Mentioning “police” and “diesel filling” in the same headline? It’s not clickbait. As I’ll explain later, it really happened to us in the Solomons Islands. Lately, it seems we need to buy diesel in every country we visit and the process is never easy. Micronesia is no exception. This time we extended the long arm of parenting and our children learned about con artists.

Fortunately, SV Aphrodite provides safe haven. Rick’s filtration and fuel pump system simplifies the onerous task of putting diesel into our sailboat. In some areas, diesel is contaminated or watered down. We don’t want to put impurities into our tank. It’s worth it to us to take our time.

Challenge: buying diesel in Weno, Micrconesia

This week, our kids were asked to fill our 4 diesel tanks and 20 jerry jugs. Our tanks hold a total of 212 gallons of diesel and they were partially filled already. We estimated they would need to buy 175 gallons of diesel.

Our dinghy can fit up to 14 jerry jugs at a time.

Cost of diesel in Weno: $7.15 USD per gallon

Total expected cost: $1,215.25 USD (cash) for 175 gallons of diesel

To be safe, Paul would bring only the cash required. The gas station was open until 6pm.

Good intentions

I’ve deleted the motherhood statement. The trip was not without its challenges: sibling rivalry being one of them. I’d like to think they learned about good judgement, and not just performing manual labor in an equatorial climate.

The shit show

The diesel trip got off to a rocky beginning. Paul didn’t follow Rick’s instructions and went to a gas station that didn’t sell diesel. When I returned from grocery shopping, I spotted Paul in an offshore fishing boat from Jakarta.

It turns out that some Indonesian fishermen had asked Paul if he was buying diesel and they offered him a lift to the gas station. Well, imagine that. Fishermen from Jakarta with a vehicle in Weno. Perhaps they noticed that Paul had 10 empty jerry jugs in the dinghy? They might have also guessed that he was carrying the American cash needed to fill them.

Betty had been invited on the boat but declined.

Across the harbour, I could see Paul’s silhouette holding court with the fishermen. He is only 15 but has the confidence of someone you’d expect from someone older. I felt my eyes narrow and my lips wrinkle. “Paul needs to be off that boat,” I said.

Running on adrenaline

Henry and Karen immediately ran off to get their brother. They didn’t hear me call after them, and if they did, they ignored my plea. For them, this was high drama and they wanted in on the action. Paul was back in short order. However, he didn’t leave the fishing boat straight away. He made a point to say his goodbyes.

Con artists often look like nice people

Paul said the first man he met was friendly, but the rest of the men, not so much. Our kids are developing street sense. Hopefully, this encounter, and our discussion afterwards, reinforced to our kids that con artists often look like nice people.

Diesel: Mom steps up but remains on the sidelines

After the brush with the fishing boat from international waters, I decided to get more involved with the diesel run. Henry and Karen returned to SV Aphrodite in our dinghy. Betty, Paul and I carried the jerry jugs to the correct gas station. It was only a 2-minute walk. We could call on our handheld VHF when we wanted a ride to SV Aphrodite.

At the gas station, Paul’s job was to negotiate the price, and to pay for the diesel. We did this partly for cultural reasons. We have read that, in Micronesia, it sends a message if women speak to men outside of their own families. Even Karen (age 12) has been wolf-whistled by a man with a full beard. Turns out, a woman ran the gas station. She would not budge on the price of diesel, despite Paul asking her each time he went to pay.

The things gas stations don’t want you to see

In Weno, gas (petrol) is delivered at the pumps much like in North America.

Diesel, however, involves a hand pump. It is a time consuming event, subject to the enthusiasm of the gas station attendant. I had seen this method before, in Tonga. But, this is the first time I was able to capture it on film. In doing so, I violated the rule to never, ever use a cellphone at a gas station.

When we were done, Paul suggested we carry our full jerry jugs to a wharf right across from the gas station. This meant that we just had to wait for traffic to stop, and then we could carry the jerry jugs right to the water.

A reason to jerry jug

After eight years, we have a better sense of teamwork and our boat handling has improved. However, there are plenty of nasty docks, better suited for industrial vessels. Here in Weno, Chuuk (Micronesia) there is no need for us to test our boat against the concrete dock.

We prefer to jerry jug the diesel from shore, even if it takes longer. We only fill our tanks when it is not raining. Our diesel ports are flush mounted on the deck and we want to avoid getting water into our fuel tanks.

Rick’s fuel pump/filtration system

Years ago, we filled our using a plastic, wide-mouthed fuel filter funnel. But, this was cumbersome and messy. To simplify the process, Rick installed a fuel pump in one of our deck lockers. The fuel pump pulls diesel from the jerry jugs into an RCI filter. With the impurities removed, the diesel goes into one of our four tanks.

Success

I would rate this week’s purchase of diesel as a success. Here in Micronesia, we filled our tanks and readied ourselves for the 20-day passage to the Philippines in just one day. In other places, we have been limited by our ability to withdraw money without surpassing the daily ATM maximum. The diesel quality looks good. A further plus, is that we didn’t have to use a taxi or wait for a transport truck.

No police were involved.

Why police at the gas station in the Solomons?

In Noro, Solomon Islands we high-tailed it out of the harbour after buying diesel. The entire town gave us the creeps but our exchange at the gas station was criminal. Rick asked the proprietor of the gas station why he was being shortchanged. He was paying for 20 gallons but receiving only 18 gallons. She suggested she didn’t need his business, and that he should “go, call the police.” The police arrived and the proprietor demonstrated to the police using fraudulent measuring cups to ‘prove’ that we were receiving 20 gallons.   

Why diesel at all?

You might ask: “Why do you need diesel at all? You have a sailboat!”  We need diesel to run our generator. It is rainy season and we don’t have enough solar power to run our washing machine or watermaker.

We avoid using our motors if we can, but sometimes we motor to avoid nasty weather systems.

Video: our day of diesel filling captured in less than one minute

Happy New Year!