The journey from Banda to Namrole took us 40 hours and 20 minutes. We traveled 213 nautical miles and motored for 13 of those hours. Our anchor was dropped in 17 meters at: 03.51.17S & 126.43.93E. We arrived in the morning but arrival could be done at night with care. Once you round the green beacon (the red at our time was not working), do not go hard to the S/SE of the anchorage as it is all coral.
12 boats here tested positive for malaria.
If you are a mono hull reader and you are considering skipping an anchorage and moving to the next one - this is the one to skip. The rolling in the anchorage was horrendous, even hard core world cruisers left early. However, the people and activities where fantastic and would be a shame to miss all the same. This said, we have spoken to other cruisers and they said they didn't roll in the anchorage, so its definitely worth dropping in and assessing the situation on the day.
Upon our arrival we were all allocated a 'guide'. Ours was a lovely young lady named Wasti and as it turned out she was an English teacher in a high school in her local area. She spoke very good English and was an absolute wealth of knowledge.
You can get fuel here but its extremely limited.It is best to be stocked up by the time you get here or get some at the next stop, Wanci Wanci.
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| Matilda with the fleet in the rolly anchorage |
We had 3 days in Namrole including our arrival and departure days.
Our arrival time was early in the morning: 0715. we where greeted, given a bag with caps & shirts and allocated our guide. In the afternoon the welcoming ceremony was in full swing including a full band and continued on to the evening. All food was provided.
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| The band went to extraordinary lengths |
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| The officials |
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| A very tired Captain |
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| Some of the fleet particpants |
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| The official ladies. The one front right of shot is the Regents wife. |
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| Us with our guides |
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| Our guides |
The next day we went to a remote village called Namrinat - Kawalale. Again the welcoming party was incredible. Again, food was provided and it was delicious. We walked around the village and saw a traditional house. In the afternoon we were taken to a natural water fall at the next village along called Waenalut and swam in the cool water. The trip over was in a long boat and that was different!
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| This dog is not a statue, but creepy. |
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| The Post Office - drying cloves of course |
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| They might be remote but have incredible communications |
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| Traditional Elder |
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| Bruce - king of the kids |
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| The local football team won and they wanted our men in the photo |
The next day was dinner with the Regency but the rolling had gotten the better of us and we opted to up anchor and leave for Wanci Wanci to the calm of their coral anchorage. We felt bad not attending the dinner and leaving without physically saying our goodbye to Wasti but we had to leave. We have however made good friends with her and have her on Facebook. We left at 1330.
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| Our welcoming committee |
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