Our 3 weeks voyage on the ocean had ups and downs. On our last day we got a beautiful up, with a gift from the ocean.
Waiting for the authorities and then a warm welcome at the Royal Papua Yacht Club.
A goodbye gift from the ocean
Sat May 23 2026
It is the morning of our last day on the ocean.
We heard kggg-kgggk-. That is the mill of the fishing rod! We ran to it, Geerhard took the rod, gave a hit to hook the fish in, and from then he had to put his thumb firmly on the mill, to prevent the line getting out to fast. A big one!. Too big? His thumb became hot. He didn’t let go. Hotter. The fish didn’t give up, went deep in the water, to the right, the left, and then he jumped, came out in the air… and suddenly no resistance on the rod, because it has freed itself.
We felt disappointed. Geerhard had put ice on his burnt thumb. A sad atmosphere at the Ya. Peter tried to comfort our blues with frying a huge bacon-and-eggs-and-cheese-and-tomato thing.
Just as he was serving the biggest plate one can ever eat, we heard kggg-gkkggg again! Again a quick jump to the rod, try to hook the fish in, and fight. This time Geerhard won and he reeled a dorade into the cockpit. A beaurty. A male. Blue on one side, gold on the other. Not too big, just enough for us to eat in two meals.
We finished our enormous bacon and eggs lunch, but two hours later already we ate the tale part of the dorade tale, ‘cooked’ with some herbs and a carrot in pure lemon juice. And tonight a fried chunk in lemon butter sauce.
Already looking forward to tomorrow. Not because of the visits of the authorities to get the paperwork done, but for the Dorade chunk.
Dorade, we love you.
Ocean, we thank you for this goodbye gift. With respect.
Anchored Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
Sun May 24 2026
We arrived. We tried to time our arrival that way, that we could enter the passage between the coral heads in daylight. The wind should ease in the night, but no. Geerhard tried to slow down, but the wind even blew harder. So we had to sail up and down for some hours before the dawn.
After a safe through the coral BAsislisk Passage we are on anchor now. The authorities take the Sunday off, so we have to wait a day.
Time to look back on this trip.
We sailed from May 3 to 24, so 3 weeks.We made 2380 nautical miles, so a near 110 miles a day. This is not bad for a short handed 10 meter cruiser. By the way, it is rare nowadays, but we sailed everything. So with sails, not on engine.
One motor broke down. So we had an energy source less. So, this is one of the few times we didnot arrive with (nearly) full battery bank. We had luck that the wind generator could delliver well, because we had pretty much wind. The majority of the days it blew between 15 and 25 knots (Force 5 and 6). From Whangarei we had to motor some 5 hours till we could sail, so that took a big chunk of energy. Then, when one motor broke down, the batteries were on 60% and that level remained for the rest of the three weeks. So with stronger winds we stay energy neutral.
The balance on the food was first estimated by AI. Geerhard lowered some numbers on the fresh food list before shopping and that was smart. Right now we have left 4 apples, 3 lemons and two old cucumbers. Only the number of unions and potatoes he didnot cut down and here we have 2 kilos left. We have pretty much of corn flakes and alcohol, but that is cheap in New Zealand and expensive in non-Western countries. We have some ounces of meat in the freezer, because we got fish in stead. Great that Geerhard took his fishing gear! He brought the ‘travel light’ version, and that made it extra difficult to keep the big fishes hooked that you get here. But out of 5 times a fish bit, we had one time a barracuda and yesterday one of the most delicious fishes of the ocean, the Dorade or Mahi-Mahi. Which we ate just now, with our last salad, together with a glass of wine (or two).
Cheers!
Authorities… We’re in!
Mon May 25 2026 21:57:00 GMT+1000 (Papoea-Nieuw-Guineese tijd)
The whole Sunday on anchor and we we waited and were stand-by on the radio But no authorities showed up. Sunday is their day off. Isn’t that great? The whole import and export and travel industry of Papua New Guinea is just standing still for one day every week! It also seems to be on the formal free days throughout the year.
But Monday morning also no sign . So we called the Royal Papua Yacht Club and we got a secretary who could perhaps help us. Standing by again. No answer. We called again. “Sorry, we asked Customs and also Immigration but no answer yet.”
Then, all of a sudden, the secretary called and said: “They are here now, how fast can you come with you boat?” Peter answered:”we lift anchor and are with you in some minutes”
The clearing in was a pleasant process. One of the Customs really had the face of a Papua and Geerardt made a selfie with him. Fun. When they smile, you suddenly see the red teeth and gum. That is from the betelnut chewing. This makes one a bit high. So that’s why they were ‘easy’ on their appointments.
Suddenly there also were two men of Immigration. Also with a red mouth of the betelnut. Also a pleaseant chat and 3 minutes later the passports were stamped.
So we were cleared in within one and half day. That is better than the average in New Zealand. Long live Papua New Guinea!
A warm welcome at the Royal Papua Yacht Club
From the very moment we got contact with the Royal Papua Yacht Club, everything is warm and friendly. We are member now. We get discounts on everything. A heavy gourmet meal costs us (converted) 20 Euro, so we had a great dinner the first night. Later, we enjoyed watching the State Origin rugby match on a big flatscreen and that is like one big party, with food and snacks and everything. A warm bath.
And, most important, everybody here helps us with finding the things. And we do need finding things, because we have enough things to fix and repair. But that is for the next blog.