At around 4am in the morning up came the anchor and we began to head off. Dave had the dog watch as you could call it and began the rounds of the engine room. My bed is quite close to the bridge so you get to hear most of what’s going on especially the early morning radio calls made by the locals. At around 6.30am it was time to get up out of bed and do a wake up call. Most of the crew chose to ignore me, choosing instead to continue sleeping. James and I headed out onto the bow to drop the anchor. Armed with a hammer at sunrise can be quite scary, I managed somehow not to get too out of control. Down the anchor went.

After breakfast Michael, James, Håkan, Olaf, and Benjamin headed ashore to meet with the chief of the village. Eva’s Professor in Sweden has spent a few years studying the Kitavan people and their health. They hope to be able to return next year to look into it further. It allowed Eva to talk to the chief about what they hoped to do in the future. The village has a population of around 500 people while the whole island population is around 2000 people. James managed to chat with a young man called Rodney and was told that it is very hard for the people to remain at home as there are not many ways of making money. Around 60 people have recently left and traveled to Alotau and Port Moresby looking for work.

It was decided after returning to STARSHIP that our Swedish visitors should go scuba diving. Michael and Eva got ready swiftly and I took them forward of STARSHIP to a section of the reef that lead into the channel. There was quite a current running through the channel making a nice drift dive. They took the video camera with them and came across some boys fishing in the shallow water. Michael spent some time capturing them on underwater video. Meanwhile back on STARSHIP Dave was preparing to take Håkan and Benjamin for a dive also. It had been quite a while since the two of them had been underwater so it was best to have a quick refresher course. The diving was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

After an Alfresco Lunch on the fly bridge it was off to the other side of the island we had heard that we might find some canoes (waga). On our way we stopped and gave some of the local children a ride in the STARTENDER, which they quite enjoyed. After some professional maneuvering around the reef we were able to bring the tender inside a lagoon on the eastern side of the island. In a matter of seconds we found ourselves surround by numerous smiling faces. I find it fascinating to meet people with such warm hearts. They seem to enjoy an appealing quality of life that revolves around happiness.

They invited us onto the island to view their canoes and were happy to share stories of trading. Their method of trade is quite unique and is called the Kula circle. Canoes carry up to 15 men and are used to make the voyage between Kitava and Kiriwina Island where we were yesterday. The steaming only took STARSHIP three hours, however for the men traveling by canoe it can take a full day of paddling to accomplish the same task. Traditional trade in this region is still practiced. 

The canoes are important to the village and therefore placed in their 
own huts by the water instead of being left out in the rain like their 
smaller canoes. 

James was being shown by one of the boys how to cook fish. This was all very exciting, the boy then said "Now I will show you how to eat fish". This sent the other boys standing around into hysterics and it took them quite a while to calm down. We were all still trying to work out what was so funny.

While the others were ashore I stayed in the tender. Many of the girls and boys who had been fishing and collecting shellfish made their way over and began to talk to me. Most of them were quite well spoken and giggled often as I attempted to articulate words known to them. In the end we spoke mostly English as they enjoyed being able to practice the language. I found it interesting to learn that many of the children had to travel to Kiriwina to attend high school and even further to Alotau to complete grades 11 and 12. The girls laughed when I asked them what they would like to do after school, answering me with “I don’t know”.

Just enjoying the deluge.

It was time for us to depart and return to STARSHIP. Just as we were leaving it began to rain and it decided to come down in bucket loads. None of us had rain jackets so we proceeded to get quite drenched. Once reaching home Michael, James and I remained in the tender and attempted to capture some of the children on film, as they seemed to be enjoying the rain and remained outdoors. Some simply sat on the waters edge watching what was going on around them.The more adventurous ones happily played up to their bellies in water and raced about in their canoes. I allowed myself to reminisce the days gone by when I loved to do the very same thing. I’m sure you have all had this very same experience, if not I suggest you try it - you don’t know what you are missing.

Come rain or shine, Kitavans know how to have fun.

I’m now rugged up in three layers or so as I found myself becoming quite cold. Today has been a very pleasant experience. As each day passes by on STARSHIP I am constantly being introduced to new and astonishing things, confident that there is more to come. I can only hope that you are enjoying the voyage as much as I am.

See you again tomorrow, your STARSHIP pal,

Lou

PS.  Some of you may have noticed that many of the images on our web site display both men and women in dress that is uncommon in western societies. In Papua New Guinea the traditional costume does not cover all of their bodies. It is part of the way they express themselves and their culture and we hope that you have not found any of the images offensive.