AT SEA, TUESDAY 22ND JUNE, 2010

 

A long time since I wrote the last blog.  We have been having loads of fun on Suwarrrow an atoll in the middle of nowhere.

Following on from my last blog.  We got up early the next morning at low tide and started clearing rocks and old bits of peir from the channel into the dingy dock so that the outboard engines have less chance of grindng on a rock.  We did well and the engineering and building prowess of some of the guys came out as they built steps to make it easier to get from the dingy to the dock dry.  The rest of the day was spent lazing around, the wind was getting up and blowing at 20 knots but we were firmly anchored in sand. We ate on board that night.  The following day Apii organised a Coconut crab hunt.  He picked us up in the fishing boat along with the Miss Tippy family and the others from the yacht Compass Rose. We set off for Turtle Island, we could only go so far and then had to wade to the island wearing reef shoes. We did quite a long walk first going around a small Muto full of birds nesting from Boobies to Frigate Birds then waded across to Turtle Island and with machete knives made our way into the bush which was full of Coconut trees and Pampas trees which have serated leaves and aerial roots.  The Coconut Crabs live in holes under the roots of various trees and bushes. You have to wear gardening gloves to get them, their claws are huge and strong made for breaking open coconuts so they could break your fingers.  One of  the largest we pulled out was 18'' long and weighed about 3lb, they are enormous.  They climb the coconut trees break off a coconut then climb down to break it open and eat it.  We killed a few for dinner and some we took back alive to recolonize Anchorage Island which only had a few small ones.  Photos will follow once I am on wifi. 

That night we decided to celebrate Donald Hughes 61st Birthday a day early as we sadly had to leave for Nuie the next day.

I baked a chocolae cake birthday cake and made a Tart Tatin, Setzchwan Auberigines I also marinated some lamb and chicken, the later we did not cook in the end as there was so much crab to eat whic we ate with fresh green salad provided by ourselves and Miss Tippy, Rice, Noodles cooked by Apii and James and a potatoe salad, raw fish marinated in Coconut and lime and a curry so it was quite a feast shared by the three yachts in the bay along with Apii and James. Again photos will follow.

Apii and James are real charactors.  James who is the senior of the two is 58 yrs old and looks just like Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, his hair is long but he wears it up in a bun, he has a long beard, white in the middle, he is huge with lots of polonesian tatoos on his arms.  James was a builder by trade and a bit of a lad at that, he has been married three times, born and brought up in New Zealand, where he lived in the bush and knows all the ways of the bush.  Apii was an engineer by  trade, much younger polonesian with tatoos and earrings.  They had applied to be wardens several times and eventually got the job.  They only arrived 2 weeks before us.  Whilst on the island they have to look after it, repair things and make sure the yachties behave themselves.  They are also Customs and Immigration Officers! The suppply ship with all their survival equipment has not yet arrived so they were running short of fuel.  We gave them a tank of fuel for their outboard and Miss Tippy gave them some gas for their gas rings.

We had to leave on Sunday in order to spend anytime in Nuie before heading off to Tonga.  We left after a BBQ luch ashore, it was raining, a low had arrived the winds were getting stronger.  We mangaged, along with Miss Tippy, to get out of the reef before it became too rough. Before we left with fond fell wells to Apii and James and 'We will be back!' we were asked to plant some trees 'Aqualuna' planted a Coconut tree the Children from Miss Tippy planted Advocado trees.

Two miles out and the winds really hit, we have just been through winds ranging from 25 - 40 knots in very rough seas and shipping quite a few as well.  We have taken it in turns to do 3 hour watches, life jackets on and strapped on as well.  The sea has been much rougher than the Atlantic or Pacific as it is very lumpy with breaking tops, one hit us with huge force with a bang and broke over us at the same time yesterday which sent anything not stowed properly flying as we were knocked sideways.  Aqualuna being the stead she is has coped very well.  We have been trecking along at 7 - 9 knots. Unfortuately on our first eveing having cooked dinner I was sea sick, but felt much better after, hadn't been sea sick since the Bay of Biscay when we were in 49 knots of wind.  Only had a yogurt and honey that night whilst 'the boys' tucked into pasta with bolonaise sauce.  I had that for lunch the next day having not eaten properly for 24 hours.

The winds dissapated a little during the night now we are getting about 20 knots so have taken a reef out of the main sail and let the staisail out completly the sea is a little less rough and more comfortable.   We hope to arrive in Nuie tomorrow.