Pitufa.at

In Taro we saw a big freighter loading logs and asked the guys at customs and immigration about it: they said that logging was done on a big scale by Malayan companies. Asked about regulations for reforestation they just sadly smiled and shook their heads–theoretically maybe, but neither the logging companies nor the land owners actually replant trees. So lush rain forest is turned into bushland, rain erodes the exposed land and washes away the fertile soil which then ends in the sea as sediment and suffocates the coral. Really sad.
Doing research I found the “Solomon Islands Timber Trade Portal” where hardwood types and export destinations are listed. “Solomon Islands timbers are popular on the New Zealand and Australian markets. This is expected to remain so as long as perceptions surrounding issues sustainability and legality are unambiguous.” Think, before you buy. Do you really need teak on deck? Do you really need fancy exotic garden chairs??
Planning routes and anchorages I compare satellite images of different sources. They were sometimes taken with a year or two in between – quite an eye opener to compare ArcGis Images with Google Images. The examples below are from Fauro Island in the Shortland Group of the Solomon Islands (between Choiseul and Bougainville).
Google still shows rainforest

ArcGis shows the destruction done within a short time

Nowhere else have we encountered such huge numbers and such a variety of anemones and clown fish subspecies!

Are you interested in reading my travelbook, but haven’t ordered one yet as you don’t want to support Amazon? I’ve now converted it into a pdf, scaled it down to a reasonable size (50 MB) and I’m happy to send it as a WeTransfer. The paperback costs 17 euros on Amazon (btw I only get 5 per book), but I thought I’d offer the pdf for 9,90 which is the price of the e-book
Send me an email, if you’re interested!

Remember our plan to sail up from Vanuatu to the north of PNG using the SE trades in order to arrive before December when the wind collapses and then sail back from northern PNG to the Solomons using the NW monsoon that’s supposed to blow over PNG from December to March?
Well, that didn’t work out: the winds got very light (but predominantly east) in December and January, so we never made it to the Hermit and Ninigo Islands in the NW corner of PNG, but stayed in the Kavieng area instead. Since then we had mainly light NE to E in February and March. We had one brief episode of northerly winds and that was only because cyclone Alfred went down the Australian coast and influenced the wind patterns all the way up to PNG–we used those winds to hop from Kavieng eastwards.
We thought that we were seeing an effect of La Nina, but locals assure us that the Northwest wind that used to bring cooler weather and rain has not arrived for at least 2 years! The water tanks on many islands were nearly empty in February, another negative side effect of climate change that hits the people here…
So this is what the wind statistics show for March (see Pitufa’s wind atlas)

This is what we actually have

And that was when Alfred went down the eastern coast of Australia

What makes sailing east additionally difficult is a strong west-setting current

Smurfy’s the most stubborn person I’ve ever met (of any species and that includes my own pighead), fiercely independent and rebellious–not ideal features of a ship’s cat. None of the cats we’ve had before prepared us for this struggle… Sometimes we’re close to giving up, but then he shows his adorable, dotted belly and we’re melting again.

Sometimes we suspect that he’s not quite sane…

These canines can do quite some damage

“Smurfy, get off the solar panel, you’ll fall into the water again…” “Go f yourself!!”

Our WiFi gateway Pitufino can be viewed and tried out at the Austrian boat show in Tulln! Of course there’s also a discount of 10%, not just for those shopping at the boat show, but also for everything ordered from the online store–just this week and next week!

Giant clams rarely get to grow to a size that merits this name. All across the Pacific we hardly ever saw specimen larger than a hand as they are considered too tasty to be left on the reef by locals (and cruisers). Here in PNG we see giants of a meter or more all over the place! Often they are considered a last food reserve for tough times (e.g. severe weather that doesn’t allow going out to fish) and are therefore left to grow. Seventh Day Adventists don’t eat them at all, which explains the large numbers and sizes around e.g. Musau island where only 7th day adventists live. Amazing creatures!

Christian demonstrating on this deceased clam why they are called “murderer clams” in German: they allegedly grabbed the arm or foot (or in this case bum) of a diver and wouldn’t let go until he drowned.

Just like on coral their vibrant colours are due to symbiotic algae and therefore they can bleach and die just like coral when the water gets too hot. Note the white, bleached parts on this one:

Seeing healthy coral in waters around and even above 31°C around many islands in PNG gave us hope that coral might be able to adapt to rising temperatures. In French Poly and Fiji we saw horrible bleaching events at 30°C already, but the coral near the equator that is used to all-year-round hot water seemed to cope. But then around the northern islands of New Hanover we started seeing 32°Cand above (not just on the surface but down to 5 m depth)–and that’s when even the hardiest coral give up. Soft coral that looks like overcooked cauliflower, anemones like lifeless, white spaghetti with desperate clown fishies trying to hide in their dying home, delicate staghorn bleached to light-blue and white that won’t give shelter to little fish once it’s dead and overgrown and even big boulders of hardy porites stone-coral going pastel-coloured and white instead of a healthy brown and green.

Such stressed reefs rely even more than healthy ones on large numbers of herbivore fish to keep algae from overgrowing damaged coral and to give them a chance to recover and regrow. Many communities here in Papua New Guinea are installing no-fishing-zones, which helps the reefs immensely in such tough times. We are looking for any environmental groups willing to encourage such efforts and to help with funding. If you have any ideas or contacts, please write to us!
We have documented and photographed several Marine Protected areas and would love to share the insights with NGOs.

Big fishing fleets empty the Pacific, but we still troll a simple handline whenever we sail between islands and sometimes we get lucky! On the last sail we caught a jack while still in the lagoon–perfect size and timing and Christian quickly cleaned it with Smurfy eagerly watching and waiting for the first bite of sashimi… When we were in the middle of the passage and pitching in rough seas, the line stretched out again: we use a 30 m long, thick line with a metal leader and the yoyo is attached to a bungee cord that stretches out to take the impact when a fish bites. This time it was something much bigger. We reefed the genoa in a little bit to reduce speed from 5 to 4 knots, Christian rolled up the yoyo and yanked the fish over Pitufa’s high stern and into our multi-purpose bucket. A quick moment of panic: Is it a barracuda? Then we’d have to quickly throw him back as we don’t want to risk ciguatera poisoning. No, it’s a wahoo or something similar! A quick pic to identify the species later…(Turns out we caught a king mackerel).
Murdering and cleaning a big fish in rough seas on the rocking and rolling stern isn’t fun and Christian was holding on with one hand, holding the bucket with the second, cutting fish with the third while I did my best to keep Smurfy’s paws out of the bloody mess. As we didn’t have enough space in the fridge to simply put all steaks in and process them later on, I had to get to work in the galley immediately. Some drops of stugeron to fight sea sickness in the hot, sweaty, wildly rocking galley, then I skinned the fish, cut out all bones and red meat and put as much as we 3 can eat within a week into a plastic container and into the evaporator. All that’s not sashimi quality is cut into pieces and stuffed into jars. A squirt of soy sauce, the rest filled up with water, lids on and then the jars go into the pressure cooker for 1 hour (steaming up the cabin to sauna temperatures with the hatches closed underway). As we don’t have a freezer this is the best way to keep fish for later–the preserves stay good for months! Lots of work, but worth it.

Not sure? Ask Lorraine, she does. The row of houses in front of hers has disappeared over the last years, by now the water is rising into her house at each high tide. She shrugs it off with a smile, while standing ankle-deep in the Pacific, cleaning her island-cabbage. Lorraine has never been on a plane, she doesn’t own an air condition, her family just has one little solar panel for one lamp at night. She basically has no carbon footprint, yet she’s suffering the consequences of industry and transport heating up the planet.
So what, you might say. Why doesn’t she move to higher grounds? Well, there are no higher grounds. The whole island is low and flat, the gardens are getting soaked in salt water and the people have nowhere to go.

Clem’s Place on Tunung Island on the northern tip of New Hanover is a lodge for alternative tourists who really want to experience small-island life, go snorkeling, fishing and camping. Clem doesn’t just make his own guests welcome, but is also happy to receive visiting yachties! We got a tour of the village and Clem explained the different projects he is trying for a more sustainable lifestyle for the islanders: he wants to set up a chicken farm to give an alternative to fishing, encourage composting so the people can grow veg on their coral island instead of buying from the mainland and his school has an extended curriculum to teach the children about issues concerning PNG like local plants/animals, awareness for nature preservation, etc.
All great efforts, so if you visit New Hanover by sailboat, make sure to stop by, enjoy a friendly welcome, some great snorkeling/diving and help out with donations and or know-how!
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