We celebrated our arrival by diving overboard into the crystal clear 27deg lagoon with coral gardens and myriads of fish just meters away. Later we enjoyed a glass of chilled Sir James Sparkling Shiraz ashore under the coconuts watching the sunset with Derek & Bella. Snorkelling in a tropical aquarium and walks on Pana Bobai Ana (11 deg 16min S, 152.21 E) introduced us to the Louisiades.
23/8, moved 22 miles west to Bramble Haven (11.11S, 152.01E) anchorage with Pandana to for a more comfortable anchorage and to enjoy this magnificent, uninhabited island. Calista anchored in gin-clear water after a rollicking passage before 20-25kn SE trades. Once a seasonal settlement for Beche de Mer collecting, Bramble Haven is now deserted with thatch huts decaying following a three-year closure of the fishery. Bramble Haven is the quintessential tropical paradise, and we had it to ourselves. A highlight of our 5 days here was a trip to nearby Siva Island (next west from BH) to snorkel over its stunning coral gardens and canyons. Sensational!
Left Pandana on Sat 28/8 for 64mile passage to Wari Island with a stopover on lonely Maragili (Kosman) Is (11.03S, 151.31E) to break the passage. We enjoyed comfortable 10-15kn of SE under headsail on the way and felt a real sense of remoteness as we felt our way between coral heads to the lee of the island. No human footprints ashore and some long abandoned huts underscored the solitude of the place. A heavy rainsquall at 0200 the next morning had us up and peering into the gloom hoping that our anchor held to dawn. At times like this you can feel a long way from home!
Departed for Wari Is next morn in a fading ESE that saw us creep over our chart before slapping sails saw us engage our motor for the first extended passage making since approaching Townsville. At 1020 hrs the first smudge of Wari's multiple peaks appeared off the port bow and by 1400hrs we were abeam, with peaks on the PNG mainland clearly distinct in the distance to starboard. The PNG mainland (!) and our chartplotter had us North of Cape York! Were we game to look at the map to see where we were?
The entrance to Wari (11.16S, 152.25E) lay ahead, Wari the place that we dreamed of revisiting in Calista and here we were, on a Sunday afternoon with the local pastor in an outrigger paddling out furiously to guide us in. Better guidance than our GPS! We cannot believe that we are really, truly, unequivocally here!
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