11/03/2009, Malolo Island
Funky Fish
Today ... the day before, for all of you on the other side of the dateline... was Funky Fish Day: The restaurant. Funky Fish is on the big island (relative term) of Malolo. It is owned by a former star Fiji Rugby player. We called first thing in the morning and sent his boat over to Malolo Leilei to pick us up at 0900. Our ride was right on time. A bit unusual here on Island Time. Seems that most of the rest of the world doesn't share our obsession with punctuality.
Mike & Cindy (Airwego), Jeff and Cathy (Bold Spirit)... me 'n Liz (Argonaut), decided for the hike to the top of the peak for a peek at the WWII gun emplacement/radio tower, installed in WWII and long since abandoned. The partially overcast day kept the temp within reason for the mildly strenuous two hour trek to the top. Coming down, of course, takes half as long but highlights all your old ski injuries - rather than just the old part.
Everyone was ready for a coldie and lunch by the time we got back - followed by a quick nap in the chaise by the pool. Living on a boat isn't good maintenance for hiking readiness so we all make soon forgotten resolutions to 'get out and get some exercise'. This means getting up before the day heats up and, well, you know what happens. Like my Grandma always told me: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." If that's the case, I must be halfway there by now!
I lied. Several of us actually went back the next week and hiked to the same palce from the opposite direction. Shorter but steeper.
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10/29/2009
Tsunami Update
This is an email I recieved from a friend and fellow sailor who visited Niuatoputapu at the same time we did last year. Tongan victims of the Samoa Quake are mostly unknown and forgotten. So that no one I know will forget, i'm posting it here.
Greetings,
Each of us has visited places while cruising where there was heartfelt affinity, and Niuatoputapu was one for the crew of Hannah. Since the tsunami of Sept. 30, we have been in contact with Paea Fitita, the competent and dedicated nurse practitioner with whom I briefly worked, and Laura Jeffery of the destroyed Palm Tree Island Resort. Paea saw the first of three waves from her home and ran with her family, but then went back to help the high school principal with another teacher, and they were hit hard but survived. Laura's caretaker Tulomia Tavake was among those killed. The third wave was as high as the coconuts.
Eager to help, we asked about items needed for health services which would not be given by large donors. We have an unusual opportunity to buy and deliver these immediately and reliably. We are working with Lori Osmundsen, a former Peace Corps volunteer on Niua, who later worked as a lawyer in Nuku'alofa and who is fluent in Tongan. She has been raising money for the Tongan Red Cross Society and is going to Tonga on November 19th. She will be a well-connected and tenacious expeditor who can get these items directly to Niua.
We are writing to ask you to donate money for this modest and thoughtful request:
"List of needs for our health centre in Niuatoputapu which have not as yet been promised by an aid agency and which we believe will not be rapidly supplied, if at all.
By Paea Fifita, Nurse Practitioner.
The aid agencies have been very good in providing medicines, so we are not short of these but rather of more practical equipment, such as:
Ophthalmoscope set ( I have been in Niuatoputapu for two years now but have still to be supplied with one by my ministry )
Small solar light with panel and battery for hospital at night. Two if possible.
Mobile phone ( cost in Niuatoputapu 104 pa'anga ) I have been given a standard desk size phone but this is not easily portable, and in any case should remain in the hospital. But as I am now having to go out a lot visiting the 'refugee' camps in the bush, as well as from village to village, a mobile phone will obviously be very useful for me, if not essential.
Phone cards for the phone ( 10 pa'anga each ).
Basic laptop computer ( much more practical for us than a computer set, which is what we used to have, as it can be charged when the generator is on at night and still used on the battery in the daytime. )
Basic printer for computer.
Large rubbish bin with lid
Yellow hospital container for used needles, etc.
Baby tub; for bathing babies
Weighing scales for babies
Solar torch for our night watchman"
We are asking for checks made out to Tracy Willett to be sent to 5640 Imai Road, Hood River, Oregon, US 97031. Please trust us to be accountable. We have already bought the cell phone and card and are committed to raising the funds before Nov. 19th.
Those who prefer to make donations on-line to a charitable organization could donate directly to the Tonga Tsunami Response of the New Zealand Red Cross.
To summarize what has happened from www.matagitonga.to, the Phase One immediate response is winding down. With breadfruit trees and fishing boats and nets destroyed, and emergency food being depleted, families are living increasingly on their root crops and food is scarce. The cash economy was based on weaving of mats sold in the capital and abroad, but the shoreline pandanus trees are destroyed. The ubiquitous rainwater tanks are unusable and people are relying only on untreated tap water from an ancient system without spares. This was the first tsunami on record in Tonga, and thus particularly traumatic.
After getting this request met, we are going to work on casting a net to the cruisers who will leave the west coast of the Americas next March. Whatever happens to the traditionally intermittent airplanes and ferries, these guys will arrive and are the perfect zero overhead volunteers who know how to fix stuff. My thought is to provide websites, marinas, magazines, nets, etc. with direct contact emails of people on Niua. Cruisers could email and ask what they could bring, so that everybody doesn't bring nails when hammers are needed. Perhaps there could be specific projects that cruisers could work on for a day or a week, something that falls through the cracks of the dollars donated for rebuilding, but work that local Tongans deem important.
When we look at the water coming out of our tap, be it from the city or well or spring or water maker, we often think about how we take it for granted. We all have the proverbial two pricey Polynesian beers or modest meal at the local pizza joint or more to pass up and give instead to our neighbors in this small world. We welcome questions, more ideas, new initiatives, connections with cruisers doing the same thing, etc. It turns out we were really bad at collecting boat cards, and if you can forward this to your pals that in itself would help.
Fair winds,
Tracy Willett MD and Steve Wrye
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10/20/2009, Samoa/Tonga/Vanuatu
Tsunami
Nothing came of the two Tsunami warnings here in Fiji. However the Samoas and Niuatoputapu, Tonga were devastated. The death toll was much higher in Samoa, but their population is much larger. Just knowing that people we met last year have been swept away this year is hard to take. Nowhere have we met nicer, friendlier people than in American Samoa, Independent Samoa and Niuatoputapu Tonga. I wish we could do something to help, but I fear we'd just be in the way. The relief agencies seem to know their biz.
Most of the Pacific Islanders live only a few feet above sea level, usually out of necessity. The islands are either low lying atolls or rugged mountainous terrain unsuitable for habitation, save the precious few beaches with access to the ocean. Their livelihood depends on the ocean, so that's where they live. They should relocate to safer ground, but the reality is they're going to rebuild and continue to live in harm's way. Same with the resorts. No one will pay the big bucks to hike to the beach.
So... their fate depends on timely warning, which they don't get as most of the money for warning systems are spent to protect the most people. Which means the Northern Hemisphere. Another disaster, such as the Indonesian quake, following close on the heels of the Tsunami in the remote South Pacific and all is quickly forgotten by the rest of the world. Ah well, rising sea levels will make 'em all move in a couple of decades anyway. Such a deal, eh?
PS: For the sake of clarity, let me say: I don't have an opinion on the human contribution to the natural cycles of global warming and cooling - so don't ask.
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10/14/2009, Likuri Island
Robinson Crusoe Island:
By now, you all probably know the real story behind the tale of Robinson Crusoe. The story is modeled after the real life marooning of Alexander Selkirk on the Island of Juan Fernandez, located in the South Eastern Pacific well off the coast of Chile.
The movie Castaways, loosely based on Robinson Crusoe was filmed here in Fiji at various locations in the Mamanucas and at Likuri Island, (unofficially called Robinson Crusoe Island). The raft used by Tom Hanks is right here on the beach on Malolo Lei Lei smack in front of the Plantation Resort. Don't be disappointed when I tell you that there isn't a stick of wood in the whole thing. It wouldn't float if your life depended on it; being constructed of iron pipe covered in fiberglass.
Likuri Island Is about five miles on the outside of Navolo Pass on the Southwest side of VIti Levu (Veetee Le-voo'). tucked inside the reef and anchored in the lee of the island in fifteen feet of water over a coral sand bottom you're well protected from weather from any direction. The island itself is about a quarter of a mile long and a couple hundred yards wide. The owner, Wayne, has built a nice little restaurant/bar and dive shop with some Backpacker style accommodations scattered among the palms. The place also has some of the best island dancing we've seen since Tahiti and Samoa! None of the performers are professionals. They're all employees you see around the grounds throughout the day.
Although the Bures are virtually empty, Wayne does a booming business bringing in tourists from the big fancy hotels along that stretch of coast. Day trippers pay $120 Fiji for the buffet dinner and the show. Yachties? Ten bucks... Fiji. That's five bucks twenty U.S. money. Well... we do have to dinghy in from our boats and we are last in line at the trough, but I'd say we're getting a good deal, wouldn't you? For one thing, most of those poor slobs from the hotels have to go back to work in a couple of weeks! Ha!
We were sitting aboard one fine morning and received a belated Tsunami warning for the quake that did so much damage in the Samoas and Tonga. Thirteen minutes wasn't enough time to get the anchor up and get out of the pass before the expected arrival of the wave and fifteen feet of water under us would have been a catastrophe had anything come of it. We thought of getting ashore but the island is so small any wave worthy of the name would have swept it clean. Nothing to do but sit there watching the clock with a heat rate of oh, one forty? Whew! Dodged a bullet.
Being so tiny, ,with not much going on beyond the dance show and the few yachties hanging out, Likuri has a shelf life of about a week. Time to weigh anchor for Vuda to do a quick visit to the city of Lautoka to hit the cash machine and stock up on a few things, then back to Musket the next day.
Lucky us! We arrived back in Musket just in time for another Tsunami warning. This time off Vanuatu. With forty five minutes warning this time, most of the thirty some boats around us dropped their mooring and took off for deeper water. Everyone else went ashore and ran up the hill. All we saw was about three sets of half meter swells that came through on schedule. The surfers outside the reef noticed a few nice sets but we'd dodged another bullet. Two scares in less than two weeks is off the hook.
Internet out here away from the big city is sketchy with long download times so pics will be slowly coming over the next few days.
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09/23/2009, Fiji
Eating your way across the Pacific
Cuisine: food, eats, comida... : The produce shown here represents about $5.50F or $2.75 US. No matter what we call what ends up on our dinner table, we all have to eat. Travel is about experiencing the Arts, crafts, traditions of a people. Cooking is as much a part of the culture as the rest of it. Regrettably, some make a dull affair of the dinner table while others send us away raving. We've certainly tasted the good bad and the ugly in out travels. From the rich traditions of Mexico to Polynesian stringy roast pig that chews like it died of old age served with taro (library paste), on to New Zealand where they think salt is a spice (bring your own pepper to the table) and Fiji with its large Indian population heating things up with bags of incredibly cheap spices available by the scoop in the market.
Mexico has some of the best cuisine on the planet (subjective). What most Nortes associate with Mexican cuisine is more a Northern Mexico offering such as beans and rice. Seafood is king all along the West Coast. Driving up into the Central Plateau toward Guadalajara, Guanajuato or Morelia alters the menus toward the more traditional Spanish/Indigenous fare while the Yucatan features dishes unique to the Mayan/Caribbean culture. When visiting Mexico, one should search for restaurants frequented by a local clientele. Those catering to tourists are more likely to be mediocre at best and life threatening at their worst.
Crossing the Pacific to French Polynesia, things changed completely. Not only was everything hideously expensive, the food was lousy. The only exception was the Dorado (Mahi Mahi) served in a vanilla cream sauce we found on the island of Taha'a. The rest was pretty much Polynesian glop, nothing really French or bad Chinese. A countryside dripping ripe fruit made up for the disappointment. The locals are quick to send you back to the boat, staggering under the weight of ripe mangos, star fruit, papaya, limes, bananas, pomegranate and the ubiquitous coconut. Fish was also plentiful and as fresh as it gets so forget the restaurants, catch fish or buy it in the local markets and brush up on your French so you can communicate with the people. Since beer is about six bucks a can (really) be sure to stock up in Mexico for your three months in FP.
American Samoa was a big step up. Now you're in an outpost of the US. All your favorite familiar products are suddenly available at prices you're used to paying back home. Fresh produce is imported as they have the bucks to buy it from the States and New Zealand rather than grow it. The First World also dumps a lot of what I'd consider inferior stuff like lamb flaps and turkey tails on them... which is one reason the Am Samoans are a couple of sizes larger than their neighbors in Independent Samoa! Eating out wasn't all that easy, though. Although cheap, restaurants we're few and mediocre. Independent Samoa is another story.
The chiefs hold less sway in running things here and it shows in the amount of hustle. There is a thriving produce and fish market with the same low prices as Am Samoa, making this a great spot to finish the task of reprovisioning you started in the other Samoa. We seldom ate on the boat as there was a large selection of restaurants to chose from, the food was great, the price is right and the people are some of the friendliest in the Pacific. Robert Louis Stevenson was no fool when he chose this island for his final home. A lot of cruisers share the sentiment. It really would be a nice place to live.
Tonga was more of the same for Island fare. Same old stringy pig served with Taro and greens. Expats from the US, New Zealand and Australia zipped it up a bit with the usual cheese burger in paradise and fish and chips. Most basic items can be had in the fairly well stocked stores (Warning. Niuatoputapu has no real stores.) We didn't stop at Tongatapu but I hear that is was similar to Apia, Samoa for variety.
Fiji is blessed with a large Indian population featuring the rich variety you'd expect of them, so stock up on your spices... available by the 50# sack... that you'll surely be crying for in New Zealand....the Land of the Long White Cloud and British culinary skill.
Everything changed once we got to New Zealand but it's slowly changing for the better as they become more ethnically diverse. Still, don't look for Italian, Greek, Mexican, or your friendly corner Jewish Deli for that Ruben Sandwich you've been Jones-ing for since you left home.,However, produce is abundant and reasonably priced in season and the seafood is nothing short of phenomenal. Lamb is plentiful as is beef, pork and poultry. With a little patience you can find restaurants doing justice to this bounty and you can always do it yourself.
So... dig in!
Once again, the pics lag the blah, blah... so stay tuned
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09/09/2009, Musket Cove
Regatta Week:
Festivities kicked off Saturday with a ten mile race to Beachcomber Island with eight aboard Po'o Ina Roa - a Peterson 44. The trip down was a little gnarly with winds in the upper twenty-thirty range... all from aft the beam, so life is good. We were ferried ashore in longboats and attacked on the beach by water balloon wielding Brigands.
Captured sailors were unceremoniously roped together by the neck and led through the gates to the bar where we were required to belt down a shot of Bounty over proof rum in one gulp before regaining our freedom to make a run on the bar. Much madness ensued until lunch. Thoroughly sotted and sated, the sail back in easing winds as the sun sank into the Pacific was the perfect end to a great day.
Sunday morning and elimination trials for the Hobie Cat series came a bit early for some of Friday's celebrants but everyone made it to their race on time. Liz was sure we weren't going to make it into the next round but the young couple on Baikal made on more giant #^%*!#$^(# than we did - moving us ahead to the semi-finals on Tuesday. (No, we don't go to work Monday morning. We're all on permanent vacation, remember?)
Semifinals for Hobie saw us with a nice lead at the end of the first lap, but we blew a tack and finally hooked the mark anchor rode with the rudder to finish us off. Jens and Paul finished one leg in the lead. Even without us muffing the mark rounding, they'd have slipped by us on the beat and would have taken the honors anyway.
The race to the Sandbank got a little out of hand once the boats finished. We motored out in our dinghy along with half of the 86 boats in the regatta.
Musket Cove catered the lunch. There was tug of war with the US losing to Oz, with a couple of Kiwi ringers on their team and one twelve year old helping them outlast 'the old guys'. Next was a hairy chest contest followed by a wet T-shirt contest; the Kiwi's winning both. Liz was surprised by the number of womed unabashed as showing more than Methodists would allow. I, as a matter of self interest, refused comment.
Tuesday was more Hobie semi-finals. Musket Cove again catered the evening madness featuring the Island Princes contest with catagories for the youngsters followd by the men with the women following a distant third. Sorry girls. The boys were completely off the hook. Tough act to follow.
Wedensday was the day I was waiting for. The Around Malolo Classic Race; Chris, RIchelle and Grand from WInd Dancer crewing. The forcast 25 knots never materializedand winds in the eight to eleven predominated. Not good for over weight cruising boats.
The start line was complete mayhem. It was a close reach start with the favored end dictated by reefs rather than wind. Argonaut is freshly painted so we chose to start a little farther down the line to avoid the scrapes and downright collisions on the favored end. The wind immediatly clocked on us and we had to throw in a couple of extra tacks to clear the course dangers. It seemed more like golf with all the sand traps and water hazards.
We were well behind, although by no means DFL as we rounded Castaway Island and set the kite. Off wind is a Cal 40 specialty and we expected to make some hay. We did, but it would have served us better to get the damned spinnaker sorted the day before. Forget the fire drill of trying to get the what hooked to the where, we managed to reverse the tack and clew. No matter. It was twisted so bad the sock only went up three quarters of the way. We still improved our position; reeling in most of the big catamarans and some of the back markers in the monohull fleet.
The big bonus was rounding Black Rocks on the final leg to see the entire fleet parked in a wind hole. Before we fell into it with them, we managed to put more than half the boats behind us. We'd have finished even better but some **** Kiwi insisted on sailing below his line after we were abeam to leeward. No protests allowed, so we ate it and sprinted for the finish on the new wind shift. Big party on the beach along with a few arguments between the racer boys who just can't lighten up and have fun. Since this is no handicap- boat for boat racing with only the first three places counting... we don't need no stinkin' rules! Well... the International Collision Regulations. but that's it.
Thursday say the finals of the Hobie Cats with finishing Australia #1, US #2 and France #3. The pig roast / awards dinner is the grand finale. The Pig was awful, the rest ok and the price too much for what we got, but the party was great. It's been a fun week. This is why I sail... The cruiser fun as much as the adventure of foerign landfalls in Paradise... Now if we could get the weather to cooperate...?
I'll be adding pics for a week so check back now and again.
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