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38 foot Trimaran "Witchitit" Charter Rates NEW CHARTER OPTION!! We tailor our itinerary to suit the charters, of course its always up to the
weather anyway but Vanuatu has lots of great anchorages adn cruising stops
wherever you choose to cruise. Our terms of payment are a 50% on booking date,
and balance prior to departure. Outer Island Experience The Banks Group of Islands are about 200 nautical miles north of Vanuatu's
capital Port Vila . There are no direct flights from Vila. To go to the Banks,
visitors need to travel via Santo from which the islands are serviced three
times per week by the country's domestic airline Van Air. On the second day we sailed across open water to Lakona Bay on the west coast of Gaua Island. This was the longest leg of our journey covering 50 nautical miles of open sea, we had a great sail! At Lakona bay we were met by a group of villagers in outrigger canoes. This became the standard form of welcome at every spot where a village was located. It was amazing how even the smallest children were able to maneuver their small canoes so skillfully. Many yachts barter while cruising the islands, so that evening was the start fo our bartering for local, fresh seafood. In exchange for T/shirts, batteries and speargun rubber, we ordered crayfish! Day three started with an early morning swim/snorkel, the crayfish arrived by canoe and after a further exchange of gifts, we were invited ashore to see the “water music”. Standing waist deep in a river mouth on the beach, a dozen women struck and churned the water surface in a practiced way, creating music and rhythm. We listened to 5 different songs and it was incredible. After another excellent dive the wind had picked up to help us on our way to the next island, Vanua Lava. As we left Gaua, Denny set some lines off the stern of the ‘Witchitit’ and before long we had caught a 20kg yellowfin tuna – sashimi and tuna steaks for dinner. Late that afternoon we paddled to the twin waterfalls that give the anchorage its name, “Waterfall Bay”, we pulled the dingy onto the beach and followed a well-marked trail to the base of the falls. Due to the recent rains, the water was thundering down sending the spray in a very wide arc. That evening we again received a good feed of large crayfish in exchange for some gifts. With a good wind behind us, it was a quick 18 mile sail to Ureparapara, an
extinct volcano shaped like a horseshoe. Over time, part of its circular crater
wall has collapsed letting the sea in, creating a 2 mile long natural harbour.
On approaching the immense headlands we were awed by the magnificent landscape.
High cliff faces, walls of the extinct volcano surrounded us and we felt
privileged to experience the absolute delight of sailing into the crater of
Ureparapara. A delightful village is located a the head of the bay. The next
anchorage on our itinerary was Ravenga Island, just off the NE of Vanua Lava.
This island is uninhabited and we ventured ashore for a walk along the lovely
sandy beach, where we collected a wide variety of shells, including several
Nautilus shells and some lovely cowries.
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