New Georgia Island
We left the Marovo on the 5th of June for a small Bay
near "VisuVisu" on the Northern
part of the very large New Georgia Island.
The weather has generally improved and this
was reflected in the better
fishing, with a good sized Mahi-Mahi for the 'fridge.
There were plenty of
the small Solomon Islands dolphins leaping and frolicking to
entertain us.
The bay was very well protected and some young men who were fishing
inside, welcomed
us and showed us a good spot to anchor. This was confirmed
by the scanning sonar. A
river flowed into the bay (without crocodiles) and
Charlie was soon in and swimming.
The strong flow of water from the river
kept the yacht perfectly oriented, despite
the wind.
This bay has
temporary accommodation for people from a couple of SDA vilalges- each
with
over 1,000 people- a few Km up and down the coast. People come here, stay
overnight and then go early to their gardens several Km up the river.
The people we met wanted tobacco- which we refuse to carry- so we
ordered some
lobsters and agreed a price. They do not eatr shellfish but are
only too happy to
catch them for others. As they said, "Stuka lobster" which
is SI pidgin for "very
many". We gave them torch batteries and our request
for three large lobsters.
Later, another fellow called Tony came by. He
was a wheeler dealer and managed to
get magazines, empty bottles and some
other bits and pieces. e told him that lobsters
were already committed and
he set off to see the lobster getters.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the
lobster getters came back with Tony as their spokesperson.
Charlie lent them
our snorkelling gear which we were a little worried by when darkness
fell
and there were no signs of activity anywhere. Perhaps we had lost our
snorkelling
gear?
An hour later, the people returned with our
snorkelling gear and five lobsters.
One huge one and four medium sized, so
we gave them a bonus. They came onboard and
we chattered about all sorts of
things. We boiled up a bottle of water as they wanted
to make tea. We
thought this would signal their departure, but this did not occur and
the
water cooled. People just like to talk!
Finally, they left and we went
to sleep. Next day, we were going to Gizo and would be
in time for the
Independence Day celebrations on June the 7th.
Regards,
The
CREW
