Ship’s Log
The Passing of My Beloved Cindy…..
Thursday, March 17, 2011
On March 13, 2011, we lost our dearest, sweetest Cindy. Many of you may not know that she was suffering from a very deep depression; most severe since this past November. Despite all help, she decided in her pain she could no longer endure and chose to take her life. Cindy fought as hard as she could but in the end her demons were just too strong. No amount of understanding, rationalizing, or explaining the incomprehensible can begin to fill the void she has left in all our hearts, especially mine.
It was Cindy’s strongest wish to give the gift of life as she was a registered organ donor and hopefully others will live due to her generosity.
Please join us for a celebration of Cindy’s life.
Sunday, March 27th at 12 PM
California Yacht Club
4469 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
“Seeadler” photos….Letter from the Felix Count von Luckner Society
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Stolnitz,
what a suprise you made for us. I really would have loved being with you
when going down to the wreck of the legendary Seeadler. Perhaps I will have
the chance one time.
Thank you very much for sending us this information and the link to the
wonderful pictures.
Indeed one of our members long time ago also went down and even had the
chance to take two pieces of the wreck with him. Did you have the chance
too?
Did you also see the island itself? Is there still anything to be seen
remembering the Count’s “visit” in 1917?
In our society we are most interested in such information and pictures you
have taken. I think in one of our next newsletters I will tell about the
story and will provide the link to your website to our members.
Hope to hear from you again!
Thanks once more and best regards
Matthias J. Maurer
***********************************************
Felix Count von Luckner Society
Bernburger Str.7
D-06108 Halle a.d. Saale
Germany
Tel.: +49 (345) 2926722
Fax: +49 (345) 2926723
www.luckner-society.com
***********************************************
Welcome to Niue…..
Friday, July 30, 2010
Dear F&F,
29 July 2010
The island of Niue is in free association with New Zealand, one of the many islands of the South Pacific that without outside aid would economically collapse. Most native Niueans have emigrated to New Zealand in search of higher paying better jobs. More Niueans live in New Zealand than Niue by about 5 to 1.
Niue is a lovely high island and has virtually no outlying barrier reef. The exact opposite of Beveridge Reef. The sail began slowly, but during the night, the wind picked up in the 20+ knot range and we were making excellent time. We slowed down as to arrive around first light and once behind the islands leeward side we were treated to calm seas and high island views. We were really looking forward to the diving here and the most unusual way we “boaties” had to get ashore.
We pulled into Alofi Bay to discover “the crowd” had beat us in. Not only were there the seven boats we’d been with at Berveridge Reef, but an additional 10 other boats. The anchorage area in Niue is quite deep, so the Niue Yacht Club offers moorings for visiting yachts at a very reasonable fee. We went ashore to do our check in and some brief exploring including “almost real” markets. Commodore Keith and his wife Sue administrate the Niue Yacht Club which is hosted by Mamata (pronounced “mama-ta”) at her ice cream parlor and eatery. We soon were able to get on the internet, shop, buy a few nice bottles of Kiwi wine and arrange to go diving.
First I should mention that as Niue is a young island and has no outlying reef, it also has no sand beaches and no harbors. This makes getting ashore an interesting proposition. You take your dinghy up to a large crane hoist at the wharf. Passengers disembark, you hook up a bridle to the crane and step out of the dinghy. Sometimes a bit of “wave timing” becomes important lest you go for a swim. Then with an electric winch, your dinghy is lifted up to the height of the dock and swung over the concrete wharf where you can wheel it away or put in on a dolly (provided) and move it out of the way. It was pretty weird looking at up to 15 dinghies all lined up on the wharf as if in a parking lot. See 08 – 2010 Niue TOPSIDE Photo Gallery (which will be posted this week – January 2011).
Along with the diving, Niue is well noted for it’s hikes along the rugged coast into huge stone caverns and tidal pools.
We arranged for our first days dive at “Snake Gully” and wait till you see these pictures of CINDY HANDLING SEA SNAKES….. SEE: 07-08 – 2010 Niue UNDERWATER Photo Gallery…..posting this week, January 2011….
Go to the contact form at the homepage or drop us an email on this exciting event. We’d get to hear lots of humpback whales and swim with dolphins too. Hopefully some video of the dolphins and sea snakes will make it on the site soon…..
KIT (keep in touch),
Scott and Cindy
Beveridge Reef Exploration…..Disappointment Disolved!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Dear F&F,
27-28 July 2010
After moving to the South East side of the reef for comfort and protection from the “twitchy” entrance pass, we deployed the dinghy and started to explore the INSIDE of the west lagoon. First and most notably was the wreck of a small Niuean “long liner” (fishing boat), M/V “Liberty”. At only around 50 feet, it wasn’t spectacular as wrecks go, but in pretty good shape and the single most notable land mark on the reef. We took lots of photos, Cindy snorkeled around the wreck and I went aboard for some photos being careful not to get cut on the rusted hulk. We understood that this was a fishing vessel out of the Island of Niue and had been there for several years. See Photo Gallery Beveride Reef…..
On the way back (about a 1/2 mile) from “Beach House”, I noticed a strong dark line under the dinghy in about 10 feet of water. It seemed to run for 100’s of feet and was worth a second look. I turned around and stuck my head in the water with mask and BINGO, an old anchor chain that looked like it was from an old sailing ship at least 100+ years old. Cindy and I returned after a quick snorkel and found turn of the century motor pieces (that would be early 20th century by the way!). A big bonus was that we discovered two anchors awash on the reef. See Photo Gallery of Beveridge Reef UW. This was remarkably similar to the wreck of the “Seeadler” we had discovered on Mopelia in French Polynesia. As the added bonus of the day, despite the very shallow water, the lagoon here was in fantastic condition and the fish life abundant. We did a two hour shallow dive and were well rewarded; disappointment dissolved!
We got some great photos and I even snorkeled out to both anchors which were heavily awash on the western outer reef. Oh, if only the wreckage could speak!
We continued back to “Beach House” and discovered a second wreck only 150 yards in front of the boat. This was clearly a more modern fishing vessel and we found lots of refrigeration equipment in the shallow water inside the reef. We got the impression that if we had enough time, we’d find several more wrecks all around the lagoon.
By this time, s/v “Na Maka” had upped anchor and began the 130 mile trip to Niue. The entire rest of the 7 boat fleet had done so as well. The weather was predicted to turn for the worse in the next few days and prudently they high tailed it on to the far better roadsted on Niue’s protected eastern side. We felt that the risk was still low regarding the weather predictions and wanted to enjoy one night at this magical spot in the middle of the world’s largest ocean all to ourselves. The night sky was clear, the wind building and the stars seemed close enough to collect by hand….
Again, all good things must come to an end and we were looking forward to real shopping, another high island for protection and diving with the sea snakes, dolphins and hopefully humpback whales of Niue. We bid farewell to Beveridge Reef on July 28th with expectations of arriving before noon the next day at Niue.
Stay tuned,
Scott and Cindy
Beveridge Reef…..Arrival and Initial Disappointment…..
Monday, July 26, 2010
Dear F&F,
23 – 26 July 2010
We left for Beveridge Reef from Palmerston Atoll with a very favorable weather report. As Beveridge Reef is literally a circle of rocks 1500 miles from anywhere (anywhere truly being a relative term!), approaching it in fair weather would be essential.
This tiny coral reef, 2 miles long by 1 mile wide was discovered in 1847 by the British Sailing Brig “Beveridge”. Economically it is tied to the island nation of Niue, 130 miles to it’s north-north west. Please understand. There is absolutely NO LAND here. The coral is either awash completely at high tide or it can be as high as an entire 3 feet above sea level at low tide. Navigators beware!
As we had our lovely “weather window”, a small flotilla of us left Palmerston at the same time believing in safety in numbers. Along with s/v “Beach House” were, s/v “Na Maka”, s/v “Visions of Johanna”, s/v “Curious” and s/v “Bubbas”. A two day and two night passage was planned to cover the 350 miles and have us arrive just after sunrise which would not impede our vision in looking for a needle in a haystack on the high seas. There is a safe entry pass on the leeward side, as deep as 30 feet and perhaps 100 yards wide. After Maupiti, Mopelia and Aitutaki, this should be easy….As long as we can find it!
Our flotilla was slowly approaching Beveridge Reef just after sunrise on the 25th of July. Due to the sailing/cruising coconut jungle information we had acquired from previous vistors and modern GPS equipment, we sited Beveridge Reef almost 8 miles away with our radar. Remember, not even a coconut tree exists here! But wait, it actually looked like there were some coconut trees here?
We got out the binoculars and scanned the horizon and quickly realized…..WE WERE NOT ALONE. There were already 4 other sailboats anchored inside.
We excitedly hailed them on the VHF and were relieved to hear the pass was indeed a wide and easy entry. s/v “Visions of Johanna” led the way and soon we were 8 boats all anchored in the middle of the South Pacific about as far away from civilization as you can imagine.
So why did we all come to this pristine atoll anyway? Glad you asked!…….DIVING of course.
We heard that the coral was spectacular, the pelagic (deep ocean) fish including schools of gray reef sharks were abundant. So the first thing we did after anchoring was get ready to go diving. The ocean was so calm, it looked like a lake. We got all the gear in the dinghy and off we went to the reef pass. Anchoring just outside and to the south of the entry pass, we were careful of the current and took the plunge. It was completely different than we thought it would be. First, the reef was not spectacular at all. It, like Aitutaki was covered in sand. There were either no fish or occasional pockets of cool schools of puffers and large snappers. We finally saw a few gray reef sharks, but not the schools we had hoped for like at South Fakarava in the Tuamotus. We were bummed! We got back to the boat, cleaned up and decided we should take a trip in the dinghy up and down the east side (protected from the swell) of the outer reef.
First, it’s very wide shelf that starts at around 10 feet and goes seaward for 1/4 mile only gradually getting deeper. Many places were less than a 100 feet deep several hundred yards off the coral reef. So no spectacular “drop offs” were found which often attract big animals. Also, the entire length of the protected side looked pretty dead. We did see the odd small groups of gray reef sharks, but nothing spectacular. We felt that what was to be perhaps the pristine dive site of a lifetime, turned out to be a bust. Several of the other boats scouted other areas along the entire east side with their dinghies and reported the same.
We returned in disappointment to “Beach House” and almost as annoying was that the lagoon was pretty bumpy at high tide. Despite calm weather, the swell came over the reef at high tide and made this an uncomfortable anchorage. As Cindy and I are not fond of these conditions (we were just near the entry pass), I emailed friends Bruce and Alene from s/v “Migration” and asked them about their experience here from the year before. We received Bruce’s email the next morning and the first thing he said was, “Don’t anchor near the pass, it’s too twitchy”!…. So it took no more than this for Cindy and I to up anchor and move to the reef on the south east side to get protection behind it and get away from the pass.
We crept across the lagoon carefully and quickly learned there we no dangers until you approached the sand/coral shelf which was 8-10 feet deep. The visibility was so clear, you could easily see any rocks, but there were very few. The anchorage was immediately 75% calmer. Jerome & Nat of s/v “Na Maka” asked us by radio if we like it better, we said, “much better” “Na Maka” was next to us within the hour……Stay tuned, things were about to get much better….fast!
Scott & Cindy
Final Days at Palmerston Island….
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Dear F&F,
We’d heard that when you were at Palmerston the locals did everything they could to “get some work out of you”. We were no exception!
As soon as they found out we were SCUBA divers, we were put to work. First, we checked our own mooring to make sure it was in good shape and for the most part, it was. So in “payment” for our using Edwards mooring, he asked if we would put in another one for him. We did this as well as serviced two others for him. Then Bob got into the act! His moorings had all disappeared during the last Hurricane. I put 4 new moorings in for Bob. Then Corey, Jock’s husband wanted me to replace his. I couldn’t find the giant anchor he said I “couldn’t miss” so that one remained lost. We tried! All in all, a lovely reef which Cindy did one fun dive on with me; but I got to work for my supper….:) My mooring work was particularly appreciated by friends catamaran from South Africa. One morning we saw him drifting away from the reef and hailed him on the radio to wish him a good trip to his next stop, the island of Niue. He called back that I had awoken him and he was sure glad I did as his anchor had dragged and he was drifting away from the reef. If the wind had been blowing the other way, it would have been ugly. He picked his dangling anchor up and picked up a mooring I had set up the day before. He remained firmly attached for the rest of his stay.
On our next to last day, we had arranged an “all cruisers party” which we “boaties” would bring lots of goodies too and it was hosted at Bob’s. We weren’t exactly sure why Edward and Simon were okay with this, but suffice it to say, the “boaties” put their feet down. Bob and Edward chewed the fat (literally) and it was a wonderfully successful event. By this time, there were 10 boats in the anchorage so we had quite the gathering and some good breeze to test my new mooring installations. Happily, all were solid including the one holding 60,000 lb. s/v “Visions of Johana”. See the Photo Gallery of Palmerston Island for details.
A rare visit by a supply boat also occurred on our last day which made all the locals really happy and lastly, Bill’s wife was picked up by the Rarotongan Coast Guard to be taken by their vessel 500 miles to testify at an assault trial which she had witnessed a year earlier while visiting Rarotonga, (Capitol of the Cook Islands).
All in all, there are 15 Cook Islands spread out over an area over 1/2 the size of the USA! The largest can be driven around by car in 30 minutes!
All good things must end and after a final tour by Taia and a dinner we hosted for Bob’s family aboard “Beach House”, we reluctantly but excitedly prepared to sail to one of the more remote destinations on Planet Earth….”Beveridge Reef”…..stay tuned!
Good bye Palmerston Island, we had a most delightful and memorable experience.
Scott & Cindy
Palmerston Church & Tour…..
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Dear F&F,
Sunday is church day on Palmerston Island and we were invited to attend.
Bob and Taia picked us up and we were whisked through the boat pass to shore. Here we met all the islands ladies and many gentleman dressed in their Sunday finest.
The religion is the Cook Islands Christian Church a Protestant denomination. The founder of the church, an Englishman, famously went on to be eaten by the islanders in Vanuatu a 1000 miles west of here in the mid/late 1800’s.
The service was about an hour, some lovely singing and we met the islands nurse, Jock who was the Church’s Deacon and school principal, Yvonne. Yvonne was the wife of Teddy and she had emigrated from the Netherlands. Her sister had married a Marsters and she met and married one herself.
After the lovely service (see Photo Gallery of Palmerston Island), we met Daniel, an Aussie ex-pat who lived in the UK and was a PHD candidate living on the island for the last 6 months. Daniel was even taller than me so you can imagine he stood out quite a bit. His thesis was not so much on the genealogy of the Marsters but rather about the viability of their future. He had lived amongst all the families and finally had his own digs on Bob’s land in William Marsters’ son’s house. Also, the former infirmary. His tenure their was a bit mixed having gotten along with most of the families but after we had left, we heard he was on the outs with Simon and Edward’s family. About what? We don’t know. He was great friends with one of the current patriarchs, Bill, who ran the Palmerston Island Yacht Club. His Mom, Hinano was soon to become my dental patient. Who knew!? First, Bill….
Bill had spent a great time “off island” and was perhaps the most worldly guy on the island. He opened the Palmerston Island Yacht Club on the premise that an annual world cruising rally would be coming through. The “boaties” wanted a watering hole and gathering spot. Indeed, 150 boats showed up one year (about 10 years ago) and it was a great local hit. However, as the anchorage was a bit tenuous, the cruising rally chose to skip Palmerston in the future and the Yacht Club pretty much has lied empty since. Bill will tell his tale of lament to anyone who will listen. It’s kind of a cool place and is where I first met Hinano, his Mom.
Jock told me that Hinano had a dental infection for several days and her face had indeed swollen up to three times normal. She asked if I’d have a look. News travels fast when you have a skill in a place like Palmerston. Hinano, 82 years young, the islands oldest resident had asthma and a wonderful disposition. Jock, the nurse was asking my opinion, but all along grooming me to remove the tooth for her. I asked her if she had taken any teeth out before and she said yes, about 85, but I break a lot of roots!
She had indeed taken 3 out of Bob the week before I arrived. Unfortunately for Bob, two were the wrong teeth!… Doing this without X-ray in the USA would be malpractice, out here, not so much. My concern of course was Hinano’s age, asthma and who knew what those roots were going to look like on a back lower first molar?!!! Jost told me she didn’t know how to numb lower teeth so was doubly glad I was there. 20 minutes later, the tooth was out and patient doing well. The next day she wanted to adopt me.
We’d met Bob in one of our Taia tours and along tagged Mehau, her youngest and cute as a button sister. Mehau was about 9 years old and endeared herself to Cindy immediately. She constantly punched me, I took that as a sign of acceptance. She is a very photogenic young girl and you can see her on the Photo Gallery of Palmeston Island along with the who family……We interestingly learned on our second tour that William Marsters asked to be buried NEXT to his headstone and not under the headstone as is traditional. Why? He wanted everyone to walk on him so he would be remembered. It was said that Taia’s grandmother Sara had done the same.
All in all another very successful day at Palmerston Island.
Scott and Cindy
Palmerston Atoll Day 2…….
Monday, July 19, 2010
Dear F&F,
We were first to arrive, but the Puddle Jump fleet was about to arrive and in numbers!
Several hours after we’d arrived, s/v “Na Maka” with Jerome, NAT and the kids arrived in the middle of the night. Jerome is not timid and found one of the two other moorings next to which he tied too. The next morning, bright and early, Simon and Edward came to “claim” our French friends.
As they were not in time for the great customs check in, they were told they would have to wait till Monday morning which didn’t make them exactly happy. C’est la vie! as they say in France.
We also knew that s/v Quickstar, s/v Visions of Johanna and s/v Curious were not far behind. As we were all pretty close and we were in email contact, we would try and give Bob a heads up as to when they expected to arrive. The reason this mattered is that part of the curious behavior of the claiming process is that the families don’t like the “boaties” to get together unless they are with the same claiming family. Why? Well, it’s due to those long ago established exclusive trading rights business. Please understand. There are NO STORES on this island. NONE, ZIP, ZERO. All food is imported, grown or caught. Hence, we “boaties” were and are a prime source of supplies to all the islanders.
Everything from gasoline, tools, entertainment and yes even food are substantially supplied by visiting yachts. The trading ships that do come here make only random visits 2-3 times per YEAR!
The next day, our host family showed up in force. Bob, daughters Taia and Goldeen along with son Bob. Bob was trying to be very careful not to damage our boat with his aluminum dinghy and yelled at Taia just before touch down, “BAH MA GA”!…… Suddenly, Taia stood up and kept Bob from playing ding “Beach House”.
They came aboard to invite us to lunch, all smiles and very pleasant. I asked Taia if she had a clue what “BAH MA GA” meant and she said, “Of course”, it means “Push Em’ off Girl”! I said, “You’re kidding?” She smiled and told me that they speak two languages. English and Cook Island Pidgeon. The Pidgeon amonst themselves and the English to the rest of us. I asked if it was a Polynesian dialect similar to Maori? She said, “No not really, no other Cook Islanders would be able to speak it to us”. She said none of them spoke Polynesian per say but just the local Pidgeon.
We were whisked off to shore through “Boat Pass”, a very small unmarked tricky twisty shallow pass through the reef. Once ashore, we were given a tour of the house. Think very rustic charmer!…. Then lunch, lot of Parrot fish and then a tour of the island by Taia. This to me was a great highlight of our visit. Taia, who is a wonderful young lady has had it pretty rough. She had to go to New Zealand as a very young child and missed a great deal of school. The reason for the trip was a one year medical visit to have eye surgery, a small benign tumor removed and re-hab. So, it wasn’t exactly fun. The Marsters due to their unique heritage have three threads of health issues. Eyes, asthma and joint issues. This of course has made them a bit of a living laboratory for various study groups from around the world.
The tour was amazing. Taia had done it a hundred times, but made it seem very fresh to me and unabashedly answered any questions. She told us about the families history, the infighting, the jealousies, etc. She among all the islanders was the most open about the history as she understood it. We were shown the demarcation lines of the three families on “Home Island”. It quickly became clear that Bob’s family had the largest piece by far of “Home Island”. Though all divided amongst the families in roughly equal amounts when you added up all 7 islands, Home Island was largely Bob’s families’. As this was the case and everyone lived here, Bob donated the land for the Church and the School. The original William Marsters house and his first son’s house were also here as was the islands main cemetary.
Cindy and I asked why boats like ours were not allowed to enter what was known as “Big Pass”. Jerome had heard that some boats including a catamaran from the year before had entered the shallow pass. We were told officially that it “hurt fishing”. That some of the past “boaties” had polluted the lagoon with their toilets.
Jerome listened, read between the lines and it was his opinion (which I shared), that it all came down to control. If the “boaties” were inside, they wouldn’t need an escorted ride ashore. This meant that the host family could not control their movement and it came down to that trading thing again. Frankly, Bob didn’t seem to care so much, but he knew that the other two families did. Another advantage Bob’s family had was that all shore traffic had to pass right in front of his house and land on his beach. The other families had no choice, but didn’t seem trustful of each other when it came to “business”. Socially, they seemed to get along fine, but when it came to trade….a trade war was always a looming possibility.
For details on our tour with Taia, see the captions in the Photo Gallery of Palmerston Island.
Scott and Cindy
Palmerston Passage, Atoll arrival…..
Dear F&F,
After our adventure in “up anchoring”, we set sail for what would be an expected brief 200 mile passage to Palmerston Atoll. We pushed on and made the 200 miles in 36 hours arriving at 4 p.m on the 18th of July. This trip was much lighter in wind and smaller of sea than our last, but Cindy wasn’t doing so well; we’d be happy to be moored after two days and one night at sea. If any of you have seen the Tom Hanks movie, “Cast Away” or the movie “Nim’s Island” with Jodie Foster, this is the area of the Pacific where they would have taken place.
Palmerston would be one of our more interesting stops due to it’s unique history in the South Pacific. It turns out that in the mid 1800’s, a whaler by the name of William Marsters jumped overboard and swam ashore at what was an uninhabited island in the middle of the South Pacific. An atoll only 4 miles in length and 3 in width, Marsters somehow acquired a wife from distant Tuvalu in the northern Cook Islands. Soon, his wife became lonely and somehow got her two female cousins imported to Palmerston and soon enough, William Marsters had started three families.
Marsters over his lifetime realized that intermarriage amongst his immediate offspring would not be a good idea and due to clannish jealousies which were to eventually evolve, he set up strict rules for the families to follow about intermarriage and divided the seven small islands up between the three families. Each of the three families owned a part of each island, but in varying amounts. Long story short, everyone of the remaining islanders eventually all moved to “Home Island” as it was the most habitable and easiest to get in and out of the reef at. Additionally, as it was on the down wind side, trading vessels which stopped to anchor here would chose this island as the natural protection it is from the prevailing wind and sea conditions. Segue to 2010!
After over 2500 of Marsters descendants had moved off the island (mostly to New Zealand or Australia; a few to other Cook Islands), the society has some pretty quirky traditions. First and foremost is the concept of “claiming” a visitor. In the old whaling days, when a family spotted a sailing ship approaching the island, they would with great skill and not a small amount of danger, race out to be the first to make contact. This entitled them according to family rules and traditions to EXCLUSIVE trading rights with that vessel. This led to arguments, jealousies and a plethora of issues between the three Marsters clans. This tradition REMAINS TODAY! By the way, there are only 62 Marsters still on “Home Island” as of this writing. Most are under the age of 25.
We had read in a sailing magazine an article by Captain Fatty Goodlander and his wife Carolyn’s experience here with the Bob Marsters family.
They sounded good to us and so we kind of hoped we’d be “claimed” by them. When we arrived 3 miles from the anchorage (no access to the inner lagoon…well that’s another story), we saw a small aluminum skiff with an outboard and a man and a young woman aboard. They quickly came up to us and told us they were Bob and Taia Marsters. This was indeed the same family easily recognized by the photos from Captain “Fatty”. Feeling a little relieved, we were instructed to follow them to the anchorage. We were the only boat there!…. We saw three moorings and went to pick one up. Bob told us we could, “for the night”, but he’d have to ask his cousin’s Simon and Edward if it would be okay and what they would want from us in return to use it. It seems that only Edward and Simons moorings were in tact from the last Hurricane and Bob had none to offer. We tied up and were moored literally to the minute before “customs” closed for the weekend which would have kept us onboard till Monday.
Simon and another cousin by marriage, Teddy (representing the third family), appeared just before 6 pm on Friday night. They quickly checked us in and told us how lucky we were to have arrived when we did or we would have not been able to come ashore till Monday morning. Bob coached us to tell Teddy that we had hailed by radio before 5 pm or we’d be stuck for the weekend. Why? Who knows, it’s all part of the politics of Palmerston Island. The anchorage was more comfortable than the outside of Aitutaki so we were hopeful of a pleasant stay.
The next several days turned into a fascinating tour and history lesson and quite a learning experience about present day politics on this small island in the South Seas!…
Stay tuned.
Scott & Cindy
HOW WE DECIDE WHEN TO LEAVE…..
Friday, July 16, 2010
Dear F&F,
July 15-16, 2010
HOW WE DECIDE WHEN TO LEAVE
Thursday, July 15
We must exit this island’s shallow pass during high tide. The tide gets
later by nearly an hour every day. Wednesday July 14 Scott helped lead in
our Canadian dock mates on sailboat “Quickstar” at 11:40 a.m. Thursday’s
time was 12:30 p.m. Friday will be 1:35 p.m. If we wait any longer, we will
be obliged to do one of two less than desirable actions: spend one night
anchored outside the reef and leave the next morning. OR leave right away on
the late tide & have to spend 2 nights at sea for the 200 mile trip to our
next destination
I was tempted to stay another 2 weeks, when the high tide would cycle around
to be in the mornings again. Peter & Diana just arrived & we only had 2
nights to catch up with them. Sailboat “Visions of Johanna” are due to
arrive July 17, so we would just miss them! Scott’s compelling argument that
we leave Friday was the reminder that the large group of “Puddle Jumpers”
would likely catch up to us if we lingered here that long. Hmmm… We like a
certain amount of socialization, but that group is big. Often 50 boats
descending on an island altogether. Marcus told us his experience with this
crowd in Moorea which sounded awful. I agreed with Scott, we will depart
Friday & push our speed to spend only 1 night at sea.
Once our decision was made, we began to get into “go mode”. Hoarding more
food, stowing loose items in their proper place onboard, saying our
goodbye’s. We thanked the following Aitutaki residents for their kindness &
assistance: Pitonga from Air Rarotonga, Richard & Onu from Bubbles Below,
Bob at Customs (while Scott completed official check-out paperwork), Bonnie
from the fuel station, Allen from Rino’s scooter rentals, the free range egg
lady and all the workers in the nearest market who were always friendly &
helpful. They are used to yachties & other tourists coming & going. Our stay
was longer than most. Despite disappointing scuba diving, the lagoon clams
were a happy surprise and it was the calmest anchorage I am likely to see in
2 months. It is unlikely that we will ever return there, and that knowledge
gives me a bit of pang. Just as we settle in & become familiar & comfortable
with a place it seems time to leave. This is the bane of us vagabonds: Do I
Stay or Do I Go? (can you hear the song?
We had lunch at Mac Ned’s. We had been told by several people they have the
best burgers on the island. Scott preferred his burger at Koru (where I had
the best ever fish & chips), but I was pleased with the Mac Ned burger.
Finding a slice of beet in with the beef patty & cheese was a pleasant
surprise. Never met a vegetable I didn’t like! We both agreed the fries &
thick shakes were terrific. You have to order a “thick” shake to get it
American style. If you just order a milkshake, you’ll get a very thin one –
more milk than ice cream.
LAST DAY at AITUTAKI – Friday July 16
I wanted to buy more eggs if possible & see what other produce I can score
at the market. Food hoarding mentality is in full gear as we prepare to sail
even further “off the grid”. Scott gets more New Zealand dollars from the
ATM because the next island where we might need money (Niue) does not have
an ATM. Apparently you can get a cash advance on your credit card at the
bank, but we have been stockpiling NZ money here since we know we will use
it.
We had heard a couple days ago that a local cargo ship was coming in from
Rarotonga. We thought that was a bit weird since everyone had assured us
they get supplies by ship only once a month, directly from NZ. When we awoke
today & looked out the pass we saw the cruise ship Paul Gauguin! What a
surprise. Too big to come into the pass, they use high speed shuttles to
ferry their passengers ashore. They set up a shade tent, literally rolled
out a red carpet & had local natives hitting drums & one man in a hula skirt
blowing a conch shell in welcome. The first time we saw & heard the show it
was amusing. The 2nd shuttle’s welcome routine was still interesting. We
were stunned to see a mass of tourists descend on sleepy little Aitutaki. By
the 3rd shuttle, it was annoying & we needed to get on with our business.
Scott took a few minutes of video of the mayhem. Their “Welcome Tent” was
set up exactly where we tie our dinghies to come ashore. Big step up onto
the cement wharf, dry landing with old car tires as fenders.
One uniformed cruise crew member gave me a hand with my empty shopping bag,
my full trash bag & assisted me as I stepped up onto the red carpet. A
manager (we guess) came over & told me that I was disturbing his operation.
He asked us to move immediately. Telling us we must go ashore over there, in
the mud (wet landing). I told him, with no hesitation whatsoever: “We have
been living here a month. It is YOUR Operation that is inconvenient to us.”
I did not turn around but heard him aghast “Well, excuse me!” Indeed! I did
NOT excuse him & was royally pissed that a fancy pants cruise ship can come
in & take over a place like they own it with no regard of sharing the only
public dock. The irritating little man did not dare say a word to 6 foot 4
inch tall Scott as he secured our dinghy in the “forbidden” area & followed
behind me. Yes sometimes size matters.
BOOTY DU JOUR: The market that has ALWAYS had plenty of refrigerated eggs
has none today. Oh well. I have 2 dozen in the fridge & 4 dozen free range,
never refrigerated eggs that will keep fine up to a month. I must turn each
egg upside down every day. Somehow this helps preserve them. As we eat up
the cold ones & have more space, I will add one dozen to the fridge at a
time.
I bought more apples, cucumbers & paper towels. A big bag of green tomatoes
& some bell peppers. Only found lettuce once during our entire stay. The
real score was a liter of chocolate ice cream! I have not had ice cream in
our freezer since the bars I bought in the Galapagos. Usually it is just too
far from the market to our freezer to risk it becoming a melty mess.
ADVENTURES IN ANCHORING, again!
The high tide to exit the very shallow pass of Aitutaki was at 1:35 p.m.
Every inch of water under the boat matters. We were anchored in the flat
calm marina with 4 other boats, a bit cozy depending on which way the wind
was blowing. One was a local fishing boat on a mooring very near shore. The
other cruising boats were all anchored bow & stern, including us. Marcus &
Tina crewing on the 56 foot catamaran “Blue Callaloo” were very likely over
our bow anchor. Try to follow along as I describe the up-anchoring dance (no
quiz at the end):
Scott is on Beach House controlling our engines to move her forward & back.
Plus operating both electric anchor windlasses with cabled remote controls.
At first I am in our dinghy giving her a push on starboard (R side) because
the wind (thankfully not strong) was pushing us to the right. Friend Peter
of sailboat “Quickstar” came out in his dinghy to help & positioned himself
toward the bow to be a bow thruster. With the 2 of us preventing Beach House
from drifting sideways into the fishing boat or Bernard’s little monohull,
Scott was left to the deed of paying out bow chain, while picking up the
stern. It was all working fine until the last moment when it was apparent
that the stern anchor was stuck in the mud. He kept trying to drive it out
every which way, but no luck. On to Plan B:
I tie up our dinghy amidships & climb on board to help get Scott into scuba
gear. He really wanted a trowel or shovel of some kind to take with him
below to dig the anchor out. Gardening tools we don’t have! I grab a sturdy
metal file & toss it to him while he gets ready to descend. Later, I
realized the crowbar would probably be the tool of choice. I get on the
stern anchor controls. Peter suggests I keep trying to pull up the anchor.
Scott had already tried every which way without success, but Scott (in the
water with tank, but still on the surface) agrees. So I push the UP button &
Voila – success!
I quickly help wet & salty Scott climb back onboard & get out of his scuba
gear. Sometimes you just have to “threaten” an anchor & then they behave. We
then go to our stations for upping the bow anchor. Me at the helm, Scott on
the bow rinsing & “un-castle-ing” the chain in the locker. Un-castle-ing
means tossing the stack of chain that piles up, spreading it out more. If we
don’t do this, the mound of chain will rise right up to the windlass & there
is nowhere for the chain to go, it just gets backed up & the windlass stops
working. This is a BLUE job because it is wet, dirty and his longer arms
work better to reach down into the chain locker for de-castle-ing. And
especially now with my R hand gimpy, I am better able to drive the boat than
handle the chain.
Marcus, Captain of Blue Callaloo is now using his dinghy to push his own
catamaran sideways out of our way, so we can retrieve our bow anchor which
is under their boat. They arrived 2 weeks after us & with the limited space
in the marina, had to anchor over our bow. We expected some maneuvers with
that boat when we departed. Because of the wind angle, he is positioned on
the R side, pushing Blue Callaloo. to the left Peter is playing tugboat to
Beach House as needed. I am at the helm & Scott is on the bow upping that
anchor. We leave both anchors submerged just below the waterline because
their scoops are filled with mud. Driving around a bit with them wet, causes
the mud to wash off.
Once I am free to move, I proceed to maneuver where I know there is a safe
depth & I can turn Beach House nose to the wind. Scott had a different idea
of what I should be doing & got quite beside himself when I did not “follow
orders”, but used my own judgment. Let’s just say it was one of our “Italian
Moments”: Some yelling from him. Some cursing from me. But when it was all
said & done we gave high fives & complimented each other on handling a
tricky situation about as well as possible. It was not graceful, but we
didn’t hit another boat or run aground, so we are happy.
I will make a separate post for the passage because I am getting long
winded.
Cindy & Scott
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