Kingfish & Rain
We left Wagina in gentle, warm weather. We travelled through spectacular scenery (small islands and reefs) to arrive at a beautiful bay called "Bonsai Bay". There were no people living there and we had no visitors. The beach was gorgeous sand with only our footprints on it. David lost three lures trolling around the reefs in the rubber ducky and caught no fish. So, it was back to our standby meal of more giant clams. These were in abundance, though we left the really big ones that weighed a couple of hundred kilos and were about a metre across. Indeed, we decided that clams are "okay" but not as good as Kingfish. Plus, they take years (60yrs for a big one) to grow so it is a pity to gather them. The local people in this area are Seventh Day Adventists who do not eat shellfish- so the only predators are us! The snorkelling was excellent in Bonsai Bay. After a day and a half in the beautiful Bonsai Bay we then moved to Laina Bay, which is at the head of Nggossele Passage- one of our favourites. Fortunately, we caught a Kingfish along the way. The passage is about 10 miles long, quite narrow (down to 70metres) and separates Choiseul and Rob Roy Islands. Last time we came down it, we had up to 6knots of current with us. At one point, we rounded a bend to find a reef right in the middle of the channel/bend! This time, we needed to await the correct tide for a passage in the reverse direction. We anchored in a delightful spot and then made contact with the locals. We met Chief Willie and various relatives. The Chief is the Paramount chief of the area (so other village chiefs "report" to him). Willie is quite elderly and has numerous grandchildren and quite a few great grand children (one of whom visited us with his father). We learned from his son-in law that the previous week, Willie had floated all the way down the Nggossele Passage (without his canoe)! Many concerned people (in canoes) tried to rescue him, but were waved away. It will be impressive if we can manage such a feat when we have great grandchildren. We mentioned to Willie that we were out of vegetables and fruit and he said we would be looked after. Later he returned with some drinking coconuts and we were able to fix him up with reading glasses (we brought a considerable stock of reading glasses and they have gone to many worthy causes). Charlie and Dave went snorkelling on a nearby island. When they returned, Penny had lots of interesting information about the goings-on in the region and had started to amass vegetables and fruit. Indeed, within another hour, we had large quantities of fruit and vegetables. We have done so well for food on this voyage. We have also been more adventurous than last time, and thus had a greater variety. The Solomons Aelens Kuk Buk helps a lot. We'll leave the Nggossele Passage for another Blog...... The CREW
