A two year stay at Tulagi Island

Created by doina. Last modified on 2002-12-07 21:03:56
Contributors: Carsten Hede Rasmussen, s/y Camas, ,
Countries: Solomon Islands

After a wonderful cruise in the Solomon Islands in 1999/2000 with no problems whatsoever I had to suddenly leave my yacht "CAMAS" in the islands and fly back to Denmark because of sickness in my family. Because of its good protection I anchored my boat in Tulagi Harbour next to Sasape Marine in the little cove on the north east side of the island. Tulagi Island is just south of Florida Island and about 20 nautical miles north of Honiara. I found a very competent local couple, Tommy and Mayble to look after my yacht. They did a very good job! When I arrived back this year in May after more than 2 years my yacht was still there and NOTHING had been stolen or ruined even though armed bandits were fairly common in 2000/2001. The situation is now much better and we had no trouble in Honiara while preparing for the next leg to Papua New Guinea. Tulagi is a nice, historical place with some very beautiful local cruising and diving. In Sandfly Passage you can take your pick and visit "World Discoverer", a big cruising ship, that hit a rock in the northern approach to Sandfly Passage in 2001. It's leaning against the jungle in the most northeastern anchorage. There are quite a large number of saltwater crocodiles in the area, so be careful. There is one restaurant and 2 bars on Thulagi Island, a bank, a good market and telecommunications, some small shops and more important, Tommy is a very competent diesel mecanic.