PNG at Last

A little behind schedule. The original plan was to spend all of August in PNG & here we are arriving at the end of Sept. There were no big deadlines just a proposed plan but it looks like we will be hitting Indonesia a little later than expected. Only problem being our cruising permit for Indo began on 1st Sept but hey we will just have to get another one!

We checked into Buka a small town north of Bougenville. At least I think it was small, I never got off the boat. In these parts we are concerned about the “rascals”, that’s what they call thieves in this part of the world. I can guarantee if I catch any of those “rascals” onboard Barraveigh the words coming out of my mouth will be far more explicit than that! Bougenville has suffered tension in the last few years. 20 – 50,000 islanders have been killed. You can now understand our concerns at being anchored close to the island. Originally anchored away from the town to avoid going through Buka pass but moved closer after being advised by the Port Captain that we would be guaranteed a visit from the local “rascals” with their guns during the night in our present spot. Buka pass had some serious currents, progress was slow at 2 knots under full engine power.

Still feeling uneasy about the area, ourselves & Emiela decided that one person from each boat should go to shore to complete the check in procedures & one person should remain on each boat for security. So I saw Buka from the water & never touched land. According to my sources I didn’t miss anything other than a 2 hour queue at the ATM!

After raising the PNG courtesy flag (made by my own fair hands & trust me for a non artist that bird wasn’t easy to paint) we got a good nights sleep & took off the following day. Minor drama on the way out, with Emelia hitting a reef. Luckily all was ok & we are on our way to Kavieng.

Its my Birthday & I'll scurff if I want to!

Ourselves & s/v Emelia made it to Mono Sterling yesterday morning after a four day passage. Today I’m celebrating my birthday in tropical paradise. We are surrounded by tiny islands covered in palm trees, clear blue waters & the blackest locals I have ever seen. I awoke to fruit juice in bed, freshly made pancakes & a fantastic brownie birthday cake made by Bobby’s fair hands. We snorkelled some amazing reefs & then spent the afternoon scurffing (standing on a surf board being towed by a dinghy). The locals were fascinated by it & many of them came in their dugout canoes to watch.

Sundowners & more birthday cake, courtesy of Emelia (a fantastic recipe for cruisers that requires no butter or eggs – you have to taste it to believe it!). Followed by an evening meal of fresh lobster. An amazing birthday in paradise. It’s hard not to enjoy this life on days like this!
Mono Sterling is a great place. Yet again loads of war history, The pikinis love jumping into the water from huge tripods made from tree trunks especially if we are watching. They paddle out to us in huge dugouts with no adult in sight. They befriended Bobby who proceeded to have a huge water fight with them. The only downside to this place is when we are surrounded by locals in their canoes. They mean no harm & I’m sure are just curious plus they want to practise their English but having no privacy sure gets you down after a while. On the plus side they aren’t stealing from us & with my new burglar detection mats down we sleep well at night. I worked out where burglars are likely to climb onto the boat, pushed drawing pins/thumb tacks through a rubber mat & then lay it down on the deck at night now we lie there hoping someone will try to come onboard – evil I know! The people here are some of the blackest people I have seen. Word has it that people from Bougainville are the blackest in the world & these people aren’t too far from there.

I nearly forgot to mention my personal serenade back in Honiara before we left. Unwell with a cold I had spent the day in bed sleeping. I woke to sounds of “wake up little Suzi”. Stepping into the cockpit I saw all our friends in their dinghies around the boat. Gene was playing guitar (he’s a country song writer & most famous for his song 16 wheels & a dozen roses) & everyone else was singing. They then sang Happy Birthday & produced a cookie with a candle on it. An early birthday celebration from the friends we would be leaving the following day. Memories from this trip are precious.

Photo: a young child from the village who screwed up his face & burst into tears upon seeing us. It was pretty typical of all the small children who were so very scared of the weird looking white people. The grandmother explained to us the child had never seen white people before.

Honiara - Round Three!

Walking down to the fruit & vegetable market trying to avoid the splodges of red spit. Smiling & saying good morning to everyone that walks by. The people are so friendly, young girls look at me & smile, small children are looking back whilst being pulled in the opposite direction by their mothers & even the scariest looking gangs of men all smile & say hello. What is it that makes them look? I try to dress modestly (although in this heat I really don't want to be wearing clothes that cover my thighs, chest, shoulders, so I hope they don't mind if I manage 2 out of three!) I think it’s as simple as a white person walking down the street. White people aren't uncommon here but they tend to stick to their air conditioned 4x4's.

I love walking around the large bustling market with all its noises & smells (some unpleasant!). The stalls piled high with fresh fruits & vegetables. Everything already put into bundles, green beans & watercress wrapped & tied with a banana leaf. No plastic bags are handed out. Customers bring along their woven baskets & bags. Coconuts are deshelled except for a small section that is then used as a handle. We really could learnt a thing or two about bio food wrapping from these people, admittedly we don't have too many bananas leafs growing in the UK! The whole market is probably the size of a large supermarket back home. Tables of goods everywhere & those that can't get a table lay their wears out on the ground outside. You can also pick up locally made jewellery, fish, crabs (you buy the legs & body separately!) & much more. Towards the rear of the market hot food is sold & there is even an aisle of ladies selling their cakes & cookies from huge plastic storage containers. If only they provided trolleys! I even saw a trader watering her goods with a home made watering can – a water bottle with holes pierced into the lid. She knew that the goods would look better & juicer if they glistened.

A fight broke out in the middle of the market this morning. Everyone ran towards it crowding around & laughing. I have never before been caught up in a fight that felt friendly! The warring parties had obviously just had too much sun for the day & after a 10 minutes or so shook hands & all was peaceful again. This place is just fantastic! Walking out with my bags piled high of purchases I saw some vegetables for a $1 less than I had paid. For a second I was a little cross with myself for not looking around properly before I bought but I quickly told myself it was equal to 1 pence & I certainly don't begrudge giving these people money for their fantastic crops especially when its so cheap!

Work on the windlass continues. I stay off the boat as much as possible to avoid the fibreglass dust from the grinding (huge thanks to Shaun & Angela for giving me a night on land in their lovely house). Bobby appears to be winning. I have learnt its better not to ask questions! He now has Clement, a local guy, onboard working with him in the anchor locker grinding & laying fibreglass. They wear matching overalls & headlamps, stopping at 6pm for their allotted dinner break. They look like miners! Clement tells us stories of his island & how he can talk to the crocodiles. Under normal circumstances I would have cause to section him under the mental health act but he is deadly serious & totally sane! Trust me its hard to keep a straight face when he explains how the crocodiles stand in the water & rock their arms in front of them apparently telling Clement that they have their baby close by!

Highs & Lows

In one week we have managed more drama than I have had on this entire trip. I'm exhausted & looking forward to a peaceful nights sleep. The transmission was fixed & the fridge stocked with fresh foods. We headed out to the Florida Islands to give the transmission a trial run & then planned to head west to Gizo. There we met our buddy boat s/v Emelia & friends on s/v Katoska. It was a rough day sail over there but we celebrated being out of Honiara with an open fire on the beach. Katoska put together some amazing fish dishes (these guys can catch fish unlike ourselves!) whilst Emelia & I brought the salad dishes. It was a perfect evening. A huge high at the beginning of a week, that would see us pull together as a team over & over again.
We were “canoed” non stop – local guys paddling out to the boat in their dugouts, (canoes carved by hand from a one tree trunk) wanting to trade fruits & shells or just hang out at the boat. It’s hard to get rid of these guys. Unfortunately for us they can see directly in through our water line hatches meaning that hiding below deck didn't work plus we had no privacy.

John Ruka was totally different in his approach. He paddled over with his children, did not approach the boat until he invited, then just gave fruits & vegetables from his garden without wanting anything in return. He won us all over with his generosity & friendship. We all picked up anchor& moved over to his village. They put on an amazing show of local dancing & music to celebrate our arrival. This is the first time his village had done it & with less than 24 hours notice put on a spectacular evening. They made “leis” of fresh flowers for each of us, had an arch from palms & flowers for us to walk through. Put sand over the dirt where we were sat & presented us with a fresh coconut decorated in tropical flowers complete with a bamboo straw. We sat in a semi circle whilst the girls & boys put on traditional dances with the band on instruments made from plastic tubes that they hit with flip flops, & others on pan pipes of varying sizes made from bamboo. Tears pricked at my eyes as these generous Solomon Island people welcomed us into their village. There was no charge for the evening, it seemed they enjoyed putting it together as much as we enjoyed watching it. What did they want it return?? It was as simple as expertise & friendship. After the treat they had given us we were happy to help in any way we could.

As we headed for bed on a high from the evenings entertainment we had no idea what we were in for. Bobby & I were awoken by a noise on deck, upon hearing another we were straight out of bed. ****ing thieves. You never totally shut off when sleeping on the boat. Your brain automatically listens out for rain & wind although I’ll admit to pretending I’m still asleep so Bobby gets up & closes the hatches….don’t tell him! Now its thieves we have to beware of. I immediately alerted the other boats via VHF whilst handing Bobby the search light& a pair of shorts! At that point we only saw one guy in a dugout canoe paddling for his life, we learnt later than there were two of them. I was busy lowering the dinghy & shouting that we should go after the thief. I was later told me that normal people don't chase thieves & that my cop side came out. Bobby, Eric (from s/v Katoska), plus one big knife went after the guy. He made it to the mangroes & legged it. Bobby returned to Barraveigh toeing the dugout plus our flip flops & clothes pegs. We claimed victory, they got away with nothing plus we had their canoe which we hoisted on deck, no simple task those dugouts weigh a tonne. The next morning we realised the camera was missing, someone (no names mentioned but lets just say it wasn't me!) left it in the cockpit & to top it off we discovered the canoe belonged to our host’s brother & had been stolen by the thieves. From victory to despair in matter of minutes.

During the next few days we witnessed some amazing local politics. The chiefs of the villages got together & the villagers identified the thieves. After being found hiding in the bush, they were placed under house arrest. The priest was summoned. According to our host John, a man will lie to a man, but a man will not lie to a priest. He was right the thieves were so scared of the priest they admitted everything. Finally after two days we got the camera back, complete with photo from the thieves! Thankfully its a waterproof camera & was still working after its trip overboard. We won. We got everything back & were part of an experience we would never have witnessed otherwise. The priest declared all the boats taboo. Anyone touching them would freeze & would be found there the next morning. Yes you are prob thinking exactly what I thought when I was told this but the locals here still believe in black magic. John & his family became security guards & took turns in paddling around the boats at nights just to be sure.

The next few days were blissful, putting in mooring balls for future visiting yachts, putting together ideas for John on how to attract yachts. We played with the kids, teaching them to hula & skip whilst they showed us how they hunted animals with bows & arrows, & wove baskets from palm prongs.

To show their gratitude, John & his family put on another show. To be honest I think they all just loved having people to entertain! Again it was outstanding but cut short as a storm blew in covering us in torrential rain & high winds. We sheltered under a leaf hut until the sickening shout of “a boat is on the reef”. We all ran to the dinghy’s, set off into the water with rain hitting us & waves crashing into the dinghy. Rounding the corner I saw Barraveigh was safe where we left her but Katoska was on the reef near shore. From there on it was a huge team effort. I clambered onto Barraveigh to ensure she wasn't dragging whilst Bobby assisted Katoska. They got her free after a few tense hours. Damage – none, they were lucky! Celebratory drink – rum!
Could there be any more drama in this tiny bay! Answer: Yes & typically it had to be us again! Ready to leave for a 2 day sail to Gizo, said our goodbyes & were pulling up the anchor. All of a sudden I hear Bobby swearing at the bow, concerned he had trapped a foot in the windlass I rushed forward to see the windlass totally ripped off its footing & inches from being dragged overboard, saved only by Bobby attaching a rope seconds before the incident. On come all the boys to help haul up the chain & anchor while I drive us round in circles away from the reef .

Guess where we are heading? Yep back to Honiara!