Solomon sea PNG
10 December 2007
Monday 10th December
Solomon Sea
Position : 6.15.80 S 152.01.00 E
Bill says its 8 kilometres deep here!
It's the third day since we left Egum atoll. It's been mostly calm so we have been motoring most of the time. Last night we had a bit of wind but from the wrong direction. Bill decided to change course (making a dog leg turn towards New Britain), use the sails and turn the motor off. Aah nice an peaceful.... The wind kept changing so this meant more work adjusting the sails and autopilot for Bill. As with the previous night we could see lightening in the distance coming from several directions. We could also see the stars. Bill reassured his crew that the lightening was a long way away. Last night's meal consisted of mashed pumpkin with garlic, tin of stew and corn on the cob. After boiling the corn for ages it still tasted awful so we decided it must have been pig food or the locals aren't as fussy. The corn is still sitting there - no pigs out here to feed - only flying fish!! All along the trip we see heaps of flying fish. Some of them fly for ages before returning into the water. Fun to watch.
5am this morning no wind again. It's so hot during the day. I have now started putting wet washers in the little fridge to put around our necks - nice.... We are down to our last dozen beers - Pure Blonde. It is really nice to drink in the heat with a wedge of lime. I also made a pot of tea, the remains of which I have put in a plastic jug with lemon juice and sugar in the fridge. Haven't tried it yet. I have also been making yoghurt which has been great. Our fridge is just our little icebox with a condenser about the size of an esky. It has been essential (I think) in this heat to have cold drinks and keep food fresh. When we were in Noumea a couple of years ago we came across a young English couple in an old wooden boat who had sailed from England without refrigeration. They said they kept cheese in olive oil etc. I love our fridge.
It really is becoming a bit irritating with the engine droning. We are only averaging 4.5 knots (to conserve fuel) and we have 1 knot of current against us. It will be another night at sea at this rate. Bill is thinking we may have to go to Rabaul to get more fuel. We might go to Put Put harbour, New Britain first which is on the other side of the channel from English cove (New Ireland). There is very little up to date information about these places. The Alan Lucas book I gave Bill in 1981 on cruising PNG is still the most informative but out of date. Dolphins and DimDims didn't document up this far. Because we weren't expecting to go to Rabaul (we still may not - will know tomorrow) we have no up to date information on the harbour since the volcano erupted recently. The electronic chart plotter will give us accurate depths and the lie of the land if we do decide to go to Rabaul. There may be other yachts there and maybe the yacht club still exists...
It's too hot to do much except lie about,read, doze, eat, drink, navigate, put more fuel in the fuel tank etc. The emails are a great distraction even if they are expensive!
As the galley slave I plan and prepare most of the meals. Yesterday I made Nachos for lunch with one of the 2 packets of corn chips we have. I tipped tinned spaghetti mince, a jar of salsa, tin of artichokes, sliced onion, garlic,chillie topped with grated cheese. It was delicious but our oven tends to burn things on the bottom so next time the griller might be better.
Yesterday we had a shower on deck and washed some clothes. After washing 10 pairs of my own undies I asked Bill where his was. He held up one pair! They looked disgusting so I threw them in the sea! He said they were his favourite, comfy pair.....
I will go back to my trashy novel now - it's set in the Viking days when Princesses were stolen from different kingdoms.
The sea is still oily and glassy to the horizon 360 degrees.