Not all those who wander are lost
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AKAMA REPORT 19
11 March 2004
Because of our broken stabilizers, we tried to pick weather that would
provide a smooth passage from the Hermits to Madang (PNG). Of course
the weather guessers had it wrong. We had wind and waves on the beam
and things got rather jumbled in the cupboards and fridge, as we rolled.
All of our tools for weather prediction come via HF radio. We
download GRIB files by email; these provide forecasts of wind and
pressure. We receive weather faxes, which are maps showing a great
number of meteorological parameters. Lately we have been receiving voice
forecasts via HF radio. We've tried a newer system called NAVTEX,
which is radio Teletype broadcasts, without much luck. Finally, we
obtain information about actual conditions and some forecasts from other
cruisers and net control stations on the several cruisers nets on the
ham radio.
During the day, we saw some huge trees (top, trunk and root ball), and
some big logs floating around. As this was a two-night passage and we
were fearful that we would strike something. Luckily we avoided all
hazards, including one big FAD.
We had a stowaway on board. Just before a storm hit, a young sea bird
circled us and landed on the bow rail. It stayed there all night and
did not leave until we entered the anchorage at Madang.
Entry to Madang (app. 5d 13m south 145d 48m East) was a bit rough, as we
arrived in the dark, well ahead of schedule. Because it was raining
cats and dogs, and blowing a bit, sitting out in the ocean near the
entrance through the reef was quite uncomfortable. So, we decided to go
in. The PNG government does not maintain their navigational aids well;
several of the lights we expected to see were not on. We entered with
what aids there were, helped along by our RADAR. We made one attempt,
and then chickened out because the depths did not agree with the charts.
After looking at the chart offsets (errors compared to the GPS
position), on the second attempt we were in easily, if rather slowly.
The quarantine anchorage, where we intended to wait for daylight was
blacker than pitch. But, with our night scope and the RADAR we were
able to determine that there were no unlit boats around; in fact there
were no boats at all.
At daybreak, we were joined by our friends on HARMONY-88, who also made
the same passage. Together we explored the coves and inlets, eventually
settling on one for our stay here that had a few other yachts in it.
Upon arrival, one of the resident yachties, Tony, came out in his dinghy
and helped us anchor in Mediterranean mooring fashion (a stern rope
ashore and the anchor holding the bow in place). A few days later more
friends on SAMPAGUITA arrived; we put her between HARMONY and AKAMA,
tied to the same thing on shore as AKAMA. This proved to be unwise, as
in the night the winds shifted and SAMPAGUITA received a little love tap
as the wind pushed AKAMA sideways. Eventually, SELKIE and MUSCAT, two
other boats that we have cruised with also caught up to us.
Coming to this bay was a lucky pick; Tony is refurbishing a boat here
and has about 30-persons on staff from mechanics to carpenters. He has
made them available to us to help fix our generator set and our
stabilizers. This was done with minimal drama. We also had them add a
new 100-ampere alternator with an external 3-stage regulator to the wing
engine. This boosts our charging capability considerably. When the
generator set died, we resigned ourselves to having to run the wing
engine something in the order of 12-hours a night (during the day the
solar panels kept things going) for battery charging. Now we need to
run it only about 6-hours.
You may recall that we were somewhat trepidations about coming to
Madang. It turns out that it is a cruising paradise. Apparently this
was a prime cruising ground 25 years ago, and we can see why. The
water is clear, the shoreline is absolutely stunning, and so far the
people have been very friendly. It's a pity that the area has such a
bad reputation; only a handful of yachts call here now. A bad report or
two among yachties or in the news and a yachting destination is eschewed
for ages.
The focal point of this area is Karkar Island, an active volcano that we
passed by on our way here. We are told that some daring types charter
an airplane and fly down into the centre; it is that huge. We'll pass
on that, not because of the danger, but because of the cost.
We had a big party on Damon Island, which has a resort run by Adrian, a
very interesting Irishman. The occasion was Louise-Ann's birthday,
Graham's (HARMONY) birthday and Dianne & Philip's (SELKIE) wedding
anniversary. On the way there we stopped at a beautiful little island
for a swim and a snorkel. This truly is a lovely spot, with islands and
coves everywhere. Adrian's resort specialises in pizza, and we
consumed about a half dozen big ones between us, and countless bottles
of the local lager, SP beer.
Like we noted in the Hermits and the Ninigos, we notice the cleanliness
here. There is not a lot of litter around, unlike many Asian countries;
and what litter is present is regularly cleaned up. Louise-Ann saw a
young man jettison a cardboard box in the street, whereupon several of
the locals berated him not to litter. They also take preventative
measures; for example, they use billums, which are handcrafted knit
bags, instead of plastic bags, which litter the land and the sea
throughout most of the rest of Asia. Some of these billums are rather
pedestrian in nature, but some are truly works of art, both in terms of
the colours and the craftsmanship. There is one exception to the
cleanliness; that is betel nut husks, which litter the roads and
walkways. Although, there is not as much of the bright red betel nut
spittle on the ground, as less lime seems to be used here.
Madang has bats by the millions; more precisely, most are flying foxes
(fruit bats). We are told that they feed on fruit, mostly wild dates.
Huge camps of them hang from the trees during the day all over this
area. Unlike most bats that hide in the dark and emerge at night, these
bats roost in trees and are constantly whistling, chirping and
squawking. They seem particularly active in the late afternoon and
early evening, and we enjoy watching them soaring about and landing,
then instantly turning upside down to roost. It is quite a sight to
see, although we could do without the bombing of the boat, as they
relieve themselves. In most of the world, these bats are much decreased
in number and it is unusual to be able to see camps of millions of
bats, like once existed in many areas. Nevertheless, we are informed
that the locals do hunt them, with slingshots. Apparently, they taste
like a cross between chicken and pork...we'll pass.
While the bats dominate both visually and aurally, it was some birds
that really had us going. At dusk and dawn we were perplexed by what
sounded like a cross between a crow and a duck saying, "aw, aw, oink,
oink, oh, ohhhh". Sometimes the sound was like an old man laughing.
Eventually, we found out that the crows here have a unique accent and
series of calls. Every time we hear them we laugh.
This area is paradise for fishing and diving, again little visited. We
had lunch at the local fishing club and overheard some of the members
talking about their catches. The numbers and sizes were astounding,
even accounting for the effects of the beer. We went out on a day trip
on one of the local live-aboard dive boats, Miss Rankin, and had a
lovely time swimming and partying, while a few of the folks aboard dove
on one of the numerous wrecked ships in the area, reporting good
visibility and easy access. We would heartily recommend a visit here to
our diving and game fishing friends. The dog tuna sashimi was
delicious.
Louise-Ann and another yachtie, Flavia from SAMPAGUITA, went for a drive
to Jant Timber Camp at Wawan, P.N.G., about an hour drive from Madang.
They were taken there by Anastasia, the co-ordinator for Kindergartens
among the villages. Apparently, the villages don't have kindergarten
teachers and the parents are either too busy working in their gardens or
are not enthusiastic about teaching their children. So Anastasia's job
is to recruit and teach adult volunteers to teach kindergarten.
Anastasia visits the villages periodically. She takes a nurse with her,
who checks the children over; if they have serious health problems she
refers them to a doctor. The kindergarten that we visited had a good
volunteer teacher, Sophia, and two aids, Ruth and Rose. They took part
in the children's program, which was a lot of fun.
They also took time to walk through the camp and came upon some ladies
making billum bags. The ladies showed them the leaves of the plant
that they use, how to peel the leaves, and how to roll the strands of
the leaves together to make the yarn. They also came upon a lady who
was cooking sago (it looks like very thick starch when cooked) and a
green vegetable called slimy spinach probably because of its thick
sauce. They got to taste the food and got instructions on the procedure
for cooking sago. It was a very interesting day at the camp, learning
the cultural ways of the people and enjoying the beautiful scenery of
P.N.G. On the return trip to the city they stopped at another village
called Bilbil where the ladies make pottery from clay, sand and water;
and were given a demonstration by the potter. This was fascinating, as
she did not use a wheel. Instead, she somehow spins the clay in one
hand with her thumb, and shaped it with the other hand. It is also
interesting to note that they do not use kilns, just an open fire.
Here are some notes about suppliers, for our fellow yachties. We've
discovered an excellent Westerbeke parts source, Hansen Marine
(Tracey@hansenmarine.com). They shipped our parts from stock the same
day they received our order. Our experience with Naiad, the
manufacturer of our stabilizer system, was good. They were instantly
responsive in answering our many questions and providing advice.
Because the dealer that caused our problems (he put in the wrong
hydraulic fluid) was no longer doing business with them, they even gave
us a discount on the parts. Better still, they shipped from stock the
same day we emailed them our order. As long as we are handing out free
advice (it's worth what you pay for it), we'd like to comment about
Boat-US and West Marine. We hate to love West Marine, the giant of the
retail boat parts industry and we try to love Boat-US, which holds
itself out as a sort of member's club. Well, we sent both of them the
same email looking for a new alternator and regulator, which appear in
both of their catalogues. Only West Marine replied and they were able
to ship from stock within 24-hours of our confirmation. Now if they
could just do something about those awful prices...everything for boats
costs double or triple the cost of equivalent parts at industrial supply
houses.
Several our correspondents have commented that what we are doing is
dangerous or that we are courageous (a euphemism for crazy we suppose).
The fact is, most of the time we don't believe that we are in any
danger; and we've never felt we were in serious danger. We don't doubt
that the risk associated with our lifestyle there is slightly greater
than it would be if we were ensconced before the television set. This
increased risk is the price we pay for the reward, being able to
experience all these new places and cultures. But, we emphasize, the
difference in risk is only slight. Perhaps the human reaction to danger
is unduly magnified, some sort of leftover from the days when our
ancestors lived in caves and had to instantly make the fight-or-flight
decision, and a wrong decision brought death. But, while the risks for
most of humanity these days are exceptionally low, the reaction remains
primitive. The media reports mad cow and people stop eating beef, West
Nile and people stop going out of doors, a terrorist attack on an
airliner and people stop flying. In this spirit, we close this report
with a quote from Sterling Hayden's autobiography, Wanderer. "[We are]
enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of
security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine, and before
we know it our lives are gone."
We are underway again. Our current position (as we write this) is 5d
18m south 145d 58m east. We're making about 6 knots and heading for the
Solomon Islands, with stops along the PNG mainland on the way. |
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