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.
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