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New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Writer : Louise Oliver
Throughout the night we covered the Solomon Sea, it was interesting as the moon was quite bright and seemed to light up the entire sky. As for today we continued on passage towards our final destination; the Vitu Islands in the Bismarck Sea. They still seem so far away, just out of reach so to speak.
After waking up to a nice cup of coffee and a pleasant morning chat with Miriam I joined James on the bridge as I had the next watch. While the two of us looked around, I realized how spectacular it is having sea everywhere you glimpse. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted some whales ... or were they dolphins? There were probably 50 or 60 of them joyfully playing on the surface although they were on the move which is why we found it difficult to identify them precisely. Our educated guess would be Melon-Headed whales. It is characteristic of this species to make shallow leaps from the water when on the move which makes it difficult to determine any distinctive markings. They are a highly companionable species and more likely to be seen in large pods. After the short burst of excitement we headed back inside and started to take a closer look at the charts relating to the area we were entering.
The atoll-ridden Dampier Strait with the western
tip
of the volcanic New Britain.
The strait we were about to enter was called the Dampier Strait, named by William Dampier. He was born in May 1652 in East Coker, Somersetshire, the son of a tenant farmer. A seaman at the age of 16, Dampier started out on a voyage of exploration in 1699 to the South Seas. Charting currents and the coastline, Dampier explored Australia and Papua New Guinea. He named New Britain upon discovering that it was an island and sighted and named Dampier Archipelago.
Surrounded by the most sophisticated electronic
navigation devices,
Trevor still resorts to expanding rulers and paper charts when we
hit really remote areas that are not well covered by electronic charts.
Throughout the day Trevor constantly made reference to the charts of the area just to be sure we had a safe path through the passage. Most if not all the navigation done onboard is with reference to the GPS, charts, radars and any other devices we have handy. One thing I cannot do is navigate with the stars. This must have been to some extent the way in which Dampier traveled throughout this area, something for me to learn. Once inside the Strait we could see clearly either side of us the mountainous terrain. There seemed to be many inactive volcanoes in the area. Hopefully we get the chance to take a closer look at one or two. As the day progressed we all took turns at watch and in some spare time managed to catch some quiet time for ourselves. It’s wonderful to see how well everyone of the crew gets along and yet can still find space for him or herself. James and Miriam chatted on the bow and Enrico caught up on some reading on the sun deck. Monika spent some time in the sun, Dave and I talked for a while and things simply flowed along as usual. We are looking ahead to the new places we are going to explore in the next few days. The afternoon even allowed for some cooling off as a small battle with the hoses occurred. Who came out triumphant I couldn’t tell you, but it was nice to see everyone smiling and happy.
As I look out my cabin window I can see the fading shoreline of New Britain. It has an area of about 36,520 sq km (14,100 sq mi) and is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago. The main city and port is Rabaul with the primary products being copra, cacao and timber. The island is known for its tall mountains and active volcanoes, rising to 2,438 m (7,999 ft) on Mount Sinewit. In 1994 about 90,000 residents of the island were evacuated when a volcano near Rabaul erupted in the country’s worst recorded natural disaster. The island suffered damage from earthquake and tidal wave aftershocks and from heavy falls of volcanic ash.
Mt Tavale peaking through the clouds behind a rainbow.
It is saddening to read of such devastation hitting one area with great force but wonderful on the other hand to see how many of the people have overcome disaster and continued on with life. I am looking forward to meeting some new people and exploring some of the volcanic areas, so too is most of the crew. We will continue on our passage and I will let you know of our arrival at the Vitu Islands tomorrow.
I thought I would just add this quick 'Minty Moment'. We stopped just outside the entrance to the Bismarck Sea to swim with two Sperm Whales. In the background the volcanic Mt Langila was smoking and the sun cast lavender and mandarin rays across the crystal clear glassy water. What an astounding moment!
A change of plans ... we are going to anchor just of New Britain tonight and look for some more whales in the morning.
Safe sailing for today,
Lou
.