Island of Panasia

Yesterday, we departed Duchateau at  1000 hrs for the Island of Panasia only 10nm to the North. On the way, we tried trolling and lost our best lure on 120lb wire trace. Not happy!

We were guided into the anchorage at 1215. Local knowledge was important due to the surrounding reef and isolated "bombies".

Once inside, we anchored and awaited customs and immigration clearance. The officers came in especially by boat to clear the rally yachts. This was the prime reason for Salacia joining the rally. The alternative was to sail to the PNG mainland on the way to the Louisiades and on return for clearance and exit. Apart from not wanting to visit the mainland, the extra distances would be significant.  We will get departure clearance from Misima on 4th October.

Panasia is an idyllic anchorage straight from the "text book". It has heavily vegetated vertical limestones cliffs with a deep blue lagoon protected by reef. It is one of the best anchorages I have ever experienced. Calm water and beautiful with fine white sand beach.

We met the locals briefly tonight on shore and will be having a welcome feast ashore tomorrow, as well as visits to the limestone caves on Panasia and the skull cave on a different island.

Anchorage at Panasia

Dawn at Panasia

Locals at Panasia

Feast on the Beach at Duchateau

Yesterday, the wind was ESE 10-12 knots and we are still at anchor at Duchateau group.

Wednesday was leisurely with our time spent on maintenance and cleaning/washing. This was followed by a lobster feast at sunset on the beach.

The feast was all cooked by the locals from Brooker Island. Over 100 painted crayfish and fish caught during the day and barbecued for 78 yachties. No shortage of seafood here! The food was fantastic and the locals very friendly.

All well on board

Safe arrival at the Louisiades

We arrived safely at the Louisiades this morning. Entered Jomard Passage 0400 Tuesday morning after a moonlit night of great sailing. Took a long time to get through as we hit opposing tides of  up to five knots.

Entered the main Louisiades Lagoon 0500 and motored to our anchorage (just north of Panuluwaluwala  Island). Anchor down 0630. After a small rum to celebrate our arrival we spent most of the day on the usual job list.

We were the first of the rally yachts to arrive. The locals came to check us out but left us alone when they realised that the rally boss was yet to get here.The next yacht arrived 1100 and then a continual arrival all afternoon.

Traded some fresh lobsters this afternoon for tee shirts, fish hooks and cap.Went ashore 1700 to have drinks with the boats that have arrived and also to meet the locals. More yachts to arrive tomorrow.

The clear waters, beautiful white sands and a great sunset made for a magical finish to the  day.

Afterwards had a delightful crayfish dinner on board Salacia .

Early night to catch up on some sleep

Our warm welcome to Duchateau

80 nautical miles to the Duchateau Islands

It has been an uneventful day today.
We have had ESE winds at 10-15 knots and calm seas. It is very pleasant sailing.
We have been trying to slow down but in typical Salacia style she does not like to go slow.

As a result we are heading for Jomard passage which is at the eastern end of the main Louisiades lagoon.  We will then motor to our first anchorage at the Duchateau Islands. This is to avoid waiting for daylight to enter the lagoon next to the Duchateau Islands.
We have currently 80nm to go. Our ETA is 0500 tomorrow morning.
Our position is 12 20S, 151 30 E.
All well on board.

Dian enjoying today's sail

Enroute to Duchateau

It has been another great day at sea. East-southeast winds at 10-15 knots with calm seas.

We are now half way, with 250nm to go. Our current position is 14 25 S, 149 36E and we need to slow down for a daylight entry at Duchateau on Tuesday morning.

We have one reef in the mainsail and just the staysail on but we are still doing 7.5knts.

Salacia just loves to sail!

All is well on board.

A beautiful sunrise at sea this morning with nothing to see on the deep blue sea all the way to the horizon for 360 degrees. 

Ross chose to do some maintenace on the bow as an exercise to have salt water shower  on a hot day. Ross is wearing the usual personal gear that we each need for on deck work.

Departed Yorkeys Knob

Our first day at sea has been very pleasant. We departed Yorkeys Knob at 0600 this morning. We started with a lovely 10-12 knot southerly which went around to the south east during the afternoon.

As of 1830 tonight we are sailing 40 apparent, on course and averaging 7.5 knots. The sea conditions are good and many birds are following.

Salacia's current position is 16 07S, 147 08E. We 425 nautical miles from Duchateau, our first destination.

We have had some problems with our HF radio which is very disappointing as we have always had 100% performance in the past. Sat phone is our substitution for staying in contact with the fleet.

Stephen and Ross discussing navigation to leave Yorkeys Knob at dawn yesterday. As the channel is very shallow so we needed to leave just after high tide with 5 other yachts. The rest left mid morning.

After a long hiatus… off to PNG!

After a long hiatus from blogging about our adventures on Salacia, we are on the move again. Salacia is headed to Cairns to join the Louisiades Yacht Rally.

It was a dream of Cyndy's to join the Rally this year and after much deliberation, I decided to head north with Ross, Dian and Ron. We will be joining our friends Bill and Sue from the yacht "Avante"  (another J160) on the Rally.

The Rally leaves from Cairns on Saturday, September 14 (weather dependant) and heads towards the Louisiades Archipelago which is located 120 nautical miles east of Alotau (mainland Papua New Guinea).

For those of you that want some more information about the Rally and the Louisiades, check out the Rally website: http://www.louisiades.com

Stephen