Yesterday morning we left Anatom at 5 o’clock in the morning as we expected light winds for the 50 mile sail up to Tanna and we wanted to arrive with daylight. The winds were stronger than expected and it was a fast, close-hauled sail (5 to 7 knots), so we got to the anchorage just after noon. Port Resolution is a bay located on the east side of Tanna and approaching the bay the easterly swell was breaking spectacularly on the volcanic cliffs and pinnacles that make up the shoreline.
Coming from the south you can’t see the bay until you’re already past it–imagine what it must have been like for the first explorers on their tall ships to find such an unexpected haven in a rough coastline. I would have named it Port Surprise instead of Port Resolution…
This morning the officials came over from the main town Lenakel to check us in–a very relaxed procedure in the Tanna Yacht Club which is overlooking the bay. Now we’re ready to explore Vanuatu!
Some details for those planning to check in here this year: We read that EU citizens get 3 months stay without visa, other nationalities 30 days, but it seems that (at least in Tanna) every arriving crew gets 4 months without additional fees. We paid 5000 Vatu for Customs, 5000 for Biosecurity, 4.800 for Immigration and 3000 for their transport to Port Resolution from the office in Lenakel on the other side of the island. Transport costs seem to vary: yesterday they arrived in 2 separate cars (so 6000 vatu transport), but we got lucky as another yacht was cleared in the same day, so we could share the transport costs.
There are no ATMs on Anatom or in Pt. Resolution, so we exchanged Vatu in Fiji. It wasn’t easy, most exchange offices refused to deal with us as we had neither a ticket to Vanuatu to show, nor a bank account in Fiji. “Singapore exchange” finally accepted the clearance as proof of us going, but then we nearly failed again as we didn’t have a receipt from the ATM, so better bring both 
