Huntin, shootin 'n' fishin
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Wed 7 Jul 2010 20:52
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Wednesday July 7th 0950 Local Time 1950
UTC
14:41.07S 164:35.64W
Back on the Ocean again and I have just about got a
chance to catch a breath and reflect on the past few days. After our seven
hundred mile passage for a three day visit we were of course deeply frustrated
to have to spend a whole day re fixing our genoa forestay.
On Saturday when we arrived after a fairly tough
passage we got a few small jobs done and tidied up the boat. We
then cleared into Suwarrow with the "Rangers" - the Celts and the Rangers
as it were. The rangers came aboard to do this and as it was blowing hard and
there was a choppy motion it was a very difficult boarding. We got on very well
and they stayed aboard for a few hours and we had some cold drinks after which
we had a light supper and slept soundly for the night despite the motion in the
anchorage.
The next day Sunday Niall & I fixed the
forestay and Trish prepared an excellent "Sunday Dinner" for ourselves and the
Rangers, who had an easier boarding this time.
Having made plans for Monday we retired for the
evening and had one of the best sleeps I have had in a long time. Monday morning
came and off we went with Apii with rods for fishing, spear guns for shooting
and thick leather gloves and a very large bag for hunting. We took the boat
across the lagoon and anchored up in the shallows and then walked along the reef
and waded through the hoa between three islands to get to Turtle
Island.
We breached the heavy bush and foliage on the shore
and entered into the densly vegitated island. There were all kinds of palms but
coconut palms prevailed and there were also large numbers of Pandanis trees
along with pacific mahogany and the like. My machete was in full swing, but
unfortunately Niall tripped with his and cut his ankle. There was a lot of blood
and he almost fainted but afetr a sit down for a while he
recovered.
It was not long before we came on the lair of the
first "Kaveu" - giant coconut crab! They were monsters! Their claws are big
enough and powewrful enough to break through coconut and the beast I fetched out
of his hole was munching his way through a nut. When I said that there were
thick leather gloves for the crab, I meant that there was one pair which quite
rightly Apii had. The gloves would not be enough to save your finger or wrist if
one got a hold of you but stopped the barbs on the other legs cutting through
your skin. The crabs were blue and turquiose and like something out of
a Hammer Horror film. Anyway on my first find I did not want to wait
for Apii to come and grab the glory so I went for it shooting my hand
into his hole (well - the hole he was in I mean) and grabbing his legs to
try to pull him out - no way1 The problem was i could only see one claw and
the technique was to grab both claws together to pull him out. Any way
undaunted I had another go and at high speed before his second claw could
get me, I yanked him out of the burrow under the coconut tree and pinned him
down. All that was left to do was to have its back broken to disable him.
We took 10 crab in all and only the very biggest and left the many
many small ones to mature for another day. I humped the sack back through
the three hoa and across the reefs of the three island - easy when you are high
on adrenalin! To give you an idea of their weight the ten crab weighed about the
weight of a bag of coal!
Spear fishing next and while mindful of the sharks
we spent an hour or so picking off some choice fish for our planned feast that
night. Just when we had got used to swimming with sharks the wardens informed us
of the presence of extremely aggressive large tiger sharks. There were various
stories from one caretaker having been bitten by one to someone having been
killed by one in the pass. Either way it was a reminder to keep a good lookout
while swimming and especially spear fishing. Trish commented to James, the
warden who was telling us about them, that she hoped she didn't see one. James
replied that he hoped she did! ( as they normally strike like lightning from
nowhere before you see them!)
We trolled rods on the way back to the anchorage
but no luck here - perhaps still too early in the day. Anyway we had a bounty,
and enough to feed the whole anchorage that evening - there were now three boats
and twelve people all together.
When sailing to the pacific I had wanted to
catch and eat two very special shellfish delicacies - the Varo and the Kaveu and
now I had and I was thrilled.
We all went ashore at sundown bringing salads and
such like to accompany the feast and also some "refreshments". The crab was
awesome - I could not stop eating it. Our friends from "Heavenly" who had
arrived in the anchorage the day before, and who we had not seen since the
Marquesas were there too, as were Helmut and Kristin from
"Lop To", and of course we had a great party.
All this in the Suwarrow "Yacht Club". This is a
space underneath the raised hut which is on stilts, and is adorned with the
flags and burgees of the visiting yachts over the years. There are a few
simple wooden benches and of course no sides to the space, which was nice and
airy.
After the after dinner speech from, you know who, -
it was not too long before Apii brought out a
guitar and the singing started. First Apii with traditional Moauri songs and
then me with some Scottish songs. Then Fredrique from Heavenly sang a beautiful
french song in a more classical style.
To finish the night I brought out my faithfull
songbook and we all had a sing song together. There was joyous laughter and
great craic in abundance and a good time was had by all.
The next day I had a mission in hand and that
was, with Niall in harness, to rescue and repair the Suwarrow flagpole which was
lying rusting on the shore. So with grinder and new paint and new stainless
steel fittings and halyard we refurbished and re-erected the flagpole and
declared a "handover" ceremony for 1700 when we asked all twelve people in the
anchorage to come ashore.
We prepared a delicious cold rum punch and poured
everyone a drink before raising the flag - the St Andrews cross and
claiming the island for Scotland! Scotland first attempt at establishing an
overseas territory in the early 1700's was in Panama and only lasted a
few years. This new posession, Suwarrow, only lasted about twenty minutes
till we performed the handover ceremony. The Scottish flag was lowered and
folded away and the Cook Islands flag was raised. The Scottish occupiers
graciously donated the labour and materials used in the erection of the flagpole
to the island and after "Captain" James - of the Cooks hoisted the new flag Apii
sang the Cook Islands national anthem which brought a mesmerised silent and
respectful hush over the assembled witnesses. It was great bit of fun and really
an incredibly special time everybody enjoyed themeselves and we announced we
were leaving the anchorage at sundown to make passage for Niue.
We got a great send off from everyone and we were
accompanied by the wardens in their boat to the end of the anchorage waving
farewells and good wishes. We were hardly out of the anchorage when
"Heavenly" were on the VHF and had the wardens aboard and they said they were
all missing us and usked if we would come back!
Suwarrow was truly another of the many highlights
of this adventure which for me I will always remember. As always these
places and of course mostly the people are very hard to leave - but the wagon
must keep rolling
west.
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