Don't need no stinking lighthouse!

We were sailing to Kieta, Bougainville from Gizo after clearing customs. We got word that someone we had sailed with had been forced to buoy an anchor to mark it's location as they could not free it from the ocean floor. We thought we might swing into this little island, pick up the anchor, have a little relaxing dive and brunch. One half of the Solomon Navy didn't agree. They had this little gun boat smaller than President Kennedy's PT boat! They let us know that we had cleared customs in Gizo ( after spending three months in the Solomons) and were not welcome in their territorial waters any longer! There were no tense moments. We invited all four of them aboard for lunch ( they liked my bread ) while they checked with the proper authorities to see if we could be allowed to dive for our friends anchor. After a lot of posturing and a wasted four hours we were told in no uncertain terms we were persona non grata! It was a disappointment not to be able to bring our friends anchor to Kieta. We had the abillity and the technology but Governments love to exihibit their power. I loved paying the light bill in the Solomons. All the lighthouses were built by the U.S and maintained through WW11. After that they were maintained by the country itself for about a month! In the entire Solomon Islands we found one of twenty-one lights working. They charged us in Haniara $ 210.00 for light fees! I wonder what it is now? As far as I know that anchor is still sitting in that bay waiting for someone to come and get it! The island can't be accessed because it belongs to the Solomons and there is no way to clear customs. You only can clear at Gizo or Honiara ( Guadacanal )! This island is only about 8 hours from Bougainville. Sticky wicket! When we arrived at Keita they had a perfect Jap Zero mounted like a model a kid might have in his bedroom. Royal and I later found one in 15 feet of water in a channel. You could free dive it and actually sit in the cockpit! Both wings were attached and all the gages in place. It was really erie! Royal took one gage as a sovenier which I am sure he still has to this day. Thus his name Royal Gage! Ha!

P.T 109

Story time not" Dream Time" boys and girls! We said our goodbye's to Phil at Gizo, Solomon Islands. Worst case of Malaria I've ever witnessed. He's alright. Saw him a few years later in Adelaide, Aus. He's a grower of organic foods and has a great spread. Still gets knocked down by the bug but handles. Back to Gizo! We all meet this guy ( American ) named Royal Gage. I know his name sounds contrived kind of fictional, well he is all of that and then some! This guys life stories of which he never embellished put mine in the corner. I liked him ( still do )! He was the first American I had seen or spoken with in many months. He was in Gizo to dive J.F.K's sunken PT 109. After realizing Australia's southern coastline was a bit much even for an ocean going kayak he was headed home to Seattle to continue building boats. After downing a few schooners we figured I may as well join him and dive Kennedy's wreck! So we did with a dive group package that does these kinds of things in the south seas. After that we drank a few more middies and Royal was asked if he would like to go sailing? Dave, the skipper of Guinevere, asked if he would consider continuing his journey for a bit longer? Everyone liked him. A family of four and me. We were going to pick up Andrew Pete later. But for now he said," cool "! And this is where it gets interesting. It's my fault. I had been making, " Hopi ", alcohol for months. I had a really good batch begging for consumation. It's 2 O'Clock in the morning and Royal and I are yarnin on the second spreader with a gallon of firewater in a very still clearing habour with fifty free anchored vessels trying to sleep. For once not one generater was running. Guinevere's mast is 62' off the deck. We, without knowing it, were broadcasting laughter, bad jokes, meaningless babelings, selfish giggles and were totally unaware that we had offended everyone. And because we were so high up,( no pun intended ) the amplifcation factor carried us into a state of unpopularity only ascribed to a few! Our boat ( the family ) held court the next day. Should Royal sail with us or not? He did. I never made Hopi again as part of the deal. Don't think for a minute that it wasn't loved. It was just time for something else. I still made bread and we still drank beer when and where we could find it! But to sail with Royal to Cairns, Aus was priceless. Let me tell you of the time that one of our cockpit cushions flew overboard off of Papua. He- but that is another storie!!

alcohol and bread

Shit! I hated not being able to make a sandwich while sailing from north to south! Even rice was hard to find. Eventually a cigarette became a luxury! All of these necessities become a story but not yet! Let's do bread and alcohol! I can turn these into many stories or processes that one who has traveled the distances I have, just, might understand the need for one and maybe the other! I learned, at sea to make loaves of bread on a rolling deck! I was able to feed a large crew, at sea, sandwiches only because of my need. I love bread and I also love booze. I have a formula for the finest kine sailing alcohol that has ever been found. We call it Hopi. It is an interesting combination of local fruit ( sugar ) yeast, water, containment, aging, a process that only requires a rolling deck, a desire to believe and a hope that your behavior might be affected/effected by the consumation of said " Hopi "! After eating the bread I made I sat on the secound spreader, fifty feet off the deck of Guinevere, drinking " Hopi ", with Royal Gage, contemplating our sail from Gizo,Solomans to Cairns, Aus- This will be another story! arrugghh