God bless America

Hello All,
We have been having a great time in Honiara. Everyone we meet has been so nice and very helpful when we need something or ask for directions. The Point Cruz Yacht Club seems to attract locals and visitors alike and has been an experience every time we go there. We left the mooring Monday morning and decided to tie stern to, to the sea wall. It has worked out great because it offers a little more protection from the sea. Like I said before this is not a good anchorage because of the limited space between the reef that surrounds the bay and Honiara being on the North side of the Island. Before WW2 the capital was 20 miles North of here across Iron Bottom Sound on Tulagi Island part of the Florida Island group. In all of the battles driving out the Japanese it was completely destroyed by the bombings . So after the war the Solomon Islanders made Honiara the new capital. The U.S and Japanese had built up infrastructure here so they just moved into the old buildings and made a new town. Tulagi is a much more of a protected anchorage but as they say the rest is history.

I dont think I have to tell to many WW2 buffs that this place is very famous. It was a turning point in WW2 and one of the most famous and bloody battles in world history. Only because I know a little history of this place that as we entered I looked around and took pause and thought about the brave men that died here. To this day the Solomon Islanders hold a high regard for Americans and there International Airport is named "Henderson Field " named after one of the American Captains that served here. I was told by someone that the Japanese helped fund a remodel to the terminal not long ago and asked if they would change the name. The Prime Minister stepped up and said "so long as there is a Solomon Island government the name will never change". It Made me very proud to hear that.

Tomorrow we will hitch a ride westward and snorkel on a few WW2 planes and ship wrecks. Iron Bottom Sound is full of them but we dont have the time for that so we will just make do with the time we have.

Solomons has been a special place so far and we are having a great time. As you read this please take time to pause like I did and remember all of the brave men that died to make our country so great.




PEACE