NOt sure when I'll update next, so here is an idea: shallow lagoons, should be OK diving though LOTs of crocs...
...more to come!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Next: the Russell Islands
NOt sure when I'll update next, so here is an idea: shallow lagoons, should be OK diving though LOTs of crocs...
...more to come!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Honiara: Post Charter Maintenance and lack of wind
The right spot to moor in Honiara!
One week has nearly passed since the KUNA landed in Honiara, been busy running around town. Since returnign from Tulaghi the trades have completely stopped. Picked up the most snug mooring of Point Cruz: the one on the NE corner along the concrete block wall of Point Cruz (see other comments on Point Cruz mid may). Point Cruz is as crowded as usual with 3 yachts from overseas, the local charter cat and "Mauri", the medical motor-sailor, whose skipper claims to own the mooring KUNA is on (but luckily, no compensation was asked)
The mooring, in about 20m on the slope (mud and sand so good to anchor in too), is sound (one of the large concrete blocks that the wall is made out of with 20mm chain links). With a sternline, the boat sits in 10m of water. The wall is shared with other yachts and the large liveaboard cruising diving ships 'Bilikiki' and 'Spirit of Solomons (40m+ recycled longliners) which excel in stern parking in tight spots, so no worries there if you wake up next to one of them!
Paints jobs to prevent rot in the coming wet season (yes better paint whilst it's dry here!) and sewing jobs have been on the list. Found the closest to a sail loft, Paul who works under a tree near the library with 15 sewing machines under a tarp behind a betel nut store held by his wife (close up to the town center and chinatown). He does a really good job with heavy duty fabrics and has been there for years, so worth trying if it is not your most precious sail!
One week has nearly passed since the KUNA landed in Honiara, been busy running around town. Since returnign from Tulaghi the trades have completely stopped. Picked up the most snug mooring of Point Cruz: the one on the NE corner along the concrete block wall of Point Cruz (see other comments on Point Cruz mid may). Point Cruz is as crowded as usual with 3 yachts from overseas, the local charter cat and "Mauri", the medical motor-sailor, whose skipper claims to own the mooring KUNA is on (but luckily, no compensation was asked)
The mooring, in about 20m on the slope (mud and sand so good to anchor in too), is sound (one of the large concrete blocks that the wall is made out of with 20mm chain links). With a sternline, the boat sits in 10m of water. The wall is shared with other yachts and the large liveaboard cruising diving ships 'Bilikiki' and 'Spirit of Solomons (40m+ recycled longliners) which excel in stern parking in tight spots, so no worries there if you wake up next to one of them!
Paints jobs to prevent rot in the coming wet season (yes better paint whilst it's dry here!) and sewing jobs have been on the list. Found the closest to a sail loft, Paul who works under a tree near the library with 15 sewing machines under a tarp behind a betel nut store held by his wife (close up to the town center and chinatown). He does a really good job with heavy duty fabrics and has been there for years, so worth trying if it is not your most precious sail!
A flash back about beating to Anuta
As I was downloading my GPS waypoints, thought it'd be worthwhile showing why it's not worth it to go against the trades: 500nm to cover 240nm is not fun!!!
The yellow (straight) line is our return track, the green line is our track there! Anuta is at the extreme right end of both these tracks, further east than Vanuatu!! Lesson learned: go there after the trade season or reach from POrt Vila and back!
The yellow (straight) line is our return track, the green line is our track there! Anuta is at the extreme right end of both these tracks, further east than Vanuatu!! Lesson learned: go there after the trade season or reach from POrt Vila and back!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Ferry to Tulaghi and yacht safety
There are experiences that make you really appreciate having your own boat in the solomon islands: catching the ferry is one of them!
The ferry runs on a fairly regular basis between Honiara and Tulaghi (near Ghela): 3 times a week is a very good rate for transport in the country but time of departure shifts by a few hours depending on the day, especially on fridays when people form Tulaghi come to HOniara, want to go walkabout in the capital and then go back home. Dealing with a mountain of boat supplies and a surfboard was not that simple when we got there in the peach dark..
Warning: yacht safety in Tulaghi
It was a relief to get back to the KUNA and find out that it was mostly fine, despite for the thick layer of mould that had grown in the last two weeks: the carer had neglected to open the hatches. Also learned that there had been a boarding attempt in the middle of the night by the thief (well potential one, he got outed by the security man sleeping outside). ON this topic, in the last two weeks, KUNA was the only yacht that did not get robbed: it is important to pick the right spot to park in Tulaghi: the most secure place is right on front of the Tulaghi dive shop, which has a little wharf and a restaurant behind it. There are security men there all the time, and th epolice station is 100 m away. Inform the police that you are parking there, they are quite good cops over there and it will increase their vigilance. The anchorage is quite deep (30m 100m from the shore in slopy sand and coral) and not very well protected during the trades though large waves do not build up. If you are tempted to go and anchor behind the small island east of Tulaghi, which has a boat yard on it (only 12 m and coral), DON'T!. The village opposite this island is full of rascals which are known to rob yachts. In fact, just last week a catamaran parked there got boarded at night, with his occupants asleep. Money and camera gear went missing. The spot at the north of Tulaghi island is not good either for security so compromise to weather or go somewhere else on Ghela. apparently the rest of the island is fine, only the people near Tulaghi have a bad reputation of specializing in yacht robberies (solar panels, etc...) and sadly they give the whole place a bad reputation so don;t be deterred, there are some nice people out there too!
f;)
The ferry runs on a fairly regular basis between Honiara and Tulaghi (near Ghela): 3 times a week is a very good rate for transport in the country but time of departure shifts by a few hours depending on the day, especially on fridays when people form Tulaghi come to HOniara, want to go walkabout in the capital and then go back home. Dealing with a mountain of boat supplies and a surfboard was not that simple when we got there in the peach dark..
Warning: yacht safety in Tulaghi
It was a relief to get back to the KUNA and find out that it was mostly fine, despite for the thick layer of mould that had grown in the last two weeks: the carer had neglected to open the hatches. Also learned that there had been a boarding attempt in the middle of the night by the thief (well potential one, he got outed by the security man sleeping outside). ON this topic, in the last two weeks, KUNA was the only yacht that did not get robbed: it is important to pick the right spot to park in Tulaghi: the most secure place is right on front of the Tulaghi dive shop, which has a little wharf and a restaurant behind it. There are security men there all the time, and th epolice station is 100 m away. Inform the police that you are parking there, they are quite good cops over there and it will increase their vigilance. The anchorage is quite deep (30m 100m from the shore in slopy sand and coral) and not very well protected during the trades though large waves do not build up. If you are tempted to go and anchor behind the small island east of Tulaghi, which has a boat yard on it (only 12 m and coral), DON'T!. The village opposite this island is full of rascals which are known to rob yachts. In fact, just last week a catamaran parked there got boarded at night, with his occupants asleep. Money and camera gear went missing. The spot at the north of Tulaghi island is not good either for security so compromise to weather or go somewhere else on Ghela. apparently the rest of the island is fine, only the people near Tulaghi have a bad reputation of specializing in yacht robberies (solar panels, etc...) and sadly they give the whole place a bad reputation so don;t be deterred, there are some nice people out there too!
f;)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Savo Island: Don’t put your finger into the volcano!
Sorry all images uploaded in a hurry as I am trying to catch the ferry to Tulaghi...
The island of Savo, north West of Honiara is reputed for not having much of an anchorage so wasn’t worth taking KUNA there. As Guadalcanal’s weather coast, Savo presents a very steep coastline but the south western side shelves gently between 5 and 10 m, providing enough shelter to consider anchoring on calm days (and nights, attending the boat closely). The ground is sand, gravel and small coral bommies so the holding wouldn’t be very good but conditions are better than described in the cruising guides!!
Now, to this volcano business. Unlike other active volcanic islands such as Nupani (800m, in the Temotu province), Savo is not very high (400 m only) and, a very young island, eroded in steep ravines. So far, nothing much to different to any other island until one sticks their feet in the creeks that lead to the so called “crater” hidden in amongst the rainforest: warm water is flowing down the sides of the island and as one goes up the valley, soon enough, vapour clouds burst out of waterfalls of boiling water. A slip into the creek means a second degree burn now! As I hang on to those thin tree roots on a narrow slippery passage overhanging a boiling pool, I imagine the Risk Assessment Form to be filled in at the BBC, for example, to go filming a volcano! Apparently a guy slipped there and did a lot of damage. Lets enjoy the OH&S freedom of the Solomon Islands, where one can still be responsible for their own actions!!!
After the 3 km walk up the creek, the volcano confirms itself to be the antithesis of the typical volcano anyone would picture in their head: no crater, no lake, no lava, no smoke: just a few bare hills eroded by the rains, yet of a distinctive yellow colour due to the sulphur crystals forming in the surface. The track is very ill defined and the ground collapses under foot, and is very well above boiling water temperature, as I discovered by accidentely sticking my finger in it. The guide actually had placed an egg and a raw fish in it to demonstrate the cooking process!
This guide is lighting matches above some holes in the ground...
...to make the volcano smoke!!!! This is a bit a peanut vocano but nevertheless a tourist attraction!!!
Megapodes and volcanoes:
The purpose of the shoot is to demonstrate how a species of bird, the megapode makes use of the heat generated by the volcano to incubate its eggs (the name sounds cool, but really, it is not far from being a black chicken that knows how to fly!). The megapodes dig a deep hole (up to 1.5-2 m?) in the ground to lay their egg, which they bury by carefully covering it back so the surface looks undisturbed. They then leave it to the elements to do the work: the heat contained in the ground brings the chick to hatching stage, a chick which will not see its parents when it makes its own way to the surface!
On Savo, the megapodes lay their eggs in sand fields just behind the beach. It is very unlikely that the eggs laid there benefit from volcanic heat to incubate, though some people believe that some underground hot water streams travel under the megapode fields. So the solar radiation in the black sand probably is enough. On other islands, the birds definitely use volcanic heat as much as humans use it to cook their eggs!
Megapodes coming early morning: it's too dark and this shot is blurred ...
The eggs of the megapode are quite large, and quite sought after by the communities so generation after generation, the megapodes, returning to the same egg laying site, have been exploited by the villagers nearby. Megapodes come every morning to lay their eggs at dawn and every morning, as the church bell call the prayers (7 am), men rush into the field, once the birds have gone, and dig the sand to collect the eggs. It’s a men’s job and each family has an allocated plot delimited by coconut fences. The scene leaves me wondering if it is sustainable: it looks like megapodes keep coming back but how many chicks get a chance to escape that fate?
megapode field after the harvest: holes everywhere for the birds to use the next morning
Anyhow, some of the eggs are sold to the humble Savo island “resort” and I enjoyed them for breakfast!
The island of Savo, north West of Honiara is reputed for not having much of an anchorage so wasn’t worth taking KUNA there. As Guadalcanal’s weather coast, Savo presents a very steep coastline but the south western side shelves gently between 5 and 10 m, providing enough shelter to consider anchoring on calm days (and nights, attending the boat closely). The ground is sand, gravel and small coral bommies so the holding wouldn’t be very good but conditions are better than described in the cruising guides!!
Now, to this volcano business. Unlike other active volcanic islands such as Nupani (800m, in the Temotu province), Savo is not very high (400 m only) and, a very young island, eroded in steep ravines. So far, nothing much to different to any other island until one sticks their feet in the creeks that lead to the so called “crater” hidden in amongst the rainforest: warm water is flowing down the sides of the island and as one goes up the valley, soon enough, vapour clouds burst out of waterfalls of boiling water. A slip into the creek means a second degree burn now! As I hang on to those thin tree roots on a narrow slippery passage overhanging a boiling pool, I imagine the Risk Assessment Form to be filled in at the BBC, for example, to go filming a volcano! Apparently a guy slipped there and did a lot of damage. Lets enjoy the OH&S freedom of the Solomon Islands, where one can still be responsible for their own actions!!!
After the 3 km walk up the creek, the volcano confirms itself to be the antithesis of the typical volcano anyone would picture in their head: no crater, no lake, no lava, no smoke: just a few bare hills eroded by the rains, yet of a distinctive yellow colour due to the sulphur crystals forming in the surface. The track is very ill defined and the ground collapses under foot, and is very well above boiling water temperature, as I discovered by accidentely sticking my finger in it. The guide actually had placed an egg and a raw fish in it to demonstrate the cooking process!
This guide is lighting matches above some holes in the ground...
...to make the volcano smoke!!!! This is a bit a peanut vocano but nevertheless a tourist attraction!!!
Megapodes and volcanoes:
The purpose of the shoot is to demonstrate how a species of bird, the megapode makes use of the heat generated by the volcano to incubate its eggs (the name sounds cool, but really, it is not far from being a black chicken that knows how to fly!). The megapodes dig a deep hole (up to 1.5-2 m?) in the ground to lay their egg, which they bury by carefully covering it back so the surface looks undisturbed. They then leave it to the elements to do the work: the heat contained in the ground brings the chick to hatching stage, a chick which will not see its parents when it makes its own way to the surface!
On Savo, the megapodes lay their eggs in sand fields just behind the beach. It is very unlikely that the eggs laid there benefit from volcanic heat to incubate, though some people believe that some underground hot water streams travel under the megapode fields. So the solar radiation in the black sand probably is enough. On other islands, the birds definitely use volcanic heat as much as humans use it to cook their eggs!
Megapodes coming early morning: it's too dark and this shot is blurred ...
The eggs of the megapode are quite large, and quite sought after by the communities so generation after generation, the megapodes, returning to the same egg laying site, have been exploited by the villagers nearby. Megapodes come every morning to lay their eggs at dawn and every morning, as the church bell call the prayers (7 am), men rush into the field, once the birds have gone, and dig the sand to collect the eggs. It’s a men’s job and each family has an allocated plot delimited by coconut fences. The scene leaves me wondering if it is sustainable: it looks like megapodes keep coming back but how many chicks get a chance to escape that fate?
megapode field after the harvest: holes everywhere for the birds to use the next morning
Anyhow, some of the eggs are sold to the humble Savo island “resort” and I enjoyed them for breakfast!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Crocodiles of the Weathercoast
The first flight attempt to AvuAvu near Lauvi lagoon was a failure: it is indeed hard to reach the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal in a small plane … due to weather! The local “airport terminal” there does not have a radio so there was no way to know that a huge rain cloud had formed, so when the plane arrived on the south Eastern side of the island, after flying over 1800m high hills, it was hit by a squall and the pilot had to climb high to escape the cloud. It was raining in the plane, which attest for the visibility at the airfield! So the pilot turned back as he was low in fuel.
Second attempt two days later was successful and the mass of pelican cases was happily transferred by quad and canoe to the small house of our host Fred Laku located on s trip of sand between the beach and Lauvi lagoon. A comfortable spot with an outdoor kitchen but the insects made the hammock in the garden more appealing!
Two canoe reccies proved that looking for a crocodile in the lagoon was like searching for a needle in a haystack, despite the fact that the four square kilometres body of water contains about 1500 of the buggers. The heavy rain had made the water level rise, removing any beach or visible haul out spot for them.
The lagoon from the air
vegetation not unlike the australian coast
One large dominant crocodile from the lagoon was recently killed by the locals and RAMSI police force: they baited a large hook with a dead dog, the crocodile ate it and later the RAMSI came and shot it. His skin was so thick that the bullets bounced several time. It was 15 feet long and when they open its tummy, the bone remains of two recent human victims were revealed. No doubt this crocodile deserved his fate. About 50 people are killed every year by crocodiles in the Solomons. See other blog entries about the problem (in May)
The crocodiles do not find enough food in the lagoon and are now crossing into the sea to find some other river deltas along the coast, where people live and have pigs and dogs (potential preys for the crocodiles).
Exploring the small island opposite the lagoon, we found that another large croc had elected his territory in the coral lagoon recently formed when the island was born 30 years ago in an earthquake. The thick and bushy vegetation and steep beach attest of the recent uplifting: before 1977 the island was a reef, emerging at low tide, and does not appear on marine charts!
look closer: it's camouflaged
The crocodile hauled out on the beach, making it easy to film and over a couple of days got accustomed to our presence. This first – and last!- shot marked the end of a 3000 miles crocodile search in the Solomons, yay!
some basket making session ... to prevent boredom...
Saturday, July 5, 2008
KUNA's having a rest in Tulaghi!
After an uneventful -but very easy!- downwind sail over the 700 miles back from Anuta, KUNA is back in the more friendly waters of the Central province for a break. Not easy to find a safe park for a yacht in the Solomon islands but had to go and do some work on the weather coast of Guadalcanal, which has no anchorage, so weighed the options:
- moorings can be hired at the Honiara Point Cruz yacht club (one of them from Steve, +677 96 000, just in case that's useful to anyone) but the boat needs to be occupied to prevent theft. NOw to find a local who is RELIABLE is another challenge and the city has too many distractions (Solbrew especially). Anchoring can be tricky there: it is quite deep 20m and crowded and even during the trade season, some afternoon strong northerly breezes or even squalls can burst out, putting the boats on a leeshore.
- the next best alternative was to leave the boat in the Florida group, 35 miles NE of Honiara.
Checked Tulaghi harbour and it is definitely more protected, though, not quite perfectly from the SE trades. But it is VERY deep and KUNA is now parke don coral in 30m of water, 50m from the shore, right in front of the Tulaghi dive center and the police station for security. KUNA has two reliable people occupying her 24 hours/day as well. Apparently, people in the Florida (well Tulaghi) tend to strip yachts of solar panels, so there was no way to leave her alone. That's a real shame because there are a couple of very good totally enclosed cyclone holes in the florida group and it would have been so easy to just go anchor in mud!
Another possible option in the Florida is AviAvi, which also has a shipyard.
Now, all the camera gear was removed from KUNA the waterline has come up a long way!
The plane took us to the weather coast but did not land because of the weather... there was so much rain the pilot could not see the strip!
Meanwhile, back in Honiara to update the blog. City life the solomon style!
out for some shopping... the amount of cargo, plastics, (mostly goods of mediocre quality imported by the chinese) is quite overwhelming after two months on islands which are not exposed to cargo and where everything disposable is organic. There, no rubbish is produced. Plates are banana leaves and backpacks are made of coconut!
...and public transport!
The city is very busy as it is the 30th anniversary of independence so eager to get out. Honiara is no place to hang around for too long!
- moorings can be hired at the Honiara Point Cruz yacht club (one of them from Steve, +677 96 000, just in case that's useful to anyone) but the boat needs to be occupied to prevent theft. NOw to find a local who is RELIABLE is another challenge and the city has too many distractions (Solbrew especially). Anchoring can be tricky there: it is quite deep 20m and crowded and even during the trade season, some afternoon strong northerly breezes or even squalls can burst out, putting the boats on a leeshore.
- the next best alternative was to leave the boat in the Florida group, 35 miles NE of Honiara.
Checked Tulaghi harbour and it is definitely more protected, though, not quite perfectly from the SE trades. But it is VERY deep and KUNA is now parke don coral in 30m of water, 50m from the shore, right in front of the Tulaghi dive center and the police station for security. KUNA has two reliable people occupying her 24 hours/day as well. Apparently, people in the Florida (well Tulaghi) tend to strip yachts of solar panels, so there was no way to leave her alone. That's a real shame because there are a couple of very good totally enclosed cyclone holes in the florida group and it would have been so easy to just go anchor in mud!
Another possible option in the Florida is AviAvi, which also has a shipyard.
Now, all the camera gear was removed from KUNA the waterline has come up a long way!
The plane took us to the weather coast but did not land because of the weather... there was so much rain the pilot could not see the strip!
Meanwhile, back in Honiara to update the blog. City life the solomon style!
out for some shopping... the amount of cargo, plastics, (mostly goods of mediocre quality imported by the chinese) is quite overwhelming after two months on islands which are not exposed to cargo and where everything disposable is organic. There, no rubbish is produced. Plates are banana leaves and backpacks are made of coconut!
...and public transport!
The city is very busy as it is the 30th anniversary of independence so eager to get out. Honiara is no place to hang around for too long!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
APOLOGIES EVERYONE!
The last month of posting ended up at the bottom of the pile in 1997 since my old labtop onboard the boat always starts at that ancient date so I have fixed the news (readable in the May, June sections) and soon will add the pictures in the next few days!
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