Robbed

It's easy to get stuck in a south seas port. The pace of life is slow and pleasant, the climate is great, and the scenery lovely. But I usually get a little antsy after a couple of weeks. I now have added impetus to get going. Two nights ago someone stole my dinghy from where I left it ashore and presumably used it to go on Twister and steal what they thought was valuable including my guitar, binoculars, my old iBook notebook computer, and some random electronic bits. Fortunately they were kind enough not to take the chartplotter or anything else essential to the operation of the boat (although the binoculars are quite handy sometimes). Getting robbed sucks. I was very fond of my guitar and having a computer stolen opens one up to myriad identity theft and fraud issues, but the worst part is the feeling of being violated--knowing someone was aboard Twister rummaging through my things--and the effect it has on my feeling toward the locals (in an intellectual sense I know it could happen anywhere and that it was only one or two people, but it happened here, so emotionally  it leaves me with some feeling of dislike for the Ni-vanuatu which is what the locals are called). Of course, in the big scheme of things, it's only an annoyance and inconvenience (using my surfboard to paddle ashore while I try to find a new dinghy). Like a wise man said, "don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff.

Anyway, I've more or less decided to head for Cairns in Australia. The forecast looks promising for a Thursday departure. I have run into Mike (whom I first met in Pago Pago, American Samoa last year) from the boat "This Side Up" (one of the better boat names I've come across) here in Port Vila and he is also planning to head to Cairns on Thursday, so we have agreed to schedule a daily radio chat on the SSB (thankfully I still have that) during the passage. "This Side Up" is 45 feet to Twister's 28, so he will probably beat me by several days.