Elenya: January 2012

Photo Update

Oroluk Island

Engine of fishing boat wreck at Oroluk lagoon

White tern "nest" on a wrecked fishing boat

Nan Madol Photos

Nan Douwas the most intact island of Nan Madol

Oroluk Lagoon

We have eventually moved on from Pohnpei and have now been anchored in Oroluk Lagoon for nearly a week. We had a fairly good trip, with winds on the stern quarter and were doing up to 7 knots at times. We put the sails up soon after we left the wharf at Pohnpei (this was the first place where we had to tie up to the wharf to clear out, everywhere else, including NZ, we have just presented our documents at the relevant office/s) and took the sails down as we approached the entrance to the pass at Oroluk. We had already reduced sail overnight in order to time our arrival with daylight. The pass was easily negotiated and soon we were anchored on a sandbank in crystal clear water with the sun shining. The water here is amazingly clear for inside a lagoon (where the water is usually a bit murky) and the colours are amazing. Turquoise over the sand in the shallows, a richer blue further out and the white of the waves breaking on the reef. The lagoon is about 15 miles across with just one small island. In Pohnpei, we had asked permission to visit from the chief of the Kaipingamarangi people who own the island. One family live here permanently but at the moment there are several other people visiting. A local trading boat/island-hopper dropped them off and will return at some stage to pick them up, a week? a month? No one knows for sure!

The people here are very friendly, we have been shown around the island and given fish and coconuts. Jim tried to fix their HF radio (their only means of communication) but it has been badly water damaged at some time and is probably beyond repair even by an expert. However, no one here seems particularly concerned about being cut off from the outside world. One evening we tried some of the local wine. They didn't explain how it is made but from what I have read, the nectar of the coconut blossoms is collected and naturally ferments. The longer you leave it, the stronger it gets. Jim thought it was ok if a bit sweet, but I thought it tasted like vinegar.

We have been diving (of course) here, taking the dinghy out to the pass and the outer reef and the last couple of dives we have just dropped off the yacht and made a cruisy circuit of some nearby bombies. With the white sand and colourful fish, it's a bit like diving in a fish-tank. We have also made an excursion out to the wreck of an old fishing boat, which is now a nesting site for white terns. The eggs appear to be laid rather precariously on top of the wreck.

The only downside to the anchorage is that the fringing reef offers limited protection from the chop and swell kicked up from the 15-25 knots of wind we have had pretty much constantly here, so things can get a bit bouncy at times. So much so we broke the snubber on our anchor chain the other night. But we think we can put up with it for a bit longer at least!!!

Pohnpei

We spent Christmas and New Years in Pohnpei. Both were fairly quiet. Christmas day started with Jim making me croissants and fresh orange juice for breakfast and then we went for a walk up a nearby hill. Luckily we picked a sunny day and we had good views out to the reef and down into the harbour. At the top of the hill we explored around some Japanese gun emplacements complete with guns from the second world war. For New Years eve we went to a nearby pub and played pool against the Aussie couple on the cruising boat anchored next to us. They are here for the surfing which is supposed to be world renown. In Pohnpei we have also been out diving which is quite good, but I think we have previously mentioned that diving in the Solomon Islands has spoilt us!

We escaped from Kolonia harbour for a few days out at a beautiful atoll. The atoll is uninhabited except for a couple of guys who are there sporadically to stop people fishing there as the family that own the atoll have declared it a no fishing area. We have had quite a lot of rain while we have been in Pohnpei (its one of the wetter places on earth) so several sunny days anchored in crystal clear water were a real treat. While heading out to dive one day, Jim noticed a shape under the water, when I stuck my head under to have a look, I saw a large gamefish (blue marlin we think) heading straight for the dinghy -quite a sight!

One of the reasons we came to Pohnpei was to visit the ruins of Nan Madol. This site has fascinated Jim since he was a child. The site consists of several man made islands with buildings built of interlocking basalt columns. Some of the columns and corner stones are huge and it would be a considerable undertaking to build these structures now, let alone several hundred years ago. There is some mystery as to exactly how Nan Madol was built as there is no basalt occurring nearby; the closest deposits are over the other side of the island. Legend has it that magicians flew the blocks across. Today, there are only a few buildings with intact walls and alot of the site has silted up and is being reclaimed by the mangroves, but some of the grandeur of what was once there is still able to be appreciated. After all that, the thing that Jim has talked about most since then is the kittens we saw on the way out!