Aloha -
Well...about a week ago, Kalepa made a comment about finishing our voyage strong. He certainly is getting what he asked for! Yesterday afternoon, the winds picked up to about 30kts and the seas to 10-15 ft. This morning, using the bathroom was an exercise in survival: the winds on the bow are so strong that you blow backwards as you try to walk forwards. We are all much more adept at catching a bucket of water quickly, before the bucket catches you. There is no "dry" anymore, although I am trying hard to keep most of me dry by wearing full foul weather gear and a hat at all times.
It is a wild scene outside, but it is ALIVE. The spray blows off the waves sideways, and in the early morning sun, ghostly rainbows raced along our beam, appearing and vanishing with the mist. Moeata decided that that's what ghosts ought to look like. Waves crash regularly over the bow, sometimes burying one side or the other in white wash and aqua seas. Some waves even crash over the fare, and those inside cringe and feel happy to be dry. J-B took about 6 showers this morning, getting completely drenched repeatedly. If you're outside, you just take it and laugh...there's nothing else to do! Herve always thanks Ta'aroa for the blessing, and he's correct in that. It is a blessing to be out here, where the world is alive and still free of our control.
E Taa'roa e
e tono mai ra i to maramarama
Kanaloa - bring us your wisdom...
We are currently at 21 degrees 28 minutes S, 150 degrees 32 minutes W, having passed Rurutu in the night. We are still aiming at the east side of Tahiti, although Hikianalia seems to have slid about 50 miles to the east.
Back to singing in the fare with Herve and J-B...
Ms. Fuller
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Melting Point of Butter
It is Monday and we've been sailing pretty much north for the last two days. Saturday night the winds picked up to about 25 kts from the ESE...it was pretty wild, as the wind switched direction in about 5 seconds from northerly to southerly. We've been surfing along at a good pace, roughly about 9 kts since then, in a direct line for the island of Rurutu. It is the northern most of the Austral Islands, and puts us in a good line for Tahiti. We should pass Rurutu tonight and are currently about 360 miles for Tahiti. Our current position is 24 degrees 45 minutes S, 151 degrees, 43 minutes W. We are expecting to reach the island of Tahiti sometime on Wednesday, and will head for a place called Tautira. Tautira is the traditional second home for Hokule'a crews, as its families have hosted and adopted us for many years. Rainui, on our crew, is from there, so he is very excited to go home. The plan after that is to go around the island to Matavai Bay in the district of Mahina, where we will be welcomed officially with a ceremony. We should be spending the night there, on the beach. We will then have to move to Pape'ete, to the main wharf where Faafaite's home is and where Hikianalia will prepare to make the voyage home to Hawai'i. There is a lot of work to be done to clean the va'a after the trip, and we will see how long that will take.
It is nice to be in warmer air; one of the first clues we had as to changing climate was the fact that the butter that had survived being out for weeks now was a puddle in the bowl. The ironic part is that the higher winds create higher waves and we get splashed more often, so the deck is pretty wet. Therefore, we're still wearing foul weather gear in order to keep dry. As we close in, we have taken stock of our fresh water supplies, and have enough extra that we're now allowed fresh water showers. It felt nice to have one this morning, although the water is still, shall we say, brisk? I was hoping to have smooth, sunny sailing to get more of a tan, but I think just my face, hands and maybe feet, will benefit.
I am looking forward to getting to Tahiti, although my camera suffered a big splash and is currently out of order. I am hoping that a day of drying out will restore it in time for our arrival. My brand new sunglasses cracked a few days ago, and I have no idea how. I had still been wearing them, but yesterday, I pulled them out of the pocket of my jacket, and they were shattered. I seem to be a hurricane these days.
We are practicing some of the songs that we will have to sing as a part of the welcomng ceremonies. When I first started sailing, I didn't like the protocol part of arrivals and departures, but as I experience more, I understand the importance of the ritual. It is often more for the people on land than those who have been at sea. To be out on the open ocean is to be free of the restraints of land. In a way, as we are out here, we are tapu in a way. We always say, "what happens on the wa'a stays on the wa'a", and it is certainly true. The experience is vast, and people react differently to it. Some are completely different people on the water than they are on land. You can tell the long time voyagers, because they have reconciled themselves; they are the same, land and sea. My guess is that the sea personality takes precedence.
It is another beautiful day at sea, rockin' and rollin' along. We are finishing strong, as Kalepa says, and our Tahitian flag is up!
Ms. Fuller
It is nice to be in warmer air; one of the first clues we had as to changing climate was the fact that the butter that had survived being out for weeks now was a puddle in the bowl. The ironic part is that the higher winds create higher waves and we get splashed more often, so the deck is pretty wet. Therefore, we're still wearing foul weather gear in order to keep dry. As we close in, we have taken stock of our fresh water supplies, and have enough extra that we're now allowed fresh water showers. It felt nice to have one this morning, although the water is still, shall we say, brisk? I was hoping to have smooth, sunny sailing to get more of a tan, but I think just my face, hands and maybe feet, will benefit.
I am looking forward to getting to Tahiti, although my camera suffered a big splash and is currently out of order. I am hoping that a day of drying out will restore it in time for our arrival. My brand new sunglasses cracked a few days ago, and I have no idea how. I had still been wearing them, but yesterday, I pulled them out of the pocket of my jacket, and they were shattered. I seem to be a hurricane these days.
We are practicing some of the songs that we will have to sing as a part of the welcomng ceremonies. When I first started sailing, I didn't like the protocol part of arrivals and departures, but as I experience more, I understand the importance of the ritual. It is often more for the people on land than those who have been at sea. To be out on the open ocean is to be free of the restraints of land. In a way, as we are out here, we are tapu in a way. We always say, "what happens on the wa'a stays on the wa'a", and it is certainly true. The experience is vast, and people react differently to it. Some are completely different people on the water than they are on land. You can tell the long time voyagers, because they have reconciled themselves; they are the same, land and sea. My guess is that the sea personality takes precedence.
It is another beautiful day at sea, rockin' and rollin' along. We are finishing strong, as Kalepa says, and our Tahitian flag is up!
Ms. Fuller
Saturday, October 20, 2012
We are here....and we're going there
Aloha 6th graders!
We are experiencing our first rainy night since the start of the voyage. Luckily, the rain is light and intermittent, but the sky is completely covered with clouds. The moon is making a valiant attempt to come through the clouds, but it is no help to us as a navigational aid. The rain, when it is squally, brings good winds, allowing us to play a little game of tag with Hikianalia. Each va'a had a tri-light at the top of the mizzen mast. As we approach from the stern, we see the white part of the light. As we come along the left side, we start to see the red port light...a sign that we're moving faster and passing them.
As I write this, the wind has completely died, and we are being spun in a circle. Hikianalia seems to be experiencing the same problem, and so our course of action currently is patience. It's one of the biggest lessons of sailing; you can't always control your destiny. You are at the whim of the ocean and wind, and you just have to go with what they dictate. It can be frustrating, but it is also a reminder to enjoy the moment, whatever it is. It's ALWAYS a beautiful day out here, rain, shine or wind, because the experience is worth it. Something to remember even back home! Hikianalia has been sending out position reports that are very professional sounding. In response, we sent one to them stating "Position: we are here, course: we are going there." Now tell me that our position report is not just as accurate! haha
Today began cloudy, but warmer than normal. It was the first morning in the trip where I got up for watch and didn't need to put on my jacket. In fact, it warmed up enough for me to do a load of laundry, although tonight's rain isn't helping it dry. It is a fresh water rinse, though. Laundry is done in buckets of salt water, and is hung up on the rope part of the railing. Rainui washed his shorts the other day and hung them up right where the sheet line for the head sail crossed. I warned him about three times that he would lose his shorts, and sure enough, a good snap of the line took them overboard.
Last night was the advent of the Snack Wars. We have a community box of snacks: ccokies, chocolate, trail mix and other goodies. The goodies are supposed to be split between the watches, but one watch decided to pilfer extra snacks, including the sacred Tim-Tams, which were in a SECRET hiding spot. After the pilferage, we decided to split the remainder of the snacks into three equal lots. We also removed the Tim-Tams from their hiding place and replaced them with a "note" from the mother of one of the bandits reminding him that too many Tim-Tams are bad for his health. In retaliation for that, the bandits came and took pictures of us sleeping. What that does for them, I'm not sure. Anyway, that seemed to end the war for a bit.
This evening, we had a cloudy sunset, very red and orange, but also a red rainbow across our bow. For the Tahitians, a rainbow is a good sign; the ancestors are with us. As we enter into their waters, I guess it is a good sign.
There is a cold front forming to the west of us that will create good wind, and the weather experts are advising us to turn north, but also slow our progress so that we can take advantage when the winds turn from the east. We are on a course of 55 degrees this evening, starting to make the turn for home. As of this afternoon, we were 850 miles or so from Pape'ete, on a straight line course. However, our course plan is not straight, and is dependent upon the winds.
Our current position is 30 degrees 30 minutes S, 154 degrees 31 minutes W.
See you soon!
Ms. Fuller
Friday, October 19, 2012
Faafaite Crew Status
Aloha Hikianalia
We noticed that you kindly include us in your daily reports, which we are enjoying, and would like to throw in the true status of our va'a:
We are fine and very well fed over here. Today we had homemade shortbread with Nutella on top, and our captain is currently making a cake from scratch. Our mornings are highlighted by the zoo watch: the tiger (Cat), panda (Fati) and wolf (Herve). Lately, they've been auditioning for a fourth member. The choices currently are a sloth (J-B, who is anything but a sloth), gorilla (Rainui) and a vet (Brenda). We'll see what else we get. The midday is characterized by the mynah bird snack bandits (Matani aand Rainui)...today they raided the Tim-Tam stash, thus touching off the Great Snack Wars. Funny, considering their third member, Brenda is allergic to wheat and can't eat many of the snacks anyway. They chatter and giggle through the hours, and I'm sure Brenda is getting a quick lesson in French and Tahitian! The Froid-Chaud (cold-hot) watch (Tamati, Moeata and J-B), from 2-6, always thaws out from the morning in time for a musical afternoon. Tamati, our Maori, is always dresed in more layers than anyone else, while J-B comes on deck in his shorts, acting like it's a sunny day back home in Tahiti, then goes to his bunk and shivers! The star of the show is Rafiki, otherwise known as our captain, Titaua. As you can see, we're having wayyyy more fun than we should! Faafaite is clean and loving the swells we've been riding for the last few days. The four-sail theory is working well, and giving us a good lift. Everyone is healthy and relatively clean, given the temperature of the water! We sing often and are attempting to speak Reo Maohi as often as possible. It seems to be a chop suey of Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tahitian, with a little Ra'ivavae for flavor. Seriously, though, with a crew of 11, all activities require all hands, and we all pitch in to help each other, even if we're off watch. We are all working very hard. When someone is thanked for their help, invariably they reply with "One Team". We send our ka'oha, aloha and iaorana out to our families and friends at home. Big Hugs!!!
Faafaite's Poisson Crew
We noticed that you kindly include us in your daily reports, which we are enjoying, and would like to throw in the true status of our va'a:
We are fine and very well fed over here. Today we had homemade shortbread with Nutella on top, and our captain is currently making a cake from scratch. Our mornings are highlighted by the zoo watch: the tiger (Cat), panda (Fati) and wolf (Herve). Lately, they've been auditioning for a fourth member. The choices currently are a sloth (J-B, who is anything but a sloth), gorilla (Rainui) and a vet (Brenda). We'll see what else we get. The midday is characterized by the mynah bird snack bandits (Matani aand Rainui)...today they raided the Tim-Tam stash, thus touching off the Great Snack Wars. Funny, considering their third member, Brenda is allergic to wheat and can't eat many of the snacks anyway. They chatter and giggle through the hours, and I'm sure Brenda is getting a quick lesson in French and Tahitian! The Froid-Chaud (cold-hot) watch (Tamati, Moeata and J-B), from 2-6, always thaws out from the morning in time for a musical afternoon. Tamati, our Maori, is always dresed in more layers than anyone else, while J-B comes on deck in his shorts, acting like it's a sunny day back home in Tahiti, then goes to his bunk and shivers! The star of the show is Rafiki, otherwise known as our captain, Titaua. As you can see, we're having wayyyy more fun than we should! Faafaite is clean and loving the swells we've been riding for the last few days. The four-sail theory is working well, and giving us a good lift. Everyone is healthy and relatively clean, given the temperature of the water! We sing often and are attempting to speak Reo Maohi as often as possible. It seems to be a chop suey of Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tahitian, with a little Ra'ivavae for flavor. Seriously, though, with a crew of 11, all activities require all hands, and we all pitch in to help each other, even if we're off watch. We are all working very hard. When someone is thanked for their help, invariably they reply with "One Team". We send our ka'oha, aloha and iaorana out to our families and friends at home. Big Hugs!!!
Faafaite's Poisson Crew
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Ups and Downs
Aloha 6th graders!
We are sailing steadily along on a heading of 90 degrees, or directly east. Our current position is 32 degrees 19 minutes S, 160 degrees 48 minutes W. We are planning to continue east to a point somewhere between 160 and 155 east, depending on the winds. We know the winds will turn out of the east shortly, and will be good for us when we make the final turn for Tahiti.
Yesterday was a day of gifts and sacrifices. On the happy side, we caught two fish, both blue albacore. We're guessing ahi?? We had sashimi and fried fish for dinner last night and steamed fish and poisson cru for dinner tonight. Of course, there are always leftovers the next day as well! We were planning a ceremony called oti'a moana for yesterday evening, but the fish interrupted that plan. We ended up having the ceremony this morning. It was to thank the Maori gods for their protection and guidance while we were in their seas, and to ask the Tahitian gods for the same as we enter THEIR waters. We were each given a stone to drop into the water as a gift, and then we sang some songs that are a part the Faafaite va'a repetoire.
The bad parts of yesterday were tearing our gennaker...we were starting to raise it, and a part was tangled. In the confusion of trying to untangle, the halyard came loose and the pressure tore it. It dragged in the water, and we worked hard to pull it in, but it was in two pieces. As compensation, some of the crew rigged up a jib for our mizzen, or back sail, so we are now running with four sails.
The other difficulty yesterday was a problem with our electrical system, causing a brief outage of our VHF radio, which is the primary means of communication with Hikianalia. Fati and Kalepa, and today, Brenda worked on it, and came up with "plan B", which, as far as I can tell, involves rerouting a secondary system from the primary system. It seems to work, which is a good thing! We were forced to create makeshift navigational lights last night. All vessels are required to have a red light on the port, or left, side, and a green light on the starboard, or right, side. A red light was easy to come by, as most of us use headlights with a red lens at night. However, the green light presented a bit of a conundrum, until I remembered that I had a green plastic water bottle. We put a small flashlight in it and voila! we were good to go. Tonight, our systems seem to be working fine, so I don't anticipate any problems.
We seem to have a flock of birds that are following us from New Zealand. There are many smaller dark grey birds, a few even smaller white and grey-barred birds, and, of course, our albatross. I think they like the food scraps (and yesterday's fish scraps!) that go overboard. Banana peels and chicken are special favorites. The birds also make sunset pictures very dramatic, as they will swoop behind the va'a. It's been a challenge to the photographers on board to capture good pictures of them in flight. They seem to like the cameras, but always come so close in front of you that they're impossible to catch. Would you guys like an albatross? I think it wants to come home with one of us.
Because of our electrical issues, we were forced to stay close to Hikianalia all day. This morning's winds were exceptionally light, and I got a chance to play a bit while I was steering...I felt like Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" when the orcs are chasing the group and he stands on the bridge and says, "You shall not pass!" That was my plan - being an OFFENSIVE driver, haha. If they turned one way, so did I, as they were a bit behind us. The members of the watch after ours got very little sleep last night, as they were up for the fish catch and up again early this morning for the ceremony, so our watch did a double shift to help out and let them sleep. We are usually up during those hours anyway, and the sun warmed us up enough that we got to sunbathe a bit.
Herve and Fati have been teaching me songs on watch. I'm trying to learn them and also write them down. Maybe I can teach you some when I get back!
Ms. Fuller
We are sailing steadily along on a heading of 90 degrees, or directly east. Our current position is 32 degrees 19 minutes S, 160 degrees 48 minutes W. We are planning to continue east to a point somewhere between 160 and 155 east, depending on the winds. We know the winds will turn out of the east shortly, and will be good for us when we make the final turn for Tahiti.
Yesterday was a day of gifts and sacrifices. On the happy side, we caught two fish, both blue albacore. We're guessing ahi?? We had sashimi and fried fish for dinner last night and steamed fish and poisson cru for dinner tonight. Of course, there are always leftovers the next day as well! We were planning a ceremony called oti'a moana for yesterday evening, but the fish interrupted that plan. We ended up having the ceremony this morning. It was to thank the Maori gods for their protection and guidance while we were in their seas, and to ask the Tahitian gods for the same as we enter THEIR waters. We were each given a stone to drop into the water as a gift, and then we sang some songs that are a part the Faafaite va'a repetoire.
The bad parts of yesterday were tearing our gennaker...we were starting to raise it, and a part was tangled. In the confusion of trying to untangle, the halyard came loose and the pressure tore it. It dragged in the water, and we worked hard to pull it in, but it was in two pieces. As compensation, some of the crew rigged up a jib for our mizzen, or back sail, so we are now running with four sails.
The other difficulty yesterday was a problem with our electrical system, causing a brief outage of our VHF radio, which is the primary means of communication with Hikianalia. Fati and Kalepa, and today, Brenda worked on it, and came up with "plan B", which, as far as I can tell, involves rerouting a secondary system from the primary system. It seems to work, which is a good thing! We were forced to create makeshift navigational lights last night. All vessels are required to have a red light on the port, or left, side, and a green light on the starboard, or right, side. A red light was easy to come by, as most of us use headlights with a red lens at night. However, the green light presented a bit of a conundrum, until I remembered that I had a green plastic water bottle. We put a small flashlight in it and voila! we were good to go. Tonight, our systems seem to be working fine, so I don't anticipate any problems.
We seem to have a flock of birds that are following us from New Zealand. There are many smaller dark grey birds, a few even smaller white and grey-barred birds, and, of course, our albatross. I think they like the food scraps (and yesterday's fish scraps!) that go overboard. Banana peels and chicken are special favorites. The birds also make sunset pictures very dramatic, as they will swoop behind the va'a. It's been a challenge to the photographers on board to capture good pictures of them in flight. They seem to like the cameras, but always come so close in front of you that they're impossible to catch. Would you guys like an albatross? I think it wants to come home with one of us.
Because of our electrical issues, we were forced to stay close to Hikianalia all day. This morning's winds were exceptionally light, and I got a chance to play a bit while I was steering...I felt like Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" when the orcs are chasing the group and he stands on the bridge and says, "You shall not pass!" That was my plan - being an OFFENSIVE driver, haha. If they turned one way, so did I, as they were a bit behind us. The members of the watch after ours got very little sleep last night, as they were up for the fish catch and up again early this morning for the ceremony, so our watch did a double shift to help out and let them sleep. We are usually up during those hours anyway, and the sun warmed us up enough that we got to sunbathe a bit.
Herve and Fati have been teaching me songs on watch. I'm trying to learn them and also write them down. Maybe I can teach you some when I get back!
Ms. Fuller
Monday, October 15, 2012
Faafaite Report
Aloha 6th graders!
This morning is a beautiful morning to surf...I woke up about 5 am to the sounds of the waves rushing past the hull, and the familiar rumble of...SURF!! We are heading NE with a large swell directly behind us from the WSW winds...probably about 10-12 ft swells. Steering this morning was real exercise, and for the first time, I got sweaty; almost a nice feeling after being so cold. The air is slowly warming up as we inch northwards. Steering swells takes real talent, and Herve is a master. Fati and I try our best, and catch some real bombers, too. When we are on the big ones, we're going up to 13 knots and the hulls begin to rumble. When I was sailing this summer, the crew said the hulls would "waiata" or sing, in Maori. On Faafaite, it's the voice of the wolf, Herve.
Hikianalia somehow snuck past us in the night. I think the 10-2 watch let them by. As they are being more cautious with their va'a, we're letting them dictate course more. However, we got a good squall blowing through this morning at the end of our shift, and we decided to throw the course line out the window and follow the wind and surf until the squall passed. As long as we're within sight of Hiki, it's all good.
Last night's big excitement was a large squid, about 8 inches long, that we found in the middle of the deck. It had large blue eyes the size of quarters, and was still alive. Kalepa looked at it and said, "where did that come from?". Fati and I both replied, "It flew!" Kalepa was astonished and kept repeating, "They fly!". And of course, we laughed our heads off. I have never laughed so much as I am on this voyage. All night, when we'd get slapped by a wave and bump about, Fati and I would say "SQUID!" We did throw it back because it was still alive...and so it would tell the fish to start biting on our lures, 'cause we're all REALLY hungry for fish.
The full name of Faafaite is Faafiate i te Ao Maohi, which means "the reconciliation with the traditional world". It describes the need of modern people to rediscover and maintain their culture, and is a big step forward for the Tahitian people, who have never had a va'a of their own until now. Before we left, Moeata and I had a discussion about Faafaite choosing her crew; those who are on board are the ones who are meant to be here for whatever reason there is. Perhaps there are other types of reconciliation to be had...between old friends who had gone separate ways perhaps? Or between new friends who are meant to share knowledge and inspiration with each other. In a larger sense, reconciliation applies to the idea of the two va'a sailing together as a family. We are reconciled to staying with them, despite the fact that we would probably be a couple hundred miles further along our course now, if we didn't. Yes, it would be more fun, but that's not the point. We are two va'a out here alone on a wide ocean...not a thought that comes often to mind, however, and that's probably a good thing, or we'd all freak out. When you're out here, your world shrinks to the size of the va'a and what you can see beyond it. It's about survival as a family...and reconciliation with the power of the sea.
Be good!
Ms. Fuller
This morning is a beautiful morning to surf...I woke up about 5 am to the sounds of the waves rushing past the hull, and the familiar rumble of...SURF!! We are heading NE with a large swell directly behind us from the WSW winds...probably about 10-12 ft swells. Steering this morning was real exercise, and for the first time, I got sweaty; almost a nice feeling after being so cold. The air is slowly warming up as we inch northwards. Steering swells takes real talent, and Herve is a master. Fati and I try our best, and catch some real bombers, too. When we are on the big ones, we're going up to 13 knots and the hulls begin to rumble. When I was sailing this summer, the crew said the hulls would "waiata" or sing, in Maori. On Faafaite, it's the voice of the wolf, Herve.
Hikianalia somehow snuck past us in the night. I think the 10-2 watch let them by. As they are being more cautious with their va'a, we're letting them dictate course more. However, we got a good squall blowing through this morning at the end of our shift, and we decided to throw the course line out the window and follow the wind and surf until the squall passed. As long as we're within sight of Hiki, it's all good.
Last night's big excitement was a large squid, about 8 inches long, that we found in the middle of the deck. It had large blue eyes the size of quarters, and was still alive. Kalepa looked at it and said, "where did that come from?". Fati and I both replied, "It flew!" Kalepa was astonished and kept repeating, "They fly!". And of course, we laughed our heads off. I have never laughed so much as I am on this voyage. All night, when we'd get slapped by a wave and bump about, Fati and I would say "SQUID!" We did throw it back because it was still alive...and so it would tell the fish to start biting on our lures, 'cause we're all REALLY hungry for fish.
The full name of Faafaite is Faafiate i te Ao Maohi, which means "the reconciliation with the traditional world". It describes the need of modern people to rediscover and maintain their culture, and is a big step forward for the Tahitian people, who have never had a va'a of their own until now. Before we left, Moeata and I had a discussion about Faafaite choosing her crew; those who are on board are the ones who are meant to be here for whatever reason there is. Perhaps there are other types of reconciliation to be had...between old friends who had gone separate ways perhaps? Or between new friends who are meant to share knowledge and inspiration with each other. In a larger sense, reconciliation applies to the idea of the two va'a sailing together as a family. We are reconciled to staying with them, despite the fact that we would probably be a couple hundred miles further along our course now, if we didn't. Yes, it would be more fun, but that's not the point. We are two va'a out here alone on a wide ocean...not a thought that comes often to mind, however, and that's probably a good thing, or we'd all freak out. When you're out here, your world shrinks to the size of the va'a and what you can see beyond it. It's about survival as a family...and reconciliation with the power of the sea.
Be good!
Ms. Fuller
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Faafaite
Aloha 6th graders!
Our wind has calmed sufficiently to make sailing pleasant, and is coming from a warmer direction. This morning's watch was more like the morning wash, as Fati and I both washed our hair. SO nice to feel a little cleaner. Still too cold to take a shower, but I bathed in my hatch last night with a bottle of water and soap and a towel. We're currently at 34 degrees 01 minute S, 170 degrees 39 minutes W.
Before we left new Zealand, I bought a small set of iPod speakers, which have been the hit of the voyage. It's really nice to have music, and we're slowly changing song lyrics to fit our journey. "Stayin' Alive" has become "Stayin' in Line", "Stir It Up" is "Steer it Up" and so forth. Usually we listen to Bob Marley in the mornings, although we got a little disco this morning and had a little dance party on the deck. Jean-Baptiste, or J-B, has decided our watch is more fun, and he stays up to play with us. His animal nickname is the sloth, although he's anything but. He's a very considerate guy and a hard worker. PLUS, he loves to cook and clean and he does both well. We decided we would keep him with us if we could. He got included in our group hug this morning, which I think he really enjoyed.
This voyage's theme is "Va'a Nati", or "Canoes Tied Together". There's a similar Hawaiian word, naki'i, which means to tie a knot. Anyway, yesterday, we found ourselves about 30 miles ahead of Hikianalia, meaning that we were out of radio range. When we finally downloaded email in the evening, we discovered that they had made a course change and a speed change. Because this is the first major trip for her, the crew is discovering how things work, and sometimes if they work. As a result, they are being more cautious about their speed, especially in high winds and seas, whereas we know what Faafaite can handle (a lot) and are more confident to hold higher speeds. We had to come to a decision last night: each canoe go on their own way and arrive in Tahiti in their own time, or stay together and sail as an 'ohana. Although, we'd really like to go fast, the only choice, really, is to stick together, and fulfill the theme for the voyage. Titaua, the captain says, however, that the "rope" is too tight around his neck and he needs a little slack. Oh to go fast!!! When the va'as fly along the water, it's like being one of the birds that is following us. Oh well. And then he suggested that the rope ought to be a bungee instead. He's forgetting that bungees snap back. When Hikianalia arrives home minus a few thousand pounds of food and water, I'm looking forward to getting on board to see what she really can do. As fast as we are, she has the capability to be faster. Sweet!
We have not yet caught fish, as we're finishing the meat we have in our coolers. We do have a freezer full of meat, but most of us are really hungry for fresh fish. Hiki caught a large tuna last night. Maybe that's what slowed them down. Nah.
I hope you are all studying hard for the World Religions test and are practicing karma...Mrs. Reid can start instituting karma points: anti-detention points for goods deeds.
Ms. Fuller
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Stormy Night
Aloha 6th graders!
It's been a wild night...we had steadily increasing winds through yesterday, culminating in gale force winds that lasted through the night. My first round on the sweep yesterday was pretty much butt steering: the sails were trimmed or set just right so that the canoe steers itself. I sat on the sweep for an hour just in case it needed a little correction, which it sometimes did. When the seas are calmer, we use the steering hoe like a rudder, by moving it from side to side. At other times, we wrap a rope around it to help control it and make steering easier. We currently have our mizzen or back sail reefed twice and the main or front sail reefed once. Reefing a sail means that you bundle up the bottom edge and tie it down to reduce sail area. This brings our speed under control. We have had steady winds of at least 25 kts (a knot is 1.1 mph) and last night we had a period of steady gusts over 35 kts. It is still cold - nighttime temperatures are easily in the 50s.
When I wake up for morning watch, I am completely bundled up: 2 layers of pants, two shirts and a light jacket, ski socks, gloves and a hat and foul weather gear over all of that. As the sun comes up, some of the layers usually come off. Yesterday and today, however, everything stayed on because the high winds produce larger swells which have the habit of breaking over the deck. Invariably someone gets a good drenching, and we are all pretty wet and salty on the outside by the time watch is over. And then it's Milo time! Fati has introduced me to the bad habit of having cereal mixed with hot Milo (like cocoa). She, Herve and I have our group hug at the end of our watch and then we have hot Milo together. We joked this morning, as the three of us sat in the rain, trying to wash our salty hair, that the three crazies ended up on the same watch.
We have had regular visits from many seabirds, especially albatrosses. They're huge! Maybe a four to five-foot wingspan. Usually one or two circle us for a while in the mornings. Yesterday, after I had gone down to sleep, I missed a pod of dolphins that wanted to play with us. They were dark grey on top and nearly white beneath. Apparently, we weren't that exciting and they soon moved on.
Hikianalia is now out of radio range from us, an estimated distance of 20 miles. They actually dropped one sail entirely and have the others reefed. We are adjusting our course a little more to the south to try to close the gap. It's good to be within radio contact range, and even better to maintain visual contact. As we move out of this area of wind and rain, we're hoping we can re-establish contact.
Last night was also very dark, as the clouds were thick and low. Only about 11 pm did a few stars come out. This morning, we had a period of about 5 minutes of sunshine, and the clouds have returned. We are expecting the winds to die down over the next few days, and for Tuesday to be calm again...that's a long time away for the next bath!
Our current position is 33 degrees 59 minutes S, 173 degrees 9 minutes W.
More as we go!
Ms. Fuller
Friday, October 12, 2012
Awaiting the Rain
Aloha 6th graders!
We had a couple of unusual sights yesterday: a seal and a baby shark. We were cruising along in the afternoon, and I was sitting on the bow, enjoying the sunshine, when I saw what looked like driftwood in the water. As we approached, I realized it was a small seal about 4 feet long hanging out on the surface of the water. When it was on our port (left) beam (side), it dove down and swam off. We are a few hundred miles from land, so the poor thing is a bit far from home. Not a half an hour later, Brenda spotted a baby shark off the starboard (right) side of the canoe. It appeared to be about the same length as the seal. We're hoping that they don't meet up any time soon.
Yesterday afternoon we were sufficiently behind Hikianalia that they decided to close all but one sail and wait for us. We put up our gennaker and made our way towards them. We finally caught them at sunset, after some misdirection on their part, and are now back on our course heading of 75 degrees. As evening wore on, our clear night started to cloud up, awaiting the arrival of the next low pressure system. These are the weather systems that bring wind and rain. The calm, warm weather we had yesterday was the product of high pressure: nice weather.
We haven't been doing much fishing, mostly because we have so much meat on board that we need to eat it before it goes bad. It's tough on the crew members who are avid fishermen, as we see many birds out fishing, and we know we could be catching something good! We haven't even touched the meat in our freezer, which is full to capacity.
Although we are still using our GPS to monitor our course line, we have been using the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri to guide the steersmen.
Our watch got a bit of a surprise last night: because we crossed the date line, we lost a day and an hour. We were all settled in our bunks and cozy, thinking we had another hour to sleep, but because of the time change, we were on in ten minutes! Usually Fati wears her panda hat, I wear my tiger hat, and Herve wears his camouflage beanie with two clothes pins for ears as the wolf. Last night we decided to switch...and tried to switch personalities too. Herve did a good job as the tiger, and Fati was pretty fierce as the wolf. I tried to be a cute panda, but I don't think I accomplished it as well as Fati. Tonight we'll make another switch...I'm feeling like being a wolf for a while. I'm really enjoying this watch; we always end with a group hug, and last night ended with all three of us on the steering hoe.
Ms. Fuller
We had a couple of unusual sights yesterday: a seal and a baby shark. We were cruising along in the afternoon, and I was sitting on the bow, enjoying the sunshine, when I saw what looked like driftwood in the water. As we approached, I realized it was a small seal about 4 feet long hanging out on the surface of the water. When it was on our port (left) beam (side), it dove down and swam off. We are a few hundred miles from land, so the poor thing is a bit far from home. Not a half an hour later, Brenda spotted a baby shark off the starboard (right) side of the canoe. It appeared to be about the same length as the seal. We're hoping that they don't meet up any time soon.
Yesterday afternoon we were sufficiently behind Hikianalia that they decided to close all but one sail and wait for us. We put up our gennaker and made our way towards them. We finally caught them at sunset, after some misdirection on their part, and are now back on our course heading of 75 degrees. As evening wore on, our clear night started to cloud up, awaiting the arrival of the next low pressure system. These are the weather systems that bring wind and rain. The calm, warm weather we had yesterday was the product of high pressure: nice weather.
We haven't been doing much fishing, mostly because we have so much meat on board that we need to eat it before it goes bad. It's tough on the crew members who are avid fishermen, as we see many birds out fishing, and we know we could be catching something good! We haven't even touched the meat in our freezer, which is full to capacity.
Although we are still using our GPS to monitor our course line, we have been using the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri to guide the steersmen.
Our watch got a bit of a surprise last night: because we crossed the date line, we lost a day and an hour. We were all settled in our bunks and cozy, thinking we had another hour to sleep, but because of the time change, we were on in ten minutes! Usually Fati wears her panda hat, I wear my tiger hat, and Herve wears his camouflage beanie with two clothes pins for ears as the wolf. Last night we decided to switch...and tried to switch personalities too. Herve did a good job as the tiger, and Fati was pretty fierce as the wolf. I tried to be a cute panda, but I don't think I accomplished it as well as Fati. Tonight we'll make another switch...I'm feeling like being a wolf for a while. I'm really enjoying this watch; we always end with a group hug, and last night ended with all three of us on the steering hoe.
Ms. Fuller
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Over the Date Line - October 11, 2012
Aloha 6th graders!
We had a good day of wind yesterday, averaging about 10 kts of speed. The more speed we have, the harder it is to steer. Last night, during our watch, we had to change our head sail from the genoa (the largest) to the AP (middle sized). There's one more, the staysail, which is even smaller. We also had to reef, or make smaller, our mizzen, or back sail. The canoe wanted to surf the swells behind us, but unfortunately, that was not putting us on our course. This morning, we have very light winds from the southwest, and are moving at about 4 kts. Hikianalia was behind us last night, but has now passed us. They are about 5 miles in front, and are very hard to see. We keep in contact through radio and e-mail, comparing positions, weather conditions, the sails we are using, and what everyone had for lunch! Just about half an hour ago, we passed over the international date line. When I woke up, it was the 12th, and now we're back to the 11th. Today is actually decently warm so far, so I think it will be a bath day. It's been 4 days, but because it is too cold to sweat, we're not too stinky. The worst thing is socks, because we are wearing rubber boots to keep our feet warm and dry and night. This morning for breakfast, we had bread, butter (very hard in the cold), jam and scrambled eggs and bacon...and of course Milo, which is like cocoa.
We had small moments of excitement yesterday. One was our captain, Titaua, losing the bathroom bucket overboard. To use our toilet, you have to catch a bucket of sea water and pour it in to flush. Well, the bucket broke off the rope and went floating off. He made a new bucket, which was unfortunately about half the size, meaning that we had to double flush. After he went to sleep, we made a new bucket. Much better now. Another bit of excitement is the multitude of small jellyfish or squid in the water. They're small enough to see, but not large enough to really tell what they are. Sort of makes you want to hold off on bathing for awhile. At night, we were treated to shooting stars...some raced across the sky while some glowed for a moment and burnt out. Last night's skies were very clear and beautiful. I stayed up about 2 hours past my watch to see Orion rise in front of us. If you guys remember from 3rd grade Space Night, Orion's belt rises directly at east,
which happened to be the direction we were holding.
We are also discovering that maybe we bought too much meat, and the crew got overfull of food, so last night's dinner was Chinese chicken salad and stir-fried veggies...something light to eat. We need to make sure we take advantage of the fresh food we have before it starts to go bad. In fact, some of our lettuce was getting really slimy, so this morning, Fati and J-B cleaned out the produce cooler and dumped some lettuce overboard, leaving a green trail behind us. We did notice a hungry seabird sitting on the water, apparently eating some of it.
I forgot to include our position with yesterday's report: at 6 am we were at 36 degrees 8 minutes S, 176 degrees 57 minutes E. At 6 pm, we were at 35 degrees 48 minutes S, 178 degrees 48 minutes E. At 6 am this morning, we were at 35 degrees 43 minutes S, 179 degrees 54 minutes E.
That's all for now -
Hope you all are well and entertaining Mrs. Reid with your World Religions presentations!
Ms. Fuller
Message from Faafaite - October 10, 2012
Aloha 6th graders!
We got good wind in the afternoon, and are now on a heading of 10-15 degrees north of east, going about 10 kts with southeast winds. The skies look clear this morning, and when I awoke for the 6-10 morning shift, Orion was clear in the western sky. It was a contrast to last night, when overcast skies kept us from seeing much of anything...maybe a glimpse of the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri. According to the forecasts, the winds are supposed to die down, but they're going pretty good right now, and it would be nice if they keep up so we can make some ground. Hikianalia caught an ono last night as we left Aotearoa behind us. They are currently behind us, having caught up and then dropped their head sail to let us get ahead again. When we initially passed them yesterday morning, the captain decided to play a trick on them by having most of the crew hide and then tying down the steering sweep. He sat alone in the back with the lines to the back sail, pretending that he was running the canoe by himself. We thought it was funny, but the other captain on Hikianalia wasn't as amused.
My watch has developed a nice relationship. Fati and I bought knit animal hats with earflaps at a flea market: hers is a panda and mine is a tiger. they're a little silly, but they are certainly warm. Our third watch member, Herve, missed out on the hats, but we attached clothespins to his beanie to look like ears. We have a good time steering and support each other quite well. We even have crew hugs. The three of us like to sing, and Herve is teaching us chants from the Marquesas to call the wind. They seem to have worked.
Last night Kalepa was telling stories about Mau Piailug to Moeata, who was asking about him. One of the things Kalepa said was that Mau's greatness came not only from his skills, but his discipline. He said Mau knew how to behave on the canoe. He never used harsh words or said anything unkind. He treated others with respect, and held himself to a high personal standard. A good example for us all to follow.
A hui hou!
We got good wind in the afternoon, and are now on a heading of 10-15 degrees north of east, going about 10 kts with southeast winds. The skies look clear this morning, and when I awoke for the 6-10 morning shift, Orion was clear in the western sky. It was a contrast to last night, when overcast skies kept us from seeing much of anything...maybe a glimpse of the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri. According to the forecasts, the winds are supposed to die down, but they're going pretty good right now, and it would be nice if they keep up so we can make some ground. Hikianalia caught an ono last night as we left Aotearoa behind us. They are currently behind us, having caught up and then dropped their head sail to let us get ahead again. When we initially passed them yesterday morning, the captain decided to play a trick on them by having most of the crew hide and then tying down the steering sweep. He sat alone in the back with the lines to the back sail, pretending that he was running the canoe by himself. We thought it was funny, but the other captain on Hikianalia wasn't as amused.
My watch has developed a nice relationship. Fati and I bought knit animal hats with earflaps at a flea market: hers is a panda and mine is a tiger. they're a little silly, but they are certainly warm. Our third watch member, Herve, missed out on the hats, but we attached clothespins to his beanie to look like ears. We have a good time steering and support each other quite well. We even have crew hugs. The three of us like to sing, and Herve is teaching us chants from the Marquesas to call the wind. They seem to have worked.
Last night Kalepa was telling stories about Mau Piailug to Moeata, who was asking about him. One of the things Kalepa said was that Mau's greatness came not only from his skills, but his discipline. He said Mau knew how to behave on the canoe. He never used harsh words or said anything unkind. He treated others with respect, and held himself to a high personal standard. A good example for us all to follow.
A hui hou!
Departure - October 9, 2012
Aloha 6th graders!
We have departed from Auckland - left yesterday afternoon from the immigration dock about 3:00 p.m. Just like when you fly in or out of a foreign country, when you leave by ship (or canoe), you still have to go through immigration and get your passport stamped! The forecast for wind looked really good for us for the next few days, but we're having a slow journey out of the Hauraki Gulf. We had to motor most of the night, alternating with sailing at about 3 knots. We have 11 crew on board: Titaua (captain) from Ra'ivavae, Kalepa from Hilo, myself, Moeata from Tahiti, Fatiarau from Tahiti, Herve from Fatu Hiva, jean-Baptiste from Ra'iatea, Rainui from Tahiti, Brenda from Honolulu, Matani from Ra'ivavae, and Tamati from New Zealand. We are working 4 hour shifts with 8 hour breaks. Because our crew is small, Titaua and Kalepa, as captains, are taking 6 hour shifts to supplement the crew on deck. Right now, as the wind is light and the sailing is easy, it isn't much of a big deal, but as we hit stronger weather, it will be nice to have the extra hand.
We just got a new freezer for the canoe which will help us keep meats longer; previously, we took what fit in a cooler and hopefully ate it before it went bad. We do have three big coolers with ice, and are planning to use our freezer to make sea ice (frozen salt water), which lasts longer than normal ice and should help keep fresh fruits and veggies, as well as the rest of our meats fresher. It's nice to think we'll have fresh food beyond the first week of the trip.
Last night we saw a few dolphins in the gulf, and in fact a few came quite close to the canoe in the dark...we only knew they were there because we could hear them blowing as they surfaced. It's still cold, although yesterday was generally warm enough to wear t-shirts and shorts...until the clouds covered the sun and it got cold again! At night we're pretty bundled up. My watch is Fati, myself and Herve. Fati and I bought knit animal hats at a flea market: hers is a panda and mine is a tiger. We debuted them on night watch last night. Herve had his own hat, so we clipped clothespins on top of it to look like ears so that he matched us.
Our position currently is 36 degrees 26 minutes S, 175 degrees 12 minutes E. See if you can find us on Google Earth! Once we are clear of the gulf, we will be on a course of 11 degrees north of east, or the house of La in the Hawaiian star compass. That should aim us at the island of Rapa for a while. It looks like staying more south should give us better winds, even though we all are looking forward to warmer weather up north. Hope everyone has recovered from camp!
Ms. Fuller
We have departed from Auckland - left yesterday afternoon from the immigration dock about 3:00 p.m. Just like when you fly in or out of a foreign country, when you leave by ship (or canoe), you still have to go through immigration and get your passport stamped! The forecast for wind looked really good for us for the next few days, but we're having a slow journey out of the Hauraki Gulf. We had to motor most of the night, alternating with sailing at about 3 knots. We have 11 crew on board: Titaua (captain) from Ra'ivavae, Kalepa from Hilo, myself, Moeata from Tahiti, Fatiarau from Tahiti, Herve from Fatu Hiva, jean-Baptiste from Ra'iatea, Rainui from Tahiti, Brenda from Honolulu, Matani from Ra'ivavae, and Tamati from New Zealand. We are working 4 hour shifts with 8 hour breaks. Because our crew is small, Titaua and Kalepa, as captains, are taking 6 hour shifts to supplement the crew on deck. Right now, as the wind is light and the sailing is easy, it isn't much of a big deal, but as we hit stronger weather, it will be nice to have the extra hand.
We just got a new freezer for the canoe which will help us keep meats longer; previously, we took what fit in a cooler and hopefully ate it before it went bad. We do have three big coolers with ice, and are planning to use our freezer to make sea ice (frozen salt water), which lasts longer than normal ice and should help keep fresh fruits and veggies, as well as the rest of our meats fresher. It's nice to think we'll have fresh food beyond the first week of the trip.
Last night we saw a few dolphins in the gulf, and in fact a few came quite close to the canoe in the dark...we only knew they were there because we could hear them blowing as they surfaced. It's still cold, although yesterday was generally warm enough to wear t-shirts and shorts...until the clouds covered the sun and it got cold again! At night we're pretty bundled up. My watch is Fati, myself and Herve. Fati and I bought knit animal hats at a flea market: hers is a panda and mine is a tiger. We debuted them on night watch last night. Herve had his own hat, so we clipped clothespins on top of it to look like ears so that he matched us.
Our position currently is 36 degrees 26 minutes S, 175 degrees 12 minutes E. See if you can find us on Google Earth! Once we are clear of the gulf, we will be on a course of 11 degrees north of east, or the house of La in the Hawaiian star compass. That should aim us at the island of Rapa for a while. It looks like staying more south should give us better winds, even though we all are looking forward to warmer weather up north. Hope everyone has recovered from camp!
Ms. Fuller
Friday, October 5, 2012
Now it's Saturday...P.S. to the 6th graders
It is now Saturday, and we
spent today shopping at the open market for fresh produce. One good
thing about the cold weather is that it helps our produce (anyone
remember what produce is?) stay fresh longer. All we have to do now is
shop for canned foods and a few odds and ends like pancake mix and
taro. We're trying a meal system of seven days of meals that will
basically repeat. We're trying to keep it simple because we don't have a
cook, and because the weather could possibly get rough enough to make
fancy cooking difficult. In that case, we'll most likely be eating a
lot of saimin!
Tonight
we're having a barbecue with the Hikianalia crew from Hawaii. I'm
lucky to have two families here, since the Hawaiian crew is comprised of
my friends from Hokule'a. It's good for the two crews to get to know
each other, as we will be sailing next to each other (or maybe
racing...but it's never a race). Out on the ocean, we will have to take
care of each other and keep an eye on each other, just like YOU do in
the classroom...RIGHT??
Our
boys from Tahiti arrived in shorts, thinking it wouldn't be that cold.
Where we are in Greenhithe, however, the wind funnels through and was
gale force today...blowing 35 mph. It is cold. The boys are going to
get their turn at shopping for warm clothes tomorrow. After tomorrow,
we should be pretty much ready to go, leaving Monday for any last minute
errands.
Letter to the 6th graders
Hi 6th graders!
Sorry I haven't replied earlier - I sent my first e-mail from the canoe Hikianalia, which will be coming with us to Tahiti. Until we leave, this address is the best address to reach me at. I tried to forward your e-mail to myself but it didn't seem to work, so I'll try and remember the questions you asked. We're looking at departing here on October 8th, although we may have to wait until the 9th for one more crew member to arrive. Somehow, members of the crew have been dropping out, so we're really short in people, and are scrambling a bit to find people. Any of you want to go? It is very cold here, and where the canoes are, the wind is very strong. It was so cold that it hailed on us briefly the other day. The winds today were near gale force...about 35 mph. I have been wearing 3 layers of clothing constantly...and I look forward to a very HOT shower at night, although I know we won't be showering for a while once we get going. Our current plan is to head straight to an island called Rapa (not Rapa Nui or Easter Island) which is directly south of Tahiti. As we approach, we'll turn to the north and swing up. By then we ought to be showering regularly!!!
Our navigation will primarily be done by GPS on this trip, as the goal is to get to Tahiti as soon as possible. However, we will be using stars on each watch to hold course. On Faafaite (the canoe I will be on), the watches are 3 hours long, so you get 6 hours sleep in between. The hard part about this system is that you don't have regular sleep hours. ON the others canoes I have sailed, we had 4 hour watches. I liked that better. The navigators will be holding course at night using stars. It's a little confusing here because we're so far south. The stars seem almost upside down from what we're used to at home. We will use the Southern Cross, navigator's triangle and Maui's fishhook early in the night, and likely use Orion later on. During the day, we can use the sunrise and sunset, and moonrise or moonset if there is one. Otherwise we'll use swells and the wind direction. We should be getting a few storms, so we'll have to watch changes in the wind direction carefully.
The canoe is about 72 feet long and has two masts (two sails). The hulls are pretty big and our bunks are inside and protected. Food and water storage is inside, under the bunks. I'll send a couple pictures from yesterday when our masts were put up again. We've been working really hard to get ready: attaching safety nets, putting sails on, inventorying food and making shopping lists, sanding and varnishing. Tomorrow we fill water bottle and start food shopping. We'll also have to purchase some necessary equipment...like more eating utensils! Somehow, those always seem to go overboard...
It's been difficult to work because of the weather. Most chores that need to be done are on deck, and it rains about every 20 minutes. Usually it's not too bad, but sometimes we have to go somewhere sheltered. However, the rain means we can't varnish or paint because the air is too moist. I have been wearing rain pants most of the time so I can sit on the wet deck. When it gets really bad, I have rubber boots to wear.
It has been nice to see some of the friends I sailed with over the summer. Some have come to help us get ready, and some come down just to hang out. The Hikianalia crew has also been very helpful - they're all my sailing buddies from home, so they ought to be helping us! We are all one family out on the ocean, and as we discussed one night, the voyage has already begun.
With a small crew, each watch will not only have to steer and change sails, but cook as well. I'm not looking forward to that - I'm not an experienced cook. we're trying to plan simple meals like pasta and pancakes, but if the weather gets bad, we'll pretty much exist on saimin.
I think that's all I remember for now -
take care and behave!
Ms. Fuller
Sorry I haven't replied earlier - I sent my first e-mail from the canoe Hikianalia, which will be coming with us to Tahiti. Until we leave, this address is the best address to reach me at. I tried to forward your e-mail to myself but it didn't seem to work, so I'll try and remember the questions you asked. We're looking at departing here on October 8th, although we may have to wait until the 9th for one more crew member to arrive. Somehow, members of the crew have been dropping out, so we're really short in people, and are scrambling a bit to find people. Any of you want to go? It is very cold here, and where the canoes are, the wind is very strong. It was so cold that it hailed on us briefly the other day. The winds today were near gale force...about 35 mph. I have been wearing 3 layers of clothing constantly...and I look forward to a very HOT shower at night, although I know we won't be showering for a while once we get going. Our current plan is to head straight to an island called Rapa (not Rapa Nui or Easter Island) which is directly south of Tahiti. As we approach, we'll turn to the north and swing up. By then we ought to be showering regularly!!!
Our navigation will primarily be done by GPS on this trip, as the goal is to get to Tahiti as soon as possible. However, we will be using stars on each watch to hold course. On Faafaite (the canoe I will be on), the watches are 3 hours long, so you get 6 hours sleep in between. The hard part about this system is that you don't have regular sleep hours. ON the others canoes I have sailed, we had 4 hour watches. I liked that better. The navigators will be holding course at night using stars. It's a little confusing here because we're so far south. The stars seem almost upside down from what we're used to at home. We will use the Southern Cross, navigator's triangle and Maui's fishhook early in the night, and likely use Orion later on. During the day, we can use the sunrise and sunset, and moonrise or moonset if there is one. Otherwise we'll use swells and the wind direction. We should be getting a few storms, so we'll have to watch changes in the wind direction carefully.
The canoe is about 72 feet long and has two masts (two sails). The hulls are pretty big and our bunks are inside and protected. Food and water storage is inside, under the bunks. I'll send a couple pictures from yesterday when our masts were put up again. We've been working really hard to get ready: attaching safety nets, putting sails on, inventorying food and making shopping lists, sanding and varnishing. Tomorrow we fill water bottle and start food shopping. We'll also have to purchase some necessary equipment...like more eating utensils! Somehow, those always seem to go overboard...
It's been difficult to work because of the weather. Most chores that need to be done are on deck, and it rains about every 20 minutes. Usually it's not too bad, but sometimes we have to go somewhere sheltered. However, the rain means we can't varnish or paint because the air is too moist. I have been wearing rain pants most of the time so I can sit on the wet deck. When it gets really bad, I have rubber boots to wear.
It has been nice to see some of the friends I sailed with over the summer. Some have come to help us get ready, and some come down just to hang out. The Hikianalia crew has also been very helpful - they're all my sailing buddies from home, so they ought to be helping us! We are all one family out on the ocean, and as we discussed one night, the voyage has already begun.
With a small crew, each watch will not only have to steer and change sails, but cook as well. I'm not looking forward to that - I'm not an experienced cook. we're trying to plan simple meals like pasta and pancakes, but if the weather gets bad, we'll pretty much exist on saimin.
I think that's all I remember for now -
take care and behave!
Ms. Fuller
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The Hardest Voyage is the Journey Home
wrote this a while back...ironic, isn't it??
This entry has been at least a month in the making, and is dedicated to the voyager family far and wide, because YOU know what I am talking about. For some, coming home is a dream come true - returning to family and friends, home and "normality". Ahhhh...normality. What is that? For some of us, coming home means not feeling like you belong in your skin. Literally ITCHING. It means looking at your life and wondering what in the world you are doing with yourself. It means aching for the sound of the sea and for the voyaging family you left behind. A counselor I spoke to said it is a grieving process, like losing a loved one.
Spending time in Whatawhata was a blessing indeed, as it was truly a halfway house; connected to the voyage, yet separate. While there, I was in constant contact with the voyagers in Vanuatu, and then in New Caledonia while they were there. And then I left. My first experience in an American airport nearly made me sick to my stomach, The blatant consumerism in all the airport shops made me want to run as fast as I could in any other direction. I longed with all my heart to be on a small island, where life is SIMPLE. The noise! The waste! Rubbish carelessly tossed aside...excessive water use...things I had developed an acute awareness of. I felt completely alone, especially as I had left someone I loved behind. Yes, my fellow sailors, I know the rule...no fraternizing. However, you know as well what kind of a crucible a voyage is: intense, surreal, a time that only those there understand. And so it was. In New Zealand, I learned firsthand what it meant to be left on land waiting for word from the sea.
Home was just as difficult. Although I knew that, in time, I would readjust to "routine", I wasn't really sure I wanted to. Would that be giving in to American greed and excess? Would I become merely complacent again? I promised myself that I would not, but the fear remains...a tiny little stone in my gut, reminding me of where I've been and what I've seen. All the pressures and stresses of land that I had detached myself from fell around me like bars in a cage, and claustrophobia set in. Ironically, I found, and still find solace in Facebook. Where once I laughed at the "addicts", I have found the value in it as it is the best means of keeping our family together. It has been therapy for many of us to chat and commiserate over our journeys and our losses. It has also been a means of discovering which relationships are truly worthwhile, and which are not (my sailor boy, unfortunately). He, a typical sailor boy, discovered that when girls from multiple ports (or canoes) are in the same place, worlds collide. Another lesson of the sea.
I just watched TV for the first time tonight. Again, it shows the extent of our drift from what really matters...reality shows?? Come on, people! Trash!! Even watching someone win money on a show, I thought about what good that money, so freely given, could do in so many other places! I also haven't been able to read a newspaper at all. Don't know why...maybe it's like the Beatles' song "A Day In the Life" ("I read the news today, oh boy..."). I thought I could jump right back into work with no problems. HA. As 'Onohi Paishon commented in reference to a few of us, "I don't know why you guys thought you could go back to work right away." his advice? "Go away for two weeks." Luckily, I have 62 students this year who are thoroughly distracting, and who need me. They have dragged me back into some semblance of a normal routine, although I still feel like I am running to keep the pace at school.
I still want my small island...within reach of the sea, where I can walk across a road and throw my one-man canoe into clear waters for a paddle. Life on my dream island is simple indeed; the inhabitants live close to nature and only within their means. They fish, they farm, they walk through the rain, they care for each other like family and don't let anyone slip through the cracks. Someday, I'll be there. One of the hardest lessons was realizing that the changes I desire, in my life and in the world, won't come immediately. I need to work for them, and be patient with myself. As long as I keep the goal in mind, it will come. As I return to daily life, I am so grateful for the opportunity to have seen that much more of the world. We ARE tremendously complacent in our routines...only by getting out there, going past the edge of comfort, can we see what IS. And knowing that is the first step in making it better.
But yet...no one knows desire like the sailor for the sea. NO ONE. And I thank Billy Richards for this (another benefit of FB):
The Sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
For, to stay , though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mold.
Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?
A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun..."
Kahlil Gibran "The Prophet" 1923
This entry has been at least a month in the making, and is dedicated to the voyager family far and wide, because YOU know what I am talking about. For some, coming home is a dream come true - returning to family and friends, home and "normality". Ahhhh...normality. What is that? For some of us, coming home means not feeling like you belong in your skin. Literally ITCHING. It means looking at your life and wondering what in the world you are doing with yourself. It means aching for the sound of the sea and for the voyaging family you left behind. A counselor I spoke to said it is a grieving process, like losing a loved one.
Spending time in Whatawhata was a blessing indeed, as it was truly a halfway house; connected to the voyage, yet separate. While there, I was in constant contact with the voyagers in Vanuatu, and then in New Caledonia while they were there. And then I left. My first experience in an American airport nearly made me sick to my stomach, The blatant consumerism in all the airport shops made me want to run as fast as I could in any other direction. I longed with all my heart to be on a small island, where life is SIMPLE. The noise! The waste! Rubbish carelessly tossed aside...excessive water use...things I had developed an acute awareness of. I felt completely alone, especially as I had left someone I loved behind. Yes, my fellow sailors, I know the rule...no fraternizing. However, you know as well what kind of a crucible a voyage is: intense, surreal, a time that only those there understand. And so it was. In New Zealand, I learned firsthand what it meant to be left on land waiting for word from the sea.
Home was just as difficult. Although I knew that, in time, I would readjust to "routine", I wasn't really sure I wanted to. Would that be giving in to American greed and excess? Would I become merely complacent again? I promised myself that I would not, but the fear remains...a tiny little stone in my gut, reminding me of where I've been and what I've seen. All the pressures and stresses of land that I had detached myself from fell around me like bars in a cage, and claustrophobia set in. Ironically, I found, and still find solace in Facebook. Where once I laughed at the "addicts", I have found the value in it as it is the best means of keeping our family together. It has been therapy for many of us to chat and commiserate over our journeys and our losses. It has also been a means of discovering which relationships are truly worthwhile, and which are not (my sailor boy, unfortunately). He, a typical sailor boy, discovered that when girls from multiple ports (or canoes) are in the same place, worlds collide. Another lesson of the sea.
I just watched TV for the first time tonight. Again, it shows the extent of our drift from what really matters...reality shows?? Come on, people! Trash!! Even watching someone win money on a show, I thought about what good that money, so freely given, could do in so many other places! I also haven't been able to read a newspaper at all. Don't know why...maybe it's like the Beatles' song "A Day In the Life" ("I read the news today, oh boy..."). I thought I could jump right back into work with no problems. HA. As 'Onohi Paishon commented in reference to a few of us, "I don't know why you guys thought you could go back to work right away." his advice? "Go away for two weeks." Luckily, I have 62 students this year who are thoroughly distracting, and who need me. They have dragged me back into some semblance of a normal routine, although I still feel like I am running to keep the pace at school.
I still want my small island...within reach of the sea, where I can walk across a road and throw my one-man canoe into clear waters for a paddle. Life on my dream island is simple indeed; the inhabitants live close to nature and only within their means. They fish, they farm, they walk through the rain, they care for each other like family and don't let anyone slip through the cracks. Someday, I'll be there. One of the hardest lessons was realizing that the changes I desire, in my life and in the world, won't come immediately. I need to work for them, and be patient with myself. As long as I keep the goal in mind, it will come. As I return to daily life, I am so grateful for the opportunity to have seen that much more of the world. We ARE tremendously complacent in our routines...only by getting out there, going past the edge of comfort, can we see what IS. And knowing that is the first step in making it better.
But yet...no one knows desire like the sailor for the sea. NO ONE. And I thank Billy Richards for this (another benefit of FB):
The Sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
For, to stay , though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mold.
Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?
A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun..."
Kahlil Gibran "The Prophet" 1923
and from Joy Ancheta...also Gibran:
"And his soul cried out to them, and he said:
Sons of my ancient mother, you rider of the tides,
How often have you sailed in my dreams.
And now you come in my awakening,
which is my deeper dream.
Sons of my ancient mother, you rider of the tides,
How often have you sailed in my dreams.
And now you come in my awakening,
which is my deeper dream.
And so those of us who "lived the dream" now must seek the deeper one.
And We're Back...
Aloha friends -
I have been back in New Zealand since Friday. I literally got off the plane and jumped on a canoe...Hikianalia, this time. I was picked up at the airport, driven to the dock, and Kealoha and I caught a dinghy out to where Hiki was sailing past and we got on. We spent three days testing her out...centerboards, tacking, sail trim, engines, the works. We were very lucky to have captains Frank and Magnus on board, as well as Nick Peal from Salthouse Boat Builders, who also has been most hospitable with his time, mana'o and tools. It was a lovely three days, although the cold was a real wake-up call. The first night was not only freezing cold, but wet as well. A lot of us discovered that what we thought was waterproof wasn't really, including my boots. I wore wet socks for the next two days, which I really wouldn't recommend to anyone. The weather is very changeable...from cold mornings to sunny daytime hours in the high 60s, where we put on shorts and sailed barefoot. On Monday, I joined Fatiarau and Moeata from Faafaite. The two of them have been doing a tremendous amount of work to get her ready. Titaua, who was participating in captain's training, joined us the next day. He is missing his captain's exam, but for him the more important trip is to take Faafaite home. I told him we'll grade him when we get there. Faafaite is starting to look like a real waka again. When I first saw her, she seemed pretty bare in comparison with brand-spanking-new Hikianalia. Yesterday (Tuesday) we had her masts reinstalled...with a beautiful rainbow appearing for each mast. We also put her engines back in place and set in the safety nets. It was a fairly productive day, despite intermittent rain squalls and near gale force winds on occasion. At one point, it even hailed on us briefly. We've learned to watch for the rain and time it's arrival...and we run for cover. I have been working in two layers of pants and rain pants over that (so much better to sit on a wet deck). I wear boots and ski socks, two shirts with a waterproof, insulated jacket over that, a scarf and a hat. It's MUCH different from surf shorts and a capilene shirt for Hokule'a dry dock. Currently, we're a bit short on crew...9 confirmed, and waiting for a possible 3 more. Our minimum comfortable number is 12. We'd like 14, and we were mentally preparing ourselves for 10. It was a real treat for us to have Kalepa Baybayan arrive today...we thought he would be arriving tomorrow! Having him here makes us all feel a little bit better.
It's been so natural to get back on the wakas. Like coming home...and also a treat to see friends like Kalei, Greg, and Numa. A little bit different situation than what we had this summer, but a treat to see them. Being with the Faafaite girls has also been great - that crew was like family over the summer, and I look forward to strengthening that bond. We seem to have bonded nicely in the past few days. The boys arrive tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. We've been staying in a motor lodge camp ground; Our first room had two bunk bed sets, a table and a sink. I think it was 6 ft wide and 15 ft long...tiny, but cozy. The beds were the old style spring bottom beds, and may not have looked like much, but were VERY comfortable. With Kalepa here, we moved into a larger unit: two bunk bed sets and a small bedroom for him. We even get our own bathroom, instead of having to use the communal one. We still have to go there for showers, though, which are $1 for 9 minutes of water. Moeata speculates, very correctly to my mind, that it is actually a waste of water, because we enjoy every minute of the hot water, rather than shutting it down when we're done. The benefit of the larger room is also not having to rent pots and pans to cook...this is definitely budget sailing. From tomorrow night, to save money, we'll be sleeping on the waka and sharing one shower. we are thinking, though, of stocking up on shower tokens and driving back for real showers.
The joy for me has been in getting back to what I love...working on wakas. Lashing nets, sanding and varnishing, inventorying (is that a word) food and supplies and worrying over course lines...have done a tiny bit of studying, but not much. It seems natural to wear the same clothes two or three days in a row. In this cold, you don't sweat, so it takes longer for clothes to smell (except the socks that were wet for two days). A last good wash of everything possible is also on the agenda prior to departure.
It's been a bit frustrating getting our heads around the idea of a small crew...finding bodies to fill the spots has been hard, as most of those we'd like to take are involved in the captain's class. Others have passport issues or family commitments. Faafaite chooses who she will, and the right people will come. We're hoping that includes a cook, as the watches are going to have to cook AND steer. It's going to be a very hard journey with a lot of work for everyone. It will be one that defines each of us as a person...where you see people's true colors. I am hoping this will be a chance to shine and to find out more of what I am all about, as well as to show others.
Lots of work over the next few days, as our tentative departure date is the 8th...more to come!!
I have been back in New Zealand since Friday. I literally got off the plane and jumped on a canoe...Hikianalia, this time. I was picked up at the airport, driven to the dock, and Kealoha and I caught a dinghy out to where Hiki was sailing past and we got on. We spent three days testing her out...centerboards, tacking, sail trim, engines, the works. We were very lucky to have captains Frank and Magnus on board, as well as Nick Peal from Salthouse Boat Builders, who also has been most hospitable with his time, mana'o and tools. It was a lovely three days, although the cold was a real wake-up call. The first night was not only freezing cold, but wet as well. A lot of us discovered that what we thought was waterproof wasn't really, including my boots. I wore wet socks for the next two days, which I really wouldn't recommend to anyone. The weather is very changeable...from cold mornings to sunny daytime hours in the high 60s, where we put on shorts and sailed barefoot. On Monday, I joined Fatiarau and Moeata from Faafaite. The two of them have been doing a tremendous amount of work to get her ready. Titaua, who was participating in captain's training, joined us the next day. He is missing his captain's exam, but for him the more important trip is to take Faafaite home. I told him we'll grade him when we get there. Faafaite is starting to look like a real waka again. When I first saw her, she seemed pretty bare in comparison with brand-spanking-new Hikianalia. Yesterday (Tuesday) we had her masts reinstalled...with a beautiful rainbow appearing for each mast. We also put her engines back in place and set in the safety nets. It was a fairly productive day, despite intermittent rain squalls and near gale force winds on occasion. At one point, it even hailed on us briefly. We've learned to watch for the rain and time it's arrival...and we run for cover. I have been working in two layers of pants and rain pants over that (so much better to sit on a wet deck). I wear boots and ski socks, two shirts with a waterproof, insulated jacket over that, a scarf and a hat. It's MUCH different from surf shorts and a capilene shirt for Hokule'a dry dock. Currently, we're a bit short on crew...9 confirmed, and waiting for a possible 3 more. Our minimum comfortable number is 12. We'd like 14, and we were mentally preparing ourselves for 10. It was a real treat for us to have Kalepa Baybayan arrive today...we thought he would be arriving tomorrow! Having him here makes us all feel a little bit better.
It's been so natural to get back on the wakas. Like coming home...and also a treat to see friends like Kalei, Greg, and Numa. A little bit different situation than what we had this summer, but a treat to see them. Being with the Faafaite girls has also been great - that crew was like family over the summer, and I look forward to strengthening that bond. We seem to have bonded nicely in the past few days. The boys arrive tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. We've been staying in a motor lodge camp ground; Our first room had two bunk bed sets, a table and a sink. I think it was 6 ft wide and 15 ft long...tiny, but cozy. The beds were the old style spring bottom beds, and may not have looked like much, but were VERY comfortable. With Kalepa here, we moved into a larger unit: two bunk bed sets and a small bedroom for him. We even get our own bathroom, instead of having to use the communal one. We still have to go there for showers, though, which are $1 for 9 minutes of water. Moeata speculates, very correctly to my mind, that it is actually a waste of water, because we enjoy every minute of the hot water, rather than shutting it down when we're done. The benefit of the larger room is also not having to rent pots and pans to cook...this is definitely budget sailing. From tomorrow night, to save money, we'll be sleeping on the waka and sharing one shower. we are thinking, though, of stocking up on shower tokens and driving back for real showers.
The joy for me has been in getting back to what I love...working on wakas. Lashing nets, sanding and varnishing, inventorying (is that a word) food and supplies and worrying over course lines...have done a tiny bit of studying, but not much. It seems natural to wear the same clothes two or three days in a row. In this cold, you don't sweat, so it takes longer for clothes to smell (except the socks that were wet for two days). A last good wash of everything possible is also on the agenda prior to departure.
It's been a bit frustrating getting our heads around the idea of a small crew...finding bodies to fill the spots has been hard, as most of those we'd like to take are involved in the captain's class. Others have passport issues or family commitments. Faafaite chooses who she will, and the right people will come. We're hoping that includes a cook, as the watches are going to have to cook AND steer. It's going to be a very hard journey with a lot of work for everyone. It will be one that defines each of us as a person...where you see people's true colors. I am hoping this will be a chance to shine and to find out more of what I am all about, as well as to show others.
Lots of work over the next few days, as our tentative departure date is the 8th...more to come!!
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