Three Free Days
Wednesday, September 25th – Three days with no Rally activities scheduled! Feeling like children let loose on a school holiday, we listen to the morning radio briefing to find out where everyone is headed. Wherever that is, we’re going in the opposite direction or at least to a place with the fewest boats. It’s not that we are antisocial. It’s more that getting away from the maddening crush is a big part of cruising. A quiet anchorage off a pretty island all alone is the goal. One or two other boats are okay, but all alone is the ideal.
The island of Motorina is our destination. 50nm away — The Captain expects a great sail, and it is. Leaving Panapompom, we raise sail and head back across the lagoon, out the West Passage and into the open sea. We tack to Cormorant Passage, which we had exited on our way out from Panasia, and sail through it neatly.
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The First Mate identifies the mountain backdrop she had used for the J/160 photo shoot. We can spot the beach where we landed, but the opening through the reef into the lagoon cannot be seen. We know roughly where it is even though it is not shown on any chart. We know we could find it if we needed to, but now is not the time. We continue east to Motorina.
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The islands of the Louisiade Archipelago are varied in topography, vegetation and rainfall. Most are rugged and densely covered with vegetation. Few are tropical sandy palm-fringed islands like Duchateau, the island paradise that first welcomed us here. Those islands with high mountains are most often blessed with streams and fresh water, but others surprisingly have no water source but the rain. Sandy beaches frequently give way to dense areas of mangrove trees where villages are hidden down narrow paths running from the shore through the heavy growth.
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Our route today takes us by several interesting islands, and we enjoy the view as we sail along in 10 to 15 knots from ESE.
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Nearing Motorina, s/v Allusive shows up on our AIS monitor. We are not going to be anchored alone, but that’s okay. These are good friends. Oh, dear, does that sound snobby? One tends to get that way when hoping for an isolated anchorage. John and Di from Allusive radio to invite us for Sundowners after they return from a visit to the village on the shore. We decide to join them ashore where a throng of young children race to meet our dinghies, and a few adults stroll over to welcome us.
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The Captain, aka The Bubble Man, whips out his bottle of bubbles, and in an excited frenzy, the little ones race after the bubbles. He holds the wand for the children to blow. The older ones catch on after a try or two, but the mechanics of bubble blowing baffles the younger ones.
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It does not take close observation for us to see that this is one of the poorer villages we have seen thus far. Clothes are tattered, and it is hard to find an article that has not been patched together. Many of the buildings also show signs of this patchwork fixing. We are saddened looking around us, but the people are warm, friendly and curious about us. “Where have we been?”, “What have we seen?” and “Where are we going?” are frequent questions.
Returning to our boat, we pick up our drinks and an appetizer and join Di and John and their crewing friends, Wendy and Ken. These people all hail from Tasmania, and since Tassie (as it is fondly called) is on our itinerary for 2014, we eagerly press them for information. In the process, we learn that Ken holds the record for sailing non-stop around the world from Tasmania. The trip took him 6 months, but thanks to satellite communication, he was able to check in with his wife almost everyday.
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“Still”, thinks The First Mate, “that’s one very long time to have only oneself for company.” We enjoy listening to his tales of how difficult it was to get tradesmen to understand his needs for this trip, that there would be absolutely no repair facility nor option to ship in spare parts and of how thankful he was that he took his son’s last minute suggestion to pack in a spare mainsail – just in case. It was needed. That’s Ken on the left with his wife, Wendy, next to Di and John.
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Matthew, a young man we had met earlier on shore, paddles out to us as the sun sets. Would we be interested in 5 freshly caught lobster? Our friends on Allusive were not interested as they were still working through the 14 lobsters they had bought in Panapompom, but we two from Avante, feeling lobster deprived in comparison, are very interested. Matthew hands over the lobster and tells us that he’ll be by Avante in the morning for his pay.
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Morning arrives, and with it, the arrival of the village fleet of “Trick or Treaters” who set out as soon as they see movement above decks. “Don’t show your head,” pleads The First Mate to The Captain, as she savors her morning coffee. “Not yet, please”, she whispers to the milling kayaks, but their needs are greater than hers.
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The less timid approach, gently knocking on the side of the boat. Still bleary-eyed, she climbs on deck, smiling a Good Morning that is far brighter than she feels. The First Mate is not a morning person unless she has a specific agenda or task in mind. Morning here in the tropics is unnaturally early in her estimation! One minute, it’s night. The next, it’s daylight. Ka-pow — There it is, bright light right in your face, like it or not. That same sun sets with the same suddenness. 6:00pm — That’s it. End of story. One minute, it’s daylight; the next, it’s night. There is no lingering, romantic twilight in the tropics. Though she had never thought of it before, she now knows she is made for long summer evenings and late winter mornings. Now, if there were a spot on this earth that combined the two along with a balmy climate, there is where she would head!
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Matthew shows up the next morning with his other two young sons. The First Mate asks him whether he would like Kina, the local currency, or would he be interested in trade items. Maybe Kina, but first he would like to see what The First Mate has to trade. He paddles away delighted with his efforts. Two new T-shirts, 1 beach towel, about 2 yards of fabric, a couple of fish hooks and two razors are his earnings. The First Mate, too, is delighted with her efforts. She knows that she has “over paid” by island standards, but that’s okay. She has given over some very useful items, and dinner tonight is looking pretty good!
Brisk trading continues on and off all day. Mothers paddle out with toddlers precariously perched in the shallow, leaking kayaks. Shy youngsters, needing the courage of their buddies, show up in groups of 2 or 3. The First Mate trades bags of rice, flour, sugar, detergent and hand soap in exchange for yellow eggplants, limes, bananas, papayas, eggs and really ugly looking sweet potato specimens. To the youngsters, she gives school pads, pencils, crayons, balloons and simple toys she had found before leaving Australia.
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Avante has offered to host drinks tonight. When three more boats from our Rally arrive in the afternoon, they also are invited. The new arrivals include Chris and Rodney on Smart Choice, Jill and Michael on Yantara and Sue, Graham and Jamie on Symphony. Including the 4 from Allusive, we will be 13 on Avante! It’s a squeeze, but we make it work. The First Mate whips up a batch of the Fried Coconut Strips she had learned to make at Big Mamma’s in Tonga. With a liberal dusting of salt, they are a big hit. Several more batches are made as we chomp our way through 2 small coconuts.
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We conclude this second day off from the Rally with a scrumptious dinner of garlic and shallot buttered grilled lobster. Yum! Served by candle light under the stars — can’t get much better than this!
Friday, September 27th – Our next rally events are scheduled for Saturday morning in Bagaman. We are going to anchor in Bobolina, a near-by bay, and then head over to Bagaman in time for the day’s activities.
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Shortly before pulling up anchor, Matthew shows up with 4 more lobster. He has been to all the other boats in the bay and was told that all were replete with lobster. We do not need lobster either but being very aware that the lobsters are worth more to him in money or exchange than they are as food, we agree to buy his lobsters. Can one have too much lobsters? We are beginning to think so.
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Unlike our great sail to Motorina, today we end up motoring into the wind the whole way. To our disappointment, the anchorage at Bobolina is too exposed in the increased wind. Bagaman is just around the corner so we decide to go there. We know that Salacia is already there, and since it is also Ross’ birthday, we decide to join the fleet already at anchor in that bay. To our delight, we find Southern Belle at anchor, too, where Catherine is also celebrating a birthday. Before heading ashore to explore, we swing by Southern Belle to give our racer sailor friend one of Avante’s baseball caps which she had so admired. She’s delighted. We then dinghy over to Salacia to give our best wishes to Ross and invite them to Avante for a Birthday Sundowner drink.
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The Bagaman area is known for its wood carvers, and we have been told that Moses is the man to talk to about anything wood. A carved flagpole for Avante is our desire. Now on shore, we search out this Moses and find him standing with his young son in his arms. He is interested and says he will come by our boat later to discuss the details.
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Several artisans, young and old, are busy at work. Sitting in the shade of the trees with a soft tropical breeze blowing, this is not a bad place to be gainfully employed! A man is cutting shell and stringing the pieces onto an intricate beaded shell necklace called a baggy. Across the Louisiades, villagers make these necklaces to sell in mainland markets. We learn that this is one of their few sources of income.
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A young boy is carefully attaching cut pieces of Mother of Pearl into grooves chiseled into the wooden body of a skate. We learn that wax is used to keep the pieces in place.
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We watch another youngster saw a piece off an ungainly looking stick and wonder what he has in mind.
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He then picks up The Captain’s most unfavorite tool, a machete, and whacks away on the sides of this stick. “Watch your fingers!” the mother in The First Mate silently exclaims.
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As if on cue, he turns around and gives her a most radiant smile. “No problems, Mate!” he seems to say. Once again, she marvels at the dexterity these island youngsters display with the machete. These kids are born knowing how to handle a machete. She has seen toddlers as young as 3 walking around casually swinging a machete almost as big as they are. Parents and any adult other than us DimDims are totally unconcerned. Musing that she has yet to see missing digits or life-threatening gashes, these kids somehow manage to learn the skill and survive intact.
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What has he fashioned with his saw and machete? A mallet. Finished, he now uses it to tap on the end of a screw driver to chisel a design on his wood carving. A younger apprentice looks on intently. In the lower right corner, a finished seahorse with Mother of Pearl decoration can be seen.
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The island children are so dear, shy and curious at the same time, quick to smile and tender with each other — and they love to have their pictures taken and shown to them on our digital cameras. Screams of laughter and finger pointing follow. They cannot get enough of this modern wonder.
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An attractive young woman carrying a toddler poses for a photo. We are captivated by her radiant smile. How we wish we could really communicate with each other! So many question we would ask.
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Returning to Avante, The First Mate takes advantage of another photo shoot of our two J/160’s at anchor in the Louisiades.
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Moses shows up to discuss
and measure for our flag pole. It will take him a while to make this
pole, as the carving will be intricate, and he has a few other special
orders ahead of ours. He asks if we have cutting pliers that he can
borrow. We do and tell him that he can return them when we return to
Bagaman in a few weeks to pick up our pole.
We conclude our three free days with Champagne and French Pâté aboard Avante as we toast Ross’ birthday, and then enjoy a quiet dinner of grilled lamb chops. The lobster purchased this morning will just have to hang in there one more day. We need a change of diet tonight!