The M/Y Turmoil spent five weeks this spring in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. We cleared into the Sollies at the capital, Honiara, after the long haul down from Hawaii. Our local agent was Gerald Stenzel from Tradco (tradco@solomon.com.sb ).

Clearance was straightforward, though we did notice that most officials down this way ask for lunch when they come onboard.

The heat and humidity was pretty intense the first few days after the more temperate climes in Hawaii. Being the end of the rainy season it was usual to get a good dosing in the afternoons as the big black cumulus piled up on the horizon and marched over the coast. Malaria is fairly prevalent in the Sollies and we took Malarone tablets as a precaution.

We anchored off the Point Cruz yacht club and were pleasantly stoked to find some good cold Aussie beer available there to be enjoyed under the rustic, open facade of the local drinking hole.

Our focus for this area was World War II history, cultural exchange, diving and other associated water sports.

Honiara is situated on Guadalcanal, which had a violent and bloody interlude during WWII when the U.S. Marines landed in their first amphibious offensive since 1898 to secure Henderson Airfield from the Japanese and start their long, painful push to Japan to regain the Pacific theater.

There are many interesting war sites around the area including Bloody Ridge, Beach Red, Alligator Creek, Mt. Austen and an austere open-air war museum in the jungle where forlorn fighter plane wrecks are watched over by remnants of Japanese artillery pieces and the shredded detritus of war.

At Boneki beach you can wade off the sand to dive or snorkel on a Japanese transport ship that was bombed whilst unloading supplies for the besieged Japanese garrison near Tassafaronga.

Before the low black clouds roll in by mid-afternoon, you can see on the horizon the infamous island of Savo guarding over Iron Bottom Sound and its multitude of lost warships and sailors at rest in the inky depths.

The Ngella (Florida) islands are also just a short hop from Honiara where the old capital of Tulaghi bakes under a tropical sun. The northern group of islets in this archipelago has a gorgeous anchorage off Mangalonga Island. Drift snorkeling in the passage as the tide changes was well worth the effort. There are also some nice waves to be had off the two points.

Heading north to the New Georgia group is the wide turquoise expanse of the Morovo Lagoon that has some world-class diving, local villages full of smiling locals and hordes of kids in dugout canoes.

Getting into the lagoon is restricted to only a few passes and because of the lack of hydro info, we maneuvered the Turmoil in by using forward-looking sonar and using our jet tender to scout ahead to take soundings. We have a Class B AIS transponder on this tender so it can be tracked on our chart plotter. (This proved invaluable one afternoon when a fierce electrical storm and torrential rain reduced visibility to arms length and we were able to guide the tender back to the mother ship from the AIS signal.)

When anchored off villages such as Mbili, Chaea and Tehlina, the locals paddled out in their dugouts to show their exquisite wood and stone carvings. We also brought a bunch of giveaway stuff for the locals such as clothing, soccer balls, school books, crayons, old car batteries and files to sharpen machetes.

Working our way farther north we took in many WWII sites around the Gizo area, including diving on sunken war planes and Japanese freighters, and trekking through dense jungle to see remains of war tanks, large caliber shore guns and underground hospital tunnels.

We explored the old PT boat base at Rendova Island that the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy was stationed at, and we anchored off the small islet where he and his remaining crew swam to after being rammed by an enemy warship. On Ranonga Island, the last remaining local that rescued JFK and his crew stood to attention next to a U.S. flag at half staff and JFK’s picture as we made a welcome visit to his village.

As luck would have it, a cyclone churning off the east coast of Australia sent some swell up to the Gizo area and the Turmoil surf crew got down to some tasty surfing. The coral reef was shallow and claimed some broken fins and a few abrasions but elicited hoots all round.

We found many surf spots in the Sollies and crowds were nil. With 30 C (86 F) water, it was like surfing in a hot tub. The sun is relentless and requires bucket loads of sunscreen and a wide-brimmed hat – even when surfing – to ward off a good scorching.

Late one afternoon I nosed the Turmoil into the Diamond Narrows south of Noro and we enjoyed a downstream sled ride past villages and overhanging jungle only a few feet off either side. The narrows flood into the Vona Vona Lagoon near Munda and, after anchoring behind one of the many palm tree-encrusted islands, the tender was launched for a run to Lola retreat, which is a laid-back little establishment with half a dozen bungalows and chill out written all over it. The bar looks over the lagoon and cold beers follow the sun down as dreamy-eyed travelers have their toes tickled by lapping waves.

Nearby is the evocatively named Skull Island. Bleached skulls of past warriors and head-men sit atop a monument of collected enemy heads, attesting to a dubious past in the Solomons of head-hunting and cannibalism.

As we pushed farther north off the east coast of Bougainville Island, we anchored off gorgeous little islets with plumage of palm trees surrounded by rings of white sand and turquoise water. They looked like they had been air-brushed onto a postcard from someone’s imagination.

Early one morning, the black belching of Tavurvur volcano draped the horizon in a somber shroud as we entered the bay bound for Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. The black ash of the volcano carpeted the Turmoil, much to the chagrin of the deckies, but proved fairly easy to remove with fire hoses blasting.

Rabaul was buried by the same outfall years ago and walking around the town is like some surreal trek in a post-apocalyptic movie. Buildings are still half buried under black mud and the local hotel gives you a shovel and broom when you check in just in case you need it to get out of the door.

This was a Japanese stronghold during WWII and bombers flew out of here to give the U.S. Marines and Navy grief in the Solomons.

We used Inchcape Shipping as our agent in PNG (Joe Aufeke, joe.aufeke@iss-shipping.com.pg ). They were friendly and organized and nothing was a problem.

We overnighted to Kimbe Bay and anchored off the resort at Walindi. The diving in Kimbe Bay is spectacular and is what draws travelers to these parts. Walindi has its own dive center and boats and can organize day trips, multi-dives, shore excursions, and more.

The giant moths and beetles were frequent visitors to the Turmoil and drew a lot of oohs and aahs.

Cruising these areas of the South Pacific is very satisfying. The people are friendly and giving; the geography above and below the water is staggering; the waves are great; and the beer is cold. That’s a gold star in my log book.

Capt. Grant Maughan is skipper of the M/Y Turmoil, which started 2009 in the Sea of Cortez then made west to Hawaii before heading through the Kiribati group to the Solomons. The vessel and her crew were headed to Fiji at press time. Comments on this story are welcome at editorial@the-triton.com .