For anyone new to this site, the Blog Archive to the right is a good tool to use to read previous posts. Bye for now.
Eli
March 02, 2009
Just A Note...
I've been in New Zealand now for nearly three and a half months and traveling since last Sept. and my blog is finally aground in NZ. Sailing to New Zealand was such an amazing experience that I have tried to adequately describe, even though I still have left out a lot of events and stories that I'll just have to save for another time. I hope you've enjoyed my accounts thus far and I will try to continue with posts about the adventures I've had aground in New Zealand.
For anyone new to this site, the Blog Archive to the right is a good tool to use to read previous posts. Bye for now.
Eli
For anyone new to this site, the Blog Archive to the right is a good tool to use to read previous posts. Bye for now.
Eli
March 01, 2009
Consumed By The Sea...
Actual Date of events: Mid November - December
For the next post, the last of my sailing adventure I have posted Josh’s description (with his permission) of our passage from Tonga to New Zealand. I really have enjoyed his humor and think reading his perspective of our journey is very nice. I have made his entry italics and have written a few paragraphs within of my personal additions. I hope you enjoy.
So we set out from Vava’u, Tonga due south for the Bay of Islands, NZ some 1200 miles away. The bunch of banana's that I'd picked up for free in the Cook's had finally gotten quite ripe and so everyone was excited when I finally made some banana bread! Eli especially since he would come up from the galley with about half a loaf in his hand! Cooking at sea is no easy task so whenever this rare occurrence did happen and everyone got something the person who cooked was immediately the best guy on the boat! Eli became know as the "goat" since he would eat anything, anytime and as much as possible which was fitting (he is a Capricorn (the goat))!
This was only because everyone else on the boat was such picky eaters. Dave only wanted meat, Marina didn’t want to share and Josh had a very strange Canadian way of preparing and combining foods. I had to demonstrate that there are times when you should not be picky and this was certainly one of them!
We had stocked up on about a dozen pineapples (.50 cents each) and a lot of mangos and cabbage. Plus rice and tuna, but everyone was excited that with our new lures we just had to catch a fish. We were getting about a bite per day so we felt something had to happen sometime! For once we had 2 lines out, I was holding one, when suddenly Eli, who was taking a leaking off the back of the boat yelled, "hey there's fish jumping over our lines". Our initial reaction was yeah right this is just another bad joke! But suddenly the line began to go tight and we had 2 mahi mahi on the lines at the same time. At this point of great excitement we made the mistake of letting Dave know what was going on. Dave had been kept on a strict diet of rice and beans with an occasional bit of small bacon bits thrown into the pasta to get him out of his vege-depressions at sea! Needless to say once he heard there was not one but 2 potential fish steak dinners that could feed us for 4 days on the lines he went a little manic!
The first mahi mahi to come in close to the boat was a difficult prospect to bring onto the boat since we had no hook to hook it in the gills and hoist on board. Eli was given the difficult task of grabbing it with his hand's (a 30lb 5ft fish) whilst holding onto the ladder off the back of the boat! As he grabbed it, it jumped and pulled out the hook and dove back into the sea, much to the anger of the Cap'n who turned his attention to me since I was still reeling in the 2nd Mahi! He barked out order's of "Reel it in faster" "harder" and then just as the fish was in close "let go of the line" and I dropped the line in the sea without thinking to a classic shout of "Noooooooo" from Dave. Thankfully Eli had already pinned the Mahi against the boat and pulled it one board. Whilst Dave immediately got down to the galley to prepare the rice and take orders on how everyone liked their mahi, I sheepishly reeled in the line and the other's filleted the mahi. Fresh mahi was excellent, especially to ravenous sea dogs, and we watched as the rest of the mahi's followed our boat for a while since apparently they mate for life.
It was an exciting interlude in the calmest seas we'd had for the whole passage. The sea looked like a mirror and we heard another boat talking about burning incense to figure out the winds direction. They actually ended up pulling another boat into Minerva reef, which was the nearest shelter since they had no gas left to motor! Minerva reef was an interesting anomaly; a reef 20 kms across gave a weather window for other boat's heading south. Stuck 600 miles south of Tonga it was a beautiful blue lagoon like water with a sandy bottom and the best coral we'd seen. Snorkeling around we saw about 5 sharks in 30 minutes! Very cool spot.
Josh does not adequately describe Minerva Reef and its true beauty. It is in the middle of the pacific between Tonga and New Zealand and we spent three days there waiting for wind. The closest land is 600 miles away and it has the most amazing snorkeling and spear fishing. The fish are so thick that in a matter of minutes you can spear several and provide fish to all the sailboats anchored within. We free dove the wreckage of a sailboat that had run aground on the reef some years past and swam with far too many sharks to feel comfortable about. I also met a boat whose crew was surfers from Newport, OR and we became close friends. Ironically upon their return to Oregon, they met Ila my twin sister through seeing her self-portrait at an art show that looked similar to me. So funny.
The wind picked up again and we set off behind the main pack of 12 other yachts that set off a bit before us. We were sailing along at a good speed of about 6-7 kts in the wrong direction but were anticipating a wind shift so we hoped! The wind did come around and gradually increased and we were left out of touch of any weather forecast except another nearby yacht that relayed it's forecast onto us. Suddenly we had bad news there were 25ft seas and 60 kt winds headed our way. We were partly dismayed and excited at the same time, Eli and I began reading all the heavy weather sailing books aboard and questioning the Cap'n about setting up harnesses and maybe how to save someone if they fell overboard. The weather seemed to be coming from behind us so we put up all the sail and even tried to motor sail a bit to keep up speed and get beyond the storm. This worked well, the waves had increased to 8-12 feet but the wind stayed low and we surfed the waves up to 9 knots, which feels, fast on a yacht! (It’s about 10 miles an hour) haha. We were only 100 miles off the NZ coast and had just been visited by a pod of dolphins, which surfed by our bow when the wind began to pick up that evening.
One more night of sailing to go and it was the worst! The waves had picked up to 15-20ft and the wind had begun to howl, rain poured down and salty spray would lash across the cockpit giving anyone steering a mouthful. I had courageously tried to cheer everyone up by making a gourmet meal in the galley of hot instant mashed potatoes and baked beans with tinned turkey! I later discovered big clusters of bruises on my upper thigh from being bashed about in that tiny galley...
It was going to be a long long long night... the cap'n ordered us on double shifts and so I was up first to cheer up ol Dave who promptly fell into me as another great wave rocked the boat. Then a double whammy of 2 waves about 20ft each hit across the boat sending Dave back into the dodger and the entire kitchen went to pieces, smashing cups and leaving a huge mess. I went down and found Eli angrily picking up the mess and putting it in the sink. At the back of the boat we had water swilling out of the lazarette into Dave’s room and the whole boat looked like a tornado had ripped through. After that Eli and I stayed up with Dave who was not used to watching at night was quite slow in holding onto something. He eventually lay down on the side of the cockpit for a bit and tried to rest while Eli and I checked on the course and hoped the autopilot didn't go out since there was no way we could steer in this.
Our next problem was to slow the boat down since it was still flying on the wave surge with only a quarter of the jib up; we reefed it till about an eighth was left which helped. Meanwhile our piece of junk wind generator that had sat useless on the back of the boat broken began to make an awful howl as it spun madly in the wind. We started think it might actually come crashing into the cockpit since that was the way it was spinning! Suddenly the noise stopped, shining a light up, it had gone and we laughed with relief that the noise and danger had disappeared! We tried to keep up spirits by singing "Riders on the Storm", as the sea kicked the boat around, thankfully the 60 kt winds and 20ft seas were behind us so we were still able to hold our own fairly well.
This storm was far more intense than Josh’s description. Many sailors labeled it the storm of a lifetime since it is so uncommon and unintelligent to be in the middle of. The majority of boats had circled around out at sea to avoid it, while very few like us decided to try to power through. We even met one crew who had printed out all of the data of the storm as a souvenir as to what they had avoided. We were hit and hit hard, everything in the boat, all the dishes, everything on the shelves broken in pieces all over the floor. Dave, who has been sailing some thirty odd years, said it was the worst storm he has ever experienced, and Josh and I got it on our first trip! Marina meanwhile was throwing up the entire time below deck, too stubborn to come above for air.
The rain was freezing and so I went back below deck to dry out a little, Marina was feeling seasick and I made cups of tea for the others above. I tried to sleep a bit but the waves kept jerking me out of bed. Suddenly a huge wave hit and about 2 feet of water crashed into the cockpit. I heard the water gush into the kitchen as the hatch was still open, more mess!
We finally got into NZ, the wind had died and we were in thick fog, Dave said "land of the great white cloud, great". I sang a bit of jimmy cliff "I can see clearly now" as the sun came out and began to burn everything off to cheer him up. In the distance the rugged islands of the Bay stuck out in the distance and we finally got out of the reach of the 12ft seas and into the shelter of the Bay to step ashore, kiss the dock and happily let the customs officials inspect our dirty boat, throw out our stinking cabbage in the fridge and the big bag of kidney beans that everyone was sick of! NZ was warm and inviting and 1 dollar hot showers were available for the first time in 2 weeks! Whoohooooo!
Upon arrival, we spent a few days cleaning and reorganizing the boat. One day, the Oregonians we had met, Jamie and Yasmine, as well as Marina, Josh and myself rented a car. We drove around the very North end of the North Island and visited a few tourist attractions. It gave us all a good chance to spend with each other before departing on our separate paths.
After the 14 day passage from Tonga to New Zealand and a week on the boat in NZ my time had come to depart from the Ferdinand and her stinky crew. Catching a ride to Auckland to meet some traveling friends, I set out on my new adventure aground. It was sure nice to be back into civilization and the experiences ahead were certainly bound to be momentous.
For the next post, the last of my sailing adventure I have posted Josh’s description (with his permission) of our passage from Tonga to New Zealand. I really have enjoyed his humor and think reading his perspective of our journey is very nice. I have made his entry italics and have written a few paragraphs within of my personal additions. I hope you enjoy.
So we set out from Vava’u, Tonga due south for the Bay of Islands, NZ some 1200 miles away. The bunch of banana's that I'd picked up for free in the Cook's had finally gotten quite ripe and so everyone was excited when I finally made some banana bread! Eli especially since he would come up from the galley with about half a loaf in his hand! Cooking at sea is no easy task so whenever this rare occurrence did happen and everyone got something the person who cooked was immediately the best guy on the boat! Eli became know as the "goat" since he would eat anything, anytime and as much as possible which was fitting (he is a Capricorn (the goat))!
This was only because everyone else on the boat was such picky eaters. Dave only wanted meat, Marina didn’t want to share and Josh had a very strange Canadian way of preparing and combining foods. I had to demonstrate that there are times when you should not be picky and this was certainly one of them!
These are two drawings done in the middle of the night with a flashlight during my 3am-6am watch. Of course I have since played with them in Photoshop.
We had stocked up on about a dozen pineapples (.50 cents each) and a lot of mangos and cabbage. Plus rice and tuna, but everyone was excited that with our new lures we just had to catch a fish. We were getting about a bite per day so we felt something had to happen sometime! For once we had 2 lines out, I was holding one, when suddenly Eli, who was taking a leaking off the back of the boat yelled, "hey there's fish jumping over our lines". Our initial reaction was yeah right this is just another bad joke! But suddenly the line began to go tight and we had 2 mahi mahi on the lines at the same time. At this point of great excitement we made the mistake of letting Dave know what was going on. Dave had been kept on a strict diet of rice and beans with an occasional bit of small bacon bits thrown into the pasta to get him out of his vege-depressions at sea! Needless to say once he heard there was not one but 2 potential fish steak dinners that could feed us for 4 days on the lines he went a little manic!
The first mahi mahi to come in close to the boat was a difficult prospect to bring onto the boat since we had no hook to hook it in the gills and hoist on board. Eli was given the difficult task of grabbing it with his hand's (a 30lb 5ft fish) whilst holding onto the ladder off the back of the boat! As he grabbed it, it jumped and pulled out the hook and dove back into the sea, much to the anger of the Cap'n who turned his attention to me since I was still reeling in the 2nd Mahi! He barked out order's of "Reel it in faster" "harder" and then just as the fish was in close "let go of the line" and I dropped the line in the sea without thinking to a classic shout of "Noooooooo" from Dave. Thankfully Eli had already pinned the Mahi against the boat and pulled it one board. Whilst Dave immediately got down to the galley to prepare the rice and take orders on how everyone liked their mahi, I sheepishly reeled in the line and the other's filleted the mahi. Fresh mahi was excellent, especially to ravenous sea dogs, and we watched as the rest of the mahi's followed our boat for a while since apparently they mate for life.
It was an exciting interlude in the calmest seas we'd had for the whole passage. The sea looked like a mirror and we heard another boat talking about burning incense to figure out the winds direction. They actually ended up pulling another boat into Minerva reef, which was the nearest shelter since they had no gas left to motor! Minerva reef was an interesting anomaly; a reef 20 kms across gave a weather window for other boat's heading south. Stuck 600 miles south of Tonga it was a beautiful blue lagoon like water with a sandy bottom and the best coral we'd seen. Snorkeling around we saw about 5 sharks in 30 minutes! Very cool spot.
Josh does not adequately describe Minerva Reef and its true beauty. It is in the middle of the pacific between Tonga and New Zealand and we spent three days there waiting for wind. The closest land is 600 miles away and it has the most amazing snorkeling and spear fishing. The fish are so thick that in a matter of minutes you can spear several and provide fish to all the sailboats anchored within. We free dove the wreckage of a sailboat that had run aground on the reef some years past and swam with far too many sharks to feel comfortable about. I also met a boat whose crew was surfers from Newport, OR and we became close friends. Ironically upon their return to Oregon, they met Ila my twin sister through seeing her self-portrait at an art show that looked similar to me. So funny.
The wind picked up again and we set off behind the main pack of 12 other yachts that set off a bit before us. We were sailing along at a good speed of about 6-7 kts in the wrong direction but were anticipating a wind shift so we hoped! The wind did come around and gradually increased and we were left out of touch of any weather forecast except another nearby yacht that relayed it's forecast onto us. Suddenly we had bad news there were 25ft seas and 60 kt winds headed our way. We were partly dismayed and excited at the same time, Eli and I began reading all the heavy weather sailing books aboard and questioning the Cap'n about setting up harnesses and maybe how to save someone if they fell overboard. The weather seemed to be coming from behind us so we put up all the sail and even tried to motor sail a bit to keep up speed and get beyond the storm. This worked well, the waves had increased to 8-12 feet but the wind stayed low and we surfed the waves up to 9 knots, which feels, fast on a yacht! (It’s about 10 miles an hour) haha. We were only 100 miles off the NZ coast and had just been visited by a pod of dolphins, which surfed by our bow when the wind began to pick up that evening.
One more night of sailing to go and it was the worst! The waves had picked up to 15-20ft and the wind had begun to howl, rain poured down and salty spray would lash across the cockpit giving anyone steering a mouthful. I had courageously tried to cheer everyone up by making a gourmet meal in the galley of hot instant mashed potatoes and baked beans with tinned turkey! I later discovered big clusters of bruises on my upper thigh from being bashed about in that tiny galley...
It was going to be a long long long night... the cap'n ordered us on double shifts and so I was up first to cheer up ol Dave who promptly fell into me as another great wave rocked the boat. Then a double whammy of 2 waves about 20ft each hit across the boat sending Dave back into the dodger and the entire kitchen went to pieces, smashing cups and leaving a huge mess. I went down and found Eli angrily picking up the mess and putting it in the sink. At the back of the boat we had water swilling out of the lazarette into Dave’s room and the whole boat looked like a tornado had ripped through. After that Eli and I stayed up with Dave who was not used to watching at night was quite slow in holding onto something. He eventually lay down on the side of the cockpit for a bit and tried to rest while Eli and I checked on the course and hoped the autopilot didn't go out since there was no way we could steer in this.
Our next problem was to slow the boat down since it was still flying on the wave surge with only a quarter of the jib up; we reefed it till about an eighth was left which helped. Meanwhile our piece of junk wind generator that had sat useless on the back of the boat broken began to make an awful howl as it spun madly in the wind. We started think it might actually come crashing into the cockpit since that was the way it was spinning! Suddenly the noise stopped, shining a light up, it had gone and we laughed with relief that the noise and danger had disappeared! We tried to keep up spirits by singing "Riders on the Storm", as the sea kicked the boat around, thankfully the 60 kt winds and 20ft seas were behind us so we were still able to hold our own fairly well.
This storm was far more intense than Josh’s description. Many sailors labeled it the storm of a lifetime since it is so uncommon and unintelligent to be in the middle of. The majority of boats had circled around out at sea to avoid it, while very few like us decided to try to power through. We even met one crew who had printed out all of the data of the storm as a souvenir as to what they had avoided. We were hit and hit hard, everything in the boat, all the dishes, everything on the shelves broken in pieces all over the floor. Dave, who has been sailing some thirty odd years, said it was the worst storm he has ever experienced, and Josh and I got it on our first trip! Marina meanwhile was throwing up the entire time below deck, too stubborn to come above for air.
The rain was freezing and so I went back below deck to dry out a little, Marina was feeling seasick and I made cups of tea for the others above. I tried to sleep a bit but the waves kept jerking me out of bed. Suddenly a huge wave hit and about 2 feet of water crashed into the cockpit. I heard the water gush into the kitchen as the hatch was still open, more mess!
We finally got into NZ, the wind had died and we were in thick fog, Dave said "land of the great white cloud, great". I sang a bit of jimmy cliff "I can see clearly now" as the sun came out and began to burn everything off to cheer him up. In the distance the rugged islands of the Bay stuck out in the distance and we finally got out of the reach of the 12ft seas and into the shelter of the Bay to step ashore, kiss the dock and happily let the customs officials inspect our dirty boat, throw out our stinking cabbage in the fridge and the big bag of kidney beans that everyone was sick of! NZ was warm and inviting and 1 dollar hot showers were available for the first time in 2 weeks! Whoohooooo!
Upon arrival, we spent a few days cleaning and reorganizing the boat. One day, the Oregonians we had met, Jamie and Yasmine, as well as Marina, Josh and myself rented a car. We drove around the very North end of the North Island and visited a few tourist attractions. It gave us all a good chance to spend with each other before departing on our separate paths.
After the 14 day passage from Tonga to New Zealand and a week on the boat in NZ my time had come to depart from the Ferdinand and her stinky crew. Catching a ride to Auckland to meet some traveling friends, I set out on my new adventure aground. It was sure nice to be back into civilization and the experiences ahead were certainly bound to be momentous.
February 23, 2009
Mala Island Madness...
Actual Date of Events: November
A few more days spent around town and we were off again, this time to a small resort at a nearby island where we heard of parties and pig roasts. We pulled up our anchor and sailed to the Mala Island Resort. After safely anchoring we motored our dinghy to the small dock and made our way up the wooden path to the lodge.
The resort consisted of a restaurant/lodge and about eight small buildings each one housing two rooms. Though it may sound very exotic the buildings were not well kept and were falling apart. Inside the rooms was a very dirty bathroom and a bed, which had all been taken over by humidity and mold due to the tropical climate. Though the appearance was anything but clean, it still possessed a very exotic and romantic atmosphere.
We each paid a small amount to partake in the feast that consisted of all you could eat pig, clams, vegetables, potatoes and a desert. The food looked and tasted amazing especially after having not eaten very well since the Cook Islands. After dinner all the patrons then made their way down to the beach for entertainment and for the evening after party. Once down at the beach the twenty some people sat around in a circle and the host along with his six employees began to cut open coconuts and mix rum with the coconut milk. Passing the coconuts round full of coconut milk and rum everybody began to get a little drunk as the host played a number of classics on his homemade guitar.
The six employees of the resort were all Tongan brothers who lived on a nearby island and were the only employees at the resort. Once they had all finished cleaning up from dinner and had gathered around the fire partaking in the festivities, the brothers began to sing. Their voices perfectly harmonized as though they had sung together a million times, everybody fell into a trance and seemed seduced by their songs and the perfection in their performance. It was definitely the highlight of the evening and cannot be adequately described of its unusual sound and beauty. After they sung, much of the crowd dissipated till only our boats crew, another sailboats crew, the host and the brothers remained.
It was very funny after the brothers had sung; the host began to play his guitar again. Marina being the drunken Scottish woman that she is started to harass the host for being so anal about not wanting sand in his beautifully handcrafted guitar. Being intoxicated he took offense to her rudeness and angrily left the fire retreating to the lodge to escape her loud, obnoxious drunken antics. She soon disappeared after him to apologize and the fire had lost two more victims.
At this point several bottles of rum had been drank and we had no more coconuts left near the fire. As the crew from the boat pulled out two more bottles of rum it was clear that we must seek more coconuts. Offering to climb a tree and gather some more, the oldest brother said he would show me how. Watching his precision and speed climbing up the narrowest, tallest, swaying palm trees it was clear he had been doing it his whole life. Atop in a matter of seconds, it soon was raining coconuts and we had collected more than was needed. Carrying them back to the fire, I then tried to cut them open for the group.
I learned that the ripeness of the coconut decides whether you will have good milk, good coconut, or even one other unusual alternative when the coconut begins to rot that has the appearance and taste of a sponge cake. As I attempted to cut the very tip off of the coconuts allowing for a very effective cup, the brothers found it quite hysterical. My slow speed and lack of precision with the machete was quite funny to these Tongan brothers who traded off trying to give me lessons. They were certain I was going to cut my hand off with the blade even though I was quite sure I was not.
As the night went on I soon realized that everybody had left the fire except for these six brothers and me. We continued to talk, laugh, sing, dance, and drink late into the night. Then I realized something; I had been stranded ashore by my crew. During the time I had stayed on the beach partying with these brothers everybody had retreated to their boats, including Dirty Dave, and Josh with the dinghy. As we all laughed the brothers began arguing amongst each other over whose shack I could stay at. These six brothers were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and all wanted me to stay at their place (though they all shared two rooms).
We walked up to the lodge where I soon began to feel very tired. The oldest brother who had taught me to climb palm trees took me to the small building where his room was. Inside I glanced into the bathroom only to find the most disgusting, black, moldy, rotten mess I’ve ever seen. Opting not to go in, he then directed me to one of two beds in the room where he said I was welcome to sleep. Thankful, I plunged face first onto the bed where I fell deep into the depths of sleep.
Sitting up, I awoke to a hot humid summer breeze in my face and an incredible hang over. I looked around the room and saw that on the other bed three of the brothers were sleeping; one of them must have sacrificed his bed to me. Looking down revealed that the bed I had slept on, much like the bathroom was also completely black and covered in mold. I immediately stood up, thanked the brothers for their hospitality and shot down to the lodge for breakfast. Calling the Ferdinand on the vhf and instructing them to come pick me up, I left the island feeling fulfilled and exuberant.
Not long after leaving Mala Island did I acquire an infection that I feared had come from this night of sleeping. Fortunately it did not but I will speak of this horrendous experience later. We then departed the area and relocated to a secluded cove where we spent the next night.
Time had come for us to prepare for our departure to Tonga. This required that we accomplish a few chores onboard and once again prepare our vessel for the longest passage yet. Among the many tasks I had the privilege of changing the running lights at the top of the mast. This was quite fun and I greatly enjoyed the view from atop the mast. That evening we were rewarded with the most amazing sunset yet saying farewell to Tonga and all that her islands had provided us.
Josh writes, “We left Tonga with many fond memories of secluded white sand beaches, pig roast's, coconut milk and snorkeling down into underwater caves; as well as witnessing the American Obama victory celebrations where a whole bar of people jumped into the ocean; plus the nighttime visit to a megayacht by 2 crazy crew in a dysfunctional dinghy that would only turn circles in the pouring rain... but that's another story!”
After provisioning the next day in Vava’u we departed the islands of Tonga. The forecast called for no wind for about a week followed by a very large storm, which we wrongly thought we could get ahead of. We were tragically wrong, instead experiencing “the storm of a life time” as some sailors labeled it. An experience I will never forget.
A few more days spent around town and we were off again, this time to a small resort at a nearby island where we heard of parties and pig roasts. We pulled up our anchor and sailed to the Mala Island Resort. After safely anchoring we motored our dinghy to the small dock and made our way up the wooden path to the lodge.
The resort consisted of a restaurant/lodge and about eight small buildings each one housing two rooms. Though it may sound very exotic the buildings were not well kept and were falling apart. Inside the rooms was a very dirty bathroom and a bed, which had all been taken over by humidity and mold due to the tropical climate. Though the appearance was anything but clean, it still possessed a very exotic and romantic atmosphere.
We each paid a small amount to partake in the feast that consisted of all you could eat pig, clams, vegetables, potatoes and a desert. The food looked and tasted amazing especially after having not eaten very well since the Cook Islands. After dinner all the patrons then made their way down to the beach for entertainment and for the evening after party. Once down at the beach the twenty some people sat around in a circle and the host along with his six employees began to cut open coconuts and mix rum with the coconut milk. Passing the coconuts round full of coconut milk and rum everybody began to get a little drunk as the host played a number of classics on his homemade guitar.
The six employees of the resort were all Tongan brothers who lived on a nearby island and were the only employees at the resort. Once they had all finished cleaning up from dinner and had gathered around the fire partaking in the festivities, the brothers began to sing. Their voices perfectly harmonized as though they had sung together a million times, everybody fell into a trance and seemed seduced by their songs and the perfection in their performance. It was definitely the highlight of the evening and cannot be adequately described of its unusual sound and beauty. After they sung, much of the crowd dissipated till only our boats crew, another sailboats crew, the host and the brothers remained.
It was very funny after the brothers had sung; the host began to play his guitar again. Marina being the drunken Scottish woman that she is started to harass the host for being so anal about not wanting sand in his beautifully handcrafted guitar. Being intoxicated he took offense to her rudeness and angrily left the fire retreating to the lodge to escape her loud, obnoxious drunken antics. She soon disappeared after him to apologize and the fire had lost two more victims.
At this point several bottles of rum had been drank and we had no more coconuts left near the fire. As the crew from the boat pulled out two more bottles of rum it was clear that we must seek more coconuts. Offering to climb a tree and gather some more, the oldest brother said he would show me how. Watching his precision and speed climbing up the narrowest, tallest, swaying palm trees it was clear he had been doing it his whole life. Atop in a matter of seconds, it soon was raining coconuts and we had collected more than was needed. Carrying them back to the fire, I then tried to cut them open for the group.
I learned that the ripeness of the coconut decides whether you will have good milk, good coconut, or even one other unusual alternative when the coconut begins to rot that has the appearance and taste of a sponge cake. As I attempted to cut the very tip off of the coconuts allowing for a very effective cup, the brothers found it quite hysterical. My slow speed and lack of precision with the machete was quite funny to these Tongan brothers who traded off trying to give me lessons. They were certain I was going to cut my hand off with the blade even though I was quite sure I was not.
As the night went on I soon realized that everybody had left the fire except for these six brothers and me. We continued to talk, laugh, sing, dance, and drink late into the night. Then I realized something; I had been stranded ashore by my crew. During the time I had stayed on the beach partying with these brothers everybody had retreated to their boats, including Dirty Dave, and Josh with the dinghy. As we all laughed the brothers began arguing amongst each other over whose shack I could stay at. These six brothers were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and all wanted me to stay at their place (though they all shared two rooms).
We walked up to the lodge where I soon began to feel very tired. The oldest brother who had taught me to climb palm trees took me to the small building where his room was. Inside I glanced into the bathroom only to find the most disgusting, black, moldy, rotten mess I’ve ever seen. Opting not to go in, he then directed me to one of two beds in the room where he said I was welcome to sleep. Thankful, I plunged face first onto the bed where I fell deep into the depths of sleep.
Sitting up, I awoke to a hot humid summer breeze in my face and an incredible hang over. I looked around the room and saw that on the other bed three of the brothers were sleeping; one of them must have sacrificed his bed to me. Looking down revealed that the bed I had slept on, much like the bathroom was also completely black and covered in mold. I immediately stood up, thanked the brothers for their hospitality and shot down to the lodge for breakfast. Calling the Ferdinand on the vhf and instructing them to come pick me up, I left the island feeling fulfilled and exuberant.
Not long after leaving Mala Island did I acquire an infection that I feared had come from this night of sleeping. Fortunately it did not but I will speak of this horrendous experience later. We then departed the area and relocated to a secluded cove where we spent the next night.
Time had come for us to prepare for our departure to Tonga. This required that we accomplish a few chores onboard and once again prepare our vessel for the longest passage yet. Among the many tasks I had the privilege of changing the running lights at the top of the mast. This was quite fun and I greatly enjoyed the view from atop the mast. That evening we were rewarded with the most amazing sunset yet saying farewell to Tonga and all that her islands had provided us.
Josh writes, “We left Tonga with many fond memories of secluded white sand beaches, pig roast's, coconut milk and snorkeling down into underwater caves; as well as witnessing the American Obama victory celebrations where a whole bar of people jumped into the ocean; plus the nighttime visit to a megayacht by 2 crazy crew in a dysfunctional dinghy that would only turn circles in the pouring rain... but that's another story!”
After provisioning the next day in Vava’u we departed the islands of Tonga. The forecast called for no wind for about a week followed by a very large storm, which we wrongly thought we could get ahead of. We were tragically wrong, instead experiencing “the storm of a life time” as some sailors labeled it. An experience I will never forget.
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