Nggossele Passage
We left for the Nggossele Passage in misty rain and with a rising tide. We only had 2.5kts of current with us this time, so the adrenaline rush was much smaller. We also somehow missed the reef in the middle of the channel (perhaps the higher tide was covering it). Anyway, we were through almost before we realised it and on our way up the West Coast of Choiseul Island. Choiseul, extends further North than Bougainville and is about 180Km long. Last time, when we came down Choiseul in the reverse direction, we lost several lures to some VERY large sharks. Any shark that can break a 300lb breaking strain line (as if it were cotton) is a large shark indeed! This time, we caught one shark (released) and two Kingfish, one of which escaped by breaking off one set of hooks from our lure. This is the same lure we have had for the whole trip and it is becoming quite battered and covered in tooth marks. We sailed mainly due to the frequent squalls that drifted past every half hour or so. The wind direction and strength changed constantly and really kept us on our toes. We over-nighted in the well protected Luti Bay, about 45NM from our starting point. It was not long before we were surrounded by nine canoes filled with piccaninnies. We gave them balloons. One cute boy insisted on giving us all his Ngali nuts and would not take "no" for an answer when we indicated one each would be fine. This is a United Church area and it was not long before beautiful singing wafted to us from one of the nearby villages. A couple of the locals told us this was an evening service but that those out fishing & talking with us did not find it very interesting. We learned that there was a resident crocodile, so Charlie decided to forgo his afternoon swim. As in some other bays, we were treated to Dolphins and a Kingfish leaping many metres into the air. Next day, we pressed on to the island of Moli. The CREW
