Meeting the Locals in PNG

It was exciting to arrive into the sheltered waters of Port Moresby, and to make our way round the harbour to the Royal Papua Yacht Club Marina.   We were directed to moor stern on a far breakwater to await clearance.  Another yachtsman appears and attempted to moor his OVNI singlehanded, so Mark went out to help with the lines.   When the officials came out Mark called for their help as the yacht was too much to control in the strong wind.

Ashore we found a grand modern yacht club, and well maintained pontoons crowded with yachts, and many live aboard houseboats.  We were able to clear in without trouble and then had a busy couple of days getting the mainsail repaired (at an upholstery company using my sailcloth), trying to source parts to repair the spinnaker pole and to order new nylon bearings for the swivelling mast track, as well as downloading tide tables, charts etc. for the Torres Straits.  Sadly the reports of violence in the streets deterred us from exploring outside the club, although Justin and Toby were brave enough to take the mainsail by taxi to the upholstery warehouse where it was repaired.

We met Daniel from France, who has been single handing his OVNI 36, Goyave, for the last eleven years, and Joao from Portugal who has been cruising for seven years focussing on finding the best surfing. Our social life included an invitation for drinks by long-term houseboat resident and sailor, Brian Hall, where we met his neighbour Jeannetta Douglas and a visiting friend, Alyssa. Lots of interesting conversation about PNG; Alyssa's chocolate business sourcing the best flavoured types of plant; Jeanetta's history with her husband establishing a local airline of 30 small planes; Brian's work starting in PNG as District Officer in 1957. He showed us a fascinating movie, Walk into Paradise,  made on location in 1955 with actor Chips Rafferty which he said was a pretty accurate portrayal of his life and work there. Justin was awake for the beginning and end of the film!  (back in the UK I managed to order a rare DVD copy of the film)

Our Customs clearance was delayed, by non-appearance of officials on Friday, but Andrew arrived apologetic on Saturday morning, and we were free to set off at about 15:00 to motor to a little island, Morombasa, before leaving at my planned time of midnight. To our surprise, once out of the shelter, the wind was blowing Force 9 (40-50 knots) and we could hardly make headway under engine. In fact the engine kept showing an alarm, saying the battery was overcharging!

Eventually dropped anchor off a sheltered sandy beach, and Toby swam ashore for a "ciggie". He was welcomed by local residents throwing a birthday party for a sixteen year old girl, roasting a pig in an Umu, over hot rocks. Toby was then taken off in their high speed skiff to the mainland stilt village and shown round, and then brought back with a nice red snapper for supper. Such friendly people!

At 23:00 we raised anchor and, setting a triple reefed Genoa, headed through Basilisk Passage out of the reef into a turbulent sea.

Basilisk Passage, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Next stop Thursday Island, Australia in two days. Farewell to the wonderful, friendly Pacific islands we have explored. I hope I can return one day!