Solomons to Takuu

After almost nine months of motoring through the Solomons (the longest we have been in any country while on the boat, by the way), we finally got our parts installed, made the last minute dash to the market to buy as much produce and fruit as we could store, checked out and headed for Takuu. We saw every kind of sailing, from perfect beam reaching through flat seas, to downwind in heavy seas, and upwind into waves and rain galore (to say the forecast was a bit off may be a bit of an understatement). We made some rookie mistakes: Mark's hatch wasn't all the way closed so his mattress was soaked with sea water--first time we have had that happen in 4-1/2 years of sailing. Conrad tossed his cookies inside the cabin and didn't make it to a bucket right away. We also lost a lure to something huge that about ripped the bungee cord in half, let alone snapping the 150 lb test line like it was nothing. Ripe bananas from the humongous stalk that Matt couldn't refuse (less than $3 US) started plopping down as the boat moved from side to side (a la the Pacific crossing), so it's lots of banana bread for the next while.

Takuu (Mortlock) is an atoll that is technically part of the Bougainville Independent government (which is itself nominally part of Papua New Guinea), though they get almost zero and are basically left to themselves. The inhabited islands are only a meter above the sea, so rising sea levels are a real concern facing the 200-300 residents and during very high tides some of the houses get inundated. The government wants the islanders to relocate, but many are reluctant to leave their home to move to a place with a different culture (Takuu is Polynesian in origin, while the rest of Papua New Guinea is Melanesian) and way of life. Our friends on Field Trip have been here for over a week and have making friends and fixing boats. We are enjoying the nice calm anchorage while we dry out Mark's bedding. Conrad turned 11 today (Matt made donuts to celebrate) and is itching to try out the new camera his grandparents got him.

Chillin' in the heat yo

Rescuing gobi fish

We had a fully sunny day for the first time in almost a week and we spent it exploring Rokana Nomana Island, near Lola Island.

The kids explored the huge low tide area and rescued stranded gobi fish. They walked around the island and reported seeing a yellow-spotted monitor lizard stealing some bird eggs. Matt and I (mostly Matt) caught a bucket full of mantis shrimp, with about a 50% success rate for each hole located. Mark and Conrad (with cries of "It's just a baby!" ) wanted us to let the smallest ones go.  Not gonna happen, the shrimp were way too hard-earned for that. Not to mention delicious. Especially the tender babies...

The next day we took the dinghy to Noro to stock up on fresh produce as we've managed to deplete it all hanging around Lola. Not sure if it's because of the resort, but no one comes up in canoes here to trade/sell produce. We almost didn't go as we hope to be back in Noro in a few days anyway to check out, but decided that the kids need a vegetable or two in the meantime, despite the clear nutritional value of shrimp, squid, and the Muzi Boko brownie mix. On the way back, we caught a decent-sized kingfish. It almost made up for the 5-footer that escaped with the lure a couple days back.

We're still in a holding pattern waiting for the last of the parts for the furler.  Fortunately, our contact at Wichard/Pro-Furl was very responsive and we should have the missing parts we need by early next week, dependent on Customs and the vagaries of  'Solomon Time'.

Many days Conrad takes hundreds of pictures.
A few of them are not bugs even.

 

Adventures in wildlife

Grainy footage of black-tip reef shark

Zipolo Habu Resort's sweet spot is fishing and their skilled guides know where to find them. Most days end with the clients' catch being cleaned and the scraps being tossed to the abundant black-tip reef sharks that frequent the beach. The following shots show some of the action. The pictures are a bit grainy because the sharks and fish kick up a lot of silt, plus they are just screen captures from an older Go Pro unit.  Oh, you want 4k clarity?  Go watch the National Geographic channel.  We also don't have David Attenborough on retainer, in case you were wondering.  

Tommy, one of the kids staying at the resort, was kayaking in the shallow water near the feeding sharks with a string of bait trailing behind him from a rope wrapped around his waist. As the swarm of sharks around his kayak got more and more excited, one grabbed his line and jumped right next to the kayak. Tommy's expression suddenly changed from 'this is so cool' to abject terror. The shark was pulling Tommy's kayak backward so strongly that he couldn't paddle away. He quickly undid the rope of bait and paddled back to shore, none the worse for wear.

 

 

You talkin' to me?





 

This fellow was about 8' long

We got our furler part. We were so excited! Unfortunately it didn't include everything we need so we need to sort that out. Sigh. My parents had also sent a package with all kinds of goodies that we ordered. It's like Christmas in July. So we have that to entertain us.

Red sky at night

More of the waiting-in-paradise game

Tuna in the can...

The good news is that our roller furler finally arrived at the rigger in Australia. Woohoo!

Unfortunately, once the rigger opened up the furler, he found a lot of corrosion and couldn't just replace the bearings. Which means the furler was toast. Our fantastic contact at ProFurl/ Wichard in Australia helped us locate a new unit that didn't dent the pocketbook too much (but it did leave a mark!) and would work with the rest of the system. It's currently en route from Oz.  Now, we play more of the postal waiting game even though we've already had our fill.

...and out.

All in all, we're in a pretty good place to wait. The 'dry' season isn't too dry so our water tanks are full but our solar is performing poorly, so our generator is getting a healthy workout. The cooler weather and water and breeze makes for better sleeping weather. We have made friends and been able to slow down and explore more.

Safety first. Putting on labels.



 

 

 
 

 
We finally got our tour of the SolTuna factory, which was fascinating for all of us. I thought it might put the kids off tuna but instead it made them like it even more.



The tasting. Everyone's new favorite was Spicy Tuna Delight.

We're back at Lola for a bit, hanging out with friends old and new and killing some time jigging for tasty mantis shrimp.

These weird-looking dudes are as long as your hand.