Getting to Vanga
We set out for the Rural Training Collage at Vanga on a fine Monday morning. This was to be a 24hr overnight sail, against the wind. We caught a good Kingfish on the way out although it was yet again mangled by a shark. Still, a number of good feeds were still available. Once we got out into the open ocean, the wind built to 25-30kts, far more than expected. The seas were also big. Yuk! In the end, we abandoned the overnight sail and headed off for Choiseul Island at a very fast clip. The seas were big and really strained the self steering- so much that we broke two steel cables that had been in place for eight years. They had corroded just inside the swages in a spot that was invisible to the naked eye. Next time, I will replace them after 5 years. We were able to replace them with pieces of rope for now. Then dark fell and with it, the compass light failed. This does not sound too grim, but in reality with no starlight or moonlight, it soon became a pest when hand steering. We were headed for Moli, where we have fortunately been before- but never in the pitch darkness. Charlie was on one side of the boat gauging the distance from the crashing breakers (50 metres...45 metres... but 40 metres on the other side). Penny was watching us crawl across the electronic chart. David was steering. The scanning sonar showed "brick walls" 90 metres ahead several times and we had to change course appropriately. It was really hard to gauge our direction with no compass light. Anyway, we made it and anchored with relief. Next day, we set out to tack down the coast of Choiseul. This was successful- even where the fringing reef came in really close as we were able to fit the tacks between gaps in te reefs. Finally, on the third day, we had an excellent sail to Vanga Agricultural College. This impressive place trains 132 boys in motor mechanics, farming, woodwork, building etc. It is a two year course, much sought after and the standards are high. There is also a Teacher Trainig College which turns out teachers for all the RTCs in the Solomons (and sometimes other parts of the Pacific). We rested for a couple of days at Vanga and spent some pleasant time with some Queenslanders who arrived in their trimaran- built by Doug 24 years ago. He last sailed to the Solomons 22 years ago. We had a great old natter. Finally, it was off to Gizo which was a pleasant 15NM sail away. The CREW
