December '07

We depart a couple days later, heading west around Nggatokae and planning to see Rendova, but the short spell of good weather breaks as soon as we leave, and under another downpour we take shelter at Emma Point inside Marovo Lagoon.

Couple days later the rain subsides and we get out, but the wind 'suggests' we turn around, go by Paewa again, and sail on the eastern side of New Georgia. Finally a swift consistent breeze takes us along, the first good sail since being in Solomons. Boat is balanced and self steering by evening, so I advise TJ to steer only if necessary. He conveniently understands instead that he doesn't have to steer and let the boat take care of itself, which finds us about 20 miles off course in the morning and no wind. That translates in four hours of unnecessary (had the boat been steered) motoring. More motoring (no wind, what's new!?) through Kula Gulf takes us in the afternoon to anchor at Ringgi Cove, by the majestic extinct volcano of Kolombangara. There is a logging station, deep anchorage (about 20m) and not much to see really, except that I'd be pining to see the crater through which I described "a 747 could be flown through", but we're on a mission to get to Gizo and really want to enjoy some meat and cold drinks after several weeks of deprivation and canned food.
Morning after is drizzly and grey, my stomach has been killing me all night, so Michela is in charge at first until we reach the E reef entrance to Gizo, which due to the rain and very off c-map we can't quite identify. Luckily a deaf guy fishing from a canoe shows us the way, and we cuise over 4.5 meters of reef, a sweat but all fine.
The lagoon is fairly well marked, (saved all latest tracks waypoints almost for the whole of Solomons) and soon enough we get around the tricky reefs and anchor by the GYC a.k.a. PT 109 restaurant. In the bay are present the very few boats currently cruising the Solomons: a lone australian guy, Barbarian, a wreck research vessel under arrest for mysterious reaons and another australian boat called Hamamas ('Happy' in PNG lingo).
TJ disembarks and me and Michela get to enjoy a few days on our own as Steve of MV Lalae recommended (great guy with a ponytail, look him up in Point Cruz Yacht Club in Honiara).
We arrive in Gizo with at full tide, and we get to reckon with the effects of last April's tsunami. Parts of the island have sunk while other have risen, and in fact the water goes right in some hangars built by the seaside. We are really into getting the boat ready for the jump to Micronesia, which we tried to reach last year but got sept of by a tropical storm. No job is really important but all of them necessary. We soon learn of the Soltai-Taiyo fishing company in Noro, where a big fleet of fishing boats is based and so there are all kinds of engineering shops, and my windlas is still misbehaving. So we decide to move there after a couple weeks to get this stuff sorted. On a bright calm sunny day we motor to Noro, going by Kolombangara again. The channel to Vonavona lagoon is very deep, so we are forced to get inside the reef by the 'Noro Mart'. The pass is only 0,02 NM, just a few meters, but visibility is good and Michela is a proven first class reef spotter. We manage to tuck right in in 8 meters of coral rubble.
Noro is quite a surprise. Well stocked supermarket, Soltai backing up with all the repair shops a cruiser could dream of, ice cream, mince meat, telecom with internet, customs and immigration, the works. Thanks to Taiyo Tuna the roads are paved, services present, crime non-existent, jobs abundant and so it's all around pleasant.
We were recommended to get in touch with Denny, and soon enough our windlass is taken off (again, by me) and apparently in good hands. Time goes by, crew applicants abound and disappear (so many dreamers without the guts to go for it...but hey!, it's so easy to just e-wank from the office and keep me hooked for hours to the screen to reply...right?), and with christmas approaching we decide to head back to Gizo.
Gizo is pretty ok place, except for the 7-10 carvers approaching the boat daily and not wanting to understand that thanks, no, we've seen enough carvings and aren't interested. Just saying no 7-10 times a day can take a toll on one's nerves! However we did trade for some 'shell money': thick rings carved out of giant clam shells, used until recently to 'seal' land sale and marriages. We offered spearguns, money, food, instead the guy asked for a cell phone [status] he later found he had no use for whatsoever....doh!.
However, Cecilia will be on her way here by the 7th for departure, in the meantime we manage to re-varnish the cockpit and fix many little things, relax, make friends. A few days later we meet a few other boats coming in. German, Ozzie, Austrian, it's the usual assortment of nationalities, plus Barbarian got cleared and we get to enjoy great stories of forgotten planes/ships around the Pacific, wrecks, Pacific lore associated with the war and all. The German boat with the weird anchor drags right onto me, then in the same VHF radio call for an apology affirms "our anchor is actually very reliable". What's wrong with a good old oversized Bruce or CQR???

Pawa to Paewa (Marovo lagoon)

Day after false start, wind dies as soon as the sails are up. We're close enough to turn around and re-anchor at a different spot.
Then we depart at last, gentle sailing and lots of motoring in oily calm, tried stopping at Rua Sura but a close call with reefs coming up from 25 to 3 meters definitely discourage us (too late in the afternoon for good visibility).
So on we go, another night sailing to Honiara. The morning after we pick up a mooring in front of the yacht club and can fnally taste meat again and cold beer (for me missing for almost a month).
Honiara is dusty and messy, but it's the last outpost of civilization as far as food and boat supplies are concerned. In a few days we gain an intimate knowledge of all the hardware/marine/paint stores. I also take off the windlass and take it to an engineering shop. It's working fine, but the plate attaching it to the deck have suffered eons of saltwater and high resistances, the aluminum is completely butted and corroded. The anchorages will be deep and the windlass quite important, so it needs care now.
Massive food provisioning, cans, flour, sugar, toilet paper, cleaning products, tang, one million plus items of all sorts. The engineering shop delays us a while (couple weeks...Solomon time), until we decided to spend the day at the engineering shop pushing the owner to get done with it. He does (an elder chinaman had to thread SS bolts on a lathe, what a master!). By now it's itching bad to leave (we had enough internet, ice-cream, beer, burghers, steak, cars, noise, pollution), so I just put back the windlass as it is (without a proper test, it turns after all) and leave for Savo, Russell, New Georgia. Had to buy a new PC in order to get C-map, then with the restore disc managed to revive the old Dell (who barely survived a tropical storm the year before), now without its own keyboard and screen. So I hook it up to a wireless keyboard and mouse and to the flat screen I received in Vanuatu, and so manage to have one computer now only dedicated to navigation safely nested in the chart table, away from any spray and not cluttering the nav station.
In Honiara one evening attempted pickpocket. Grabbed him by the neck and shaken thoroughly...must have been surprised at the 'uncompliant white tourist'. Other people hushed him away too.
Savo is a partially active volcano, it has no sheltered anchorage, but we've been told a pod of dolphins has residence there. After the usual motoring (no wind, again), we drop anchor on the SE side of it, nearby a village and in not-too corally bottom. TJ as his usual, immediately goes on mission to befriend the locals and find out just about everything there is to find out. Kids on canoes come around to look at us, the boat, but politely and without too much intrusion, as it happened before in S.ta Cruz. We try snorkle to the reputed 'dolphin cave', but the dolphins are nowhere to be seen, except when we're not in the water. We suffer a few days of rain and wind, but we are reasonably sheltered behind Savo and don't have to move...although without the bad weather we wanted to hike up to the live volcano vents up the mountain.
Weather clears and off to Russell. Light winds most of the way and then motor to make the anchorage nearby a cocoanut plantation. Got immediately swarmed by flies and canoes, some with friendly demeanour, some with raggamuffin teenagers checking out what to grab in the night...not much, sorry buddy.
Sorry, no cigarettes, sorry no alcohol, sorry no toys. The nice kids get a double treat of choccolate candies (and a tennis ball), for the others I've stopped letting them cajole me into giving stuff away just because...
The anchorage is very sheltered, but deep dark water and too many people around.
The wind is up next morning so we decide to take advantage of it. Windlass not spinning, breaker snapping, so it's up by hand (relaxing way to start the day).
We sail beautifully out the NE side, going by turquoise reefs by Lagholon Island.
Next big wish is stopping at Mborokua, another spent volcano with no people on it. Slow sailing again but no motor. Basicallly drifting with current more or less. The wind disappearance makes it too late to motor, once there we drift some more waiting for daylight. At dawn we're just couple miles off and we go investigate the bay entrance or find a fabled mooring on the W side. Needless to say the swell is huge and makes it impossible to get in the fairly exposed tiny bay, and the fabled mooring isn't really there. We motor all around it and what we see is stunning anyway: The island is ringed with flowers emanating a sweet perfume all around, coastline dropping to infinite depth, birdlife, fish jumping, all absolutely untouched and unanchorable.
We are forced to go on, determined to get to and anchorage by the afternoon. Unmarked on C-map and cruising guides (thanks to a tip in Honiara), we arrive early afternoon in a reef-enclosed perfect bay with tiny village and plenty fresh water (even a jetty) at the entrance of the Marovo lagoon.
We are approached by the first carvers wanting to display their wares...nice stuff but we're not interested, but they want to show it anyway. We notice the people here are beautiful.
Neither Melanesian, neither Polynesians, for some reason both men and women are very different (and much darker). Could be the ethnic influence of Bougainville, where people are said be the blackest on earth. Not hard to believe. After nearly two weeks we are happy to see a little general store, where we guzzle warm Coke and peanuts. While relaxing and smoking on the jetty a US expat woman of nearly 70 steps off a dive boat. Rather than introduce herself she starts barking that smoking isn't allowed anywhere on or around the jetty and store, even if everyone's been smoking there all afternoon, no drinking in town either (only ok for 'Nature lodge' guests).
"She brings dive business" is what makes her valuable here, although everyone despises her bossyness and silly 'civilizing' rules straight out of California. We soon acquired the locals' attitude: comply when she's there, do whatever when she isn't.
All the while trying to relax and enjoy (the Nazi is always in ambush) I take apart the windlass several times, finding only that the gearbox alignment is somehow not right (one week spent hauling the heavy motor in and out of a dark smoking-hot chain locker...ugh!).
We make friends anyhow and aren't pestered by canoes or whatnot, we can even top up our water tanks from the jetty with clear tasteless crystal water. Excellent.