We had 4 days of out of season rain to deal with and it brought wind as well, so some of the crossings were more like adventure park rides than ideal sleeping weather. But most everyone dealt well with it except a bowel huger who we all felt badly for, although she did well over all and had a great trip. The reduced visibility was workable and the boat managed the swells with little effort although we did have one dive that ended with one Tinnie having to run behind the island in order to unload us. The sea came up while we were doing a very nice dive and the boats were rocking in the swell making it dangerous to try and transfer the divers back to the Bilikiki.....





On one such morning we headed for a Japanese Freighter called Maru #2 as it was on a secret mission and the records have not been found to date and it remains unclaimed in a hundred feet of water. It was delivering Torpedoes to Japanese Subs and after unloading its cargo was sent to the bottom at night in a lagoon. Its only defense was a field artillery piece strapped to the stern deck. You could see where the bomb hit it separating the the hull from the deck and removing the wheel house completely. It was dark and full of growth as well as millions of Silver sides, one person commented "You couldn't see the wreck for all the fish" and it was almost true yet beautiful! There appeared to be human remains in the hold of the ship that have not been recovered or claimed. Everyone treated this with the utmost respect.



The field piece on the stern.


The Solomon islands was the first major battle of the South Pacific and our biggest navel defeat in history! The US war memorial was an eye leaker! I will post more pictures at the end of Guadalcanal and the battle that took place there.




The sea is reclaiming most of the WWII wrecks and material left behind.

More to come....