I sailed the 30NM from Honiara across Iron Bottom Sound to the Florida Islands on Tuesday the 16th July and it was as if I was transported to a whole other universe. The Honiara traffic, noise, dirt and chaos was replaced by peaceful, remote island solitude.
I pulled into a place called Roderick Bay which
I had read about during my limited research.
An enterprising local had stuck down a couple of moorings for use by
visiting yachts and as I entered the bay a young guy in a dug out canoe waved
me toward the mooring and helped with securing Sea Otter.
Roderick Bay is a fairly large bay at the
northern end of the largest island in the group called Nogella Sule. As usual the entrance is lined with coral
reefs and there are more inside. The
moorings are opposite a small one family (extended) village but you would
hardly know they were there. The main
claim to fame of Roderick Bay is the wreck of the expedition cruise ship World
Discoverer which now lies at one end of the bay and which is something of a
tourist attraction.
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| Roderick Bay |
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| Sea Otter Moored in Roderick Bay |
Once settled on the mooring we were visited by a couple of locals in dug outs trying to trade food for any useful items we had such as food, batteries, clothing etc. This would be ongoing not just here but other stops in the Solomons. I had read about the trading and so had some items already set aside. The main articles for trade from the village were food i.e. bananas, pomelo, eggplant, coconut etc however we also got a couple of crayfish while we were there. In return we traded fish hooks, soccer balls, pens, notebooks, batteries, sugar, rice etc and paid cash for the seafood. I am not a very good trader as even if they showed me items that I did not want I would still go ahead and hand over stuff they could use. One elderly man had his grand kids paddle him out to ask for some teabags – really little things to us can mean a lot to them.
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| Trading Teabags |
The second day on the mooring we went ashore and spoke with Joseph and Robert Ruka who were the sons of the headman John Ruka. They then took us on a tour of the village and down to the wreck site of the World Discoverer where we were narrated the story of its demise. The tour was really interesting and especially to see how these people live. Their life is a very simple one and they do not have much but most prefer to live in the villages than in a place like Honiara. There are schools for the kids maybe not in each village but certainly within the area, there is a medical clinic and they can trade some of what they produce in the markets of Honiara when required. Their food is simple and at hand either in their gardens or in the sea.
The two days we spent here were for me idyllic – life really slowed
down. There was not a lot to do apart
from swimming and snorkeling (which was fantastic) or visiting the
village. During the day it was hot with
occasional brief showers and at night it cooled off and an inky black quietness
descended on the bay. The night skies
were amazing given the lack of ambient light and the water around the baot was often full of different types of luminescence.
The occasional chats with the villagers during the trading bouts or when
we had to go to get water ashore were always really interesting. The people are so friendly.
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| The Cooking Hut |
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| One of the sleeping huts |
The wreck of the World Discoverer was quite an amazing sight – the hull is in very shallow water close to the beach and has rolled onto its port side. The jungle is starting to take it over and it looks like a film set from Jurrassic Park. When it hit the reef about twenty years ago it had over 200 people onboard who were all evacuated. Salvage attempts were hampered by political tensions in the country at the time and so the decision was made by the insurers to abandon the hull.
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| The Wreck of the World Discoverer |
Sadly after a couple of days at Roderick Bay we had to keep pressing on. It was sad to leave even though we had only had a brief visit. We sailed overnight to the Morovo Lagoon and found an anchorage just inside the fringing reef. There was already a small catamaran anchored there. We have seen very few other cruising yachts since our time in the Solomons. There were not that many in Vanuatu either but here I think we have seen three including this cat. It was not long before we had some locals around us looking to trade. This time it was wood carvings. The main island of Vangunu is famous for its wood carvings and I was happy to find a few pieces which I liked. Some were paid for with cash and for others it was a trade.
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| Morovo Lagoon |
I should have spent more time looking around the lagoon – it is a designated World Heritage area - but I was eager to get to Gizo and so next day we motored around to the other side of the lagoon. Really interesting journey as the lagoon is full of small islands, coral reefs and the seabed can go from 50m to zero in a heartbeat. We spent the night just inside the western side of the fringing reef and next day motored to Rendova Island about 35NM North and the last stop before Gizo.
We anchored in Rendova harbour in front of another village of about 400 and again had a warm reception from a number of canoes with lots of kids. Managed to speak with a couple of the older men about the history of Rendova Harbour which was fascinating. It was an American base during the war and its main claim to fame was that this is the area that JFK had his exploits with PT109. He was in command of a PT boat and was out one night nearby in Blackett Strait on a mission and to cut a long story short his boat got rammed by a Japanese destroyer and sunk.. He managed to lead the survivors to a nearby island and over the next few days he swam to other islands to get food and water and eventually help. Two locals had been dispatched to try and find him and after a few days they were located, rescued and brought back to Rendova harbour. Apparently he later visited and met the two guys who had found him. I think they were boy scouts.
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| Warm Reception at Rendova |
The next day we motored another 35NM to Gizo the final stop in the Solomons. Once again we were the only yacht in the harbour. Gizo harbour is well protected by outlying islands and reefs and we dropped anchor towards the head of the harbour off a premises called PT109 which is a bit of a well known hangout.
I went ashore immediately to check out the town
and to get started on some of the chores I had to do. We took Wee Otter into the PT109 wharf and tied
her up at the rough quayside. PT109 has obviously
fallen from its prime. It’s a restaurant/bar
but the decline in the Gozo based tourist trade has taken its toll. But you can still get a meal and a beer here
and there are a couple of really helpful ladies who run /own the place.
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| Gizo Main Street |
I paid a visit to the customs office and after
some dialogue managed to organise for our check out to be carried out on
Saturday (26th July) morning immediately prior to our
departure. Next I headed to the Solomon
Airlines office to track down the autopilot which was being uplifted from Honiara
for delivery to Gizo. A nice man called
Greg said he would text me once it arrived.
Finally I visited Dive Gizo and organized a dive trip for the 24th. I had dinner and a couple of beers at PT109
and then called it a night.
On the Thursday as arranged I joined a coupe of
other people and took off into the nearby Vona Vona Lagoon for a days diving. We dived on a couple of reef walls which were
pretty spectacular with lots of marine life including rays and sharks. We also dived on a Hellcat fighter aircraft from
World War 2 which sits on the bottom the right way up. In between the dives the guides took us to
visit a place called Skull Island. As
the name suggests the island was used as a ceremonial place for local chiefs
and warriors and some of their victims.
There is a large coral mound /altar which is covered in skulls. Its pretty interesting.
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| Skull Island |
So its Friday night now and I am all set for the 1400NM passage to Darwin which we will start tomorrow morning. We have a favourable forecast for the first leg to Thursday Island where we will carry out the check in procedures with the relevant Australian authorities. I fitted the repaired autopilot today and it seems to be working but need a sea trial to confirm. We fuelled up today and topped off the water tanks so will run out to the market tomorrow and get some fresh fruit and veg and then depart. Next stop Australia.
The Solomons has been a fantastic experience and I cannot recommend it enough. I think the only way to see it is by boat though. The scenery is spectacular and the people are freindly and genuine - its a shame it cannot capitalise on more tourism.
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