Aloha kakou -
We are about 80 miles out of Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. The islands of Vanuatu really surprised us with their verdant beauty and laid back friendly people. Hotu (Hoturoa Kerr - Haunui's "papa") thinks he might seriously look into purchasing some land here as a place for Haunui to sail to. We started out by anchoring at Port Vila on the island of Efate. It took seven hours to clear customs, during which time we all anchored outside the town. Hana-lee, Murray and I decided to go snorkeling on a nearby reef. Nothing like home, but a few colorful corals and fish. After a couple of days there, we moved on to Maskelyne, the home island of Hinemoana crew member Kalo. On the trip over, we not only composed a song with our haka words, but we came up with a Haunui sasa (a traditional Samoan dance - the influence of Ema and Faumuina, our Samoan wahine crew). And we laughed a lot. It was a beautiful place: very traditional and simple living. The only modern conveniences were water pumps and possibly some computers at the school. No cars, electricity only here and there. Walking between villages was a walk through a tropical jungle with ulu, niu and other tall trees, as well as piglets running through the brush. We then moved on overnight to the island of Espiritu Santo and the town of Luganville. The wakas ended up being split between two wharves there, and the winds were blowing hard. It was a quiet little town, and a few of us went in together to get a room at the only hotel for a hot shower. Ahhh....so nice! As we sailed out yesterday morning, the winds were pretty strong and favorable, but Okeanos, our sister waka, broke a halyard block and had to return to shore for repairs. Te Matau and Hinemoana accompanied them in to assist. The rest of us were left outside to reef down and drop sails to wait. Unfortunately, the wind also dropped severely, and we are now bobbing along at about 2 kts. The navigation has been temporarily suspended while we wait for the fleet to reconvene and for the wind to return. Kind of a bummer, as I have MY first apprentice: Ikaika Vivas, who is really gung ho to navigate, and is quite disappointed that the weather is not cooperating. In the mean time, I was thinking about the little things about life at sea that become normal practice, but might seem odd to everyone else.
Things You Get Used to at Sea:
A constant salty layer on your clothes and hair
Wet feet
Getting splashed by the occasional freak set
If there's no wind, we're swimming
Someone is in the bathroom when you want to go
Having to haul up a bucket of water in order to flush the toilet, shower, or clean dishes (the faster you are going, the harder it is)
Showering every second or third day and not feeling filthy
Wearing the same clothes three or four days in a row and not feeling filthy (keeping clean clothes CLEAN is a good thing)
With our new crew, someone always references a cartoon in conversation
Rain and wearing foul weather gear constantly
With Hotu and Ikaika on board, there's always music
The plans always change...if you know what they are in the first place
Beautiful sunrises and sunsets
Bathing in full view of the crew and not caring (also changing clothes in
front of your hatchmates and not caring)
Hanging your clothes, including your underwear, out to dry on the railings
Sunscreen all the time, first thing
Wearing lifejackets at all times at night
Wearing a headlamp at night all the time
Amazing, vivid dreams
Being forced to live in the moment, whatever that moment is...you are a prisoner of your circumstances and have to deal with them whatever they are. Just BEing.
A hui hou -
Catherine
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