Adventures of Pandion: December 2018

The little boat, its small spaces, beds, communal areas and decks becomes so very familiar. Throughout Vanuatu we had a fairly predictable routine. Arrive, anchor, meet the chief, swap t-shirts for fruit, explore, swim and sleep on the boat. Sleep on the boat.

Pandion ready for nightfall - Chesterfield Reefs

Anthropologist Yasmine Musharbash wrote an article about sleeping in yunta, the Warlpiri desert peoples' practice of sleeping in a line outside, side by side, with a windbreak at their heads. Some interesting highlights were that the most spiritually competent women sleep on the outside, ever alert to repel spiritual threats, or the more mundane approaches of dogs. However her point which is valid here, is that a certain bond exists about where you sleep, whether it be outside or in the "domestic fortification" of our homes; a bond of trust, a bond of connection. Sleeping on Pandion is somewhere between yunta and a house. It is probably more safe than sleeping in the open, less safe than a house, but still relies on the ever present attention of your co-sleepers to wake up when danger is imminent.

So when we land back in our ‘homes’ in Brisbane, Stanthorpe and Iluka, there is the strangest feeling of not sleeping on the boat. Everyone feels a bit discombobulated. I wish we could ease the transition, perhaps a few nanna naps on the couch before returning to Pandion at night then gradually work up to a full overnighter. Like some youngster practising for their first sleep over. However it rarely happens like that and always feels abrupt. These strange transitions are what have occupied us for the past few weeks.

There are also the “sea legs" - that first 24 hours on land where everything has a wobble from side to side. But on the up side, land has many attractions. Friendly faces and family. Fresh water – as in the kind that cascades over your body and the kind that washes your clothes – holds an almost magical mystery for our first two weeks back on land. Land life is so …. easy. But land life is also so ... busy. So many more options, obligations, and the every present need to “engage” with the world. For example a week was spent re-registering our car. I am often lost in a sea of internet passwords attempting to reactivate those aspects of our digital life that seem to be necessary.

It was all getting quite stressful. On top of everything else, we are touring high schools and primary schools in the region, and I dashed out to the desert to work for a while.

shipwrecked

On passage in the desert

Nyirripi Road - plenty beach

We have discovered that although our life has always been full of uncertainty, unconventional work and last minute decisions, we are really craving some certainty right now. Two days ago we moved back onto the boat. A 30 knot southerly front was predicted for that night, so we sailed over to the Yamba side of the river out of the wind. SV Stowaway was there and some friendly chatter preceded an average anchoring attempt from team Pandion that left us only a boat length from shore. Good enough, we knew the southerly buster would swing us offshore later anyway.

Almost immediately we noticed how much of the tension had gone, like we had left it all in Iluka as we sailed 5 minutes across the river. We are living on the boat again now. It feels cosy, we have 360 degree ocean views and as much nature connection as you could want.

Here are some pics from Chesterfield Reef, our last offshore stop and the birdiest place on earth (well, the bits we have been to.) Next stop Lord Howe Island, weather permitting.