Life on the Chain Gang

Mark celebrating the availability of locally
grown carrots at the market

After waiting a month for the ship from Lae to bring our new anchor chain, it was finally due to arrive on Monday. Unfortunately, the ship was stuck in another port because two other boats were unloading ahead of it. The ship eventually showed up on Wednesday and by the time it was unloaded and unpacked, it was Thursday morning before we could get our chain.

Koki Kai Kai at Nusalik Resort

To get the chain, Matt and Conrad navigated an hour and a half of dealing with Swire (the shipping agent that employs the Stevedores for the shipping company, Consort) and Kavieng Port Management (managing to avoid the involvement of Kavieng Port Services and Kavieng Port Transportation--all three apparently separately run divisions of the same small port complex). At the end, Matt and Conrad were able to get the 55-gallon drum full of 500 or so pounds of chain into the inflatable dinghy.

That was just the start of the fun. As Conrad and I floated the dinghy underneath the bow of the boat, Matt brought up a hundred meters (310') of new chain and lowered the old rusty chain back down as Conrad and I tried not to get bits of raining rust in our eyes. The engines on the big boat idled (and were occasionally engaged) as Matt brought up the anchor, disconnected the old chain, and reconnected the new chain. As we fed the new chain through the windlass, we had to straighten out a million kinks that had worked their way into it. To make a long story relatively short, we eventually fixed it by dumping the chain into the water and winching it up twelve feet at a time. Matt got the most vigorous arm and back workout he's had in years and we eventually got the chain in place.

We were all ready to check out the next day but found when we visited the Customs office that everyone had gone home for the day, even though it was early Friday afternoon. So we're in Kavieng until at least Monday. We had another nice dinner at the Nusalik Resort, hung out with new friends, and are finishing up some last minute errands.

I leave you with some critter pictures from Conrad...

Around Kavieng

Blow holes on Nusa Island

We have taken advantage of the supplies in Kavieng to stock up for the next couple of months. Kavieng has better than average provisioning for a South Pacific town filled with mostly Chinese-owned shops. The bellwether for us is usually ice-cream, but this town even has such hard-to-find gems as potatoes (yes, the lowly potato becomes something you crave and usually can't have), cream cheese and bacon. We even scored lots of avocados and mangoes, which are apparently out of season. The other day, Mark and Conrad caused much amusement amongst the locals as they lugged a package of 40 rolls of toilet paper down the street.

Mark standing on a Japanese anti-ship gun from WWII

While our anchor chain is making its way on a slow boat from Lae to Kavieng, we have kept busy enjoying the sights around Kavieng, including some diving. Papua New Guinea has its share of World War II relics, both in the water and out.

A sunken bomber

The anchorages we visited near Kavieng were bit of a mixed bag. Two ward captains asked for pretty hefty anchoring fees (which we didn't pay--we left one anchorage and the fees were 'waived' in the other when we said we wouldn't pay). One anchorage was within view of three islands with villages and we got a multitude of canoes visiting, plus a rather strange vibe. We were told of other boats that had gotten boarded and had items taken. One guy asked if we had a dog. A couple of young men from one of the villages asked if they could "provide security" by fishing behind our boat overnight to prevent any raskels from coming on board. We weren't sure how to interpret this. Were they just being nice or did they want to be close to the boat so they could get first dibs at us?  Or was it a shake down scam for protection money?  Being from Chicago, my money was on the latter.  As it turns out, they were a couple of nice guys that probably were genuinely concerned for our welfare.  They spent the night fishing and we spent the evening sleeping lightly and unrestfully due to our paranoia. We decided to leave the next day.

Alan near some of the leper graves

We had a great stay at the vocational school (which was a former leper colony). Alan showed us around and gave us a watermelon and a bagful of mangoes. The final anchorage before we returned to Kavieng was not nearby any village. While we were away snorkeling for about half an hour, someone came aboard and took a couple mangoes and a fishing lure, which appeared to have been gnawed off the line we keep on the back of the boat. The lure had gotten us many fish in its short tenure and we were sorry to lose it. After that, we decided to make our way back to Kavieng to sort out payment for the transport of our anchor chain.

Garcon and Lucas after a night of fishing behind our boat.

If all goes according to schedule, the chain should be here on Monday. The Independence Day holiday is in the mix, as well as Papua New Guinea's general adherence to 'island time'.

Kaki Kai Kai can talk and dance, even though his legs
no longer work. He lives at the Nusalik Resort.