Aloha - we are finally on our way to Vanuatu after a small delay by customs in Suva. I was in Suva in 1998 for World Sprints, and had a much different experience this time. Suva is a taxi city - cabs are cheap and plentiful, and you can go nearly everywhere. We did some stints at the Fiji Museum for school kids...two crew per waka spoke and answered questions, and the kids came down to visit at the docks. The best questions were, "What do you do when your canoe flips over?", "Were you sailing when there were dinosaurs?", and "When are you going to Ireland?" You can tell from the questions that the kids were fairly young. I managed to get to the University bookstore, which I was hoping to do, and pick up a few books, including a 1962 book about Ra'ivavae, the home island of one of my close friends on Faafaite. It's been both entertaining and educational to look at the photos and maps and compare them to his home photos. It's a beautiful place...might have to put it on the bucket visit list. We changed a lot of our crew in Fiji; Michelle, Te Miroa, Huia and Josh got off, and Faumuina, Ema, Teone, Brendon and Natalia got on. Natalia is a fleet photographer and should be taking some shots of us. As seems to be the norm, our departure was marked by near total cloud cover. I can't wait to actually begin a voyage in clear skies to make the navigation simple. It's always a test, it seems. This time, Kalei Velasco and I are sharing navigational duties. It's a relief to have another brain to bounce ideas off of, as well as to trade off sleeping hours. We discussed setting up a sleeping rotation for ourselves, and then decided to wing it. Not a good idea, as our sleep schedules turned out to be fairly similar. I took one for the team and stayed up so he could sleep first. The first night is always the hardest, as having not been at sea for a while, you need to get your stars back in order and figure out what you see when. With the cloud cover we had, that was most difficult. Luckily, the Southern Cross appeared on a nearly regular basis. After the first night of being up, I have found that it is easy to stay up. For some reason, I can convince my body that I don't need more than a couple of hours of sleep a day. Once the sun comes up, natural rhythms kick in and sleep is difficult. I do find myself napping for a couple of minutes...you think you're awake but then you realize that you've been asleep. The dreams you have in those brief moments are both bizarre and intense: voices, faces, people saying completely off the wall things. I begin to wonder what my subconscious is saying to me. Having a partner creates an odd symbiotic relationship. Your brains need to be in synch and you work off each other's knowledge and sleep schedules. It's an oddly intimate intellectual relationship. The two of us are somewhat set apart. I enjoyed working with Wati (Manihera Forbes) as we sailed through the Society Islands and Cook Islands, as our styles of navigation were different, but oddly compatible. Being from Aotearoa, he taught me a lot about the southern skies and using southern stars. Working with Kalei (Velasco) is a different dynamic, but productive and comfortable. I didn't specifically ask to do the navigation on my journey, but here I am. I can say that the more I do it, the more I need to learn. There is so much information that I wish I knew, especially about weather patterns and predictions. I think the biggest lessons I have learned about the process are first: as much as it is an intellectual endeavor, much of navigation is in the gut, based on faith that you can do it and the knowledge that you WILL get there. The emotional and intellectual journey for me each time I do this is huge. Last night I had the distinct sensation that the island would come to us, not the other way around. The second lesson, from Wati, is that everything works out in the end. Despite swings in direction by the steersmen, it all evens up in the end. It's a good metaphor for life in general...don't worry because things work out the way they are supposed to. Finally, sitting looking at the stars at night (or the fuzzy spots where they are supposed to be in the sky) gives you impetus to prioritize some things. Tava Taupu (Hokualaka'i crew - Hilo), my first and favorite Hokule'a watch captain once told me that you need to tie up all loose ends on land before you go to sea. I didn't exactly follow his advice, and now am facing carrying some extra "baggage" on this trip. Having the opportunity to clarify is good, though, and I am working on putting some things in a mental "suitcase" for the next few days. The enormity of being at sea demands all of your attention: mental and spiritual.
Just a note...navigators have to clean dishes, decks and toilets just like everyone else! I started yesterday on the work detail.
6th graders - I am so proud of your accomplishments and hope you are enjoying your summer, whether you are in school or not. I will have LOTS of video and photos to share with you next fall!
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