August 2001 The Louisiades Archipelago Misima Island

Slideshow of photos 

At this point we arrive 'officially' into Papua New Guinea. We arrived on Monday morning and hoisted the yellow pratique declaring that we are free from disease and wish to clear customs.  I went ashore to get some money as we didn't have any PNG kina for the customs fee.

The quarantine man, Graeme, stopped me in the street and told me off a bit for coming ashore  before being clearing in.  I brought him out to the boat and we went through the formalities.  The thing that we got caught out was we said we had rubbish to dispose and got stung for 50 kina for a disposal fee.  The other trick we knew of was if you say you have things to trade they charge 50 kina duty.

Once this was done we then had to wait for the customs man.  He turned up the next day and was happy to stamp our passports on the shore without visiting the boat.  They normally expect refreshments but Marcus Blackmore's Belize (Blackmore's pharmaceuticals) was waiting to clear out and I'm sure the quality of refreshments would be higher with them.

We then were able to go ashore and visit the dusty outpost known as Bwagoia.  The highlights of the town are the market, a covered set of stands that are 90% betel nut stalls.  The occasional banana, tomato, pineapple and paw paw can be bought here.  Other things in the market were the bags known as bilums and a 'snake oil' stall.


Other wise the town has a series of trade stores that sell quite a range of items that Louisiader might wish for.  The bakery sold excellent bread and mediocre cream buns.  We walked up through the town and visited the community school. They were most welcoming and gave us a quick tour of the classrooms.  While very basic compared to our schools the professionalism of the teachers and their classroom layouts was very good.



After two days we were ready to move on.  Saltaire, with Joe, Jemma and Jomen (nine years old) aboard, came in and from them we learned of an anchorage call Bagga Bagga.  This we confused with Ebola at the western end of the island.  They left for the anchorage and we followed soon after.  After 12 miles we found them tucked in against the coast.  There was an open bay pointing to the south west and we came alongside and dropped the anchor in 20-30metres and ran a line to the shore.  The back of the boat was in less than 5 metres and the depth sounder reading 15 metres, giving an idea of how steep the bottom was.

The site is beautiful with a waterfall in the distance and village huts scattered around the bay.  The rest of the day was taken up with a the girls playing with Jomen and the village kids while Colin rowed back and forward to fill the water tanks. In the evening we had a visit from Hammersley who was on the school board and invited us down to look at the school.








The next morning we awoke for Anna's birthday.  She was, as expected, very excited and love the Lego Island software, baby Furby and some Lego.

Outside  we heard a man beckoning us.  He explained he was the local policeman and wished to visit.  He came out and had decided that he would take us to the school.  We decided to get going and followed him up to the school.  It was a long walk along the coastline passing through many houses and in and out of pretty little bays.

We got to the school to find a well laid out ground with three classrooms.  Two of the classrooms and the office were built by Misima Mines who operate a gold mine on the island.  The teachers welcomed us (with all the kids hanging out the windows to get a look at us.  After a short chat with the teachers we were taken on a tour of each classroom and in each one the teacher explained that the girls do their schoolwork on the boat.

This was the last week of school and they were winding down by preparing for Independence Day on 16 Sept.  They asked if we would like to see the dances they had been practicing and they assembled the kids on the grounds. While the dancers put on their traditional dress the rest of the children entertained us with some songs.

There we three dances.  The first was a 'shovel dance'  where they mimicked the shovel work done when the early gold miners arrived on the island.  The next was a 'canoe dance' where two rows of boys paddled the canoe with the girls dancing on the outside. Moving up and down the centre of the canoe was a boy bailing the canoe and showing how much his back ached.  At the rear was another boy doing a great job of steering the canoe.



The last dance was a 'spear dance' once again with two rows of boys with girls forming a row on each side. All of them were well done and very light-hearted and comical in presentation. We  really enjoyed this and thanked the school for their welcome.



We walked back to the boat and started making preparations for Anna's Birthday when a young man came out and told us there had been an accident - a young girl had a coconut fall on her and they thought her arm was broken.  They asked us if we could take her to Bwagoia to the hospital.  The community boat didn't have enough fuel we were told so we accepted the request.  We motored up to a bay not far from the school and Liz went in by dinghy with instructions that only Mum and Dad could come, else the whole village might take up the chance to go for a ride on our boat..  When saw the little girl we could see this was genuine and soon we were on our way.  They were very quiet on the 2 hour trip and when we dropped anchor and took them ashore they were very appreciative.

So back in Bwagoia  harbour Liz got on with Anna's birthday cake and the girls played with the new toys.  The next day we had the birthday cake for breakfast and went into Bwagoia for the Independence day celebrations.  After listening to the local pastor go on and on they then had a another pastor get up and once again go into a full on sermon.  This was enough for us.  We did see the local teachers sing the national anthem.  The flag raising ceremony was cut short when it was discovered someone had stolen the rope from the flagpoles.



We decided to move back to Bagga Bagga.  The wind was building from the south-east and when we got there we realised the anchorage was not protected enough.  We decided to move on to the Deboyne Islands.  This was a hard motor-sail into a stiff south-easter for 15 miles.

August 2001 Louisiades Archipelago Pana Numara Island to Bagaman Island

Our first anchorage in the Louisiades was at Pana Numara Island.  We hove-to overnight on Saturday 1st September outside the reef.  We were naturally cautious about entering the reef at night.  The Duchateau Entrance was clear and wide and presented no anxious moments coming in.  Hoving-to is proving to be a valuable tool.  We have found that in calm seas and moderate winds the boat hoves-to well.

Hove-to means setting one sail back to front and forcing the boat to slowly crab sideways.  The motion is quite steady and you only move slowly - about a knot.




We motor-sailed up to Pana Numara Island.  The fresh North Easterly made us doubt the anchorage would be snug and as considered some other possibilities.  We were keen to stop near a village so decided to check out if the anchorage would be OK. On approach we found it very comfortable.  Three boats were anchored there, Ambrosia from Brisbane, Shades of Blue from Canada  and Alleena from Launceston.  We anchored outside these in 18 metres of water.

Courtney and Anna were excited to see some huts on the beach in the bay nearby and some locals walking on the beach.  It was very hot and we were unsure as to whether it was safe to swim or not. We called on the radio to the other boats and got a reply from Ed and Judy Shultz on Crystal Dancer.  They are from Lake Macquarie and we met them firstly when we left the Lake in April 2000 for Pittwater and again a few months ago when they passed through Manly on their way north.

They assured us the swimming was safe and we all went for a refreshing swim after our long passage.

The first visitors we had from the village were Patrick and Noelene with their year old baby Wilma.  They came aboard and we gave them a drink (cordial) and they shared our 'arrival breakfast' of pancakes.  We traded some seeds and soap  for bananas and sweet potato.  It was a nice introduction to the trading process and the people of the village..

The other boats left and we had the bay to ourselves for the next two days.  On the next day we visited the village after a long walk and clamber along the shoreline. This was certainly an eye-opener.  The village has virtually nothing outside of what comes from the sea or the bush.  The only 'modern' structure was a hall for the church and there was a long fibreglass boat with a large outboard that was known as the community boat.  Highlights of the visit were Courtney having a go at weaving a coconut palm leaf to make a new wall for a house and watching Patrick making shell money known as Bagi.  Apparently the shells used are rare and come from Sudest (Tagula) and to make one complete string can take a week.



Robin (Noelene's grandfather) showed us two completed Bagi and excitedly explained that a large white cruise ship from Misima was going to buy the Bagi for a one hundred Kina each. This at the time seemed unlikely as this definitely wasn't cruise ship territory.  A few days later the pharmaceutical millionaire, Marcus Blackmore, arrived on his large white motor cruiser 'Belize' and Robin's story all made sense.  From a dugout canoe's perspective this was definitely a large white cruise ship!

Next the 'Lake Macquarie contingent' started to come across from the lagoon at Pana Kuba Island.  The three boats were Crystal Dancer, Kudos, and Wave Sweeper.  A couple of enjoyable happy hours were spent on the beach with this group.


From Pana Numara we left and investigated two possible anchorages the first in the lagoon at Pana Kuba - rejected as the entrance was not clear in the choppy conditions, and the second on the east side of Bobo Eina.  The wind was too strong from the south and it would have been too uncomfortable.  We moved on to Bagaman Island. We shared the anchorage on the eastern end of island with Hakuna Matata, a Crowther 53 catamaran with Ben, Mark, Cherie and the American owner Zobe.

Here we met a few characters. Sam known as 'Tricky Sam' had the style of used car salesman and proved his name by scamming two pieces of clothing for three tiny crayfish.  The village elder, Ghulo, here brought out his visitors book. His lack of teeth and constant spitting showed the pitfalls of long term betel nut chewing.



 The village nearby Oisi was the focus for our visit.  After we landed a sailing canoe arrived from a trading trip to Tagula Island.  They off-loaded pigs, betel nut and other supplies.  To our delight they offered us a large mud crab which we traded a childs short and shirt for. We then went and visited Miriam and Simi and their children in Miriam's father's house.  Sitting in their house and drinking a coconut gave us a good look into life for them.  Simi and Col went and collected water from the well for washing while Liz watched Mirim preparing dinner.



The next day Miriam and Simi came out for a visit and Miriam was able to watch Liz making bread.




The coral around the anchorage was the best we'd seen so far and snorkelling each day was a highlight.  The girls spotted a small white tip reef shark cruising past which added a touch of trepidation.



We stayed at Bagaman for four or five days.  On the last day Sunday, we went to church at the village at the far end of the island.  At most villages the churches are metal buildings built  but this village had theirs destroyed in Cyclone Justin in 97 and the village rebuilt using traditional materials.  The congregation welcomed us and we think going to church gave us a level of respect for their values. From what we can gather the bible is often the only book that records the local language in written form.



From Bagaman we had a 30 mile sail out of the lagoon and across to Misima Island to Bwagoia the district 'station' to clear into customs.

Aug 2001 The passage to the Louisiades PNG

We left  Bundaberg, on the 24th August 2001 where we cleared customs, and then headed out to Fredrick Reef.  After a short stop there we sailed on to the Louisiades.  We had light winds, generally and, without motoring, sailed the 850 miles in eight days.

The trip is more commonly done from Townsville as the ocean passage from there is shorter.  Our decision to leave from Bundaberg was based on two factors.  One we are leaving much later than most people and we don't have the luxury of a coasting up to Townsville.  The other reason is there should be a better angle on the wind if the trade winds have much 'east' in them.  The trade winds blow from the south east and the ideal situation is to have the wind 'on your back'.  As it turned out we such fickle winds that it wouldn't have mattered where we left from.

So finally on Aug 24 we cleared customs and sailed across Hervey Bay heading to Fredrick Reef some 250 miles distant. We were buzzed by the Coast Watch plane and it felt good to tell them on VHF that we were 'out of Bundaberg and bound for Papua New Guinea'

We were unsure as to whether there would be clean fuel available in the Louisiades so we decided not to motor unless absolutely necessary, so after 5 or 6 hours we found ourselves bobbing up and down becalmed in the middle of Hervey Bay. A few hours later we had light south-easterlies and we steadily made our way out. The trip to Fredrick Reef was mixed with mainly southerly winds that built to around 20knots but faded overnight and then easterly light winds that made for a confused lumpy sea for the last day going into Fredrick Reef. Two and half days and 250 miles.

The reef is a large horseshoe shape, well protected from the south, with just a sand cay for land and was very comfortable after two and half days at sea. We had to do a few repairs here. The luff of our old tired mainsail tore for about a metre when a slide jammed when reefing down. The other job was the HF radio faded in power when transmitting. So Col had the radio out and replacing some cables and Liz with the sewing machine out and half the mainsail in the cabin



We went for a snorkel and found the water incredibly clear. Not much coral, but BIG fish, and sea snakes circling the coral patches. To be honest Liz and I found it a bit scary with a strong current and the idea of being away from the boat in the dinghy at such a remote place was unnerving. So after a short swim we headed back to the sanctuary of our boat.

After two nights there the wind turned and threatened to build from the north-east, making our anchorage unsafe, so we headed out to sea on the third night. It was again light but lumpy. The next few days saw light south easter's which got us excited when the boat touched five knots. Out of desperation for boat speed the spinnaker was dragged out (for the first time ever!) and after mucking around packing it in it's sock it was hoisted, twisted and was dropped in the water. I am sure you can envision the next hour or so.

The next day was the same light wind so determined not to fail, we successfully hoisted it and got two or three extra knots for the days run. We finished the trip with light head winds but with good speed and yet again averaged a 100 miles for each of the six days from Fredrick Reef to the Louisiades.

The main group of islands of the Louisiade Archipelago is surrounded by a huge oval shaped fringing reef, some 120 miles long by 30 miles.  We arrived at the Duchateau entrance at midnight so we hove-to for the evening and got some rest til light before crossing the barrier reef in the main lagoon.