Vanuatu to Papua New Guinea

Today is the day! We’re setting sail for Alotau, Papua New Guinea! A voyage of 1400 NMs. It’s been as amazing time here in Vanuatu, I’m glad we’ve had these five days to settle in. 

It’s something new and an adventure in its own right. I’m super excited but its also rather scary at the same time. i’ll have to give you the whole run down when we arrive.

Communication will stop while I’m sailing and resume when I find a wifi signal at PNG. 

That’s it for now! Talk soon! 

#BigPacificSail #Vanuatu #PapuaNewGuinea #Pacific #sailing #InfinityExpedition 

Voyage Preparations

Preparations for our voyage to Papua New Guinea have begun. There's a lot of fixing, stitching, list writing, provisioning, buying of supplies and general tidying up of the boat. The chain on the front winch needed reconnecting to its handle. One of the storm jibs needed to be dried and repaired before being stowed away. 

It's a 1100 mile journey to Papua New Guinea as the crow flies. Very rarely with big ocean sailing can you sail in a straight line, so our course across the Coral Sea will probably be slightly longer. We'll have to sail south west with the wind then gybe North towards Alotau, so we're looking at more like 1400 miles, although it's hard to give a specific figure. 

A rough plan of our route to New Guinea. 

We leave Tuesday at noon. I'm glad we've had these few days here in Espiritu Santo as it's allowed me to settle and knock out some diving, as well as get to know the guys onboard. However, I don't really feel like we've started the adventure yet. I'm really excited about the voyage and learning how to sail, but also rather daunted by it. 1400 miles is a long way and I've done 0 miles of sailing on a boat this size. But I'm in safe and experienced hands, which is always good. Here's a rough look at what the route will look like. 

A fishing boat at Million Dollar Point, Santo. Notice the boat hull
resting on truck frames.  

My filming project #BigPacificSail is coming along well. I did my first interview with Menno the dive instructor this morning and I have one with Captain Clemens this evening some time. Tomorrow I do my final dive on the President Coolidge and have arranged to interview 83 year old Allan Powers, a local legend in these parts. He arrived in Santo during the 1970s and has run Allan Powers a Dive Tours since then. He stopped diving some time ago but it's estimated that he's dived the wreck of the President Coolidge 25,000 times! Yes and I do mean 25,000 not 250 or any variation there of. I look forward to bringing you that interview, I'm excited about it too! Footage of the wreck all also feature in the first episode. 

Upload looks unlikely before I hit the Philippines. Writing posts and a uploading picture takes long enough on an island, so it's very optimistic of me to promise anything to anybody. In the end its probably a good thing to focus on filming now and piece it all together later on.

That's all for now folks!


Follow the dive log on Twitter! @thedivelog101

Million Dollar Junkyard

Like so many Southwest Pacific Islands, Espirutu Santo, Vanuatu's largest island, was occupied by the United States during the Second World War. Establishing a base on Espirutu Santo allowed the allied forces to launch attacks against the Japanese in the Pacific. The island later became the biggest military base and port in the South Pacific during the war; It had four runways and five military hospitals. 

The biggest legacy the allied forces left behind during their departure from the island was Million Dollar Point, the site we dived today. It's both historically fascinating and perhaps more worryingly environmentally destructive. 

During the 1940's Vanuatu was known as the 'Condominium of the New Hebrides' and was jointly colonised by Britain and France. At the time came for US departure from the island, thoughts turned to the bases which were full of vehicles, furniture, clothing and other troop sustaining equipment. A decision had been made not to repatriate any of the equipment, but instead to offer it to the Condominium at rock bottom prices. However, the Condominium refused the offer in assumption that they would eventually acquire everything for free. 

This was a rather unpopular idea with the United States military who, in a moment of madness, took all the vehicles and other gear to a wharf on the south side of Espirutu Santo. The army then drove the vehicles into the sea, then used bulldozers to dump everything else over the wharf before ditching the bulldozers themselves in on top. Millions of dollars of goods were destroyed in a span of two days, contaminating the channel with fuel, rubber, metal and coca cola. 

Today, this dive side is a must dive spot on Espirutu Santo. Myself, Menno, Zoe and Timo got a taxi from the Beachfront Resort where we're anchored to Million Dollar Point. One can see the all rusting vehicles, a mash-up of twisted metal cranes, bulldozers, trucks, tyres and goodness knows what else. It's rather hard to distinguish what exactly you're looking at; The site is basically an unsorted underwater junkyard! I had a rather leaky mask which proved to be rather irritating, but still managed to get some photos of the site and got rather close to a turtle which is cool! 

Seventy odd years later there are discussions debating whether the United States military should return to clean up the site. Perhaps it's to late. Million Dollar Point, like so many World War Two sites, is now part of history. A part which, despite its initial detrimental impact, now generates a tourism economy from the scores of scuba divers that flock their to explore the junkyard. 

Arriving on Infinity

After almost thirty hours of traveling I final made it to Infinity! First mate and dive instructor Menno along with Zoe, Kila and Sarah met me at Santo Airport yesterday evening. From there it was a short cab ride to the Beachfront Resort situated just outside of Luganville, the main town on the Espiritu Santo. It was dark when I arrived so my filming ideas went rather to pot. The smells and just the general feel of the place took me back to being in Fiji, I feel like I never left, just had an extended leave of absence. It's a wonderful part of the world to come back to.

It was a short boat trip from the beach to the boat, I really did get the sense of beginning something epic heading out towards Infinity. She's is certainly a lot bigger than I'd imagined. I have my own cabin, it's big and spacious and the guys here are supper friendly and helpful a great bunch of people I'm going get along with just fine.

I got a full tour of the boat from Zoe, from the bow to the stern. We then had some dinner which was very welcome, soup, garlic bread, fish and salad! I think this is something unique and special about Infiniity, that community feel. It's a really mixing pot of people and backgrounds all brought together in the passion for adventure and exploration. They're only a few of us on board now, although things may get busier later in the trip. I felt like right at home from the off and so welcome. We sat around chatting for a while afterwards. Then it was bed time for me I went out like a light! 

The Plan. 

The Kundu War Canoe festival begins on the 5th of November in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. We'll be in Vanuatu till the 20th of October and then we begin the 1000 mile voyage to Milne Bay! This is a slightly overwhelming thought but something I'll just have to get used to as an adventure in itself. I can't help but think that's why I came in the first place. We have a couple of dives here in Vanuatu booked for the weekend which I'm excited about, the wreck of the USS Coolidge and Million Dollar Point. 

It's great, I'm glad I'm here and extra blessed that my bag made it when I did too! 

More coming soon! 

P.S 

Got a question? Tweet @thedivelog101 and I'll try and get back to you ASAP. The internet situation isn't great, luckily the Beachfront Resort are welcoming to those anchored in the bay use the wifi for free! Communication will stop when we're sailing, but I'll be writing and filming in the meantime and will respond to your tweets when we're hooked back up to the World Wide Web!

Australian sky

Like the initial spark on a gas stove the fiery red glow of the sun rise sparks and burst into life on the horizon. Red fades into gas-stove light blue and then to a calmer, deep darker shade. Above, the stars reign, shinning out from their deep black velvet blanket of sky, silently watching over all.

The light illuminates the clouds thousands of feet below,  from a distance it looks like the surface of a frozen ocean of cotton wool, still, completely quite and peaceful.  

The glow burns brighter still, yellow and orange appear and the stars are folded back into their dark blanket, now hidden from view. The clam pale blue spreads higher into the sky and we continue East, across the Australian desert at 37,000 feet. Day break is upon us and the sun rears its shining face, illuminating all, from it nothing and nobody can hide. 

Day light has reached the Australian rim of the Pacific Ocean. A new day full of opportunities and infinite possibilities. Infinity awaits... 

Stay connected!

Never miss out! You can follow us on Twitter @thedivelog101, Instagram @thedivelog and on tumblr www.thedivelog.tumblr.com! 

Just over a week until the #BigPacificSail begins, stay tuned!

#BigPacificSail starts 12th October

https://vimeo.com/140636354

I think the video says it all but just in case you don’t understand. I’ll be off on another expedition, this one runs from the 12th of October until the 10th of January! I’ll be sailing from Vanautu to the Philippines via the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Keep you’re eyes fixed here: thedivelog.tumblr.com for all the latest news right from the front line! You can follow us on Twitter @thedivelog101 and get instant notifications when new posts arrive and/or on our Instagram account, search ‘thedivelog’

Also, checkout the guys I’m sailing with, Infinity Expedition here; infinityexpedition.org

A look back at Truk Lagoon.

Footage shoot on the Truk Lagoon Expedition back in December 2014/January 2015! Follow the link to watch the video: https://vimeo.com/139829467

Truk Lagoon or as its also know, Chuuk is one of the fours state which make up the Caroline Islands or Federated States of Micronesia.

Truk Lagoon offered the strategic potential of a huge natural harbour with fortifiable volcanic islands, this was particularly evident to Japanese naval planners. Entrances into the could be closely policed or sealed off with sea mines while island provided spaces for ship anchorages. The presence of flat calm water allowed sea planes to land and take off while air strips could be built on some of the islands.

A Japanese freighter in Truk Atoll is hit by a torpedo 

dropped by a TBF Avenger from USS Enterprise during

Operation Hailstone, Febuary 17th 1944.  

The allies two pronged Pacific counter-attack against the Japanese, saw movement through the South Pacific and the other through Central Pacific. Truk proved to be a major obstacle in the allies advance and capable of disrupting the allies advance. It became obvious that if the naval base at Truk stayed intact the allies northern advance would be in doubt. The lagoon was shrouded in mystery, little as known and as is often the case with mysteries its strengthen was over-emphasised, the word ‘impregnable’ while others often compared it to Pearl Harbour or “Japan’s mid-Pacific Gibraltar”. Two American surveillance aircraft PB4Y Liberators flew over the lagoon on February 4th 1944. Photographs taken during this flight showed the lagoon full of Japanese ships, it became apparent that the lagoon was invulnerable to surface to surface bombardment. Only a carrier-based air power could deal the lagoon a knock out blow. Operation Hailstorm saw some of the most aggressive action by the United States rained down on the strongest Pacific Japanese Outposts.

Task Force 50 contained 6 Task Force 58 aircraft carriers the USS Yorktown, Essex, Enterprise, Bunker Hill, Cowpens and Intrepid. The operation was conducted by Admiral Reymond Spruance. A two day bombardment on February 17th and 18th was closely coordinated saw regular strikes against. Pre-drawn raids were ordered to neutralise all Japanese air opposition before the dive and torpedo bombers swept in to begin their attack on the armada. Many of the Japanese battleships, destroyers and carriers had escaped prior to the attack. Still, American crosshairs found over 60 targets within the lagoon. Over 45 ships were sunk including two light cruisers, four destroyers, five special auxiliary vessels, five minor combat vessels and many more, this totalling over 200,000 tons. 270 of the 365 aircraft stationed in Truk’s airfields, destine for the Solomon Islands or Rabaul were destroyed and only a few were left operational.

Later raids on Truk lagoon occurred in April of that year, the B-24 and B-29 bombing raids caused havoc amongst the Japanese fortifications. Theses raids rendered it useless to the Japanese, naval installations and airfields were effectively eliminated. No amphibious landing was made the decision was made to forego the lagoon, it’s supply lines were completely cut off, it lay isolated and was no longer considered a threat. Instead, the U.S. advanced North West towards the Japanese homeland.

The Japanese legacy has majorly influenced Truk Lagoon today, the events of February 1944 attract some 6000 divers per year. A vast collection of shipwrecks and aircraft lay on the seabed waiting to be explored. It’s a World War II enthusiasts dream, each wreck is unique and is resting like a dormant giant on the sea floor.

US surveillance photographs taken over Truk Atoll
early 1944.

Inside the fuselage of the Betty Bomber,
just off the end of Ettin Island runway. 

The bow gun on the Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon.

Featured wrecks in the video, Fujiwaka Maru, Sankisan Maru, Nippo Maru, Yamagiri Maru and Jill Nakajima Carrier Attack Bomber.



Follow the link to watch the video: https://vimeo.com/139829467

Stayed tuned to the dive log for the #BigPacifcSail commencing October 12th 2015! Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guniea, Palau's southern reefs and the Philippines!!

Folklore & Myth

“The Solomon Islands have a long history of mysterious giants, and the local people are well aware of them. There is a rich tradition of folklore, as well as sightings and footprint evidence of giant hairy hominids on the islands that continue right up to the present day.

The Solomon Islands experienced some of the fiercest fighting in World War II, and are most famous for the bloody Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 and 1943. Japanese forces had more to contend with than allied soldiers on the Solomon Islands. While traversing the islands’ numerous remote, thick rain forests, the soldiers often reported coming across giant, hairy hominids ranging from 10 to 15 feet in height, and covered in long, brown to reddish brown hair, with prominent brows, flat noses, and wide mouths. The creatures had immense arms and were known on occasion to even brandish crude weapons such as clubs.

It was reported that the giants were known to be quite aggressive and even attack on occasion. Several units described these terrifying beasts crashing through foliage to ravage squads of soldiers, or snapping apart trees and branches in threatening displays of power. Bullets were said to have little effect on them and soldiers would on many occasions be kept awake by inhuman wailing from the dark as the strange behemoths wandered the night.”

You can read more mythical encounters here:http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/03/pacific-war-mysteries-part-1-of-2/

In the meantime roll on October…