It is never too late Toloyot under sail.
GINA DE VERE
effort and left our comfort zones to experience this way of life.
As I was trying to find a more comfortable way of sitting cross-legged on the hard wooden floor in the Chief ’s house a thought entered my head; what would my mother in her twinset and pearls think of me now as I sat enjoying the harmonies of the villagers in a thatched hut in the remote islands of Papua New Guinea? These islands are well off the tourist track and only reachable by intrepid sailors. The adventures we have had here and the people we lived with on Gigila Island are especially dear to me.
Along with two other couples, Cathy and Eric Gray on SV Erica and Rick and Alex Mateer on SV Roxanne, Christian and I had sailed to Gigila Island, PNG, on a boat building project to teach the islanders how to use fibreglass.* We had sailed from Townsville and made an uneventful crossing in a few days of light winds toward the 150 nautical mile long Louisiade Archipelago, PNG. There are no cars, no roads, no wheels, and no electricity on most of these islands. Boats are the only transport. The year previously, when we had sailed there, we had met Councillor and Chief, John, in Valeha village. He agreed for us to teach his men fibre glassing while building a sailing yacht they named Toloyot, made from two disused and holed ‘banana’ boats. (But this is another story!)
Christian and I decided to take the road ‘less travelled’ fifteen years ago to explore the world on our sailboat Stardancer. Since living and sailing full time on our sailboat we have experienced many fulfilling and memorable moments. We are eternally glad we made the
SisterShip 28
