Making our way down to Hummocky Island (Engineer Group)

Our first experience of trading was at Basilaki Bay. Not long after we dropped anchor 2 canoes started paddling out to us. Bridget came out with her son Joshua who is 5 while Rose came out with Edwin a 13 year old boy who was very quite and didn’t speak a word to us even when we asked him questions. Bridget and Rose stayed for a while and had a chat. Bridget asked she could have our address so that she could write we said that would be great so we exchanged addresses. We talked also about trading for some fruit and veggies which we did later when we went ashore. Then we were visited by about 8 other canoes who wanted to trade we had no idea what we were doing but we had fun.

It didn’t take us long to realize what we thought was a fair trade as we moved through the islands most people were fair but at a few islands we got done and had to learn to be more alert of what was going on and to say no. We had a big lesson at one island when before we realized what was happening we had traded a T-shirt for 1 egg which was way to much as they only cost less than a kina. The worse trade we did was from the same woman who had a wild foul egg which she said was fresh. She had just left the boat when we looked at it and decided to crack it there was a half formed chick in it Daniel nearly threw up.

From here we sailed into the wind which wasn’t very comfortable to Hummocky Island in the Engineer Group well worth a visit the people here made us feel very welcome. We had our first Cray fish for the trip as fresh as they come.

Our first feed of Cray fish and they went down really well, YUMMY!!!

The kids had a great time playing with the local kids Daniel was almost always with Michael who had a group of boys around them. Michael made a good friend Penwell who sat together and made model canoes from wood. Michael has a long way to go but Penwell can make them in about 30mins all they used was a knife. They also made model knifes etc and painted some.

Michael and Penwell carving which they did for hours.

Kathleen made a friend Melissa they did a lot of walking around. Kathleen wanted to learn how to weave baskets or how to make anything as she loves crafty things but Melissa said that she didn’t know how to make anything. Amy had a great time swimming in the shallow water with the little kids.

Amy with some of her friends what a location.

We signed the first visitors book we were the 4th yacht to call in this year as most yachts go straight down to the cruising grounds and had paid for a customs officer to be flown down for a week to clear them in at Misima (which we didn’t know was an option at the time) 14 yachts were cleared in and out at the same time which saved them going anywhere to clear again.

Father’s Day happened while we were at Hummocky it was a Sunday and church goes until lunch time so we stayed on the boat until it was over and did some housework and organizing. Ian’s ulcer on his foot was still not looking really great but better than it was and he was trying to keep it dry so stayed on the boat. When we got to the shore everyone came and sat around us and then Robinson came and sat down with a guitar and everyone started singing songs people got up and shook each others hands and gave each other a hug us included. I went back to the boat to ask Ian if he would like to come and join us as it was heaps of fun. He said that he would so he came and got in and out of the dingy without getting him foot wet.

The villagers with us on Father's Day it was a great day, we were made very welcome.

A few of the kids started singing with Robinson when Ian came over. Soloman the local priest gave Ian the flower necklace that was made of frangipani which he was wearing for Fathers Day. MJ the local parrot who was raised by the locals was quite happy walking around on his head. I took a couple of group photos of everyone so that I could send a copy back to them when we got back to Australia. They don’t have many if any photos of themselves here. The people have been really lovely here and we had a great time.

It started to rain so Daniel went back to the boat with me to close the hatches and put everything that was dry inside. While I was gone Ian had gone to Soloman’s house with him to shelter. When I got there Rose (Soloman’s wife) was starting to bring out food for us to eat. We had yams, rice, dumplings, chicken and smoked fish which was really nice of them. We tried a bit of everything except the fish we had already eaten before going ashore but thought it may be rude not to try something. The yams were much nicer than the way I had tried to cook them. We then went for a walk with Soloman around the village before we left we hope to leave in the morning as the winds are starting to die down. Miriam gave Amy a carving of the main piece of a small canoe to take home. We said goodbye to everyone on the beach and told them we would call back in on the way back to Samaria. Penwell’s mum is making a bag for Michael and Henry said that he is going to make something for Amy.

A bit about the people of PNG

Firstly I am just going to post some photo's which we couldn't do while in PNG. Hope you like them.
Daniel's birthday in Samarai a lady Maggie made this cake for him but her son said his name was Steven hence the name on the cake. She also gave him his first carving which was really lovely thing to do .Daniel wanted to celebrate his birthday a day late so we weren't at sea.
This monument is in Samarai. It is about a man Christopher Robinson who made the statement that his aim was to make PNG a good country for white men.
I think that it is amazing it is still there. There are a few Dim Dim's (white people) but not many.
We had a fire at Belesana we were robbed throughout this night. The kids showed the local kids and adults how to cook marshmallows on the fire some really liked them others found them to sweet. It was a great night Lilly had sent some fish down so we also cooked them on the coals as well very nice too.


A bit about the people of PNG

Well as you are aware we are now back in Aus. We only had access to the internet when we first arrived at Alotau from then on there were no such services on the islands so these next few entries are what we got up while we were exploring a new place. I am continuing on from when we left Alotau and started heading down to the Louisiades as there are already entries for that.
PNG is a very beautiful place as we really started to find out as we travelled down through the islands. The people who live on the islands are very friendly and love to come out in their canoes to trade different things or just for a say hello and have a cup of tea on the yacht.


Most of the people are subsistence farmers pretty much everything they need is grown or fished for. The frames for the houses made from coconut and betel nut palm trees which are cut into lengths of timber by axe and bush knifes which would be very hard work. The roofs are made from pandana’s grass which is weaved and folded to become very water tight. Most people don’t have furniture they sleep and sit on woven mats which are quite comfortable. Cooking is all done over a fire and any excess seafood is smoked for days over the fire for use at a later date.

Most people grow or make things to trade with yachts when they come to visit. The most requested things we were asked for was clothing, rice, sugar, exercise books, pens and pencils. We traded mainly for food like Cray fish, banana’s, green coconuts, paw paw’s, pumpkins, yams and potatoes (different from our potatoes) we tried some other things but these were the main food items. We also traded for shells, baskets and a few carvings. We had so many shells that we had to say no more shells which was hard as this was all they really had to trade. We had a good supply of lollypops for the children who came out to the boat or followed us around on land. We tried to give the children things they could use or play with like soccer balls, tennis balls and stationary.

Some of the islands don’t have a lot of children on them as they have to go to school on different islands. Some of the children get to stay with relatives but other go to boarding school. It is not unusual for only one or two children from a family to go to school as it is very expensive for them over a thousand kina ($500) a year which is a lot of money considering if they do have jobs they only earn around 70 kina ($35) a fortnight for working 6 days a week and 9 hour days. Most of the islands harvest Bech-der-mer (sea cucumbers) for the Asian market which is seasonal but they can make a lot of money from it. The other main income for the islands is shark fin which also goes to the Asian market.

Back in Oz

We are back! A fantastic passage that only took 78 hours. We had mostly 15 knot winds the whole trip and only had to put a reef in the main on the last night. Nobody came close to getting sea sick. We had to return to Samarai a little earlier than planned as Michael had fever and headache and we wanted to be close to medical help if needed. It turned out to be malaria.
We will put up some posts shortly of our time in PNG but for now we are going to have one or six beers and catch up on some sleep.

Back at Alotau

Well we are back at Alotau and much sooner than we wanted. We have been to a couple of places. Wagawaga which is a small village where there is a ship wreck from the war not far off the beach the bow sticks out of the water but the stern is supposed to be in 80 foot of water we stayed here for a couple of nights. The kids had a great time playing with all the local kids. They did heaps swimming and the boys had a go of the dug out canoes which was fun to watch as they capsized a few times.
Next we went on to Doini Island which was really beautiful very clean and nice beach. We spent a couple of nights here also. We did a bit of snorkeling and we found some lovely shells on the beach. We also went for a dingy ride over to Gona Bara Bara Island where there is a manta ray cleaning station we weren’t sure where it was so we asked some locals who showed us but we didn’t see any manta rays wrong time of year for a lot to be around. There was patches of coral and the boys tried spear fishing but caught nothing.
We were heading to the Louisiades our original plan for PNG but there was a vibration in the drive shaft which would come and go and would go when the rev’s was changed. We thought that the bearing in the prop shaft was causing the noise and may need replacing. We went to slipway to find out about being hauled out and if they had the bearing. Here they use wood or brass bearings not rubber and teflon like in Australia. So to cut a long story short we waited around for 5 days for the owner to turn up but we never saw him. They couldn’t do what we wanted and we would have to get the part from Australia. On the third night we had a heap of things stolen including all the snorkeling gear and the weight belt I need to dive, 4 fuel containers, a fishing rod, clothes and towels which were drying and a few other things. We had been warned to lock everything away before coming to PNG (should have listened to your warning Grumps) but we got slack and we had nothing but a good time with no problems before that. Just goes to show how no matter where you are it only takes a few to spoil things for others. The snorkeling things and fuel containers had to be replaced that’s why we are back in Alotau. We managed to replace the snorkels and flippers Amy couldn’t get flippers as her feet are too small, we couldn’t get another weight belt and we bought another fuel container. Tomorrow we head off for the Lousisade’s. We will be making sure that we lock everything away in future.
We will have the satellite phone turned on in the evenings while we are here (Australia time) as we are out most of the day and can be hard to catch us.

After 93 hours we dropped anchor at Samarai Island at 3 am on the 12th August(Daniel didn’t get off the boat on his birthday). The crossing was pretty rough for the first 3 days and no one could eat due to sea sickness. The following is typical for all on board
Day 1 – one slice of dry bread
Day 2 – one slice of dry bread and about 6 of mints
Day 3 – two slices of dry bread and ran out of mints
last day – weather calmer so slowly started eating normally
Every thing on the boat got a good soaking. All the hatches and vents leak water and as waves were coming across the deck the front cabin was soaking wet. The only real dry place was the aft cabin.
We had a few hours sleep and woke to kids paddling around in dugout canoes. The customs guy on the island was away so we were told that it would be alright to come ashore anyway. Europeans are called Dim Dims and where ever these Dim Dims walked we were the centre of attention. The kids made friends with just about all the kids on the island and were busy playing soccer, fishing, lighting fires on the beach and even cooked a fish on our deck over a hexam fire.
The people over here chew a beetle nut which is a drug and mix it with mustard or lime or and it rots their teeth and their mouth are bright red / orange
Samarai use to be an administration centre but now there are only two little stores operating. Our notes said that there was a bank and post office and we expected we could get currency exchange and any extra supplies. One thing we need is 2 stroke oil for the dingy and we couldn’t get that. There is a public phone on the island that only takes phone cards but no one sells the cards(sorry lovey I didn’t ring you)
Out of necessity we sailed around to Alotau, which is now the admin centre for the Milne Bay Provence. It has a few banks and super markets a hardware and a market. The supermarket that we went to had about 10 security guards and one of them told Kathleen that her wallet was showing from her pocket and to watch out for pick pockets. On the way to the market a guy came over and asked if we wanted to buy some carvings, we said we would look and we went over to the market to look at them as it was pooring down with rain. Soon there were another 2 guys showing us carvings and we had quite an audience looking at the Dim Dims looking at carvings. A guy told me that there would soon be heaps of them so I hurried Wendy up, who was having a great time flashing her Kina(currency) around. And we went back to the boat. Another few people told us about pick pockets, it is not the type of place to be after dark. There were hundreds of people in the street and we saw now other Dim Dims.

We made it!

After 93 hours we dropped anchor at Samaria.
We had 3 day of rough weather and everyone was sea sick and everything in the boat got soaked. We are now in Alotau and this is only a quick post as we are about to have a meal. All is well but still wet, we will post more details when we get back to oz.

cleared customs

We are set to leave early tomorrow morning. Customs came to the boat and stamped our passports and we picked up a satellite phone this morning. We have loaded over $1000 worth of groceries on board, 500 litres of fuel and 600 litres of water. It is the first time everyone, except Wendy, has been out of the country and we are all excited. Our forecast is for 20-25knots of wind pretty much on our beam most of the way with seas about 8 feet. We have confidence in the boat and ourselves but as this is the first time to be out of sight of land we are glad to have the sat phone. We have 460 miles to sail and if we average 6 knots will be there in 3.5 days which will be Saturday 11th August, which is Daniels Birthday, probably his best present will be to get off the boat.
The phone number of the Satellite phone is 0147160508, if your calling from overseas you will probably have to dial 61 and drop the 0, not sure. Call cost are supposed to be expensive though. It can send and receive sms which may be cheaper.
We may not be able to post any blogs while we are over there, except maybe Samarai, so we will catch up when we are back in the country in about 6 weeks.
Wish us fair winds and smooth seas.
The Crew, Saltheart