The prime objective of our 2000 cruising season was to start up a medical andeducational support project for the outer islands of Tuvalu with Vuda Point Marina, Fiji serving as our primary base of operations, e.g. for picking up the many hundreds of pounds of relief goods as well as half a dozen volunteer doctors and teachers. Our first attempt to sail directly from Townsville (Northern Queensland, Australia; where we had left Rivendel in August 1998) to Fiji against the prevailing tradewinds, rather than via the conventional southerly detour routes (viz. first sailing down the Australian coast and then crossing over to New Caledonia or New Zealand) was undertaken in the last week of May, after 3 hectic weeks of boat preparation. A few days before departure we had learned that a nasty coup & hostage situation was starting to scare foreign visitors, including cruisers, away from Fiji. Consequently, we decided to set course for Vanuatu first, with a crew of 4, and then reassess the Fiji situation there. As soon as we were outside the Great Barrier Reef, we ran into 25-30 knot SE tradewinds which made progress on a close-hauled tack slow and difficult. Crew morale suffered when it became clear that our 2-yr old gel battery house banks were completely dead, apparently due to a series of bilge pump mishaps during Rivendel II's 2-year long hibernation in Port Townsville. Therefore, after being hove to for a day among the outer reefs trying to diagnose the electrical system, we decided to return to the nearest Australian port. We made port in Cairns, 500 NM and 4 days after leaving Townsville. Two weeks later, with new batteries plus a long overdue 240 V ac shore power installation and a promising weather window forecast under our belt, we once again crossed the Great Barrier Reef in order to set course for Vanuatu. After two weeks of close-hauled sailing, including a fair amount of tacking, in 10-20 knot SE tradewinds, during which we covered some 1500 NM, we made landfall in Luganville, on the island of Espiritu Santo, where we soon learned that the political situation in Fiji had deteriorated further and that the travel advisory from the US State Department was still in force. This left us no choice but to cancel all volunteer travel and relief good shipment arrangements for Fiji. Fortunately, we were able to redirect some of our on-board medical supplies and expertise to several small villages on the islands of Ambrym and Malakula in Vanuatu. Visiting these islands with their fascinating Melanesian customs and astoundingly friendly and hospitable people became the absolute high point of our voyage . In each new anchorage we would be greeted by the merry laughter of children and young adults paddling out to greet us in their small dugout canoes. Contacts with the local village chiefs, and eventually the central Government in Port Vila, soon led to the development of a special medical assistance plan, known as Project MARC (Medical Assistance to Remote Communities). After nearly two months of cruising the islands of Vanuatu, we left with the promise to return in 2001 with a small mobile outpatient clinic, the cornerstone of Project MARC. This sailing clinic will be staffed with volunteer doctors and nurses and should be able to provide urgently needed medical relief help to some of the coastal villages. Although the clinic itself will be constructed inside a catamaran, in view of the stringent shoal draft and stability requirements, Rivendel II will keep playing a prominent role as our main transport vessel for volunteers and supplies between the airports in Port Vila and Luganville and the various remote anchorages where the catamaran clinic will be operating. If we want to make optimum use of the 2001 "dry season" (May-October) ,with lowest cyclone and malaria risk, we obviously have our work cut out for the coming months..... One may be surprised to learn that we ended up bringing Rivendel II to Vuda Point Marina in Fiji, notwithstanding the earlier mentioned problems there. However, by the end of August things had started to settle down a bit. Also, Vanuatu has no reliable cyclone berths and, because of the turmoil in Fiji as well as in The Solomons, too many yachts had sought refuge in Noumea, New Caledonia to leave any berths available there. So, in the end Nelleke, my co-skipper and wife, suggested that we do one more upwind passage. We completed the 500 NM distance in nearly six days of tacking, combined with a bit of motorsailing, while being treated to the majestic spectacle of towering squalls and thunderstorms, often clearly moving against the direction of the surface winds! This made for an interesting game of hide-and-seek, which we managed to win most of the time (with the invaluable help of our radar). Our landfall, on a gorgeously sunny morning with nothing but blue sky, in the great lagoon sheltering the west side of Vitu Levu and dotted with numerous little motus, capped off a perfectly wonderful S. Pacific crossing. Meanwhile, my co-skipper and I cannot help but feel a little proud about the fact that among the many cruising yachts we met this summer Rivendel II was the only vessel making the "wrong way" passage from Australia to Vanuatu and Fiji. Time and again we had to explain to other cruisers that sailing close-hauled against the trades in a well designed, properly canvassed and balanced vessel does not have to be equivalent to "a ride from hell" and, in fact, is often quite pleasant. For this reason, I am posting a couple of paragraphs discussing the special niche a light, modern production boat such as the Legend 43 can occupy when sailing up and down the tradewind belts on the general HOW forum. Flying Dutchman "Nothing Goes to Weather Like a Hunter Legend"