A Brief History

2007 – Planning

We did a planning trip to the Louisiades in 2007. With no Customs officer in Misima we needed to go to Samarai and found the trip 120 miles to windward a bit harsh…so we tried to arrange the Rally so one can go across the Coral Sea and avoid the trip east from the Mainland. There was a lot of community interest and we planned the events based on villager/councillors who were keen to host yachties and where there are good anchorages for a fleet of boats.

2008 – Planning

The Rally was first run in 2008. Lots of interest, over 30 entries, however we did have a few last minute withdrawals and a few retirements. We learned a bit about advice re boat preparation and how to support first time passage makers. The yachts had a great time and the mix of “official events” and independent cruising seemed to work. The Showcase Misima Festival was a great bonus! This first rally was not without incident, we had a boat go aground and it took a lot of effort to get it off.

2009, 2010, 2011 – Making it Happen!

In 2009 we had 16 boats and the Rally went well. We changed the program a little and the villages were getting pretty experienced at hosting a group of yachties! The highlight goes to the Hoba Bay (Pananumara) community who ambushed the Rally folk at their Blue Lagoon party…. 30 kids did the most wonderful dance and invited the yachties to visit Hoba Bay on future rallies… needless to say the day at Hoba Bay was a highlight in 2010!

In 2010, 26 yachts, we did have a retirement, but otherwise all yachts made the passage and completed the rally without incident! The locals were so welcoming. The efforts of community support were outstanding with major contributions made to the Paneati and Nimowa clinics and water tanks provided to a number of villages.

2011 saw 15 yachts set off across the Coral Sea. One retirement with a broken rudder, the compulsory drogue was put to good use by the stricken vessel and enabled the yacht to make a safe return through Grafton Passage unaided. The rest of the fleet had a mild passage and a great welcome from our friends throughout the islands. A major effort was made to raise funds for community support and there were record contributions from 2011 and past rally participants which enabled many ongoing community benefit programs.

The Rally continues to be organised by EcoSustainAbility, sponsored by the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority. Volunteers and future rally managers are being actively sought to ensure the Rally can continue into the future as an annual event!

2010 Louisiades Yacht Rally

On September 11 2010, 26 yachts (with over 80 crew) left Cairns after a week of briefings and final preparation. As well as survival at sea and navigation briefings all crew sign on to a code of practice whilst in the islands to minimise ecological and cultural impacts and maximise community benefits. The passage was relatively easy with mild conditions (15-25 knot ESE, mostly around 20), however two yachts did have trouble, one braking a forestay, the other one a crew member breaking her wrist. Both boats returned to Cairns without further incident.

After a close reach across the Coral Sea the 24 yachts arrived at the coral cay of Duchateau Islands. Whilst uninhabited, the folk of nearby Brooker sailed up in their “sailaus” (lakatois) and were promptly trading with the yachties for lobster. Once the slower boats arrived, the yachts then moved over to the pristine lagoon of Panasia Island, where John Mwsai and his wife Gwen gave their traditional welcome, aided by folk who came over from Brooker Island to help host the Rally.

The rally yachts have their first “presentation” at Panasia, for many they have just completed their first ocean crossing and they receive a plaque for the boat and individual awards for crew and skippers for specific accomplishments. The 2010 crew nominated the Skipper of Touche, who “heaved-to” under parachute sea-anchor whilst his wife’s broken wrist was stabilised and then returned to Cairns. Seamanship is an essential part of sailing and he gave all a lesson in calmly resolving a difficult situation.

At Panasia there are two caves, a limestone cave entered from the south side of the island and a skull cave on nearby Little Panasia. Once the yachties had visited these they moved over to the Deboyne Group of islands, anchoring at Nivani Island, just near Panapompom.

The now annual Panapompom Canoe Regatta was held with the local kids having a sports day of swimming races and the sailaus having a serious race in the afternoon. The next morning saw the sailaus take the dim dims (the yachties) for a fun race and then the yachts took out many hundreds of locals for a fun race. Forty eight locals on one Yacht, Sanctuary (the rally Organiser’s) was the record number on board! Two great days of activities, culminating in a presentation of cash and major prizes (such as sailcloth and rope for the sailaus). Two model canoes had been commissioned by the Rally organiser and these were auctioned off, raising K4,000 for Paneati Clinic!

The yachts then moved to Bagaman Island for the “Muster” a great day of singsing, with traditional dance and singing, then a great afternoon dance with the “dimdims” (local names for us white folk!) and local villages cavorting around in a conga line around the village. Bagaman is also the centre of a thriving local handicraft industry and many carvings, bagi necklaces and woven bags and mats were sold.

After a great day at Bagaman it was off to the Blue Lagoon, for a “dimdim” party! The famous singing and cruising yachtie, Jimmy Buffet, formed the theme for the afternoon with events such as limbo, throw a thong at a parrot and beach cricket giving the yachties some fun. The next day the yachts moved over to the picturesque Pananumara Island and were hosted with demonstrations of traditional activities such as Bagi making, basket weaving, mat making and traditional fire lighting… really great stuff!

The local member of Parliament, Gordon Wesley, once again sponsored the Misima Showcase. Yachts must visit Bwagoia to undertake customs and quarantine formalities and the weekend festival is greatly appreciated. One of the most empowering events is the Pem Pewa, a traditional gift giving ceremony, where hundreds of women from around the island of Misima present baskets of fruits and artefacts to yachties who in turn present useful items. Traditional Misiman songs of farewell were sung to the yachties and they in turn responded with a rendition of “Once a Jolly Swagman”….with almost a 100 dimdims and over a thousand local folk, an exchange of culture few attending will ever forget!

Yachties then split up for a week, some taking the local (pem pewa) ladies around the large island of Misima back to their village of Gulewa, others going to the spectacular Kamataal Lagoon and Sabara islands.
The Yachties then rendezvoused at Wanim, or Grassy island where a pirate party was had, gold dubloons, rum and parrots on shoulders were rumoured to have been seen. But of course what happens at a pirate party stays at a pirate party, you have to be there to know what goes on!

The Rally started to draw to a close, with a visit to Nimowa Island. The yachties join a fleet of banana boats who take them 30 miles along the coast of Sudest Island to the Fiori River and then up their river past villages and sago making to two waterfalls.. A different experience for the yachties… the jungle clad river a welcome change to the coral lagoons!

The next day the yachties visited the School at Nimowa and then the local clinic. The Nimowa Clinic, so well run by Sister Sarah, is a major focus of the Rallies community benefit program and many thousands of kina were donated in cash to support the Ambulance and major medical supplies arranged by a doctor on the Rally was provided to the clinic. After the visit to the clinic soccer and then netball games were held with the local kids showing the dimdims how to play (lets not talk about the results!).

The Rally is arranged to be a fun and safe way for yachts to leave Australia, sail to PNG, cruise around for a month and return to Australia. However, few who visit the Island do not see a need to help the relatively impoverished folk who live in this isolated corner of PNG. In 2010 the Rally supported the local community by paying for all events, an income to local communities of over K15,000. The Rally yachties raised over K4,000 for Paneati Hospital and over K8,000 for Nimowa.

The yachties get in and undertake small but important projects where the tools and spare parts on the yachts can make a difference. The water tanks at Little Panasia and Hoba Bay were fixed with the provision of valves and fittings to the tanks. The school building at Hoba Bay has a large iron roof and collects the villages water supply. Yachties repaired the rusty guttering so that the tanks will now fill from rainwater. A number of banana boats have had fibreglass repairs. Many tarpaulins and sail cloth has been provided to the sailaus for new sails or repairs to their sails.

Further, specific medical equipment requested by Sister Sera was donated to the clinic, a blood glucose monitor, heamometer and oxy-pulsimeter. Many thousands of dollars of medical equipment otherwise unobtainable for a small, remote clinic. At Bagaman the yachties passed the hat around and raised enough for a set of genuine Nike football boots for the Island’s soccer team and enough for ten sheets of roofing iron to collect water for Chief Gulo’s water tank.

At Sabara, we were once again accosted by four kids swimming out a 150 litre plastic barrel..so it could sit on the transom of sanctuary and be filled with freshwater from the watermaker. The village must paddle or sail three miles to a nearby island to get water. For the first time ever, there were 15 yachts anchored in spectacular Sabara… we passed the hat around and raised enough to buy the village some roofing iron, guttering and a water tank.  As a further way to help out, over seventy bags of clothes were taken up by Rally yachts and distributed to the various villages.

In 2010, the locals once again gave their fantastic welcome to the Rally, the hospital visit gave an insight to the community’s hardships and playing soccer against ten years olds the joy of a good laugh. The weather held with only a few brisk days and tropical squalls, moderate winds and sunny skies were common. Whilst the fleet all gathered for each of the Rally events, between times the yachts spread out to nearby islands, formed friendships, traded, fished, swam, visited schools, helped sick kids and enjoyed the amazing islands and their inhabitants.

The 2010 rally was enjoyed by all, in the words of the crew from 2009 Rally yacht, Tribal: “Its been a life changing experience.”