The Children of the Solomon Islands
Luganville was even nicer, we thought, than Port Vila. We did some diving there on a ship called the Coolidge. In Oct of 1942 the US forces were ramping up to try to hold Vanuatu and to try to take control in the Solomon Islands. The marines had been landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomons and were valiantly trying to clear out the Japanese forces there. The Coolidge was carrying more than 5,000 troops into Luganville where an allied forces base had been constructed. John F. Kennedy was serving at the PT base there at the time. Mines had been laid between the small islands around Luganville to protect against infiltration. Evidently, the captain of the Coolidge was not very clear about where those mines were laid as he crossed right through two of the lines on the way into port. It took two hours for the ship to sink, giving the men time to escape. Then the ship rolled to her port side and slid down the reef. The deepest part of the wreck is in 180’ but much of the ship is less than 70’ deep and remains in good condition. Sander did the initial dive and Jane went on to do two more. The last was the most spectacular!
Since the ship lays on her side, it is very easy to enter through the #1 cargo hold near the bow. Inside are layers of army jeeps piled one atop the other. At the edge of the cargo hold entrance is a typewriter – quite bizarre to imagine how that came to be where it is!
The Coolidge had originally been built as a cruise liner. In the main saloon there was (and still is) a piece of art made of porcelain. It is called “The Lady”, a lady in Elizabethan style standing in front of a rearing white horse. Amazingly, this piece of art still remains in tact with all the original paint. When she was discovered in the late 60’s, the local divers fastened her securely to the bulkhead. The favorite dive now seems to be sinking down through the old elevator shaft and then proceeding along a dark passage (the old main dining room). As the flashlight illuminates the way one suddenly comes out of the gloom and there “she” is straight ahead. Some folks dive on this ship for two weeks and never see the same part of the ship twice…fascinating!
We took on more fuel and then traveled on to the north to do our check-out from the country early in October. It was a little difficult to say “Good-by” to Vanuatu. It had been one of our favorite countries to that point. As we go farther north towards the equator the weather becomes hotter and more humid. Perhaps we would not like the Solomons as well. We have been concerned about some of the poor charting reported in those islands and there is still the threat of Malaria to be dealt with.
During the years 2000-2002 there was a lot of civil unrest in The Solomons. This country is similar to Guatemala, with the rich taking most of the wealth from the country and the civil services being left weak – practically none. During the unrest Australia and New Zealand stepped in to help calm things and restore order. Would it be another Guatemala and would we have to feel quite uneasy all the time?
After we did our check-in routine at the island of Nende, we crossed to the south end of the province of Makira and stopped at a small island called Santa Ana. We arrived there on October 20th, Jane’s 60th birthday. The harbor is on the west side offering protection from the SE trade winds and is nearly encircled by island and reef. In the afternoon we took the dinghy ashore to seek out the chief and ask permission to anchor in the harbor.
Near the beach we noticed a concrete base with a shower installed, dripping water constantly. When the chief arrived to greet us, the first thing Sander commented was, “I see you folks have a leak. Would you like me to fix that?” The chief answered immediately, “Yes, of course!”
It was not an easy task as our access to the nearest Ace Hardware Store is thousands of miles away. Sander looked the whole situation over and went back to Satori to get some tools and whatever else might help. The water system is now fixed but it is not a great lasting situation. Nevertheless, the chief was delighted and went on to ask for help in fixing his outboard engine.
Later that afternoon several dugout canoes with children aboard came to visit Satori. Jane quickly climbed into her swimsuit to enjoy the water. The girls tipped their canoe and were in the water quickly with her. Not to worry! With a swift swinging motion they quickly emptied enough seawater from the canoe to climb back aboard and Jane climbed in too. As more and more children came out to join in the fun, some of them climbed into Satori’s dinghy. We worried a little at that point, because we did not want them trying to climb onto Satori. We need not have worried. They all sat in the dinghy quietly talking together and then singing…half of them naked as jaybirds. Jane told them it was her birthday and got a lovely chorus of “Happy Birthday” to you. As time went along more and more children came and climbed into the dinghy. After a while we decided it was time for them to return to the village so that we might have some quiet time – for the ‘old farts’. We were a little worried that getting them to leave might be a daunting task so Jane talked directly to 12-year-old Frances and asked her to let the others know. Frances smiled, stood up, turned around and jumped right into the water with the rest of them following after her. There were smiles all around and waves of “Good bye, Jane, we will see you tomorrow!”
We spent the next morning touring the village and the schools at the end of a hike half way across the island. We could see signs of the water system along the trail. Rain water is trapped at the high part of the island and then piped down to all three of the villages. This is pretty sophisticated for a third world island! The island people have just this year been set up with e mail facilities and they are all as proud as can be about this. There is no general electricity on the island but there is a small generator and batteries for the computer, TNC, SSB radio setup that allows them the e mail service. Try to imagine just how magical it must seem to the people to have this strange facility available to them. They don’t really have any idea how it all works. They only know that it can connect them with the whole rest of the world and they are thrilled about that.
We need not have worried about whether we would like the Solomons. Santa Ana Island and the village of Gupuna has been our favorite place so far. We (Sander and Jane) had several discussions about whether these people are “poor” or not and whether we should or should not feel sorry for the difficulties that they face. True – they do live in huts with dirt floors. True the supply ship comes only every month or so and often they must get along with no soap to wash their clothes, bodies or hair. True there is no electricity and no TV for entertainment. It is a treat for them to get a pencil or a pen to use. We would see the old people coming down to the shore at low tide to do their morning “business”, balancing with a walking stick and squatting over the fringing reef.
The children came to trade with us. They would bring one or two eggs, hidden safely in their shirts or a plastic tub. One morning three girls brought four eggs to us and one of them had broken on the way. One of the girls was holding it out gently and crying about the fact it had broken. We safely got it into a cup and took the rest of the eggs. They got small hotel sample shampoo bottles and ink pens from us and they were thrilled. Expectations are lower, life is simpler and the people seem to love life. We have to feel that pity would be wasted on these lovely folks!
We are in the capital city, Honiara, on Guadalcanal now. This is not a great place to be so we will try to get our chores completed and move along as quickly as we can. Perhaps there will be another note from us when we reach the north end of The Solomons at Gizo.
Until later…
Best regards from, Jane and Sander aboard Satori
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