Kokopo to Namatanai on jet skis

By TERENI KENS
THE call to ride went out just before dawn.
As the crew gathered and the engines slowly groaned to life, the loud and powerful sounds resembled Harley Davidsons. It was as if a gang of HDs had parked on the beach for a few pints.
But the ‘First Timers,’ as this group called itself, made up of mostly young boys were rocking in the water at the foot of the Kokopo Beach Bungalow.
Instead of leather jackets, they donned wet suits and were straddled on jet skis and other personal watercrafts.
The sun was just rising over the horizon, turning the sky into a dark orange colour.
Before long the hue changed from a bright yellow and to the usual milky blue sky. The water reflected the sky and it was a perfect day for cruising. It was so peaceful that the mission at hand was momentarily forgotten until a voice broke the peace. “Get prepared, we’re about to go now!” their father’s orders
The rumble grew to a roar as the jet skis and their passengers took off in unison across Blanche Bay. Simpson Harbour lay to the extreme north with Rabaul caldera as the backdrop, home to the Vulcan and Mt Tavurvur volcanoes.
The First Timers comprised of Tristan Walter Schnaubelt 14, Adam Edward Green 14, Ethan Kurt Schnaubelt 12, Kalan Jack Schnaubelt 8 and Toulai Schnaubelt 8 banked straight ahead as they thundered out to Pigeon Island on the Duke of York Islands to the east in the clear, turquoise waters of East New Britain.
These are the kids of a prominent New Ireland businessman, Walter Schnaubelt except for Adam. Adam is their family friend. The tropical waters here are crystal clear, famous
for their reefs, abundance of fish and turtles, and holiday outings.
The fabulous five holiday makers were on a mission on the two newly purchased red and black jet skis or WaveRunners as commonly known by the manufacturer.
Tristan and Toulai were on the red Jet Ski while Adam, Ethan and Kalan were on the black one. The initial plan was to go from Kokopo to Semalu on the west coast of Namatanai and follow the coastline towards the southern tip of New Ireland to the most picturesque places like Lamassa, Lambom and then to Lanisso Bay on the east coast of Namatanai.
However, this did not eventuate because of the unfavourable weather conditions accompanied with a magnitude eight earth quake that shook the area on the night of December 17, 2016. The only option left on the morning of December 18, 2016 was navigating across the St George Channel to Kabanut on the west coast of Namatanai.
The St George’s Channel lies between East New Britain and New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago.
Nevertheless, after a brief photo session on the water and with timely instructions from their dad, the urge to cross the St George Channel became apparently a walk in the park for the young lads.
The team had a brief stopover at the scenic Pigeon Island or to be exact, Credner Islands for final instructions before pursuing the 62 kilometer rest of the trip to west coast Namatanai, New Ireland.
The young lads were not alone, they were in the company of three other dinghy operators and crew including their dad and mum. The boys then angled their jet skis into the aquamarine traffic and pushed out of the Bismarck Sea.
They gestured at their dad toward the distant slope of green peninsula ahead where black threads of smoke drilled into the sky. “Kabanut,” they said proudly. Behind them, Kokopo town was already but a speck.
Half-way across the channel, a gust of wind came from the ocean.
They rose to discover that the weather had turned; it was pouring with rain and blowing hard. The sea began to swell; the boys were well ahead not taking heed of the sea swells, the down-pouring rain and the biting wind.
It was spectacular to see them dancing with the waves. At times their dad would yell out to them to be cautious when confronting the waves but they were all in control.
After two hours of a somewhat bumpy ride, the boys safely landed their two water crafts at Kabanut’s black beach. This created a bit of excitement for the children, women and elderly men of the surrounding Kabanut villages as they rambled to the beach to have a glance at the two foreign sea crafts.
As the visitors waded ashore, there were plenty eyes on them and they could already hear the chatter and laughter of children. But for the fabulous five First Timers, it was all high fives for making it through the historical St George Channel.
For them, this would be a memorable moment and great experience in their lives as being the first young Papua New Guineans to travel this far on jet skis.
As Tristan puts it, “It was pretty exciting being the first 14-year old to cross the St George Channel. It’s actually unbelievable! I thank dad for encouraging me to go through the channel even though it was pretty tough. I’ll never forget that.”
Adam on the other hand said it was a good experience. “The bigger waves were pretty scary but after a while I started getting used to it. It was good fun and I thanked uncle Wally for the opportunity.”
For Ethan, it was the immediate presence of his dad and mum that motivated him to stay on to finish the journey despite bad weather.
Third-grader Kalan experienced some kind of sea sickness afterwards, but said the trip was exciting. Toulai couldn’t believe that they made it across.
“This really was a trip the kids won’t forget. It truly was an adventure we all enjoyed. But above all as a dad, it is something that I want to instill in the young minds of my kids, and that is learning to live without fear. If we have fear in our minds, we will conquer nothing in this world.
The only person that we should fear is God Almighty,” dad Schnaubelt concluded.