Sailing Afrikii

Solomons ❤️

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Kasi Maru: a Japanese cargo ship sunk in a bombing raid in 1943, near Munda
American Wildcat wreck shot down in WWII – near Munda

Solomon Islands are beautiful and the folks are friendly. The reefs are healthy and the spearfishing is the best of anywhere we’ve been. It was also the centre of the WWII fighting so there are wrecks and museums and stories from locals about their relatives acting as scouts during the fighting.

We sailed up to Solomons from Vanuatu, checking into Lata, visiting Rodrick Bay and Munda for weeks and checking out of Noro. We were warned about security – theft and threats, so we avoided Honiara (though Ian took a fast boat there from Rodrick Bay for an ophthalmologist appointment) but overall, our experience was very warm and welcoming, and everyone was super friendly and helpful.
Rodrick Bay – Recipe for all good beach parties: glowstix!
Banquet on the beach in Rodrick Bay, in the Florida Islands
I posted a short video over on Vimeo about repairing the dugout canoes in Rodrick Bay. Ian spearfished with these guys and we got to know everyone fairly well. Repair to dugouts is usually done with a natural glue they harvest from a tree fruit, that lasts about 3 months. The guys decided to give fibreglass a try, to see if it could last a longer.
In case you missed it, here’s a video of spearfishing near Munda with Sika and his son Herapa. They took us out to Skull Island too – a place where the skulls of chiefs and their enemies are preserved.

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● About Us

Yo! It’s Ann and Ian on our 1984 Wauquiez Amphitrite. Photos & blog by Ann, keeping us afloat and moving forward by Ian.

● Of interest

Check if your gov’t has ratified the UN High Seas Treaty, if not lobby your gov’t – we can have 30% of Oceans a marine park and have a well-regulated global fisheries

Great podcast from Outside Magazine about military parajumper training in breath holding

See this story of Cook Islanders shipwrecked on Minerva Reef in 60s (film coming soon)