Talofa 2 (I thnk I erased the last one)

Talofa from beautiful, humid Apia!  We spent 5 hours this morning waiting to take part in a parade celebratin Samoan independence.  We were number 106 of the 130 groups in the parade,and didn't get to match until about 11 o'clock, after being up since 5 am.  In the end, the parade route was about 100 yards in front of dignitaries in a grandstand.  It was worth it, though, to build goodwill with our Samoan hosts.  As in our other ports, our hosts are extremely generous with food and support.  This marina, in fact, is one of the most secure I have seen anywhere.  It is constantly patrolled, and there is a 24-hour guard.  That will come in handy tonight, as most of us are going to see UB40 in concert at APia park.  We took them out sailing yesterday on Te Matau at sunset.  It was great to chat with them and take pictures.  Unfortunately, the computer I am at right now is not reading my card, so I'll have to post them later.

Samoa in celebration goes all out.  Every lightpost along the main street is decorated with coconut fronds and torch ginger.  There are flags and banners flying everywhere, and blue and red are the colors of choice.  IN addition there are many and various souvenirs of the occasion to be had: shirts, lavalavas, sunglasses, flags, etc.  There are lots of small kids on the streets trying to sell the flags, especially.  It's a very colorful scene, and today's parade ground was no exception, with everyone in their bright outfits.  It lookslike we're off to Fiji on SUnday morning after provisioning and church.  It should be another 4-5 day sail.

more later, especially pictures.  Added captions (I hope) to last blog...

Talofa!

ALoha from Apia!  WE arrived yesterday morning, in time for the planned "sail in" of the fleet.  Samoa is much larger than I had ever imagined.  We are on the island of 'Upolu, but looking to the east, you can see the lights of Tutuila, and to the west, you can see Savai'i, whose profile resembles Mauna Kea, with the cinder cones on the side of the mountain.  Apia is sunny and green  Most of the island appears to be wooded and lush, and stretches on for miles.  It was quite a wild ride getting here, but the day we sighted the island, the wind died.  We sailed VERY SLOWLY towards it for the day, only rounding the eastern corner about 9 pm.  Luckily, a land breeze came up, propelling us with a little more force towards our destination.  We made it in time for the ceremonial fleet sail-in.  Today was a day off, with a tour of the island, but Hana-Lee, Kainoa and I were on watch from 6 am to 6 pm.  WE let Kainoa go play, and with the majority of the crew gone, Hana-Lee and I took the opportunity the oil the deck.  It is beautiful, but sticky.  The payoff for us is that we'll get an additional day off, as well as the satisfaction of knowing that we did our work on the waka.  At sea, and in port, the waka is our home andour island, and we do what we need to to keep it beautiful and tidy.  A nice surprise for us was that our waka "father", Hoturoa Kerr and his wife Kim are here in Samoa until we leave.  Hotu was withus initially, but needed to take care of some business at home.  He'll be rejoining us in Vanuatu to sail to the Solomons and back to Aotearoa.  Work first, play after!

On To Samoa

We are less than a day from sighting Samoa, and are having our first day of sunshine.  We skirted the edge of the low pressure system yesterday, spending most of the day under constant grey skies and rain.  When the stars came out last night, it was a welcome sight.  At last, we could hold direction with stars rather than relying on the GPS.  This has been an extremely rough leg to sail.  Because of the circulation of the low, we traveled with a large swell and the wind behind us all the way.  Downwind steering, especially with that kind of swell can be dangerous and difficult.  Our more skilled steersmen were having a ball trying to see who could hit the highest speeds down the swells.  Imagine a 72 ft surfboard with 14 people on it...we hit a high of 18.8 kts on a wave that lasted about 30 seconds.  It has been quite obvious through the last four days that the sea's power and strength are not to be disregarded.  On one night, in cloud cover so deep it was pitch black on deck, my hand got caught in the rope we use to control the steering sweep.  I had a glove on, and got my finger pinched.  About a half hour later, I realized that the funny thing I felt in the tip of the finger of the glove was my fingernail, which had been ripped off by the pressure of the rope.  Ouch.  I nearly passed out once I looked at it.  It was pretty gross, but it is healing, and having 5 days of land time ahead will help to heal it.  Never, ever, underestimate the power of the sea, and the fact that being out here means you choose to live at its mercy.  In the mean time, to counteract the relative dreariness and danger of the sail, our culinary creativity has been blossoming.  The bonus is that we have a stove on board and an oven, which you don't find on Hokule'a.  The other day, we had homemade pizza for lunch, we've had fresh bread just about every day, and had hot scones for breakfast yesterday.  We're looking at polenta and sausages for lunch, and I'm thinking about baking some shortbread. This morning was pretty spectacular: three double rainbows, a blazing golden sunrise and some mellow reggae tunes on the stereo.  Fresh bread and butter, pancakes with syrup and Nutella...Despite the hardships we have faced over the last few days, the crew's morale has remained high.  Despite the occasional personality conflict, we support each other and laugh with each other.  When I got hurt, my watch closed ranks without saying a thing.  I apologized to them for not being able to carry out my duties, whereupon I was told that "it's all good - we sail with love."  In a day, we'll be back with our larger family, but in the crucible of this last trip, our Haunui family continues to grow closer.

6th graders, as you enter your final week of school, and you look forward to summer and the Upper School, remember that wherever your voyage takes you, you need to sail with love.

Life on a Sailing Canoe

Aloha 6th graders! I hope you're enjoying class day today - I would really like to be on a sunny, quiet beach right about now...one that isn't rockin' and rollin'.  We have spent the last 24 hours sailing in 30 kt winds and 12 ft seas.  We're currently at 20'13" S and 168'38" W, heading for a waypoint at 20 S and 170 W.  At that point we should be turning north for Samoa.  Life is a little different on a 72' canoe.  You have to get used to having everything sliding back and forth in the swells.  Food, especially, you have to hold on to.  Even dishes and lids get caught in the roll, and blow off.  The size of the swells means that they wash under the hulls and shoot through holes in the deck, sometimes fountaining to 3 ft or so.   Every day, someone is surprised by a spurt of water.  In this kind of weather, there are also waves constantly washing over the deck, so your feet are constantly wet.  Small cuts on feet don't heal until you get to land.  At night, it's a nice feeling to have your feet slowly dry as you lie in your bunk.  We get very good at grabbing ropes as we walk across the deck, swinging like Tarzan.  Going to the bathroom is an adventure in itself, as you have to drop a bucket over the side and catch water to flush.  You also have to do this when you want to bathe or do dishes.  The higher your speed, the harder it is.  In fact one of our crew lost a bucket yesterday, as the pressure grabbed the rope right out of his hand.  The bathroom faces the bow, so there's a good chance, in these conditions, that you'll get washed going in or out.  We had one big wave break over the starboard side this morning, all the way into the fare, dousing the stove.

Life on board also comes with a variety of chores.  Dishes constantly need to be washed and dried, the deck needs to be washed, the fare needs to be cleaned, as does the bathroom.  Four people share a hatch entrance, which collects water, dirt and hair, so it also needs to be scrubbed out. Cooking is a group activity, and everyone chips in where they can.  In addition, we're all on four hour watches, meaning that we work four hours and have eight off.  While you're on watch, you steer and make any sail changes that are necessary.  With the conditions we are in, sometimes our sail changes are involuntary, as the steering is very difficult and we shift course slightly because of the swells.

I've gotten used to wearing the same clothes a few days in a row, and bathing every other day.  Saving your clean clothes is of utmost importance, and often I'll just wash the clothes I'm wearing by bathing in them and then hanging them up to dry. The morning ritual is to put on a hat, sunscreen and my sunglasses. At night, I just want to wash my face so that I lose the sticky sunscreen salt layer before I go to sleep.  It's a very minimalist way of life.

Having eight Maoris on the canoe is interesting as well, and I'm acquiring new vocabulary. A meal is a "feed" or "kai", when something is really cool, it's "mean as", and when it's really good, it's "sweet as".  When Greg, the captain, agrees or likes something you say or do, he says. "Ka pai." When food is really good, our girls say, "Beayoootiful!"  If you're interested in something, you're "keen".  I may come back sounding a bit Maori myself. Slippers are called "jandals", as slippers are what old women wear around the house.  A flashlight is a "torch", and a cooler is a "chilly bin".  "Tea time" is dinner and the bathroom is the "loo".

We also have a crew member from Papua New Guinea, so we're pickong up words from Gorohu as well.  "Namo" is an all-purpose word that means "hello" and "good".  "Dikadika" means bad, "medu" is rain, and (pardon my spelling), "heiakoata" means fast.  It's all about learning out here, whether vocabulary from another crew member or getting used to a different lifestyle.

One more week of school! Best of luck, gang!

Ms. Fuller

The Powers of the Sea

We left Rarotonga yesterday in rainy conditions, with nearly total cloud cover.  It wasn't the ideal situation for a departure, but we are under pressure to arrive in Samoa on time for their 50th anniversary of independence.  With this in mind, there are a couple of factors we are considering in our course line.  First, there is a large storm system currently in the vicinity of Samoa, stretching as far as the western Cooks.  In order to avoid sailing into the middle of the storms, we're currently on a heading of due west as far as 170 degrees longitude (maybe we'll sight Niue).  We should hit that point sometime tomorrow, at which point, weather permitting, we will turn northwest for the run to Samoa. Because there is a need to arrive together, traditional navigation has been suspended as a primary means of direction, and all wakas are following a common course line, sailing by GPS.  Of course, we can still use traditional navigation to monitor our course and position, but frankly, we were under 90% cloud cover last night and it would have been extremely difficult to maintain course through traditional means.  It was a really good night for us, we held good speed, averaging probably 9-10 kts.  There was a fair bit of rain, also.  Like the piggy says in the GEICO commercial, "Pure adrenaline." We headed out from Rarotonga at the head of the pack, although we were passed by other canoes in the afternoon.  During the night watches, however, we ran them down one by one,  Murray, who is on the 10-2 watch, was having a ball coming up behind the other canoes, and following them when they tried evasive action.  Knowing that Haunui performs better downwind, when the others turned up, he slid right by. When I got up for my watch (6-10), we were in the lead.  A lot of that had to do with some of the work done in Rarotonga prior to departure.  One thing that affects sailing performance is the set angle of the masts, called the "rake". Our two masts had ended up at slightly different angles, so we readjusted them to parallel, following the rake Hinemoana and Te Matau use.  The former captain of Haunui asked, "why?".  This morning he has our answer, since he is on Faafaite, and they're out of sight. It has been somewhat of a relief not to have to navigate, as it means I get sleep.  On the previous legs, I slept about 3 hours a day. This is positive luxury. This is one of the legs that reminds me that sailing is not all starry mights and brilliant sunsets.  The chill last night was enough for some of us to think about digging out socks and boots...just a small taste of what we'll experience in July when we head for New Zealand. As I am sleeping in the forward-most compartment, I felt every wave we went over and heard every wave splash over the bow. There is a lullaby, however, in the sound of the sea rushing by your ears.  It is soothing in its own way, and we all sleep very well.  In fact, any sailor will tell you that dreams are strange and vivid at sea.  When I was navigating with Wati, we compared notes on the short flashes of dream we had during those times we slipped into sleep.  The power of the sea is in evidence  around us every day.  When you're steering with the hoe, it's you against the sea's strength.  The waves roll us in odd directions, and walking on deck is a cross between looking like a drunk and a really good core workout.  It is such a different world out here...amazing every moment.  Even the seemingly endless consistency of the waves is mesmerizing to watch.  Like the C & K song "Sailors of Fortune" says, "somewhere beyond the blue horizon, there is an island waiting for me..."

Samoa, here we come!

Aloha - I am writing from rainy Rarotonga.  We arrived early Friday morning, and I do mean early.  We actually sighted the island about 11 am on Thursday, after coming through a large squall.  We were lucky because the rain opened up just enough to see the island, and then it covered over again.  As we approached, the wind shifted, turning in our faces, and we tacked the rest of the day to try and get closer, but with no luck.  We, along with Gaualofa and Uto Ni Yalo finally came in on our motors in the early morning.  We got in about 4 am.  It is really nice to be here, because I have a lot of friends on this island, and it's almost like being home.  I am especially happy to be spending time with Barbara Hanchard, who sailed in 1995 with me, although she was on the canoe Takitumu and I was on Hokule'a.  She just moved back to Raro after 16 years in the Solomon Island, so she has lots of good information.

As the days go by, and we wander from paradise to paradise, it's hard to believe this is real life.  If you look at any of the voyagers' posts or Facebook pages, you'll see the abbreviation "LTD", which stands for "Living the Dream".  Different moments catch you as being perfect at different times...in the lagoon at Aitutaki, catching mahimahi, or watching the sunrise through a squall.  We've been to so many places in such a short time, and we have so far to go...

I am getting to know the crew on other wakas better.  Situations will see you moored next to different wakas, and you get to talk to different people.  I spent last night discussing navigation strategies with Mercy, an 18 yr old from Tonga.  He's very intelligent and outgoing, and is sort of the life of the party.  I am also getting to know my own crew a lot better.  Being on a waka is like being in social experiment.  Some days, you really enjoy the company of a particular person, and on another day, you might be irritated with something they say or do.  Yet, this is our island and our family, and in order to get through our journey, we need to let the little things go.  Not easy!  In the end, and in the years to come, however, it is the good that I'll remember.  Barbara is one of those good things.  Seventeen years later, and after seeing each other only a handful of times in between, we're still good friends.  Just to remember everything, though, I am keeping a journal and recording my thoughts about places and people as we go.

I am at Barbara's house on a rainy Sunday, and her internet is good, so I'll leave you with a few more pictures...

Ms. Fuller

Find Aitutaki

Aloha sixth graders!  I hope your final papers all turned out well, and that you're treating Mr. Perkins nicely! I hope you are making me proud and finishing the year off with good work and good behavior.  I wanted to share with you my own version of the Challenger mission.  This one was called "find Aitutaki".  Have Mr. Perkins show you where that is.  Basically, we were sailing from Borabora to Aitutaki.  My good friend Wati Forbes and I were doing the navigation as a team.  This was the first time I'd really done navigation in about 10 years, and the first time without one of MY teachers around to give me direction and answer questions.  The last few weeks before I left, you all probably didn't know it, but I was doing my own research into the stars and planets that would be visible to us throughout our journeys.  The difference between the Challenger mission and our sail, however, is that we had no time limit.  Yes, we had a schedule to try and keep, but the "mission" didn't end until the island was found. It was quite a challenge to stay up the first night, but it was important to get a sense of what stars were up at what times.  After that, it became surprisingly easier to stay up, and the last night, I was up for about 20 hours without sleep.  Wati and I have trained in slightly different ways, mine being a little more mathematical, his being a little more traditional, but we found that our styles complemented (vocab word!) each other nicely. We also had our share of "emergencies", such as thunder storms, nights where you could only see one star at a time and times of total cloud cover.  Between the two of us, we could usually figure out our course and stay on track.  The difference between our emergencies and yours is that we had no task cards to follow.  Solving the emergencies was entirely based on our prior knowledge and combined information.  One "emergency" arose when some of my research did not match the latitude measurement of the stars we were looking at.  I was convinced that we should stay on the course that we had plotted, but Wati was convinced that we had actually gone too far north, and that we should turn back to south.  Although I didn't like the idea, I trust Wati and we followed his course.  The hard part for me is that if we followed his course, it meant that I was wrong, and as you all know, being wrong is hard to swallow.  However, it is an important part of learning, because you have to figure out, as we did, what is right.  I have to thank our captain, Greg, for not bowing to time pressure and telling us where to go to get us in on time.  Instead, he let us work out the problem and figure out what the error was.  Wati was right, and the next day we saw Aitutaki.  It was very important to me to to make the mistake, because I learned.  Although I do know quite a bit about navigation, there is so much I don't know, and we should all realize that - no one knows everything.  Learning continues throughout your WHOLE life!  I am happy to have gotten this experience under my belt, and I am ready for the navigation to Rarotonga (we'll be teaching some of our other crew as it is a short sail) as well as Samoa beyond.  Although being wrong upset me at first, I realized the next day that the extra time we spent at sea correcting our course was extra time that I got to learn from Wati; it was something that I really needed and in the end I am grateful for the mistake I made.  I know that sounds odd to some of you, but I hope you will keep it in mind when YOU make mistakes...there are often good surprises hidden in them.  Keep working hard!

Ms. Fuller

P.S.  I wore my 6F shirt the other night - I love it!

Borabora business

Aloha kakou!  I am writing to you from Haunui as we are tied up in Vaitape, Borabora. It is lush and green, with a beautiful azure lagoon.  Currently, the trade winds have returned, keeping a nice breeze blowing.  We have sailed through Huahine, Ra'iatea and finally to Borabora yesterday. After a rather disappointing reception at both Taputapuatea and Uturoa, we decided to forego a stop on Taha'a.  Instead, we anchored off of a small motu on the north end of Ra'iatea and sailed at sunset for Borabora.  It was a slow sail, with a lot of bobbing and drifting a the end.  Our patience was rewarded with a very interesting welcome: the people of the town put on a routine of group semaphore...spelling out their welcome.  Afterwards, we took a boat out to a motu for an afternoon of relaxation and swimming.  I felt just a tad bit guilty lazing about in the lagoon...

For this part of the voyage, we are at the mercy of schedules, and need to be in certain places at certain times.  In this case, we needed to be in the pass at dawn.  Stemming from our discussions at Fare Hape, It was decided to create an all women's crew to sail to Borabora.  That later changed to loading the women on the waka Hinemoana just outside the pass.  Somewhat anticlimactic.  The women of Haunui decided that we wanted to stay with our family on board Haunui, and so we did.  Some of the other crews are now saying the Haunui women are too macho for the all-wahine crew.  We had discussed the idea of balance on board the canoe previously, both young and old, male and female, and in our case, people from different island groups.  It takes a variety of talents to create a complete crew, and we have rapidly found ourselves to be just that.  Just like in a classroom, a team or a any group activity, we learn to respect each other's strengths and support each other's weaknesses.  The decision of the women to stay on board seemed to solidify the feeling of family.  It is a great opportunity to be on any of the wakas, and our captain, Greg, encourages us to take the chances when they are offered, however, we are quite happy where we are.  We are spending one more night in Borabora before we leave for Aitutaki, which should be a 3 day sail.  Wati (Manihera) and I are planning to share the navigational responsibilities on the way; he'll take the lead, but I'll be doing a lot of the work, too. 

Hanging out on Haunui

ancient fish traps in Huahine

leaving Huahine

Sailing to Rai'atea

Borabora motu

At every stop we are provisioning, finding the food we need and clean water.  We are receiving far more fruit than we need, and as much as we try to eat it, so much of it goes to waste because it rots quickly.  We making a point to try and eat local produce and to support what is grown organically. On Haunui, protecting the health of our reefs is our mission, and we realize that keeping our reefs healthy starts with keeping our land healthy.  It is a mission we plan to share with the next islands we visit.  I'll leave you with some photos...

CATCHING UP

Michelle Kapana-Baird, Kala Thomas (on Te Matau A Maui), Ikaika Vivas and I arrived in Tahiti a week ago, midnight.  Luckily our crew came to pick us up, and took us to a church hall in Arue to sleep.  We got there at one in the morning, and were informed that breakfast was going to be at six, and then at seven, we would be heading out to Fare Hape for three days.  It was a bit of a scramble to unpack my massive bag and repack what I needed for three days in a little one.  Fare Hape is a campground in the heart of the Papeno’o Valley,and is used by the Fa’afaite crew as a training ground.  Because the crew switches hadn’t been made yet, both old and new crews were in attendance.  There were about 150 people.  It was a good chance to greet old friends and make new ones, as well as to talk about the purpose that we are here for.  We were broken into groups to discuss various issues, actual and philosophical.  Afterwards, crew got together and met about how these issues affect each ones of us.  Our Haunui crew discussed being more responsible about using goods in bulk, as well being careful about our trash; making sure recyclables are taken care of.  We also discussed the role of  women on the canoe, and came to the conclusion that life on the canoe, just as at home or on any island, requires respect of all people equally.  Each of us has our strengths and weaknesses, which is why we are a crew, not individuals making this journey.   Our motto,

 from Gandhi, has become “Be the change” (you want to see in the world).  We were discussing having that carved into the deck where people come on board.  If each of us acts responsibly to make one change, imagine what the result would be! Fare Hape is also rich in history, including a number of famous marae.  We spent about two hours at a large ceremony welcoming us, one hour of that in the rain.  On the last day, we also saw a rock called Opurei a Pere…yes, Pele.  According to tradition, she was raised in Fare Hape and fed fire by the hape (caterpillars) there.  It was only later that she began her travels through the Society Islands and to Hawai’i.  One of the marae also honoured Kamohoali’I, her brother.

The road into Fare Hape was an adventure itself, requiring 4-wheel drive and running for many miles into the heart of Tahiti Nui.  Because there had been a significant amount of rain, the river we had to drive over and through was in flood.  At one point, we had to drive over a reservoir spillway, which was about a foot deep in rushing water.  With the continued rain, we weren’t sure we’d get out in time to make our departure!  Preparation for departure was crazy – moving all our gear onto the waka (crew of 22), inventorying everything on board, buying and packing food and making sure everything was in place.  One complication was that we had gone for a short sail the night prior to departure, and experienced engine trouble.  We had to have some parts replaced the next day before we could leave.  We finally left about 6 pm, and headed out on a heading of 297 degrees for Huahine.

Our captain is Greg, who is new on the crew.  Kalei, who has been on since Fakarava last year is the sailmaster, and was the navigator from the Galapagos.  Wati (Manihera) is navigating until Rarotonga.  Huia, Hana-lee and Murray are watch captains.  The crew includes myself, Rere, Poi, Ikaika, Jef, Kainoa, Hotu, Gorohu and Michelle.  I think I’m forgetting someone…We are mostly from New Zealand and Hawaii, and Gorohu is from Papua New Guinea.  The crews as a whole represent almost the entire Pacific: a srong presence and a strong voice to represent our islands.

Wati was in charge of the navigation, but we had good time checking on each other’s memory of stars and declinations.  Both of us stayed up all night, which was not particularly difficult until about 3 am, when your mind goes blank or you fall asleep without knowing it.  I asked Wati something at one point, and I’m pretty sure he gave me an answer in his sleep.  As dawn broke, we saw Huahine on the horizon, a shadow beneath the clouds.  As the morning came on, Faafaite was obvious off our stern and closing in.  We spent much time re-setting sails and playing with the dagger boards to get some speed.  We ended up sailing into Huahine side by side.

Tomorrow before dawn we head off to Ra’iatea for a big ceremony at Taputapuatea. Having been thrown together into a very different lifestyle, we are quickly becoming a family, everyone trying at the outset to be kind and respectful of each other.  Of course, there are multiple personalities on board, and little irritations do occur, but to make this voyage a success, we need to work through those and move forward.  Already, we have our buzz words and little jokes, not just among our crew, but with the other crews as well.  It is pretty amazing to be here, sitting on a waka next to the pier in Fare, Huahine, and typing this so I can head over to the internet shop and send it out.  At times, both Michelle and I have been homesick, but I am reminding myself that his adventure is not to be missed, and I need to live in the moment and enjoy it. Home sweet Haunui!