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???
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???
2 comments:
Just wanted to say - great blog! I'm using it as motivation as it's been nearly 2 years since we hauled our boat of the water for a quick 7 week maintenance (ha!) prior to departing on a trip from Australia to Canada. Maybe we will meet on the water one day. Cheers, Chantola & James
Hello Francisco!
I am impressed by your great experience. So many people follow their dreams nowadays. I have been traveling extensively for seven years but I have always wanted to hop on a boat... Do you need any more crew? Hope to hear from you soon...
Julia
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