Day 57 – December 18
Bill, Becky and I headed over to Kokopo on the PMV to pickup Bill’s computer (which had been in the shop due to a malfunction), use the internet, and buy loads of groceries. We purchased 2 shopping carts worth of food and convinced the supermarket to give us a life in their van back to Rabaul (45 minutes by car). When we tried to tip the driver for making our lives so much easier at first he didn’t want to accept the cash but once we told him “please take it”, he was so appreciative that he was grinning from ear to ear.
Day 58 – December 19
Finally after 1 month we are leaving Rabaul! Our plan is to set sail for the town of Kavieng, the northern tip of the island of New Ireland which should be about 150 nautical miles. We anchored the night at the Duke of York islands and I snorkeled with a huge school of over 100 hundred squid and was captivated by watching them catch their prey. One squid was actually attacked by several larger fish and squirted them with black ink. Pretty amazing to see that!
Day 59 – December 20
The wind was not in our favor at all today and after sailing part of the day we decided to give up and anchor just 10 nautical miles from where we were the night before. This was our last chance at a great anchorage before setting out into the Bismarck Sea, heading up the coast of New Ireland.
Day 60 – December 21
After sailing most of the day we found a decent anchorage along the coast of New Ireland. Two village kids paddled over on one canoe and several others paddled over on fallen logs. Meanwhile all their friends stood on the shore waiting for their return. We exchanged a book and a few shirts for some coconuts. The kids were so excited by the book, looking at all the pictures before trying to give it back to us. Thinking that obviously we had not meant to give such a valuable item to them.
We had been looking forward to tonight since it was a full moon, the solstice, and also a total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately the mountainous island of New Ireland was blocking our view and by the time we saw the moon it was only partially eclipsed.
Day 61 – December 22
Bill woke us up at 3am saying “let’s go”! The wind had picked up considerably and we found ourselves in 15 feet of water. Sleepily, we prepared the boat for sailing.
Because of light winds and a constant current that was fighting us we motored most of the day which was a new experience for us. Along the way we ran across a pod of what we believed to be pilot whales and saw several schools of yellow fin tuna jumping high out of the water while frigate birds plunged down into the water trying to catch the smaller fish. Quite a show we had!
Day 62 – December 23
Since we were unable to find a suitable anchorage last night our only option was to head a few miles out to sea and bob around all night. Because of the strong current overnight we drifted 9 miles in the wrong direction. After a crew discussion we decided that Kavieng was too difficult to reach and agreed that the best thing was to head back to Rabaul and stay there until our new crew member, Michael, arrives on January 4th.
On our way back we came upon hundreds of dolphins jumping out of the water. It was such an amazing sight to see and some of them stuck around and swam at the bow of the boat for at least 15 minutes.
Day 63 – December 24
Back in Rabaul we were the only boat in the harbor and it was a little sad. Even though it was Christmas Eve the Rabaul Yacht Club was still having their Friday night dinner which turned out to be our excitement for the evening.
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