PNG - areas compared

[Allison Finch]

Yes, Allison,

You (and Caymaniac when he returns) must live up to your responsibilities and provide us with your ruminations on your trip(s). How is my favorite raconteur, the good Capt. Raabe? Has his foot fully healed? How are the corals faring on Susan's Bommie? Did you get to hang with the redoubtable Mr. Doyle? Any other tidbits from the land of smoking cones?

I can't wait to get back to the Pacific, a bit east and south of your journey, later this fall.

Best Regards,

Well, I will try to get to a full report but in the meantime, I will answer some of your questions.

Alan is...well, ALAN!!! As wonderful as ever. I don't think his ankle will ever be 100% but it hardly slows him down. He was feeling a bit punky towards the end of the trip. He has a form of malaria that resurfaces from time to time. Valia, who was roped into cooking when Jayne's knees gave out (She did a great job) also was a bit punky from a mild bout of malaria.

Most of the second half of the trip was exploratory diving to discover new sites in the Duke of York Islands and the Gazelle Peninsula. WOW!! We set moorings on a couple of incredible areas. A couple of great new muck sites too. I'm sure that he will feature these areas in the near future.
The volcano in Rabaul was really kicking up while we were there. The compressor needed some work and the boat was being covered with ash for two days. At night you could see the fireworks coming from the crater. It was a bit unnerving to be right under it after it had destroyed the town twice.The diving on the beehives (the pillers of rock on the harbor) was great muck. Got to pat a couple of banded sea snakes there.

We had a quick visit with Dickie so that we could deliver our supplies for the schools on Garove Island. He knows that I collect canoe paddles from PNG and never go home without one. I can't be satisfied with a little basket, huh? He brought me two as a gift. One was a beautiful paddle that had belonged to Tau, his recently deceased wife. He told me that she would have wanted me to have it. WAAAA!!!!!!

Bye the way. Alan wants us to come back in February. He wants to explore the South Coast from Rabaul. He said it is wonderful and he wants to set some moorings along there. I doubt I can swing it so soon after this trip, but he could sure use some good divers on that trip. Surely some SB divers might want such an adventure. There are no guarantees when exploring, but you will be sure you will be the first ones there many of the times!!

 

[silent running]

I was born in Florida and am quite familiar with the anopheles. to say they are ONLY active at night is very misleading. They are active before dark and after dawn. They will also come out on a very cloudy day. How do I know? I grew up with them.
Allison, I'm certainly not trying to mislead anyone by saying that they are not active in daylight. Maybe I should have said they are not active in FULL daylight, which is what I meant by 'daylight hours' and which comprizes 90 plus % of the 'day'. I could not find any info that says the malaria anopheles come out on a cloudy day, but I could believe it. I think there are several different kinds of mosquitos in PNG and not all carry the malarial bug. So, maybe it's one of the other kind that come out on overcast days. All of the info I have read and heard anecdotally says that while the mosquitos may be out of their resting areas at dusk, they do not begin biting until later as the evening progresses, with the peak time being around midnight. All of the publications I looked at stressed prevention first. And this is all I meant to point out: that it is possible to avoid malaria by purely physical, preventative means. Is it more risky than taking meds? Yes. And while Malarone sounds like a big step in the right direction, it is more expensive than any other med prevention and does have some side effects, like G.I. distress, which given the other hardships on one's body from traveling to the tropics and eating unfamiliar foods, may not be worth it for some. I'm sorry to hear that Capt. Alan and his cook has been zapped again. But as somebody who has done some drinking with the Old Salt, and seen him sleeping in his chair long after dark at Walindi, I'm not that surprised. You'll agree he's not the most cautious person you've ever met, no? Thanks for a lively discussion-Andy

 

[peterjmaerz]

Well, I will try to get to a full report but in the meantime, I will answer some of your questions.


...I know you must still be getting your land legs after your long journey. I'm so sorry to hear that Dicky's wife has died. I got to meet her during our crew's visit to Dicky's place. I think it's marvellous that someone with such a high regard for the country and its people (and who's been so generous herself) will have Tau's paddle. Karmic justice if ever there was.

It's intriguing to hear about the exploratory trip; sounds great! Parking under the ever restless volcano near Rabaul does raise a few goosebumps...Glad to hear that the good Captain is in fine form (if a bit buggy with Malaria) and still searching out new territory to "conquer". If only my sky miles would accrue more quickly (just dumped 100k on the upcoming Solomons trip), I would consider the February run. Alan was daydreaming about that area during my trip with him on the Stardancer last May.

Thanks again for sharing a bit of your trip with us. Look forward to a more extensive report if and when you're willing.

Best Regards,

 

[caymaniac]

Yes, Allison,

You (and Caymaniac when he returns) must live up to your responsibilities and provide us with your ruminations on your trip(s). How is my favorite raconteur, the good Capt. Raabe? Has his foot fully healed? How are the corals faring on Susan's Bommie? Did you get to hang with the redoubtable Mr. Doyle? Any other tidbits from the land of smoking cones?

I can't wait to get back to the Pacific, a bit east and south of your journey, later this fall.

Best Regards,

I'm back.
It was a fantastic trip. New Guinea is an intriguing place. The plants on Walindis grounds were lush and the variety was high.
The Star Dancer was a worthy vessel. We had 12 in our diving group who were all wonderful to meet. The diving was superb off the coast and the Fathers, soft corals, hard corals, feather stars, large sea fans, and anthias by the thousands. The night dives revealed foo-manchoos, cuttle fish, octopus, pipe fish as well as sharks. The Bismark Sea was mostly calm, we had one day going out that was a little rough and then on the return to Walindi day we had wind.
At Walindi we went to the "Hot River" and on the last night saw the "firefly bush". There was a recent B-25 find, Max asked me if I wanted to go, I said "yes", but there were journalists who had control of the 4-wheel drive so I was not able to see it.
It's all so hard to describe, my pictures say alot but then again it's more of an experience.
The people were smiling on trading day, and I wanted to trade for a paddle but I couldn't do it, they have so little.
All my underwater pics are being developed, but I also brought a digital for topside.
The water temps were 85F to 90F, no wet suit needed
Sorry I didn't get to see Allison Finch and have that beer. But, I did fly out with Mrs. ex-Raabe and Max. Allison, you were off to Rabul? I did take a tour of the Febrina and I thought that the Star Dancer had more amenities and nicer staterooms.
Loloata was interesting, the wallabies were free roaming. Franco was our DM. My wife and I had the boat to ourselves. The diving was the muck dive, viz wasn't like the previous week, but there was pipefish, mantis shrimp, porcelien crabs, shrimp, ect...
That's all for now, I'm sooo tired....zzzzzzzzzzz

 

[blueeyes_austin]

Bye the way. Alan wants us to come back in February. He wants to explore the South Coast from Rabaul. He said it is wonderful and he wants to set some moorings along there. I doubt I can swing it so soon after this trip, but he could sure use some good divers on that trip. Surely some SB divers might want such an adventure. There are no guarantees when exploring, but you will be sure you will be the first ones there many of the times!!

Allison, if you at all can, go on the South Coast itinerary! Lindenhaven is just an amazing place to dive.

 

[blueeyes_austin]

There was a recent B-25 find, Max asked me if I wanted to go, I said "yes", but there were journalists who had control of the 4-wheel drive so I was not able to see it.
It's all so hard to describe, my pictures say alot but then again it's more of an experience.

If this is the one I'm thinking of, they've known about it for quite some time but it has been in a dangerous area. Maybe they got the tribal relations sorted out.

 

[Allison Finch]

Caymaniac,
I'm really sorry I missed you too. We did see the 'Dancer off in the distance once. I waved, but you didn't wave back!
I love the pic of the feet in the hammock. That flag pole was where the crew, who raided my and my sister's cabins for a practical joke, tie-wrapped our bras. They called it an American flag. We thought it was so funny we left them there until we steamed proudly into Walindi, bras flapping in the wind. Who needs them there anyway?
Yes, the 'Dancer is more spacious and user friendly than the FeBrina. I was on the 'Dancer last year because the FeBrina had been chartered by the Nature Conservancy for some research. I did get spoiled. I will go on whichever boat Alan will be captaining at the time. The Feb trip will be on the 'Dancer, I was informed.
Alan was "glad" his ex was going to be running the bookings from Walindi. He said that she could be "tough" (not the words he used), but things would definitely tighten up. I get along with her fine.
I hear you didn't have Brad as captain. He was, evidently, fired by Alan for a variety of hassles. Oh, well.....I hope the new captain was fun.
So you dived "foo Manchu" (the computer won't let me put the real name here. Too close to another word, I guess) at night? <chuckle> Do you know it's secrete? There is no foo Manchu. You were at Killibob's Knob. Everyone knows that there are lots of sharks there and would be scared of doing a night dive there. The sharks are, absolutely, no trouble there at night so they simply have a "night name" for the place. Clever, huh? Did anyone wonder why they arrived at Killibob's so quickly? Belinda's is right next door, but due to all the corrallimorphs, it makes a risky night dive.
How did you like George? Isn't he cool?
About that beer, the offer stands anytime. If we had met up, you would have had to get the beer. They are free on the 'Dancer (at least when we were there) but we had to pay 1.50 for them on the FeBrina.
Is the pic on your name "Elsie"? That's the turtle at Jayne's Gulley that is so friendly.

 

[caymaniac]

Caymaniac,
You were at Killibob's Knob. Everyone knows that there are lots of sharks there and would be scared of doing a night dive there. The sharks are, absolutely, no trouble there at night so they simply have a "night name" for the place. Clever, huh? Did anyone wonder why they arrived at Killibob's so quickly? Belinda's is right next door, but due to all the corrallimorphs, it makes a risky night dive.
How did you like George? Isn't he cool?
About that beer, the offer stands anytime. If we had met up, you would have had to get the beer. They are free on the 'Dancer (at least when we were there) but we had to pay 1.50 for them on the FeBrina.
Is the pic on your name "Elsie"? That's the turtle at Jayne's Gulley that is so friendly.

Killibob's was interesting, the sharks were coming in quite close to us which I really like, they are beautiful. We had a great night dive at Leslie's, sighting three octopus, two cuttle fish, several eels, foomanchoo, plenty of scorpion fish, and two turtles. As the night dive finished and we went to hang on the bar we had a silver tip go bizerk before we could exit. We must have been in his territory as he zig-zagged at great speed close to the divers with his pecks in a downward position, my wife kept her HID light on him as best as she could, it took about 4 minutes before he dissapeared.
I liked the Belinda dive the least of all dives becuase of the corrallimorphs and the current really started ripping, so they called off the night dive there.
Andrew the cook was quite a character. One day he was pulling in the dingy, I asked him what he was doing, he said he was going fishing, so I asked him if I could go too. I caught a big dog tooth tuna but a shark came along and ate it before it was hauled back to the boat. The skipper "James" said he watched the whole thing from the wheel house. As you can see, two stooges standing up in a boat sorting out the fishing gear :11:
The pic on the name is from Cayman Brac, but we had plenty of turtles sighted on this trip.

 

[peterjmaerz]

...they induced lots of sighing on my part. Good information, nice photos. By the way, I've heard the term corralimorphs but don't know what they are...?

Ironically, I was slated for the Febrina when last year's Nature Conservancy charter, mentioned by Allison, caused a switch. Now I'm spoiled for life by the Star Dancer and the huge picture window facing my bed! It'll be interesting when I'm relegated to a windowless single on the Spirit of the Solomons this fall! (Speaking of which, anyone have any tips about where to hang drying bathing suits if you don't have an ensuite head?)

Someday, we Scubaboard PNG vets will have to hook up for a pre-union cruise! Looking forward to some more pics, CM. Here are a couple of mine.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/peter.../pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/peterjquatz/my_photos


Best Regards,

 

[Allison Finch]

I always hang my suit by putting it through itself on the railing. By the end of the day I usually have 4-5 suits there. They are always dry the next day.