Panapompom Pomp – Day #1

Sunday, September 22nd – The Rally is on the move today.  Off to a place called Panapompom we are, but before we leave Panasia, The First Mate has a photo shoot in mind:  Avante and Salacia – two J/160’s in this beautiful bay under a clear blue sky.  This is a must.  The two Captains, Bill and Steven, discuss the how and when.  We will start at 0930.  The First Mate and Ron from Salacia will be dispatched in a dinghy to take the photos, and the two Captains will orchestrate what The First Mate dubs “The Ballet”.  Two sailboats moving together in the same direction, then separating to eventually move toward each other, meeting at the middle to turn and move together toward the two photographers waiting in the dinghy.  Sounds easy?  Well, it is and it isn’t.  Not only are there bommies to be considered, The First Mate has it set in her mind where against the mountainside she wants these two boats to be backdropped.  It becomes a timing issue, but both captains performed magnificently.

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We obtained some great photos that we hope the J/160 people who follow this blog will appreciate.  A few now follow:

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After our photo shoot, we exit the bay and head north to Panapompom.  Unfortunately, the light winds that we had for our photo shoot continue, and we end up motoring most of the 25nm to Panapompom.  At one point, winds drop to 2 knots, and out here not so very far from the equator, when the wind drops and the sun is beating down, it is hot, really hot.  We finally drop anchor over a secure sand bottom.  “Would The First Mate like to snorkel on the wreck of a WWII Japanese Zero that is now resting in about 9 feet of water here in the bay?” The Captain queries.  Wreck or no wreck — she just wants to get in the water.  Her body is so hot she is sure the water will sizzle when she submerges.  She has been taking the anti-malarial medicine, Doxycycline, which claims increased sun sensitivity as one of its side effects.  Always sensitive to the sun anyway, she finds now that the heat of the sun on her sunscreen-coated face and hands feels like she is approaching a flame.  It is not just hot;  it burns.  She can’t wait to get in that water!

The Japanese Zero is interesting, though the water is a bit cloudy.  A bent propeller, the fuselage, some of the wing, and part of the tail are intact after 70 years under water.  Someone morbidly jokes that this pilot appeared to have made a somewhat controlled crash landing into the bay and probably lived to swim ashore only to be met by a bunch of cannibals.  In the 1940‘s, Papua New Guinea still did have remote areas that had not yet seen a missionary and been shown the light.  In such areas, the natives fought and ate each other as they had for centuries.

Two full days of activities are planned here in Panapompom.  There will be swimming and outrigger races between locals and DimDims, adults and kids.  A Sailau race with prize money will be held, and that has drawn Sailaus from across the islands.  DimDims will be taken out on the Sailaus, and the favor will be returned to the locals who will get an excursion on our boats.  A luncheon will be served by the ladies of the village which we may purchase if we so desire, and there will be an final evening dinner for us.  It all sounds like fun.  It also sounds exhausting.  We’ll see.

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An hour rolls by.  Another hour crawls by. The First Mate does not mind the activities, but just standing around waiting drives her crazy.  She does not consider herself a Type A personality, but when it comes to waiting for something that should have happened hours earlier, she sure is.  It is not the yachties who are causing the delay.  It is the locals who, following the principals of “Island Time”, do not ever seem to know what time it is or was or even care.  She wonders if they were really expecting us.

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By now it is going on 1330, and we are mightily thirsty as well as a little hungry.  We take a look at the lunch offered by the women for a mere 5 Kina ($2.50).  There’s chicken or pork in coconut milk with rice, steamed yams, cooked bananas and warm lemonade.  The food does look good, but worn out by the heat, we decide to pass and head back to Avante where not food but two cold beers are what we want.

The Sailau race is to start sometime this afternoon.  Rally yachts are encouraged to motor out into the lagoon to watch them.  We invite Rob, Laurie and Dan from s/v Eclipse to join us.  Dan declines, but to our delight, Katherine from s/v Southern Bell shows up with them.  Off we head to make sure we are well out in the lagoon and away from any bommies by the time the Sailaus clear the bay.  The rest of the Rally fleet must have been exhausted by the morning’s activities, for Avante is the only boat out there.  Frankly, it is quite nice.  We only have to be concerned with staying out of the Sailaus way, not watching out for other yachts.

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There are 3 divisions based on size, and it’s a thrill to watch these primitive but fleet sailing machines with their brightly colored sails.

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Robert, the captain of Eclipse, is an American who has been living abroad for many years.  His wife is from Borneo and is a teacher there.  Robert spends about half the year on his boat in Australia and the other half with his wife in Borneo.  Laurie is from Jackson Hole where she is a talented glass blowing artist.  She and her partner, Dan, signed up with Robert as crew, and though both are sailors, this is their first blue water experience.  Katherine, seated in the middle, is from Scotland and joined her cousin, George, and his wife, Gail, on their boat Southern Belle for this trip to the Louisiades.  From The First Mate’s point of view, she is one amazing woman.  She says she came to sailing late in life and has studied and worked her way up the sailing rungs.  Her passion is big boat ocean racing, and she has already raced across several oceans, especially in the challenging lower latitudes.  Tiny gal that she is, she finds it exhilarating to be up the mast attempting to screw in a deck light for the crew below, wrestling lines and hooks with biting cold water washing over her, living for a month with 4 hour on 4 hour off watches without a shower or change of clothes — all this in seas literally as high as mountains all around her 75-foot racing boat.  With her charming Scottish brogue, she describes her adventures without a hint of bragging or bravado.  Her 5-year goal is to skipper one of these race boats, and she’s right on track.  Her eyes gleam as she looks over Avante.  How she would love to race this J/160! 

The Captain and The First Mate are always amazed at the fascinating people we meet out here cruising the islands of the Pacific.  Each one has a tale, and all have a passion for doing the daring, exploring the little known and testing oneself against this big blue ocean.

A much-desired quiet evening is spent by ourselves on Avante.  There’s the Good and the Bad to being part of a Rally.  The Good is the fun of being in a group and making new friends.  There’s the opportunity to do things that a single yacht may not be able to do on its own or even know to do without land contacts set up by the head of the Rally.  The Bad is being in a larger group than one would usually chose to gather and to being scheduled to do things rather than setting one’s own schedule.  Tonight on Avante, we shut our eyes to all the boats anchored around us to enjoy a solitary meal and a glass of wine under the stars of the South Pacific.