Awei Island

THURSDAY 30 JULY 2015

Safely anchored in Awei Island for a restful afternoon after a lumpy sail but master Ross decided it was a day too long to have a blonde hold the current record of this short trip for speed at 12.6 knots! He now holds the record at 14.2 knots … the challenge is on!  The skipper thought the experienced yachtsman was many degrees off course to achieve that speed!  Let us see what the weather throws at us over the next few days!

It was wonderful to see a father and three young sons paddle out to Salacia at anchorage in a home-made dugout/outrigger,  to say hello perhaps, but more to find out if we knew how to repair a very old video play station screen?!?!?  Wrong demographics on board for that task!  Father seemed happy we couldn’t repair it however the sons appeared disappointed but were easily cheered up with new caps for their heads and off they paddled to shore after informing all on board that they had always lived on this island and there were a total of 17 people between three families, all related, that lived here….sounds like bliss to us!   

 

FRIDAY 31 JULY 2015

Stella Sparling’s first birthday!  All on board were thinking of Stella and looking forward to celebrating with her soon…

We enjoyed a wet sail from Awei to the beautiful, safe harbour of Port Sandwich.  Tried trawling for yellow fin tuna or wahi wahi, but to no avail, the winds probably too strong for even the deep water fish, one person on board thinks that another person on board does not want to catch a big fish because of the work involved to bleed it out…however everyone is now looking forward to maybe catching a big, deep sea fish some day soon!!  

All aboard Salacia are fascinated with some of the names of the islands, they tend to go from Indonesian, French, to  even Germanic sounding names so a little more research needed here.  A rest afternoon was called upon by the skipper after a quick run around the port in the tender with rain squalls surrounding us so back on board for a great couple of hours catching up on some reading and rest for all - life is tough here!

No fish so roast pork with red wine sauce and roast potatoes etc were the order of the evening with a great nightcap of a single malt under the stars and a full moon before a wonderful nights sleep in a very quiet anchorage.

SATURDAY 1 AUGUST 2015

Awoke to another great day and five other yachts in the safe harbour.  Following breakfast we headed to shore for the walk into the local village of Lamap.  What wonderful, friendly villagers we met, all walking to the local “garden” with their machetes and young children for a day of harvesting the coconuts.  They hand cut and gather the coconut and take them home in the evening for roasting so they can harvest copra, which is the flesh part of the coconut.  We could only interpret,vaguely, that they sell the copra off shore, which is how they obtain their frugal funds to provide fuel, this is the main source of their income that provides fuel for their motor dinghies that enable them to reach outer islands and surrounding bays for the catchment of fish for food.

The local children and families appear happy and very accommodating of foreign visitors to their provincial shores and lifestyle.  There was an abundance of pigs, piglets and chickens that would add to their basic diet.  We all found it interesting listening to the dialect of the locals being very strong pidgin english rather than a French influence heard throughout Noumea and elsewhere.  We all have great admiration for the self sufficient sustainability and joy for every day basic life they appear to relish in!