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July 18, 2000
Solomons to Australia voyage - Update #1
Lat/Long as of 22.05 hrs local=11.05 GMT
09 degs 11’ 78. S
159 degs 40’ 14. E
Day 1.Wind ESE 5 knots. Heading 235M
It’s around ten in the evening of this the first day of the final leg to Australia. I’ve quit pedaling for a few minutes just to thrash this update out. April is asleep in the front compartment having managed to force down a bowl of rice and stir-fried veggies an hour or so ago. Not bad considering she was hurling her guts up an hour before that. After a great morning in which she pedaled 4 hours straight from the wharf at Tulagi where we pulled away from at 06.40 hrs this morning, she had a few twinges of nausea later this afternoon, “Oooh, so this is what seasickness feels like!” (she’s never been on a boat before) leading up to a full blow out of just a couple of hours ago. But she’s a tough cookie is April. That’s one of the main reasons I asked her to join me on this leg. If she can handle the first 48 hrs, she’s good as home and dry.
We’re a little sad leaving the Solomon’s. Luckily for us we can just walk (or rather pedal) away from the conflict that is only getting worse by the day and literally tearing the country apart. But most of the people we’ve made friends with in the last couple of weeks are being dragged down also. With businesses pulling out left right and centre there’s less and less money in circulation. People are heading back to their villages every day to eek out a livelihood for their families by farming the land. If the banks close, as they’ve threatened to do if any of their employees are harassed by the militia, and if the oil tanker doesn’t make it in with diesel for electricity, then the country will effectively grind to a halt and rewind back to the days of pre-Colonialism. Many locals are convinced their country is going down the plughole.
Much of the reason for this doom and gloom came alongside Moksha this morning in the form of a patrol boat manned by MEF (Malaitan Eagle Force) militia with semi-automatics. Having heard of many stories of communication’s equipment and food being taken off other yachts, we quickly hid all of the cameras and other items of value and expected the worst as they pulled up alongside. But after a few quick glances inside the boat, looking for goodness know what, they waved goodbye and took off as quickly as they’ arrived.
So, it really is time to get out of here. Once we round the western edge of Guadalcanal in about 4 hours time we should be out of the danger zone (an MEF boat with 5 men was taken out by an IFM bazooka attack two weeks ago not far from where we are now) and have a straight shot to Cairns. Then we can get down to the serious business of somehow getting this ship through the Grafton Passage of the Great Barrier Reef into Cairns. One thing I’m sure of, this isn’t going to be an easy crossing by any stretch of the imagination.
I’d like to formally thank all the folks at the National Fisheries Development tuna depot on Tulagi who so kindly gave Moksha free wharf space for the last three weeks, and all the management and staff at Vanita Restaurant who bent over backwards to make our stay as comfortable as possible.
Jason
Posted on July 18, 2000 12:53 PM