Mission Log

A couple from Busselton WA have generously donated a sailing catamaran to PYM. The process of changing ownership to PYM is currently being processed by the Register of Ships in Canberra. ‘Inflight’ is 12.6 Metre (42 foot) long and 6.2 Metres (21 foot) wide, and she is cutter rigged (ie has two foresails). She has proved herself to be a strong seaworthy vessel. She is having modifications reversed so that she will again have 3 double berths, and the saloon settee will be modified as well to provide another double berth. She has a very functional galley (kitchen). Her heads (on board toilets) have been reduced from two to one already to allow the return of the third berth.

She left Busselton at the end of July and has hopped from port to port from there to Geraldton by mid August. In the southern part of WA at this time of the year there are lots of cold fronts. The weather is cold with very strong winds and rain with a day or two, sometimes three days of fine weather in between.  The boat very nearly came to grief in Fremantle when she was left unattended at anchor for a couple of hours. She dragged her anchor and had a brush with a huge concrete block close to the harbour wall before being rescued by Volunteer Sea Rescue staff. Fortunately, the damage sustained was superficial.

She is currently in Geraldton where some necessary repairs are being carried out with the boat out of the water. Shortly she will continue her voyage to the Torres Straits where she will be involved in PYM’s health work, and Torres Straits mission support.

It is with regret that we have to confirm that the application for Lorian to be brought to Australia for assessment, and treatment if she was found to be suitable for the keyhole surgery thought possible, was rejected by Australian Immigration. This is disappointing but it does not mean that Lorian will be left and forgotten. A special stroller has been purchased for her. This, along with clothing modified to make it easy to dress her, and items to assist with her sanitation requirements have been provided. These will be delivered to her parents shortly. While her condition will not improve and her life is not expected to be long, her quality of life should improve. With the provisions made she will be able to be more involved with her family and community. At last report from Vanuatu we were informed that Amfrey and Lorian have returned to their home village at Vureas Bay on Vanua Lava.

On Thursday, May 15 ‘Windango’ with two crew departed the Port of Bundaberg bound for Vanuatu. The weather was very mild with winds of less than 10 knots most of the time. They motored some of the time, or drifted to conserve fuel, while becalmed. It was not comfortable either with crossed seas causing the boat to roll a lot of the time. The third day out the wind was kind and they made good progress under sails alone.  Unforetunately equipment failure brought the trip to a halt. First of all there were problems with getting emails to work through the HF radio. Then the crew discovered the sat phone wasn’t connecting to the service. The main GPS failed, then the nut holding the propeller shaft onto the engine coupling came undone. This can only be fixed with the boat out of the water. Temporary repairs were made and they kept sailing for Vanuatu. Then it was discovered that one of the bilge pumps had also failed. With so many things not right and still three quarters of the distance to Vanuatu ahead of them, the decision to return to Australia was made. After turning around the wind was coming from the direction they were heading, so it was a case of motoring home. With wind and current against them much of the time, it was slow going. Six days after leaving Bundaberg they were back. Customs staff made them feel better when they told them that several
other boats had also returned because of the slow conditions. The trip highlighted once again the inherent inadequacies of Windango: her limited ability to push against wind and current when motoring; her steering being too heavy for the autohelm in certain conditions, and her size. James has decided it is time to replace her with a more suitable vessel. This brings this year’s efforts to a halt for the time being.

Many of you will remember the story of Frenda, the lady with a tumour in her mouth who underwent surgery here in Australia in 2007.

James and Nick discovered she was in hospital for an unrelated condition while on their trip in Luganville. They visited her there. She was attended by her mother and sister at the time of their visit. She is one very happy lady. The surgery, as you may remember from reports at the time, was very extensive involving her jaw, nose and eye socket. It has been very successful with no evidence of the tumour returning. Her scars are very hard to detect and they report she is in good health. She sends her greetings and thanks all who had a part in her care. Her mother and sister also send their greetings and heartfelt thanks.

It is with great sadness that we report this news. Late in the afternoon of December 15, 2008 Carmela (PYM’s Prayer Partner Coordinator) died instantly in an horrific accident. Her car was hit head on by a semitrailer near Ban Ban Springs, Queensland. Carmela was a foundation member of PYM, and with her husband owned the yacht Windango that has been involved with PYM’s work for a number of years. She was an Enrolled Nurse and often assisted at clinics. She is remembered by all her knew her as a very special lady; a gracious, caring person. On Windango she was a wonderful hostess. She is greatly missed.

Drumbeat had two additional crewmembers join her for the trip home which was relatively uneventful, taking 114 hours to sail the 1125 miles. She sailed over 4,200 nautical miles from Mackay to Mackay.
Another Angel departed Luganville a few days after Drumbeat and also had a safe trip back to Brisbane.

Arap Secondary School, the government boarding school at Sola had to be closed in September. The boarding students have had to go back to their villages because there is no food and no fuel in Sola - the Provincial Capital of Banks and Torres. The people are hoping a copra boat will bring some soon. This situation occurs from time to time. There are no regular passenger or shipping services to the outer islands. Copra ships visit occasionally to collect copra and, when they come, they bring the supplies. If copra prices are low the demand drops, and the ships may not visit for months at a time. Transport is difficult, inconsistent, and very expensive.

On Monday, Sept 15 Annette a nurse from flew into Gaua from Norfolk Island. She especially wanted to go to Sola, the Provincial Capital of TORBA Province on the island of Vanua Lava. And for good reason as there is Norfolk Island and family history there. The pioneer Anglican Bishop Patterson was from Norfolk. He started a mission in the 1860’s to the north of Sola at Patterson Bay. Also Edwin Nobbs, her great great uncle was there. He was killed by the natives of the area. Others from Norfolk helped build a church there. Now Annette’s name can be added to that prestigious list.

Captain Brian from Drumbeat writes:

We have done a couple of awesome PYM tours. One was 10 days on the west coast of Santo which was certainly a different experience. There are no real anchorages on that coast, so Another Angel and Drumbeat were the first sailing boats to go to most of the places in living memory. We had reasonable weather, and managed to escape most of the swells some of the time. The beach landings were the fun bit though….we tipped the dinghy over once, and got wet plenty of times!! The people were really excited for us to visit though, and grateful for the medical assistance. The villages are pretty much traditional there, with little western influence as the trading boats seldom visit. The chiefs still call the villagers together with the conch shell horn. School was cancelled whenever we showed up, as the kids simply ran out when they saw the boats coming. We had 9 Ni-Vanuatu health workers on board the 2 boats, and no expats, so our Bislama speaking improved considerably. Linda also got some tips on cooking island style from the ladies. Most days we were ‘treated’ to traditional meals in the village….scary bit is that I was starting to enjoy it near the end….

We left a couple of weeks ago for the PYM tour of the Banks Islands in the north of Vanuatu, stopping at Mere Lava, Merig, Gaua, Vanua lava, Mota Lava and Mota. We had 3 Ni-vanuatu staff, and a few expats on board the boats, so it wasn’t so crowded this time. The Banks Islands are quite remote. Some places are seldom visited, but the anchorages are mostly quite good. We had good sailing in between the islands, and a great 105 Nm trip back to Santo from Mota.

Since PYM’s inception one of its aims has been to support SDA Missions. Just as island government health staff have problems being able to travel to all islands within their jurisdiction, so it is with mission office staff members. Following discussions with Vanuatu SDA Mission staff earlier this year, the PYM Board has set plans in motion to support the Mission in a more direct way by providing yacht transport. To do this PYM will now have two project arms: “PYM Health” and “PYM Mission”. For PYM to satisfy government requirements of aid organisations not to use health and aid work as fronts for evangelism, both branches will be operated as separate entities.