Tuesday, December 16, 2008
We Made it!
First of all, THANK YOU STEVE AND SUSAN!! You gave not only James and I an incredible journey(not to mention work!), but you also gave my Dad the experience he will never forget! You are amazing people and we wish you the very best! Hopefully we'll meet up again soon!
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Our journey in Mai Miti this season has come to an end, but the new adventure in Surprise begins. Surprise(Schumacher 46) is an incredible racing/cruisingboat that is full of all sorts of goodies, including a blender for ice cold tropical smoothies underway:-) We were fortunate enough to have met the boat owners, Steve and Susan, months ago in Tonga and now we get the pleasure of delivering their boat down to New Zealand for them. We've spent the last week or so with them going through the boat and they've been absolutely wonderful in every way. Now we're just waiting for my dad to arrive here in Fiji as he will be taking the boat to New Zealand with us(whoo-hooo!), and off we go. I think Mai Miti is a little jealous that she's not coming along, but we're going to leave a Sevusevu with the guys here at the harbor so they keep a special eye on her! You can check out Steve and Susan's website at www.sailblogs.com/member/surprise for more info and pics of Surprise. Also new pictures up on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26977831@N04/
Monday, October 27, 2008
Kandavu!
Now we are currently tied to an old mooring chain that James found wrapped around a coral head in about 45ft of water on the southwest end of Kandavu.
Kandavu is about 60 miles from the main land of Viti Levu and is known for it's incredible diving/snorkeling on the Astrolabe reef and for the famous King
Kong surf break on this south side where we are. We planned to only be here for a couple of days but the spot has been absolutely wonderful with the clear
water, colorful corals, & sandy beaches keeping us here for a week already. There is a village near by which we made peace with right away with a Sevusevu
and with the help of a local named Abel. He has been sort of the middle
man between us and the villagers which appears to be the role he has taken on for many years now. There is a small resort on the little island off the shore
which gets alot of tourists for the surf so Abel deals with them. Right now the resort is empty and only two woman stay on the island
for caretaking. James turned out to be their hero for he ended up fixing both their generators, two washer and dryers, binoculars, and speakers! THey were very kind and we were happy to help. Yesterday we took out a couple of our friends surf boards out and had one of the best surfing days of our lives. With only our
friends off of Madeline here with us, we had these perfect little waves all to ourselves. James and I caught the last wave of the
day together and road it all the way into shore before we had to go and attend another kava session with Abel(our 3rd one since our stay:-(, We're not such
kava fans, and sitting for hours cross legged fans) Oh well, all part of the experience. One more highlight of Kandavu was when the only other boat to visit here
in this past week, the mega yacht called Kahala Kai, invited us over for cocktails turned dinner. It was an ironic experience because this boat used to
be in the Ala Wai harbor with us in Hawaii for many years. It had a different owner at the time but same boat now in a little bay of Fiji with us! The American
owner had 2 friends aboard with him and 4 crew working round the clock creating a surreal experience. Even the owner was still in awe about what a great life
and set up he was living;2 jet skies, 2 fast tendors, 12 surf boards, 8 scuba set-ups, kite-boards, bikes, ect... We all sat around the dinner table on the
3rd floor balcony with huge gourmet steak dinners and apple crisp pie ala modes telling old sailing stories and laughing every once in a while when we'd think
about the situation we were lucky enough to be in.
Kandavu is about 60 miles from the main land of Viti Levu and is known for it's incredible diving/snorkeling on the Astrolabe reef and for the famous King
Kong surf break on this south side where we are. We planned to only be here for a couple of days but the spot has been absolutely wonderful with the clear
water, colorful corals, & sandy beaches keeping us here for a week already. There is a village near by which we made peace with right away with a Sevusevu
and with the help of a local named Abel. He has been sort of the middle
man between us and the villagers which appears to be the role he has taken on for many years now. There is a small resort on the little island off the shore
which gets alot of tourists for the surf so Abel deals with them. Right now the resort is empty and only two woman stay on the island
for caretaking. James turned out to be their hero for he ended up fixing both their generators, two washer and dryers, binoculars, and speakers! THey were very kind and we were happy to help. Yesterday we took out a couple of our friends surf boards out and had one of the best surfing days of our lives. With only our
friends off of Madeline here with us, we had these perfect little waves all to ourselves. James and I caught the last wave of the
day together and road it all the way into shore before we had to go and attend another kava session with Abel(our 3rd one since our stay:-(, We're not such
kava fans, and sitting for hours cross legged fans) Oh well, all part of the experience. One more highlight of Kandavu was when the only other boat to visit here
in this past week, the mega yacht called Kahala Kai, invited us over for cocktails turned dinner. It was an ironic experience because this boat used to
be in the Ala Wai harbor with us in Hawaii for many years. It had a different owner at the time but same boat now in a little bay of Fiji with us! The American
owner had 2 friends aboard with him and 4 crew working round the clock creating a surreal experience. Even the owner was still in awe about what a great life
and set up he was living;2 jet skies, 2 fast tendors, 12 surf boards, 8 scuba set-ups, kite-boards, bikes, ect... We all sat around the dinner table on the
3rd floor balcony with huge gourmet steak dinners and apple crisp pie ala modes telling old sailing stories and laughing every once in a while when we'd think
about the situation we were lucky enough to be in.
Mbengga!
Now we arrive at Mbengga only 10 miles off of Pacific harbor. Mbengga was a very beautiful and peaceful island with only a few sleepy villages hidden within the
dense forested valleys. We made the mistake of accidently stumbling upon one of these sleepy villages without our Sevusevu offering, which we found was NOT
a very good idea. The Sevusevu is a traditional custom of bringing a kava offering to the cheif of a village where ever you are staying. The offering
is basically a request to stay in an anchorage, use the water, hike the land, ect...We would have happily complied with this custom had we not given
away all of our kava to the dive boat guys but now we had nothing to give when the village
children basically drug us into the higher elders kava session that was taking place right when we walked through. Of course the men invited us to take a seat
with them indian style around their Taloa(wooden kava bowl), but when they found out we did not have the sevusevu, their eyes went to the floor and they
shook their heads at us in disgust. Awkward minutes of silence passed before we asked if there was something else we could offer them and "cigarettes" was
the answer. We were directed to about four of the different village homes before we were sold a few packs to bring back to the chief. Upon presenting them
the scowls at us had loosened up a bit and after a few coconut shells full of kava, we were told we could stay as long as we liked. We learned a very valuable
lesson about the importance of the Sevusevu!
dense forested valleys. We made the mistake of accidently stumbling upon one of these sleepy villages without our Sevusevu offering, which we found was NOT
a very good idea. The Sevusevu is a traditional custom of bringing a kava offering to the cheif of a village where ever you are staying. The offering
is basically a request to stay in an anchorage, use the water, hike the land, ect...We would have happily complied with this custom had we not given
away all of our kava to the dive boat guys but now we had nothing to give when the village
children basically drug us into the higher elders kava session that was taking place right when we walked through. Of course the men invited us to take a seat
with them indian style around their Taloa(wooden kava bowl), but when they found out we did not have the sevusevu, their eyes went to the floor and they
shook their heads at us in disgust. Awkward minutes of silence passed before we asked if there was something else we could offer them and "cigarettes" was
the answer. We were directed to about four of the different village homes before we were sold a few packs to bring back to the chief. Upon presenting them
the scowls at us had loosened up a bit and after a few coconut shells full of kava, we were told we could stay as long as we liked. We learned a very valuable
lesson about the importance of the Sevusevu!
Viti Levu times
Bula everyone! Once again the time has snuck by us and it's almost been a month since last updating this thing. We left Savusavu shortly after our last entry
and made an overnight passage down to Fiji's largest island of Viti Levu. It is a HUGE city in respect to anything we've seen since leaving Hawaii so walking
along the crowded and conjested streets after not sleeping at all the night before was a little intense for us upon arrival for check in. Despite dodging crazy buses and wheel barrel men flying down the
side walks, it was fun to be in such a booming place again. Our friends off of Madeline also treated us to an Indian cuisuine in town so we were happy travelers.
Once we loaded up the boat with fresh veggies and fruits from the incredible produce market there in town(five pineapples for $2.50 American), we moved Mai Miti
about a mile out of the diesel slicked Suva harbor to a clean water anchorage called Bay of Islands before continuing our way west around Viti Levu to Pacific
harbor.
We had our eyes set on Pacific Harbor to hunt for Rob, the owner of the Nai'a charter boat whose crew we had met in Tonga. We had been in
contact via email for the last couple of months so we were eager to meet the man behind the screen.
Before actually reaching Pacific Harbor we made an overnight stay outside a little town where our highlight was some kid kayakers. Fascinated with seeing a boat,
they circled around us singing and laughing for what seemed like hours. Then with some courage they'd come to the boat and ask James a bunch of questions
before laughing and paddling away again. They wanted us to visit their homes the next day but with Mai Miti bucking like a bronco in the unprotected anchorage
we left the next morning.
With a name like Pacific Harbor you'd
imagine it had just that, a harbor. What we found was quite different. The harbor was nothing more than a very narrow and shallow mouth of a river that the
dive and paanga boats went in and out of. Luckily we did see a couple of run down sail boats side tied to the mangrooves up the river, so we went in to do
the same. However we ended up side tieing to a dive/delivery boat that the Fijian divers on the shore directed us to. After walking around the very
fancy and nice resort right at the end of the river mouth, we were then invited to hang out with the same Fijian divers that night on the boat we were next
to. They all came aboard Mai Miti as well to check out "the little boat" and once inside they must have decided that she needed more color, so they
decorated the entire boat with flower and butterfly stickers! After that night, we were all officially brothers and sisters according to them! Seems like
everybody is related in Fiji!
We did finally meet up with Rob who gave us some good local information. He was a very busy man so we didn't get much time, but it was still nice to
meet him in person and thank him for the wonderful time his crew showed us in Tonga. with that mission accomplished, we stocked the boat with some goods and
left the following day for the outer islands of Fiji, Mbennga and Kandavu. I should mention that before leaving we almost ended up with a furry, slobering,
third member aboard Mai Miti. A third member who only had three legs who we named tripod II(tripod I is my dog Sandy at home in Colorado). This dog took
a real liking to James and I and wouldn't stop following us everywhere we went. She even followed us into grocery stores and the fancy resorts. The workers would
give us the stink eye thinking it was our dog (which was hard to convince them otherwise with the way the dog followed right by our side:-). We felt horrible
leaving her at the dock sitting there staring at us, but we had no choice and we sailed on. We wish you the best Tripod II.
and made an overnight passage down to Fiji's largest island of Viti Levu. It is a HUGE city in respect to anything we've seen since leaving Hawaii so walking
along the crowded and conjested streets after not sleeping at all the night before was a little intense for us upon arrival for check in. Despite dodging crazy buses and wheel barrel men flying down the
side walks, it was fun to be in such a booming place again. Our friends off of Madeline also treated us to an Indian cuisuine in town so we were happy travelers.
Once we loaded up the boat with fresh veggies and fruits from the incredible produce market there in town(five pineapples for $2.50 American), we moved Mai Miti
about a mile out of the diesel slicked Suva harbor to a clean water anchorage called Bay of Islands before continuing our way west around Viti Levu to Pacific
harbor.
We had our eyes set on Pacific Harbor to hunt for Rob, the owner of the Nai'a charter boat whose crew we had met in Tonga. We had been in
contact via email for the last couple of months so we were eager to meet the man behind the screen.
Before actually reaching Pacific Harbor we made an overnight stay outside a little town where our highlight was some kid kayakers. Fascinated with seeing a boat,
they circled around us singing and laughing for what seemed like hours. Then with some courage they'd come to the boat and ask James a bunch of questions
before laughing and paddling away again. They wanted us to visit their homes the next day but with Mai Miti bucking like a bronco in the unprotected anchorage
we left the next morning.
With a name like Pacific Harbor you'd
imagine it had just that, a harbor. What we found was quite different. The harbor was nothing more than a very narrow and shallow mouth of a river that the
dive and paanga boats went in and out of. Luckily we did see a couple of run down sail boats side tied to the mangrooves up the river, so we went in to do
the same. However we ended up side tieing to a dive/delivery boat that the Fijian divers on the shore directed us to. After walking around the very
fancy and nice resort right at the end of the river mouth, we were then invited to hang out with the same Fijian divers that night on the boat we were next
to. They all came aboard Mai Miti as well to check out "the little boat" and once inside they must have decided that she needed more color, so they
decorated the entire boat with flower and butterfly stickers! After that night, we were all officially brothers and sisters according to them! Seems like
everybody is related in Fiji!
We did finally meet up with Rob who gave us some good local information. He was a very busy man so we didn't get much time, but it was still nice to
meet him in person and thank him for the wonderful time his crew showed us in Tonga. with that mission accomplished, we stocked the boat with some goods and
left the following day for the outer islands of Fiji, Mbennga and Kandavu. I should mention that before leaving we almost ended up with a furry, slobering,
third member aboard Mai Miti. A third member who only had three legs who we named tripod II(tripod I is my dog Sandy at home in Colorado). This dog took
a real liking to James and I and wouldn't stop following us everywhere we went. She even followed us into grocery stores and the fancy resorts. The workers would
give us the stink eye thinking it was our dog (which was hard to convince them otherwise with the way the dog followed right by our side:-). We felt horrible
leaving her at the dock sitting there staring at us, but we had no choice and we sailed on. We wish you the best Tripod II.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Bula Fiji!
Five days on the ocean heading West and next thing we know, we're on the island of Vanua Levu, in the country of Fiji. THe crossing was full of extremes,
ranging from hours of 50kt gusts and side ways rain, to days of lake like sea conditions, with absolutely NO wind. Overall, beautiful sail though!
We are here in Savu Savu, a small city that has one street full of Indian trinket shops, delicious and cheap bakeries, and a couple REAl supermarkets. The land
is beautiful with it's steep and jagged tropical mountains, much different from Tonga that basically had no elevation. We took one of the local busses over the island
to a town called Lambasa. After a two hour drive up and over the mountains, we got off the bus only long enough to get two icecream cones before we had
to board the last returning bus back to Savu Savu! We didn't mind our short stay in Lambasa though, because the view out the bus windows over the land is what we went for
anyway. We were amazed at how user friendly the bus ride was, making bathroom stops, and snack breaks along the way:-) It was great too because at various stops, there
would be vendors who would come right up to the bus windows selling curry burritos, peanuts, juices, ect...Not a bad way to go:-)
Fiday night we managed to get an invite to the reopening of a bar/restaurant called The Decked Out Cafe thanks to our friends off of Spectacle.
After the original building burnt to the ground last year 2007, the owner rebuilt the restaurant which was also her home, from scratch through
the help of the community. It was an incredible party and We almost had to be rolled out of there after eating so many of the fancy appetizers!
We are waiting for our Fiji cruising permit now and once we recieve that we'll be heading down to the big island of Viti Levu.
ranging from hours of 50kt gusts and side ways rain, to days of lake like sea conditions, with absolutely NO wind. Overall, beautiful sail though!
We are here in Savu Savu, a small city that has one street full of Indian trinket shops, delicious and cheap bakeries, and a couple REAl supermarkets. The land
is beautiful with it's steep and jagged tropical mountains, much different from Tonga that basically had no elevation. We took one of the local busses over the island
to a town called Lambasa. After a two hour drive up and over the mountains, we got off the bus only long enough to get two icecream cones before we had
to board the last returning bus back to Savu Savu! We didn't mind our short stay in Lambasa though, because the view out the bus windows over the land is what we went for
anyway. We were amazed at how user friendly the bus ride was, making bathroom stops, and snack breaks along the way:-) It was great too because at various stops, there
would be vendors who would come right up to the bus windows selling curry burritos, peanuts, juices, ect...Not a bad way to go:-)
Fiday night we managed to get an invite to the reopening of a bar/restaurant called The Decked Out Cafe thanks to our friends off of Spectacle.
After the original building burnt to the ground last year 2007, the owner rebuilt the restaurant which was also her home, from scratch through
the help of the community. It was an incredible party and We almost had to be rolled out of there after eating so many of the fancy appetizers!
We are waiting for our Fiji cruising permit now and once we recieve that we'll be heading down to the big island of Viti Levu.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Leaving on a Red boat!
With grass growing on the keel and only 2 days left on our Tongan visas, we're ready to move on to new places. If all plans fallinto place we will be deliverying a very beautiful yacht from Fiji to New Zealand around November 8th, so we are thinking of heading to Fiji now.We have explored most of the anchorages here in Vavau and have had a wonderful time with the other boats for dinner parties, ect...Last Friday night weentered into the Friendly island race again, only this time we had a full crew onboard Mai Miti. Tom, and Colleen from the sail boat Mokisha, had thereson Matt from California here to visit, so we thought it a nice welcoming to have them all race with us. We were also very lucky to end up with Ryan,(a nativeColoradian who crewed for Destiny from Niue to TOnga) onboard with us as well, to serve as the Tacktician! Things got a little interesting during the numeroustacks trying to shuffle everybody from one side of the boat to another, but we had a blast in the process and the extra rail meet was useful! This week we took 7th place, a step back from the prior week's 5th place victory, but our prize this time was much more useful; six free local beers from the yacht club! We were happy to be able to give ourcrew a little something back for all of their hard work:-)
Other than that, we have been enjoying anchorages out of town with lake like stillness and peaceful sunsets away from the hustle and bustle of thecity. One anchorage is just on the other side of the town, but it's seperated by the tallest mountain here called Mt. Talau. A whopping 430ft above sea level, it'snothing compared to the Rockies, or Everest, but it did lend for picture perfect post card views at the top. In one picture posted on flickr, you can see an ariel view looking down on a bay with a tiny boat sitting alone in it(You have to look really hard), that's Mai Miti from Talau! Then there's another picture looking to the other sideof Talau and that's Neifu, the big city! That's where we'll be for the next couple of days untill we check out with customs on Wed. THe one plus about beinghere for two more days is that hopefully we'll get to see the Fakalady show at Tonga Bobs on Wed. night. According to the grape wine, this is a no can miss show,full of Tongan men dressed as woman for a fashion show! We're not really sure what to expect, but we'll keep an open mind:-)
Other than that, we have been enjoying anchorages out of town with lake like stillness and peaceful sunsets away from the hustle and bustle of thecity. One anchorage is just on the other side of the town, but it's seperated by the tallest mountain here called Mt. Talau. A whopping 430ft above sea level, it'snothing compared to the Rockies, or Everest, but it did lend for picture perfect post card views at the top. In one picture posted on flickr, you can see an ariel view looking down on a bay with a tiny boat sitting alone in it(You have to look really hard), that's Mai Miti from Talau! Then there's another picture looking to the other sideof Talau and that's Neifu, the big city! That's where we'll be for the next couple of days untill we check out with customs on Wed. THe one plus about beinghere for two more days is that hopefully we'll get to see the Fakalady show at Tonga Bobs on Wed. night. According to the grape wine, this is a no can miss show,full of Tongan men dressed as woman for a fashion show! We're not really sure what to expect, but we'll keep an open mind:-)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Glad for Gladneys
Along time ago, two years before James and I were even brought into this world, a man named Frank hired my father Mike Miller as a State Farm agent in Colorado. As the years rolled on, and State Farm trips took place, Frank new me only as one of the little blonde Miller girls. Now over 20 years have gone by and now we meet in Tonga of all places. They are on their very nice 46' Island Packet traveling the world after a much deserved retirement having the time of their lives. Since my father used to buy Frank a beer everytime they met to show his appreciation for hiring him, Frank insisted that he buy James and I a beer to make up for all the brewskies my dad put him through. They are a great couple and we look forward to seeing them more in the islands. They really followed their dreams and gave it all they had to get here!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Malo Lisa
The sunshine has finally showed it's face yet again after a rough and wet week! We left the city over a week ago foran anchorage called Coral Gardens. Apparently the coral and marine life is beautiful and some of the best in Vavau, areal site to sea! Well, unfortunetely we didn't get to experience that during our six day stay in the quiet little anchorage due to very blah, wet, and gloomy conditions. We would have moved the boat but every day there was a high seas and high wind warning for all of Tonga, so we thought it best to lie low and wait it out. Each day we made the best of the situation by collecting coconuts, exploring the abandoned resort on the surrounding island and salvaging any remaining fruits we could find in the area. We did luck out and get some abnormally large lemons with huge tumorous bumps on them, anda mini pineapple(which we have yet to devour).Our highlights of the anchorage were the nights when one of the catamarans or cruising boats would have happy hourcocktails and h'orsedouvers. One charter catamaran had a group of North Carolinians that even invited us over for a hot shower one night since we dove on their anchor in the rain. Then the very energetic host named Joy mixed us up one of her famous drinksshe called the kin(?) before we were towed back by our Hawaiian friends from another charter boat(They called us the coconut kids)! Aloha and thankyou to all for your generosity! Hot water and cold beverages were never so good!
By day 7 in the same spot, the wind speeds and seas rose even higher, but our tolerance for the anchorage had reachedit's limits. The winds were now coming at us from the northeast creating a wavy and windy bay that we had to escape.Not to mention our anchor line had chaffed badly on a coral head. Fortunetely, it was actually a sunny day, so with some patience, and a lot of tacking, we were able to make it back into Port Maurelle, a well protected and enjoyable anchorage. Our friends who were there on a boat called Madelinemade James' dreams come true when they invited us over for fresh cheese burgers. James had been drooling atthe mere thought of a good old fashioned American burger since Niue, so he was a happy camper when we went to sleep later in the night:-) Then about 3am we were awaken by our pan flying off the shelf caused by the 30-40kt gustswe were experiencing even with the anchorages shelter. That's when we realized the most incredible electrical stormthat was happening outside. Although there were no bolts striking down within close range, the entire dome of the skywas lighting up making everything around visible as day until a second later when it would go pitch dark again. It was almostlike a giant strobe light was going off all over the land. Everybody we spoke to later had never seen anything like itbefore in their lives. Really beautiful to see but the storm caused alot of troubles heard over the vhf that morning. Fishing boats had sunk, plush cruising boats were grounded, charter boats were stranded with fried electricalsystems, ect...But Mai Miti held her ground and her only wound was the chaffed rope.
Even with the strong winds and rainy days, we've had a good last couple of weeks(or however long it's been). Jameshad a manly good time with Jeremy off of Madeline spear fishing one day. Though the fish caught was small, the tastewas delicious and I am very proud of his efforts to feed the crew onboard Mai Miti in the pouring rain. We were also able to do Mariners Cave, which is a fairly large cave hidden within the sea cliff. It's only accessibleby diving under about 8ft and swimming through underwater another 10 feet or so. Once inside their is actually a lot of light from the underwater entrance but once in a while in surgy weather, the mist fills in, fogging your vision. Thepressure difference also makes your ears pop continually with incoming waves. James was brave and went out the lower entrance of the cave having to first swim down over 40ft just to reach the hole, and then swim through another 8ft overhang before ascending out the other end. Now I feel like a wimp for not making it:-(
And last but definitely not least was yesterday's friendly island Friday night boat race. We were determined to race in it after mariners cave, so we left Port maurelle back to the city, Neifu. For event prep, we raced Madeline which is a 36' cruiser. It wasn't exactly a photo finish, but we held our own agaist the bigger boat all the way to the harbor giving usgood motivation for the real race at 5pm. After a quick meal of fish and chips, we were ready to go against the other 9 boatsracing. We were the only boat under 30ft so we got a handicap, getting to skip a leg of the course. At one point we were in 3rd place which we held for a good 5 minutes before falling back into 5th. Not so bad for the little red boat! for our determination and efforts we were awarded a chart of Vavau! Yahoo!!(kind of hoping for the free dinners or tank dive, but a charts always good too:-)
By day 7 in the same spot, the wind speeds and seas rose even higher, but our tolerance for the anchorage had reachedit's limits. The winds were now coming at us from the northeast creating a wavy and windy bay that we had to escape.Not to mention our anchor line had chaffed badly on a coral head. Fortunetely, it was actually a sunny day, so with some patience, and a lot of tacking, we were able to make it back into Port Maurelle, a well protected and enjoyable anchorage. Our friends who were there on a boat called Madelinemade James' dreams come true when they invited us over for fresh cheese burgers. James had been drooling atthe mere thought of a good old fashioned American burger since Niue, so he was a happy camper when we went to sleep later in the night:-) Then about 3am we were awaken by our pan flying off the shelf caused by the 30-40kt gustswe were experiencing even with the anchorages shelter. That's when we realized the most incredible electrical stormthat was happening outside. Although there were no bolts striking down within close range, the entire dome of the skywas lighting up making everything around visible as day until a second later when it would go pitch dark again. It was almostlike a giant strobe light was going off all over the land. Everybody we spoke to later had never seen anything like itbefore in their lives. Really beautiful to see but the storm caused alot of troubles heard over the vhf that morning. Fishing boats had sunk, plush cruising boats were grounded, charter boats were stranded with fried electricalsystems, ect...But Mai Miti held her ground and her only wound was the chaffed rope.
Even with the strong winds and rainy days, we've had a good last couple of weeks(or however long it's been). Jameshad a manly good time with Jeremy off of Madeline spear fishing one day. Though the fish caught was small, the tastewas delicious and I am very proud of his efforts to feed the crew onboard Mai Miti in the pouring rain. We were also able to do Mariners Cave, which is a fairly large cave hidden within the sea cliff. It's only accessibleby diving under about 8ft and swimming through underwater another 10 feet or so. Once inside their is actually a lot of light from the underwater entrance but once in a while in surgy weather, the mist fills in, fogging your vision. Thepressure difference also makes your ears pop continually with incoming waves. James was brave and went out the lower entrance of the cave having to first swim down over 40ft just to reach the hole, and then swim through another 8ft overhang before ascending out the other end. Now I feel like a wimp for not making it:-(
And last but definitely not least was yesterday's friendly island Friday night boat race. We were determined to race in it after mariners cave, so we left Port maurelle back to the city, Neifu. For event prep, we raced Madeline which is a 36' cruiser. It wasn't exactly a photo finish, but we held our own agaist the bigger boat all the way to the harbor giving usgood motivation for the real race at 5pm. After a quick meal of fish and chips, we were ready to go against the other 9 boatsracing. We were the only boat under 30ft so we got a handicap, getting to skip a leg of the course. At one point we were in 3rd place which we held for a good 5 minutes before falling back into 5th. Not so bad for the little red boat! for our determination and efforts we were awarded a chart of Vavau! Yahoo!!(kind of hoping for the free dinners or tank dive, but a charts always good too:-)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
New pictures posted
We have posted a couple of pictures from our time in Ha'apai and now here in Vavau. Internet is fairly quick, so we will post more later as they come. I'm sure most of you have already figured this out or have our flickr as a saved site, but if not, you just have to copy and paste, http://www.flickr.com/photos/26977831@N04/ and it should bring you right to the spot.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
On the Road Again
We've collected a boat full of coconuts for the journey up north to Vavau which we now open on the boat with our little hand drill. It takes all the tarzan fun from it, but it's a matter of 3 seconds compared to 4 minutes. Also, we learned that the green drinking coconuts produce a red dye that is almost impossible to get off of anything it touches. We learned this the hard way after James opened two coconuts on the white deck, and the next morning it looked like a can of paint had been poured EVERYWHERE.
Island Paradise
Our days of uninhabited islands with endless sandy beaches and more coconuts than we know what to do with,are coming to an end. We are checking out of the Ha'apai group of Tonga today and will be heading up to Vavau within the week. From what we hear Vavau is on the well worn cruisers track because of it's abundance of beautiful sheltered anchorages, incredible snorkeling and diving spots, and big social sceen. After running around our little islands alone collecting coconuts and playing on sand hills, we're ready for the action.
A couple highlights of our last adventures...On one of the first days alone on an uninhabited island , a giantcharter boat 120ft long with 18 American tourists and 10 Fijian crew showed up and anchored right near us. Spoilingour fantasy of having our OWN island, we grumbled ashore to meet a couple of the palangi's(locals term for non-Tongan) collecting sea shells along the beach. After chatting with the two Californian woman, James being the jungle man heis now, opened us up all a coconut to enjoy while they waited for their skiff to pick them up for return back to thebig boat. Upon meeting the Fijian skiff driver, he told us to wait on shore for him and the rest of the crew to return for a game of rugby. Sure enough 20 minutes later the entire crew, minus the captain, were ashore all friendlyand smiley. After filling their big skiff up with coconuts, they showed us how to open the magical fruit the correctway with much less struggle. Then it was time for their usual game of rugby after a hard days work diving and whalewatching with the guests. James was brave and joined in on the game while I sat watching on the side as these ratherlarge men chased after one another. Without having ever played rugby in his life, James did a great job scrambling between them all and he must have made a good impression because they invited us over for a kava drinking later thatnight. After eating a big pasta dinner, we made our way over to the charter boat, Naia, and of course right away wewere offered a grand steak dinner! Too stuffed from noodles and sauce we settled for a piece of papaya cheesecakefollowed by coconut shell full of kava one after another. For anyone who is unfamiliar with kava, it is a rootthat is ground into powder form and mixed with water. It tastes sort of like a mixture between muddy water and dish soap, leaving your lips and tongue tingly and a little numb. After drinking enough of it, it is an anesthetic, analgesic, mild traquilizer, antibacterial and antifungal agent, a diuretic, soporific, and appetite suppressant. Accompanied by the Fijians guitar playing and harmonized singing, I can believe all the benefits but the last on thelist. After about 5 hours of kava sing along with the other American guests onboard, the captain insisted that Jamesand I eat the steak dinner before we left and with only increased appetites since our arrival, we had no objections.They also sent us away with canned juices and canned tuna fish! The boat left the next morning and we once again hadour own island but now we had a great new experience to share with others. Once again a blessing in disguise. We think that the Fijians, first on the Sri Lanken cargo ship in Niue, and now here in Tonga, have definitely been the friendliest andhappiest group of people we've come across so far.
A couple highlights of our last adventures...On one of the first days alone on an uninhabited island , a giantcharter boat 120ft long with 18 American tourists and 10 Fijian crew showed up and anchored right near us. Spoilingour fantasy of having our OWN island, we grumbled ashore to meet a couple of the palangi's(locals term for non-Tongan) collecting sea shells along the beach. After chatting with the two Californian woman, James being the jungle man heis now, opened us up all a coconut to enjoy while they waited for their skiff to pick them up for return back to thebig boat. Upon meeting the Fijian skiff driver, he told us to wait on shore for him and the rest of the crew to return for a game of rugby. Sure enough 20 minutes later the entire crew, minus the captain, were ashore all friendlyand smiley. After filling their big skiff up with coconuts, they showed us how to open the magical fruit the correctway with much less struggle. Then it was time for their usual game of rugby after a hard days work diving and whalewatching with the guests. James was brave and joined in on the game while I sat watching on the side as these ratherlarge men chased after one another. Without having ever played rugby in his life, James did a great job scrambling between them all and he must have made a good impression because they invited us over for a kava drinking later thatnight. After eating a big pasta dinner, we made our way over to the charter boat, Naia, and of course right away wewere offered a grand steak dinner! Too stuffed from noodles and sauce we settled for a piece of papaya cheesecakefollowed by coconut shell full of kava one after another. For anyone who is unfamiliar with kava, it is a rootthat is ground into powder form and mixed with water. It tastes sort of like a mixture between muddy water and dish soap, leaving your lips and tongue tingly and a little numb. After drinking enough of it, it is an anesthetic, analgesic, mild traquilizer, antibacterial and antifungal agent, a diuretic, soporific, and appetite suppressant. Accompanied by the Fijians guitar playing and harmonized singing, I can believe all the benefits but the last on thelist. After about 5 hours of kava sing along with the other American guests onboard, the captain insisted that Jamesand I eat the steak dinner before we left and with only increased appetites since our arrival, we had no objections.They also sent us away with canned juices and canned tuna fish! The boat left the next morning and we once again hadour own island but now we had a great new experience to share with others. Once again a blessing in disguise. We think that the Fijians, first on the Sri Lanken cargo ship in Niue, and now here in Tonga, have definitely been the friendliest andhappiest group of people we've come across so far.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
FakaFaka Tongatapu
We're not really sure what Faka means but apparently it connects to a lot of Tongan words and it's the joke for the Tongan parents when their children run around America yelling out Fakafaka without realizing they're yelling out bad words in english:-) Overall our time here in Tongatapu in the big city of Nukalofa has been incredible, throwing surprises at us left and right. The people have definitely lived up to their friendly isle reputation and we're now excited to see the other Tongan island groups. We will be heading to the Haipai group just north of here. It should be about 40-60 miles before our next stop, and after that it's island hopping up to Vavau group. Vavau is very popular in the cruising world and is supposed to have some of the best snorkeling, diving, whale watching, ect...So it's time to move on. The king has been crowned, we're out of here!
(Side note...don't worry parents because we take full precautions when catching rides, or exploring Sri Lanken cargo ships. We know that everyone does not have good intentions no matter how "nice" they may seem).
(Side note...don't worry parents because we take full precautions when catching rides, or exploring Sri Lanken cargo ships. We know that everyone does not have good intentions no matter how "nice" they may seem).
Tongatapu Days
Today is Monday the 4th of August. It's amazing how fast time has flown by. The king's coronation ended this weekend
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
leaving the town quiet for the first time since we've arrived. Everyday and night there was always a special coronation
event taking place filling the streets with marching bands, consession stands, and hundreds of Tongans dressed in their
villages native tapa wear. We attended as many events as possible while in town including the coronation rugby match.
Tongans vs. THE WORLD. It was our first live witness of this rough and rather frenzy like game but we found while sitting
on the banks of the stadium with the rest of the average locals(the American's "rockpile" equivalent) that it was pretty
similar to America's football or baseball games. You have the couple of loud yelling spectators who the crowds laugh at
and then a half time show with marching band and dancers. However, Tongan style games and festivities replace giant beers with refreshing, cool drinking coconuts. It's
nice to see a crowd of people able to get together for fun events without having to consume alcohol.
In between the many town events, we also were able to explore the outskirts of the island via foot or a hitch with the
locals. We did take the bus once or twice to ensure we made it home back to civilization before dark, but we preferred
hitching with the locals not only because the bus system could be very inconsistant with missing bus drivers,
but we were able to meet alot of interesting and happy people. Or in some cases, it was
fun to ride in the back of trucks with little children down dirt roads while the dad in the front was searching the
bushes for bananas. Although we never had a set route or path we had to take, we saw majority of the islands land marks,
including the blow holes which scattered everywhere on the Southeast shores. With the crashing waves that pounded
with great force against the lime stone cliffs, enormous spouts flew 50ft or more high into the air. This was only
topped by finding a secret beach we named Moments beach, out on the South West shore. After following a dirt path
and hiking through some thick grass up to our heads, we found this little tiny oasis only accessible during low tide,
and only swim friendly right before high tide. We lucked out and hit the right time of the day, leaving this untouched
hidden beach with a limestone cliff overhead for protection against the days heat, all to ourselves. Since the harbor and
surrounding water off of Nukalofa(the city of Tongatapu) is very dirty and trashy, it was great relief to swim freely
in clear waters again.
Later in the week after we had our share of parades and exploring the main island, we went over to Paingamotu island just
a 20-30 minute motor trip away. We had run into Tom and Colleen(cruisers we met in Niue) while hitching around the main island
just a couple of days before, and were told of the weekends events on the motu enticing us to leave the city. A woman named Big
Mama runs a resort on the motu and there was going to be a big feast in exchange for helping her make Tongan Tiki torches for
the Kings actual coronation on Friday night. So not only were we going to get to learn how to make a Tongan tiki torch, but they
were going to feed us for free, Not a bad deal:-) We were able to get a preview of the feast to come when Tom and Colleens local
friend who was acting as a tour guide, invited us to join them for the rest of the day after our unexpected encounter. He was related
in some way to a man who owned an incredible resort on the South end of the island so we visited there. THe resort was built into the
limestone cliffs,and it sat right on a white sandy beach. Being kin the owner treated us all to plates and plates of
different sea foods, meats, curries, salads, and all you could eat sweet bananas hanging from above us. The plates were part of the
banana tree, looking like giant pieces of celery and the place mats were huge leaves making clean up after our smorgisborg pretty
simple! We couldn't wait for Big Mama's feast!
In a rush after the rugby match to make it to Paingamotu island before dark and before the tiki torch lessons began that night,
we left the Nukalofa harbor and made it to the motu just at dusk. After barely setting our anchor outside the shore of the motu,
Steve another cruiser, was at Mai Miti with his dinghy insisting to take us ashore to the resort. A bit to our dissapointment we were told that
because of the rain, the tiki torch prep would be postponed till tomorrow, but Big mama still fed us chicken soup and bread fruit:-)
We were also treated with a visit from the captain and officers off of the American navy's destroying vessel, the John. S. McCain.This 560ft
war machine sat outside Nukalofa with flags and lights displayed to show respect for the soon to be Tongan King. The fun and relaxed crew
explained to us that they were basically down here from Japan to "Show face" for the Americans. Their presence couldn't have been better
for us because they invited us over for their big party on the destroyer the following night. After spending the next day swimming in the
clean waters, hiking around the sandy beaches, and making tiki torches with big mama, us cruisers all put on our nicest formal wear, and
caught an island ferry over to the ship that night. Having to climb up a wobbly ladder on the stern of the 25ft high battle ship, we were greeted
by the American, Australian, and
even french navy men and woman all in their uniforms. It was a very classy party with all you can eat gourmet food and drink, ice sculptures
and all. We were even given a short tour through the ship. Around 10:30pm after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we were escorted back to the
motu on one of the navy's own ribs. Unlike the lack of rules and regulations in these south pacific countries, the US made sure we all
had our own life vests and personal lighting gear for the short ride back to the boats. What a night!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I am afraid that we are very behind on our blogs and there is too much that has happened in between to recount all
of our adventures, but I will try my best to get the highlights without boring our audience too badly.
Tongatapu, Tonga
Malo e leiei! Fefe hake? Hello and how are you in Tongan! We have a lot to
explore yet on Tongatapu, only one of the many islands that makes up the Tongan nation.
It is now July 27th for us here in Tonga and we have only been here 2 days. Having crossed the International date line, we were cheated out of a day
of life but were welcomed to the island with the biggest festival of the Tongan year!This years Heilala festival, a week
long celebration, is combined this year with your Majesty the king George Topou the fifth's coronation. There are
LONG LIVE THE KING banners strung about everywhere! The day after we arrived
the block parties and parades began full of food, old and very loud American(Madonna/Rap)music, traditional Tongan
dress and dance, as well as a cultural exhibitions from other countries around the world. We have had a blast wondering
around the lively city full of people, pigs, huge elaborate grave yards, small markets with cold refreshments, vegetabel
stands with conveniently cheap produce, and pizza shops with delicious Hawaiian style pizza pies we devoured!Today
being Sunday, everything is closed allowing us to truly relax for the first time for as long as we can remember.We have
actually just sat in the boat extremely content the entire day filling out journals and attempting to update this blog.
The "cruising" life is much more social than we both had anticipated, being invited over for cocktails or dinner almost every night.
Yesterday after the float parade and pizza with another cruising couple, we thought we'd get to enjoy a quiet movie night on Mai Miti,
but as soon as we returned to the boat, the couple next door insisted we come over for appetizers and drinks. No
complaining because it is always a very nice treat, but we were definitely not expecting so much of it!
Niue"No-way"
After a long 20 day passage from Palmyra atoll, we managed to find our way into the security of Alofi bay. Due
to unfavorable conditions with howling winds and large seas, the last 100 miles of our trip took us over 3 days
to conquer. The crystal clear blue waters with 140+ft visiblity and secure mooring balls of the island made the fight
worth it. The first day and night in Alofi, the largest village of Niue, we enjoyed the simple things in life like,
walking on solid ground, fresh baked bread, cold soda, and a "sausage sizzle" as they call it in New Zealand, with
hot sausage and onion sandwiches, and cold New Zealand beer. This special thurday night sizzle put on by the Niue
yacht club(a family run business at their home tucked away in the palm trees) allowed us to meet the other
cruisers and to get the scoop on the best island hikes, snorkels, ect. We were fotunate to arrive when we had because
the upcoming Saturday morning the south village of Alofi would be putting on their village festival. It took place
at the primary school grass field with tons of food and crafts. We tried the coconut porridge which was half a coconut
filled with gelatinous but mushy pudding like substance. There was a hint of sweetness to it but not much. It was good
but what really got our taste buds rolling was the Roti, a homemade tortilla stuffed with corned beef, potatoes, and
a yellow curry. Mmm.mmm...After much eating occurred for the Niuians, the village put on their dance show with various
groups performing dances similar to the hula but with different dress. One custom we were not used to was the spectators
would get up at any point in the dance and stuff money down the dancers shirt, skirt, ect..., if they liked what they
saw. It was funny to watch the dancers try to keep the beat during all of this. Forgot our camera, whoops! we also forgot
the camera for the big Niuian dance performance later that week, full of elaborate costumes and even a fashion show.Being a
country of only 1000 people, events like this are huge and everyone shows up. We soon started recognizing faces where ever
we went.
In between snorkeling through underwater caverns with white tip reef sharks and 1 of the top ten most poisonous sea
snakes that were everywhere(don't worry moms and dads, their mouths are too small to cause any harm even if they
were to bite you), we went on humpback whale chasing expeditions succeeding twice in our mission. The first one being Jmz'
closest encounter, being only 5 ft from the enourmous creature. The second was for Amber's birthday present where we
both swam with two of them before they gracefully dove into the deep blue and out of sight. Not such a bad b-day especially
since Jmz played me happy bday with his violin, cooked me reeces pancakes,treated me to shakes at the incredible Frosty Boy
and took me to dinner at Falalafa restaurant that night:-) Besides our aquatic explorations,Our land adventures consisted of
rugged hikes through thick bush before winding up at protected natural pools, lime stone caves full of stallactites and stallagmites,
and underwater swimways leading to hidden dark caverns in the coral.
We could have stayed on Niue exploring much longer with endless sea tracks,torquise water holes, and beautiful sea life,
but with paying $10 a day for mooring fees and many more new landfalls ahead before hurrican season began, we departed the island
after 10 days full of amazing experiences. One experience worth pointing out was our cargo ship buddies.
The first night in the bay, we were alone with only 4 other cruising boats. That night Jmz wondered if he should put on
the anchor light as none of the other boats had theirs. Following the crowd, we thought, "no boat will be coming in
here at night". Just with our luck, in the morning we awoke to a huge container ship fearfully close to us unloading
cargo on the wharf(we learned our lesson about lighting). To our dissapointment we found they would be there for over
five days with their loud engines, generators, and smelly fumes. However, we were soon to learn our lesson about grumbling
as blessings can come from the most unusual places, quotes Jmz. One afternoon on our dinghy ride back to Mai Miti, a man aboard the
large ship motioned for us to come over. It was a crew member who had helped us the day before with loading our dinghy on shore.
With broken English we had only chatted with him briefly following his help, but for some reason he must have liked us because now he
was inviting us to dinner that night on the ship. We would never turn down free food so we accepted rather nervously, and headed
over around 6pm. To our surprise the small crew of 10 all greeted us with huge smiles and big hang shakes.Majority of them were from
sri lanka and we learned it was a part of their culture to make us feel welcomed which they did a grrrrreat job of! They fed us drink
after drink and then food until we were about to burst with icecream on top of that. At one point during dinner they asked if we
liked Indian curry to which we responded that we did, and we were then informed that we had to come back to the ship for lunch that next
day. When we were leavng they handed us a heavy black trash bag that was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, can goods, chocolates,
coffee, and teas. We fell asleep that night wondering if we were dreaming and wondering what we had done to make them like us so much.
The next days lunch was filled with the same unbelievable hospitality with addition of two bottles of wine from the captain and a
picture print out of us and the crew made especially by the jolly Fijian welder. It was like we'd died and gone to heaven! Their early
departure later that night due to finishing their offload sooner than expected was actually kind of sad now that we'd made such good
friends with them. The Fijian captain who gifted us with the wines, gave us his contact info for when we arrive in Fiji. He is also
a pilot, so who knows the possiblities:-)
of our adventures, but I will try my best to get the highlights without boring our audience too badly.
Tongatapu, Tonga
Malo e leiei! Fefe hake? Hello and how are you in Tongan! We have a lot to
explore yet on Tongatapu, only one of the many islands that makes up the Tongan nation.
It is now July 27th for us here in Tonga and we have only been here 2 days. Having crossed the International date line, we were cheated out of a day
of life but were welcomed to the island with the biggest festival of the Tongan year!This years Heilala festival, a week
long celebration, is combined this year with your Majesty the king George Topou the fifth's coronation. There are
LONG LIVE THE KING banners strung about everywhere! The day after we arrived
the block parties and parades began full of food, old and very loud American(Madonna/Rap)music, traditional Tongan
dress and dance, as well as a cultural exhibitions from other countries around the world. We have had a blast wondering
around the lively city full of people, pigs, huge elaborate grave yards, small markets with cold refreshments, vegetabel
stands with conveniently cheap produce, and pizza shops with delicious Hawaiian style pizza pies we devoured!Today
being Sunday, everything is closed allowing us to truly relax for the first time for as long as we can remember.We have
actually just sat in the boat extremely content the entire day filling out journals and attempting to update this blog.
The "cruising" life is much more social than we both had anticipated, being invited over for cocktails or dinner almost every night.
Yesterday after the float parade and pizza with another cruising couple, we thought we'd get to enjoy a quiet movie night on Mai Miti,
but as soon as we returned to the boat, the couple next door insisted we come over for appetizers and drinks. No
complaining because it is always a very nice treat, but we were definitely not expecting so much of it!
Niue"No-way"
After a long 20 day passage from Palmyra atoll, we managed to find our way into the security of Alofi bay. Due
to unfavorable conditions with howling winds and large seas, the last 100 miles of our trip took us over 3 days
to conquer. The crystal clear blue waters with 140+ft visiblity and secure mooring balls of the island made the fight
worth it. The first day and night in Alofi, the largest village of Niue, we enjoyed the simple things in life like,
walking on solid ground, fresh baked bread, cold soda, and a "sausage sizzle" as they call it in New Zealand, with
hot sausage and onion sandwiches, and cold New Zealand beer. This special thurday night sizzle put on by the Niue
yacht club(a family run business at their home tucked away in the palm trees) allowed us to meet the other
cruisers and to get the scoop on the best island hikes, snorkels, ect. We were fotunate to arrive when we had because
the upcoming Saturday morning the south village of Alofi would be putting on their village festival. It took place
at the primary school grass field with tons of food and crafts. We tried the coconut porridge which was half a coconut
filled with gelatinous but mushy pudding like substance. There was a hint of sweetness to it but not much. It was good
but what really got our taste buds rolling was the Roti, a homemade tortilla stuffed with corned beef, potatoes, and
a yellow curry. Mmm.mmm...After much eating occurred for the Niuians, the village put on their dance show with various
groups performing dances similar to the hula but with different dress. One custom we were not used to was the spectators
would get up at any point in the dance and stuff money down the dancers shirt, skirt, ect..., if they liked what they
saw. It was funny to watch the dancers try to keep the beat during all of this. Forgot our camera, whoops! we also forgot
the camera for the big Niuian dance performance later that week, full of elaborate costumes and even a fashion show.Being a
country of only 1000 people, events like this are huge and everyone shows up. We soon started recognizing faces where ever
we went.
In between snorkeling through underwater caverns with white tip reef sharks and 1 of the top ten most poisonous sea
snakes that were everywhere(don't worry moms and dads, their mouths are too small to cause any harm even if they
were to bite you), we went on humpback whale chasing expeditions succeeding twice in our mission. The first one being Jmz'
closest encounter, being only 5 ft from the enourmous creature. The second was for Amber's birthday present where we
both swam with two of them before they gracefully dove into the deep blue and out of sight. Not such a bad b-day especially
since Jmz played me happy bday with his violin, cooked me reeces pancakes,treated me to shakes at the incredible Frosty Boy
and took me to dinner at Falalafa restaurant that night:-) Besides our aquatic explorations,Our land adventures consisted of
rugged hikes through thick bush before winding up at protected natural pools, lime stone caves full of stallactites and stallagmites,
and underwater swimways leading to hidden dark caverns in the coral.
We could have stayed on Niue exploring much longer with endless sea tracks,torquise water holes, and beautiful sea life,
but with paying $10 a day for mooring fees and many more new landfalls ahead before hurrican season began, we departed the island
after 10 days full of amazing experiences. One experience worth pointing out was our cargo ship buddies.
The first night in the bay, we were alone with only 4 other cruising boats. That night Jmz wondered if he should put on
the anchor light as none of the other boats had theirs. Following the crowd, we thought, "no boat will be coming in
here at night". Just with our luck, in the morning we awoke to a huge container ship fearfully close to us unloading
cargo on the wharf(we learned our lesson about lighting). To our dissapointment we found they would be there for over
five days with their loud engines, generators, and smelly fumes. However, we were soon to learn our lesson about grumbling
as blessings can come from the most unusual places, quotes Jmz. One afternoon on our dinghy ride back to Mai Miti, a man aboard the
large ship motioned for us to come over. It was a crew member who had helped us the day before with loading our dinghy on shore.
With broken English we had only chatted with him briefly following his help, but for some reason he must have liked us because now he
was inviting us to dinner that night on the ship. We would never turn down free food so we accepted rather nervously, and headed
over around 6pm. To our surprise the small crew of 10 all greeted us with huge smiles and big hang shakes.Majority of them were from
sri lanka and we learned it was a part of their culture to make us feel welcomed which they did a grrrrreat job of! They fed us drink
after drink and then food until we were about to burst with icecream on top of that. At one point during dinner they asked if we
liked Indian curry to which we responded that we did, and we were then informed that we had to come back to the ship for lunch that next
day. When we were leavng they handed us a heavy black trash bag that was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, can goods, chocolates,
coffee, and teas. We fell asleep that night wondering if we were dreaming and wondering what we had done to make them like us so much.
The next days lunch was filled with the same unbelievable hospitality with addition of two bottles of wine from the captain and a
picture print out of us and the crew made especially by the jolly Fijian welder. It was like we'd died and gone to heaven! Their early
departure later that night due to finishing their offload sooner than expected was actually kind of sad now that we'd made such good
friends with them. The Fijian captain who gifted us with the wines, gave us his contact info for when we arrive in Fiji. He is also
a pilot, so who knows the possiblities:-)
Friday, June 20, 2008
New pics on www.flickr.com, J&A Adventures and if you click on the sets to the right they're easier to view
Last entry until Niue or Samoa!
Hello everyone! Today we spent the morning running our six gallon water jug back and forth between the land and boat, topping off the water tank before our departure. Thank you to Charlie, the island keeper, for allowing us this priveledge. While James hydrated the boat, Amber circled the deck refilling any crevices with silicone anywhere that sea water might possibly leak in during the long journey we have ahead. We calculated the distance to Niue which is 1572 miles south, so with averaging approx. 100 miles a day, we're hoping for a little over two weeks(keep in mind that days without wind will be much slower). We're excited to start moving again. We definitely feel that although the people are great to us and a ton of fun, we've stayed our welcome and it's time to explore new lands! We did get invited tonight for a going away dinner and yacht club hang out afterwards. We're planning to give the crew a couple presents to show our appreciation. Good times!
Yesterday was another arrival and departure day for the scientists and "donors" here on the atoll. Aboard the plane with 12 other researchers, our friend Alex, from Honolulu, arrived around 3:00pm. Just as the rain and thunder clouds cleared, the plane appeared in the blue sky. We greeted everyone after a safe landing and after the crowds cleared away, we managed to get two more sodas AND a box of chocolates from Clay the pilot. We had a cd of pictures from his previous two arrivals and departures, including his incredibly low fly by, so it was an even exchange:-) With a ton of work to do in a short period of time, the researchers went straight to the lab, so we decided to take a hike down the runway, and then search for treasures and bones along the North shore of the islands. Not finding the latter, James did luck out and find an old snorkel and mask in the surge getting pushed under a palm tree. It was a little eerie because we were far away from the camp and the set didn't look weathered enough to be all the way from Hawaii...so where was the owner of this mask....was there a body to be found??...Thankfully no. However, when we got back to camp and showed our hosts what we found, James was the hero of the day! Apparently a well revered volunteer named Bob, lost the set over a month ago while hiking. The mask had prescription lenses built in, so in deed it was a real treasure! James solved the mystery of the missing mask! To our surprise, we were also invited for dinner on the atoll again! More delicious pork roast, baked potatoes, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and a sweet delight, homemade apricot cheese cake....all followed by premier showing of Finding Nemo on the big screen.(we gotta get out of here before we get too used to this and don't want to leave:-)
Yesterday was another arrival and departure day for the scientists and "donors" here on the atoll. Aboard the plane with 12 other researchers, our friend Alex, from Honolulu, arrived around 3:00pm. Just as the rain and thunder clouds cleared, the plane appeared in the blue sky. We greeted everyone after a safe landing and after the crowds cleared away, we managed to get two more sodas AND a box of chocolates from Clay the pilot. We had a cd of pictures from his previous two arrivals and departures, including his incredibly low fly by, so it was an even exchange:-) With a ton of work to do in a short period of time, the researchers went straight to the lab, so we decided to take a hike down the runway, and then search for treasures and bones along the North shore of the islands. Not finding the latter, James did luck out and find an old snorkel and mask in the surge getting pushed under a palm tree. It was a little eerie because we were far away from the camp and the set didn't look weathered enough to be all the way from Hawaii...so where was the owner of this mask....was there a body to be found??...Thankfully no. However, when we got back to camp and showed our hosts what we found, James was the hero of the day! Apparently a well revered volunteer named Bob, lost the set over a month ago while hiking. The mask had prescription lenses built in, so in deed it was a real treasure! James solved the mystery of the missing mask! To our surprise, we were also invited for dinner on the atoll again! More delicious pork roast, baked potatoes, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and a sweet delight, homemade apricot cheese cake....all followed by premier showing of Finding Nemo on the big screen.(we gotta get out of here before we get too used to this and don't want to leave:-)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Louis and Clark
As our days here on Palmyra are coming to an end, we've been trying to do all that there is to offer before we're kicked out on the 19th or 20th. A couple days ago, we ventured out of the west lagoon(which we are currently in) and took mini miti clear to the end of center lagoon. We felt like the first explorers to ever set eyes on the prestine shoreline. As we reached the furtherst point of the lagoon, the dinghy engine sputtered to a stop. That's right, we ran out of gas! No fear, we had a couple trusty paddles and the wind at our back helping to push us along. Now we really felt like early explorers:-) During the paddle back we had some very close encounters with the endangered red footed boobies(?) who would swoop by our heads in curiosity at very high speeds. Amber threatened to lessen their population with her paddle(probably something nature conservancy wouldn't be too thrilled about:-)
As of today, we hiked out to the west end of Cooper island with our buddy Dadu, the island dog. We found old military bunkers and buildings that were overgrown almost completely with vegetation. With some hesitation, we were able to enter into a couple of the drury, ghostly buildings. On the brighter side of things, we enjoyed an apple and a beautiful view of the ocean on the furtherst tip of the island before heading back to camp. The giant land crabs, species crabiolis maximus(jmz' scientific identification), gave us good entertainment along the way.
As of today, we hiked out to the west end of Cooper island with our buddy Dadu, the island dog. We found old military bunkers and buildings that were overgrown almost completely with vegetation. With some hesitation, we were able to enter into a couple of the drury, ghostly buildings. On the brighter side of things, we enjoyed an apple and a beautiful view of the ocean on the furtherst tip of the island before heading back to camp. The giant land crabs, species crabiolis maximus(jmz' scientific identification), gave us good entertainment along the way.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Dance Dance Dance!
Saturday night, Party time for Palmyrians! We were invited to the yacht club last night for music, ping pong mania, and latin belly dancing(which we are now experts at)! Most of the scientists are flying out today and they will be replaced with 12 other people, 7 of which are "Donors" to Palmyra atoll. It should be interesting to meet the newcomers and of course it's always fun to watch the plane land right in front of us. A couple new pictures are up on flickr. Hope you've been able to access them. Best wishes!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pictures
If you go on http://www.flickr.com/ and enter J&A Adventures under the people search, we have posted a few pictures from the trip so far. Enjoy!
Journal entries
5/30
First full day of sea proved to be very tiring on both our bodies. A combination of waves throwing us around with the lack of sleep from working so hard during the daysleading up to our departure, made everylittle task a chore. We did take on a simple task of sunbathing on the deck, and just like "tourists" we burnt to a crisp in tender areas. The idea of "No Lines" got to our heads:-) At night the winds died down to almost nothing.
5/31
The sun rose to us doing circles in light and variable winds. With limited fuel we waited out the calm patiently and by afternoon the winds retrned out of the east to send us happily chugging along. James and i alternated napping in the day still adjusting and trying to catch up on sleep. A delicious meal of velveeta shells adn cheese lead toa clear planetarium night sky. James was a champ and did watch from 12-7am! He's a stud! Amber really enjoye the extra zzzzz's.
6/3
Jmz awoke feeling well rested due to a six hour sleep because Amber's intriguing books wouldn't let her put them down. At lunch jmz enjoyed a peanut butterhoney and nutella sandwich and Amber ate a PB and mayo sandwich in dedicatin to her wise father:-) Feeling dirty and in hopes of a fresh water rain shower that never came,we showered with our trusty blue salt water bucket and Dawn soap(for grandma Johnson). No fresh rain came but we felt incredible and retired below with crabby(aka "thunder claw" due to his beautiful large yet tough, purple claw) on watch while us humans took a siesta. Crabby is our pet crab who followed us from the docks in Honolulu. He eats sandwiches and apples with us. To our dissapointment, we had our first casualty of the trip after we woke from our nap. As a squal approached us, james went to bring in the main sail, however, it was jammed. Amber scurried to the deck and after much pulling and sail flapping, Amber realized her long johnsthat were out hanging on the boom earlier that day, were now wrapped around the outhaul preventing the sail from moving. The sail being very old and in far from good condition, inevitabley ripped with all the added stress. It looked as if an animal claw tore through it with mighty force. A dissapointment, yes, but we knew it was going to happen one way or another. Lesson learned, no more hanging underpants from the lines...
6/4
Half way party day! the crew awakes well rested and looking for the 450 mile count as that is approx. half way to Palmyra. Jmz can hardly wait to open the present fromMario and Debbie(our friends in Honolulu). He's like a little kid on x-mas morning. After the experimental corn beef and hash luch is a complete success,we finally reach the count and it's present time! Together we unwrap the booty and find the treasure! Chocolates! Shark and pirate repellent, in the form of silly string!Coffee liquor to keep us warm on cold nights! Jelly preserves! and more Chocolates!! It was glorious! Thanks Mario and Debbie! We consumed most of the chocolates and had a sillystring fight right in the cabin. We were wild! As our good friend Jay says, "Go crazy, take your tops off, Pour beer on your heads, i don't care". As the party comotion died down, Jmz took a little nap and Amber sailed on with only the juib which proved to be a champ for speed and maintaining course.
6/7
Rough night last night. We both ended up taking buckets of water in our beds untill we decided it was time to put in the top part of the door. With what seemed like giant waves and howlingwinds, we were constantly getting pushed over to the lee side and engulfing water in the cock pit, however, Mai Miti handled it very well. Uncomfortable for the crew as our bodies were constantly fighting against the motion which caused a little grumpiness on Amber's part. We did have some mighty fine beef stew in a can for dinner. It was warm and simple; exactly what we needed for rougher weather.
6/9
Happy B-Day Erik!We made it! With sunfrise this morning we had a drifted about 5.6 miles from Palmyra and with the inching light, Jmz was the FIRST to see th atoll in the distance.James actually hand steered(first time since leaving Honolulu) to just outside the channel where the depth shallowed quickly and the water turned crystal clear.The vibrant yellows, whites and dark coral patches below wet our palets for the amazing snorkeling hopefully soon to be experienced. Upon entering the lagoon, John, the kive captian/coordiantior guy greeted us in his dive boat. With his blodn flowing hair, he showed us wheree to ancho adn then side tied to us he laid out therules/regualtions and quick history of Palmyra. His mellow demeanor was a nice welcome after many days at sea. With his departure, we began hanging all out to dryin attempt to make the boat "liveable" again. With success and a belly full f Ramen/potatoes, we took a nice long nap in the v-birth. Weell deserved and necessar for oursanity. After waking, we topped the dinghy engine off with fuel and and headed to land just before sunset. With little tie on solid ground, we greeted Daduthe island dog, and checked ou the fancy yacht club. Very rustic and unique place with much character. We look forwared to leaving our mark on it. We also met Susan, on the thegalley goddesses, Susun, Dan the scientist, and Charlie the island keeper. We already made a bad impression on him because we didn't bring out VHF radio on land which we are supposed to have with us at all times. Straight protocol for this guy. That is why right at dusk we brought the little dinghy(Mini Miti) back to Mai Miti. The atol rules are that no cruisers are to be on the island after sunset and before 8am. No loss on our part because we celebrated our arrival accomplishment with Beef alfredo angel hair pasta with mushrooms. Sitting in the cockpit enjoying the glow from the oil lamp, we reflected on the last couple of months and truly feltcontent and happy. A couple of grandma's cookies after, completed our night and we prepared for a calm, still night in the lagoons shelter.
6/10
With the rain falling steadily on the roof top, we had a long wonderful night of sleep. While Amber stayed sleeping in the early sunrise hours, Jmz took Mini Mitito shore to collect the 5 gallons of rain water we caught from the roof of the yacht club. With no real need to do much else, he climbed back into bed upon return untill late morning. With Jack Johnson's "makin' banana pancakes" in mind, we cooked up a feast of pancakes of every flavor imagineable. Mmm....mmmmm...Delicious! Weighing an extra couple pounds from those fluffy discs of joy and a cup of fresh roasted cafe we requested permission to go ashore and explore a little. Permission granted, we lightly explored the camp and north shore with our fearless guide, Dadu. The real excitement was at 1:30pm when a cargo plane landed on the old runway in rainy, windy,and overcast conditions. Coming from Honolulu, it brought some valued goods like papertowls(Alot), onions, beer, research equipment, and most needed, the IT guy to fix thewireless internet.With only 15 people on the island and a plane coming in only every month or so, there was a red carpet and greeting party for the offloading. Since we helped to unload the plane, we both lucked out with two ice cold refreshing sodas. It took a little wit and charm, but we walked away giggly and happy with our prized possessions. We then discovered the Swimming hole. "Swimming hole? What's so great about the swimming hold?" Everything!!! With a rope swing, a swimming platform for diving, trapezious hanging from the horizontal palmtree extending over the deep pool and crystal cool refreshing agua, we had a blast. John the boat guy said he could hear ourhooting and hollaring from the plane around the corner. We played for a while untill we heard the plane engine roar to life and headed back to the air strip so that wecould watch their take off. Good thing we did because after their intial take off which was already intense standing only 50 yards from the plane, the training co-pilot did a fly by, only 200ft from the ground over the runway. 200ft might seem high but in reality when you're sitting at the edge of the runway it seems like20ft. Amber chickened out by the incoming low,low,low plane and took off running! It was definately not OSHA approved for safety. With adrenaline pumping through our blood we went back to the swimming hole to cool down and then hit up the "Aquifer". The "Aquifer" is a fresh water shower hidden in the jungle next to the swimming hole.The shower is fead by the rain water which is collected in a big black barrel above. Although the water wasn't warm, it felt incredible as it was our first fresh shower in about two weeks. We felt like Adam and Eve, surrounded by nature, green jungle all around. Clean and fresh, we were ready to go back home and cook yet another amazing meal.This night we had elbow pasta in stewed tomatoes with olives, chicken, garlic powder, and olive oil. Eyes bigger than stomach we had to feed the left overs to Sammy the shark,who is one of the estimated thousands of black tipped reef sharks who live in this lagoon. Along with the giant manta rays that come in only a couple of feet from shore at nightto feed on the plankton in the dock lights, we think Crabby has surely met some new friends. (Atleast we hope so because he has apparently left his Mai Miti home.
6/12
What a day! After last nights cocktails and dinner party with the island staff, we woke up early and headed out the channel around 9am for snorkeling. We tied up to an orange buoy in Mini Miti, and explored the waters. We were awed by the brillant colors of the fish and corals surrounding us. Much more lively than other snorkeling we've done. The best part of it all was swimming with the manta rays and an occasional black tip shark who would wonder by in curiousity. A little nervous at times because of schools of black tips racing by our little 7 foot dinghy, we were still able to get within a couple feet of the friendly manta giants.
First full day of sea proved to be very tiring on both our bodies. A combination of waves throwing us around with the lack of sleep from working so hard during the daysleading up to our departure, made everylittle task a chore. We did take on a simple task of sunbathing on the deck, and just like "tourists" we burnt to a crisp in tender areas. The idea of "No Lines" got to our heads:-) At night the winds died down to almost nothing.
5/31
The sun rose to us doing circles in light and variable winds. With limited fuel we waited out the calm patiently and by afternoon the winds retrned out of the east to send us happily chugging along. James and i alternated napping in the day still adjusting and trying to catch up on sleep. A delicious meal of velveeta shells adn cheese lead toa clear planetarium night sky. James was a champ and did watch from 12-7am! He's a stud! Amber really enjoye the extra zzzzz's.
6/3
Jmz awoke feeling well rested due to a six hour sleep because Amber's intriguing books wouldn't let her put them down. At lunch jmz enjoyed a peanut butterhoney and nutella sandwich and Amber ate a PB and mayo sandwich in dedicatin to her wise father:-) Feeling dirty and in hopes of a fresh water rain shower that never came,we showered with our trusty blue salt water bucket and Dawn soap(for grandma Johnson). No fresh rain came but we felt incredible and retired below with crabby(aka "thunder claw" due to his beautiful large yet tough, purple claw) on watch while us humans took a siesta. Crabby is our pet crab who followed us from the docks in Honolulu. He eats sandwiches and apples with us. To our dissapointment, we had our first casualty of the trip after we woke from our nap. As a squal approached us, james went to bring in the main sail, however, it was jammed. Amber scurried to the deck and after much pulling and sail flapping, Amber realized her long johnsthat were out hanging on the boom earlier that day, were now wrapped around the outhaul preventing the sail from moving. The sail being very old and in far from good condition, inevitabley ripped with all the added stress. It looked as if an animal claw tore through it with mighty force. A dissapointment, yes, but we knew it was going to happen one way or another. Lesson learned, no more hanging underpants from the lines...
6/4
Half way party day! the crew awakes well rested and looking for the 450 mile count as that is approx. half way to Palmyra. Jmz can hardly wait to open the present fromMario and Debbie(our friends in Honolulu). He's like a little kid on x-mas morning. After the experimental corn beef and hash luch is a complete success,we finally reach the count and it's present time! Together we unwrap the booty and find the treasure! Chocolates! Shark and pirate repellent, in the form of silly string!Coffee liquor to keep us warm on cold nights! Jelly preserves! and more Chocolates!! It was glorious! Thanks Mario and Debbie! We consumed most of the chocolates and had a sillystring fight right in the cabin. We were wild! As our good friend Jay says, "Go crazy, take your tops off, Pour beer on your heads, i don't care". As the party comotion died down, Jmz took a little nap and Amber sailed on with only the juib which proved to be a champ for speed and maintaining course.
6/7
Rough night last night. We both ended up taking buckets of water in our beds untill we decided it was time to put in the top part of the door. With what seemed like giant waves and howlingwinds, we were constantly getting pushed over to the lee side and engulfing water in the cock pit, however, Mai Miti handled it very well. Uncomfortable for the crew as our bodies were constantly fighting against the motion which caused a little grumpiness on Amber's part. We did have some mighty fine beef stew in a can for dinner. It was warm and simple; exactly what we needed for rougher weather.
6/9
Happy B-Day Erik!We made it! With sunfrise this morning we had a drifted about 5.6 miles from Palmyra and with the inching light, Jmz was the FIRST to see th atoll in the distance.James actually hand steered(first time since leaving Honolulu) to just outside the channel where the depth shallowed quickly and the water turned crystal clear.The vibrant yellows, whites and dark coral patches below wet our palets for the amazing snorkeling hopefully soon to be experienced. Upon entering the lagoon, John, the kive captian/coordiantior guy greeted us in his dive boat. With his blodn flowing hair, he showed us wheree to ancho adn then side tied to us he laid out therules/regualtions and quick history of Palmyra. His mellow demeanor was a nice welcome after many days at sea. With his departure, we began hanging all out to dryin attempt to make the boat "liveable" again. With success and a belly full f Ramen/potatoes, we took a nice long nap in the v-birth. Weell deserved and necessar for oursanity. After waking, we topped the dinghy engine off with fuel and and headed to land just before sunset. With little tie on solid ground, we greeted Daduthe island dog, and checked ou the fancy yacht club. Very rustic and unique place with much character. We look forwared to leaving our mark on it. We also met Susan, on the thegalley goddesses, Susun, Dan the scientist, and Charlie the island keeper. We already made a bad impression on him because we didn't bring out VHF radio on land which we are supposed to have with us at all times. Straight protocol for this guy. That is why right at dusk we brought the little dinghy(Mini Miti) back to Mai Miti. The atol rules are that no cruisers are to be on the island after sunset and before 8am. No loss on our part because we celebrated our arrival accomplishment with Beef alfredo angel hair pasta with mushrooms. Sitting in the cockpit enjoying the glow from the oil lamp, we reflected on the last couple of months and truly feltcontent and happy. A couple of grandma's cookies after, completed our night and we prepared for a calm, still night in the lagoons shelter.
6/10
With the rain falling steadily on the roof top, we had a long wonderful night of sleep. While Amber stayed sleeping in the early sunrise hours, Jmz took Mini Mitito shore to collect the 5 gallons of rain water we caught from the roof of the yacht club. With no real need to do much else, he climbed back into bed upon return untill late morning. With Jack Johnson's "makin' banana pancakes" in mind, we cooked up a feast of pancakes of every flavor imagineable. Mmm....mmmmm...Delicious! Weighing an extra couple pounds from those fluffy discs of joy and a cup of fresh roasted cafe we requested permission to go ashore and explore a little. Permission granted, we lightly explored the camp and north shore with our fearless guide, Dadu. The real excitement was at 1:30pm when a cargo plane landed on the old runway in rainy, windy,and overcast conditions. Coming from Honolulu, it brought some valued goods like papertowls(Alot), onions, beer, research equipment, and most needed, the IT guy to fix thewireless internet.With only 15 people on the island and a plane coming in only every month or so, there was a red carpet and greeting party for the offloading. Since we helped to unload the plane, we both lucked out with two ice cold refreshing sodas. It took a little wit and charm, but we walked away giggly and happy with our prized possessions. We then discovered the Swimming hole. "Swimming hole? What's so great about the swimming hold?" Everything!!! With a rope swing, a swimming platform for diving, trapezious hanging from the horizontal palmtree extending over the deep pool and crystal cool refreshing agua, we had a blast. John the boat guy said he could hear ourhooting and hollaring from the plane around the corner. We played for a while untill we heard the plane engine roar to life and headed back to the air strip so that wecould watch their take off. Good thing we did because after their intial take off which was already intense standing only 50 yards from the plane, the training co-pilot did a fly by, only 200ft from the ground over the runway. 200ft might seem high but in reality when you're sitting at the edge of the runway it seems like20ft. Amber chickened out by the incoming low,low,low plane and took off running! It was definately not OSHA approved for safety. With adrenaline pumping through our blood we went back to the swimming hole to cool down and then hit up the "Aquifer". The "Aquifer" is a fresh water shower hidden in the jungle next to the swimming hole.The shower is fead by the rain water which is collected in a big black barrel above. Although the water wasn't warm, it felt incredible as it was our first fresh shower in about two weeks. We felt like Adam and Eve, surrounded by nature, green jungle all around. Clean and fresh, we were ready to go back home and cook yet another amazing meal.This night we had elbow pasta in stewed tomatoes with olives, chicken, garlic powder, and olive oil. Eyes bigger than stomach we had to feed the left overs to Sammy the shark,who is one of the estimated thousands of black tipped reef sharks who live in this lagoon. Along with the giant manta rays that come in only a couple of feet from shore at nightto feed on the plankton in the dock lights, we think Crabby has surely met some new friends. (Atleast we hope so because he has apparently left his Mai Miti home.
6/12
What a day! After last nights cocktails and dinner party with the island staff, we woke up early and headed out the channel around 9am for snorkeling. We tied up to an orange buoy in Mini Miti, and explored the waters. We were awed by the brillant colors of the fish and corals surrounding us. Much more lively than other snorkeling we've done. The best part of it all was swimming with the manta rays and an occasional black tip shark who would wonder by in curiousity. A little nervous at times because of schools of black tips racing by our little 7 foot dinghy, we were still able to get within a couple feet of the friendly manta giants.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
All Aboard!
The going away bbq has taken place and the engine compartment almost complete....Now it is time to cast the lines off and sail south! As many of you know, James and I are setting sail on an adventure into the Pacific ocean. Afloat our 26ft home, Mai Miti Vavau, we will explore small atolls and tropical islands we encounter along the way. First destination, Palmyra Atoll, approximately 900 miles south west of Oahu. The boat is loaded down with cookies and Reeses, so the crossing of a couple of weeks shouldn't be too bad:-) We can't wait for the starry nights,phosphorescence in our wake, and dolphins jumping at the bow as we head underway. We invite you all to follow our journey ahead as we hope to update this blog as much as possible. We also want to thank everyone for putting up with us this last year as we prepared for this trip. Whether it was family taking care of business back at home, friends running mail for us while lending an ear or a turtle van in needed times, the Outrigger crew for all those amazing tools and cold waters, west marine staff doing circles for parts, Ala Wai Marine for patiently answering millions of our questions with smiles and a red cup at hand, or the fuel dock gang with ono food and friday jams, we feel very grateful for you all. Aloha and A hui Hou!
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