Rossel Island
Sunday, October 13th – The last big rally event is finished and several boats left for Australia in the morning. The rest of the rally headed off to a final rally party at Wanin Island. We on Avante have one of our first maintenance issues on this trip. The Captain discovered that oil had been leaking out of our generator. The rear cabins are emptied, and the boat looks like a disaster area while he fixes the leak and cleans up the oil mess.
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Avante is the last boat to arrive at Wanim Island, but we arrive in time for the party. Guy has called for a pirate theme party. Neither The Captain nor The First Mate are enthusiastic about costume parties, but we go along with the plan, for this seems to be an event on every rally. The Captain figures that the only way to stop it is for all blogs to publish pictures of overweight rally leaders in silly pirate costumes.
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This is the last rally event, and we are going to miss some of the people that we have met. Obviously, we will see the crew of Salacia again. We will try to see Sue and Graeme from Symphony when we visit Sydney, and we will definitely see John and Di from Allusive and their crew Wendy and Ken, as well as Rodney and Chris from Smart Choice when we sail to Tasmania.
Tuesday, October 15th – Almost all the rally boats have left for home, and we have moved back to Nimowa Island. We are the only boat headed to Rossel Island which is at the far eastern end of the Louisiade Archipelago and an upwind trip. The trouble with upwind trips is that it may mean having to motor for part of it, and that we do so that we will have plenty of light when we go across the lagoon at Rossel Island. We arrive at Rossel Passage and go through the reef by noon. That is good, but we still have a long way before we can anchor, for this lagoon extends 25 miles to the west of Rossel Island.
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Once inside the lagoon, we raise our sails again and sail along the “Preferred Route” identified on our chart. The chart also shows numerous scattered hazards inside the lagoon. Fortunately, the water is quite clear, and we can spot many of them. Still, we navigate very carefully.
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It is getting late in the afternoon by the time we anchor off Damenu village in Tyron Bay. We end up anchoring in fairly deep water, as there are a number of reefs closer to shore. This is a mountainous island. The anchorage is calm, though occasional 20-knot wind gusts blast down on us from the hills.
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That evening, we are treated to a lovely sunset in Tryon Bay with lone fisherman not too far away.
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Rossel Island is quite remote. It is located over 200 miles away from the mainland of Papua New Guinea and over 80 miles from the town of Misima. It is the second largest island in the Louisiades and has about 5000 people scattered across the island in small villages. It is not supposed to have any regular transportation connection, but on our way here, we had spotted a small boat that could probably carry 15 – 20 passengers going through Rossel Passage ahead of us.
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Wednesday, October 16th – We are eager to explore, and after a few morning rain showers, we head for the village landing near where there are a lot of people and a building under construction.
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We learn that this is a new building for the church and that many of the villagers are working on it. The men are completing the roof framing.
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Palm fronds are the roofing material. Tied bundles of fronds are scattered over the area where the women are now doing the final folding of them for the roof.
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Most of the buildings along the shore are raised up on stilts. We learn that is because the hills rise steeply from the shore here, and there is a limited amount of flat land.
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The islanders have ingeniously created additional land along the shore and prevented existing land from washing away by using sticks and stones to build a wall. The area behind this wall is filled with dirt and then topped with flat stones.
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A young man named Jeremiah offers to be our guide and take us on a tour through the village and over to the nearby school.
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On the way we come to a soccer field dug out of a hillside What a huge effort it has taken these villages to create living space on this island!
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The soccer field overlooks the school and bay. We are surprised to discover that the school building is prefabricated and painted. Jeremiah tells us that the school was built with help from a mining company. Unfortunately, the mine is now closed, and the school no longer gets any support. We are surprised to hear that school activities are currently limited, for they have not yet received the school supplies usually delivered by the government on the mainland.
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On our return to the village below, we go by more kids playing basketball on a court that was also dug out of the hillside.
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Back on Avante, we are visited by a couple of trick or treaters. Note how short the distance is between the water and the edge of the canoe.
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Thursday, October 17th – We raise anchor and move further down the island to visit another village. Unfortunately, this has us heading east into weather that appears to be getting uglier. The rain showers catch us as we begin to enter Mbeawe Bay. We slow down and creep forward in greatly reduced visibility, passing 4 canoes fishing at the mouth of the bay. Fortunately, we are between showers and have some improved visibility when we anchor near the head of the bay. But visibility is not good enough, and we decide to move and reanchor when we hear our chain scraping on coral.
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We are not anchored long when a boy named Wesley paddles out to greet us. He lives on the south side of the bay with his family. Would we like to meet them? We soon head over there to visit their compound and meet his family.
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We learn that the village is located at the top of a plateau, and we are told to go to the head of the bay where there is a trail up a very steep hill.
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At the top is a small village with a school and a church.
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It is eerily quiet. The houses are empty, and we see no one around.
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We see a man walking towards us who introduces himself as the village preacher. He tells us that a feast is being held in a neighboring village. Such a feast is a big event for these island people, and that is where everyone has gone.
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On the way back down the steep trail, we meet a spindly old man on his way up. Gap-toothed, he tells us that he climbs this hill twice a day. We are impressed, for this is one steep, slippery climb.
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Later in the afternoon, we explore a small stream at the end of the bay and find a trail that runs along it. We begin following it until we are caught by a heavy downpour.
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A group of islanders catches up with us. They tell us that they are on their way to the feast and invite us to follow them to a nearby village where we all take shelter from the rain. Our companions are carrying bags filled with food and other necessities for their trip. One young man is busy trying on his traditional dress for the dancing that will take place at the feast. He proudly shows it off to us. They also enthusiastically tell us to join them at the feast. Everyone is welcome! If the hosting village were a short way from there, we might have considered it, but it is still a 2-hour hike over the mountain on a muddy trail. We would then have to stay overnight at the village, and having nothing with us, that would be impossible. How interesting it would have been if the village were more accessible!
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When we are back on the boat, several people come out to Avante to trade or visit. We are nearing the end of our time in the Louisiades and still have trading stuff left. We are generous with our trading, as these people are the poorest of the poor we have seen out here and really appear to need things. We are amazed at the remoteness of this place. One of our visitors tells us that we are the first yacht to arrive this year. Given how late it is now in the cruising season, they may not have another yacht arrive before cyclone season starts. While there is no scheduled transportation from Rossel to Misima, they are not isolated. There is a boat that makes the trip periodically, and that was the one we saw on our way here. People who need to travel can manage to find a way to do so, and one can order things from Misima. While the buildings are all of traditional construction, most of the clothing we see people wearing was made elsewhere. They have all seen things in movies and magazines. One young lady told us that her dream was to have a digital watch.
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Friday, October 18th – It really rained hard last night, and we were doubly glad to be sleeping on Avante rather than at some native village. The rain continued all morning, but by the afternoon, we head out to take another hike up the stream again.
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The vegetation is lush and quite tropical with some interestingly curled vines catching our eye.
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Water is flowing down every waterway due to the recent rain, and we see several small waterfalls.
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We boulder hop up the stream hoping to find a spot deep enough to dip into and cool down in the humid heat.
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Finally, we find just the spot. Our hidden swimming hole just deep enough to sit down in and let that cool, clear, fresh water wash over us.
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By the time we return to the bay, it is getting late in the afternoon. How comforting to see Avante out there serenely waiting our return.
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Saturday, October 19th – A young lady named Nora comes by with a young child early on this calm morning. The First Mate goes up on deck to talk with them. The child takes one look at The First Mate and bursts into terrified screams. If he could have jumped out of the boat and swam to shore he would have. It turns out that The First Mate is the first white person that this child has ever seen. What an apparition she must have been to this poor little one!
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Even after several minutes of talking, smiling and trading some items, the little one was not about to trust this strange, sickly-looking, white being. Who could blame him?
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At mid-morning, we raise anchor and motor the 8nm back to Tryon Bay to position ourselves to leave Rossel Island tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, we take the dinghy ashore where we examine the completed roof on the church building. The palm fronds have been neatly laid and secured in place. Many hands make light work, for it was only 3 days ago that they were securing the rafters.
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Not far away, there is another building that is a little further along in construction with the walls completed.
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The amount of hand labor that goes into these buildings is impressive. With limited hand tools, no nails or nuts and bolts, these structures rise quickly with the help of many hands.
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A nearby fresh water stream is used by the women to wash dishes and clothes.
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Spotting a child balancing a basket on her head, The First Mate asks if she would show her how to balance a basket like that.
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The kids are intrigued and laughingly help her. “Stand tall,” they say. “Look straight ahead,” they caution, but they all know she can’t walk more than a step or two without toppling it. She marvels at what it takes to hold your head still and keep balanced while also looking ahead to see where you’re stepping. She lets them guide her.
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Sunday, October 20th – Today we leave Rossel Island and begin our trip out of the Louisiades and back to Australia. Out across the long lagoon, we go following the same route that we used when we entered. The day is sunnier than when we arrived, and we can spot more of the hazards that lie along the route.
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Exiting the lagoon, we are always glad to be through a reef and sailing in open water where we do not have to be so careful.
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Our visit to Rossel Island has been quite interesting and well worth the upwind sail to get there. The people of this island have been so friendly and welcoming. Their interaction with the rest of the world extends back for years when they had working copra plantations and more missionaries here. More recently, there has been mining. We marvel at how far they are from places where they can buy anything. Despite this, we see all kinds of items that were made elsewhere like clothing and pots and pans. These islands may be remote, yet, you would not consider the people who live here isolated from civilization. They live with a combination of the traditional and the modern that works well for them.