Hermit Islands - Madang

More Tuna!

Our main concern for the 240 nm crossing to Madang, on the New Guinea mainland, was fuel remaining v's the anticipated counter-current through the Isumrud Strait. Charts warned of up to 3 kts N'ly; we expected to be sailing through on the flood - would this enhance or diminish the current?

Will works the assy'

By now we were down to about 100 litres of diesel - that's enough for 35 hours of motor-sailing (with a reserve for arrival) or about 200 nm. Not qute enough to motor all the way, and definitely not enough in the face of an ugly current!

As a result, we nursed every breeze that came our way (even flying the assy' for the first time!), and actively chased a couple of squalls in order to 'slingshot' ourselves S-wards. By nightfall, we were in the Strait and - oh joy of joys - enjoying a following tide. We still nursed the fuel anyway, as the wind dropped at sunset, motoring at 1300 RPM / 5 kts in a flat calm.

Madang from the air

This didn't stop us harvesting a couple of juicy Yellowfin Tuna as we went - again through a 'boil' of activity. We then agreed we should secure the lines as we now had so much Tuna to eat our way through. This went against the grain with some of the crew, though, and a couple of lines were sneaked out again later, "just for some sport fishing"...

Madang at anchor

Approaching Karkar Island we also crossed into normal cellphone coverage - 70 nm from land! Immediately, the phones came out and texts and calls began. The single most common thread of the various calls? Computer & internet problems back home. Without fail, every communication from home complained of cyber-snags, with cries of 'how do I fix such-and-such'. Civilisation had returned to us with thump.

Madang Club

Dawn saw us off Madang, dropping sails and tidying ship, ready for yet another CIQ. Pat had already arrived, and suggested anchoring off the Madang Club. We did so, at 0700, and again the bar opened. This was going to be a dificult habit to shake!

CIQ took most of the morning, although all done with a smile (and at no cost and without inspection) by Gilbert at the nearby Customs offices. We had now officially arrived in PNG and were legal. Pat & Roger could now come board and join the party. Orange whip?