Around the Horn

Well...it sure it hard to work full-time, and do anything else. We both come home zapped at the end of the day. It appears we're a little soft. I guess we need some time to build up our endurance.

While you're waiting for me to get enough energy to write a blog post, you might want to check this out. Our friend John, who we met in Majuro and visited in Alaska, has decided to sail a small, engineless boat around the Horn. You can read about it here: http://ajohnbankstrip.com/ 

Fair winds JOHN!!

Molly II - going around the Horn

Petersburg

We stopped in "Alaska's Little Norway" for the night and really liked this
community - everyone was super friendly. Apparently, just over 3000 people
live here and we were told it was the wealthiest fishing community in
Alaska...that would definitely explain the big, beautiful homes we saw on
the way into the harbour. We took advantage of the laundry, showers,
grocery, seafood store, hardware store, and propane, before we headed out
again the next day, in time for slack tide in Wrangell Narrows.

We're on our way to Port Protection at the North end of Prince of Wales
Island. Home to "Alaska John" whom we met in Majuro. He and Heather are
cruising around here somewhere, and we can't wait to catch up with them and
share stories.

As we were untying from the Petersburg dock, we met a couple who had started
their cruising life many years ago in Majuro. It was fun to compare notes
and hear of their adventures...most noteworthy for us included being
attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden (they shot three of the pirates, and
their buddy boat rammed them)! Unfortunately, their boat was destroyed in
the Baltic Sea when they were hit by a 400+ ft ferry. Yet, they are still
cruising...albeit now in the comfort of a dreamy trawler. Amazing stories -
we wish we could have spent more time chatting with them.

Good Starfish, Bad Starfish

We are always learning on this adventure. We've learned that not all
starfish are good. The Crown of Thorns starfish are interesting
critters...central body with 'legs' similar to other starfish. But the
number of legs is more than 5. And not necessarily multiples of five. They
eat coral. They are eaten by Napoleon Wrasse and other big (and locally
absent) fish.


Here on Majuro Atoll and adjacent Arno Atoll, these starfish are in the
midst of a population boom. The scientists don't really understand very much
about them and are not sure what causes these localized explosions. But they
do know that where these leggy critters are in abundance, the coral is
decimated.

An instructor at College of Marshall Islands (CMI) and the local fishing
industry association (MIMRA) have joined efforts in an eradication program.
We were asked to join in the effort. So John, Mike (my brother), and I
joined five cruisers and 10 others and jumped on one of the local fishing
transport boats to nearby Arno Atoll. Even though we were planning to stay
only one night, we were loaded to the gills. On board was dive and snorkel
equipment for everyone, 2 dozen tanks, food, coolers, sleeping equipment and
so on. We could have stayed a week! The trip was fast, travelling at least
20 knots - we arrived in less than an hour, propelled by two huge 150hp
engines on the back of this open vessel.

We arrived and staked out the accommodations at a local B&B. Shortly
thereafter, we had a brief intro from Dean, the CMI instructor to discuss
what we were looking for, how we would capture them, and how to avoid being
stung by their sharp thorns. We were diving at night, as that is when they
are most active, and will be easiest to capture.

At 8pm, we all (remember - 18 of us) jumped into the back of a truck for the
ride to the boat. We spent an hour sorting out our gear and getting suited
up and then the boat dropped us onto the reef, just 100m away from the dock.
We worked in pairs or triplets, with some people responsible for scanning
and searching for animals, others wielding the long handled bbq tongs for
their removal, and all of us with multiple straw sacks tucked into our
BCD's/wetsuits that we were to fill with dozens of creatures.

After an hour of searching John, Mike and I had caught one starfish. ONE.
Most other dive teams had similar luck, with only two or three animals. The
snorkellers were having much better luck in shallow water, but we didn't
know that until we all rendezvoused back on the boat. Our trip definitely
added to the knowledge pool on this creature: shallow areas were preferred,
rather than the deeper sites; animals remain hidden and are not especially
active during the full moon; and coral with bleached spots may indicate a
nearby starfish.

All in all, it was a good trip. We did some snorkelling the next morning,
and a few more Crown of Thorns were added to the 45 that we collected the
previous night. The coral at Arno is some of the most beautiful we've seen
anywhere in the Pacific, such diversity and explosions of colour. Fabulous.

Majuro Fun

We have a love-hate relationships with Majuro. In so many ways it is
fabulous. There are large grocery stores, where you can buy most things that
you would want or need. It may be expired, but it is here. There are great
hardware stores, so it is easy to get your inevitable projects completed.
They use the US Postal Service, so receiving mail is simple and fast,
especially from the States. There is a great yachtie community here with
regular social activities and a wealth of local information. There is
internet - expensive, but it is good and we can get it from our boat - a big
plus.

Of course, it is a busy city for this part of the world. So it is a bit
dirty. We don't swim. The harbour is deep, so tying to a mooring ball is
required and not free (but by no means is it expensive). The worse part for
us is that we have no self control. We eat out. We buy stuff. We just bleed
money. So our new mantra is to stay only as long as necessary. After all,
we're getting closer to the end of our trip and funds are getting low.

But our favorite part of Majuro is that just a few miles away from 'town' is
a lovely getaway spot that is frequented so often by yachties, that they
have installed a few mooring balls to save the coral from anchor damage.
There are sandy beaches and wonderful swimming here. You instantly feel
removed and relaxed. Cruisers who are working in Majuro often come out here
on weekends, but during the week, it is easy to find yourself as the only
boat. We spent last weekend out at the island of Eneko, with friends on Savannah, Love Song and Molly II.

Love Song and Savannah anchored at Eneko

We had a great weekend. John scrubbed the bottom. I slummed with the
ladies on the anchored floating dock, where we read magazines, swam when
hot, and painted my toes. I gazed down at the coral life while cruising
around on Love Song's stand up paddleboard. We potluck bbq'ed on the beach.
And I even managed a sewing project.

3 boys and 2 dogs on a kayak exploring the reef. Very cool.

Still more to see at Maloelap

We've been in this atoll for 2 weeks and there is still more to see. We
spent the last few days with Savannah at Ollot/Ollet Island, and now we're
back at Taroa Island. Savannah has left for the atoll of Aur, so we're on
our own again.

Today, we ventured out in the dingy to a tiny dot of an island about 1/2 a
mile north. There were a few whitecaps as we crossed to pass between the
islands, but it was an easy, albeit wet, trip. When we arrived, we realized
that the island was so tiny, that we wouldn't see much. We had read there
was a plane on the beach, but it was still buried under the high tide. We
did find the control panel, some aluminum scrap, and the landing gear.
Unfortunately, the beach was rocky, so there was little chance of finding an
intact glass ball, yet we searched the high tide line regardless. We did
find a beautiful conch shell.

In the afternoon, we returned to the village to stroll the beach one more
time, and say our goodbyes. We plan to head to one other uninhabited island
in this atoll, then head back to Majuro. We're in a rush now...John is out
of coffee!

Labels: Maleolap, Marshall Islands, culture, sightseeing, cruisers.

Savannah Joins Us

Our friends on s/v Savannah came to join us at Maloelap. Even though we were holding a piece of their mail hostage, I like to think they came because they wanted to hang out!

Savannah arrives!

We've had a great time hanging out with them again. It's been great catching
up on what we've all been up to since we were last together - we last saw
them in December in Majuro. I've destroyed numerous military bases, rocket
launchers, gun turrets, and even a aircraft carrier as a result of some
serious battles against Jake. He's six. And we're putting a good size dent
into our booze supply with our regular cocktail hours. We've all wandered
around the island, as John provided (once again) his tour guide services of
all the relics we've located here so far.

Touring the junk...

John and Andy dove on a sunken Japanese supply ship. Andy took some amazing
pics, so be sure to check out their blog soon (there is a link on the right
side bar). We've also moved 5 miles to a nearby island of Ollot Island, and
dove on two wrecked Japanese ships. Tomorrow we'll snorkel two Japanese
zeros (fighter planes) nearby.

Jake checks out a stash of old bullets on the beach

Our plans from here are not firm. We're down to our last few potatoes and onions, so I expect we'll head back to Majuro before venturing to any new atolls further north.

Our new position is 8 45N, 171 10E.

Deep Fried Goodness

We heard that our friends on Savannah were going to brave the winds and bash
upwind for two days to come hang out with us here in Maloelap. Yippee!!

So, in honour of their arrival, I thought I'd better try my hand at
deep-frying. They are from the South after all.

In the atoll of Aur, our friend James gave us some bananas and what we
thought were plantains. We don't really know what to do with plantains, but
I have heard that they are delicious when deep fried. So bring on the oil!
I sliced the plantains thinly, dipped them in a pot full of veg oil and
fried em up. Added salt. Yum. Like chips.

That was my test batch.

When Savannah arrived a couple days later, I made them again. But this time
they didn't get crispy. They were much softer. My plantains had ripened.
Monica and Andy listened to my woes, and quickly replied, in unison,
"Double-fry". DOH. OF COURSE!! I should have fried, drained, cooled, then
refried. Hmmmm. I have a lot to learn about deep frying.

They also informed me that they weren't plantains at all, just big bananas.
Oh well. Turns out I like deep fried bananas. Even soft and mushy ones. So
long as they have lots of salt.

Paparazzi

We try to stay away from the Paparazzi...but sometimes they find us in the
most unusual places.

Back in Majuro

Sorry for the radio silence.

We're back in Majuro. We left Honolulu early Monday morning, crossed the
date line, and arrived Tuesday morning. After a passage of 22 days, we
managed to cover the same distance in just 5 hours. Amazing. And no charges
for our overweight bags. Well, unless you consider the rips and tears a type
of fee.

Being back has its pros and cons. For instance...we wondered if Renova
always smelled like this? A bit musty. Even mildew-y. Did her woodwork
always have these worn patches here and there? I suspect so. We've simply
been spoiled with the wonderful new-ness of MY Laysan. Even so, after almost
two months of neglecting Renova, we're glad to be home, and after our
initial day of rest, we're already in frantic cleaning mode. We're anxious
to begin exploring the reputedly phenomenal outer islands of this country.
And...it feels good to give Renova some love.

Renova in a state of disrepair, as we do a mad clean

So far, we've scrubbed, de-cluttered, installed a new VHF (with AIS...yeah),
and dined with our fellow yachties! We've also spent time with our friends
on SV Carina, who were kind enough to help us with some sail repair while we
were away. We had noticed that some of the stitching on our 2009 genoa was
coming loose at the clew, and we had some areas of chafe. Philip and Leslie
did a fabulous job of the repairs and we've learned a lot along the way.
We've got a few more projects on the to-do list, before we leave here. SSB
installation. Alternator install. Provisioning. Immigration. Computer
set-up. And the list goes on.

Leslie and Philip from SV Carina help us with sail repair

I'm sure there are a zillion emails in our inbox. We've been very negligent.
Sorry. I need to spend a couple days tapping out our belated replies. Until
the captain sets me free from cinderella duty, please know that we are
thankful for your emails, and will respond personally asap!
If it is any consolation...I was able to take advantage of free and fast
wifi at the yacht club by uploading pics to our flickr page. I posted pics
of our time at Abemama, Tarawa, Abaiang, Majuro, Johnston and Honolulu. You
can check them out here: www.flickr.com/photos/naomit

Stay tuned...I'm keenly aware that we have more to blog about the rest of
our time in fabulous Honolulu, and some stats summarizing our trip from
Majuro to Hawaii on MY Laysan. Coming soon to a browser near you!
Pics: Leslie and Philip do a fabulous job with our sail repairs. This is
what Renova looks like in major de-clutter mode. Yep - that's my flip flop
collection at John's feet. I've made a major contribution to reducing our
gross tonnage by sacrificing two pair.

Majuro Atoll

We finally managed to get a coat of Cetol (varnish) on all the bare wood
that John has been sanding, so we followed Brickhouse and Savannah out of
the mooring field to explore the lagoon. We managed the 6 miles very
quickly, and after a nice downwind sail we were tied up to a mooring ball at
Eneko (Enigu) islet. Savannah watched our entertaining performance as we
picked up the ball under sail, which we managed without a hitch (ha - on our
second attempt)!

Following the show, they invited us over for dinner, and we enjoyed
hamburgers while we planned our adventures for the next few days.

Sliding Rocks in Samoa - A Video

Well, here is my first attempt at putting together a video of our adventures. Here's a trip we took to the Papaseea Sliding Rocks while in Samoa. Enjoy.

We also tried to make a video of our time in Samoa. I'd love to hear what you think of these videos, and if you have any suggestions!

News...or Gossip???

For the last couple of days, an interesting news story has been circulating among cruisers... rumours perhaps? I'm not sure. But for your information and/or entertainment...here is the story of a young cruiser who was eaten  by cannibals on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas...one of the island we visited last year.

http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8361657/cannibal-victim-identified-by-teeth

By the way, CELSIUS returned to the anchorage today. And THREE more sailboats showed up. All of a sudden we're not alone anymore! 

A Few Images of Kanton

The Moray Eel are their favorite fish

Eric sews up a Kiribati courtesy flag

Hermit crabs feast on shark

Rooting around amongst the junk

A fire extinguisher from the 50s (?)

A tribute to the Samoan Clipper

Katua and Davis show off their afternoon catch

Tires are a common toy around here

Cutting up the cake tabacco

The daily slaughter - tonight we're eating Trevaly

Eric at the tiller of the USS President Taylor

A few of the bullet tips we collected on the beach

Fish drying in the sun

I've also added a few pictures to the blog posts from Kanton - look back in the blog to check them out.

Arrived in Tarawa, Kiribati

We made the move. We decided to head to Tarawa, the main island in Kiribati,
to work on the engine. I was disappointed that we didn't stay for Saturday's
mass and feast, but the weather forecast showed us that after Friday, the
winds were going to drop dramatically. So, on Friday morning, we went ashore
to say our good-byes. Masa and Bwebweniman, who have been so friendly, and
have hosted us for tea, were sad to see us go. We left them a small gift of
canned pears and some tea. After we left, they called us back to give us
their pandanas mat. This was a big deal. After all...they were just visiting
this village for the church celebrations, and this would be their sleeping
mat. I tried to refuse. But she wouldn't hear of it. So, we now have a
beautiful, hand woven pandanas leaf mat. Gorgeous.

Our overnight passage was uneventful. We made good time. Too good. We
arrived in the dark. So, I just tacked away from the island, and sailed for
an hour, before returning to the island in the daylight. The pass is HUGE,
and there are many tankers here, so it was a fairly easy entrance, and we
quickly found a nice spot to anchor, fairly close to the big city of Betio
(pronounced Besio...remember Kiribati language pronounces 'TI' as 'SI' or
'S').

Although we had placed bets on how many sailboats would be here - we were
both right. John guessed there would be none. I guessed one. Turns out there
is one motor sailor here - from Australia. They dinghied over after wee
anchored and gave us some local info on hardware stores, the best spot for
chinese food, and groceries. After a quick nap, we went ashore. The town is
pretty dirty and crowded, as we'd heard. But we did find a great Chinese
restaurant, and a store selling eggs and sausages! MMMmmm

Today has been raining on and off all day. Very unusual for us. We've had no
sun. But, we've been collecting rain water, and our water tanks are full!!
We're now running the generator to charge our batteries, so we can watch a
movie later. ICE (the motor sailor) has invited us over for dinner, so we
look forward to chatting and hearing more about the island. They've been
here for quite some time as they wait for engine parts, so they'll be a
great source of local info.

Thank You Kanton

Wow...After five weeks, we'll finally be moving on. Without a doubt, Kanton
has been the warmest place that we've been privileged to visit on this
voyage. The people have welcomed us into their homes and hearts. We've never
been without an interpreter, fish for dinner, some rusty relic to explore,
or a companion for tea. What an amazing place.

Tomorrow, we'll head to the beach one last time, to say goodbye to our new
friends. It won't be easy.

Takarei and her family

And most difficult of all...we'll also be saying goodbye to Eric, whom we've
been travelling with, on and off, for 5 months. In a few days he will also
weigh anchor, but his destination is south to Tonga. After spending every
day with him here, we're sad at the thought of parting ways.
We're already scheming about ways to return here in the future. Maybe our
next cruise? Maybe by air? There is talk of re-opening the massive runway.

A few of the vases we received

Next stop...Abemama. 900 miles to the north west - a downwind run. We expect
the passage to take 8-10 days. The island atoll is in the Gilberts - a group
of islands that also belong to the Republic of Kiribati. We hear that there
are two MP's on the island, therefore, it must have at least 1000 people. We
have an older cruising guide that says over 2000! Hurray. Do you know what
that means?? A STORE! We'll be able to re-stock on supplies. We've been
eating fish everyday, so most of our supplies are fine, but we are in
desperate need of eggs, flour and pringles.

Shell Collecting

Yesterday, when we went ashore, I found out that Temarive and Maria were
going shell collecting! HURRAY!! Eric and I quickly grabbed bicycles, and
went along. It was a full moon, so thus very low tides, and we found
ourselves wading on a shallow coral shelf looking for small (1 cm) white
shells that hid themselves in small nooks and crannies in the coral. It was
slow going at first, but we soon got the hang of it, and were pulling these
small, unsuspecting creatures from their happy homes, and depositing them
into our 4 gallon jug that I'd tied to my shorts. After an hour, I think I
had about an inch of shells in the bottom of my jug.

Today, Lucy and I went back and collected again!

Not at all in line with the yoga book I'm now reading that espouses
vegetarianism and the importance of karma. Yikes.

Kanton - Snorkelling

Well, we've had amazing snorkelling on this trip, but I think this place
tops the charts for abundance and size of fish. John, Eric and I snorkelled
near the pass and were amazed by the variety, size, and courageous these
fish were. They had no fear of us, or of the boys' spear guns. Eric was
having a good day with his spear, and shot two parrotfish, plenty for
dinner.

One of the many dinner fish caught by John and Eric

Unfortunately, during dinner, Eric felt a bit of numbness on his lips. A
symptom of the toxin ciguatera found in some tropical lagoons. Although
Davis assured us that there is no ciguatera in the lagoon, we decided to eat
more pelagic fish in the coming days. No problem. Tuna, barracuda,
wahoo....these are all delightful too!!

Feasting at Kanton

Kanton welcomed us with a few songs!

Our first day in Kanton was spent chatting with the locals as they prepared
for a funeral feast in honour of Owen's grandmother. Throughout the day, we
watched them bring in a boat load of tuna and eel, some of which were salted
to dry, and others were prepared to be fried for tonight's feast. We also
watched as they brought a pig to the water's edge, where it was killed and
cleaned by Owen and two other men. It took most of the late morning and
early afternoon for the ladies to butcher the pig and prepare it for dinner.

A police boat is expected to come sometime this week, so the families are
all very busy drying various fish to be sent home to their families on the
main island of Tarawa. We're told that fish is difficult to come by at the
busy capital, and can be very expensive to buy. On drying racks throughout
the small community we saw tuna, eel, shark, octopus and wahoo. They told us
that the fish will keep for up to one year when prepared this way.
The evening feast was held in an old, rickety warehouse, whose tin walls
vibrated with the winds, and long strips of roofing threatened to fall at
any moment. This was also used as the schoolhouse, when they are living at
the wharf, instead of their usual village. After short speech giving tribute
to Owen and his grandmother, guests were invited to eat first, along with
the men. After the men had finished eating, the women and children
approached the banquet table.
A long, low, table held dishes prepared by the entire village. The pig was
presented in several ways, as ribs, steaks and other bits and pieces. Many
fish were also prepared - fried in garlic salt, salted, etc. Also the Moray
Eel was available as salted or fresh. I tried the salted, and it was very
delicious! I didn't get to the fresh eel - there were only HUGE pieces, and
our plates were overflowing. Of course, rice, ramen noodles, bread, pumpkin,
and other delights accompanied the meal. Everyone ate meals from simple
plastic plates, with a spoon and our fingers, while sitting on locally made
woven mats.
On Sunday, we arrived in our best outfits for church. Even in this small
village, we had a choice of a Protestant service (in the warehouse) or a
Catholic service (in the teacher's house). After the service, our welcome
feast began. Again, the table was heaped with dishes provided from the
community. John, who seems to be the local leader, and husband of the head
teacher, gave a short welcome speech, and we were gifted with ornate shell
necklaces, made here on the island. Again, we were invited to dine first,
followed by the men, then the women and children. After a meal, which
featured many of the previous day's delights, plus lobster, we had an
opportunity to express our thanks to the villagers, and present a few of the
small gifts we had brought for them. We had bananas, onions, oranges,
eggplant, bic lighters, fabric, fishing hooks and innertube repair kits,
which they seemed pleased to receive, and quickly divided into 7 equal piles
- one for each family. The villagers were also very pleased with the soccer
ball, frisbees, and heaps of movies that Eric provided. After the
formalities, the men quickly dragged the tv, dvd player, and generator over
to the warehouse, and the entire village crowded around to watch Sin City!

Good bye Beautiful Samoa

We're leaving Samoa. 

"It's easy to say hello, but hard to say goodbye". That is what our cab driving friend Tiali told me today. How right he is. We've had a great time here. We've met incredible people. We've seen stunning natural features and landscapes. It is an incredible country. 

But, our pocket books, calendars, and livers are all screaming for a break...so tomorrow, we head for Canton Island, in the Phoenix Group of Kiribati.

We will not have internet again for many months. Please hold off on emailing us with your photos for a while. We will continue to update our blog via the satellite phone. Unfortunately, I won't have enough time to update the blog with all our Samoan adventures, but here's a few images of Samoa.

Dancers at the Fia Fia

Dancers at the Fia Fia

Daniel cruising down at the Sliding Rocks (photo by Michelle)

Renova disappearing in the swell (photo by Eric)

Here is Renova and Evangeline bobbing about as we left the harbour during the Tsunami warning. (Photo by Eric)

A few of the interesting items at the fish market (photo by Dom)

Fire dancing (photo by Dom)

The sunset dinghy derby. FISH ON.

Earlier this week, I've added a few other posts of our time in Samoa...but you'll have to scroll down to see them...they are backdated. 

Return to Savaii

We decided to go back to the island of Savaii. Another island in Samoa - less populated. We took the boat there, but because of prevailing winds, we didn't get to see the South part of the island, which we are told is also beautiful. So Eric, Dom, John and I decided to part with a very large amount of Tala (Samoan currency) and book a trip with a local tour company. It was awesome. We took the ferry over...which was similar to our BC Ferries...except that the ferry was donated by some Japanese company that hopes to build a mega resort here. Hmmm.  The return trip on the smaller boat was more like travelling to Quadra or Gabriola Island. And we used the time to play a little dice.

Anyway...this is what we saw...

A local waterfall. Photo by Eric.

Small piglet

Cute kids

Crazy blowholes, which in typical Samoan fashion, you can get right up close to, peer inside, and hope not to be washed away! Photos by Dom. (Note the coconut husks being thrown from the hole at the very top left corner of the picture).

The Driver's house for lunch

 

A local beach for snorkelling, where Eric and I saw turtles. 

A local home where they showed us how they make siapo (or tapa cloth from the bark of the mulberry tree). Photo from Eric.

A great day! We were exhausted.