First sail of VAKA HOP’E
The Vaka Hop’e just finished it’s maiden voyage in the Philippines where she sailed from Bohol to Samal Island near Davao. A crew consisting of Eivind Andås, the YWAM Solomons representative, and an outreach team from YWAM Ships Kona sailed the boat 500 nautical miles in the month of March 2023. Through our international YWAM network and by the grace of God we were able to take the boat out of the water and store it in a small fishing village on Samal Island where the boat will be stored until the big voyage to the Solomon Islands can continue in January 2024.
The launch and comissioning ceremony took place in the end of January 2023, and was witnessed by the local YWAM Bohol, a local church, our team from YWAM Ships Kona and two representatives from YWAM Ships Philippines. The boat builder and boat building team was also present for the ceremony where the boat was christened VAKA HOP’E by pouring coconut water over the stern and blessing the vessel and the mission in the name of Jesus. It was a historic day that we in YWAM Solomons have been waiting with anticipation for nearly a year and a half, since the boat was officially purchased.
A new vessel always comes with some challenges, and we had a significant delay to extend the masts that were too short for the sails. The delay caused perfect timing for the sail, even though we didn’t know it at the time. By the time we sailed into the open Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Mindanao, the worst weather had passed and we had smooth sailing through the most exposed waters of the passage. We had several other adventures and difficult sailing along the way, which you can read about on Eivind’s personal blog here: https://andaas.net/category/vaka-hope/
At the end of the passage, we beached our vessel on a sand beach in a small fisihing community on the Island of Samal in the southern Philippines. We had help from many local fishermen to dismantle and move the boat up on land. We were actually given permission by a government official to put the boat in his holiday home garden where the caretaker will be looking after it. This all was possible through local YWAMers and friends of the mission, and of course by God’s hand over it all. The vessel is safe and will rest until we are ready to commence the large voyage to the Solomon Islands in the beginning of 2024.
