Hello All,
We got here to the anchorage at 1100 today. Our position is 10 50.21 S 162 27.08 E. I had to run the engine 21 hours to get here. We a least had a good sail for more than half of the way. We got the dingy aired up and headed for the beach. There is a small village here that looks very traditional and clean as a button. The people here all seem very nice and the kids greeted us when we arrived and all 30 of them showed us around. We met the chiefs daughter and signed her yacht book. The chief is in Honiara at the moment and won't be back for a month. This is a very protected anchorage and the Island is surrounded by nice sandy beaches. After looking at all of the entry's in the yacht book since 2006 a relatively small number of boats actually stop here. It is a wonderful little Island. Two of the young kids took us on a 10 minute walk through the jungle to a fresh water lake right in the middle of the Island. It is a huge lake, about half the size of the one I grew up on and was absolutely beautiful.
We will go back tomorrow and take a hike to the other side of the island where there are 2 more villages and take a look around. I wasn't sure what to expect of the Solomon's but so far its been awesome.
Well that's all for now.
PEACE
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
10 48.26S 163 45.92E
Hello All,
We have had a good sail so far up till just an hour ago when the wind died out to nothing. The weather forecast predicted this but I was hoping they were wrong. I am running the iron sail right now with 77 miles to Santa Ana Island so we should get there in the morning sometime.
Everyone has just been reading books and enjoying the flat calm seas. We did have a little excitement today. After getting the sails down Rafal and Paula jumped in the 91 degree water with there snorkel gear on. They said the water clarity is amazing. Rafal said, I am going to dive to the bottom I will be right back, I told him you better be able to hold your breath for a while, we are at 12,000 feet. He said he could see the bottom of the boat perfectly from 200 feet away.
We can hope the wind may fill back in somewhat to get us in under sail but I won't hold my breath.
That's all for now. Talk to you soon.
PEACE
We have had a good sail so far up till just an hour ago when the wind died out to nothing. The weather forecast predicted this but I was hoping they were wrong. I am running the iron sail right now with 77 miles to Santa Ana Island so we should get there in the morning sometime.
Everyone has just been reading books and enjoying the flat calm seas. We did have a little excitement today. After getting the sails down Rafal and Paula jumped in the 91 degree water with there snorkel gear on. They said the water clarity is amazing. Rafal said, I am going to dive to the bottom I will be right back, I told him you better be able to hold your breath for a while, we are at 12,000 feet. He said he could see the bottom of the boat perfectly from 200 feet away.
We can hope the wind may fill back in somewhat to get us in under sail but I won't hold my breath.
That's all for now. Talk to you soon.
PEACE
Saturday, October 29, 2011
10 44.33S 165 05.58E
Hello All,
We are on passage to Santa Ana Island on the eastern tip of San Cristobal Island. We have had good wind all day and into the evening, in fact to good. We have 200 miles to get there and we were going a little fast so we reduced sail through the evening to slow us down some and having less sails makes it safer for squalls. It was a beautiful day and a steady 15 knots of wind on a beam reach. We will island hop a few times before we get to Honiara so will be cool to see some different places along the way and breaks the trip up to basically day sails.
I have been watching the sea water temp and it has been rising to over 91 degrees, nice and warm huh. Seas are about 4 feet so it is a pretty smooth ride.
Well that's all I know for now so I will talk to you guys tomorrow.
PEACE
We are on passage to Santa Ana Island on the eastern tip of San Cristobal Island. We have had good wind all day and into the evening, in fact to good. We have 200 miles to get there and we were going a little fast so we reduced sail through the evening to slow us down some and having less sails makes it safer for squalls. It was a beautiful day and a steady 15 knots of wind on a beam reach. We will island hop a few times before we get to Honiara so will be cool to see some different places along the way and breaks the trip up to basically day sails.
I have been watching the sea water temp and it has been rising to over 91 degrees, nice and warm huh. Seas are about 4 feet so it is a pretty smooth ride.
Well that's all I know for now so I will talk to you guys tomorrow.
PEACE
Friday, October 28, 2011
A Good Time in Lata
Hello All,
This morning we went across the bay again to Lata to conclude our Quarantine check in. When we got there the officer was still out of town so we took a walk around and in our travels ran into a 60 year old Polish traveler. We all hit it off with him right away, especially Rafal and Paula. We went to the market for bread and afterwards went to his hotel, well kind of a hotel, anyway we ended up chatting with him most of the day. He is on holiday here and is a HAM radio operator. He brought some portable gear with him and spent a few days out at the reef Islands not far from here broadcasting to other HAM operators. He has traveled all over the Pacific doing this. He sets up his gear and talks to people all over the world. The funny thing is he was suppose to fly out of here last week but the plane keeps getting delayed so he has been stuck here for a week now. Now keep in mind, this place has little to no Internet, land line calls are extremely expensive, there is no ATM and 99% of the place doesn't even know what a credit card looks like so all of that being said this is an awful place to be stranded. He is taking it pretty well and has had a good time just visiting with the locals. He is a really nice guy and had some good stories to tell about his travels. Rafal and Paul got to speak Polish most of the day with him so they really enjoyed that. There was a gal that was also at the hotel stranded. She was there with us also. She is originally from Vanuatu but now lives in Australia. She has an extended family that lives here so was here visiting. She has been here for 2 weeks waiting for the plane. This place really takes the "Island time" rule seriously. I made a few more trips to the Quarantine office and finally got with the guy and got all of the paperwork sorted out.
Today was a very interesting day to say the least and it was really nice to visit with those folks.
We are getting ready for the 200 mile crossing to San Cristobal Island and from there we will only be 100 miles and some change from Honiara on Guadalcanal.
I will keep in touch on the crossing so stay tuned.
PEACE
P.S. This was sent on Thursday 10-27-2011
This morning we went across the bay again to Lata to conclude our Quarantine check in. When we got there the officer was still out of town so we took a walk around and in our travels ran into a 60 year old Polish traveler. We all hit it off with him right away, especially Rafal and Paula. We went to the market for bread and afterwards went to his hotel, well kind of a hotel, anyway we ended up chatting with him most of the day. He is on holiday here and is a HAM radio operator. He brought some portable gear with him and spent a few days out at the reef Islands not far from here broadcasting to other HAM operators. He has traveled all over the Pacific doing this. He sets up his gear and talks to people all over the world. The funny thing is he was suppose to fly out of here last week but the plane keeps getting delayed so he has been stuck here for a week now. Now keep in mind, this place has little to no Internet, land line calls are extremely expensive, there is no ATM and 99% of the place doesn't even know what a credit card looks like so all of that being said this is an awful place to be stranded. He is taking it pretty well and has had a good time just visiting with the locals. He is a really nice guy and had some good stories to tell about his travels. Rafal and Paul got to speak Polish most of the day with him so they really enjoyed that. There was a gal that was also at the hotel stranded. She was there with us also. She is originally from Vanuatu but now lives in Australia. She has an extended family that lives here so was here visiting. She has been here for 2 weeks waiting for the plane. This place really takes the "Island time" rule seriously. I made a few more trips to the Quarantine office and finally got with the guy and got all of the paperwork sorted out.
Today was a very interesting day to say the least and it was really nice to visit with those folks.
We are getting ready for the 200 mile crossing to San Cristobal Island and from there we will only be 100 miles and some change from Honiara on Guadalcanal.
I will keep in touch on the crossing so stay tuned.
PEACE
P.S. This was sent on Thursday 10-27-2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Lata and Flip Flops
Hello All,
Yesterday between rain showers we took the dingy 2 miles across the bay to Lata so we could check in with the Police. This is an official port of entry but due to funding they can't afford to keep a customs officer here so they have set up the police with some paperwork that they will send on to Honiara to let them know we are here. After the formalities we went to look for a place to exchange some of our money for Solomon Dollars. One of the Policemen was kind enough to show us around the town and asked in our behalf if any of the shops could exchange money for us. There is a bank here but they didn't have enough to spare. After an hour of making the rounds a kind man asked the bank for the exchange rate for our currency and helped us out himself. I had 120 dollars Australian that I got at Luganville hoping that would make an easy exchange and it worked out great. I did my research before coming here so there were no surprises and my intelligence was spot on. We looked around a few of the shops and went to look at the fresh market. It was afternoon already so there wasn't much time left. It is not a very big place but to my surprise there was more here than I thought there would be. Tobias, my crew from Germany had some good advise for me when he was on the boat, he said "Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed". It really worked for me this time. After a few hours exploring town we headed back to the boat.
When we returned we just hung out on the boat and watched a few M*A*S*H shows last night. Paula really gets a kick out of them.
Now to get to the strange header. Last night my new Flip Flops from Port Vila were stolen off of my boat. I left them in the cockpit after we returned and they were missing in action this morning. Like I said I did my research here in the Solomon's and was warned that some people here have sticky fingers. Before coming here we striped the deck of lines and things that are easy to take. I have paddle locks on everything that I sent, bolted down and we haul the dingy out at night. I have dropped the anchor 200 times in 8 different countries and this is the first theft I have had. The Pacific is a very safe place to cruise but this country in particular has had a lot of political unrest in the past and saying that, the country is very poor. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth but it was careless of me to leave something like that out. I was warned so I can't get to upset, but still it tick's me off. The people we have met here so far have been very nice and willing to help however they can so I can't let a few thievs ruin the whole lot. Alright, I have vented so feel better now.
Tomorrow we will go to town and finish our business with the Quarantine Officer. He is suppose to be back after lunch. We will plan to leave here Saturday morning for a 200 mile crossing to Santa Ana Island in the Guadalcanal group of Islands.
That's all for now.
PEACE
Yesterday between rain showers we took the dingy 2 miles across the bay to Lata so we could check in with the Police. This is an official port of entry but due to funding they can't afford to keep a customs officer here so they have set up the police with some paperwork that they will send on to Honiara to let them know we are here. After the formalities we went to look for a place to exchange some of our money for Solomon Dollars. One of the Policemen was kind enough to show us around the town and asked in our behalf if any of the shops could exchange money for us. There is a bank here but they didn't have enough to spare. After an hour of making the rounds a kind man asked the bank for the exchange rate for our currency and helped us out himself. I had 120 dollars Australian that I got at Luganville hoping that would make an easy exchange and it worked out great. I did my research before coming here so there were no surprises and my intelligence was spot on. We looked around a few of the shops and went to look at the fresh market. It was afternoon already so there wasn't much time left. It is not a very big place but to my surprise there was more here than I thought there would be. Tobias, my crew from Germany had some good advise for me when he was on the boat, he said "Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed". It really worked for me this time. After a few hours exploring town we headed back to the boat.
When we returned we just hung out on the boat and watched a few M*A*S*H shows last night. Paula really gets a kick out of them.
Now to get to the strange header. Last night my new Flip Flops from Port Vila were stolen off of my boat. I left them in the cockpit after we returned and they were missing in action this morning. Like I said I did my research here in the Solomon's and was warned that some people here have sticky fingers. Before coming here we striped the deck of lines and things that are easy to take. I have paddle locks on everything that I sent, bolted down and we haul the dingy out at night. I have dropped the anchor 200 times in 8 different countries and this is the first theft I have had. The Pacific is a very safe place to cruise but this country in particular has had a lot of political unrest in the past and saying that, the country is very poor. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth but it was careless of me to leave something like that out. I was warned so I can't get to upset, but still it tick's me off. The people we have met here so far have been very nice and willing to help however they can so I can't let a few thievs ruin the whole lot. Alright, I have vented so feel better now.
Tomorrow we will go to town and finish our business with the Quarantine Officer. He is suppose to be back after lunch. We will plan to leave here Saturday morning for a 200 mile crossing to Santa Ana Island in the Guadalcanal group of Islands.
That's all for now.
PEACE
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Nendo Island, Lata, Solomons
Hello All,
We arrived at Nendo Island, Graciosa Bay, Position, 10 44.17 S 165 49.80 E. We entered the bay about 1000 yesterday after rain and squalls all through the night. It is one of the most miserable trips I can remember in awhile. We sailed the whole way but had out all of the rain gear to keep dry. Besides the weather it was a good sail up here.
As we entered the bay we were visited by a small skiff. It was the Quarantine Officer heading to some other villages for a few days. He stopped us and said if we could spare a few minutes he would give us Quarantine before he leaves so we stopped a drift and let him come onboard for the clearance. It was very easy and he was very nice. As it turns out we will have to wait till Friday till he gets back so we can pay him. The wind is suppose to be calm for a few days so we told him it would be no problem to finish the paper work on Friday. We found a beautiful flat calm little cove on the East side of the bay to anchor. We have been visited by many boats and everyone keen to trade something for veggies or wood carvings the Solomon's are famous for there wood carvings. We got a very good sleep last night and are ready for the day.
We will take the dingy across the bay this morning to Lata to check in with the Police. There is no Customs here so that will do till we can get to Honiara.
That's all for now. I will talk to you soon.
Peace
We arrived at Nendo Island, Graciosa Bay, Position, 10 44.17 S 165 49.80 E. We entered the bay about 1000 yesterday after rain and squalls all through the night. It is one of the most miserable trips I can remember in awhile. We sailed the whole way but had out all of the rain gear to keep dry. Besides the weather it was a good sail up here.
As we entered the bay we were visited by a small skiff. It was the Quarantine Officer heading to some other villages for a few days. He stopped us and said if we could spare a few minutes he would give us Quarantine before he leaves so we stopped a drift and let him come onboard for the clearance. It was very easy and he was very nice. As it turns out we will have to wait till Friday till he gets back so we can pay him. The wind is suppose to be calm for a few days so we told him it would be no problem to finish the paper work on Friday. We found a beautiful flat calm little cove on the East side of the bay to anchor. We have been visited by many boats and everyone keen to trade something for veggies or wood carvings the Solomon's are famous for there wood carvings. We got a very good sleep last night and are ready for the day.
We will take the dingy across the bay this morning to Lata to check in with the Police. There is no Customs here so that will do till we can get to Honiara.
That's all for now. I will talk to you soon.
Peace
Monday, October 24, 2011
11 01.2S 166 36.68E
Hello All,
We left Vanikolo Island this morning at 0900. We no sooner got on the outside of the reef when a big squall hit us with wind and rain. I think I am almost getting used to those things now. After noon it cleared up somewhat and we have had a pretty good sail so far. We are running with the wind so I only have up the mainsail with one reef in. The wind has been about 20 knots all day and into the evening so all is well so far, we still have the night to go through. We are headed for Nendo Island, the town of Lata where we are suppose to check into the country. I have heard that the customs is not always around but we will try. We should be there at mid morning at our current speed.
All is well here and everyone is enjoying the down wind sail to the next Island Paradise.
I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
We left Vanikolo Island this morning at 0900. We no sooner got on the outside of the reef when a big squall hit us with wind and rain. I think I am almost getting used to those things now. After noon it cleared up somewhat and we have had a pretty good sail so far. We are running with the wind so I only have up the mainsail with one reef in. The wind has been about 20 knots all day and into the evening so all is well so far, we still have the night to go through. We are headed for Nendo Island, the town of Lata where we are suppose to check into the country. I have heard that the customs is not always around but we will try. We should be there at mid morning at our current speed.
All is well here and everyone is enjoying the down wind sail to the next Island Paradise.
I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
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