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Badminton breakthrough
Wonder if there' s a day for everyone? As in "today' s my day" when the unexpected and perhaps unimaginable happends for you..
Well, last nite was finally my day.. when I beat my colleague KR in a singles rally.. 15-8.. Needless to say I had been losing to him almost every single encounter.. :-)
Well, last nite was finally my day.. when I beat my colleague KR in a singles rally.. 15-8.. Needless to say I had been losing to him almost every single encounter.. :-)
Passage to Niuatoputapu Tonga
5 days - 700 Nautical Miles (with a gnarly pass entrance)
The passage to Niuatoputapu was a rather uneventful wet and fast ride. We were concerned about a wind shift to the south, so we headed south of the rhumbline just in case. This caused the seas to slap the side of the hull and we occasionally took a couple of big splashes into the cockpit. It was a little too rough for fishing, ok maybe the fishing would have been fine but we were more concerned about the landing and cleaning of the fish. We traveled close to De la Mer and got some great shots of them under sail, the hull disappearing out of site while they were only a couple of waves away. We started to pull away and thought we had lost VHF contact when all of the sudden we got a call out of the blue. It was a New Zealand accent asking for the sailing vessel in our position to identify them selves. Both KT and I looked at each other, “where did this boat come from, how did we miss it?” I checked our position on the cockpit repeater and responded that we were indeed the vessel in question. He said that we were in restricted waters. I guess I sounded a little surprised (Michael said panicked) so he started laughing; it was him the whole time!! What we didn’t hear was that he was claiming to be from the NZ vessel Freedom. He was planning on telling us he was a submarine and that we must head five miles south (more into the wind and seas) before continuing our course to Niuatoputapu. He kept laughing for hours. Luckily he didn’t play the complete joke because we wouldn’t have made it before dark. We didn’t think we would make it (because we would have to average above 7 knots for 12 hours) so we tried to slow down. We saw land about 35 miles out, turns out it was the large volcano across the pass from our target. The wind kept building to 25+ so we put up more sail and flew. We were steadily above 7.5 knots, occasionally held it above 8 knots and peaked at 9.8 knots.
The pass entrance is rather small and pretty well marked, but the seas were breaking very close to both sides of the pass and the light was fading. We talked to Emerald who was inside and they organized a dinghy party to help us through. We dropped our sails, and started heading towards the entrance; we were beam to the 8 to 10 foot seas and rolling pretty good. The pass is narrow enough that you can’t really turn around once you start. We were lined up and going for it when two whales surfaced between the pass and us (little did we know that this would be the beginning of our adventures with whales). They got out of the way and thanks to the dinghies we made it in fine and got settled, only to have to help De La Mer who was an hour behind us, trying to enter in the dark.
We had six dinghies with lights trying to help but in the confusion, our VHF batteries went dead and there was really no one person in control. We were supposed to be in the back of the range, so I had to guess what to do. Finally out of the dark Mary asked, “Are we going the right way?” I guess they didn’t have much confidence listening to everyone try to figure out what to do. Next time we’ll have one person in control and talking to the boat while the others coordinate on another channel.
| Route from Suwarrow to Niuatoputapu Tonga |
The passage to Niuatoputapu was a rather uneventful wet and fast ride. We were concerned about a wind shift to the south, so we headed south of the rhumbline just in case. This caused the seas to slap the side of the hull and we occasionally took a couple of big splashes into the cockpit. It was a little too rough for fishing, ok maybe the fishing would have been fine but we were more concerned about the landing and cleaning of the fish. We traveled close to De la Mer and got some great shots of them under sail, the hull disappearing out of site while they were only a couple of waves away. We started to pull away and thought we had lost VHF contact when all of the sudden we got a call out of the blue. It was a New Zealand accent asking for the sailing vessel in our position to identify them selves. Both KT and I looked at each other, “where did this boat come from, how did we miss it?” I checked our position on the cockpit repeater and responded that we were indeed the vessel in question. He said that we were in restricted waters. I guess I sounded a little surprised (Michael said panicked) so he started laughing; it was him the whole time!! What we didn’t hear was that he was claiming to be from the NZ vessel Freedom. He was planning on telling us he was a submarine and that we must head five miles south (more into the wind and seas) before continuing our course to Niuatoputapu. He kept laughing for hours. Luckily he didn’t play the complete joke because we wouldn’t have made it before dark. We didn’t think we would make it (because we would have to average above 7 knots for 12 hours) so we tried to slow down. We saw land about 35 miles out, turns out it was the large volcano across the pass from our target. The wind kept building to 25+ so we put up more sail and flew. We were steadily above 7.5 knots, occasionally held it above 8 knots and peaked at 9.8 knots.
| The pass entrance and Niuatoputapu anchorage |
The pass entrance is rather small and pretty well marked, but the seas were breaking very close to both sides of the pass and the light was fading. We talked to Emerald who was inside and they organized a dinghy party to help us through. We dropped our sails, and started heading towards the entrance; we were beam to the 8 to 10 foot seas and rolling pretty good. The pass is narrow enough that you can’t really turn around once you start. We were lined up and going for it when two whales surfaced between the pass and us (little did we know that this would be the beginning of our adventures with whales). They got out of the way and thanks to the dinghies we made it in fine and got settled, only to have to help De La Mer who was an hour behind us, trying to enter in the dark.
We had six dinghies with lights trying to help but in the confusion, our VHF batteries went dead and there was really no one person in control. We were supposed to be in the back of the range, so I had to guess what to do. Finally out of the dark Mary asked, “Are we going the right way?” I guess they didn’t have much confidence listening to everyone try to figure out what to do. Next time we’ll have one person in control and talking to the boat while the others coordinate on another channel.
Suwarrow - Northern Cooks
8/23/04 – 9/2/04
By KT
This week in Suwarrow has been a whirlwind of activities – easily one of the best times in my short cruising experience. Just the idea of where we are makes me smile, as we our truly in the middle of absolutely nowhere! This tiny atoll is hundreds of miles from any populated lands, and has a whopping part time population of three, sometimes four! The caretakers, Papa Joanne (pronounced John) along with his cousin Baker and grandson Totoo (aka Peter) live here for six months out of the year (returning home to Raratonga for hurricane season). Papa Joanne plays host and tour guide with an abundance of contagious energy and a sense of pride in his home and lifestyle that one can’t help but admire (especially since he is 72).
Before we even arrived in Suwarrow we had heard (via SSB Radio) about Papa Joanne and family, and their hospitality. As tons of boats had visited Suwarrow ahead of us, I figured that by the time we arrived the appeal of visiting with yachters would have diminished and Papa Joanne would more or less ignore us. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo have made Suwarrow an outstanding place for us.
We arrived on Monday, August 23rd, after a six-day passage from Bora Bora. The pass was easily wide enough and deep enough, but with gusty 25+ knot winds on our nose and decent chop, keeping up our speed was a challenge. As we were powering through, Papa Joanne & Totoo zoomed by us in their aluminum fishing boat, waving wildly and smiling from ear to ear. As we drifted over to the anchorage we made contact with Emerald, Stardust, and Equanimity – it was great to hear everyone again.
Anchoring was a challenge. The shallow waters (where we would prefer to anchor) were littered with coral bommies and a number of boats. The deeper waters where free of obstacles, but a bit choppier and, ‘er … deep. To top it off it was blowing about twenty knots which means boat control would be difficult. We first attempted a narrow spot in the shallow waters. The wind blew us all over the place making it difficult to get us centered between two boats … after three attempts at centering ourselves we still felt we were to close to the catamaran, Koncerto. We hung there for about twenty minutes debating what to do. Dragonfly had anchored out a bit, on a sand shelf at about thirty feet. Although we had attempted the shallow waters, we were still anchoring in 55 feet. This is madness we thought, who cares about the chop … let’s go anchor out there.
Shortly after (finally) getting settled, a Potluck/BBQ (hosted by Papa Joanne) was announced. We spent the remainder of the day resting up, and then headed ashore at 6pm. The only real problem with anchoring farther out was that in the wind/chop it was a wet dinghy ride to shore. Papa Joanne & Totoo had caught a huge Tuna and Barracuda earlier that morning. They cooked the tuna in a cement fire oven and made Poisson Cru with the Barracuda. They had also caught at least ten HUGE coconut crabs. Baker had made fried coconut cream patties. In addition, all of the cruisers brought in some type of dish or another. It was an outstanding feast. It was also a social night, with fifteen boats in attendance … we caught up with those we hadn’t seen in a while and made a number of new friends. Papa Joanne & Baker also provided musical entertainment. What a way to make landfall!
8/23/04
This morning Dragonfly invited Danseuse de La Mer and us over for crepes. We talked the morning away; all of sudden realizing it was noon (isn’t cruising great). We decided to motivate and do some exploring. Chris & I ran over to Emerald to get the scoop on the area, and then met the gang in the shallows for some easy snorkeling. The water was warm and clear. We had heard these waters were very sharky, but we only saw one black tip. Even though there didn’t seem to be a lot of live coral there were tons of fish, especially baby fish (must be that time of the year). These tiny fish were a hoot … our favorite thing was to swim right at them and watch them instantly scatter and disappear into the coral.
We left the water to do a bit of beach exploring. We found Papa Joanne in the “Yacht club” (you can join for $10 … the money goes to the upkeep & maintenance of the island as well as health care for Papa Joanne). It was a blast talking with him. We chatted for quite a bit, thoroughly enjoying his humor and smile. Although Papa Joanne spoke English, it was difficult to understand him, which made for some interesting conversation. There were many times when all of us smiled, laughed, and nodded, thinking surely someone else understood, only to learn later on that NONE of us really got what he was saying! Papa Joanne told us that they would be going out to Bird Island (a small motu about three miles away) tomorrow for a BBQ/picnic, where the main entrée would be baby Frigate birds! It’s not often that one gets to learn how to kill, skin, and cook baby birds, so even as awful as it sounded we all enthusiastically accepted the invitation. As there was one vegetarian in the group and we were all a bit hesitant about eating these birds, we also made plans for Graeme (Dragonfly) and Michael (de La Mer) to go fishing beforehand with Papa Joanne.
We left Papa Joanne to do a bit of beach exploring. We walked around half the island, picking up the odd shell here and there. As we returned to our dinghies we realized that the day was almost over. We quickly threw together a dinner-potluck aboard Billabong with de La Mer bringing spicy tuna rolls, Dragonfly bringing a fresh cabbage salad, and Billabong cooking up the fish we caught prior to our landfall … it’s no wonder we can’t loose weight! Then we headed over to Stardust for girls versus boys Cranium match (where the girls kicked booty … although we did let the boys win a game, ending in a 1-1 tie).
8/24/04
We headed over to Birds Island around 11a.m. We gave de La Mer & Stardust a ride on Billabong, Dragonfly hitched a ride with Claire, and Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo got a ride aboard a third sailboat who was joining us. It was an easy motor over, with some interesting anchoring near coral in decent winds. By the time we got ashore Papa Joanne and gang had already set up “camp” … and to our astonishment two baby Frigate birds were right in the center of it, but for whatever reason they wouldn’t run (even with all of us foreign folk telling them to run for their lives!). By the time we caught up with Totoo (who was doing the bird hunting/killing) he had already killed about ten birds … I’m quite happy to have missed that part, seeing him with the poor dead guys was enough for me to loose my appetite.
We watched on as Totoo demonstrated how to skin the Frigates (apparently with this type of bird plucking is not required). I think that Papa Joanne, Baker and Totoo bring along the cruisers because they enjoy taunting us and love to watch our shocked reactions as the birds are prepared. Baker especially got into the spirit as he pretended to eat a raw (whole) bird! Janna (Dragonfly) got right in and helped … I think she was desperate, while Graeme is a vegetarian, she isn’t, which means she doesn’t get a chance to eat a lot of meat, and man was she excited to be getting some!
Tiffany (Claire) and I were talking, sitting next to the two (still alive) baby Frigates, when Baker came up from behind and grabbed them both by their necks … BAAAAAWCKKK … we both jumped. Baker laughed at us. He was just getting ready to kill them (gulp) when Dick convinced him that we already had enough to eat and did we really need two more? “Plus,” Dick said, “the girls had made friends with them!” Hooray, somehow Baker was convinced and the birds were spared!
After the killing and skinning, the whole birds (w/out heads) were thrown into a huge pot over the fire. Baker and Papa Joanne went to work grating coconuts … we offered to help a number of times, but were always refused.
Finally it was time to eat! The birds and fish were both served with curry and coconut cream (made from the grated coconuts). The cruisers had brought a few side dishes, so it was once again a huge feast. I don’t think any of us were really impressed by the birds. Even Totoo only eats the fish. For all the work (and the sad deaths) we could only get a few good bites of meat. The meat itself was a bit oily. On the other hand Papa Joanne and Baker devoured the birds, practically sucking the bones dry! Chris also noticed that both Papa Joanne & Baker mixed the coconut cream with crackers to make a gummy mush - this they ate instead of the other foods provided. Our best guess is that the mush (or soggy bird) is all they can "chew" (given as they have little or no (in Baker's case) teeth).
The experience itself was worth the trip and the hot day sitting in the sun (there was hardly any shade) on the hard coral (there were no sandy beaches). It’s definitely something that I would have never guessed I’d participate in. However, when asked if it was “fun” … well I’m just not sure how to answer that … “fun” is not the first word that comes to mind! Oh yeah, and those two spared Frigate birds, Baker took them home with him (Totoo swears they are “pets” now and that they aren’t going to eat them, but we aren’t buying it).
After returning to the anchorage, resting, and showering we joined de La Mer and Stardust aboard Dragonfly for some more food (it seems Suwarrow is all about eating) and card playing.
Another very full day!
8/26/04
Today took on a much slower pace then the previous three. We slept in, lounged around reading, and then rode over to the South reef for a bit of snorkeling. Afterwards it was back to Billabong for a night of relaxing. We needed the night off … Chris commented that he couldn’t keep up with all the “young people”, but neither could I, and I’m almost one of the youngest!
8/27/04
Earlier in the week when some of us had asked how they catch lobsters and coconut crabs, Papa Joanne responded by inviting us on another expedition. At 11am this morning we met up with Papa Joanne, Totoo, and a number of cruisers to head over the one of the motus for some hunting. All of us had thought that the outing would take a few hours max … oh how naïve we were!
We were all under the impression that one lobster hunts at night, during low tide, using a flashlight to draw the lobsters out. We quickly learned that with a mask and snorkel (and low tide) you can “easily” grab them during the day. We followed Papa Joanne & Totoo for what felt like miles along the rocky exposed coral (as it was low tide). It was great fun to watch Totoo run and jump along the coral with grace and speed … it was hard to keep up. We decided that left to our own skills we would starve (we being the white folk); however Papa Joanne and Totoo easily speared at least ten fish, and caught over twelve lobsters. I personally wasn’t even quick enough to ever see a fish or lobster, let alone spear/catch one! Totoo also snagged shells for the girls.
Next we waded across to the motu where we gathered dried coconut shells, branches, and rocks to build up a fire. The coral rocks are placed on the top of the fire, where they will eventually break apart, leaving perfectly hot coals to cook food. While the rocks were heating, we followed Totoo inland to hunt for coconut crabs.
I guess you can smoke out the coconut crabs, but that was not the approach we used today. Totoo showed us how to find their homes – holes dug under the trees and usually covered with branches and coconut husks. You dig into the hole and then bring out the crab. Sounds easy, right? The problem is their two large front pinchers – strong enough to easily crunch threw bone, or cut off a finger. The ‘concept’ is that you grab a side leg and start to pull; the crab will dig its pinchers into the sand trying to prevent you from pulling it out. You pull hard, and out comes the crab – but be careful, once it realizes that it’s losing the battle the pinchers/claws will give up on the holding and attack! Once the crab is out you drop it to the ground (on its back) and stab it (with your handy dandy machete) through the throat, where a bunch of gross liquid stuff drips out (apparently it is coconut milk). You stab it again through the heart. Totoo demonstrated their strength by holding a branch near one of their claws, the crab crabbed it with a pincher and snapped through it!
Some primitive gene clicked in Chris and he was off. He was digging into hole after hole yelling out “Here’s one!” “Here’s another!” “I got it! I got it!” Chris had no machete, so he would pull them out and then yell out for Totoo. He was all man and insanely fueled by some untapped testosterone force within. I, of course, did the typical woman thing, “Honey be careful!” “Ooh, watch out for the pincher!” “Don’t hurt yourself!” By the time we headed back to the fire with our catch (about eight extremely large crabs) Chris was covered head to toe with dirt … I love his spirit!
During the day we had somehow nicknamed Totoo “Hunter”, and Michael received a less manly nickname of “Fafafini” – I’m not too sure how Fafafini came about, but it gave us all a good laugh. A Fafafini is a male son raised as a girl. This isn’t as common today (although it still happens), but in the past if the family didn’t have any girl children they would raise their youngest son as a girl – it is our understanding that it is considered an honor by the culture to be a Fafafini.
Papa Joanne had caught a few of his own crabs while we were off with Totoo. However he was catching them for the next evening’s BBQ, and therefore wasn’t killing them. (I guess if you kill them you have to eat them right away, they wouldn’t last the night). Instead he keeps them alive by tying them from the branches of the trees, where they swung lightly in the breeze, like Japanese “crab lanterns”. They didn’t seem too thrilled by this, and if you got to close they would spread their claws towards you just hoping you would get close enough to grab!
Papa Joanne threw the fish and crabs onto the hot coals of the fire. While they cooked we gathered coconuts (for drinking). Chris came upon a small black bird that was struggling as it had flown into some type of tar-like sticky bush. He was unable to fly and could barely hop along. Hunter-man turns protector – he brought the bird back to camp where he, Bob, and Mary went to work cleaning it. He returned the frightened bird back to where he found him, and after checking up on him periodically reported that it looked like the bird would make it – My hero!!!
Papa Joanne went to work weaving “plates” out of palm branches. Janna and I went to work learning, and after a few tries we were zooming right along with Papa Joanne. Papa Joanne said to me, “Stay here a month – I show you how to live off the land!”
And so five hours into our “short” outing we feasted on fish, crab, and coconut juice. It had a very “native” feeling – with no utensils, napkins, plates, etc, and eating off of woven palm plates. All this food was prepared with one spear, one machete and a single match!
We made the long walk back to our dinghies, Chris bringing along a number of good sticks that he planned on turning into coconut “tools”. The wind had picked up a bit, so it was a rough dinghy ride (up-wind) back … I ended up with a huge charlie-horse that turned into an ugly bruise about the size of my hand!
I don’t know how we motivated, but after a brief rest we (Stardust, Dragonfly, Billabong) met on de La Mer for ... if you can believe it … more eating! Danseuse de La Mer BBQ’ed the lobster tails and we brought over Poisson Cru made with a Barracuda Chris had caught earlier that morning. Conversation turned “heavy-duty” as we discussed the issues with the American education system, parenting, and traditional man-women roles – as if we could change the world!
This was an absolutely fantastic day!
8/28/04
Still exhausted from the day before, we spent most of the day aboard Billabong. I worked on the computer (picture organization and journal writing) while Chris worked on his new “tools”. I had no idea what he was up to, just noticed that he was doing quite a bit of running around. I kept hearing various power tools going off, saw him sanding and sawing at wood, and he was sweating profusely, so I assumed he had some major boat project going. Later in the afternoon he excitedly did show-and-tell. He had made at least three coconut “spears” and two graters. The spears are for peeling away the outer husks; you then use the grater to scrape away the inner meat. He also made a perfect hand shaped scraping tool that allowed him to easily ‘spoon’ out the coconut meat. He rushed ashore to gather some coconuts to test out his new tools! Impressively, they all worked rather well. I remember looking up through the companionway as Chris stood shirtless looking out into the distance, a coconut in one hand, his eating/scraping tool in the other, just scooping away, looking extremely satisfied! White-man turned native!!!
As if we hadn’t been feasting enough, Papa Joanne threw another BBQ/Potluck ashore. More fish, more crab, more coconut patties, more, more, more!!! I’m not sure how we can stand up straight with these huge potbellies!
8/29/04
Chris went off fishing again this morning. He caught another Barracuda. He is now quite interested in the ironwood lures that Papa Joanne carves – coconut tools mastered, this will be his next project!
Mary and I went for another swim (we had being doing “swim team” occasionally, trying to work off all the food we’ve been consuming). We spotted some weird mushroom things growing on the side of a coral wall, a beautiful turtle, and this large coral bommie that had so many blue florescent fish hovering around, that the coral itself looked blue! During ‘swim team’ yesterday, Totoo swam out (on his surfboard) and tried to sneak up on us. We think he was looking to play … I imagine he gets a bit bored sometimes, especially given that he has no one his age around to hang out with.
We joined de La Mer, Dragonfly, and Nahanni aboard Stardust for dinner and the tie-braking Cranium match. After enjoying sesame seared tuna (Michael and Graeme’s catch of the previous morning) and curry rice-filled wraps, the competition began! The games were close, but by the end of the night the girls were up one – hooray!
8/30/04
I joined the girls (Becky-Stardust, Janna-Dragonfly, Mary-de La Mer, Lisa-Nahanni), ashore for shell hunting (I don’t really collect shells, but was excited to get some all-girl time). Chris and Mark (Nahanni) went ashore to see if they could fix Papa Joanne's generator. The police boat had arrived yesterday bringing supplies to help Papa Joanne and family get through the next three months (after which they would return home to Raratonga). They brought him a “new” generator, along with some gas, and canned food. They brought minimal supplies (i.e. only three or four cans of veggies), expecting that Papa Joanne would make do (as he does so well) with what was available on land/sea. Turns out that the “new” generator was in pieces, but between Mark and Chris and parts from a second, non-working generator they were able to get it running. Chris was now nicknamed “Mechanic”, and in celebration of having a working generator Papa Joanne announced ANOTHER BBQ/potluck for tomorrow!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing aboard Billabong. There was absolutely no wind, turning the anchorage into a serene pond. With not so much as a ripple across the water we could easily see to the bottom of the anchorage. Billabong had swung so that her stern was aligned perfectly near a huge coral bommie. Fish and sharks swarmed around, providing Chris and I with our own private aquarium. We had some leftover pasta that we threw overboard to attract even more fish. Chris had some fun by hooking pieces onto our lure and dipping it into the water – while the fish were attracted we never actually hooked anything.
Meanwhile, Michael (de La Mer) decided to do some adventurous spear fishing inside the anchorage. We had spotted a large fish in “our aquarium” so we called him over. Of course we also had five or six sharks (one white-tip, the others all black-tip) swimming around as well! Graeme was in a dinghy near Michael ready to pull him in if he made a catch (hoping to get him in before the sharks came … nobody ever said cruisers were overly intelligent!). Sure enough Michael speared the big guy, and quickly came up yelling, “Get me in, Get me in!!!” All went well, the sharks didn’t attack and Michael donated the fish to Papa Joanne for tomorrow’s potluck.
Chris and I BBQ’ed our own fish (a Barracuda) and enjoyed a quiet evening watching DVDs.
8/31/04
After a week in Suwarrow we decided that it was time to start moving. We spent the day doing our typical boat preparations for our next passage (to Tonga).
Although we were tired from a full days work, there was no way we would miss our last BBQ with Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo. It was another outstanding feast. Baker was even more enthusiastic then normal. He had gotten out his boom box (hooray for the generator) and was happily dancing around. The day before I had asked him if he and Papa Joanne were going to play and sing for us (they play the ukulele and drums), Baker responded, “If you bring the medicine!” The “medicine”, if you haven’t guessed, is alcohol. Apparently Baker got his medicine because he was lit! Through the entire week we had never seen Baker with teeth … one of the things that we enjoyed so much was his toothless smile. During the evening Mary came over saying, “Did you see Baker?” “Why?” I asked. “Check out his teeth!” And there he was with this straight-toothed white politician smile! A few minutes later Chris and I happened to be watching as Baker removed his teeth to safely store in his front breast pocket! I am unable to put into words the difference in his appearance. As a matter-of-fact I am unable to accurately capture Bakers essence on paper. I would love to repeat sentences and sayings to you, but as just words they wouldn’t seem special – I couldn’t capture the tone, the fluctuations, the smile behind the words, the accent, and more. Chris and I will always remember Baker and smile at the thought of him yelling “BBQuuuuuuuue Tonight!!!” over the VHF radio, smiling ear-to-ear on Bird Island while wearing a yellow hard-hat (we still aren’t sure what the hat was for), gyrating his hips side-to-side as he got his groove on, and pounding proudly on his Tupperware drum while Papa Joanne played the ukulele.
It was sad to say goodbye to Papa Joanne … he had given us so much. I doubt we will ever forget his generosity and energy. We joked with him that perhaps someday we would return with our kids and we hoped that he would still be there for them to meet. We gave him thank you gifts of canned-meat, took hundreds of pictures, and said our goodbyes. It’s surprising that in one week a person can touch you so deeply.
Our final goodbye was to Totoo. At fourteen he had so much to teach, and I hope we sucked it all in. A huge part of me wanted to kidnap Totoo and bring him along!
9/1/04
As typical, we are ready to go, but for one reason or another we are ‘stuck’. This time it is due to weather. The wind picked up, bringing along with it an uncomfortable and choppy anchorage. We weren’t in the mood to battle through it in order to pick up our anchor or to battle through the seas that were surely building outside the atoll. We also didn’t get much sleep last night because we were constantly up checking the anchor gear.
The wind stayed high and steady throughout the day, so we hung out on the boat. Chris is still trying to perfect our chafe protection for the anchor gear, and so worked on that throughout the day. I mostly read and napped.
Dragonfly decided to leave. They are heading up to Samoa and then maybe to Tonga before they head off on their Northern track. Having only met them in Raiatea a few weeks ago, our time with them has been short but tons of fun. We wish they were headed on the same track, but by now are getting more used to the idea making friends only to possibly never see them again.
Luckily the wind calmed a bit by 11pm or so, allowing us to get some sleep.
9/2/04
The winds calmed down just enough that we decided to go for it. We lifted anchor around 11:30am and headed out. Apparently we weren’t the only boat with this idea, five of us left, leaving the anchorage empty (three boats headed towards Samoa while de La Mer and us headed to Tonga). We were just exiting the pass, having said that it was too bad we couldn’t say one more goodbye to Papa Joanne andFamily, when Papa Joanne and Totoo came zooming by in their fishing boat. They were waving wildly yelling out “Mechanic … Chris … Billabong”. We smiled and laughed at the site of them and waved frantically back yelling, “Goodbye, we’ll miss you”. It brought tears to my eyes as I watched Totoo getting smaller and smaller, yet still waving madly.
A few minutes later we heard Totoo on the VHF, “Fafafini Fafafini, this is Hunter”. We listened as de La Mer said some more goodbyes to Totoo and then got on and said our own goodbyes. Totoo’s uncle in Raratonga has email access, and so we are very hopefully that he will write to us.
With exception of leaving home (Ventura), this has been the hardest departure of our trip!
By KT
This week in Suwarrow has been a whirlwind of activities – easily one of the best times in my short cruising experience. Just the idea of where we are makes me smile, as we our truly in the middle of absolutely nowhere! This tiny atoll is hundreds of miles from any populated lands, and has a whopping part time population of three, sometimes four! The caretakers, Papa Joanne (pronounced John) along with his cousin Baker and grandson Totoo (aka Peter) live here for six months out of the year (returning home to Raratonga for hurricane season). Papa Joanne plays host and tour guide with an abundance of contagious energy and a sense of pride in his home and lifestyle that one can’t help but admire (especially since he is 72).
Before we even arrived in Suwarrow we had heard (via SSB Radio) about Papa Joanne and family, and their hospitality. As tons of boats had visited Suwarrow ahead of us, I figured that by the time we arrived the appeal of visiting with yachters would have diminished and Papa Joanne would more or less ignore us. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo have made Suwarrow an outstanding place for us.
We arrived on Monday, August 23rd, after a six-day passage from Bora Bora. The pass was easily wide enough and deep enough, but with gusty 25+ knot winds on our nose and decent chop, keeping up our speed was a challenge. As we were powering through, Papa Joanne & Totoo zoomed by us in their aluminum fishing boat, waving wildly and smiling from ear to ear. As we drifted over to the anchorage we made contact with Emerald, Stardust, and Equanimity – it was great to hear everyone again.
Anchoring was a challenge. The shallow waters (where we would prefer to anchor) were littered with coral bommies and a number of boats. The deeper waters where free of obstacles, but a bit choppier and, ‘er … deep. To top it off it was blowing about twenty knots which means boat control would be difficult. We first attempted a narrow spot in the shallow waters. The wind blew us all over the place making it difficult to get us centered between two boats … after three attempts at centering ourselves we still felt we were to close to the catamaran, Koncerto. We hung there for about twenty minutes debating what to do. Dragonfly had anchored out a bit, on a sand shelf at about thirty feet. Although we had attempted the shallow waters, we were still anchoring in 55 feet. This is madness we thought, who cares about the chop … let’s go anchor out there.
Shortly after (finally) getting settled, a Potluck/BBQ (hosted by Papa Joanne) was announced. We spent the remainder of the day resting up, and then headed ashore at 6pm. The only real problem with anchoring farther out was that in the wind/chop it was a wet dinghy ride to shore. Papa Joanne & Totoo had caught a huge Tuna and Barracuda earlier that morning. They cooked the tuna in a cement fire oven and made Poisson Cru with the Barracuda. They had also caught at least ten HUGE coconut crabs. Baker had made fried coconut cream patties. In addition, all of the cruisers brought in some type of dish or another. It was an outstanding feast. It was also a social night, with fifteen boats in attendance … we caught up with those we hadn’t seen in a while and made a number of new friends. Papa Joanne & Baker also provided musical entertainment. What a way to make landfall!
8/23/04
This morning Dragonfly invited Danseuse de La Mer and us over for crepes. We talked the morning away; all of sudden realizing it was noon (isn’t cruising great). We decided to motivate and do some exploring. Chris & I ran over to Emerald to get the scoop on the area, and then met the gang in the shallows for some easy snorkeling. The water was warm and clear. We had heard these waters were very sharky, but we only saw one black tip. Even though there didn’t seem to be a lot of live coral there were tons of fish, especially baby fish (must be that time of the year). These tiny fish were a hoot … our favorite thing was to swim right at them and watch them instantly scatter and disappear into the coral.
We left the water to do a bit of beach exploring. We found Papa Joanne in the “Yacht club” (you can join for $10 … the money goes to the upkeep & maintenance of the island as well as health care for Papa Joanne). It was a blast talking with him. We chatted for quite a bit, thoroughly enjoying his humor and smile. Although Papa Joanne spoke English, it was difficult to understand him, which made for some interesting conversation. There were many times when all of us smiled, laughed, and nodded, thinking surely someone else understood, only to learn later on that NONE of us really got what he was saying! Papa Joanne told us that they would be going out to Bird Island (a small motu about three miles away) tomorrow for a BBQ/picnic, where the main entrée would be baby Frigate birds! It’s not often that one gets to learn how to kill, skin, and cook baby birds, so even as awful as it sounded we all enthusiastically accepted the invitation. As there was one vegetarian in the group and we were all a bit hesitant about eating these birds, we also made plans for Graeme (Dragonfly) and Michael (de La Mer) to go fishing beforehand with Papa Joanne.
We left Papa Joanne to do a bit of beach exploring. We walked around half the island, picking up the odd shell here and there. As we returned to our dinghies we realized that the day was almost over. We quickly threw together a dinner-potluck aboard Billabong with de La Mer bringing spicy tuna rolls, Dragonfly bringing a fresh cabbage salad, and Billabong cooking up the fish we caught prior to our landfall … it’s no wonder we can’t loose weight! Then we headed over to Stardust for girls versus boys Cranium match (where the girls kicked booty … although we did let the boys win a game, ending in a 1-1 tie).
8/24/04
We headed over to Birds Island around 11a.m. We gave de La Mer & Stardust a ride on Billabong, Dragonfly hitched a ride with Claire, and Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo got a ride aboard a third sailboat who was joining us. It was an easy motor over, with some interesting anchoring near coral in decent winds. By the time we got ashore Papa Joanne and gang had already set up “camp” … and to our astonishment two baby Frigate birds were right in the center of it, but for whatever reason they wouldn’t run (even with all of us foreign folk telling them to run for their lives!). By the time we caught up with Totoo (who was doing the bird hunting/killing) he had already killed about ten birds … I’m quite happy to have missed that part, seeing him with the poor dead guys was enough for me to loose my appetite.
We watched on as Totoo demonstrated how to skin the Frigates (apparently with this type of bird plucking is not required). I think that Papa Joanne, Baker and Totoo bring along the cruisers because they enjoy taunting us and love to watch our shocked reactions as the birds are prepared. Baker especially got into the spirit as he pretended to eat a raw (whole) bird! Janna (Dragonfly) got right in and helped … I think she was desperate, while Graeme is a vegetarian, she isn’t, which means she doesn’t get a chance to eat a lot of meat, and man was she excited to be getting some!
Tiffany (Claire) and I were talking, sitting next to the two (still alive) baby Frigates, when Baker came up from behind and grabbed them both by their necks … BAAAAAWCKKK … we both jumped. Baker laughed at us. He was just getting ready to kill them (gulp) when Dick convinced him that we already had enough to eat and did we really need two more? “Plus,” Dick said, “the girls had made friends with them!” Hooray, somehow Baker was convinced and the birds were spared!
After the killing and skinning, the whole birds (w/out heads) were thrown into a huge pot over the fire. Baker and Papa Joanne went to work grating coconuts … we offered to help a number of times, but were always refused.
Finally it was time to eat! The birds and fish were both served with curry and coconut cream (made from the grated coconuts). The cruisers had brought a few side dishes, so it was once again a huge feast. I don’t think any of us were really impressed by the birds. Even Totoo only eats the fish. For all the work (and the sad deaths) we could only get a few good bites of meat. The meat itself was a bit oily. On the other hand Papa Joanne and Baker devoured the birds, practically sucking the bones dry! Chris also noticed that both Papa Joanne & Baker mixed the coconut cream with crackers to make a gummy mush - this they ate instead of the other foods provided. Our best guess is that the mush (or soggy bird) is all they can "chew" (given as they have little or no (in Baker's case) teeth).
The experience itself was worth the trip and the hot day sitting in the sun (there was hardly any shade) on the hard coral (there were no sandy beaches). It’s definitely something that I would have never guessed I’d participate in. However, when asked if it was “fun” … well I’m just not sure how to answer that … “fun” is not the first word that comes to mind! Oh yeah, and those two spared Frigate birds, Baker took them home with him (Totoo swears they are “pets” now and that they aren’t going to eat them, but we aren’t buying it).
After returning to the anchorage, resting, and showering we joined de La Mer and Stardust aboard Dragonfly for some more food (it seems Suwarrow is all about eating) and card playing.
Another very full day!
8/26/04
Today took on a much slower pace then the previous three. We slept in, lounged around reading, and then rode over to the South reef for a bit of snorkeling. Afterwards it was back to Billabong for a night of relaxing. We needed the night off … Chris commented that he couldn’t keep up with all the “young people”, but neither could I, and I’m almost one of the youngest!
8/27/04
Earlier in the week when some of us had asked how they catch lobsters and coconut crabs, Papa Joanne responded by inviting us on another expedition. At 11am this morning we met up with Papa Joanne, Totoo, and a number of cruisers to head over the one of the motus for some hunting. All of us had thought that the outing would take a few hours max … oh how naïve we were!
We were all under the impression that one lobster hunts at night, during low tide, using a flashlight to draw the lobsters out. We quickly learned that with a mask and snorkel (and low tide) you can “easily” grab them during the day. We followed Papa Joanne & Totoo for what felt like miles along the rocky exposed coral (as it was low tide). It was great fun to watch Totoo run and jump along the coral with grace and speed … it was hard to keep up. We decided that left to our own skills we would starve (we being the white folk); however Papa Joanne and Totoo easily speared at least ten fish, and caught over twelve lobsters. I personally wasn’t even quick enough to ever see a fish or lobster, let alone spear/catch one! Totoo also snagged shells for the girls.
Next we waded across to the motu where we gathered dried coconut shells, branches, and rocks to build up a fire. The coral rocks are placed on the top of the fire, where they will eventually break apart, leaving perfectly hot coals to cook food. While the rocks were heating, we followed Totoo inland to hunt for coconut crabs.
I guess you can smoke out the coconut crabs, but that was not the approach we used today. Totoo showed us how to find their homes – holes dug under the trees and usually covered with branches and coconut husks. You dig into the hole and then bring out the crab. Sounds easy, right? The problem is their two large front pinchers – strong enough to easily crunch threw bone, or cut off a finger. The ‘concept’ is that you grab a side leg and start to pull; the crab will dig its pinchers into the sand trying to prevent you from pulling it out. You pull hard, and out comes the crab – but be careful, once it realizes that it’s losing the battle the pinchers/claws will give up on the holding and attack! Once the crab is out you drop it to the ground (on its back) and stab it (with your handy dandy machete) through the throat, where a bunch of gross liquid stuff drips out (apparently it is coconut milk). You stab it again through the heart. Totoo demonstrated their strength by holding a branch near one of their claws, the crab crabbed it with a pincher and snapped through it!
Some primitive gene clicked in Chris and he was off. He was digging into hole after hole yelling out “Here’s one!” “Here’s another!” “I got it! I got it!” Chris had no machete, so he would pull them out and then yell out for Totoo. He was all man and insanely fueled by some untapped testosterone force within. I, of course, did the typical woman thing, “Honey be careful!” “Ooh, watch out for the pincher!” “Don’t hurt yourself!” By the time we headed back to the fire with our catch (about eight extremely large crabs) Chris was covered head to toe with dirt … I love his spirit!
During the day we had somehow nicknamed Totoo “Hunter”, and Michael received a less manly nickname of “Fafafini” – I’m not too sure how Fafafini came about, but it gave us all a good laugh. A Fafafini is a male son raised as a girl. This isn’t as common today (although it still happens), but in the past if the family didn’t have any girl children they would raise their youngest son as a girl – it is our understanding that it is considered an honor by the culture to be a Fafafini.
Papa Joanne had caught a few of his own crabs while we were off with Totoo. However he was catching them for the next evening’s BBQ, and therefore wasn’t killing them. (I guess if you kill them you have to eat them right away, they wouldn’t last the night). Instead he keeps them alive by tying them from the branches of the trees, where they swung lightly in the breeze, like Japanese “crab lanterns”. They didn’t seem too thrilled by this, and if you got to close they would spread their claws towards you just hoping you would get close enough to grab!
Papa Joanne threw the fish and crabs onto the hot coals of the fire. While they cooked we gathered coconuts (for drinking). Chris came upon a small black bird that was struggling as it had flown into some type of tar-like sticky bush. He was unable to fly and could barely hop along. Hunter-man turns protector – he brought the bird back to camp where he, Bob, and Mary went to work cleaning it. He returned the frightened bird back to where he found him, and after checking up on him periodically reported that it looked like the bird would make it – My hero!!!
Papa Joanne went to work weaving “plates” out of palm branches. Janna and I went to work learning, and after a few tries we were zooming right along with Papa Joanne. Papa Joanne said to me, “Stay here a month – I show you how to live off the land!”
And so five hours into our “short” outing we feasted on fish, crab, and coconut juice. It had a very “native” feeling – with no utensils, napkins, plates, etc, and eating off of woven palm plates. All this food was prepared with one spear, one machete and a single match!
We made the long walk back to our dinghies, Chris bringing along a number of good sticks that he planned on turning into coconut “tools”. The wind had picked up a bit, so it was a rough dinghy ride (up-wind) back … I ended up with a huge charlie-horse that turned into an ugly bruise about the size of my hand!
I don’t know how we motivated, but after a brief rest we (Stardust, Dragonfly, Billabong) met on de La Mer for ... if you can believe it … more eating! Danseuse de La Mer BBQ’ed the lobster tails and we brought over Poisson Cru made with a Barracuda Chris had caught earlier that morning. Conversation turned “heavy-duty” as we discussed the issues with the American education system, parenting, and traditional man-women roles – as if we could change the world!
This was an absolutely fantastic day!
8/28/04
Still exhausted from the day before, we spent most of the day aboard Billabong. I worked on the computer (picture organization and journal writing) while Chris worked on his new “tools”. I had no idea what he was up to, just noticed that he was doing quite a bit of running around. I kept hearing various power tools going off, saw him sanding and sawing at wood, and he was sweating profusely, so I assumed he had some major boat project going. Later in the afternoon he excitedly did show-and-tell. He had made at least three coconut “spears” and two graters. The spears are for peeling away the outer husks; you then use the grater to scrape away the inner meat. He also made a perfect hand shaped scraping tool that allowed him to easily ‘spoon’ out the coconut meat. He rushed ashore to gather some coconuts to test out his new tools! Impressively, they all worked rather well. I remember looking up through the companionway as Chris stood shirtless looking out into the distance, a coconut in one hand, his eating/scraping tool in the other, just scooping away, looking extremely satisfied! White-man turned native!!!
As if we hadn’t been feasting enough, Papa Joanne threw another BBQ/Potluck ashore. More fish, more crab, more coconut patties, more, more, more!!! I’m not sure how we can stand up straight with these huge potbellies!
8/29/04
Chris went off fishing again this morning. He caught another Barracuda. He is now quite interested in the ironwood lures that Papa Joanne carves – coconut tools mastered, this will be his next project!
Mary and I went for another swim (we had being doing “swim team” occasionally, trying to work off all the food we’ve been consuming). We spotted some weird mushroom things growing on the side of a coral wall, a beautiful turtle, and this large coral bommie that had so many blue florescent fish hovering around, that the coral itself looked blue! During ‘swim team’ yesterday, Totoo swam out (on his surfboard) and tried to sneak up on us. We think he was looking to play … I imagine he gets a bit bored sometimes, especially given that he has no one his age around to hang out with.
We joined de La Mer, Dragonfly, and Nahanni aboard Stardust for dinner and the tie-braking Cranium match. After enjoying sesame seared tuna (Michael and Graeme’s catch of the previous morning) and curry rice-filled wraps, the competition began! The games were close, but by the end of the night the girls were up one – hooray!
8/30/04
I joined the girls (Becky-Stardust, Janna-Dragonfly, Mary-de La Mer, Lisa-Nahanni), ashore for shell hunting (I don’t really collect shells, but was excited to get some all-girl time). Chris and Mark (Nahanni) went ashore to see if they could fix Papa Joanne's generator. The police boat had arrived yesterday bringing supplies to help Papa Joanne and family get through the next three months (after which they would return home to Raratonga). They brought him a “new” generator, along with some gas, and canned food. They brought minimal supplies (i.e. only three or four cans of veggies), expecting that Papa Joanne would make do (as he does so well) with what was available on land/sea. Turns out that the “new” generator was in pieces, but between Mark and Chris and parts from a second, non-working generator they were able to get it running. Chris was now nicknamed “Mechanic”, and in celebration of having a working generator Papa Joanne announced ANOTHER BBQ/potluck for tomorrow!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing aboard Billabong. There was absolutely no wind, turning the anchorage into a serene pond. With not so much as a ripple across the water we could easily see to the bottom of the anchorage. Billabong had swung so that her stern was aligned perfectly near a huge coral bommie. Fish and sharks swarmed around, providing Chris and I with our own private aquarium. We had some leftover pasta that we threw overboard to attract even more fish. Chris had some fun by hooking pieces onto our lure and dipping it into the water – while the fish were attracted we never actually hooked anything.
Meanwhile, Michael (de La Mer) decided to do some adventurous spear fishing inside the anchorage. We had spotted a large fish in “our aquarium” so we called him over. Of course we also had five or six sharks (one white-tip, the others all black-tip) swimming around as well! Graeme was in a dinghy near Michael ready to pull him in if he made a catch (hoping to get him in before the sharks came … nobody ever said cruisers were overly intelligent!). Sure enough Michael speared the big guy, and quickly came up yelling, “Get me in, Get me in!!!” All went well, the sharks didn’t attack and Michael donated the fish to Papa Joanne for tomorrow’s potluck.
Chris and I BBQ’ed our own fish (a Barracuda) and enjoyed a quiet evening watching DVDs.
8/31/04
After a week in Suwarrow we decided that it was time to start moving. We spent the day doing our typical boat preparations for our next passage (to Tonga).
Although we were tired from a full days work, there was no way we would miss our last BBQ with Papa Joanne, Baker, and Totoo. It was another outstanding feast. Baker was even more enthusiastic then normal. He had gotten out his boom box (hooray for the generator) and was happily dancing around. The day before I had asked him if he and Papa Joanne were going to play and sing for us (they play the ukulele and drums), Baker responded, “If you bring the medicine!” The “medicine”, if you haven’t guessed, is alcohol. Apparently Baker got his medicine because he was lit! Through the entire week we had never seen Baker with teeth … one of the things that we enjoyed so much was his toothless smile. During the evening Mary came over saying, “Did you see Baker?” “Why?” I asked. “Check out his teeth!” And there he was with this straight-toothed white politician smile! A few minutes later Chris and I happened to be watching as Baker removed his teeth to safely store in his front breast pocket! I am unable to put into words the difference in his appearance. As a matter-of-fact I am unable to accurately capture Bakers essence on paper. I would love to repeat sentences and sayings to you, but as just words they wouldn’t seem special – I couldn’t capture the tone, the fluctuations, the smile behind the words, the accent, and more. Chris and I will always remember Baker and smile at the thought of him yelling “BBQuuuuuuuue Tonight!!!” over the VHF radio, smiling ear-to-ear on Bird Island while wearing a yellow hard-hat (we still aren’t sure what the hat was for), gyrating his hips side-to-side as he got his groove on, and pounding proudly on his Tupperware drum while Papa Joanne played the ukulele.
It was sad to say goodbye to Papa Joanne … he had given us so much. I doubt we will ever forget his generosity and energy. We joked with him that perhaps someday we would return with our kids and we hoped that he would still be there for them to meet. We gave him thank you gifts of canned-meat, took hundreds of pictures, and said our goodbyes. It’s surprising that in one week a person can touch you so deeply.
Our final goodbye was to Totoo. At fourteen he had so much to teach, and I hope we sucked it all in. A huge part of me wanted to kidnap Totoo and bring him along!
9/1/04
As typical, we are ready to go, but for one reason or another we are ‘stuck’. This time it is due to weather. The wind picked up, bringing along with it an uncomfortable and choppy anchorage. We weren’t in the mood to battle through it in order to pick up our anchor or to battle through the seas that were surely building outside the atoll. We also didn’t get much sleep last night because we were constantly up checking the anchor gear.
The wind stayed high and steady throughout the day, so we hung out on the boat. Chris is still trying to perfect our chafe protection for the anchor gear, and so worked on that throughout the day. I mostly read and napped.
Dragonfly decided to leave. They are heading up to Samoa and then maybe to Tonga before they head off on their Northern track. Having only met them in Raiatea a few weeks ago, our time with them has been short but tons of fun. We wish they were headed on the same track, but by now are getting more used to the idea making friends only to possibly never see them again.
Luckily the wind calmed a bit by 11pm or so, allowing us to get some sleep.
9/2/04
The winds calmed down just enough that we decided to go for it. We lifted anchor around 11:30am and headed out. Apparently we weren’t the only boat with this idea, five of us left, leaving the anchorage empty (three boats headed towards Samoa while de La Mer and us headed to Tonga). We were just exiting the pass, having said that it was too bad we couldn’t say one more goodbye to Papa Joanne andFamily, when Papa Joanne and Totoo came zooming by in their fishing boat. They were waving wildly yelling out “Mechanic … Chris … Billabong”. We smiled and laughed at the site of them and waved frantically back yelling, “Goodbye, we’ll miss you”. It brought tears to my eyes as I watched Totoo getting smaller and smaller, yet still waving madly.
A few minutes later we heard Totoo on the VHF, “Fafafini Fafafini, this is Hunter”. We listened as de La Mer said some more goodbyes to Totoo and then got on and said our own goodbyes. Totoo’s uncle in Raratonga has email access, and so we are very hopefully that he will write to us.
With exception of leaving home (Ventura), this has been the hardest departure of our trip!
Passage to Suwarrow
7 days
700 nM
The weather looked like there would be little wind, but we tried anyway. We had a great sail to the edge of Bora Bora before the wind died, so we pulled in for the night. The next day wasn’t any better so we hung out, and finally left the next day along with Danseuse de La Mer and Dragonfly. We had light wind spinnaker sailing during the day, but the wind would die for part of the night so we motored a little. It was a great time for KT because there were no swells and she felt like this was the best trip so far. The third night out Dragonfly suggested we start a comedy hour and Janna started it off with a bang. She has sooo much energy and threw it all at the telling of her disgusting joke. It was great and I have never heard such a good a joke teller!! The next day, during my morning watch I had a small bird land on the boom. I went to check him/her out and he/she flew up and landed on my shoulder and just sat there exhausted, as we stared at each other. It was a surreal experience. We caught a fish the next day and KT did the normal “I’m sad for the fish” routine. He was thrashing about and I asked KT to grab me the cheapest bottle of booze so I could pour it on his gills to put him out of his misery. Well it turns out that she grabbed the cheap Mexican Tequila, but it has this stupid pour cap required by the government. Well it was stuck, so I tried to suck on it to free it, and got a nice shot of booze. A fly on the wall (wind screens) must have thought it was the craziest thing, watching some lunatic catch a fish and immediately start chugging on the strong stuff. The wind started picking up to 20+ so we had a good final couple of days sail into Suwarrow (although the seas got pretty big and short).
700 nM
| Route to Suwarrow |
The weather looked like there would be little wind, but we tried anyway. We had a great sail to the edge of Bora Bora before the wind died, so we pulled in for the night. The next day wasn’t any better so we hung out, and finally left the next day along with Danseuse de La Mer and Dragonfly. We had light wind spinnaker sailing during the day, but the wind would die for part of the night so we motored a little. It was a great time for KT because there were no swells and she felt like this was the best trip so far. The third night out Dragonfly suggested we start a comedy hour and Janna started it off with a bang. She has sooo much energy and threw it all at the telling of her disgusting joke. It was great and I have never heard such a good a joke teller!! The next day, during my morning watch I had a small bird land on the boom. I went to check him/her out and he/she flew up and landed on my shoulder and just sat there exhausted, as we stared at each other. It was a surreal experience. We caught a fish the next day and KT did the normal “I’m sad for the fish” routine. He was thrashing about and I asked KT to grab me the cheapest bottle of booze so I could pour it on his gills to put him out of his misery. Well it turns out that she grabbed the cheap Mexican Tequila, but it has this stupid pour cap required by the government. Well it was stuck, so I tried to suck on it to free it, and got a nice shot of booze. A fly on the wall (wind screens) must have thought it was the craziest thing, watching some lunatic catch a fish and immediately start chugging on the strong stuff. The wind started picking up to 20+ so we had a good final couple of days sail into Suwarrow (although the seas got pretty big and short).
Bora Bora (Part II)
including short stay in Raiatea
July 25 - August 7th
By Chris
We ended the day with a gift of macaroni and cheese from Island Sonata. It’s amazing how the simple things in life can make you happy. KT was in heaven!! The next day we rented bikes from Club Med (our land base) with Island Sonata, Ascension, and Whisper. Wow, are we out of shape. Our butts were sore within two miles as we struggled around the island. It was interesting to see the difference between the back side of the island where the locals live and the front side where the main town and tourist centers are. We stopped at various sites and had some great views we could have only seen from the bikes (or a very long hike).
The next day was Robin's (from Whisper) birthday. The girls had a swim team meeting and enjoyed sites of a moray eel, trunk fish and a stingray all within the anchorage on the various coral bommies that littered the bottom. I was trying to weave Robin a head piece like KT’s (after all she did coin the princess term that has stuck the entire trip). I wasn’t having much luck so I wove her a princess fan out of a palm frond. I saw one the day before and thought it would be fun to try. KT came back and asked me where I bought it, she didn’t believe that I made it. Oh well!! We had Island Sonata and Whisper for homemade fondue, for some reason the recipe we used required 10 times as much cheese as it called for but it was a hit and we may have future investors in our fondue restaurant when we get back (one of the many crazy ideas we have now that the “slate” of our careers has been cleared). We continued the birthday celebration on Island Sonata with a music night, and wrapped up another full day in paradise.
I had been having some issues with my bladder, and tried to discuss my symptoms with people at the party. Hey, without complete medical care we all need as much support and sound boarding as possible. It’s amazing the things that become table conversation out here, which most normal people would feel strange talking about to their doctors behind closed doors. Oh well, turns out it looked like I might have a bladder infection, which of course is uncommon in men (because of the difference in the length of our urethras compared to women… see there I go). Anyway someone told me I should definitely get it looked at because it can turn into a kidney infection, one woman ended up in the hospital with IV antibiotics for a week to get that taken care of. Yikes! The next day I went straight to the Doctor's office, I had to hitchhike around to the other side of the island, but luckily this time I got a ride quickly. Fortunately the symptoms were worse than they had ever been so I could pin point them to the doctor (who spoke broken English). She said she thought I had an infection and gave me a prescription for some anti-spasmodic, antibiotics, and some pain medications (all for $35). It provided almost immediate relief. We spent the next couple of days relaxing around the boat, emailing from Club-Med and trying to get Emerald on the SSB (we were waiting for them so we could go to Suwarrow).
We moved back to the front side to start our final provisioning and preparation for the 700-mile trip to Suwarrow. After the shallow water experiences of the backside of Bora Bora, the “shallow” reef pass on the front side of the island could be taken at full speed. KT started slowing down as was typical in twenty feet of water, I was like “What are you doing?”.. “Slowing down like usual”, “Come on, we’re in 20 feet of water.. Full speed”. It’s funny how your perceptions change as you experience things ... after the blows of Maeva Beach, my tolerance for winds has increased to 30 –35 knots (provided there is not a lot of fetch for the waves to build up).
After a couple of days near Motu Toopua (on the front side), we decided to move to a mooring at Bloody Mary’s for Emeralds anticipated arrival. Bobulona called us and told us a boat was leaving and we immediately hauled anchor and motored over. We jokingly suggested they sit on the mooring while we were motoring over ... luckily they did - turns out they had to turn four boats away while we were “getting fuel”. We played Homies (like Mexican Train Dominos but we don’t have trains so we use these Homie figurines), on Island Sonata while enjoying some amazing banana cake that KT made. We spent the next day provisioning some more and enjoyed another Bloody Mary’s dinner to celebrate Emeralds arrival. The next day we moved back out to Motu Topua where we spent a couple days prepping the boat while KT pre-cooked all of our passage meals (so she doesn’t get sea sick). All we needed now was a good weather window and we were on our way.
We spent the next day doing some last minute emails and more town stuff. I had just taken my last scheduled antibiotic (they gave me a ten pack and told me to take eight). I don’t like drugs of any kind so I stopped …LUCKILY. The next day I woke up and was in pain again, and took another trip to the doctor. She examined me and suggested I might still have a kidney stone stuck in my urethra. I thought no way, it had been over six weeks, and doubled check with emails and phone calls to Flipper and Dr. Stan. The only way to be sure was to go to Raiatea or Tahiti for an ultra sound (they don’t have the equipment in Bora Bora). I looked into ferries, etc but decided the safest plan was to bring the boat in case some bad weather came through.
Back Track to Raiatea
On Saturday we watched Emerald, Equanimity, Ascension, and Endless sail west without us. I heard them describing the awesome sailing and had to give them some flack for “rubbing it in”. The next day we motored “backwards” towards Raiatea with Bobulona (who was planning on leaving their boat for a trip to Hawaii) and picked up a mooring ball at CNI. We spent the afternoon walking along the shore where we saw 1000’s of crabs along the road in little holes. We had sunset drinks on the dock in front of Bobulona and met Sea Bride (a Tayana 37 about to finish a 10 year circumnavigation) and Dragonfly. Graeme and Janna are about our ages and would be great to hang out with. It is amazing how many younger people are out cruising, and how well everyone gets along.
We spent the next day hiking around town looking for the hospital, only to find out that the only ultrasound technician was on vacation for the entire week. We finally found another outfit and made an appointment for Wednesday (he was also on vacation). We saw Raya on the town dock and said hi as they invited us on board. They are an older Dutch couple, who designed their own boat and have sailed it around Cape Horn and spent a season sailing in the fiords of southern Chili. They also traveled all the way up the west coast and spent some time in Northern Washington/Canada. They don’t mess around; they are planning to sail non-stop from Cape of Good Hope to Europe (about 6000 miles). They both have lots of energy and love to talk, I can’t believe they actually like very un-crowded anchorages, and spent six months cruising without seeing another boat; maybe they are trying to catch up. Turns out they know our friends from Stardust.. it’s a small world out here. We finished the day with dinner and drinks on Bobulona with Dragonfly.
We finally got to see the doctor on Wednesday and he immediately saw the Kidney stone on the ultra sound machine, stuck right there at the end. He did a whole bunch of X-rays and injected dye into my veins so he could watch the flow through my system, into my kidneys, and down to my bladder. It was amazing to see that it all happened so fast. The X-rays showed that my right urethra was partially blocked and that I was VERY lucky that I didn’t head out to sea in my condition. He gave me some more anti-spasmodic medication and more anti-inflammatory medication, and told me to drink some special water (lower pH??) in a couple of days to see if I could flush it out (that was $600). Our outboard died on the way back to the boat so I had a boat project to occupy my time, but we didn’t do much while we were waiting. We had dinner on Dragonfly and they were planning on leaving on Saturday or Sunday… great we'd get to watch them sail off too!! Well I drank my water like a good boy and the stone finally passed, I was glad to be free of it and the pee filter to catch the bloody thing. I woke KT up and told her we could go. I rode to town with Graeme to do our final provisioning while KT pre-cooked all the meals again (for the second time). This time we were going for sure.
July 25 - August 7th
By Chris
We ended the day with a gift of macaroni and cheese from Island Sonata. It’s amazing how the simple things in life can make you happy. KT was in heaven!! The next day we rented bikes from Club Med (our land base) with Island Sonata, Ascension, and Whisper. Wow, are we out of shape. Our butts were sore within two miles as we struggled around the island. It was interesting to see the difference between the back side of the island where the locals live and the front side where the main town and tourist centers are. We stopped at various sites and had some great views we could have only seen from the bikes (or a very long hike).
The next day was Robin's (from Whisper) birthday. The girls had a swim team meeting and enjoyed sites of a moray eel, trunk fish and a stingray all within the anchorage on the various coral bommies that littered the bottom. I was trying to weave Robin a head piece like KT’s (after all she did coin the princess term that has stuck the entire trip). I wasn’t having much luck so I wove her a princess fan out of a palm frond. I saw one the day before and thought it would be fun to try. KT came back and asked me where I bought it, she didn’t believe that I made it. Oh well!! We had Island Sonata and Whisper for homemade fondue, for some reason the recipe we used required 10 times as much cheese as it called for but it was a hit and we may have future investors in our fondue restaurant when we get back (one of the many crazy ideas we have now that the “slate” of our careers has been cleared). We continued the birthday celebration on Island Sonata with a music night, and wrapped up another full day in paradise.
I had been having some issues with my bladder, and tried to discuss my symptoms with people at the party. Hey, without complete medical care we all need as much support and sound boarding as possible. It’s amazing the things that become table conversation out here, which most normal people would feel strange talking about to their doctors behind closed doors. Oh well, turns out it looked like I might have a bladder infection, which of course is uncommon in men (because of the difference in the length of our urethras compared to women… see there I go). Anyway someone told me I should definitely get it looked at because it can turn into a kidney infection, one woman ended up in the hospital with IV antibiotics for a week to get that taken care of. Yikes! The next day I went straight to the Doctor's office, I had to hitchhike around to the other side of the island, but luckily this time I got a ride quickly. Fortunately the symptoms were worse than they had ever been so I could pin point them to the doctor (who spoke broken English). She said she thought I had an infection and gave me a prescription for some anti-spasmodic, antibiotics, and some pain medications (all for $35). It provided almost immediate relief. We spent the next couple of days relaxing around the boat, emailing from Club-Med and trying to get Emerald on the SSB (we were waiting for them so we could go to Suwarrow).
We moved back to the front side to start our final provisioning and preparation for the 700-mile trip to Suwarrow. After the shallow water experiences of the backside of Bora Bora, the “shallow” reef pass on the front side of the island could be taken at full speed. KT started slowing down as was typical in twenty feet of water, I was like “What are you doing?”.. “Slowing down like usual”, “Come on, we’re in 20 feet of water.. Full speed”. It’s funny how your perceptions change as you experience things ... after the blows of Maeva Beach, my tolerance for winds has increased to 30 –35 knots (provided there is not a lot of fetch for the waves to build up).
After a couple of days near Motu Toopua (on the front side), we decided to move to a mooring at Bloody Mary’s for Emeralds anticipated arrival. Bobulona called us and told us a boat was leaving and we immediately hauled anchor and motored over. We jokingly suggested they sit on the mooring while we were motoring over ... luckily they did - turns out they had to turn four boats away while we were “getting fuel”. We played Homies (like Mexican Train Dominos but we don’t have trains so we use these Homie figurines), on Island Sonata while enjoying some amazing banana cake that KT made. We spent the next day provisioning some more and enjoyed another Bloody Mary’s dinner to celebrate Emeralds arrival. The next day we moved back out to Motu Topua where we spent a couple days prepping the boat while KT pre-cooked all of our passage meals (so she doesn’t get sea sick). All we needed now was a good weather window and we were on our way.
We spent the next day doing some last minute emails and more town stuff. I had just taken my last scheduled antibiotic (they gave me a ten pack and told me to take eight). I don’t like drugs of any kind so I stopped …LUCKILY. The next day I woke up and was in pain again, and took another trip to the doctor. She examined me and suggested I might still have a kidney stone stuck in my urethra. I thought no way, it had been over six weeks, and doubled check with emails and phone calls to Flipper and Dr. Stan. The only way to be sure was to go to Raiatea or Tahiti for an ultra sound (they don’t have the equipment in Bora Bora). I looked into ferries, etc but decided the safest plan was to bring the boat in case some bad weather came through.
Back Track to Raiatea
On Saturday we watched Emerald, Equanimity, Ascension, and Endless sail west without us. I heard them describing the awesome sailing and had to give them some flack for “rubbing it in”. The next day we motored “backwards” towards Raiatea with Bobulona (who was planning on leaving their boat for a trip to Hawaii) and picked up a mooring ball at CNI. We spent the afternoon walking along the shore where we saw 1000’s of crabs along the road in little holes. We had sunset drinks on the dock in front of Bobulona and met Sea Bride (a Tayana 37 about to finish a 10 year circumnavigation) and Dragonfly. Graeme and Janna are about our ages and would be great to hang out with. It is amazing how many younger people are out cruising, and how well everyone gets along.
We spent the next day hiking around town looking for the hospital, only to find out that the only ultrasound technician was on vacation for the entire week. We finally found another outfit and made an appointment for Wednesday (he was also on vacation). We saw Raya on the town dock and said hi as they invited us on board. They are an older Dutch couple, who designed their own boat and have sailed it around Cape Horn and spent a season sailing in the fiords of southern Chili. They also traveled all the way up the west coast and spent some time in Northern Washington/Canada. They don’t mess around; they are planning to sail non-stop from Cape of Good Hope to Europe (about 6000 miles). They both have lots of energy and love to talk, I can’t believe they actually like very un-crowded anchorages, and spent six months cruising without seeing another boat; maybe they are trying to catch up. Turns out they know our friends from Stardust.. it’s a small world out here. We finished the day with dinner and drinks on Bobulona with Dragonfly.
We finally got to see the doctor on Wednesday and he immediately saw the Kidney stone on the ultra sound machine, stuck right there at the end. He did a whole bunch of X-rays and injected dye into my veins so he could watch the flow through my system, into my kidneys, and down to my bladder. It was amazing to see that it all happened so fast. The X-rays showed that my right urethra was partially blocked and that I was VERY lucky that I didn’t head out to sea in my condition. He gave me some more anti-spasmodic medication and more anti-inflammatory medication, and told me to drink some special water (lower pH??) in a couple of days to see if I could flush it out (that was $600). Our outboard died on the way back to the boat so I had a boat project to occupy my time, but we didn’t do much while we were waiting. We had dinner on Dragonfly and they were planning on leaving on Saturday or Sunday… great we'd get to watch them sail off too!! Well I drank my water like a good boy and the stone finally passed, I was glad to be free of it and the pee filter to catch the bloody thing. I woke KT up and told her we could go. I rode to town with Graeme to do our final provisioning while KT pre-cooked all the meals again (for the second time). This time we were going for sure.
Birthday celebration
Note:
This post goes out to all 27 year olds who did not know they turned 27 till dat very day..
Thank God for 27 good years..
Simple reasons why I forgot:
1. Past mid-twenties, uhmm.. in late twenties so, not really looking forward to it.
2. Too bz with work, was rushing mad with tight deadline even on birthday
3. U mean I celebrated my 26th birthday?
This post goes out to all 27 year olds who did not know they turned 27 till dat very day..
Thank God for 27 good years..
Simple reasons why I forgot:
1. Past mid-twenties, uhmm.. in late twenties so, not really looking forward to it.
2. Too bz with work, was rushing mad with tight deadline even on birthday
3. U mean I celebrated my 26th birthday?
Bora Bora (Part I)
July 16th – July 25th
By KT
Bora Bora is a beautiful island … a combination of the Tuamotos with its white sandy beaches and turquoise clear waters, and the Marquesas with majestic mountains and varying colors of green. After all that motoring it was a relief to sit in the calm and quiet anchorage of Motu Toopua. We spent the next two days mostly lounging around the boat. Chris kayaked over to a nearby hotel to ‘borrow’ their email services (attempting to blend in with the other guests who were paying $1000 per night!). And I began “swim team” … my new daily exercise program (one year having passed since the twins I feel that I can no longer call this extra weight ‘baby fat’). Robin from Whisper joined me, and so far we seem to have a somewhat decent consistency record! We also enjoyed appetizers and rum drinks aboard Billabong with Robin, Duncan, and Duncan’s visiting sister (Susan) ... yes, I realize that rum and apps are counteractive to swim-team!
Monday was a bit more hectic … it was time to try and cash in our bonds and coordinate paying for our dinghy (which had arrived in Tahiti) so that it could be shipped to Bora Bora. Chris was up early (as usual) and headed into town (with no dinghy and one kayak lost it was easier for him to go alone). Town was quite the trek from where we were anchored but he made it … only to discover that in order to get back my bond money I had to be present (even though my bond was paid with Chris’s credit card). Chris called me on the VHF from town asking me to try and find a way in … hmm guess I’ll just start swimming??? Luckily, Whisper was going snorkeling so I hitched a ride with them to a local hotel on the Motu and from there took the hotel's water shuttle to town (more than one person asked me how I would get back to Billabong, but I figured we’d deal with that later, right now we just needed to get our dinghy paid for so it could be shipped). We made it to the banks just before they closed for lunch … all in all the entire process went extremely smooth. We called Michelle to let him know the money had been deposited, and to our delight he told us that the dinghy would be put on the 4pm cargo ship to arrive in Bora Bora by 2pm the NEXT DAY!!! We also lucked out running into Bobulona in town, so I was able to hitch a ride back to Billabong. That evening we joined Donna and Ralph aboard Ocean Girl for a few sunset drinks.
The next morning Chris went with Bobulona to the shipping docks to check out what he would need to pick up our dinghy later on. As it turned out the ship had already arrived. There was some language difficulties but good fortune was one our side and they were able to tell Chris which container our dinghy was in … even BETTER it so happened that they were opening that particular container! Chris returned to Billabong with our new dinghy in tow. We instantly threw on the engine and zoomed around the anchorage, huge smiles lighting up our faces! It’s amazing what having easy accessible transportation provides … this was better than getting my first car back when I was sixteen. We made Ocean Girl climb in so we could test out if the dinghy would plane with four people (it did). The next few days we couldn’t help but smile every time we went somewhere!!! After days of debate we settled on the name Boomerang. We figured we cursed our first dinghy with Myles Away (because it is now literally miles away), so this time we wanted something that would encourage it to stay around. Spirit Wind (a couple we met in Mexico) actually gets the credit because we learned from Whisper that they kept calling Billabong Boomerang, when we heard Boomerang we thought PERFECT ... it's another Australian word and boomerangs always come back!!!
Midday we moved Billabong to the mooring balls in front of Bloody Mary’s restaurant. It was the first time Chris and I had ever picked up a mooring … I was quite impressed with my driving, I approached the mooring such that by the time we hit the ball Billabong was going just about zero knots. PERFECT – my sailing instructors would have been proud. Chris seemed a bit impatient up on the bow, wondering if we were ever going to actually get to the ball … okay, perhaps I slowed down a bit early (but better too slow than too fast was my theory)!
That night we splurged on an outstanding dinner at Bloody Mary’s with Whisper, Bobulona, and Bobulona’s two guests Harvey and Ann. We had known of Harvey and Ann since La Paz, Mexico, when we talked to them on the SSB. They were in Mag Bay on their boat (Calabasa) along with our friends from Sea Pilgrim. Since Sea Pilgrim didn’t have an SSB radio, they had contacted us from Calabasa. Greg and Lisa (two of our friends in Ventura on Panacea) had also met Calabasa when they had cruised Mexico the season before! Harvey and Ann also taught Sea Pilgrim a version of Canasta that they had then passed on to us, and we are now hooked. In other words, we were quite excited to finally meet them and were once again amazed at what a small world it can be!
Dinner blew our daily (possibly even weekly) budget, but it was fantastic! We shared a tuna appetizer, followed by fresh fish entrees, and some of the best cheesecake of my life (perhaps it had something to do with not having had cheesecake in many many months). The restaurant had a great atmosphere with dark wooden tables and stools, and a sandy beach floor (you check your shoes at the door). It was the first restaurant I’ve been in where the men, wearing short red sarongs with no shirts, were more scantily dressed then the women.
Wednesday morning we went looking (hooray for having a dinghy again) for a good snorkeling spot. We didn’t have a lot luck, although when we dropped in at one tourist spot we were instantly surrounded by tons of tropical fish … apparently used to being fed (they would get so close and were so trusting that I was actually able to touch one). I felt a little giddy-happy at being completely surrounded by so many fish! Unfortunately, there is a lot of dead coral, which is heartbreaking to see. We hear stories of even the dive instructors standing on and touching the live coral. That, along with all of the new hotels being built (which all stand over the water), seems to be taking its toll on nature.
After snorkeling we moved anchorages again, this time moving to the anchorage in front of the town so that we could easily get diesel and provisions. It was another first for us … first time anchoring in 83 feet of water! It was odd, especially after having been spoiled over the last week with all the shallow waters. Knowing that Bora Bora was such a tourist center I had expected a much larger town. While it is overrun with tourists, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bora Bora still has a small-island feel. The downside of a small town is, of course, less supplies and higher prices (I actually paid five bucks for single cantaloupe!).
Moving to the back side
We only stayed one night … it was not a very comfortable spot, with tourist boats zooming in and out, slight chop, and general discomfort about the depth. The next morning, we moved around to the other side of Bora Bora, settling down at Motu Toferi. It was another turquoise clear anchorage in shallow waters (about 11 feet). The pass was curvy and shallow, but we managed to not scrape bottom! Roger and Nancy from Equanimity invited us over for a potluck dinner along with Bobulona, Jadara, and Flusofeta. With exception of Bobulona, we had only briefly met everyone else, so it was wonderful to meet new people and hear of their experiences.
Friday we decided to go ashore and see if we could find a bike rental place. After a lot of walking we gave up, deciding that the rental shop must be farther South. We did however come upon a guy selling banana stalks from his yard and were thrilled to purchase one (oddly you can’t buy bananas in the store).
The next day we set off on a new search, looking for sandy beaches and good snorkeling (as described on our charts). We seemed to keep missing the sandy portions of beach, both times we came ashore and walked across to the outside of the Atoll we hit rocky craters. We gave up on the beach and went looking for some good coral. We dropped in at one spot which looked like it had some potential, and although I briefly spotted a single black-tip shark, the fish were minimal and the coral dieing. The second spot we dropped in at was much better, tons of live coral along with numerous fish. We had heard there were also manta rays in this area (in the deeper channel between the two reefs we were snorkeling), but we didn’t spot any.
The snorkeling was good enough that we convinced Whisper and Island Sonata to dinghy over (they were anchored at Motu Piti Aou, just South of us) and join Ascension and us the next morning. This time the snorkeling really paid off. From the start we spotted a large manta ray about 45 feet below us and a curious (and rather large) barracuda kept following us around. We also sighted a spotted eagle ray and then, for the grand finale, two gorgeous manta rays circled below us (at about 30 feet). These two rays had markings that Chris and I had never seen. It was as though their backs had been tattooed with intricate designs in white ink. And let’s not forget all the little guys, the hundreds of tropical fish that occupied ever space around us.
We decided that since the bike rentals were further South, as was Robin (whose birthday was coming up on Tuesday and we were planning a party for), that we would move Billabong down there as well. Although we knew the channel was easily passable (seeing as hundreds of boats before us had gone through, including at least five the day before), it still didn’t stop us from being a bit nervous as we curved through what felt like a rat maze, trying to remember what all the various markers meant and which side the safe water was on. Luckily the pass was short and ten minutes later we could relax as we went from 10 feet of water to 35. After anchoring (now near Motu Piti Aou), Island Sonata called us for some Canasta.
By KT
Bora Bora is a beautiful island … a combination of the Tuamotos with its white sandy beaches and turquoise clear waters, and the Marquesas with majestic mountains and varying colors of green. After all that motoring it was a relief to sit in the calm and quiet anchorage of Motu Toopua. We spent the next two days mostly lounging around the boat. Chris kayaked over to a nearby hotel to ‘borrow’ their email services (attempting to blend in with the other guests who were paying $1000 per night!). And I began “swim team” … my new daily exercise program (one year having passed since the twins I feel that I can no longer call this extra weight ‘baby fat’). Robin from Whisper joined me, and so far we seem to have a somewhat decent consistency record! We also enjoyed appetizers and rum drinks aboard Billabong with Robin, Duncan, and Duncan’s visiting sister (Susan) ... yes, I realize that rum and apps are counteractive to swim-team!
Monday was a bit more hectic … it was time to try and cash in our bonds and coordinate paying for our dinghy (which had arrived in Tahiti) so that it could be shipped to Bora Bora. Chris was up early (as usual) and headed into town (with no dinghy and one kayak lost it was easier for him to go alone). Town was quite the trek from where we were anchored but he made it … only to discover that in order to get back my bond money I had to be present (even though my bond was paid with Chris’s credit card). Chris called me on the VHF from town asking me to try and find a way in … hmm guess I’ll just start swimming??? Luckily, Whisper was going snorkeling so I hitched a ride with them to a local hotel on the Motu and from there took the hotel's water shuttle to town (more than one person asked me how I would get back to Billabong, but I figured we’d deal with that later, right now we just needed to get our dinghy paid for so it could be shipped). We made it to the banks just before they closed for lunch … all in all the entire process went extremely smooth. We called Michelle to let him know the money had been deposited, and to our delight he told us that the dinghy would be put on the 4pm cargo ship to arrive in Bora Bora by 2pm the NEXT DAY!!! We also lucked out running into Bobulona in town, so I was able to hitch a ride back to Billabong. That evening we joined Donna and Ralph aboard Ocean Girl for a few sunset drinks.
The next morning Chris went with Bobulona to the shipping docks to check out what he would need to pick up our dinghy later on. As it turned out the ship had already arrived. There was some language difficulties but good fortune was one our side and they were able to tell Chris which container our dinghy was in … even BETTER it so happened that they were opening that particular container! Chris returned to Billabong with our new dinghy in tow. We instantly threw on the engine and zoomed around the anchorage, huge smiles lighting up our faces! It’s amazing what having easy accessible transportation provides … this was better than getting my first car back when I was sixteen. We made Ocean Girl climb in so we could test out if the dinghy would plane with four people (it did). The next few days we couldn’t help but smile every time we went somewhere!!! After days of debate we settled on the name Boomerang. We figured we cursed our first dinghy with Myles Away (because it is now literally miles away), so this time we wanted something that would encourage it to stay around. Spirit Wind (a couple we met in Mexico) actually gets the credit because we learned from Whisper that they kept calling Billabong Boomerang, when we heard Boomerang we thought PERFECT ... it's another Australian word and boomerangs always come back!!!
Midday we moved Billabong to the mooring balls in front of Bloody Mary’s restaurant. It was the first time Chris and I had ever picked up a mooring … I was quite impressed with my driving, I approached the mooring such that by the time we hit the ball Billabong was going just about zero knots. PERFECT – my sailing instructors would have been proud. Chris seemed a bit impatient up on the bow, wondering if we were ever going to actually get to the ball … okay, perhaps I slowed down a bit early (but better too slow than too fast was my theory)!
That night we splurged on an outstanding dinner at Bloody Mary’s with Whisper, Bobulona, and Bobulona’s two guests Harvey and Ann. We had known of Harvey and Ann since La Paz, Mexico, when we talked to them on the SSB. They were in Mag Bay on their boat (Calabasa) along with our friends from Sea Pilgrim. Since Sea Pilgrim didn’t have an SSB radio, they had contacted us from Calabasa. Greg and Lisa (two of our friends in Ventura on Panacea) had also met Calabasa when they had cruised Mexico the season before! Harvey and Ann also taught Sea Pilgrim a version of Canasta that they had then passed on to us, and we are now hooked. In other words, we were quite excited to finally meet them and were once again amazed at what a small world it can be!
Dinner blew our daily (possibly even weekly) budget, but it was fantastic! We shared a tuna appetizer, followed by fresh fish entrees, and some of the best cheesecake of my life (perhaps it had something to do with not having had cheesecake in many many months). The restaurant had a great atmosphere with dark wooden tables and stools, and a sandy beach floor (you check your shoes at the door). It was the first restaurant I’ve been in where the men, wearing short red sarongs with no shirts, were more scantily dressed then the women.
Wednesday morning we went looking (hooray for having a dinghy again) for a good snorkeling spot. We didn’t have a lot luck, although when we dropped in at one tourist spot we were instantly surrounded by tons of tropical fish … apparently used to being fed (they would get so close and were so trusting that I was actually able to touch one). I felt a little giddy-happy at being completely surrounded by so many fish! Unfortunately, there is a lot of dead coral, which is heartbreaking to see. We hear stories of even the dive instructors standing on and touching the live coral. That, along with all of the new hotels being built (which all stand over the water), seems to be taking its toll on nature.
After snorkeling we moved anchorages again, this time moving to the anchorage in front of the town so that we could easily get diesel and provisions. It was another first for us … first time anchoring in 83 feet of water! It was odd, especially after having been spoiled over the last week with all the shallow waters. Knowing that Bora Bora was such a tourist center I had expected a much larger town. While it is overrun with tourists, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bora Bora still has a small-island feel. The downside of a small town is, of course, less supplies and higher prices (I actually paid five bucks for single cantaloupe!).
Moving to the back side
We only stayed one night … it was not a very comfortable spot, with tourist boats zooming in and out, slight chop, and general discomfort about the depth. The next morning, we moved around to the other side of Bora Bora, settling down at Motu Toferi. It was another turquoise clear anchorage in shallow waters (about 11 feet). The pass was curvy and shallow, but we managed to not scrape bottom! Roger and Nancy from Equanimity invited us over for a potluck dinner along with Bobulona, Jadara, and Flusofeta. With exception of Bobulona, we had only briefly met everyone else, so it was wonderful to meet new people and hear of their experiences.
Friday we decided to go ashore and see if we could find a bike rental place. After a lot of walking we gave up, deciding that the rental shop must be farther South. We did however come upon a guy selling banana stalks from his yard and were thrilled to purchase one (oddly you can’t buy bananas in the store).
The next day we set off on a new search, looking for sandy beaches and good snorkeling (as described on our charts). We seemed to keep missing the sandy portions of beach, both times we came ashore and walked across to the outside of the Atoll we hit rocky craters. We gave up on the beach and went looking for some good coral. We dropped in at one spot which looked like it had some potential, and although I briefly spotted a single black-tip shark, the fish were minimal and the coral dieing. The second spot we dropped in at was much better, tons of live coral along with numerous fish. We had heard there were also manta rays in this area (in the deeper channel between the two reefs we were snorkeling), but we didn’t spot any.
The snorkeling was good enough that we convinced Whisper and Island Sonata to dinghy over (they were anchored at Motu Piti Aou, just South of us) and join Ascension and us the next morning. This time the snorkeling really paid off. From the start we spotted a large manta ray about 45 feet below us and a curious (and rather large) barracuda kept following us around. We also sighted a spotted eagle ray and then, for the grand finale, two gorgeous manta rays circled below us (at about 30 feet). These two rays had markings that Chris and I had never seen. It was as though their backs had been tattooed with intricate designs in white ink. And let’s not forget all the little guys, the hundreds of tropical fish that occupied ever space around us.
We decided that since the bike rentals were further South, as was Robin (whose birthday was coming up on Tuesday and we were planning a party for), that we would move Billabong down there as well. Although we knew the channel was easily passable (seeing as hundreds of boats before us had gone through, including at least five the day before), it still didn’t stop us from being a bit nervous as we curved through what felt like a rat maze, trying to remember what all the various markers meant and which side the safe water was on. Luckily the pass was short and ten minutes later we could relax as we went from 10 feet of water to 35. After anchoring (now near Motu Piti Aou), Island Sonata called us for some Canasta.
Moorea
July 10th – July 15th, 2004
It was such a liberating feeling to finally pull up anchor out of Maeva Beach in Tahiti. I thought it would be a struggle because of how hard we were set but the anchor came up smoothly and we made our way up the anchorage to the small southern pass. We waved goodbye to a couple of boats and said FINALLY to a couple of others that were hauling up anchor besides us. There was no wind for sailing so we motored the 23 miles to Oponahu Bay. As we saw after the blow in Fakarava there were at least 12 boats on the move to Moorea. Moorea was beautiful with Cooks Bay (miss-named because Cook actually visited Oponahu Bay) further to the east. We anchored just inside the reef in 12 feet of water. Not only could you see the bottom, you could see all the chain out to your anchor. It felt SOOO good. We played cards on Island Sonata, it wasn’t even a question they just showed up and brought us back to their boat so we could finally finish the game we started before the last blow. The next day we got up and went to a place where the tourist feed the stingrays.
This text will only appear on after the reader clicks "continue reading.." Delete if NOT needed It was truly amazing. We were standing in about 4 feet of water. They would come right up to you, ride up your front until they were almost “standing” in front of you like they were ready to dance. They would open their mouths, which are on the bottom, and take whatever piece of fish you had right out of your hand. You could pet them and scrape their backs, which they seemed to enjoy and left cool patterns in the sand silt that covered them. It was quite an experience to watch people who were at first rather taken aback by their aggressiveness, to finally sitting there laughing and dancing with them. We headed back to the boats for an afternoon of wakeboarding and knee boarding behind the dinghies. It was fun but I was sore and tired after only about 5 minutes, hey this paradise living is harder than it looks. That night we finished the day with a girls/boys night on Waking Dream and Billabong. I guess a couple of the boats needed some same sex bonding time. We ate dinner and played poker while the girls did the same on Billabong. I think there must be something in the theory behind drinking and gambling, because I stayed the soberest and lost the most, while Ben was hammered (and didn’t even really know how to play) but kicked everyone’s butts. Oh well come to think of it I never really paid up!!
On Monday, we walked to the local resort, amazing at $500 a night, to reserve some motor scooters for the following day. We kept walking into Cooks Bay to visit the Pineapple processing plant and sample some of their juices. It was funny, they gave you all the free shots of booze you could drink but the samples of fruit juices (which they actually made) cost $1. Oh well, after taking the cheep way out, we continued walking to the head of the bay and saw a couple of boats we knew anchored deep within the bay. They had a great view of the mountains but the water wasn’t as clear as our anchorage and some moved over later the next day.
We hopped on our scooters at around 8:30 the next morning. Waking Dream, Island Sonata, and us each shared one with our significant others. They could move pretty fast and kept up with the local traffic. We even took them “off-road” and they handled it fine until I popped my fuel line and it almost drained the tank, just barely missing the hot exhaust (now that would have been interesting). The best view was from Belvidere, which was on a mountain between the two bays. The foliage was amazing; pine trees in some places, cool Joshua like trees with large fields of pineapples in between. It was a great way to see the whole island, although we were exhausted by the end of the day (hey keeping that throttle pinned down all day is a lot of work). I can’t imagine how tired we would have been if we actually rented bikes like I wanted to initially. There were some very cool anchorages that Waking Dream will get a chance to explore during their visa extension time, and the southern edge of the island looked like it had some HUGE surf. We ended the day with a combined dinner on Billabong, as we prepared to say goodbye to Waking Dream (who we probably won’t see until New Zealand or Tonga). They left early the next day, and spotted whales right at the entrance to the bay (oh to have a dingy). We hung out on the boat and lazed around while we prepared for our trip to Bora Bora. We knew it was time to leave when I woke up the next morning to two huge cruise ships arguing who was going to anchor where within the bay.
It was 140 miles and we tried desperately to sail. We only averaged 2.5 knots for the first 6 hours and gave up when hit the swell outside the lee of the island. We then motored all night until we arrived at Huahine at around daybreak. The wind picked up (to about 10 knots) so I raised the sails and we bore off for Bora Bora. Almost immediately it died so we were back to motoring ... 26 hours all together. What really sucked was we got about 20-25 knots of wind just as we rounded the northern tip of Bora Bora and had to motor into it, along with 6 foot swell just to get into the pass. We found a nice little spot in the lee of a motu, right off the outer reef. It is rather protected from the wind so it is starting to get a little crowded.
It was such a liberating feeling to finally pull up anchor out of Maeva Beach in Tahiti. I thought it would be a struggle because of how hard we were set but the anchor came up smoothly and we made our way up the anchorage to the small southern pass. We waved goodbye to a couple of boats and said FINALLY to a couple of others that were hauling up anchor besides us. There was no wind for sailing so we motored the 23 miles to Oponahu Bay. As we saw after the blow in Fakarava there were at least 12 boats on the move to Moorea. Moorea was beautiful with Cooks Bay (miss-named because Cook actually visited Oponahu Bay) further to the east. We anchored just inside the reef in 12 feet of water. Not only could you see the bottom, you could see all the chain out to your anchor. It felt SOOO good. We played cards on Island Sonata, it wasn’t even a question they just showed up and brought us back to their boat so we could finally finish the game we started before the last blow. The next day we got up and went to a place where the tourist feed the stingrays.
This text will only appear on after the reader clicks "continue reading.." Delete if NOT needed It was truly amazing. We were standing in about 4 feet of water. They would come right up to you, ride up your front until they were almost “standing” in front of you like they were ready to dance. They would open their mouths, which are on the bottom, and take whatever piece of fish you had right out of your hand. You could pet them and scrape their backs, which they seemed to enjoy and left cool patterns in the sand silt that covered them. It was quite an experience to watch people who were at first rather taken aback by their aggressiveness, to finally sitting there laughing and dancing with them. We headed back to the boats for an afternoon of wakeboarding and knee boarding behind the dinghies. It was fun but I was sore and tired after only about 5 minutes, hey this paradise living is harder than it looks. That night we finished the day with a girls/boys night on Waking Dream and Billabong. I guess a couple of the boats needed some same sex bonding time. We ate dinner and played poker while the girls did the same on Billabong. I think there must be something in the theory behind drinking and gambling, because I stayed the soberest and lost the most, while Ben was hammered (and didn’t even really know how to play) but kicked everyone’s butts. Oh well come to think of it I never really paid up!!
On Monday, we walked to the local resort, amazing at $500 a night, to reserve some motor scooters for the following day. We kept walking into Cooks Bay to visit the Pineapple processing plant and sample some of their juices. It was funny, they gave you all the free shots of booze you could drink but the samples of fruit juices (which they actually made) cost $1. Oh well, after taking the cheep way out, we continued walking to the head of the bay and saw a couple of boats we knew anchored deep within the bay. They had a great view of the mountains but the water wasn’t as clear as our anchorage and some moved over later the next day.
We hopped on our scooters at around 8:30 the next morning. Waking Dream, Island Sonata, and us each shared one with our significant others. They could move pretty fast and kept up with the local traffic. We even took them “off-road” and they handled it fine until I popped my fuel line and it almost drained the tank, just barely missing the hot exhaust (now that would have been interesting). The best view was from Belvidere, which was on a mountain between the two bays. The foliage was amazing; pine trees in some places, cool Joshua like trees with large fields of pineapples in between. It was a great way to see the whole island, although we were exhausted by the end of the day (hey keeping that throttle pinned down all day is a lot of work). I can’t imagine how tired we would have been if we actually rented bikes like I wanted to initially. There were some very cool anchorages that Waking Dream will get a chance to explore during their visa extension time, and the southern edge of the island looked like it had some HUGE surf. We ended the day with a combined dinner on Billabong, as we prepared to say goodbye to Waking Dream (who we probably won’t see until New Zealand or Tonga). They left early the next day, and spotted whales right at the entrance to the bay (oh to have a dingy). We hung out on the boat and lazed around while we prepared for our trip to Bora Bora. We knew it was time to leave when I woke up the next morning to two huge cruise ships arguing who was going to anchor where within the bay.
It was 140 miles and we tried desperately to sail. We only averaged 2.5 knots for the first 6 hours and gave up when hit the swell outside the lee of the island. We then motored all night until we arrived at Huahine at around daybreak. The wind picked up (to about 10 knots) so I raised the sails and we bore off for Bora Bora. Almost immediately it died so we were back to motoring ... 26 hours all together. What really sucked was we got about 20-25 knots of wind just as we rounded the northern tip of Bora Bora and had to motor into it, along with 6 foot swell just to get into the pass. We found a nice little spot in the lee of a motu, right off the outer reef. It is rather protected from the wind so it is starting to get a little crowded.
Tahiti Wrap-Up
July 8th – July 11th, 2004
Well we finally got off the boat and went into town to get tickets for the big dance festival. It was still blowing 25-30 but we knew we weren’t going ANYWHERE (our anchor set by two blows) and we needed to get off the boat. By now it was Friday July 9th, and we had been here two weeks!! Time for some fun. The artisans’ festival (the real one) had just started so we decided we would go and check it out. We finally found the right bus to take us out of town to the festival; it was a new modern bus that was only $1 instead of the $1.30 we were paying for the le truck!! Figure that one out. The festival was pretty large, with representatives from the Marquesas, Tuamotos and the Gambiers. I really wanted to find chief Marc to see if he had the bone carvings for us. I did a fast track looking for him while KT and Corbie methodically went booth to booth (funny I thought the guys were supposed to be the organized ones and girls just kind of shopped hap-hazardly). Oh well. I found a couple of booths from Fatu Hiva but they didn’t know Marc, turns out they were from the other village on Fatu Hiva, the one we didn’t visit.
Marc was on the other side of the tent and he recognized me immediately. I showed him my bone carving and he said he sold three of them the night before (before the festival was even open). He also sold of the hatchets he made and a bunch of other things. I quickly ran over to KT and told her I had found Marc and that she should come over immediately. They wanted to finish their row and by the time they showed up (only 5 minutes later) Marc had sold EVERYTHING to a hotel in Bora Bora. Luckily Island Sonata had bought a tiki from Marc, but they were the only ones. KT was bummed. However I did find the woman from the village who I was going to buy the drum from (until Matarua said they wanted it but didn’t end up getting it). We even tried to get other boats that went back later, to pick it up for us. Sitting right there was the EXACT drum we had been pining over since we left it behind 11 weeks before, without hesitation we bought it. KT bought a bowl, also from Fatu Hiva. Of course I ran forward like a little kid, not wanting to miss anything. I ran into a guy we met on Oa Pou, who did some amazing wood and stone work. He was all dressed up in Native garb and was excited to see someone he recognized. This time I grabbed KT and Corbie and brought them over. Corbie was really looking hard at a necklace and I was checking out some of the flower stone (only from Oa Pou) and Marquesian jade necklaces. I figured I had enough but they were so beautiful. Turns out that Ocean Girl and Dances de La Mer bought them for their husbands. Mary wasn’t sure so she put it down to think about it, and we talked. She turned around and it was gone, she freaked, the minute the person who was looking at it put it down again she jumped on it like it was a Million dollars ... “Mine” she said!! We finished our tour and bought a beautiful platter and a wood/bone fishhook carving for a wall hanging. We were excited and a little broke, but satisfied that we had a good collection of things to go with our memories.
That night we went to the dance competition. It was very interesting to watch as they told their stories through dance. There were a bunch of different scenes where large groups and then some individuals performed their portions. It was amazing to watch as they moved in ways I didn’t think the human body was able, it reminded me of Circ de Sole’. I swear one woman was going to blow out her hips and poke some ones eyes out the way she moved so fast. It was hard to get the whole gist of the story but it was entertaining (when the spoke they spoke in Tahitian and French). They also had a chanting portion but that got old after the first 5 minutes. We were all rather tired, cold (if you can believe that) and the seats weren’t padded so I was like a little squirmy kid with ants in his pants. We settled into the boat for a good nights sleep, and a trip to Moorea planned for the next day (would we FINALLY be able to leave).
Kayıtlar
