Met a bloke on the pier today named Peter who used to fish PNG waters on a trawler. He had spent the night trying to free a anchor chain tangle and lost "25 fathoms of chain" in the process. 


He told us the story of a dodgy Australian Prawn fisherman who had recently been in partnership with a PNG national. The deal had gone sour after it was discovered that he was falsely labeling 1st grade tiger prawns as "broken and soft" prawns, thus cutting his partner out of about $20 per kilo of the prawn price. His partner was suspicious and hired a mercenary arm of the PNG army to storm the trawler fleet in full battle gear. A friend of Peter, who was aboard the boat at the time, left the vessel with only his shorts and afterwards said that "he was shitting himself ", finding himself staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic held by a Chimbu soldier. The trawler fleet is impounded apparently and the Australian owner "hasn't received a cent". Sounds fair to me.

Submitted our customs paper work in ready-ness for the inspection to depart. Weather still looking good for Friday or Saturday departure.

Worked all day on the boat. Got our life raft secured correctly. Still lots to do but the list grows shorter.