Maskelyn Islands

We arrived in the Maskelyne Islands about four to five hours after leaving Lamen Bay. There are five islands with about 1100 people in total. We arrived at a quiet anchorage to enjoy peaceful views from the boat. We had many curious visitors to our boat and some wonderful memories.

	View from our boat of bluff where we collected magic sea rocks. These rocks are used to bring rain, thunder and lightening. We gave them to our Australian friends to use next time they experience a drought.

Here Rick fixed a few items for the locals. Our first visitor was the chief of a local village that seems to have only about four families. He had with him a plane that Rick believes was 50 plus years old. Of course it needed fixing - something that could only be done with a bit of creativity. Rick fixed the plane and sharpened it as well. We found out the chief was using the plane to build a canoe for his grandson which made it even more special to Rick.

Rick and the chief reviewing the canoe that was being made using the plane Rick was able to fix for him.

Rick's next "fixer upper" was another genset. This unit was small and we were told it was from the school. Of course Rick was going to make every effort to fix it figuring it was important to the learning cycle at the school. As you can see he again drew a crowd as everyone wanted to watch the repair. There was one person responsible for the genset and Rick worked closely with him, teaching him as he went on how to maintain the unit because it was extremely dirty and needed much TLC.

	Rick and the villagers as he explained how to clean and maintain the generator.
This is the gentleman who is responsible for maintaining the genset starting it after the repair.

It was after the repair that Rick finally asked about the use of the genset. He figured they used it for lights in the school or possibly a refrigerator to keep food cold. Well this genset was used solely for the male population of the village and only on Thursday nights. At that time they all gathered in the school to watch a Konan the Barbarian film. This is the only film they have and they watch it every week.

After a few days visiting with the villagers in this small area of Vanuatu it was time to move on. When we left the village the last time, as you can see we misjudged the tide and need assistance in getting the dinghy into the water. As we left, all of the children were there to give us a proper sendoff. Wonderful people who were very appreciative of everything we did while visiting them.

	Misjudged the tide and thankfully the villagers helped us get the boat back to the water.
As we left all the children gave us a sendoff.

Our next stop is going to be Malakula - we were hoping to meet up with one of the Peace Corp workers we had met in Tanna for a tour of his village. See you there.