The Cruising Guide to Vanuatu

On the "all vanuatu" satellite view level, the icons on the menu overlay general information about all of Vanuatu, including:

• Depths
• waypoint information - including a program to upload the hundreds of Vanuatu gps waypoints to your gps.
• passages to Vanuatu - with ocean routes and tips on when and how to make safe open ocean passages to Vanuatu.
• Ports of entry, and entry formalities and regulations.
• Airports throughout Vanuatu
• a chart list of all Vanuatu marine charts
• tides, including a tide program for Vanuatu (and the rest of the world).
• weather - including climate information and how to predict weather windows for passages.
• fuel supply locations
• yacht services, such as marinas, moorings, parts and supplies.
• culture, with a special section on hospitality (how to behave in rural villages of Vanuatu)
• health - how to stay healthy in Vanuatu and what to do if you don't.
• The galley - Vanuatu foods and how to prepare them

The Cruising Guide to Vanuatu has photo charts of every island in Vanuatu and 168 anchorages.

From the top level image, showing all of Vanuatu, point to an island for a quick summary of what's there. Click on an island to zoom in for a close space view of an island (you can zoom in to every Vanuatu island).

On the island level you'll see a list of anchorages. You can also point to a bay or area of the coastline and the anchorage maps will be outlined and the name of the anchorage highlighed on the list. Click on one to zoom in for a close look at the anchorage.

Here is an example using the main port of entry on Efate Island.

On the Efate Island level, if you click the Port Vila name, or if you point to and click on the harbor of Port Vila, the program zooms in for a high resolution image of Port Vila.

This is the anchorage level zoom with the map icon overlay showing depths, navigational markers, warnings, and anchorage areas.

The control icons on the menu bar allow you to overlay information onto the aerial image of the harbour.

Of course these mini-images don't give you a good idea of the quality of the aerial photography we have used for the anchorages - so here is a portion of the screen in full resolution.

Here you can have a good look at the menu bar. From right to left,

• The X closes the program
• The ? icon shows the help file.
• The GPS button opens a program called GPSUtility that will allow you to load the GPS waypoints and routes onto just about any GPS or plotter program.
• The i icon overlays general information onto the image, things of interest in that anchorage - like information about customs clearance, Yachting World, Yacht Services, dive spots and beaches. The companion Rocket Guide has a huge amount of information about what to see and do in Vanuatu, so the information in the cruising guide is specifically for yachts.
• The Anchor icon gives sailing directions, the best places to anchor - with photos, gps positions, depth and holding conditions, protection from wind and waves.
• The Compass icon overlays the depths and navigational markers on the image.
• The Bird icon gives a clear, uncluttered birds eye view.
• The Binoculars Icon opens an alphebetical index of islands, anchorages and subjects - click and be there.
• The Back icon goes to the previous level view.
• The Rocket Ship opens a map of all Vanuatu so you can go anywhere else in a single click.

To see how the icon menu works to quickly and easily navigate the Vanuatu Cruising Guide click here.

Point your cursor at the rocket icon to see a mini-satellite view of Vanuatu. If you point to an island you will see it's name (in this example I pointed to Ambrym) and if you click on the island you will zoom to it instantly. If you point to an area between the islands you will see an outline of the mid level chart useful for route planning.

On this level you can see the depths and routes between all of the islands - plus if you point to the edge of the chart you can pan up to the next zone. On this level if you point to an island you will see a summary of what's there. There are sailing directions plus if you point to a particular route you'll see the distance, compass course, GPS points, arrival and departure points, and the route number.

To upload a course you just click on the GPS button, select file/open and enter the route number. This loads all the waypoints and the route information. Next you click on "upload" and if your GPS is connected to the computer the waypoints and routes are uploaded to it. If you use a plotter program - like MaxSea - you save the route file in a format MaxSea can read and open it in MaxSea. The GPSUtility can save the routes is just about any format.

Sailing to and from Vanuatu

The guide has a special section on sailing to and from Vanuatu based on our own annual migrations over the past 35 years. We provide detailed suggestions on passages - when to go and where to leave from and arrive for happy and safe passages.

On the South West Pacific satellite view you can overlay passage routes to and from Vanuatu. Point to a route to see a route summary with distance, estimated time in passage and GPS positions for departure and arrival. Click on the route and you will go to a passage analysis window for that route with the best time to do the passage and other tips. Click on the GPS icon, open the route file number, and you can upload our tried and true routes onto your GPS or plotter.

Marine Weather in Vanuatu

The weather button on the information section of the home page of the program has everything you need to know about finding just the right weather window for sailing to Vanuatu or precautions to take when sailing around Vanuatu.

The weather section of the guide includes a FULL YEAR time-lapse movie of the atmosphere taken from a point in space 215 kilometers directly above Australia. You will see the weather from 1 April 2001 through to 31 March 2002. A movie of exactly what the atmosphere of the southwest Pacific does from day to day, month to month, season to season.

You'll see the days go by in seconds and the cloud systems swirl across the screen. You'll see cyclones form, move down the west coast of Australia and then watch the systems come right across to the east coast and influence the weather in the Tasman. You can stop the movie, back up, and see exactly what happens before a major atmospheric event forms. You will, if you study these movies, begin to understand how the weather systems BEHAVE. A knowledge vital to your cruising happiness and safety.