We've Arrived!

After 7 days of some pretty frightful stuff, we've made it to our intended destination just north of Madang! YEAHHHHH!!!! The sight of the homes just inside the little bay we we'd been struggling toward all that time was a huge relief and brought a sense of accomplishment to this tattered crew of three. We departed (or attempted at least... more in the stories to come) on March 1st from Wab, just near Saidor and then meandered up the coast, finally arriving just beyond Madang on the 7th.

We got seriously spanked by some of the conditions out there, but also experienced some really nice weather as well. We took tons of photos and a good number of videos of our journey, only to have our one and only camera snatched by some little thief in the village of Erima, just the day before we arrived. I'm so torn by this because I love communicating with photography and the thought of having to do so now with just words seems disappointing. However, I know our experience out there was extraordinary, unbelievable even and I do enjoy trying to communicate in writing so that will come in time here. But you'll have to bear with me since I have virtually no pictures of the actual trip now. Thankfully our friends and family also took pictures as we sailed into the bay here at our destination point. So we have a teeny something to speak of there.

For now though, a brief summary.

So all three of us are super glad to be back. 6 days on a skinny 24' long outrigger canoe is a long time. If I'd known just how many harrowing experiences the trip would bring I honestly don't think I would have planned to do it. The sea out there can really dish it up! I'm pretty sure that our maiden voyage put Shan Skailyn through about the worst he'll ever see, and he held up very well; strong stormy winds, 6'-10' waves at times (our best estimation - though we recognize fear can exaggerate threatening objects - we have no clue how to measure those beasts anyway) and sometimes no way out except to grit your teeth and pray and find yourself lost in contentment that God's love is bigger and more powerful that this threatening sea no matter what happens. We experienced periods of long glassy still and also adrenaline pumping racing through rough waters and then everything in between. It really was amazing that Shan Skailyn kept through it all... and that we did too! One piece of information I was glad to have read prior to the trip was that being under sail power is the safest way to be under rough conditions. More safe that just bobbing around and more safe than being under motor power. Had I not read that and had some confidence in it's accuracy I think we would have dropped sail at the dangerous points and found ourselves in even more danger! This and many other things like that evidenced God's providential watchfulness over us on this trip!

The very first time we set out, we got our butts kicked by strong winds and huge waves. We clumsily fought and fought and fought in Wab bay for a couple hours that first day, only to make it about a mile out or so. Defeated and humbled and scared, we turned back and headed to shore back at Wab to gather our thoughts. After this experience, nearly every time we pushed out from the beach somewhere the fear was such that I imagined it couldn't be more if I knew I was going before a firing squad for my final moments of life. It was dreadful to make myself just do it. After the first few days, with more confidence in the boat and in the skills God so drastically was working into us, the fear began to subside with each departure. Again though we saw God's hand in that first day in that he prepared us for a nice, light breezy late afternoon on smooth waters. We left our gear in a hut at Wab and decided we were being given a chance to practice in much more favorable conditions. We went out again set our sail and made way, putzing around the bay, back and forth, trying different tacks and points of sail. It was perfect and allowed us to feel what it's like to make use the wind from different directions. Unbeknownst to us, the most important direction would be pointing into the wind, called 'beating into the wind' or being close hauled, pointing as far up into the wind as the sail would handle. It was this point of sail we spent probably 90% of the trip doing. Nearly the whole way, the wind was against us as we worked up around points and in and out of reefs and up long rocky sections of coastline, tacking back and forth and sometimes seeming like we were making very little progress against the wind and tide.

Probably the nastiest thing we experienced sailing wise was when we decided to cross a nine mile section of open water to cross Astrolabe bay. Things were dead calm, smooth water, no wind. We decided even if we just paddled (which we could do about 3-4 miles per hour) it would just take us a few hours at worst. We went out about an hour, the shore further and further behind us. Finally the wind started picking up so we set the sail to make use of it. After going further the wind kept getting stronger and stronger; the sea getting rougher and rougher. Before we knew it, it was way more than we could handle. The wind was howling, big white caps all around us and Sesi and I were hiked all the way out to keep the wind from blowing us over yet we still really struggled to keep Shan Skailyn upright. We pointed into the wind to slow things down, but it was still very scary. It was so strong, and the sail pulled so tight at all the attachment points that we thought for sure it was going to rip the seams. We decided we needed to get out of there and fast, so rather than looking for the best possible place (too far away anyway at this point) we picked the fastest point of sail that would hopefully bring us to a beach. We set the boat to what's called a beam reach with the wind over our starboard (right) side, hiked out far, prayed and hauled you-know-what for the shore, hoping we could keep Shan Skailyn's ama (the outrigger part) from burying or being pushed under water. At that speed, if that happens you risk what's called pitch poling which is the very worst thing you can do to an outrigger sailing canoe. The canoe, sail, crew, everything flips over the end of the ama, landing in a tripod like position (bow, mast head, tip of the ama) in the sea. It almost always does a great deal of damage to boat and crew. The ama did bury quite a few times as we raced along, but we managed to keep pulling out of it as we would just turn into the wind for a moment to depower the sail. Ama back on the surface again, we'd continue on our mad reach for a beach. Chad, the only fearless one on the boat, managed to get a few moments of great video of this run! I really really want that video back! About an hour of this and we did manage to find that beach... just as the storm began to subside. We stopped anyway because that one hour drained us physically and emotionally. Whew!

The people almost all the way up the coast treated us very well. We were hosted and fed well. Spent tons of time talking about their life on the sea, the weather, and just trying to glean knowledge and wisdom from them by which to discern how to carry on our own voyage. Our dependence on their advice became even more necessary after our GPS took on water and fried! They know where the reefs are and all the often small points of entry (called 'basis') to get into and out of the reefs. We usually only ate meals at night, often two big dinners consisting of all the local fare. We often skipped breakfast (usually just not offered, but not out of lack of hospitality, just cultural normalcy) and would grab a few handfuls of trailmix through the day. Come evening time we'd be famished and ready for the standard double round of dinner. Stuffed, we'd story with our hosts and their families and then go to bed. I'm not sure what we got most of our water from, but I'm guessing the scale falls over to kulau (coconuts). Available everywhere we went, it was cool, refreshing, and comes in it's own storage container lined with a ready made snack. There were several days we sailed 8 and 9 hours straight, no stopping. Often we'd sit around in the evening still with the sense of the rocking ocean, despite being on solid ground.

The final day we made the most mileage we'd done the whole trip, about 22 miles. We were elated to finally see the familiar center houses in view. We felt like we'd really accomplished something! The people at the center gathered to watch us sail in and we were greeted with cheers and hugs! Good to be back home again and see my wife and kids!

In the aftermath, I have some slight ulcer type sores on my butt and fingers and feet which are now healing quickly since they are staying dry. Interesting how small scratches and blisters get so nasty when they're just wet all the time.

More detailed day by day stories to come later. For now, I'd like to wait to see if there is any chance of getting our pictures back. I made a flyer with a big picture of the camera and information about it's return and a K200 reward. We posted about 30 of these around Madang. Knowing that the thief didn't steal it because of an interest in photography, but rather to sell it for a quick buck, he is going to try to come to Madang to do that. He'll have to go to different electronics stores to try to find a charger before he can sell it. So we talked to the police about it, who have 'informants' (street kids) who they'll have keep an eye out. We also talked to employees of the different stores where the thief might try to go to get cables to charge the camera. We also posted several around the bus stop that brings folks from Erima, the village where the thief is located, and also different notice boards around town and then just on various trees located in high traffic areas. We did that all yesterday (friday). Today is a very busy day in town as Saturdays usually are, and so we're hoping enough people see the notice that we can increase our chances of the camera being found. The police seem to know more of the activities of the thief types and will keep an eye out. We'll see what God has in store for this. If it be that the pictures cannot be returned then we'll be content to simply try to make a thousand words be worth a picture. Seriously though, there were some awesome pictures and videos of our experience. It will really hurt to have to let go of those if it comes down to it.