Rare 'Ol Time in Rarotonga
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Sat 18 Aug 2007 05:47
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19:03.12S 169:55.35W
We have been on Serai since October last year and
were just starting to miss a few things from home. We arrived in Rarotonga and
tied 'med style' to the town quay. It was a tricky parking manouevre due to a
mooring ball being in the way just below the surface, but yours truly carried it
off with minimal fuss and bother and suprisingly little shouting at Ems. We
found a different kind of paradise in Rarotonga, in the form of a fish and chip
shop within spitting distance of the boat, and a very fine indian restaurant
within 5 minutes walk.
It was a joy to arrive in a country and know that
we could communicate easily with the locals, who all speak perfect Kiwi. You
have to smile when the fish and chip shop is actually pronounced 'fush and
chups' - I love it! We managed to secure some tickets on the first night to a
local dance competition. This was a hot event and it was only through the
kindness of the lady at the Port Authority that we managed to secure
tickets...well actually only one ticket and the promise that she would be able
to get us both in on the door! We turned up at the hall at 7 pm and looked
around for the lady. Unfortunately, and without wanting to sound a bit
generalistic, the locals all look a bit the same to the untrained eye!
Eventually we made contact and she not only got us both in but managed to
upgrade our seats as well. The event was a bit of a mish-mash and not that
slick, but the dancing was some of the most technically proficient that we have
seen (I sound like one of the judges on Strictly Come Dancing!).
Next up, 'er indoors decided that it was high time
we went out for a romantic dinner for two. I enquired as to the occasion, and
was met with a very dirty look, so we quickly checked out the local restaurants
and booked ourselves a waterfront table at Trader Jacks, specialising in very
expensive seafood served by men dressed as women and wearing make-up. We had a a
fantastic seafood platter and a lovely bottle of wine which we thoroughly
enjoyed whilst a local DJ spun some great tunes downstairs in the Trader Jacks
bar - we had hit civilisation with a bang!
The following day we were invited to a cruiser
'potluck'. We normally try to avoid these as it usually involves rather stilted
conversatioins with cruisers you dont know and possibly are not interested in
knowing. Anyway, enough said on this. We went armed with plenty of booze to 'get
us through' and actually had a fantastic time. We left a lot of friends in Bora
Bora as they were going a different route to us, and it was nice to therefore
meet a whole new set of faces and make new friends.
With our new found friends we headed out on a
cross-island walk the following day, with the aim of visiting a local waterfall
and getting some views from a high point in the middle of the island. The views
were indeed amazing, but there was no water in the fall, so that was a bit
disappointing!
Perhaps the highlight of the trip was renting a
scooter (named 'Scoot') for 3 days so that we could go off and explore the
island. The weather turned a bit rainy and cloudy, but still the intrepid
explorers went out and explored. We got some very funny looks from other drivers
as we drove along singing 'oh I do like to be beside the seaside' at the top of
our voices, whilst being unable to see the road ahead due to the driving rain
stinging my eyes! We circumnavigated the island twice and I went fly-fishing
twice but posed absolutely no threat to any form of fish.
With Rarotonga 'done' it was time to look for a
weather window. There was a threat of 30 knot winds coming to our anchorage, so
the decision to leave was a bit forced on us. We did not want to be hanging off
the town wharf with 30 knots blowing through. We had already done some damage to
Serai, with ropes putting too much strain on the toe-rail and cracking joints.
We could not risk more damage and decided the boat would come to less harm out
at sea - oursleves was another matter entirely. We headed out nervously under
very overcast skies. The weather forecast was hinting at 30 knot winds 3 days
into our planned trip, and the chance of 15 foot seas.
The first 2 days out consisted of nice easy sailing
in about 15 knots. We caught a huge Mahi on day day two, Ems' birthday, but it
got away just as we got it to the side of the boat and poured vodka in its
gills. I thought the vodka was pretty good, but it obviously disagreed! The
following day we caught another big Mahi, and this time we were determined to
get it onboard and be eating it for supper. We achieved our goal, except when I
went to cut its head off, it made a final dying thrust. Ems had her hand near
the knife I was using, and within a split second she had a very bad cut indeed.
There was a lot of blood everywhere, both the fish's and Ems'. I was about to
throw the fish away, saying no fish was worth this amount of trouble, when Ems
said dont you dare! We got her bandaged up, with me feeling really quite
nauseous from the pitching of the boat, the struggle with the fish and now
seeing Ems' thumb. She had lost most of the nail and some of the side of the
thumb. It looked terrible, but we bandaged it up, gutted the fish and did indeed
eat some of it for dinner, hopefully without some of Ems' thumb in it. We have
since had the thumb looked at by a doctor and all will be fine. She said we had
done a good job on it and it should heal over time.
Day 3 drew to a close and then things began to
build. We spent three days and nights sailing in 25 to 30 knots and certainly
seas upto 15 feet at times. We had 3 reefs in the main and a tiny bit of genoa
flying. We were still sailing at 6 to 7 knots and having quite the rollercoaster
ride. It was exhausting but quite exhilerating for a while. We were
certainly glad to arrive in Niue though and grateful for a rest from the noise
of wind in the rigging and the constant motion of the boat. Peace at last!
While we slept we were told that a mother and calf humpback swam right past our
boat - typical that we were asleep for it and missed it completely. Oh well,
hopefully tomorrow!
Friends in the BVI have the threat of Hurricane
Dean hanging over them right now, so our thoughts are with all of them and their
boats over the next couple of days.
Take care one and all. Till the next
time.
Love
J and Ems xx
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