09/10/2009, PNG
Friday, August 21, 2009
Chris went to meet Anton to discuss the boundaries of proposed MPA #1. Alison and Cleo went underwater again. I am catching up on the blog for the last week! I have to start doing it every night. Cleo and Alison are finishing up some Reef Check work in anticipation of tomorrow being a day off for a ride around the island in a pmv. Our cockpit speakers were stolen today. Chris is very upset after putting so much effort into helping the community.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Alison went to Mater school to give an educational talk about reef ecology. Chris made an introductory speech while Cleo and I provided moral support to the both of them. I kayaked over to Marangis to help Michael get a virus off his USB storage. Our USB stick was infected by Madang Info Tech as well. Grrrr!
There were local guys making a huge canoe on the beach near the cultural house and there were many old men drumming and singing, keeping the tradition alive.
Chris met with the Fisheries Management Committee once again with Cleo, Alison, Kombi, Anton, Alfred, Danny, etc... and the reef owners were happy with the progress made towards establishing an MPA (or 3).
Alison and Cleo were the lone sufferers that made it to the end of a cheesy American movie after dinner.
Wednesday August 19, 2009
Bill from Mater stopped by the boat at 8am to let us know about a sing sing that the kids from Mater school would be performing in and that the bishop would be attending. I went up to the school but the teachers told me that it was postponed until later that afternoon or tomorrow. I was hailed from shore an hour later and in a hilux on the way to Lang Lang school. There were guys in full traditional garb and many people from the surrounding villages. I met the headmaster, Francis, and board member Paul from the Lang Lang school and exchanged contact information with them. They are keen to develop a relationship with OceansWatch.
Chris went to health center to deliver about 100 pairs of glasses that were donated by OceansWatch member Chris Larn. Chris met with Alfred Kobo who agreed to screen members of the community before giving out glasses.
Anton & Danny came to the boat at dusk. Talked about coconut oil.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Site survey snorkeling Cleo driving dinghy and Alison had her head in the water. (really comical) Some sandals went missing.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Chris went to visit the health center to establish contact.
Meeting at Michael's re water project - Chris and Gardner
Bill wants to build a guest house on the beach and invite eco-tourists to stay.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
No rest for the wicked. Carey and I went back to the same points with two different GPS units in an attempt to get more accurate numbers. It was determined that GPS altitude readings are not accurate enough to be applied to this project. A contingent route is finalized and will be confirmed by a surveyor from Madang before construction commences. Alison went to church and then worked with Chris and Cleo
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Alison and Cleo continued their efforts to repeat last years Reef Check surveys while I headed up to Mom with Carey, the water engineer, for another day of pipeline work. I had fun following the gang of locals through the jungle with no shoes on as they cut a swath where the future pipeline will be as Carey marked trees and rocks with spray paint. Chris met with members of the community to rekindle OceansWatch relationships from the inaugural trip last year and his personal trip the year before that.
Friday, August 14, 2009
First Day in Jungle. We met with Carey, Michael, and the local builder named Bill before walking 40 minutes up to the village of Mom to meet with more people. We started to take GPS readings of the area and look at the water sources that will be piped down to Mom. Chris left with Micheal around 1pm to go to the initial meeting with the fisheries management committee. Chris said that the meeting went very well. The committee is aware of diminishing returns from the fishery and is keen to take action with OceansWatch guidance. Cleo and Alison went out to repeat Reef Check surveys from last year and snorkel the area to gain a better understanding of where to focus their new efforts. Some kids borrowed my t-shirts and sleeping bag while Cleo was alone on the boat and working on her computer below. The items were returned later that day. We never did find a pair of red sun glasses.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Carey Arrived in Madang and Michael went to meet him at the airport. Michael and Cheyenne accompanied us on the passage to Karkar where we anchored in between Marangis and Mater. Fishing attempt unsuccessful but sunset was incredible.
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08/12/2009, Madang
10th Augu st
I went to the University of the Divine Word to use the internet. It was too expensive so Instead I went to the hotel to use the internet for the first time in two weeks. Chris ordered new fuel and oil filters from NZ and Cleo did two loads of
laundry using the MACHINE at Madang Club! Clean sheets! Alison did
some mysterious science writing most of the day. I have decided to get
my RYA Yachtmaster Offshore certificate to better position myself to
get more experience and log as many miles as possible over the next few
years.
9th August
Tried to change the oil filters in the 40 degree heat but we had been given the wrong parts in NZ. Alison spent the afternoon
swimming. Chris shouted another mackerel dinner in lieu of cooking
that night as he had enough of working on the boat in 40c.
Cleo caught up on some scientific paper she has to write.
I need to catch up on organizing photos.
8th August
Picture is of a typical day on the Bismark Sea
We showed off by sailing right into the harbour as the wind was perfect.
Local identity and friend of Chris, Tony Burns had passed away so instead of staying at his boatyard we stayed at Madang Club as it has a pontoon now.
Ate delicious Spanish mackerel and played billiards.
7th August
Back on the Bismark Sea. Things are quiet. I made pizza and finally
figured out how to minimize the mess for the person that has to do the
dishes.
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08/12/2009, Garove
6th August
Cleo and Alison went snorkelling with Terrence early in the morning to get an idea about the reef system at Garove. They reported very patchy coral and thought it was because the volcano is still active, causing many areas of water too hot for coral growth.
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08/12/2009, Garove
August 6th
Chris and I visited Geto, Garove's master canoe builder. Chris told me that Geto builds the most elegant canoes that he's seen in the Pacific. We were followed to his house by a group a school children
that were waiting for class to start. Geto, an older fellow with
strings tied around the tops of his calves, was still sleeping when we
arrived but he was very happy to receive the two adzes the Chris had
brought for him and showed it with bursts of laughter and an indelible
smile.
After admiring the craftsmanship of the canoes in his
yard we decided to head back to meet Alison and Cleo so that we could
present the letters from White Oak Elementary School to the students
in Garove. On the way back we stopped to see the children's new
classrooms for grades 1-3. They are made of bush materiels and open to the air.
Posters of ABCs and other things that I've long forgotten line the
walls. The teacher was still not there yet but that didn't stop the
kids from reciting their ABCs for us and singing a few songs they know. I got
it all on video so keep an eye on the OceansWatch YouTube Channel.
They all got a kick out of me showing them the little LCD on the video
camera while panning around the crowd.
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08/12/2009, Garove
6th August
garove School kids do a dance or us.
As we walked back to the boat from the school we met a man on the path
that stopped and introduced himself as Tedius, the head teacher of the
grade 1-3 branch of the school. We arranged with him to drop off the
letters for grade 3 in a couple hours and headed back to the boat.
After the camera was charged and Cleo and Alison returned we headed
back to the school and Chris read the letter from White Oak Elementary
School while Tedius translated into local language. We showed the kids
the pictures from White Oak and I shared in the somewhat foreign
feeling that the pictures of the normal north American school incited
in a setting such as the school in Garove. The contrast was stark. The
linoleum floors and the parking lot specifically stood out as very
different.
We went up to the other school and Chris did the same reading for
grades 4 and 5. It started to rain halfway through and the audio on
the video is bound to be terrible. I think I'll have to delete the
whole batch or just use it as background footage with an interview as
audio.
Afterwards we got an opportunity to go see the church in Garove. It
was built in 1952 by German missionaries and the bells have 1957
stamped right on them. The wooden building is large and well designed.
It overlooks the bay that the caldera creates and the entrance to it
all the way out to the Bismark Sea.
We filled up some water cans and said our goodbyes. We left just after
sunset and honked our very loud air horn and flashed the spot light to say
goodbye which incited a riotous reaction of screams, flashing lights, and
whistles. It was great!
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08/12/2009, Garove
5th August
Arrived in Garove just before dark.
Chris had showed us pictures from the OceansWatch visit in 2008, including one of Agnes, the only person whose name he remembered. When he rowed in to ask permission to anchor there she was waiting on the beach to say hi . Luke, Jason, Agnes, and Alcana came to visit in a beautiful canoe. Many women have small face tattoos in PNG indicating which area they come from. You can see the Garove tattoo on Agnes's forehead.
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08/12/2009, garove
4th August
Picture of Garove Island. Our anchorage just inside on the left.
Headed for the volcanic Island of Garove. A boring day of motor sailing interrupted by a dump of rain and wind.
Chris woke up when the rain started so we caught water in our new awning (thanks Calibre sails).
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