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Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 1 – the deserted pristine white sand beach of the uninhabited island on the Deboyne Lagoon

Following our sunset cocktails and bonfire on Nivani Island, our ship remained anchored in Deboyne Lagoon overnight. The following morning, we sailed a short distance across the lagoon to a new anchorage, closer to the uninhabited gem of an island, Rara Island, that is surrounded by pristine white sand beaches. For our last day of landings on this expedition, we had an “all water sports” day of activities. Mid-morning we rode in Zodiacs to the beach on Rara island where we then boarded a very typical Papua New Guinean sailing canoe, a Sailau. These outrigger canoes are based on the original Pacific Islanders’ sailing canoes, with a design believed to go back several thousand years! “Sailaus, as sailing canoes are called in Misima, the common language of these islands, are hand hewn wooden outrigger canoes with one mast. Sails are suspended between a yard and a boom almost the length of the mast. They are made of nylon, plastic or canvas tarpaulins, or bits of rice bags sewn together. Often, they are a combination of materials.” — http://www.tenayatravels.com/

Originally – hundreds of years ago before the development of cloth/fabric sails — the Sailaus canoes had sails that were hand-sewn from pandanus palm tree leaves, also known as the thatch screw pine (Pandanus tectorius). Our expedition team had arranged for a total of eight Sailaus from the neighboring islands to meet us on the beach of Rara island and take us out for a mini “regatta” sail on the lagoon. After an early home-cooked lunch in our apartment, we then ventured out in a Zodiac to a set of Zodiacs set up as “snorkeling platforms” over a reef near the beach, for our last snorkeling venture of the expedition.

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 2 – thatched huts on the beach for the storage of some small outrigger canoes

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 3 — a very typical Papua New Guinean sailing canoe, a Sailau, based on the original Pacific Islanders’ sailing canoes; they are hand hewn wooden outrigger canoes with one mast, with sails that are suspended between a yard and a boom almost the length of the mast

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 4

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 5 – a close-up of the outrigger lateral support float section of the Sailu

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 6

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 7

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 8

Rara Island, Deboyne Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 9

On our Sailau sailing experience on the lagoon, we got to see first-hand how the crew handle the boat. Unlike contemporary small sailboats with a ship-centered mast with an attached boom that is able to turn upwind (come about) or downwind (jibe), the boom and sail on a Sailau are strictly on the side of the “canoe section” of the boat and can’t be “flipped” over to the outrigger support float side of the canoe. That then poses the question – how does the captain turn the boat? Pretty ingeniously, it turns out. We were fascinated to watch the crew loosen the ropes securing the prow and stern ends of the boom and then one of the crew grabbed the prow end of the boom in both hands and then walked (with the end of the boom in both hands) down the length of the boat, on the gunwale, or gunnel (the top edge of the hull of a boat), from prow to stern, effectively reversing the position of(and tilt of) the main sail. It was then rerigged and the former prow of the boat became the stern (and vice-versa). Pretty fascinating and awesome to watch the high-speed action as the boat continued to move on the lagoon water,