Travels With Barbara

Vanuatu: Bwatnapne Bay, Pentecost

Since we arrived at Bwatnapne Bay late in the afternoon, there was not much time to go ashore before dinner. And since we would have to return to the ship for dinner, we all opted to stay on board. We rigged up the rope swing on the end of the foreyard which was braced around to port. Climbing out on the forward starboard edge of the fo’c’sle head, we grab onto a heavy rope that has several knots tied in it, swing  way out and drop into the water. Jack and a couple of others do fancy flips, forward or back; the rest of us go kerplunk.

We also launched a couple of outrigger dugout canoes that the Captain purchased in Asanvari. They had been lashed on the main deck during our transit, so we just had to lift them up over the rail and lowered into the water. The difficult part is getting into the canoe without swamping it. And the trick is to only enter the canoe at midships; never attempt to enter at the bow or the stern, or even move too far forward or aft of the center of the vessel. As I learned the hard way, this is guaranteed to swamp the canoe and you will be swimming when you did not expect to do so. I didn’t feel so bad about doing it when I saw Jill do the same thing only a few minutes after I did. I also discovered how difficult it can be to steer or to go anywhere when using a half-size paddle and the wind is blowing. As the wind blew me away from the ship, John Kemper reminded me “don’t go farther than you want to swim.” I had fun going in circles!

On our second day at Bwatnapne Bay, Chief Alan Bule had planned a Program for us which included some welcoming speeches, music by the Tasule String Band (remarkably similar to the music we had heard from other string bands), and officially presenting school books that the Picton Castle brought on behalf of World Wise for the primary and secondary schools. After the Program finished we had an hour or so to visit the school and talk with students and villagers before lunch. A buffet was set up for us with the usual rice, taro, manioc and pawpaw (papaya) supplemented by mackerel from the ship’s stores. We used large leaves as plates and because of the scarcity of forks, most of us ate with our fingers.

After lunch, we had a two hour trading session. Woven baskets and mats were the most abundant items that the islanders offered for trade. Nautilus shells and boar tusks were reserved for special deals. The islanders were very eager to trade for clothes, flashlights, paper and pens, and especially wristwatches. Some of the crew literally traded the clothes off their back.

While we were in Bwatnapne Bay, as well as the other islands, our ship’s doctor, Keith, held a medical clinic and saw patients with a myriad of complaints. In Bwatnapne the major problems were an epidemic of scabies among the children, and abdominal pain of unknown origin among adults. Bruce, a former army medic who assisted Keith, speculated that the abdominal pain could be related to regular consumption of kava, which is highly acidic, on an empty stomach.

Since I had to work on the ship during our third and last day at Bwatnapne, I was unable to do any snorkeling there. A dozen of the off duty crew lowered the Monomoy (the ship’s lifeboat), rowed out to a reef and snorkeled. They reported seeing some unusual sea life including a sea horse.

On our last afternoon in Bwatnapne we invited the islanders to tour the ship. My guess is that there were 200 or more visitors, adults and children, that came on board between 1 pm and 4 pm. We ran the skiff continually back and forth between the ship and the beach taking people to and fro.

We heaved up the anchor shortly after 5 pm and set out for Espiritu Santo. We “sailed” through the night. In reality, we ran before the wing with bare poles, going as fast as 4.5 knots with no sails set. The 4-8 watch had set a few sails and had to take them in right away. The Captain’s orders were to take in sail if we went faster than 3.5 knots.

When I came on watch at midnight and took the helm, the wind was blowing Force 7 with some gusts of 8; we were going more than 4 knots and no sails were set. Steering was tricky – sometimes very steady and other times the ship jumped two points or more from one direction to the other. With an ordered course of West by South ½ South, my heading varied from West by North to Southwest. Most of the time I was able to stay within half to one point of the ordered course.

We arrived in Espiritu Santo mid-morning. After several attempts to back into an anchorage with our stern to the shore and tie up to trees on shore, we wound up anchoring farther offshore, across the harbor from Luganville. We’ll be here until Monday morning when we set sail for Bali.

Vanuatu: Asanvari, Maewo

We set sail from

Banan

Bay

late Friday afternoon. As soon as we were underway and had the sails set, I was recruited to assist the galley team with dinner. While at anchor only two people were assigned to galley, but with everyone on board for dinner they needed the usual three galley crew to serve and clean up. Once the sun went down, we had a good view of the volcanoes on

Ambryn

Island

glowing orange as they spewed hot lava.

The nice part of doing galley duty is that you are not awakened for night watch. So, I got to sleep through the night. Well, almost. JD, who sleeps in the bunk above me, did not know that I was not supposed to get up for night watch. And since I have been known to sleep through wake up calls in the past, he makes sure I am awake when it’s time to go up on deck. He did his best to make me get up, telling me to turn on my light, until I told him that I had been on galley. I fell right back to sleep.

I woke up early Saturday (Oct. 22^nd) as we were approaching

Maewo

Island

where we anchored by Asanvari village. Asanvari is situated in a beautiful bay with a large waterfall and fresh water swimming pool that comes right down to the bay. While the village huts look quite similar to those in

Banan

Bay

, they seem to be more decorative, particularly with landscaped gardens. And there is a bit more technology available. Chief Nelson and his son, Nixon, have taken initiative to bring improvements to the village. They’ve built a Yacht Club which has electricity, a flush toilet and shower, a kitchen with a refrigerator and cold beers for sale, and a telephone. The Yacht Club makes Asanvari an appealing anchorage for smaller yachts, which gives the villagers more opportunity for trading.

Snorkeling in Asanvari was the best I’ve seen so far. The coral reefs were truly spectacular and even more variety and quantity of fish than I’ve seen in other places. One of the more unusual creatures we saw was a large (12-14 inch diameter) electric blue starfish. We snorkeled along the edge of the reef which was about 3 to 5 feet below water until we reached a precipice where it dropped to at least 30 or 40 feet deep, maybe more. It was thrilling to swim out over the edge of the precipice, so completely different from being on land where you would never dare go to the edge for fear of falling off. Suddenly there is a huge drop below you, yet no fear of falling. What an amazing sensation!!

I snorkeled three days in Asanvari, and each time was better than before. On Sunday, our second day there, although I was on duty, we were allowed to go ashore for trading and the crew picnic at the waterfall. Since there was also a Kastom Dance performance later in the afternoon (and no ship’s work on Sunday) we were allowed to stay ashore. I rafted on Andrea D’s inflatable from the waterfall over to the cave, then traded the raft for snorkel gear and swam back to the waterfall. The underwater terrain was very different there than what I had seen the previous day. There were more volcanic rock formations and deep fissures (crevasses) and less of the shallow water reef and coral heads. One section I dubbed “the desert” because it was flat rock, totally barren of coral, plants or fish.

The Kastom Dance at Asanvari was very different from what we saw in

Banan

Bay

. Only the men danced; they wore woven “skirts” with leaves stuck in the sides, ankle bracelets made of nuts that rattled as they danced, and very elaborate headdresses with feathers and carvings. Each headdress was completely unique from the others. The dances were more intricate in their choreography, and every bit as energetic as the dances in

Banan

Bay

as they jumped and stomped their feet back and forth across the floor. During the last dance, they pulled us in to dance with them as they circled around the dance floor. It took a lot of energy to keep up with them.

The Kastom Dance was followed by a demonstration by the school children of bamboo stick jumping. It’s a bit trickier than hopscotch or jump rope, which we figured out quickly when we all tried it. A few of our nimble crew did quite well at it while others of us stumbled through more clumsily.

After the Kastom Dance program we were all served kava. Ten of us at a time drank from the coconut shells while the others clapped their hands until we had downed the entire shell full at one go. The first round for everyone was a “high tide” with the shell filled to the rim; after that we had “low tide” shells filled about half way. The full effect of kava does not necessarily hit immediately when you drink it. However, after having three, four or more drinks, the cumulative effect can be more than you might expect. Rumor has it that the effect of the kava is intensified if you eat after drinking kava. Well, dinner was served after we had drunk the kava. Whether the rumor is true or whether it happened to be a coincidence of timing, I don’t know, but I certainly did feel more light headed after eating.

While the staple foods of taro, manioc and rice were the same as at

Banan

Bay

, there was more variety in the meat and fish served. The featured item was coconut crab, two of which we had seen tied to posts in the Yacht Club before they were cooked. The coconut crab has very strong claws that it uses to break open coconuts; hence, its name. Be advised not to get too close to it because it could do some serious damage.

The local string band played music and we all danced during the kava drinking, dinner and for several hours after dinner. Again, there seems to be one song – the same one we heard in

Banan

Bay

! – to which they sing different words. Nevertheless, we had great fun dancing.

On Monday I was off duty from the ship again, so I borrowed some snorkel gear and went with JD. We swam out through the same area I had been to on Saturday, but we went farther out. to see the reef around the point of land at the end of the bay and some deep water where the fish are much bigger than the small reef fish. I saw a school of fish swimming along and suddenly they all turned 180 degrees to swim quickly away in the opposite direction; they were being chased by a grouper. I watched a much larger fish go up, up, up to the surface of the water. JD said it was a Wahoo chasing a flying fish which got away when it flew above the water.

Once again, the sights we saw were phenomenal; words cannot do justice to describe all of it. And I fear the snapshots on my underwater camera may not capture the experience either. I swam along the reef for an hour and a half, and would like to have stayed in longer except that I started to feel chilly, so I went back to the beach. I do wish I had a picture guide to underwater creatures of the South Pacific so I could identify more of what I’m seeing.

Before returning to the ship for all hands to raise the anchor, I made one last visit to the waterfall where I washed the salt water off in fresh water. At the base of the waterfall, the water hits the pool with tremendous force and standing right there having my back and shoulders pummeled by the water is far better than any showerhead massager or Jacuzzi jets.

We pulled out of

Asanvari

Bay

shortly after noon and motored about 18 miles to

Bwatnapne

Bay

on

Pentecost

Island

.

Vanuatu: Banan Bay, Malekula

We arrived at Luganville on Espiritu Santo, one of the larger islands in

Vanuatu

(formerly known as the

New Hebrides

), on Tuesday, Oct. 18^th. On Monday night we had made a brief stop at

Pentecost

Island

where the Captain went ashore to speak with his friend, Chief Alan Bule, who wanted advance notice of our arrival so he can plan a program with music and traditional dance for us. We will return there after we have visited several other islands.

After docking and clearing in with Customs at Luganville, we stayed only about 5 to 6 hours before setting sail again. This gave everyone some time to go ashore to exchange money, explore the

Main Street

shops (there’s not much beyond that), check email messages, and get a refreshing, cold drink. We cast off the dock lines about 1700 and set sail for

Banan

Bay

, on Malekula, another island in

Vanuatu

, approximately 60 miles away from

Espiritu Santo

.

Sailing through the night, we arrived at

Banan

Bay

early Wednesday morning, Oct. 19th. In fact, we had a rather abrupt arrival. I was awakened out of a deep sleep at 0620 hearing an urgent call, “All hands on deck, NOW!,” quickly followed by “All hands AFT.” The bow of the ship had run aground on a coral head. Hoping that the shift of weight would be sufficient to let the bow float free, we were told to move as far aft as possible. Twenty or more of us climbed up to stand on the newly varnished seats at the aftmost end of the Aloha Deck with the rest of the crew crowded in front of us. That was not sufficient to set the bow free, so both anchors were dropped, taking 2 to 3 tons of weight out of the bow.

Our third anchor was tied to a 600 foot line and taken aft in the skiff to set it as a kedge. With much maneuvering of the helm, engine (forward and reverse), heaving on one, two or all three anchors and using the skiff to push against the ship’s stern, eventually the Captain got the bow free from the coral. In the meantime, an islander, Alex, paddled out to the ship in his dugout outrigger canoe. He tied the canoe alongside our ship, got into the skiff and showed us a safe passage around the coral to an anchorage near shore. While Alex piloted from the skiff, the Captain went aloft and called commands from the shrouds above the Fore Upper Topsail yard.

After our eventful arrival, we had a late breakfast at 0845, stowed the sails and secured the anchors. The off watches were then allowed to go ashore. Since our shore visits are shorter as we hop among the islands, we are staying on our sea watches and each watch does a full 24 hour rotation of duty while we are at anchor. The 8-12 watch had the first day’s duty and the rest of us were off (I’m on 12-4, so I was on duty the second day at anchor).

Chief Saitol welcomed us into his village and introduced us to several of his family including his grandson,

Dixon

, who will be the next Chief. There are many different languages throughout the islands; even from one village to the next they may not speak the same language. The language they do speak in common is Bislama, also known as “Pidgin English”, which is more or less understandable when it is spoken, but the signs I saw written looked like a word puzzle. I listenend to Chief Saitol for quite a long time and understood maybe half of what he was saying. One phrase I picked up rather quickly is “nummawan” (translates as “number one” meaning “the best” or “very good”).

Chief Saitol is the Cultural Chief in charge of preserving the native traditions, which they call “Kastom”. This includes not only dance and music, but also teaching young people how to behave, be courteous and to respect others. Chief Saitol’s village has about 50 to 60 people; the next village down the road is slightly bigger with 100 to 150 people.

Banan

Bay

is the most rustic, primitive place we have visited. The huts are all thatch roofed, with walls woven of Pandanus Palm and dirt floors. There is no plumbing or electricity; at night campfires and kerosene lanterns are the only source of light. Cooking is all done on open fires or on hot stones in pits dug into the ground. Woven mats cover the dirt floor, not only inside the hut, but also in the outdoor gathering places which may have a roof with no walls. The one sign of modern “technology” that I saw was about a dozen plastic lawn chairs that were carried from place to place wherever a large group convened.

The second night that we were at

Banan

Bay

, Chief Saitol’s village performed Kastom Dances for us. First the men danced four or five traditional dances, including one for when a pig is killed, another intended to intimidate unwanted visitors, and one for when a man marries a woman. The men wore only a waistband with a sheath made of a leaf wrapped around their penis; and some body and face paint. The women danced, in a different location, wearing only grass skirts. One of their traditions is that after the dancing is finished all the dancers line up and shake hands with the guests.

After the Kastom Dance performance we all stood in a circle and Chief Saitol asked us to introduce ourselves one by one: name, where we are from, what we do at home, whether we are married and how many children we have. Then each of us was given a coconut to drink and we were served “lap-lap” a traditionally cooked meal served on the ground on very large leaves set on top of woven mats. There was a sticky, starchy food made of one of the roots that is a staple of the island cuisine (taro or manioc), which we tore into pieces and dipped in a tasty sauce in which a very tough old hen was cooked.

Later in the evening there was a Kava Ceremony and dancing to the local String Band. Kava is a beverage made from the yaqona root. The root is pulverized, mixed with water and then strained. The root is often presented as a gift when visiting a village and the Chiefs drink it together ceremonially. When a group of people are drinking kava together, a number of people get a coconut bowl full of kava to drink while the others all clap hands until everyone drinking has finished. Once you raise the coconut bowl to your mouth, you have to drink the entire cupfull straight down until it’s empty. The taste is not terrific; initially it can make the mouth and lips feel tingly or numb and, in larger quantities, it can make a person quite inebriated. Some of our crew who had too much became nauseated. 

The String Band has a one string bass which is a large box with a string attached to a stick that attaches to the top of the box; several ukuleles and guitars. We decided that they always play the same song and sing different words each time, including a rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Certainly the rhythm is the same, even if there is a slight variation in melody. People of all ages love to dance and we were never at a loss for dance partners, sometimes dancing with three or four kids at once. Even after the Chief announced that it was time for Primary School students to go to bed there were a lot of youngsters that continued to dance.

On Friday morning, our third day in

Banan

Bay

, we went ashore to trade with the islanders. We took used clothes, tools, flashlights, soap, paper and pens, kitchen appliances…anything that might be of value to them. And we traded for woven mats, baskets, shells, carvings, bow and arrows…whatever the islanders had that appealed to us. One of the more highly prized items was boars teeth, particularly any that make a full circle from base to tip.

After trading we had a couple of hours before the picnic lunch for crew and villagers on the beach. I went snorkeling with Susannah and Mike. Snorkeling is new for me and I am so amazed every time at the variety and intricacy of the coral, the beautiful reef fish. It’s a whole different world underwater, and totally intriguing.

Fiji to Vanuatu

We sailed off the hook in

Fiji

and sailed most of the way to

Vanuatu

, only using the engine when the wind died out completely. The seas were calm and it was very comfortable sailing. The ship was not rolling, we did not have huge waves of water washing over the deck, and we did not have to hold on as we walked about the ship. Even when the wind blew Force 6 for the better part of a day the sea did not pile up into huge swells.

We had a couple of workshops in which the Captain instructed us on some rigging work: how to make seizings and everything there is to know about blocks and tackles. For starters, the word “tackle” is pronounced “TAY-kul” on sailing ships. We learned how to disassemble a block, grease the inner parts and put it back together again. We learned what it means for a block and tackle rig to work for advantage and for disadvantage (yes, sometimes that is necessary).

On this passage I offered the massage classes that had previously been postponed on our passage from

Tonga

to

Fiji

when the weather was too rough. With calm seas and not much happening Sunday morning, I taught two classes the basic techniques of Swedish massage. Class was held on the cargo hatch on the main deck and there was a lot of interest from those observing in addition to those taking the class. I would have offered a third class in the afternoon for the people who were on watch during the morning, but it was pre-empted by a Power Shower. I’ve had several people request that I do the class again since they missed it; probably when we are going from

Vanuatu

to

Bali

.

Since we still did not have sufficient water for fresh water showers, and we had been at sea for five days, we were delighted to have a salt water shower followed by a half bucket of fresh water for a final rinse.

After the Power Shower, the Captain announced that we would drop the skiff in the water and everyone who wanted to take photos or video of the ship under sail would have the opportunity to do so. Winds were light and we were sailing with all sails set including the stunsails, a total of 23 sails…a rather impressive sight. In the five minutes from when he announced this plan to when we were starting to lower the skiff into the water, the wind picked up and the ship’s speed went from 3 knots to 4.5 knots. Concerned that the ship might go even faster if the wind continued to fill in, the Captain called “Avast” and we cancelled the operation.

Sunday afternoon was also our last Marlinspike party in the South Pacific. We were all given a

Picton

Castle

pareu (sarong, lava lava, pareo…it’s all the same thing, no matter what it’s called), and told to dress in South Pacific style. Rather than the pareu, I opted to wear a grass skirt and ‘ei (headpiece) that I had purchased in

Tonga

. With it I wore a halter top that is a remnant from my high school days in the ’70s; the halter top made as much of an impression as the grass skirt!

On this passage I’ve been on the 12 to 4 watch with Greg, our second mate, and Amanda as lead seaman. Also on my watch are Bernie, Bruce, Erin, Ivan, Jack, JD, Jeff Hicks, Margot and Ollie. Getting up for the midnight to 4 am watch is not always easy, especially when the wake up call is so pleasant sounding that I fall right back to sleep again. That happened twice in five days…oops! Now the watch preceding mine knows to make sure I’m awake and JD, who bunks above me, also double checks to be sure I get up. 

Leaving Fiji

We were scheduled to leave

Fiji

on Monday, October 10^th. However, since that was a national holiday,

Fiji

Day, no business could be transacted that day and the ship still had some unfinished business to attend to before setting sail. So, our departure was delayed until Tuesday and all hands were to be on board by 1100. Despite the announced plan to leave on Tuesday, the ship did not appear to be ready to go…a lot of supplies and cargo were yet to be stowed, two sails needed to be bent on and other details needed to be taken care of before we could sail. So I was not the least bit surprised when we were told Tues. afternoon that we would stay one more night and leave on Wednesday.

Monday was my day to work on the ship, after having had six days ashore.  When the watch mustered at 0800 to get work assignments for the day, the Bosun requested that someone volunteer to replace Pania on galley duty, since she needed Pania to do some other ship’s work. Having seen the work that was underway from the day before – chipping rust and grinding the ship’s steel superstructure – I was quick to volunteer for galley. Given a choice, I would much rather mess around with pots and pans than chip rust. 

Although Joe, the Cook, had told me to fix corned beef and boiled vegetables for dinner, the crew rebelled at having canned meat again while in port. Since it happened to be the Canadian Thanksgiving Day (we have quite a few Canadians on board), Kimberly, the ship’s Purser, told me to look in the freezers for an alternate meal. I found shrimp and made a Hawiaan shrimp stir-fry with wild rice, green salad and fruit salad. I also got permission from Greg, the officer of the watch, to serve Pina Coladas with the holiday dinner! After a long, hot day of work everyone appreciated the refreshing drink.

Tuesday morning, thinking that we would be leaving in a few hours, I ran ashore to spend the last of my Fijian money and use the last two dollars credit on my Fijian phone card by calling Carl for three minutes. After buying some fabric, one hour of internet time, a bottle of vitamins, a chocolate bar and a bottle of sherry, I returned to the ship with 21 cents of Fijian money. In fact, I hitched a taxi ride back to the ship with my shipmate Dave Matthews whom I fortuitously met at the liquor store shortly before we were due to be at the Yacht Club for the last skiff run to the ship.

Back on board the ship, all hands turned to on deck to stow lumber, trade goods to be sold at the ship’s store, food, etc. Shortly after 1300 the first mate asked me to go to the market and buy all the produce Joe had written on a shopping list: 40 pineapples, 2 cases apples, 1 case pears, 2 bags oranges, 20 heaps of lettuce, 5 watermelon, 15 pumpkins, 30 mangoes, and 15 to 20 kilos of carrots. The Captain handed me cash and said, “Don’t bring any money back.” Well, that’s one order I have no trouble following…spend all the money!!

The market is a large two story building that takes up the better part of a city block. It’s wide open inside with vendors lined up row after row. The first floor is all fruits and vegetables; the second floor is called “The Grog Shop” and most of it is kava root and kava powder along with some spices. Joe had given me some hints about which vendors to go to for some of the produce; for the rest I had to check prices and quality, being sure to buy some fruits that were under ripe as well as those ready to eat. Fortunately, I had two helpers from the ship, one of whom helped me find the best deals while the other sat in a shady spot just outside the market with the continually growing pile of purchases. And we hired a market boy with a wheelbarrow to cart the cases and bags of produce from each vendor’s stall to our pile in the shade. We had to hire two cabs to get all of it back to the Yacht Club.

While we were waiting for the skiff to pick us up, the Captain and Purser arrived with a van full of trade goods they had purchased for the ship’s store. It took two or three skiff runs to get all of it on board the ship. And more time to stow the food and cargo. Any of the cargo that was made of wood or natural fibers such as pandanus palm had to be sprayed with bug killer to be sure we don’t get an infestation on board. Then each piece is wrapped so it won’t break during long passages at sea, which can be rough at times.

We were stood down from all hands by 1700 and those of us who were not on the day’s watch were allowed to go ashore. Since our water supply on board the ship was nearly depleted and we could not make water again until we went out to sea, we were not allowed to shower on board. So I spent one more night ashore in an air conditioned room with a hot shower. Not surprisingly, quite a few of us showed up at O’Reilly’s, an Irish pub that had become a regular hang out for

Picton

Castle

crew in

Suva

.

Wednesday morning I got back to the ship an hour before the all hands call which gave me just enough time to stow my gear. Surprisingly, I was able to make room for all my new purchases and even found a little extra space.

"Bula" from Fiji

"Bula"  is the greeting everyone uses in Fiji. We hear it from everyone we see on the street, at hotels, restaurants...wherever we go. The funny thing is that the first day, before we knew what they were saying, we thought it sounded like "Hola", which we haven't heard since leaving Galapagos. At first we thought that either Spanish had been adopted as the language in Fiji, or that perhaps they have a lot of Spanish speaking tourists here and maybe we looked like we speak Spanish (which I do). Once we figured out that they were actually saying "Bula" and that is their way of saying Hello, it made a lot more sense!

Fiji is a beautiful island and much larger than the other islands we've visited so far. There is a very strong Indian influence, both Hindu and Muslim, as well as a significant movement towards westernization of the culture, particularly in the cities. There is also a notable number of Koreans and Chinese. In fact, according to one of our guidebooks, the native Fijian population is only 59% of the total population in the country. It is evident in many ways that the Fijian people are struggling to maintain their cultural identity. They are very proud to be Fijian and are quick to point out anything that is part of the Fijian tradition as well as businesses that are owned and operated by native Fijians.

When we arrived in Fiji, I was on watch on the ship for the first two days. I like that arrangement because I get my responsibility to the ship out of the way, then I can go ashore for the remaining days and not think about having to go back to work for a day or two in the middle of our visit. In this case, we were scheduled to stay eight days, so after two days on watch, I had six days ashore. Also, the first day that we arrive those who are going ashore usually only have half a day by the time we dock or anchor, clear through Customs, and whatever else we have to do before being stood down from all hands.

For the first afternoon's work we "osphoed" the topsides of the ship. Ospho is a chemical cleaner that removes rust stains from the painted steel hull. We've converted the name of the cleaner to a verb which means scrubbing off rust using the Ospho. It is one of the least favorite jobs on board. Since we were at anchor, we had to work from the skiff with one person to hold onto a line that kept us close enough to the ship to do the work while the other two of us used long handled scrub brushes.

On my second day of ship work I was assigned to galley duty. Joe, our Cook, prepared breakfast and most of lunch. We made the fruit salad and carrot slaw. Joe also took boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer and told us to cook those along with scalloped potatoes for dinner. We had sufficient vegetables and fruit leftover from lunch that fixing dinner was quite simple. Especially since Jeff Bartlett, my galley partner for the day, made the barbecue sauces and took charge of grilling the chicken. All I had to do was figure out how to make scalloped potatoes, and with two cookbooks to reference I was able to improvise. Since I know everyone likes a sweet treat I also made a batch of my favorite chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars...without the recipe I use at home, this was another improvisation. Fortunately, it was successful and I managed to bake it without burning it...quite an accomplishment in our unregulated diesel cookstove.

By the time I came ashore, a number of shipmates had been back and forth to the ship with reports on where to stay, what to do, restaurants to eat at, bars for night life, etc.  I stayed in Suva for the first two days...sent my laundry to be cleaned, checked for email messages, got acquainted with the city and did some shopping. We found delicious, spicy Indian and Chinese food. I quickly decided that very spicy food would make a good diet for losing weight because it's difficult to eat a lot of it or to eat it too quickly. In the city we visited the Municipal Market where they sell all types of fresh produce, eggs, and fish (I don't recall seeing meat...I think that is at the butcher shop elsewhere). The second floor of the Municipal Market is entirely Kava, both roots and powder, and some spices. I learned that Kava can be made from the stem or the root, however the root is considered higher quality and more potent.

Kava is an important part of the traditional Fijian culture. The kava ceremony is very important and whenever you visit a village you are expected to present kava to the chief. They then blend the kava with water to make a beverage that is shared ceremonially. A coconut shell cup is used to blend the kava and water in the kava bowl; another coconut shell cup is used to drink the kava. A cup full of kava is presented to each person in turn and you are expected to drink down the entire cup at one time. It tastes rather bland, however, when sufficient quantities are drunk it can have deleterious effects. One of our shipmates describes it as "paralyzing the body while leaving the mind alert." I only drank one cup full, so I can't say what it does when taken in large quantities.

After the kava ceremony, during which our tour guides requested permission for our group to walk on the village owned land, we hiked inland to a waterfall. Along the way our guide told us about traditional medicinal uses for a number of the local plants, which I found very interesting. The watefall was beautiful and we spent some time swimming in the pool at the foot of the waterfall.

Another day we visited the Garden of the Sleeping Giant which is home to a collection of rare orchids on 50 acres of beautifully landscaped tropical gardens and rainforest. It was founded by the American actor, Raymond Burr, and is still maintained in beautiful condition. We spent a delightfully relaxing couple of hours meandering along the trails, stopping to sit on a bench occassionally to take in the beauty and fragrance of the plants and listen to the elusive birds.

Of course, we spent a little time on the beach in two different places. One beach was mostly white coral and shells...beautiful to look at and difficult to walk on barefoot; while the other beach was brown with a muddy sand that was very easy to walk on barefoot. Ironically it was the second beach, which had a relatively small number of shells, on which we collected some beautiful shells.

Tonight I go back aboard the ship and tomorrow I am on watch again. We had expected to leave port tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 10th...which is Sunday in the U.S.), however, at noon I learned that we are staying an extra day. That's not unusual. So far, we've only left port as scheduled one time; all of our other departures have been delayed anywhere from one to four days.

Our next destination is Vanuatu, where we will make several stops. I don't know whether I will have Internet access in Vanuatu. Watch the ship's website for updates as we sail: http://www.picton-castle.com

 

Tonga to Fiji

While in Tonga the skies were overcast most of the time, but we had only brief, light showers. That is, until our last day when we had several torrential downpours of rain. We were scheduled to be all hands on the ship by 1300. When I saw how bad the weather was, I thought we might delay our departure another day. (It wouldn’t be the first time.) However, the weather forecast was for continued bad weather for three or four days while a low pressure system worked its way through the region. So, rather than wait, we set sail knowing that we would likely encounter some bad weather at sea. I guess the Captain considers our crew to be well seasoned enough to handle whatever squalls come along.

When we set sail the First Mate, Sam, announced a few changes to the watch bill. I continued on the 8 to 12 watch which was mostly the same people I had been on watch with from Palmerston to Tonga. 8 to 12 is nicknamed the “housekeeping” watch because every morning at 8 am we start by cleaning all the living spaces below decks; in the evening we clean the galley thoroughly. As more people have become “daymen” (riggers, sailmakers, carpenter) and are not included in the watches, we have fewer people on each watch and the “domestics” chores take longer to do, especially when some of our watch have gone aloft to help change out a sail. So, on this passage we got some assistance from the daymen with domestics.

We encountered quite a bit of rain in our short passage from Tonga to Fiji. One memorable night I was on lookout from 2250 to 2350. It had rained earlier in the evening and had been threatening to rain since we came on deck at 2000. About 20 minutes after I started my lookout the rain began. It rained lightly for a few minutes, then rained progressively harder and harder as the wind increased simultaneously. The wind was driving the rain horizontally across the deck and visibility was nearly zero. I had not worn my foul weather pants, so by the time I went below at 0030 I was thoroughly saturated from feet to waist.

The last night before we arrived in Fiji, the sky was completely clear and there was no moon which made for a wonderful star gazing night. After finishing my stint of galley cleaning duty, I borrowed one of Sam’s star books, The Stars, by H.A. Rey (author of “Curious George” books) and spent well over an hour learning new constellations and stars. It’s a great book and it makes things a lot easier to find. Among others, I was able to find Pegasus, Andromeda, the Lyre, Eagle and Swan.

Tonga

Despite overcast skies and occassional rain during our entire visit to Tonga we had a delightful time. For me, the highlight of my time there was learning to snorkel. I went out with several shipmates on a dive boat. While the divers were going down to the depths, swimming through tunnels in the coral, half a dozen of us snorkelled nearby. With a little instruction from a friend who had done a lot of snorkelling, I quickly learned how to breathe without swallowing water.

The reward was incredible. With my face down in the water, I could see a whole new world below the surface. The coral is amazingly intricate and beautiful. There are far more varieties of fish, some very colorful, than I had guessed . We saw the blue and green iridescent parrot fish that we first tasted in Palmerston. And too many other beautiful fish whose names I don't recall.

After the divers completed two dives, and we had snorkelled for an hour and a half in two different locations, the boat took us even farther out in the islands to a place where humpback whales are frequently seen. When we located the mother humpback and her calf, our guide took us into the water (four people at a time) to swim with the whales. It was phenomenal to see a full grown whale up close!! Even more so, for me, considering I had only just learned to snorkel a few hours earlier. We watched mama whale come up to breach the surface of the water, her white belly going vertically up right in front of my eyes...less than 50 feet away. She was huge.

Another memorable experience was going to a traditional Tongan Feast at Ano Beach. The food was delicious and there was an enormous quantity of it. It was prepared over open fires close to the shelter where we ate. The shelter was about 100 feet long, post and beam with a tin roof, no walls. Woven mats were placed on the ground and we sat on the mats, two rows facing one another along the outer edges of the mats. The meal was carried in on huge "serving trays" made of banana leaves woven together. They were piled up with food of all kinds...fish, chicken, beef, pork, many vegetables and fresh fruits.

One of my favorite dishes was half a coconut filled with half a papaya and cooked to perfection with coconut milk in the center. The meats had been wrapped in banana leaves for cooking and were served with the wrappings on; it was like opening a surprise package because they all looked the same on the outside and you did not know what it was on the inside until you unwrapped it. There were several fish salads and other vegetables served in "dishes" made of the stalk of a plant. We ate everything with our fingers.

Before dinner was served we watched several traditional Tongan dances performed by children and young adults. The youngest dancer, about 3 or 4 years old, did a beautiful solo dance. The dancing was quite different from what we've seen previously in other islands of the South Pacific. The girls dance has very little footwork or movement of the legs and hips as compared to what we learned in Mangareva and Palmerston. They use their arms and hands much more expressively. Both the boys and girls dances involved quite intricate choreography. And the accompanying music was predominantly string instruments, ukeleles and guitars, with only one crushed biscuit tin drum; as compared to previous islands where the drum is the predominant instrument.

As with other places we've visited, my time ashore would not be complete without shopping and buying souvenirs. The woven baskets were beautiful and I bought a couple of those as well as some round hotpads for the table. I also found some beautiful silk jacquard fabric at a very reasonable price. My attempts to find dark chocolate (my personal stash is running low) were fruitless, but I expect I will get some in Fiji.