We got up early in Port Resolution Bay and picked up our stern anchor that we had set out previously, to keep the bow pointing into the small swell and not rocking the boat, then grabbed the bow anchor and headed north for Erromongo. Mount Yasur was still smoking as we passed offshore in the early morning.
When we got to the north end of Tanna we were briefly visited by some large dolphins. They seemed to not be all that interested in playing with our bow wake like the dolphins we’ve encountered in other places… just coming by to say hello.
We arrived at William’s Bay late in the afternoon. There were two cruising boats in the anchorage, both boats we had met in Port Resolution. Chief Jacob quickly paddled up in his outrigger and introduced himself. We invited him onboard for a late coffee and some cookies. A very interesting and friendly man. He told us a lot about the village and island.
He is a great football fan (soccer for you Yanks), so we gave him one of our soccer balls. These are really high quality balls that we got from brother-in-law Juli Vee and the chief was suitably impressed. He invited us to come in tomorrow to see his houses and garden.
This is Chief Jacob’s wife and children. Notice that the little girl is playing with a large, sharp knife. This is not unusual here and you never see the parents hovering over the kid saying Be careful. I’m assuming there is some genetic transfer of knowledge that keeps them safe from slicing off body parts.
The bay we are anchored in is named Dillon’s Bay on most charts. Peter Dillon came to Erromongo from Australia in the early 1800’s to harvest sandalwood trees. The locals pretty much sent him trucking on his way without a load of sandalwood. Latter King Kamehaeha of Hawaii sent two ships full of Polynesian Hawaiians to take over the island to gather sandalwood. This also didn’t go over well with the locals and only 20 of the 479 Hawaiians made it back to Hawaii.
With this general distrust, or perhaps disgust, of foreigners did not bode well for the early missionaries. John Williams of the London Missionary Society showed up in 1839 and was promptly killed and eaten by the Erromangans. About 170 years after his death his descendants arrived on the island for a reconciliation ceremony. The islanders are now very religious and have multiple churches in the small village. The bay was renamed William’s Bay in honor of the eaten missionary.
The plants you see in the center of the picture above are part of a sandalwood nursery. Many of the locals plant them on their land and are able to harvest them in 15 to 17 years. A decent sized tree will pay for a year or more of schooling.
The walls of the homes are typically woven of bamboo and the roofs are palm fronds. This is Jacobs’s house here, recently rebuilt after being flattened by Cyclone Pam. The family stayed in a large cave on their property during the storm.
It turns out that we are not the only country to have bewildering politics. William’s Bay has two chiefs. This picture is Chief Jason. He appears to us to be the administrative chief of the main village. Chief Jacob owns a large portion of land right on the bay and up the hillside (this is land that he has recently gotten title to by applying to the Vanuatu Supreme Court) and Chief Jason owns land on either side of this. After we met Chief Jason we asked him if we could get permission to visit the Caves. He told us to come back at 2pm and he would guide us. At two we all jumped in the dingy and headed to a beach about a mile north of the village. Jacob walked us on a short trail to this cave entrance while telling us about the island and its people. At the cave entrance he stopped and asked ceremoniously to the cave inhabitants if we could have permission to visit.
Chief Jason and Chris inside the cave. You can tell that it was really interesting because Chris has not yet melted down from her claustrophobia.
Buried in the cave are Jason’s ancestors. The island has been inhabited for two or three thousand years. These remains looked a lot more recent.
Those are pretty healthy looking teeth.
There is an old belt buckle lying next to these bones.
The kids in the village were all interested in us and friendly, except for this girl in the red stripes. She seemed scared to be around us. The school teaches in both French and English. The village speaks its own Erromangan language as well as the national language, Bislama. The Erromangan language is related to the languages in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
We were invited to stop by for a snack that turned out to be lunch at Donald and Lotties house. She is putting together a private kindergarten for the local kids. Chris brought some school supplies plus our last small child’s soccer ball.
Donald and Lottie in front of the kindergarten building they built on their property.
Just prior to the ship arriving some of the locals went off to harvest some rose wood. These planks will be sent up to Port Vila on the cargo ship to be sold. The proceeds are to pay for school for the tree’s owner’s kids.
We saw this collection of stones on the beach and had to ask what they were all about. They are also going to Port Vila, to be used in making the national dish “laplap” which looks a bit like Mexican tamales.
The village is located beside a clear river that flows through an idyllic looking valley.
The size of the tropical trees here never ceases to amaze me. That’s Chris with the red shirt walking up toward the trunk of this medium sized banyan tree, mid-left of the picture.
William’s Bay was a really interesting stop. We wish we had a little more time to explore Vanuatu.
Paul
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