Day 146 SamoaArrived Apia harbor

Arrived Apia harbor
We got the anchor down in Apia harbor by noon and Mark went ashore to check in with the the multiple checkpoints. While he was at the harbor master's office, the health department and the plants & animals quarantine officials came to the boat. After their inspection, they told us we could take down the quarantine flag. Until that is done, officially only the captain can go on shore. When Mark came back he told us that we would all have to go to the immigration office with our passports to check in. This required a taxi ride to the other side of Apia. This was the most time consuming entry process we have encountered. By the time we were finished it was late afternoon so we rounded up our friends from Liahona and all went for a pizza dinner.
As the meal ended, Andy declared that he wanted to catch up with old friends and would see us when he could. Since Andy had spent two years here in the Peace Corps, he has many friends including his host Samoan family. In Samoa, there is a structure of ruling families and their chiefs with a hierarchy of lesser chiefs. Altogether, there are four layers of chiefs descending from the one at the top. The village structure is still very strong and when a village chief gives you his protection, you can be pretty sure you will be safe from almost anything except Mother Nature. All of the Peace Corps workers are volunteers. They are paid almost nothing but are provided food, housing and a chief to watch over them. They spend some time learning Samoan so they can communicate, at least at the rudimentary level. Many of them, like Andy, are teachers so they are also respected for that profession. Others work to improve the villages and we heard of one case where a husband and wife team were made honorary chiefs for the work they did. Samoans feel that the Peace Corps workers are their guests and should be treated as such. No wonder Andy was so impacted by the two years he spent here.

Day 145 Departure

Another evening harbor exit
Andy wanted to go on a hike today so we did some more chores. Mark and Kurt went over to Windekind to see if they could help and were able to get an excellent tour of a tuna boat. This is something we had talked about but did not know how to execute. Windekind had been told they would have to move to make space for a cargo ship so they tied up alongside the tuna boat. The only way to their boat was across the deck of the tuna boat and in the process, Mark met the engineer who was glad to give them an extensive tour. I wish I had arrived an hour earlier but I was busy with phone calls to clear up some credit card issues.
Finally we re-assembled at the boat and after dinner we raised the anchor and set a course for Apia in independent Samoa. The trip is about 80 miles so we expected to reach Apia by mid-morning on Tuesday.
Our visit to American Samoa had been full of surprises. Our first impressions, based on the harbor, had not been very good but after having the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and to see more of the island, it was easy to see why people return here.

Day 144 Hymns

More paddling
Zero and Tupu picked us up at the boat dock at 0830 and we rode around the island in the back of their pickup truck. It was a beautiful morning and the open air ride was very much appreciated.
Calvary Chapel is a covered, open-air, non-denominational Christian place of worship dedicated to the fellowship of mankind. About 50 people sang some very beautiful hymns and Pastor Oscar gave a sermon based on Genesis. He indicated that over the last decade they had gone through the bible and were now starting again at the beginning. We all appreciated his messages. After the service, there was a small social gathering where we got a chance to talk to Pastor Oscar and share our own journey. I think we will have some additional support from their prayers during the rest of our trip.
In the afternoon we returned to the park next to the Yacht Club and once more got the chance for a brisk workout at the paddles. Again, Zero was in the back and Christine was in the front. This time we went a bit farther so that we really got some exercise. It was easy to see both the physical and spiritual benefits of this coordinated over the water activity.
Again we thanked Tupu and Zero for the opportunity to experience the Polynesian canoe before returning to Southern Star.
Another boat arrived at the end of the day. The 56 foot Wedekind from Santa Barbara made it into the harbor under sail power having been unable to get their engine to run for several days. Following Mark's advice, they tied up to the commercial wharf where they hoped to be able to get some engine service on Monday.

Day 143 Coincidences

Polynesian canoes
American Samoa is different than any other island that we have visited. First of all, it is the U.S. so the same laws (more or less) apply. There is a U.S. post office with the same postal rates to send packages and letters. The police cars look like a typical American police car. And finally, when you ask a local resident a question, often this friendly, smiling Polynesian answers in the exact same English you would expect to hear at home. Part of the reason is that many residents have lived and worked in mainland U.S. for long periods of time and then returned home to enjoy the pleasures of American Samoa.
Secondly, unlike every other island we have visited, AS (American Samoa) has no significant tourist industry. The major source of revenue is the canneries and the rest of the economy is made up of government employees or service industries. There are no major hotel chains, no over-the-water bungalows, no fancy restaurants and no vendors hawking tours of this and that. In some ways, it is more authentic here. We liked the Marquises because of its traditional Polynesian authenticity. Here the 21st century has arrived but there is no artificial face to please the tourists. What you see is what you get.
Once out of Pago Pago, the view is dominated by the tropical landscape of very steep hills rising up close to the coast and very little development of the virgin rain forest. My initial impression may have been colored by the appearance of some of the buildings of Pago Pago, but clearly there is substantial beauty to be found here.
We talked about leaving today so we ran a bunch of small errands and by the time the afternoon arrived, we decided to stay until Monday since the government offices had closed and we could not complete the departure procedure. As it turns out, this was a very fortuitous decision.
With an afternoon to spare, Andy and Kurt went to the movies and I worked on some Internet chores in the same building complex. As we were walking toward the bus stop to return to the boat, we saw Mark waving to us from the bus window and by some interesting coincidence, we were re-united on the same bus.
The day was over so we decided to stop at the Yacht Club. Next to the club is a public beach and park with several "talas" or covered open-air platforms where families could gather. Andy and Kurt went for a walk along the beach and came back a bit later to tell Mark and I that we had been invited to join a Polynesian family at their barbecue. The moon was up and shining on the water so the beach side tala was a nice spot to enjoy the evening.
Zero and his wife Tupu were celebrating the birthday of a friend Wesa with their family and a visitor from the States. Tupu is the coach of the AS women's canoe racing team and they are busy preparing for the Polynesian Olympic Games to be held in Samoa starting August 27. Zero also coaches young people and would like to re-vitalize the island's interest in the sport. The conversation turned to canoeing and before we knew it, Zero had invited us to a night-time paddle. Tupu was kind enough to let us use one of their practice canoes. These are 6 person outrigger shells that required coordination of the paddlers. Zero gave us some quick lessons in paddling technique and within half an hour we had lifted the canoe from its mounting, tipped it over and placed it in the water. Zero took the rear position so he could steer and give us further instructions and his daughter Christine took the front position where the paddler is responsible for setting the pace. She is obviously very good at this.
After a quick spin around the harbor, we returned exhilarated and full of adrenaline. It was impossible to thank them enough for this wonderful experience.
By the end of the evening, Zero had invited us to church the next day and for a second round of paddling the following afternoon.

Day 142 Provisioning

Cosco clone
Weather wise, this was a much better day with sun and calm winds. It appears that yesterday was not a good representative of the "dry" season here. In fact, we heard someone comment that they really needed the rain. Well, they got it.
The mission for today is to do the second major provisioning of the trip. The prices here appear to be the lowest we have seen since Mexico so Andy, Kurt and I jumped on a bus to Cost U Less, a Cosco type store about 45 minutes away. We filled four shopping carts with everything from apples to yoghurt (nothing beginning with Z) and everything in between. The three of us and our booty filled the SUV taxi that we hailed to take us back to the boat. It is a good thing we did not buy more as it filled all the available lockers on the boat. We are prepared to eat a lot of rice and pasta in case we continue to not catch any fish.
While we were gone, Mark did some additional errands and by the time we were all done, the day was gone so we went back to the yacht club where we met a couple who had sailed here 6 years ago and never left. There seem to be a lot of U.S. self imposed expats who find it easy to get a job here since this is the U.S. of A. and the same employment rules apply - with the exception that the pay is a lot less. This latter fact seems to be made up for by the fact that costs such as electricity, water, medical care and transportation are very low compared to mainland U.S. due to the subsidization.
American Samoa is an interesting fabric woven from the threads of Samoan and American cultures and rules. In Samoa, all the land is owned by ancient families or aiga (pronounced ah ing ah) that are ruled over by a chief. If you want to swim on a beach or surf on the reef, you must get permission from the family that owns that piece of land. Property is passed down through the generations by decisions approved by the chief. American Samoa and independent Samoa (once called Western Samoa) were the same nation until the second world war when their oversight was split between the US and Britain. The British part finally became their own nation in 1962 but the US part became an official territory of the USA. Most of the land in American Samoa still is regulated by the same Samoan rules as directed by the constitution of the territory. If you are an expat you can rent property and even get a long term lease but unless you marry a Samoan, you cannot own land. Native citizens of American Samoa are considered "U.S. Nationals" but are not U.S. citizens. They can enter the U.S. without immigration issues and even work in the U.S. but they cannot vote in U.S. national elections. Interesting.

Day 141 Pago Pago

Night time entrance
We arrived at the harbor entrance to Pago Pago at 0430 and previously had not attempted to enter or anchor at night. Pago Pago is more of an industrial harbor than a tourist area. The major industry is tuna canning and there are two large operations in the harbor - Starkist and COS Samoa Packing. For this reason, it is very well marked with lights and buoys and Mark felt comfortable entering at night. While the rest were on deck I sat at the navigation table and monitored the GPS and the computer charts. This was a bit unnerving as it was the first time I realized that the accuracy of these navigational aids was less than perfect. I watched on the screen as we appeared to run right over one of the main lights marking the harbor entrance and by the time we anchored, the image on the screen indicated that we were on land. I expect that some the systems used by commercial boats are more accurate than this.
After a brief nap, we roused ourselves for a quick breakfast before Mark went ashore to clear us through 6 departments including U.S. Immigration, Customs, Agriculture and a few others.
While we waited on the boat, it began to rain. At times, it was hard to see the other boats that were anchored 50 feet away. Along with the rain, came wind over 30 knots. By the time Mark got back, we had dragged the anchor and were getting too close to the boat behind us so we had to pull up the anchor and try again. This harbor has been an industrial site for so long that the bottom is famous for being littered with debris making anchorage difficult. Even through the heavy rain it is easy to discern that we are in an area with fish canneries. The smell gives it away. Throughout the day it rained about 6 hours in which there were many 10 minute periods of deluge.
Between squalls, Mark and I went ashore to try to run a few errands. We got on one of the "buses" that are famous here. They are a small truck, many of them the smallest Toyota pickup, onto which has been attached a bus body with wooden seats. To get on you stand by the side of the road and wave your hand. Loud base-dominated music blares from large boom box speakers. To get off, you knock on the roof and upon departing you pay the 50 cent fare.
The scenery we passed along the way was a mixture of Polynesian paradise and American urban blight. An incredibly lush, green rain forest covers the steep hills that tower over the road. In the town of Pago Pago, some buildings appear new and well maintained but others are run down and there are even some that have collapsed. It is quite a contrast.
One stop we made was at the Pago Pago Yacht Club where we met an American lawyer who works for the Department of Commerce on environmental issues. He had been in public service on various U.S. island territories for 17 years and seemed quite knowledgeable about American Samoa and how it compared with some of the others (like the American West Indies). His comments about the effects of U.S. welfare were similar to those we had read in some of the guide books. The $300+ million in "aid" that the U.S. government pays to the 60,000+ residents every year has impacted the work ethic and many of the cannery workers come from independent Samoa. The bright side is that the people are happy, friendly and there is no crime.

Day 140 Garden of Eden

Position @ 1900 - S14º18 W169º51, Wind is now 20 to 25 with waves 8 to 10 feet
This morning we could see cirrus clouds in the sky and the barometer was dropping. Both of these are signs of an impending weather change.
By afternoon, the wind and waves began to increase and by the time my watch came, it was blowing strongly and we were surrounded by large waves. Just before sunset, we "put a second reef in the main" (we shortened the mainsail one more notch so that the boat would not be "overpowered" by the wind and would not heel over as much). Even so, I had to hand steer for most of my watch as the wind vane autopilot could not steer against such a strong wind. We are sailing with the wind so it is coming from almost directly behind us but when the wind speed goes above 30 knots the boat tends to "round up" or change its course and steer toward the direction of the wind. At that point, the boat heels over dramatically and waves begin to break over the side. This is very unpleasant and requires the helmsman to quickly and firmly take over the wheel and steer back to the intended course. A few hours of this is very tiring when the wind is strong.
This afternoon we sailed past the Manu'a Islands of Ta'u, Olosega and Ofu. They are very mountainous and reminiscent of the Marquises with steep cliffs rising from the sea. Ta'u is only 15 square miles in area but rises to more than 3,000 feet. This is a very important island in Samoan legend because it is the place that "the god Tagaloa created the first humans before sending them out to Polynesia". Most of these islands are part of a national park and should not be entered unless the visitor has first checked in and registered at Pago Pago. For a sailboat, this would then require sailing back against the wind to reach these islands. For that reason, they get very few visitors. I guess we will not see Eden.

Day 139 Sailing

Position @ 1900 - S14º42 W167º33
I can't tell if it is today or yesterday. The two days are twins. Eat, read, sleep. Eat, read, sleep. I'm ready for a hike, a good game of tennis, a run, a swim or anything to get some exercise. During my watch, when I am alone in the cockpit, I often do some exercises to keep myself awake and to get the blood moving but otherwise, there is not much to do when the weather is perfect and the boat is moving along without human intervention.
The most constructive thing I have done in the last two days was a complete inventory of our stores which I compared with the provisioning list we compiled in Puerto Vallarta. Added to this is the knowledge we have gained along the way of what we like to eat and what we can keep without spoilage. The result is a fairly comprehensive list (gee, Michael made a list - there is a surprise) of the provisions we need to get when we get to Pago Pago. This will be the second "big provisioning" with the first having been in PV. We are expecting more favorable prices and selection than we have seen in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands so I hope we will not be disappointed. Up to now, we have used the staples we got in PV and added the things that are perishable or that we can easily find along the way plus those items that we cannot stock enough of in one go.
We will pass by Rose Island in the middle of the night so we have chosen to bypass this uninhabited atoll and push on to Pago Pago.
I found a star chart (not a very good one) in the Puddle Jump book so I have been trying to find stars in the Southern Hemisphere sky. I can easily recognize those constellations that I am familiar with in the Northern Hemisphere like Orion, the Big Dipper, Scorpio, Sagittarius and stars like Arcturus and Spica and I was able to find the Southern Cross and the two stars Hadar and Rigil Kentaurus that point to the South pole but I am unfamiliar with anything else that is only visible South of the Equator. Regarding the Big Dipper, I can only see the handle as the two stars that point to Polaris the North Pole star are below the horizon from this latitude. When I am on watch, there is not a lot to do except watch out for other ships and to keep track of the weather so star gazing is a good pastime. For the last week or so, the moon has been waxing and the stars are very visible. Also readily visible are the planets Venus and Saturn. The latter is currently next to the red star Antares in the constellation Scorpio and during my watch is almost directly overhead. I always remember Antares because it was often mentioned in the science fiction stories I read as a kid. I think the red color made it seem mysterious and foreboding.
So much for my night time musings.

Day 138 Sailing

Position @ 1900 - S14º00 W165º49
While we may have avoided unpleasant head winds, we appear to have also avoided any significant tail wind as well. For most of the day, the wind was in the 5 to 10 knot range meaning that our boat speed was in the 4 to 6 knot range and most of the time it was more 4 than 6.
Rose Island is 305 nautical miles from Suwarrow and we departed Suwarrow at about 1030. If we can keep our speed up, we will get there during the daylight and can safely enter the pass into the lagoon. Otherwise we have two choices, hang around all night at a safe distance from the island, as we did on the way to Suwarrow, or bypass the island and go on to Pago Pago (pronounced pahngo pahngo, this on the island of Tutuila and is the capital of American Samoa). We will make that decision when we get near the island.
One other factor is if the other three boats that left before us are already safely anchored in the lagoon and they are willing to come out by dinghy and guide us in, we might trust that we can get safely anchored in the dark. If so, this would be the first time we have done that.
With no appreciable wind, no fish biting, no squalls and the autopilot doing the driving, there is not much to do except read, eat and nap. We did a book trade in Suwarrow and got about 10 new books. Most of them are done now. Also, we are low on provisions having run out of things like juice, meat, bread and fresh fruits and vegetables. These facts may also influence our decision about stopping versus pushing on. Pago Pago is a U.S. port that uses U.S. dollars and, according to the guide books, has the shopping conveniences that are similar to what we would be used to at home. The selection may be a bit more limited but the availability of familiar items and brands will be a welcome treat, particularly compared to the selection in French Polynesia.

Day 137 Departure

A kindly grouper
Mark had spoken to the captains of three other cruisers and determined that this was an ideal weather window for proceeding westward. I had just read in a cruising guide that sailing today has changed markedly due to the advent of better boats, more reliable engines, GPS navigation and satellite weather delivered via ham radio to on-board laptop computers. Today's cruisers tend to sail more by the onset of favorable weather because they now have better information on which to decide what looks best.
There is another of the periodic low pressure fronts forming in near Australia/New Zealand. This will move Eastward across the Pacific at about 40º South latitude and the winds that circle clockwise around it will cause wind and waves at our latitude (which is above 15º South latitude). If we leave now for American Samoa, we will be able to sail on the Southeast trade winds - meaning we will be going in the same direction as the wind. If we delay a few days, we may be met with Southwest winds circling the front and this would mean sailing into the wind. The sailing guide said that only racers and fools sail into the wind. Both times we have done that (from Manihi to Rangiroa and from Bora Bora to Rarotonga) we have had very rough conditions and have even had to turn around for several hours and "go with the wind" in order to recover from the bashing delivered by the waves. (see previous posts describing those passages).
I would liked to have staed in Suwarrow a few days longer to take advantage of the hospitality of the caretakers and to visit a bit more with Gato Go and Soul's Calling but the opportunity to make the next 4 to 5 day day passage on favorable winds was compelling enough to make an earlier departure an easy decision.
By mid-morning we had everything stowed and the anchor up so we said good-by to our friends via the VHF radio and headed for the pass. Three other boats had already departed and reported favorable conditions. As we were motoring out of the pass, we put the drag line in the water and before we reached the open sea, we had caught a small grouper. In this lagoon grouper are a pale pink color with light blue spots - a bit bizarre. At the barbecue two nights ago, someone had brought grouper so we knew we were in for a treat. Although this was a small fish, there was enough for one hearty dinner and a filling lunch the next day. I had made pita bread yesterday so we had a nice dinner of marinated fish from the grill in a pita pocket.

Day 136 Relaxing

Suwarrow Island
This is one of the most relaxing places we have visited. There are no stores, no city, no distractions and very few people. The water and the air are warm but not hot and a pleasant breeze blows from the sea. There are hammocks on the island that are a perfect place to sit and read a book so Mark, Kurt and Andy left in mid-morning to do just that. I stayed behind to catch up on some chores and to do some snorkeling.
Like most of the islands in the Pacific, Suwarrow is ringed with a coral reef such that there is a lagoon where the original volcano was. In addition, the motus or islands that remain are themselves fringed with coral so that getting from the lagoon to the island requires finding an opening in the "fringing reef". In most of the places we have been, the snorkeling spots are on the lagoon side of the outer or barrier reef, on passes through the barrier reef or on the fringing reef around the motus. Only in Rangiroa when I was scuba diving did I go on the ocean side of the barrier reef. Because we were deep, we avoided the waves that break on the ocean side of the reef.
In Mo'orea I snorkeled along the fringing reef and found it to be full of colorful coral and interesting fish. Here is Suwarrow, there were only the fish. The coral was all grey and had no color indicating that the living organisms had all died. There are various explanations given for this - all of them having to do with water temperature. The first and most easily linked in time to the supposed cause is El niño. In 1983 and in 1997 there were unusually warm water temperatures in the South Pacific caused by the bank of warm water that "sloshes" between Asia to America. The "bleaching" of the coral was noted directly thereafter. Theory has it that coral is very sensitive to temperature and dies if the water is too warm.
The second theory for death of the coral is, of course, global warming. The El niño effect appears to have a very specific time window - El niño one year and dead coral the next - whereas I have not seen any similar reports that link global warming as directly. One clear effect that global warming will have on these islands is to make the low ones disappear. Certainly the atolls we visited in the Tuomotus will be very different places if the sea rises even one foot.
Needless to say, the snorkeling was a bit disappointing although there were some very beautiful and colorful reef fish. The big yellow and black angel fish are always a treat as are the tangerine colored little guys that peck away at the coral. On this reef there were also some larger fish that I had not seen before including the amazingly colored green and purple parrot fish and several kinds of grouper and wraise. I saw no sharks during my long swim and I am just as happy that I did not. I don't mind seeing them when there are several people in the water but I am not as comfortable when I am alone.
We ended the day with a game of water polo where we were joined by people from several other yachts. It is easy to get folks to join this, if for no other reason than it is an excuse to get off the boat and get a little exercise. Cruising can be very sedentary as there is no where to go for exercise while underway so a good vigorous swim in an anchorage is very inviting.

Day 135 Feeding the sharks

Suwarrow beach party
Mike from Just Dessert organized a beach party for tonight so he took Kurt and Andy in his dinghy to get the fish for the barbecue.
Just after they left, our old friends Paul and Lee Ellen on Gata Go arrived so I went over to say hello. We last time we saw them was in Tahiti at Marina Taina when Lee Ellen left on a trip to the U.S. and Paul was waiting for her return. We spent some time catching up on our respective travels since then and on exchanging news (and probably gossip) about other boats that we both knew. They had some very good times in Marina Opoiti in Ra'iatea where we had spent time and they met some of the same boats we knew when we were there. They reported that our friends on Soul's Calling were on their way to Suwarrow and would likely arrive on Monday.
I was back on Southern Star when the fishermen returned. I got out the camera and waited on deck to get a good shot of their conquests. As their dinghy pulled alongside, Kurt held up the head of a fish that had probably been about 2 ½ feet long. They were very disappointed that this was their only catch. They had only had a few bites and when Kurt hooked this one, he tried to reel it in as fast as he could but by the time he got it to the boat only the head was left and Mike had use the gaff to knock off the two sharks that were still clinging to it. They said there were probably a dozen small lemon colored black-tipped reef sharks in a frenzy around the dinghy when they brought in the fish. At the end off the day the score was sharks 1 and fishermen zero. Fortunately a few other boats had fish on board that they had caught during their last passage so we had enough for the barbecue.
I prepared our standard cole slaw and a pesto-pasta salad as our contribution to the beach party. I was expecting that we would make a bunch of sushi but that was not to be. Maybe the next time we will make shark steaks.
By 6 o'clock the yachties were assembling on shore at the house of the caretakers. There were at least 8 boats represented and most of them I had not met before so there were a lot of new faces. The table was stacked with food but within an hour it had all been consumed.
The caretaker's kids showed us what a coconut crab looks like by producing a "small" sample that was about 18" across. They are pretty amazing creatures as they can easily climb trees and their favorite food comes from the coconuts that they crack open. They also eat fish and any small animal they can catch. The guide book says they can get to be 3 feet in diameter. Not something you would want to meet in a dark alley at night - or a dark jungle, for that matter.
John, the caretaker is proficient at the guitar and he and his wife Veronica know many songs so the evening ended with singing and talking and exchanging stories about our travels.

Day 134 Suwarrow Island

Bird sanctuary
We arrived at the pass as planned at about 0730 and navigated into the lagoon without incident. At the urging of Eaio, we flew the South African flag instead of the American flag. They told us to do this by radio after they had left Suwarrow but we never asked why.
To our surprise, there were four other boats anchored just off the caretaker's motu. Three of them had South African flags. One boat, Double Dutch, was from Capetown and when Mark talked to the captain he learned that they had lived just a few miles from where Mark grew up. Yes, it is a small world.
Just Desert (Mike & Dawn from New Jersey) had been here for 3 weeks. They have been sailing for a total of 7 years having spent almost 3 years in the Caribbean. Mike told us that the fishing just outside the pass is the best he has seen in all his cruising. He has a hard-sided dinghy with a 15 HP motor and we look forward to going out with him to bring in some sushi makings.
As we arrived, he caretakers John and Veronica and their 4 kids were picking up passengers from two other boats for an excursion to the other side of the 11 mile wide atoll. He asked us to delay check-in until he returned.
Mike came over from Just Desert to pass the time and talked for almost 3 hours. It was easy to have a conversation with him because you did not have to say anything. His New Yorker manner and accent were very familiar. One thing he told us was a bit curious. He said his wife always gets seasick. How is it that they have been cruising for 7 years? We want to meet her and ask.
In the afternoon the caretakers returned and we took the 7 boxes of supplies ashore. They seemed very happy to receive them. They are both from Rarotonga but it seems that HQ does not provide very well for them. No government ship from Rarotonga has been here for months. Curious. John said the only time they come is to attempt to stop the illegal removal of wildlife from the island. Suwarrow is a national park and a bird sanctuary. The birds, lobster and turtles are all protected but poachers occasionally come from Rarotonga. All John can do is notify the authorities on Raro and let them take appropriate action. It seems that not much is done.
Suwarrow has seven major bird species and several sub-species.
We saw the first frigate bird when we were still almost 100 miles from the island. They fly very high and never seem to flap their seven foot black wings. Any sail plane pilot could take lessons from these guys.
We saw black tropic birds with their long tails as we got closer to the island. They are smaller and more sleek and fly closer to the water.
Our favorite birds, the boobies, started to follow us when we were about 20 miles away. They did their classic figure eights around the boat coming up alongside, turning away from the boat and crossing our wake to set up for their turn on the other side. They fly very close to the water, almost touching it and acrobatically changing altitude just in time to avoid the waves.
The white fairy terns become visible as we got to the pass. Flying rapidly in pairs a few hundred feet above the ground, they mostly stay just over the trees.
The black sooty terns come overhead in groups making a loud squawking noise - almost parrot-like. John said there are so many of them on one of the motus that when you are close to them their combined noise is like rushing water.
Mike said there are a few beautiful herons that hunt in the shallows but we have not seen them yet. John also referred to several types of sandpipers but they live near a different motu. Perhaps if we stay for a few days, we will get to make some excursions to the rest of the atoll.

Day 133 Water color

Position @ 1900 - We are about 10 miles from Suwarrow but it is too late to approach the pass and get the anchor down safely so we have reefed the mainsail and furled the jib and we have made a course North so that we travel very little at night while we wait for sunrise. Our course ensures that the island is not directly in our lee so that we do not accidentally drift onto the reef. Tomorrow we will turn SouthWest and should reach the pass in less than two hours.
What color is water?
When you put it in a glass and hold it up to the light, it appears to have no color.
When you look into the water on a sunny day in the Pacific Ocean at over 10,000 feet deep, it has a dark cobalt blue color that I have not seen anywhere else. I could look at it for hours.
When you look into the water in the lagoon of a coral atoll at 50 feet deep, it is the same green color that you see in the Caribbean. If the water is a little deeper, the water is turquoise.
This morning I got up and watched the sun rise. As the horizon brightened, the sky gradually went through stages from blue to yellow to orange to red and finally back to blue as the sun finally appeared above the rim of the world. The sea was fairly calm with 1 to 2 foot waves corrugated by smaller wind ripples on the surface. The angles of the wave that were away from the sun were dark gray. Those toward the sun showed all the colors of the spectrum including yellow, red, pink, orange, green and finally blue.
Last night when I was on watch, the sea was in about the same state. After sunset, the stars came out and a sliver of moon was about 30º above the horizon. The water was blue-black to black and where the moon shined on the water, it was silver.
What color is water? It depends.

Day 132 Squally weather

Position @ 1900 - S14º30 W161º35 - 24 hour distance traveled = 140 n miles
The entire day was one rain squall after another. At least it is warm and the rain is not really uncomfortable - just wet. We took turns on deck throughout the day and during our normal watch schedule at night.
On my watch (7 to 10) the clouds finally began to dissipate and the first sliver of a moon appeared just below Venus. I could easily see Saturn overhead next to Scorpio and could pick out the Southern Cross and the two "pointer stars" that indicate South. I had brought a star chart with me but it is pretty useless here as it is set for the stars visible from San Francisco and the Southern Hemisphere is too distorted to help identify these constellations. Of course, there are some obvious ones like Orion but most of them are either new to me or I have forgotten them and will need a new chart to do any serious star gazing.
I slept poorly last night. We have been on a starboard tack since leaving Rarotonga. This means the wind is coming from our right and the boat is heeled over to port or leaning to the left. As we hit waves, the boat is shaken so that anything that is loose on the starboard (right) side of the boat eventually either falls or slides to the port (left) side. I share my bunk with six large bags - three contain sails and three contain various safety equipment. Four of them are quite heavy and three are quite slippery. Between me and my bunk mates there is a foam pad. Last night, my "friends" decided to come and visit my side of the bunk. I woke frequently and tried to push them back to their place but as soon as I got back to sleep the bags would nudge the foam pad and it would fall over on me. I would wake up because I knew what was coming next - impolite visitors. By the time I woke up in the morning, I was pinned into a foot-wide notch between the foam pad and the port side of the boat. This would be a great thing to control a somnambulist but for the normal sleeper, it is a bit uncomfortable.
I vowed to rearrange the bunk so that the "heavies" are next to the port hull and I am on their starboard side. This part of the bunk is has very low headroom but I figure if you can't fight 'em, join 'em.

Day 131 "Over the bounding main"

Position @ 1900 - S16º21 W160º07 - 24 hour distance traveled = 121 n miles
The wind and waves picked up throughout the day and by mid afternoon we were rocking in 8 foot seas and the wind was a steady 15 to 20 knots. There were occasional squalls with rain. This is likely the result of the low pressure area we saw on the map before we left.
This was another day of reading and watching out for other boats although we have seen none and no lights at night. Is there no one else in this part of the ocean?
By nightfall, the wind died down a bit but there still was no moon and with the overcast skies, the night watch is a bit trippy. It is like bobbing around inside a cave.
We had gotten a little lax in our use of the safety harness so today Mark did a little sit down with all of us to remind us of the proper safety rules. Especially at night, the safety harness must be warn at all times when there is just one person in the cockpit and it must be clipped into the jack lines whenever anyone goes on deck outside the cockpit. It would be one thing to fall overboard during the day but in the black of a moonless night with 8 foot waves it would be good-by. No one wants that.
A note on falling overboard - from someone who has not done it and does not plan to. There are several safety measures if there are other people present. One is the "horse collar" buoy which is attached to a floating flag with a light attached. This is thrown to the person in the water to help find them again. Another is the "MOB" button on the GPS. It place marks the spot where the button is pushed and will chart a course to return to the same spot. The last is a set of man overboard drills that are a standard part of learning to sail. This entail a set of turns that can easily be done in a sail boat to return to a set spot. They depend on the direction the boat was sailing at the time but within a few minutes the boat can be maneuvered to the position of the person in the water - assuming the current has not taken them somewhere else. That is where the horse collar comes in. The lighted yellow flag marks their current location and the light helps find them at night. Of course, if you are alone in the cockpit when you fall over and the boat is set to autopilot, the first time anyone discovers you are gone would be at the end of your watch, which could be three hours and 15 to 18 miles later. In addition you would not have the lighted flag. Even in this warm water where you could tread water for a long time, recovery would seem unlikely.
I plan to stay safely in the boat.

Day 130 Sailing

"A Perfect Day for Banana fish"
Position @ 1900 - S18º23 W159º03. 24 hour distance traveled = 150 n miles (remember that a nautical mile is approximately 1.1 statute miles. Our target, the island of Suwarrow is at S13º14 W162º46 for those of you who want to look this up on Google Earth)
I never quite knew what that J. D. Salinger title meant but if it meant a nice day by the ocean, this day would qualify. It was a bit cloudy but the weather was turning warmer as we headed North (that sounds a bit counter intuitive for us Northern Hemisphere folks) and the sea and wind continued to be in our favor.
We all spent the day reading and relaxing and took turns watching the horizon for other boats and napping. We had all just read an article in Sailing magazine about a sailboat that got run down by a 780' long container ship off the coast of Chile so that made us more watchful than ever. This is not particularly a shipping zone and the ships we have seen have been very courteous but it only take one...
Our speed was higher than we had seen in previous passages and the only disappointment was that we caught no fish. Instead, we hooked a large log and lost our lure. We were 45 miles from the nearest island at the time so that log had traveled a long way.
By nightfall, the wind and waves picked up a bit with winds now at 20 to 25 knots and waves 4 to 6 feet. This was not a new situation for us but it meant we would have to change our sail configuration to have a pleasant night time sail. We had been running with the standard sailboat set-up of a full mainsail and jib but when the wind comes up, we take in the jib and reef (reduce) the sail area so that "Chuck" (the wind vane automatic pilot) can steer. If we have too much sail up, it "overpowers" Chuck and the boat tends to "round up" or steer itself toward the wind instead of keeping the desired direction. By reducing the sail, we "balance" the boat and Chuck can do his job.
When the waves increase we also put up the staysail (a sail between the mast and the jib) and leave it pointed parallel with the boat. Having this sail in this position does not really add to the propulsion of the boat but it acts like a damper and stabilizes the boat in the waves making for a much more pleasant ride.
During my watch from 1900 to 2200 we encountered some small squalls that brought a little rain and some wind gusts to 30 knots. This requires attention from the person on watch as these gusts also overpower Chuck and the boat need to be hand steered until they subside. Also, with no moon and an overcast sky it is impossible to see approaching weather so you need to be prepared to act quickly when the squall hits without warning.
Nonetheless, this is pretty benign weather compared to some that we have seen. Having had steaks on the barbecue for dinner with carrot cake for dessert, we were ready for anything. Yes, we do eat well at sea.

Day 129 Rarotonga departure

Finally, the right wind
Position @ 1900 - S20º50 W159º36
As we were preparing for our departure, three boats that we had last seen in Tahiti docked at the harbor. Greg and Debbie on Volaré, Dave and Melanie on Talerra and Daryl and Loretta on Cancata had all joined our Bitter End parties at Marina Taina in Tahiti. Later, we had seen them in Huahine and given them the list of suggestions that Guy from Kagou had given us on seeing the sights of Ra'iatea and Taha'a. I had also spent an interesting morning on Talerra looking at the pictures Dave had of the 14 years he spent building his boat.
Unfortunately, we had very little time to chat before we left. One surprise was a small gift from Debbie. She and Greg had used Mark's sewing machine to repair a rip in their sail when they were at Marina Taina. In return, she baked us a carrot cake but something went wrong and it did not turn out to her satisfaction. Somehow in the short time we overlapped in the Rarotonga harbor, she was able to whip up another carrot cake and present it to us before we left. This one was delicious. (The other one was also)
In Tahiti, they had a fourth "buddy boat" Trius but they tore their mainsail along the way and had to miss some of the intermediate islands and go on to Tonga where they could order a new sail and have it air shipped in. The best laid plans of mice and men...
Kurt had gone off earlier with Brian from Salicorn to check out a surf break. We sailed out of the harbor and turned left following the shoreline to the West side of the island. Kurt saw us coming and paddled about a quarter of a mile so we could pick him up along the way. He handed up his board, climbed aboard and we turned North toward Suwarrow.
The sea was relatively calm, the wind was blowing from the East and the sky was almost cloudless as we started our trip. We have only seen perfect sailing weather a few times in the whole trip but this was one of those days. During my watch from 1900 to 2200 there was no moon and with no clouds, the stars were stunning

Day 128 Last clean-up

Waiting for the weather
We washed the inside of the boat and took on 100 liters of drinking water. The boat is now clean and completely ready to go.
Michael, Julie, Frank and Debbie stopped by the boat to say goodby as they fly back to New Zealand. They wished us a safe journey and they look forward to seeing us again when we get to Auckland. They also gave us some food they did not consume during their vacation. We should not only be ready to go but also fully provisioned.
Two new boats came into the harbor today. Selena is from Vancouver, Canada and Salicorn is a US boat we last saw in Bora Bora. They had a much easier time getting to Rarotonga than we did as they came on the North wind.
I bought one more WiFi card as I wanted to load all the photos onto the blog before I leave Rarotonga. Check out the photo pages if you have not looked at them in a while. There are a lot more pictures in the albums. Previously, I had put up one picture in each album as a place marker until I had more Internet time to populate the rest of the album.
Weather permitting, we should now be off to Suwarrow Island tomorrow morning. The distance is about 550 nautical miles and if we have favorable winds we should make it in about 4 ½ days. I'm ready to go.
I visited with Reinhart and Madelin on Adio for a while this afternoon. They are from Bad Reichenwald near Salzburg and now live in Munich. Reinhart built the boat and it is his second one. They have been sailing for several years and this is their second circle around the South Pacific having completed a trip to NZ, Australia, Japan, Alaska and the West coast of the U.S and South America. Now they are returning to the places they missed and the ones they enjoyed the most the first time. Fascinating.
Ben, Rob and Brian from Salicorn invited us to dinner but we have more room on Southern Star so they brought over wahoo that they had caught and a salad and we made the rice. Fish that is freshly caught then marinated and grilled is hard to beat. Andy played grill master and got it seared on the outside and just warm on the inside. You could pay a lot of money in a fancy restaurant but you could not get a better meal.

Day 127 Travel delayed

Unfavorable winds
We get weather reports from a system called Gribb files which originate from satellite images that are analyzed for wind, wave and current and then projected out for several days in advance. By looking at these pictures and guessing at the reliability of their forecasts it is possible to minimize the risk of encountering storms and to maximize the possibility of an easy passage.
Currently the wind is blowing from the North. Suwarrow is North of Rarotonga so we could not sail there directly but would have to tack back and forth at a 45º angle to the wind. This "point of sail" is usually accompanied by rough and bumpy sailing so if more favorable wind is forecasted, it is better to wait. The forecast is dominated by two weather systems that are moving across the Pacific so the predictions will probably be pretty accurate. On Friday, the wind should shift to be from the East and by Saturday, the Southeast trade winds should return. Mark does not want to leave a harbor on a Friday - especially Friday the 13th - so it looks now that we will leave on Saturday.
I had to go to the post office to get a gift off to Sir William as I had missed the "Molly express" when she left on Wednesday night. It should arrive on time in any event.
A few words on yesterday's provisioning... The "Med moor" leaves the stern of Southern Star about 15 feet from the harbor wall. (see the pictures) At the wall, there is a steep 10 step metal staircase that must be climbed. At low tide, the bottom step is just above the water and at high tide the bottom two steps are immersed. The dinghy is tied with two lines, one to the boat and one to the stairs so it can be retrieved from either side. When waves are coming into the North facing harbor, as they have been for the last few days, getting in and out of the dinghy at either side is an athletic event. If you are attempting to transfer a case of beer or two dozen eggs, it looks like the guy in the circus who balances plates on sticks. The dinghy is bouncing up and down usually in an opposite rhythm from the boat so a one foot wave means that the ladder on the stern of Southern Star is moving up and down about two feet from the dinghy about once every two seconds. The trick is to step on the ladder of the boat and grab the railing (hopefully with two hands) when the ladder is down the furthest and then ride it up away from the dinghy while climbing into the boat. Notice I said two hands. What about the two dozen eggs? There are two ways to accomplish the transfer of items. The easiest is to have help from another person on the boat or on the ladder. The second choice, if you are alone, is to put all the items in a backpack. Yesterday, I had so much that it required several trips. This is equivalent to a half hour at the gym and a lot cheaper.
We ended the day at the movies one more time. There was a rather senseless zombie movies playing but everyone else wanted to go so I tagged along. It had more dialogue than the last movie we watched so that was at least worth something.

Day 126 More preparation

Extra supplies for Suwarrow
Yesterday, the Environmental Services department dropped off six large cardboard boxes and a large bag of sugar. This will take up quite a bit of floor space for the next 6 or 7 days until we get to Suwarrow. Roy from Eaio called on the SSB radio called and said the caretakers were in desperate need of a new generator to power their lights, refrigeration and radio. I called Vavia at the Environmental Services department but he said they had no funding for a new generator. I guess there is just so much we can do to help them.
Mark, Kurt and Andy spent most of the day at the Muri Beach houses except for one diversion by Andy to go to the hospital. This morning he had a gigantic eruption of his infection and he got an injection of anti-biotics and more bandages. My advice to anyone traveling to the South Pacific is just don't get a staph infection - period. Avoid it! Delete it from your schedule. Yesterday when Molly was here she said even she got one from her trip to Mo'orea. It did not develop until after she got home but she had to go to the hospital for treatment. This is not a good thing!
Puai and his wife stopped by the boat today to wish us a safe next passage. I invited him to a return hospitality visit the next time he is in Northern California but he said it would be October and that is before I return home. Both he and his wife are very nice people.
While the "lads" were relaxing, I spent the day preparing for the next passage. We could be 6 days to Suwarrow and another 4 days to Pago Pago so I wanted to cook some things in advance to make meal preparation easier when we are under way. I found that if we boil some eggs and cook some pasta and rice, it avoids the boiling water in the tossing galley for at least some of the time. I also wanted to finish the grocery shopping as we need some essential thing that I have not been able to find in the stores like matches and coffee filters. Apparently, a container comes twice a month and in between, whatever has run out is out of stock until the next container.
This could be the last posting for a while until we get to Pago Pago - I will post when I can.

Day 125 Cross-Island hike

The hike is not a walk - it is a scramble
Peter and Felicity showed up at 10 as planned. They left their car at the harbor as the hike began on a road directly across from the boat. A reasonable paved street led toward to mountain. When the pavement ended, a sign pointed to a dirt road and a larger sign showed the highlights and elevation of the trail. At the end of the dirt road, there were several paths and we followed what looked like the obvious trail to a dead end. Just as we returned to the branch a young man on a motor scooter came along and directed us to the proper path. This path wound its way uphill to a stream where all evidence of a trail vanished. Because I had seen this in other island hikes I expected that the path was up the stream bed and sure enough after scrambling over rocks for a while we came to another trail. This one angled steeply up hill and was only negotiable by holding onto the numerous roots growing out of the hill side. At this point we had hike for about 30 or 40 minutes.
The next three and a half hours were a repeat of the hill side scramble. The trail was either so steep that it required pulling one's self up using the roots or it was an entanglement of branches, roots and logs that required climbing over, ducking under or both. This would have made a great Marine training exercise. It was a much greater test of fitness than any of us anticipated. Also, without knowing how long the trail was or how far we had progressed, we were not sure whether we should be persuaded to go on because it was not very far or turn back because there was a long way to go. Nevertheless, we pushed on to the end.
There were only a few places where the repetition of the scramble was broken. At the top of the mountain we were climbing, we emerged from the forest at the foot of the needle we saw at the beginning of the trail. This was a spire of volcanic rock that rose probably 50 to 100 feet. On the North side there was a chain bolted into the rock and a sign that warned of the danger of proceeding. Slipping would have been followed by a large vertical drop that would end anyone's vacation. I decided to let the risk speak for itself and declined the challenge.
Near the needle was a clearing where we had lunch. No sooner had we began munching on some left-over pizza than the beggar patrol arrived in the form of a very colorful rooster. I surmised that he was employed by some government department to keep the area clean of any dropped food. He was quite enthusiastic about his assignment and boldly approached within grabbing distance. I wondered how he would taste with a nice gravy but decided that he was probably just doing his job.
The descent was no more forgiving than the assent and there were places where sliding down the slippery path was a safer alternative than trying to walk.
The path ended again at the stream where there was a waterfall and a car park. We walked the last half mile to the ring road and caught the "Anticlockwise" bus back to the harbor.
The hike was concluded with a few very well needed and deserved beers at a waterside restaurant.
Thanks to Peter and Felicity for your company. It was very enjoyable and without it I might not have pushed on alone.

Day 124 Chores

Getting ready to go
I spent the day doing a myriad of chores in preparation for our departure on Thursday.
The Caretakers - As noted in an earlier blog, the Australian catamaran Eaio had stopped in Suwarow Island in the Northern Cooks and noted that the caretakers who live on the island needed supplies. They urged us to bring the needed items from Rarotonga.
Previously, I had contacted the Department of Environmental Services who employs the caretakers but I had not heard from them so this morning I walked to the other end of town and met with Vavia Vavia the acting director. He assured me that they would provide us with the list of items requested by the caretakers. This was mostly fairly basic stuff like cooking oil, sugar, flour, etc. Vavia committed to have the items delivered to the boat before we left.
Internet - I had purchased a card from Cook Telecom that supposedly would allow me to get wireless Internet at the boat. The card had worked at first but on Friday it ceased working and I wanted to update the blog and post some more pictures before we left. I went back to the Telecom office and spent 40 minutes while the fafine behind the counter struggled to make it work. Between calling the support line and throwing occasional "hissy fits" he/she got the card working.
I spent the next two and a half hours posting text and uploading pictures. This latter task was interrupted frequently by a loss of the signal. I am beginning to suspect that there is something wrong with the wireless card in my computer since Andy did not have any such problems using Molly's computer from the boat.
As I was about finished from fatigue and hunger a woman walked by and asked me if the picture on my screen was from a sail boat. When I explained our trip she summoned her husband and they invited me to join them for lunch to talk more about it.
Peter and Felicity are from a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. He is a lawyer and she is an artist having just completed her PhD in fine arts. They are well travelled and Peter is a sailor so he was very interested in hearing the details of the Puddle Jump. They asked what things I had done on the island and I mentioned that I planned to do the cross-island hike the next day so we arranged to meet at the boat at 10 and go together.
I did a little shopping including groceries but have been unable to find coffee filters in any of the stores. We are down to the last few and Molly brought some wonderful Peet's coffee when she arrived so I may be relegated to drinking "cowboy coffee" for the next two weeks until we get to Pago Pago and I can find some in the store. If anyone has any ideas of how to get good coffee from ground coffee and no filters, I am all ears.
Andy, Kurt and I ended the day at the pizza place. Andy has a very bad staph infection in his leg and can barely walk. He is now taking amoxycilin and changing ugly bandages a couple of times a day. Those of us who have gone through that sympathize.

Day 123 The Umu

Liahona leaves
First thing in the morning I helped Jim and Wendy leave on Liahona for Niue. We hope to see them again as we spent many pleasant days with them over the last few weeks.
Michael (the accountant from NZ) does business on the island with Puai whose company does financial planning and transactions for wealthy individuals who seek the tax haven status of the Cook Islands. In honor of Michael and his wife Julie and their friends Frank and Debbie and Mark and Molly, Puai and his wife Ta'i hosted an umu at his home.
In a traditional umu, a fire is burned in a pit and then covered with stones and leaves. On top is placed a pig and various vegetables. This is then covered with more leaves and dirt. Does this sound like a New England clambake? In Puai's umu he used pork and chicken (a whole pig would have been a bit much) wrapped in aluminum foil and held in a metal frame. The covering was a cloth. Also cooked was breadfruit, arrowroot and banana.
Puai's house sits on what appears to be about two acres about a quarter of a mile toward the mountains off the road that encircles the island. He chose this location to be safe from the hurricanes that occasionally hit the island. Directly behind his house is a plantation that grows banana and arrowroot plants.
Three carloads of people and several more on scooters showed up at noon. The food was removed from the pit and taken into the main room of the house. This room has wide doors that open onto a deck that looks out at the mountain. Puai gave a welcome speech and said a blessing and then everyone took plates of wonderful food outside on the deck or on the spacious lawn surrounding the house. The pork and chicken were swimming in a brown juice that made the meat moist and delicious. An unusual topping for the vegetables was coconut cream that added richness. I went back for seconds as did many others.
For dessert, Julie and Debbie had baked apple crumble and made a large trifle (cake and fruit topped with whipped cream).
I asked Puai about his nationality as he has a German name. He traces his ancestry back to an Irishman named O'Conner who was shipwrecked in the Tuomotus and then rescued by Captain Bligh. That was 7 generations ago. After that, there was Cook Island stock and an Englishman with a German name who spied on the Germans in Samoa during the war. Fascinating.
We had a wonderful day and by the time we got back to the boat it was dark and we were still so full we did not even think about dinner.

Day 122 Market day

Rarotonga personality
Saturday is the big day at the open air market that is next to the Harbor. There are dozens of semi-permanent stands that sell foods, produce, clothing, tattoos and various souvenir nick knacks. I don't usually take the big camera ashore but I wanted to try to capture the mood of the place so I carried it along.
After buying some vegetables and a breakfast waffle, I strolled around with the camera. At first I tried to take some candid shots with the long lens but wondered if people would be offended by having their picture taken so I asked on vendor if they would mind and got a big hearty smile in return. After that I would go up to a stand and ask if they would smile for a picture. You will see the results... beautiful people looking very happy. At one point, I saw two men talking and asked them as well. They looked a little reluctant (of maybe it was baffled - why would I want their picture) so I told them I was making a slide show on the Cook Islands and wanted to show people what a beautiful place it was. I was rewarded by another round of warm smiles.
In French Polynesia at election time we saw demonstrations by people who wanted independence from France. Even though France appears to provide a substantial amount of financial support, there seemed to be a feeling that French rule was tolerated at best and in Huahine we saw some grafiti that said "No Howlie here" - meaning in essence - white man go home. We never felt any sense of hostility, especially when they learned that we were not French, but there was definitely a sense that they wanted Polynesia for the Polynesians.
The Cook Islands are independent but linked in some loose way with New Zealand. Many Cook Islanders emigrate to New Zealand and some come back years later after they have achieved some financial independence. Also, most of the million + tourists who visit the islands every year are from NZ. The attitude toward the whites here is completely different from that in French Polynesia. People are very friendly and open and they seem to welcome their association with NZ. Almost everyone says hello as you walk down the street and everyone speaks English. Most have travelled to other countries and they do not seem to mind being part of the 21st century.
From what I have seen, I would recommend Rarotonga as a place to vacation.

Day 121 Molly arrives

The Squash club
At 0900 Mark arrived with Molly and Kendall. They came on board with various items they brought with them. One special item was a beautiful card from Tim, Jordan, William and Mowgli that had over a dozen pictures of beautiful little William. Molly made a point of telling me what a delightful little boy he is. I was touched.
Since they had been traveling for half the day, Molly and Kendall left by mid morning to go back to the house for a rest.
I had made arrangements to play squash at 1100 with Ben and Rebecca from Manatee so I walked over to the squash court which was simple but quite nice. Rebecca is a good player and both she and Ben play frequently. I have not played since 1993 and my timing was just enough off so that I lost every game I played although one game went to 10 to 8. I wanted a re-match (after a healthy dose of ibuprofin and a rest) but they were leaving that afternoon for the island of Niue so I won't get a chance for a while.
In the evening, we walked into town for another movie. The show was terrible but the uniqueness of going to a cinema again was worth it.

Day 120 Rainy day

Cleaning the boat.
Molly arrives tomorrow so we want everything to look shipshape. Our plan to get things cleaned in the morning was interrupted by rain throughout the day but finally we completed our work.
Mark's accountant from New Zealand has come to Rarotonga every winter since 1985 and he and several other families rent the same houses on the beach for two to four weeks. They had an extra bedroom so they invited Mark, Molly and Kendall to stay with them for a week. They also have several high school and college age daughters who were going to visit along with some of their friends.
Also staying at the house is another couple from NZ, Frank and Debbie. Frank is originally from Massachusetts but has lived in NZ for 20 years. He is a boat builder who builds large personal motor vessels. His current project is a 186 foot motor launch for a Russian oligarch.
The houses are in Muri Beach which is about 15 minutes by car so Kurt, Andy and I could stay on the boat and still be close if there was a reason to visit.

Day 119 Happy 4th of July

Mooring the boats
The wind blows into the harbor at over 20 knots and the waves, although not large, cause the boat to rock continuously. I don't find this annoying but others on board do so we decided to try to back Southern Star into the only available space along the sea wall.
With two dinghies in the water to act as tugboats and ferries when needed, Mark got the anchor down securely on the second try and did a masterful job of getting Star close enough to the wall so that Andy could take several lines to shore with the dinghy. Jim from Liahona and Ken from Suzanne2 were waiting to take the lines and tie it off to two bollards that defined the boundaries of the mooring. After a line was secured to both sides of the stern and diagonal lines were affixed, the nest of lines astern looked like a game of cat's cradle. At least it was very secure. Finally we used to dinghy to put down a second anchor off the bow so Star would not break loose in these rather unstable waters.
Liahona was a bit different since she is a big catamaran. With an engine in each pontoon the boat is quite maneuverable under power but once the stern lines are secure, it is a bit harder to pull her into the dock. A little extra help showed up in the form of some bystanders who were observing the process and by noon, both boats were secure along the sea wall.
In the afternoon, the sun came out and made a perfect day for our planned 4th of July Bitter End beach party. Just past the airport there was a very nice public beach with picnic tables, a barbecue and a volleyball net. Jim had rented a car so he made several trips to take all of our gear and 4 boat loads of people (Liahona, Manatee, Suzanne2 and Southern Star) to the beach. We put our American flag on the volleyball pole and had a great afternoon and evening playing volleyball and barbecuing. The pictures tell the story better than I can.
We returned to the boats satisfied that we had properly celebrated independence day even if we did not have fireworks.

Day 118 Preparation

Tomorrow is Independence day
We spent the day organizing ourselves. There was the automatic boat cleaning and some maintenance items and we went to the store to re-stock our depleted groceries and buy some supplies for a barbecue tomorrow to celebrate the 4th.
The harbor here in Rarotonga is really an industrial port rather than a yacht anchorage. There dock is stacked with containers and there are lift trucks moving back and forth transporting all manner of cargo from fuel cylinders to vehicles. The black rubber tires of the lift trucks leave a deposit on the dock that gets everywhere. After the complete cleaning we did yesterday, it is easy to see black footprints on the deck even though we put down several mats for foot wiping.
There is an area at the end of the harbor that is a little more suited for yachts but it requires a med moor meaning that the boats drop an anchor in the harbor and then back down toward the concrete sea wall onto which they tie several lines to the stern. The makes a parallel row of yachts facing the middle of the harbor. There are six other boats in the harbor and only seven spaces so we will have to squeeze in. The wind is blowing into the harbor at a diagonal so getting Southern Star into one of those spaces is going to require some careful maneuvering.
Town is a 10 minute walk away and the road is lined on one side with fairly standard tourist shops, mostly selling clothing. There are only a few restaurants and they are mostly a counter with some picnic tables outside. At the other end of town there are a few sit-down restaurants and we chose to have dinner at one on the waterfront. It is nothing elegant but the fish is good and the tables are right on the water.
After dinner we went to the only cinema in town for the first movie of our trip - and it was in English.

Day 117 Rarotonga at last

Avatiu harbor, Avarua
At about 0700 we sighted the island through the rain and mist. It took another 2 ½ hours of motor sailing to battle our way to the harbor of the main town on the North side of the island. At 0830 we talked to Manatee on the radio net. They had arrived on Friday and could give us a report on the harbor.
Manatee's journey had been a little bit like ours. They travelled 480 miles in the first two days and when the weather hit it took them two more days to go the last 70 miles. As Mark would say, "Bleak!".
By 1000 we were tying up to the side of the dock used for cargo ships. We were told they only come in on weekends and we could use this spot until we found a more permanent location. On advantage of this was that it was the more commercial location in the harbor and had services like an industrial strength water hose. Since Southern Star was coated with salt, the more water we could get the better. We gave "the old girl" a nice fresh water bath until she squeaked (when the hull is salty it is slippery but when it is clean, it literally squeaks) and we all felt a lot better.
We walked into town to get a bite to eat and immediately were struck by the fact that everyone was speaking English. It seemed quite startling after three months of struggling with our meager French. The second surprise was that the cars were driving on the "wrong" side of the road. This calls for special attention when crossing the street. Of course this will be the case also when we get to New Zealand but I guess I did not expect to see it until then. One last observation was that the the town was, as Mark said, "Knee deep in Kiwis". This is school holiday time in New Zealand and many families take advantage of the rather low cost airline fares to vacation here. It is a bit like West Coast Americans going to Hawaii for a winter holiday in warmer weather. The strong NZ accent takes a bit of getting used to.
Because Liahona had stopped at Aitutaki we had mostly caught up with them and because Aitutaki is West of Rarotonga, they had a more difficult time making their way to the island. This put them several hours behind us and they did not arrive until mid afternoon.
Like us, the first thing they wanted to do was to get onto solid ground. Both Mark and Jim remarked that the footing seemed to be still moving even though they were no longer on the boat. I had this feeling when we arrived in the Marquises after our 25 day passage so I knew what they were talking about even though this time I did not experience it.
After a clean up of Liahona we walked into town for pizza. During dinner the conversation was entirely about the passage that we had just been through. It was a bit like veterans re-living their time in the war. We did discover a new scale to measure such an experience. On a catamaran (like Liahona) the pontoons normally are the only thing in the water. The bridge that connects them (containing the kitchen and eating area) is normally above the water. When seas get rough the waves can hit the bridge and usually this makes an annoying noise. On this crossing, the waves were hitting with such an impact that all the kitchen appliances were thrown onto the floor. Our conclusion was that, on a scale of one to ten, it is pretty close to the top when you have to tie down your toaster.

Day 116 Really tough going

S 19º47 W 159º48 @0830
Mark's accountant in NZ rents several houses in Rarotonga every year and invites several families to join him for a week. This year, he has invited Mark and Molly so she and Kendall will arrive on the 6th. If that were not the case, it is unlikely that we would have continued on to Rarotonga with the weather as it was.
By the middle of last night it became clear that the last 100+ miles was going to be rough. The wind was blowing from the East SouthEast so it was about 45º off the bow when we set a course southwards to Rarotonga. The swells were still in the 10 to 20 foot range and coming from the same direction. Under these conditions, it was impossible to sail directly South so in the middle of the night, Mark started the engine so we could maintain our intended heading. The boat was now plowing into the waves - every third or fourth wave came over the bow and washed down the sides, the boat was heeled over to starboard (leaning strongly to the right) and being pummeled by the waves. Down below in the galley it was very challenging to stand up and not be slammed against the walls. Up in the cockpit it was wet as the spray from the waves was blown across the boat. All-in-all, this was not a pretty sail.
To make matters worse, just as Mark and Andy tried to furl the jib (roll it up) the furling line parted from being chaffed and the jib fully deployed. We spent an exciting next few minutes while I steered and they did an emergency splice so we could bring in the jib.
The rest of the day was spent hanging on and watching the GPS show us that we were indeed making progress. It was a bit like undergoing something painful that you know will stop at a certain point and being able to watch the progress to the end point - so that becomes the focus of attention. When we were 40 miles away from the island I pointed out that we were almost there. The next day, Mark mentioned that this comment was the only thing that caused him not to call off Rarotonga and head North. We spent the rest of the day and night fighting our way South.