vanuatu.
     
    We will be in touch with more following the communication opportunities!
     

    THANK YOU! Please continue to support our project!

    09/04/2014 at 4:43 PM

    Kia ora! Wow A very big THANK YOU for all your very generous support! cant belive we have already almost reached our traget of $500! 

    We would like to raise more, which means more supplies and valuable items we can provide the local communites in the remote islands of Vanuatu . Please spread the word!

     

    In the mean time all is coming along nicely between painting, woodworking, saftey, provisioning and all the logistics that comes with preparing our yacht for the big departure in 3 weeks!!! can't wait!

    Will be back with more updates soon!

     

      Willem van Rijn
      17/04/2014 at 7:44am
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      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 17/04/2014 at 7:44 AM.