GHOST

We planned to leave Palmerston on Tuesday morning but during the night the wind completely died. Unfortunately as the mooring line we were on was very long we were worried that with no wind blowing us offshore we might end up swinging onto the reef. During the process of shortening the line (at 1am in the pitch dark of course) the boat drifted forward over the deep mooring line and slipped in between the keel and the saildrive - not fun. Eventually we managed to pull the line through and decided our best course of action was to move to the buoy that Brad had very serendipitously laid earlier in the day! Taia who was staying on board overnight proved very handy with the torch (thank you Taia) and after tying up we all headed to bed for some well deserved rest.

Given the light winds we decided to postpone our departure and make the most of an extra day in Palmerston to donate our goodies to the school in person and spend more time with Bob and his family. The other boats that Bob was hosting (Inspiration Lady and Mistral 3) also decided to stay and we spent the morning with Bob showing us how to de-husk coconuts using a wickedly sharp spike. It is actually quite tough work but in the end Brad managed a time of 1 minute, vs less than 30 seconds for Bob and Taia! After the coconuts are dehusked (so that they look like the coconuts you always imagine) Bob cracked them open and used a stool with a grating device fastened to one end to quickly grate the coconut flesh. Then Tupou squeezed the grated coconut in muslin to produce coconut cream which was to be the sauce for a delicious banana cake she had made for desert.

It was great to visit the school again, this time with the kids all very quietly carrying on with their individual work plans until they all spilled out into the playground for a large group game of football at lunch. The family had been up early preparing lunch in an underground oven and today's feast consisted of coconut bread, parrotfish, chicken and chops all slow cooked in the oven and served with rice.

We then had a very relaxed afternoon walking around the island and chilling out with Bob and his family who showed us how in the past they used palm leaves to make roofing materials and various other things including balls, plates, hats and more! Bob and Taia had a race to make the first palm roof panel and it was great to see this lovely family all laughing away together. We all sat around relaxing, chatting, being entertained and watching whales surfaces around the boats just offshore. Bob's theory on life is to walk, not run, which is probably a good one for us to try to hold onto (at least a bit) when we get home but at the very least we managed to embrace it for a few on days on Palmerston.

Taia then took us to feed the pigs and chickens (who luckily are all very fond of coconuts) and Bury (also called Andrew) talked to us about his coming of age party where the family will host a big celebration for all of the islanders and braid his extremely long hair into lots of dreadlocks so each islander can cut one off. The party was going to be held as soon as the supply boat arrived and it was eagerly awaited sometime in the next fortnight, already being a couple of months overdue. Apparently the boat was only bringing food though so we were glad to be able to donate some alcohol and Bob looked a bit amazed as we decanted a couple of bottles from our jerry can of rum, and he was particularly happy with the mini Heineken keg!

Keen to be moving on despite light winds we decided that a night of motoring would be a good in order to get plenty of sleep (there is something comforting about the rhythmic beat of the engine) and also to top up the water tanks. So we headed off that evening with a sad farewell to Bob's family and all of the Marsters - it really was a fantastic experience that only 50 odd boats a year are lucky enough to enjoy.

It was a nice calm night, a very welcome change from the heavy weather of the previous week and we settled into our usual 3 hour-ish watch pattern with iPods full of new TV shows to watch. I was on again at 8am this morning and put out the fishing lines, keen to try and catch something with the new lures we had bought in Tahiti. So far our Pacific fishing rewards have been pathetic, a stark contrast to the very successful Atlantic and Caribbean fishing that I calculated actually had us in profit even after paying for an expensive crimping kit (yes I know it's sad but I am an accountant after all). On the Pacific crossing the few tuna we caught had all been small and under advice from the Director of Fishing (Jay - also the Director of Fossil Fuels) we put them all back. We had also snagged a few fish that all looked quite big before they bit through our lines and made off with our lures. But now we have big hooks, fancy lures and metal tracers in the hope of landing something meaningful....

Success! By mid morning we had a large green fish surfing behind the boat so I shouted down to wake up Brad. With our fishing procedures now down pat (put out the fish killer mat, get the fish killer gin ready, the gaff, knives, bucket and washing up bowl in position) Brad soon hauled in the fish and posed, after subduing this monster of the deep, for the obligatory photo. I was just waiting for Brad to finish the filleting process so I could pull in the lines (as we now had enough for a few days worth of meals) when suddenly the other line had an even bigger mahi mahi doing some pretty impressive flips in a desperate bid for freedom.

In an ideal world we'd have freed fish number 2 but it was even bigger than the first and we needed to leave it to tire itself out before hauling it in (we still only run hand lines). So knowing we'd be catching up with Delos soon we decided to keep both fish and make the ultimate sacrifice - turn the beer fridge into a freezer! The decision made, we hung fish 1 up on the lifelines at the back of the boat and worked to bring in number 2. Being male he was much wider and about 1.5m long. After a bit of a battle both fish were on board and Brad had the unenviable task of filleting, made trickier with the particularly slidey fish killer mat lubricated with various fishy fluids - also he was still wearing his pajamas! Once he was done I whipped the filets onto the bait table and skinned and cut them up - even with lots stored in the freezer we'll be eating mahi mahi for the next few days!

Our successful morning was followed by a fresh sushi lunch and a great day of sailing with 10-15 knots just behind the beam making good speed straight down the rhumb line a a lovely calm sea - we even have ALL THE SAIL UP!!!! We settled down to sundowners and discussions about activities in Niue and, yes you guessed it, mahi mahi for dinner, this time floured and lightly pan fried - delicious. All in all, I think this really might have been the perfect day at sea.

We are now just over a day out of Niue where we are going to meet up with Delos (after a month apart!) for some more moped action, plenty of diving and some good hiking around the island and its spectacular limestone costal caves. And I am writing this up on deck on night watch, contemplating whether our newfound fishing success is somehow cosmically linked to our shiny new rig....

For more pics see: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bradmcmaster1