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On June 9, 2007 we departed the
Louisiades for Gizo Island in the Solomon
chain, 280 miles in a Northeasterly
direction. We arrived there on a late, rainy,
rather dreary morning 2 days later. But
the voyage was pleasant and relatively
uneventful, so we weren't complaining -
still a beautiful place to drop anchor with
a panoramic view from the cockpit of
islands kissed by the rainbows left behind.
The largest of these islands was
Koolumbangara, an absolutely stunning,
mountainous island covered with dense,
tropical jungle. A jungle with scores of
stories to tell of lost, ship and plane
wrecked WWII soldiers captured by
cannibals tribes and later rescued by other
Solomon tribes set up as allies to assist
the U.S. as "coastal watchers". The main
battle fought and ultimately won here in
the Solomons was the famed battle at
Guadalcanal, a few islands further east of
Gizo. But, in the Western Province, where
Gizo is the main island, they had seen
their share of WWII action. The most
famous being the ramming and sinking of
John F. Kennedy's PT boat by a Japanese
destroyer in a pass just off
Koolumbangara on their way in towards
Gizo harbor. I was humbled to think that
we were sailing the same waters as
Kennedy and so many of our brave
fighting heroes of that war. We even
anchored and took a walk on the small
island that was renamed Kennedy Island
in his honor as this was the island that he
swam to after rescuing his crew members.
Louisiades for Gizo Island in the Solomon
chain, 280 miles in a Northeasterly
direction. We arrived there on a late, rainy,
rather dreary morning 2 days later. But
the voyage was pleasant and relatively
uneventful, so we weren't complaining -
still a beautiful place to drop anchor with
a panoramic view from the cockpit of
islands kissed by the rainbows left behind.
The largest of these islands was
Koolumbangara, an absolutely stunning,
mountainous island covered with dense,
tropical jungle. A jungle with scores of
stories to tell of lost, ship and plane
wrecked WWII soldiers captured by
cannibals tribes and later rescued by other
Solomon tribes set up as allies to assist
the U.S. as "coastal watchers". The main
battle fought and ultimately won here in
the Solomons was the famed battle at
Guadalcanal, a few islands further east of
Gizo. But, in the Western Province, where
Gizo is the main island, they had seen
their share of WWII action. The most
famous being the ramming and sinking of
John F. Kennedy's PT boat by a Japanese
destroyer in a pass just off
Koolumbangara on their way in towards
Gizo harbor. I was humbled to think that
we were sailing the same waters as
Kennedy and so many of our brave
fighting heroes of that war. We even
anchored and took a walk on the small
island that was renamed Kennedy Island
in his honor as this was the island that he
swam to after rescuing his crew members.
Our friend Mark Weeden (Weedo) came
to visit for a few weeks while we were in
the Western Province and we did lots of
diving on beautiful reefs, and WWII
sunken wreak sites. We sailed to some
islands with small, informal resorts on
them, anchored at others where we visited
primitive villages with wonderful people
welcoming us with open arms, had some
great meals and lots of laughs. We also
were able to visit many villages around
Gizo Island and deliver clothes to the
devastated people who lost everything
after a recent earthquake and tsunami. We
loved our time in the Solomons and will
always think on it with fond and lasting
memories. We dropped off Weedo to
catch his plane home to Sydney and
continued sailing southeast past
Guadalcanal and on down to the Santa
Cruz group at the southeastern tip of the
Solomon chain, 506 miles away. After 5
days in Santa Cruz, provisioning, resting
catching up on laundry in their local river,
we set sail for Tuvalu via Vanikoro and
Tikopia, 2 islands still part of the
Solomons but over 200 miles away. We
didn't even get off the boat in Vanikoro
but stayed a few days in Tikopia meeting
the villagers and their chief. We were
especially glad that we were able to help
the chief's son with a terribly infected cut
on his foot. After staying in Tikopia for 4
days we had a good window to leave for
Tuvalu so we regretfully had to cancel an
invitation to dinner with the chief and his
family and depart rather abruptly. Six
days later, many of which were very
squally and full of lightening we arrived in
Funafuti, Tuvalu.
to visit for a few weeks while we were in
the Western Province and we did lots of
diving on beautiful reefs, and WWII
sunken wreak sites. We sailed to some
islands with small, informal resorts on
them, anchored at others where we visited
primitive villages with wonderful people
welcoming us with open arms, had some
great meals and lots of laughs. We also
were able to visit many villages around
Gizo Island and deliver clothes to the
devastated people who lost everything
after a recent earthquake and tsunami. We
loved our time in the Solomons and will
always think on it with fond and lasting
memories. We dropped off Weedo to
catch his plane home to Sydney and
continued sailing southeast past
Guadalcanal and on down to the Santa
Cruz group at the southeastern tip of the
Solomon chain, 506 miles away. After 5
days in Santa Cruz, provisioning, resting
catching up on laundry in their local river,
we set sail for Tuvalu via Vanikoro and
Tikopia, 2 islands still part of the
Solomons but over 200 miles away. We
didn't even get off the boat in Vanikoro
but stayed a few days in Tikopia meeting
the villagers and their chief. We were
especially glad that we were able to help
the chief's son with a terribly infected cut
on his foot. After staying in Tikopia for 4
days we had a good window to leave for
Tuvalu so we regretfully had to cancel an
invitation to dinner with the chief and his
family and depart rather abruptly. Six
days later, many of which were very
squally and full of lightening we arrived in
Funafuti, Tuvalu.
| Kennedy island with Koolumbangara in the background |
| New t-shirt at a tsunami ravaged village |
Diving platform
Village kids gather around the
boat
boat
| Beautiful Egholo Bay |
Makeshift school after the tsnami
| Hard life lodge on Gizo island |
| Tikopia Chief and his village. |
| Curious onlookers at Egholo Bay village. |
Richard helps deliver cloths
A papaya offering
| Kelly attempts to cross a river during trek around Gizo. |
Rich makes friends at Egholo Bay
| Weedo and Kelly take a dip in a local waterfall |
| One of our favorite visitors to the boat |
| PT 109 - yacht club in Gizo |
We say goodbye to our friend Weedo.
Because we were so busy arranging to get cash from the local bank,
they have no credit card facilities so it took a full week to get a money
transfer authorized, and re-provision the boat, I did not get any
pictures of Funafuti, Tuvalu. We knew that we may not have another
opportunity to by food, fuel, propane, etc before we reached Hawaii
so we stocked up as best we could. In retrospect, in Fanning, we
came to realize that we should have gotten more money than we did.
Tuvalu is one of the most low-lying atolls on earth and, with global
warming, the land is rapidly being swallowed up by the ocean. There
are a lot of people living there trying to live a modernized life but other
than the surrounding fishing grounds that the Taiwanese pay to use,
they have no natural resources. With no soil to speak of, only coral,
they are unable to grow any food and depend on packaged imports
from all over to survive. Therefore the accumulating rubbish situation
on the main capital island of Funafuti is drastic and, I have to add,
rather disgusting. There is a plane that comes in twice a week bringing
goods and people from other countries which is the highlight of the
week. Everyone comes down to the airport to witness it and to see
who and what is on the flight. It's quite the spectacle.
In any case it was an experience to visit the place and I'm glad that we
did.
they have no credit card facilities so it took a full week to get a money
transfer authorized, and re-provision the boat, I did not get any
pictures of Funafuti, Tuvalu. We knew that we may not have another
opportunity to by food, fuel, propane, etc before we reached Hawaii
so we stocked up as best we could. In retrospect, in Fanning, we
came to realize that we should have gotten more money than we did.
Tuvalu is one of the most low-lying atolls on earth and, with global
warming, the land is rapidly being swallowed up by the ocean. There
are a lot of people living there trying to live a modernized life but other
than the surrounding fishing grounds that the Taiwanese pay to use,
they have no natural resources. With no soil to speak of, only coral,
they are unable to grow any food and depend on packaged imports
from all over to survive. Therefore the accumulating rubbish situation
on the main capital island of Funafuti is drastic and, I have to add,
rather disgusting. There is a plane that comes in twice a week bringing
goods and people from other countries which is the highlight of the
week. Everyone comes down to the airport to witness it and to see
who and what is on the flight. It's quite the spectacle.
In any case it was an experience to visit the place and I'm glad that we
did.
| Richard meets some villagers on Gizo Island |
| Laundry day |
| Village resident walks through her garden |