Kavieng

Tensions were high onboard Barravigh as we came into the waters around Kavieng, New Ireland. Very little sleep after a rough night at sea & a tight pass thought a archipelago of islands & reefs. I quickly discovered our navigation software was totally out, showing us high & dry on land or run aground on reefs.

First let me explain the jobs onboard as we arrive somewhere new. Captain Bobby is at the wheel & I’m below deck looking at the navigation software on the laptop. Linked to the GPS it also shows the boats current position. I give Bobby a compass bearing to our previously marked waypoint & then let him know if he needs to go more to the left or right. If the software isn’t lining up with reality then I’m also using the radar to check distances from land. Unfortunately it only shows land above water so reefs are still a huge unknown. Add all that stress to 3-4 days sailing, the last 12 hours being total hell & poor Bobby who got no sleep. If that wasn’t enough just as we approached the really tricky part, passing between a reef on the east & a reef on the west with little room in between, a squall hit giving very bad visibility. Sailing through an area with reefs is best timed when the sun is high in the sky & you hope for clear sunny day. It makes spotting the reefs below & judging depth easier. This is another of my jobs. I stand on the bow & point a safe path through the reef for Bobby to steer. Let me tell you this isn’t easy. There aren’t little markers in the water telling you how deep different coral heads are & when Bobby starts shouting “20 feet…15 feet” I’m looking around thinking all I can see is coral & going left doesn’t look any better than going right, combine this with no visibility of the bottom & well forget it. “Look for the markers” I’m hearing you first world sailors shout. If there is a marker in these counties it is often just a stick poking out the water & that’s if you are really lucky! Bobby’s policy in unknown waters, go really slowly. My policy, go really slowly & keep your fingers crossed! ; ) Emelia took pity on us & took the lead as the squall hit. Having four people on board they get more sleep, their eyes & minds were sharper than ours! We made it in safely, dropped the anchor & as always look back at the route & think it wasn’t as bad as it looked coming in. The unknown is always scary!

Kavieng was great. We anchored close to Nusa Island Resort. The waters were clear & as warm as bath water. To you divers & surfers (surf season starts in Nov) who like to get away from the normal holiday destinations & don’t need 5* luxury resorts, put Nusa on your list of places to visit. It’s a great relaxing place with an array of bird wildlife living there. I sat down with a drink & had a cockatoo speaking in pigeon English to me. Treating ourselves to a meal off the boat we were told lobster was off the menu as the guests had eaten it for the past 3 days & would crab be ok! You’ll eat like a king here! Add to that snorkelling at more WW2 plane wrecks, beautiful corals, fantastic local people & a huge array of tiny uninhabited islands. We haven’t seen another cruising boat since leaving Honiara (our buddy boat s/v Emelia excluded!). The route less travelled has been worth taking.