LORELEI'S SAILING ADVENTURES
Welcome
to Episode 16 of the Hog Blog.
At the end
of Episode 15 we had just returned to Majuro after 4 weeks exploring the outer
atolls of The Marshall
Islands
Clearing out and sailing - Majuro to Kosrae.
Our last
few days at Majuro were full bore with lots to do.
First we
provisioned Lorelei with 5 months of long term stores and took her into the
small fuel dock for Diesel and Gasoline. The word must have got out that there
was a big boat on the dock because we had hoards of people come for a look
including a bunch of policemen.
We managed
to find an engineering shop and get our repairs done.
It was very
social and many of the other yachties wanted to come and say goodbye.
Clearing
out on Friday became a trying task as both the Immigration Officials and
Harbour Master were both not in their offices and we were refused entry into
the Customs Building as we did not have trousers and a collared shirt! Some big
wig was visiting and they upheld this draconian law for the one day that he was
there.
After completing
formalities on Friday we went back into town on Friday night to have a quiet meal
at one of the Chinese restaurants.
Well that
didn’t happen!
As we
walked in there were friends Gary and Simone (who were our hosts on Australia
Saturday
morning we finally sailed out with Ben and Wendy on Just Magic leaving at
8:30am for the 500nm run to Kosrae.
For 2.5
days we sailed with the squarer spinnaker up as the wind was light and blowing
directly downwind to where we had to go. We found we had to sail at 135 degrees
wind angle to keep some wind in the sails and gybed about every 12 hours as we
zig zaged towards Kosrae.
Sailing along happily – for the
first half….
At 4am on
the second night the spinnaker collapsed and wine-glassed itself around the
furled headsail making a hell of a tangle and it was impossible to lower it or
pull the sock over it so we had no option but to undo the tack and clew and try
to man handle it around the headsail.
It took
nearly an hour to fix. Lisa got whipped with the 16mm tack sheet making a
perfect tick shape welt on her back.
From there
it all went downhill and Ben described the second half of the trip perfectly in
one word – ARDUOUS!
The wind
dropped out in the arvo on day 3 and then turned 180 degrees and smacked us
with a 25 knot SW’er which was right on the nose. That arvo we were pounded
with super heavy rain - over 178mm in just 4 hours. Everything was soaked!
Over the
next 2.5 days we had not one hour of constant wind direction or strength and at
one stage the wind did a slow full 360 over the space of 6 hours. Our track on
the chart plotter was all over the place.
Finally at
dawn on day 5 we sailed to within 5nm of Kosrae. We really wanted to see it
with the sun up and get some photos so we shut everything down and wallowed for
about 90 minutes until we had enough light to see and take photos before motoring
the last 45 minutes in.
We had
sailed just over 650nm in 2 hours short of 5 days arriving on Thursday 21st
March.
The
disappointing thing was that this was meant to be one of the most enjoyable and
easy sails of the trip and by doing it, we have given up our valuable easterly
position making it increasingly harder to get back to the Solomons the more
west we go.
It is
seriously making us reconsider about going further west to Pohnpei.
A very tired Paul at daybreak on
day 5
Lisa navigating Lorelei into
Kosrae’s main harbour of Le-Lu.
The electronic charts were out by
about ½ a mile!
Thank goodness for Google Earth
overlays – satellite photos don’t lie…
Kosrae from 5nm out. Very reminiscent
of Lord Howe Island
Just Magic
had arrived the evening before and Roland the quarantine officer was on the dock
waiting for both of us when we got there at 8:30am.
We had the
customs and immigration officials soon after and both boats were cleared in by
lunch – hooray!
We were
yacht numbers 4 and 5 to visit the Island this
cruising season and with only 1 month to go we will most certainly be the last.
Kosrae.
Kosrae is
a triangular shaped island around 5nm long and wide with most of the island
covered in lush tropical forest. Its highest peak is Mt Finkol at over 620m
high. It has a long, chequered history with ruins on the island dating back to
the early 1300’s. It has gone through occupation by Germany ,
Japan , USA
It is now
one of the 4 states of The Federated
States of Micronesia
It is the
only state that has only one island or atoll.
The other
3 states are Yap , Pohnpei (where we might visit next ?) and Chuuk (also known as Truk Lagoon where we visited and dived
in 2011).
Amazingly
all 4 states speak their own language but fortunately for us the official
language is English.
The local
people are poor but very friendly and are very religious.
Kosrae and
Pohnpei’s huge annual rainfall total makes them two of the wettest places on
earth.
There are
only 3 small harbours for us to anchor Lorelei; Le Lu on the East, Utwe in the
south and Okat on the NW side near the airport.
The next
day after a good sleep the 4 of us hiked into the main town, Toful to have a
look around and visit the small museum. On the way we stopped by Matt Simpson’s
place. Matt (or Junior as he is called as there are so many Matt’s on the Island ) is an ex-pat who has lived on Kosrae for over 5
years. We met him in Majuro through a mutual friend Provan and looked him up
when we got here.
We are so
glad we did as we went to his place and he gave us the full run down on the
island. He then took us to the museum and a lookout in the mountains. His priorities
are in order – Surfing, Spearing, Diving and Hiking - then work, so we were in
for a good time.
The view across the causeway
linking Le Lu Island with the Mainland
No gas pumps here – fill up from
plastics containers.
The more you buy, the cheaper it
gets!
Just some of the museum displays
Le Lu Harbour
We spent
the first 2 weeks anchored in Le Lu harbour. It was a convenient location to
have Lorelei as Junior lived close by making it easy for him to pick us up in
the car. It also meant we now had a small boat in each of the 3 harbours as another
ex-pat, Matt Senior had his long boat in Okat, Junior had his in Utwe and we
had our RIB in Le Lu. The
bakery, hardware and super market were also across the street.
Lorelei anchored in Le Lu Harbour
and behind is one of Kosrae’s most famous landmarks – “The Sleeping Lady”
Surfing NW Kosrae.
When we
were at Junior’s place he was talking about the dozen or so surf breaks around
the island.
On our
first full day there he took Ben and Paul surfing with Matt Senior who owns the
Island ’s only surf charter company.
They went
over to the western side to Okat where Matt’s boat was, loaded up the boards
and off they went.
They were motoring
past the amazing outer reef with the wind offshore, the water crystal clear and
in the background were these towering mountains of lush green forest. The boys
had grins from ear to ear.
The surf
was pumping with a fast peeling right over coral that was glassy and barreling
its head off.
Paul and
Ben were a little intimidated at first but after about 20 minutes they were
into it. Poor Ben was the only goofy footer and had the disadvantage of being
on his backhand.
At the 2
hour mark Matt snapped his board (his 10th for the season) and went
to the boat and came back out with this old retro single fin and proceeded to
get the most insane tube rides on it. Junior was trying to pull 360’s in the
critical part of the wave. They certainly knew how to rip.
Paul got some amazing barrels and some wicked high speed turns in further down the line.
Paul, Matt
and Junior surfed till long after sunset until we could only just see the
moored boat.
Unfortunately,
not knowing what to expect, Paul did not to take any cameras. Oh well next
time….
After
leaving the surf break they stopped at the fish co-op as there was fresh
Yellowfin Tuna caught that day selling for $1.25 a lb (about $2.70 a kilo!) You
just had to buy it at those prices and that night we feasted on fresh Sashimi
and Sushi onboard Lorelei.
Kayaking around Le Lu.
One of the
highlights around Kosrae is the amazing Kayaking and flat water stand up paddle
boarding.
The
combination of dense mangrove forests, fringing coral reefs, towering hills and
blue holes make this the ideal place to explore this way.
While the
boys went surfing, Lisa and Wendy launched their kayaks and paddled up Le Lu
Harbour and into the extensive mangrove system.
The scenery
was stunning and the waterway was immense with a large number of tributaries
you can take and explore. There were a lot of palm trees growing out of the
water which was unusual and many old large trees with huge ferns and climbing
vines attached.
They spent
over 5 hours exploring and paddled over 8nm returning pretty well worn out.
A few days
later Lisa took Paul up there one avro and explored a few more different
sections (nearly getting lost in one….).
We dropped into Bully’s on the way
home for a refreshing soda.
Junior
along with Sebastian (an ex pat teacher on the island and Junior’s dive buddy)
are mad keen spearos and try to spear whenever the surf is not pumping.
It was
awesome to have them take us to the best spots and explain the ideal tides and
times to us.
Our first
spot was called Hiroshi
Point
The coral
wall sloped down straight from the shore and less than 100m from the shore you
are floating in the abyss in over 500m of water. It’s a little strange walking
in from the shore rigged up for blue water hunting.
We didn't see much pelagic action but the boys did come back with a feed of a few parrot fish, Mangrove Jacks and some Surgeon
Fish for the locals as they love them.
Walung Wall
A few days
later we tried again but this time we loaded up Juniors’ boat down at Utwe Harbour
These ladies are cleaning the
harvested Sea Cucumber’s at Utwe
Sebastian on lookout leaving the
harbour
Again the
viz was stunning with amazing coral dropping down into the abyss. This time we
sat a little deeper so we could just see the reef edge and hoped that some
bigger pelagic species like Yellowfin or Wahoo would come into the flashers. All we managed to get was some large schools of Rainbow Runners so we
took a few of them each and turned them into yummy fish cakes.
After
spearing, Junior took us for a boat ride through the mangroves as the high tide water
depth was just enough for the boat and the viz was great. We found a small
resort style set-up that was abandoned and going to ruin.
Tafunsak Gorge
When there
was no swell or spearing and the tide was wrong for diving and kiting we did a
series of land based activities with the highlights being the walks to the
waterfalls, gorges and exploring the ruins.
The first
one we did was the hike up Tafunsak Gorge.
The locals
are all very religious and Sunday for them is a strict day of rest with no
sports or water activities permitted. Hiking and walks are OK.
So while
they were all in church on our first Sunday there, we piled into Junior’s van
and head up into the hills to do the walk.
At first
we had to walk for about 1 klm on top of a water pipe that ran down from the
mountain.
Once we
reached the small dam we had to hike up a thin gorge with high rock walls that
was amazing. The water was up to chest deep in some places and we had to wade
through with our cameras and backpacks carried over our heads.
The twin
waterfalls at the top were very high and we had a refreshing swim in the pools
before returning the same way we came up.
When we
got back we were all hungry so we dropped into Bully’s restaurant which has a
great location on the waters edge at Tree Lodge Resort.
Mark and
Maria the owners are great people and were really helpful during our time at
Kosrae.
Yekula Waterfall
3 days
later we went to a second waterfall. Unlike the first, this one was only a
short walk from the main road.
On the way
Junior showed us a massive tree that was the biggest we have ever seen. It was
not overly high but had a huge base and trunk system.
We
struggled to get it in one photo and in the end Paul had to take a series and
stitch them together in photoshop – and we still could not get it all!
The
waterfall was tall and whilst it was OK the highlight was the tree beside it.
It was a fig style tree with a huge vine system running over 100m vertically up
the rock face beside the waterfall. It was very strong so we were able to climb
up it.
Towards
the top we had to slip inside the tree and climb up the centre section and exit
out a hole in the middle. It was pretty amazing.
It was very picturesque at the top
We
returned to the bottom via the other side of the waterfall and had to use a
series of 3 ropes to lower ourselves back down.
The Famous Le Lu Ruins
Just 100m
from were Lorelei was anchored is Le Lu Island
and on it are some of the oldest ruins in Kosrae which date back to before the
1400’s.
At one
time this ancient city covered the entire island with its feudal system that
was very similar in structure to the castles in England
Today most
of the outer lying structures are gone but what’s left is the entire centre
section which still encompasses a massive area and over half the island.
Being in
such a lush tropical environment, most of it is now overgrown.
These are
the oldest ruins we have ever visited so we were pretty excited.
The pic on
the left is a pounding stone used to prepare food or seka (kava)
Scuba Diving Le Lu Harbour
Diving in
Kosrae is the easiest location we have found thanks to their mooring buoy
program which is rated the best in the pacific.
The 3 dive
shops along with grants and volunteers have set up 50 mooring buoys around
Kosrae for people to freely use to dive, snorkel, fish, spear and surf. No one
carries an anchor in their boats here!
The
moorings also mark the spots of the wrecks in the harbour.
We won’t
say it was the clearest viz we have ever had but scuba diving in Le Lu Harbour
was certainly an experience.
We had 2
moorings quite close to Lorelei so we dived both of those first.
We took
Junior and Sebastian for both dives which was a first for them too at those
sites.
The viz
was about 5m at best and green. We had no idea what we were diving on so we
just rolled over the side and hoped for the best.
The first wreck
was a Japanese ship – The Sansun Maru” which was a WW2 mine layer that was sunk
when it was skip bombed by the US
It is
lying intact and upright in 18m of water and had loads of sea whips growing up
along each hull and unexploded mines all over the place.
When we
first dropped onto the wreck we were confronted by scores of large Mangrove Jack.
They were buzzing all around us for about a minute before they took off. Paul
just couldn’t get the camera settings right in time to get a photo of them.
The second
dive we were buzzing at. Again we dropped over having no idea what we would
find but though it might be a plane.
Well it
certainly was a plane – it was a huge US PBM Flying boat that was set up for
bombing raids. It was completely intact but the bomb holds were empty. The twin
tail section was massive and we were all buzzing with excitement. The only
downside was that it was so big it was difficult to take photos of it with the
limited viz – even with a wide angle lens!
One of the machine gun turrets on
the fuselage
Seb on the wing with the control
cables for the foils
One of the massive but empty bomb
bays with the bomb doors open
One of the tail fins (there are 2)
and the door leading to the cockpit
The Easter Bunnies
We had
Easter at Kosrae and just had to get into the Easter Spirit.
In true
Easter fashion the weather was pretty ordinary on the Friday and Saturday so
Lisa and Wendy broke out our chocolate bunny mould and made some Easter
Bunnies. When we were shopping in Majuro we found Nestle chocolate melting buds
and not just the Aussie standard Milk, Dark and White ones, we also found
Butterscotch and Peanut Butter!
(yeah typical American we know but if they were anything like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (Paul’s new fave’s) then we had to have them …)
(yeah typical American we know but if they were anything like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (Paul’s new fave’s) then we had to have them …)
Wendy also
mixed some food colouring with the white chocolate to make the coloured ears,
eyes and bunny tails.
They
turned out a treat. Literally!!
Sunday
morning we went to Just Magic and took the bunnies and pigged out on Wendy’s
home made Hot Cross Buns & Passionfruit Cheesecake as well as The
Bunnies. Oink Oink….
Le Lu Hill Walk and Japanese Tunnels
Whilst the
Japanese occupied Kosrae during the war, the intention wasn’t for advancement
into the Pacific. Rather the Japanese took Kosrae purely so they could grow
fruit and vegetables on the fertile land so as to supply food for the soldiers
and workers at other strategic locations further East.
The
Japanese did have to offer some defense to the island and the hill on Le Lu
island was fortified with scores of underground tunnels linking various
locations and a few gun emplacements guarding the harbour entrance.
On Easter
Sunday while church was in, we hiked up the trail.
We did
however stop to listen to the wonderful singing coming from the church. The
Kosreans are known for their beautiful voices and 4 part harmonies. Men and
Women sit separately on either side.
The view
from the top of the hill gave us a great view of The Blue Hole,
The
Causeway and Le Lu Harbour.
The Blue Hole in the reef
Once at
the summit we found a pill box style bunker and after a bit of bush bashing and
searching we found the entrance of our first tunnel.
The first
tunnel went for a long way in and after about 150m we turned around. When we
found a second tunnel further around the hill we explored it and found it had a
stack of intersections and bisecting passageways. We took one that had strong
air flow through it and eventually came back out at the first entry.
There’s
nothing like trying some photographic special effects in pitch blackness and underground.
After we
left the tunnels we did a loop around the island close to the waters edge looking
for some reported caves and other WW2 relics.
We passed this house just as the
owner was washing and feeding his pigs.
They were so excited, squealing and
jumping up on their hind legs.
Finally we found it - the hidden
cave on the point guarding the harbour entrance. It had a large gun base still
in the cave entrance.
Surfing Utwe and The Float Parade.
At Kosrae the Tuesday after Easter is also a public holiday making it a five day break instead
of the normal four back at home.
We made
the best of it by going surfing with Junior early in the morning to a south
facing left hander in Utwe
Harbour
Two of the
local kids also paddled out with us on their square pieces of polystyrene foam
which they surf on.
Junior on his SUP paddling out of the
small river mouth
On the
holiday Tuesday the locals celebrate with a parade and they dress up a series
of trucks as floats depicting anything from local culture and traditions to
climate change and technologies. The floats start in their local municipality
(there are 4 on the island) and converge at the main high school in the capital
Toful.
We stopped
on the way home from the surf to have a look at one municipality’s series of
floats getting set up.
Note the mud crabs and crayfish tied
around the base of the truck
Every
Tuesday night is movie night at Bully’s Restaurant.
They serve
$10 pizzas with garlic bread and drop a large white canvas screen down and shine
the projector onto it.
The kid’s
animated movie is first followed by a new release for the adults.
It’s a
great night out and most of the ex-pats rock up for a social evening.
If the
tides are right we can take our RIB right to the restaurant.
Getting there early in between the rain
squalls.
Kitesurfing Le Lu Harbour
Well let’s
just say kiting Kosrae was nothing like the world class kiting we experienced
in Maleolap Atoll in The Marshalls
We tried twice
to kite but the only launching beach in Le Lu Harbour had overhead trees and twice
we had kites wrapped in the trees.
There are
wind holes in the harbour from the high hills and Paul went straight into one
with the kite coming to a stop and falling out of the sky. The lines tangled on
the way down causing a big mess and he needed a boat pick up followed by
another 90 minutes of sitting onshore and untangling the lines.
Not fun!
In the end we gave up.
A law has
been passed and kiteboarding is now illegal on Sunday’s and is a jailable
offense after a boat load of disrespectful kite pros rocked up for a movie (Big
Windy) and photo shoot in 2011 and proceeded to kite right out the front of the
main church on a Sunday morning even when warned and asked not to beforehand.
The locals
were, and are still, not impressed!
Scuba Diving Le Lu Harbour Part 2
When we
were talking to the dive operators about our dive on the PBM US
Well that
was it – we just had to find out about its history, locate it (as it didn’t
have a buoy on it) and to dive on it.
Sadly it
had a terrible ending. At the end of the war when the Japanese surrendered, the
US
It was
reported that many boats went to the stricken plane’s assistance but when the
full fuel tanks ruptured, the fuel spread over the water and ignited engulfing
the plane and many of the boats too.
With the
help of Junior, we managed to get hold of some side scan sonar images
confirming the position of the second plane in the harbour.
After some
searching with the sounder we found it and took junior with us on our early
morning dive on the rising tide. It was in silty mud and just like the other
plane, in green water with less than 5m viz.
The crumpled nose section and
cockpit
The pilots foot pedals
Clam Farm and Resorts
One day we
took time out and decided to walk up to the clam farm and the 2 resorts to have
a look around.
The farm
had many shallow concrete ponds with small clams all separated in colours but
what they also did was collect tropical fish for the aquarium market. Whilst it
was amazing to see, it was sad to see so many fish being taken daily from such
a small location and being exported. Surely it could not be sustainable? In
particular was the large amount of Flame Angelfish they had in tanks which are
rare and endemic to this region. We snapped a few photos before the manager
asked us not to take any more….
We stopped
in to have a look at Nautilus Resort and have a great chat with Doug the owner
who is an Aussie.
Scuba Diving Hiroshi
Point
Junior and
Seb wanted to spear Hiroshi
Point
After much trying this is the only half
decent shot that Paul has of a Flame Angelfish (its down the bottom…)
Taken from
20m depth…… not bad viz!!
Sailing from Le Lu Harbour around to Okat.
After 2 weeks in Le Lu we finally
got a break in the wind and seas to have a decent run around the top of the
island and into Okat
Harbour
We sailed
out at 9am and headed north for about 10nm before gybing and sailing back down
to Okat. We trolled the whole way and only got one hit but no hook up.
We did
however have a pod of dolphins that played in our bow waves for at least 30
minutes.
We had 4
seasons in one 4 hour sail – rain, wind, glass out, squalls, sun, etc… Pretty
typical of this place really.
Seb and some of the dolphins
Okat has 3
huge moorings for longliners that are never used so we took one of those and
spent the arvo, drinking, eating and swimming.
One of the only times with no
wind….
When Ben
took Junior and Seb back to the small dock, he walked across the road to the
co-op and brought a small fresh Yellowfin Tuna which we turned into sashimi. We
managed to devour more than half of it (and lots more drinks) by 10pm that
night.
Kayaking Okat’s River System and Mangroves
The next
day we took the kayaks up into the extensive mangrove system of the Wukaf River
At first
we took the left arm which was a small tributary that went up a long way. We
went as far as we could go. The large amount of fresh water from the rain
created a strong water flow and small rapids in some spots making it fun to try
and get up.
The trip
back down was really fast and if you didn’t get your line right you ended up on
the bank, in the tree roots or smashing into each other (of which we all did
all three – more than once…)
The right
arm was a lot different with just a large maze of trees and roots.
There
wasn’t really a defined path so we just paddled anywhere we wanted as long as
we had the water depth. During our time in there it poured with rain – again!!!
In the
arvo the forecasted swell started to build so Paul and Junior went in search of
waves – and scored…!!
On day 3
at Okat we said goodbye to Ben and Wendy as they cleared out and left for
Pohnpei. Even though Kosrae and Pohnpei are both part of FSM, you must still
clear in and out at each place with Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and the Harbour Master.
The upside is it’s another 2 stamps in the passport each time.
Surfing
We surfed solidly
for 3 days. It was a surf fest with great waves both in the morning and the arvo’s.
Seb and Junior joined Paul for the first arvo surf while Lisa took some photos
as the rain decided to stay away for a change. It was only the second time Seb
had ever surfed – nothing like being thrown into the deep end – or in this case,
the shallow coral reef!
Not so big but super clean and
offshore
The one challenge is missing the coral
bommie that sticks out right in the middle of the line-up
One of the barrels Paul didn’t make
it through….
In between
surfs on the low tide we checked the crab pots and found we had caught 2 big
and angry muddies in one of the traps (the one that Lisa put in – and none in
the other – that Paul put in…..typical???!!!)
Chili Mud Crab
– Yum!!
For the
rest of the week the weather was pretty ordinary with strong winds and a lot of
rain. We did have limited pockets of sun where we could get out and do things.
We did
manage a spear at shark island where we had better pelagic action, big sharks
and dog tooth tuna.
We also
did a long walk to explore the western side of the island.
Okat Boat harbour on a less rainy
day
Our view from Lorelei on a nice day
Doug from Nautilus
Resort and Dive, his son Cameron and Cam ’s
teacher Kevin came out to visit on Friday evening to enjoy the sunset and have
a few drinks.
While at
Okat we did one last Kayak which turned into a huge expedition that lasted the
whole day.
We left
Lorelei in the early morning on the rising tide to explore a small island in
the harbour. It had a few Japanese war relics that were there to guard the
harbour entrance.
As the
tide rose we were able to work our way up a mangrove system that went inland. We
found the system really healthy with loads of coral, fish (particularly lots of
small mangrove jacks) and 4 species of moray eel.
There were loads of these eels in
only 20-40cm of water
For 4
hours we paddled until we got to a bridge and road and we were not able to go
much beyond that.
We managed
to haul the kayaks up the step embankment, walk 500m down the road to drop the
kayaks back in at the Okat
Boat Harbour
End of the mangroves
Hauling the kayaks up the bank onto
the road
The 500m walk finished at the Okat
Boat harbour
Diving & Spearing The North West Coast
At the
start of week 4 the weather started to improve and we had sunny periods and not
much wind for 4 days.
On the
Sunday arvo Doug and Cameron came out to Lorelei again and we went for a
snorkel to have a look at conditions and the viz.
That
evening we went to their house at Nautilus and had a fantastic meal and great
fruit smoothies.
The next
day we loaded up the Nautilus Dive Boat and went for 2 drift dives on the NW
side of the Island . Salik (Doug’s local DM) drove
the boat while Doug, Kevin and the 2 of us dived.
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Not bad viz – this shot was taken
at 26m…
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This was Kevin’s 5th
dive, his first drift dive and first photos of him diving.
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On the
Tuesday and Wednesday we speared with Junior and Seb.
Rather
than spearing the reef we decided on one last ditch effort to get a large
Kosraen pelagic. We loaded up the bluewater guns with multiple floats and
headed into the blue loaded with flashers and a lot of burley. It was Junior
and Seb’s first experience with this type of bluewater hunting and they had a
ball and learnt a lot.
The first
day we saw Dog Tooth Tuna down real deep (24m+) but could not get them to come
shallower. Seb shot his biggest ever fish – a Barracuda. Whilst we don’t eat
them, the locals here love them and Sebs host family was stoked.
On day 2
we headed back out but this time conditions were perfect and with Seb &
Junior knowing a bit more of what to expect.
We had a
light offshore current, no wind and only a tiny bit of swell.
Paul
handled the burley and flasher set up and kept a big fish lookout while the
other 3 sat in the burly trail, guns loaded and ready.
We were
only 10 minutes into the session when a Wahoo turned up with Seb being the
closest to it. He landed a great body shot and 10 minutes later after much
coaxing from the other 3 of us in the peanut gallery, he had boated his first
ever Wahoo. To say he was happy was an understatement!!!
The fish was shot with one of Paul's guns - a Green Camo Omer 130.
It was nicknamed "Greg's Green Kingfish Killer" after a friend Greg H shot a big Kingy with it in Brisbane but now it's been renamed
"Seb's Wahoo Whacker"!
Sorry Greg - maybe you'll have to visit and top this to rename it again???
40 minutes
later Junior dives on a Jobfish and returns to the surface having shot a Dog
Tooth Tuna. It was his first and we had another spearo with a grin from ear to
ear.
Just as
the sun was setting we were floating off the back of the boat in glassy seas
and deep blue water with over 50m viz, with the sun illuminating the amazing
mountains in the background with 2 big fish in the boat . It was an absolutely
awesome way to spend our last afternoon in Kosrae and a truly magical moment
with the 4 of us just beaming.
Lisa’s Fish – In Australia
Over here they are Red Snapper and are
great eating. They are a prized fish with one that size in Kosrae being a
trophy fish….
So that’s
the wrap-up from our time at Kosrae in Micronesia
Kosrae has
certainly been an interesting place!
The upside
were so many things to do, the smiling happy people and the fantastic
mountainous landscape which has been such a welcome change after months of
atolls not more that 2m above sea level.
The
downside was the relentless rain, wind squalls and marginal weather which towards
the end was getting us down. It made us reluctant to take the good camera gear
with us each time we ventured out.
We felt we
didn’t really make the best of the photo opportunities.
The lack
of sun also meant the solar panels weren't working and we chased power on
Lorelei the entire time we were there.
Junior has
an appropriate phrase –
“Kosrae
has a wet season and a wetter season”
Overall it
has been a lot of fun and a huge thank you goes out to Junior for his
hospitality and time showing us loads of things around the island both in and
out of the water. His knowledge and experience was the difference between this
being a good time to a fantastic experience.
A big
thanks also goes out to Doug at Nautilus for his hospitality, fantastic diving
and the best fruit smoothies we have ever had!
Thanks to Seb our spearing buddy who has become a very good friend.
To
Glennis, Matt Snr & Meagan, Mark & Maria at Tree Lodge, Kevin, Cameron,
Diana and all the other people we met that were so welcoming – many thanks!!
WE WILL BE
BACK…….
Future Plans
Our plans
have changed a little.
After
giving it a lot of thought we have decided to give Pohnpei a miss for this season.
Research
shows that April and May are Pohnpei’s wettest months.
It rains
daily and we are just not into that. Additionally the surf season is over as we
are running late in the season.
There is
also the wind angle issue for sailing back to the Solomon’s we wrote about at
the start of this blog.
We have
been running late in the cruising seasons for nearly a year now and have found
it difficult to catch up as we didn’t want to miss anything so now we have decided
to head south over the equator to the Solomon Islands and be there at the start
of the cruising season.
If all
goes to plan we will be in the Solomons for a full 6 months and by being there
early in the season, it hopefully means we get some surf.
We will be
clearing out of Kosrae on Thursday the 18th April for the 1000nm run
to the Western Provence in the Solomons.
Crossing
the equator and the doldrums is always a challenge but the forecast looks
reasonable so we are hoping the run will take 6 - 9 days.
Our next
blog should be posted from Gizo in the Solomon
Island ’s Western Province
Bye for now….
Paul and
Lisa Hogger – Team Lorelei.
PS.
If you
think uploading this blog is an easy task – think again.
Internet
is very limited in these pacific countries and so slow!!!
Paul sitting on Junior’s balcony
plugged into the mains power inside thru a power converter and extension lead
with the Wifi aerial in the pot plants so we could tap into the nearby Wifi……. the things you do.....