This is a report via the Bluewater Cruisers Association from someone who weathered cyclone Pam.

Randall Donofrio ?Liveaboard Sailboat


We already knew Friday the 13th of March was going to be a black day with talk of the Vanuatu Beast and Nuclear Cyclones having done the rounds for a week or so. As currently forecast, the eye was going to side swipe us by about 100 miles at category 5.

Our boat was already hauled, cottage cyclone shutters in place, big battery, inverter and lights for the cyclone itself and generator for the post cyclone power outage. It’s funny, after weathering cyclones on boats with only solar panels, we realized we needed a generator to run our fridge etc. Not so self sufficient as land lubbers. Plenty of food and drinking water in stock as well as charged phone batteries, kindle & laptop.

The morning of the 13th was spent doing a couple of last minute preparations and talking about strategies & contingencies with the Admiral. Our cottage is 4 metres above high tide mark and about 8 metres back from the water on a lagoon. The winds were forecast to come straight across the lagoon at us then veer to the southwest as the eye passed, so we were going to receive the full brunt of what Pam had to offer, with water thrown into the mix as well.
As the winds built we battened down and by lunch time we had 40 knots gusting to 60, nothing too dramatic yet if you have ever lived in Wellington NZ. By early evening it was really starting to boogie and we stood by to lose power at any moment.

Around 1900 we received an updated warning that the system had changed track and was heading more or less directly for us. We had been concerned about losing the roof and what we would do so we had built a small bunker out of 2 very strong tables, covered with a tarpaulin and sheltering our important papers, mementoes etc. with barely enough room for us. After the latest update we decided to enlarge the bunker with a king size bed base supported by the 2 tables and 2 chairs with the mattress underneath for us to sleep on, all kept cozy with the tarpaulin covering the whole lot.

We’ve both lived and worked on the windiest place on Earth and experienced what Antarctica can show but NOTHING prepares you for 130 knots of sustained winds for a few hours. The wind skipped through the “shrieking” phase and went to the “moaning” very quickly but we were so exhausted we actually slept for some time.
The devastation we awakened to on the Saturday was mind boggling. Our cottage proved her worth as an old school colonial building and was almost completely untouched. We were one of the few lucky ones with rooves, trees and assorted debris blocking every street and road.

The clearing effort started immediately and when we were able to get to the harbour we were confronted by about 90% of the moored boat fleet either damaged, sunk, semi submerged or tossed up on shore like a toy boat. Unconfirmed news was reaching us of 3 yachties dead. The coastal trading fleet were lying like a row of tipped over dominoes on Iririki Island with some small boats crushed in between them.

One 90’ steel dive boat had managed to cut a swathe through the moored boats, sinking some, holing others and breaking moorings. Derelict vessels that Marine & Ports had done nothing about broke their lines and holed other boats.
In amongst it all were a few yachts that had survived by some miracle, including an old classic Bass Strait sailing cray boat. None of the owners had expected to have a boat in the morning so the 5 yachts that survived were truly blessed.
We had one boat listed for sale by an absentee owner which ended up with her mast poking through the Waterfront Bar & Grill (for those that know Port Vila). I contacted him yesterday to see if he had insurance, the answer was “no” and he had resigned himself as early as last Wednesday that he had lost his boat. The chainsaw starts tomorrow to remove it.

All this is the devastation from one small part of Vanuatu. Google a map and understand that this system passed the whole length of the island chain, most of which we still have no communication with. Spare a thought for the people of Vanuatu and make sure you come here this year if you are planning to, the country needs yachties like never before.

This is an amazing country with amazing people, I have not seen a single outward show of grief yet there is plenty to grieve about. Some of the first businesses to re-open were the nakamals where people go to enjoy a relaxing shell of kava. We sat around, expats and ni-Vans talking about how lucky we are.
For the person that asked, the lagoon east of the main harbour is barely navigable at the entrance but will allow a 6’ draft to enter at high tide but is actually around a very nasty weather point to approach so has never really been used. (This is the lagoon we live on).

Oh BTW, our yacht “Nightcap” survived the onslaught but, despite being tied down, 8 props and being in the lee of the worst wind managed to fall over gracefully and is now lying on her side. One day I’ll post how to properly prepare a keeler for the strongest storm in recorded history for this part of the world.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Information for Immediate Release

Contact:
Daria Blackwell
OCC Press Officer                     PR@oceancruisingclub.org

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17th March 2015
Sailors band together to get relief to cyclone stricken Pacific Islanders


Dartmouth, Devon, United Kingdom – On Thursday the 14th of March, Cyclone Pam devastated the South Pacific island nations of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, leaving death and destruction behind. In Vanuatu the emergency has been big enough to trigger International Aid so whilst the job is massive, many planes are already arriving with supplies. Temotu (North East Solomon Islands) has been affected as badly as Vanuatu but, as fewer people live there, it has not triggered an International Aid effort, leaving them with little help. Members of the Ocean Cruising Club, many of whom have visited these islands and made friends among the residents, have asked how best to reach out with assistance that will have the most beneficial impact on the lives of those most affected.

Jim Thomsen, s/v Tenaya, responded, “There are many international organizations that will be helping Vanuatu. One organization, Sea Mercy, has their own sailboats and focuses on reaching the remote islands that are usually the last to receive aid.” Sea Mercy is now preparing to send her Disaster Relief Fleet (DRFleet) to join the Disaster Relief & Recovery efforts in Vanuatu, providing the care needed for the less populated and often forgotten remote islands during such difficult times.

Chris Bone of Oceans Watch responded that it would be best to have a larger impact in Temotu than a small impact in the whole of Vanuatu so they are currently concentrating efforts there. They can also help the smaller northern group of Islands in Vanuatu if it looks like they will miss out on aid assistance. Jim Thomsen reports that remote Tanna may have been the hardest hit island in Vanuatu.

OCC Member Tom Partridge and his partner Susie have been living in Vanuatu for 4 months while his yacht Adina was tied down in a cradle in the Port Vila Boatyard. They were fortunately in New Zealand when Cyclone Pam struck. Late yesterday they received the news that Adina was undamaged and that all yachts in the boatyard were unscathed. They are returning to Vanuatu at the weekend and have offered to stay on to coordinate relief efforts on the ground.

Cyclone Pam has left a huge amount of damage in its wake. Some lives were lost, many houses were damaged or completely destroyed. Fruit trees are gone, gardens washed away or covered in debris, and just root crops left in most instances.

Chris Bone reports, “To date we have used donated funds to pay for an assessment of Fenualoa Island, where we have a good knowledge of all villages. They need ~60 tarpaulins and emergency food. They also need chain saws to clear fallen trees from houses and gardens. We are going to provide some emergency food. We hope World Vision can supply the tarpaulins (they do not provide food) and we have ordered two chainsaws to be loaned to villages and we will be providing fuel. We shall supply a chainsaw mill, too, so that bigger trees can be utilised for building supplies, and are delivering vegetable seeds for planting. OceansWatch is a registered charity in New Zealand, the US, the UK and the Solomon Islands, with 8 years’ experience in the Pacific. We are seeking guidance from our Solomon Island directors as to where our efforts are best placed. We have raised NZ$3,000 so far with more promised. But our greatest need is experienced skippers and crew to sail our boats from New Zealand to the islands as soon as possible after cyclone season.”

The Ocean Cruising Club commends the strategy of these two organizations to reach those hardest hit and least likely to receive immediate international aid. OCC Commodore John Franklin says, "these two organisations, along with assistance from OCC member Tom Partridge in Port Vila, seem to have in place the infrastructure to make a real difference to the plight of the islanders - please support them."

Sea Mercy
http://www.seamercy.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=20

OceansWatch
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/cyclonepamrelief
Contact Chris Bone directly for additional information chris@oceanswatch.org.

For more information about the Ocean Cruising Club, please visit the OCC website at www.oceancruisingclub.org.


[attachment=209]VanuatuMarinaVila.jpg[/attachment]
Photo credit: UNICEF Pacific

Vice Commodore, OCC