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Michael Mccluskey

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hello from fiji

hi,

 

see attached for our latest adventure.

 

mary and mike

Hello from Penrhyn Island

We are now in Apia, Samoa where we have internet access for the first time in a month and thus can now send an update of our travels. We went several hundred miles out of our way to go to Penrhyn Island, on the recommendation of Doug Nelms our sailing friend who was here 15 years ago. Penrhyn Island is the northern most island of the Cook Island group, 600 miles northwest from Bora Bora. The trip was exhausting because the auto pilot gave us problems again and thus we hand steered most of the way – again!

The “island” is really a very large atoll. The volcano that formed it sunk millions of years ago leaving between 20-30 motus along the old fringing reef and another one that grew up in the middle where the old volcano was. Now the locals call the outer motu the island and the inner one the motu. There are anchorages at the last two remaining villages. It is the only island of the Cook Island chain that does not have a chief and clan form of governance. In 1863 four missionaries were tricked into recruiting almost 500 “Penrhyners” to be sent into work the mines in Peru at $5 a head in hope of getting enough money to build a new church. They convinced the chief and nearly all of the men on the island to go. The missionaries got paid $5 per man signed up. However the four of them had to go along also and once on board and sailing away, they found themselves slaves along with the natives. Their once started church is still around; slowly being overtaken by the jungle.

The main village is on the leeward side of the island and has a population of 150. The smaller village is on the windward side with a population of 50. That’s it – there are no more. You must “check into the country” at the bigger village which has a terrible anchorage – full of coral heads and murky water and huge swells being blown up from across the island; whereas the smaller village has a lovely anchorage full of sand and great visibility and a few coral heads that are easily seen.

We arrived about 9:30 am after standing off outside the lagoon for the night. The entrance to the lagoon was easy and we followed sticks in the water to guide us through the corals to the main town of Omoka. The water was deep and dark and we couldn’t see anything, so we had to rely on our depth sounder to show sudden changes in depth, which would indicate coral heads or a period of level sounding which might be sand.

We were greeted by three very friendly Cook Island officers, Taime for customs and immigration; Robin, who sprayed the boat for insects, and is also the “dentist” in town; and Terrence, the doctor – our health inspector. As we often do, we offered them tea and cookies. After checking in, Taime (who wanted to “trade” for almost anything we had) invited us to stay in their anchorage that night and come to the evening’s performance of the Boy’s Brigade, which is apparently a hold over from the London Missionary Society days.

We went and it was a great show – all boys of course. They had just come back from four days of religious retreat and were putting on a show for the locals. Most of the skits they put on were bawdy skits of men and boys dressing and dancing like women! The women in audience just howled with delight.

The following day Mike went fishing with Taime and Junior (using our gas and fishing hooks) and caught 6 cod. There were about 10 boats out fishing in the same area and they were all dismayed at the poor catch. Whereas in the “old” days they would catch 200 cod a piece, they were now just catching 40 a piece. They just couldn’t understand the in’s and out’s of overfishing. They’ve fished out the Neopolitian fish species (“they were dumb and easy to spearfish and good eating”) and wonder where they all went. There are still plenty of fish, clams, lobsters available but managing their ecosystem is simply not on their horizon.

Mary stayed in town and met a lot of people; was invited for visits, tea and coffee and to talk “trading”. Sunday Taime took us to church – CICC (Cook Island Christian Church) – the legacy of the London Missionary Society and really a Congregational Church. The minister made sure he said some key things in English (they speak Maori and English). After attending that church, we went to the Catholic Church, where we joined choir practice and got to sing some of the Polynesian harmonies that are so beautiful. Afterward Alex (the lay priest) took us to his house for a HUGE lunch prepared by his wife Christine, followed by watermelon and homemade “Penrhyn” ice cream. What a treat!

On Monday we moved across the lagoon to Tetautua (the small village) on the east side, where the anchorage is protected from the prevailing trade winds. These were very friendly people who welcome yachties into their lives and wanted to “trade” for everything! We were invited to watch while they prepared the leaves of the coconut palm to make hats and fans. Another day we watched while several people sat on the ground and scraped the insides out of young coconuts for a special meal that was to be prepared for some guys working on the minister’s house. We attended their church and then went to Penui’s house for a visit. He gave us two lobsters to take home for our lunch. They were delicious.

We had a very interesting discussion with a visiting school teacher, named Maru, from Rarotonga. She told us that in absence of the normal chief and clan governance, the church had filled the vacuum and now ruled every aspect of life on Penrhyn. The Congregationalists installed a very rigid form of religious practice and in essence stepped in, filled the gap, and in effect became the chief. Many young island men now want to become ministers, as it means wealth, power and prestige in the community. They usually wind up in Australia or New Zealand.

Church attendance is mandatory – Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 am in full dress. Then Sunday comes. Sunday is a day of rest and church. The day starts with a service at 6:30 am, announced by the ringing of the bells. Since there are only about 50 people here in the village of Te Tautua, every one can hear the bells. Sunday school follows at 8 am, and then the main church service begins at 10:00. That is the one we attended. After church the people are supposed to rest (as in lay down), have a light lunch, and return for the afternoon service at 2, then at about 5pm there is a singing service. The bells ring for them all. Playing, swimming, walking, fishing, etc. is not allowed, nor open fires. All cooking must be done the day before. We are allowed to use our dinghy to come ashore for services and visiting. No music must be played. This is just one aspect of the fascinating culture we found on Penrhyn Island.

Everyday we were visited by children on a paddleboard. They had been coming out to all the boats for “goodies”. From the Polish boat they learned to ask for “lollies” (lollypops); from the German boat they learned to ask for chocolate. Those boats #4 and 5 for the year left the day after we arrived. We had no idea what a lolly was and had no chocolate but got the idea pretty quick what they were after. So from us they learned to ask for cookies. It was lots of fun and we got to know them pretty well. The children played amongst up to a dozen lemon sharks along the shore. The sharks were attracted to the village due the cleaning of the fish and almost became tame. The children would shoo them away when they came back from our boat with their treats.

The islanders are enthusiastic traders. They don’t have much to trade – old black pearls, weavings, shell necklaces, tiny natural pearls called Penrhyn gold, fans and woven hats. They trade like some people shop. They may have enough flash lights or batteries, but will still ask if you have some to trade, because they stock up. All supplies come in on two supply ships, one from Hawaii, and one from Rarotonga. They come when there are enough orders to fill a ship, so the people often go for three months or more without a delivery. This can result in shortages. Papa Soitu (sigh-too) told us how he mobilizes his people of the smaller village to stock up on basic supplies – flour, rice, sugar – when the deliveries come in. He told us the other day, “My people don’t go hungry. They are going hungry over there” (Omoka). Right now there is no flour, the rice is running out, and the people of Omoka are asking the villagers of Tetautua for rice and flour. Taime begged to buy 5 gallons of gasoline from us because he had run out and had none. Fortunately we had some extra.

Penryhn has lost 80 % of its population to Australia and New Zealand in the last ten years (200 on the island and 11,000 descendants living in NZ or Aus). The people go for jobs and more opportunities in life. They love coming back here to rest and visit, but the young families want more for their children, so send them to live with relatives in Aus and NZ. The young women like to go to NZ or Oz (Australia) to have their babies, and the governments help pay for the transportation. (Cook Islands are a New Zealand protectorate). The pearl industry went belly-up in 2002 and the next year about half the islanders left.

Then it was time to leave so we had to go back to the bad anchorage at the “big” village – they can’t make life easy. We filled out the exact same papers we did on arrival and had to pay our exit fee and anchorage fees. But life is sometimes not fair. Whereas we left this village 10 days prior without a problem, this time we got caught up on a coral head and before you could say watch out, the bow roller just snapped off – getting up against the hard chain and surging waves from across the bay. We were able to save it and get it on board; get the locals to come dive on the chain; and free the chain, etc. But that took over two hours and we left through the pass out to open ocean at sunset licking our wounds. Because of the bow roller, we were now heading to Apia instead of Suwarrow Island 900 miles instead of 400 miles.

We’d recommend Penrhyn to anyone. We had a truly unique experience and one with great memories.

Hello from Bora Bora

Hello from Bora Bora

 

April 12^th we left Port Phaeton and started our sixth year of cruising.  We sailed directly to Moorea from Tahiti in light winds and following seas.  What more could we ask for?  Moorea is famous for its beauty, deep bays, friendly people and tourists – lots of them.  It is so very different than Tahiti (the busy island with lots of traffic, no real beaches, no dramatic bays, etc.).  Moorea is gorgeous; lush green, quiet (well there is a ring road with some traffic), dramatic old volcanoes, nice sand beaches and well done hotels and pensions at all price ranges for the tourists.

 

We spent April 15^th – Mary's birthday – snorkeling, swimming and relaxing on the boat with the anchor in 8m of water.  That night we went ashore and found the only restaurant within walking distance – something they call here a Snack – and ordered a plate each of shrimp and chicken curry.  They were delicious and we actually took some back to the boat.  To do that we had to climb the fence to the park in the dark where we had landed the dingy – the park had closed while we were eating.  Life is an adventure. 

 

We were anchored in Upunohu Bay – the bay where Captain Cook had done all his anchoring over 240 years ago.  Someone named the Bay just to the east Cook's Bay; it became the famous one and the one where all the big tourist facilities were located.  So one day we fired up the dingy and took the two km ride over there just to take a look around.  On this ride, in a 20 knot wind, we came to appreciate our 15 hp outboard and also learned just what the little black and white poles sticking out of the water meant.  Although not in any book, these poles signify the path thru the reef for very shallow draft boats – ie our dingy and similar boats.  It was what Disney would call an E ticket ride – both ways.  We never hit the reef, but came close a number of times, and came ashore in Cook's Bay.  The bay is quite dramatic, very beautiful and an obvious place for all the hotels and restaurants.  We ordered a drink at the Bali Hai Resort and enjoyed the atmosphere immensely.  All told we spent a week in Moorea being wonderfully glad to be out of Tahiti and finally on our way again.

 

Then it was an overnight sail to the island of Huahine; timed so we would arrive with good daylight to see coral heads and the entrance through the reef.  We anchored in beautiful clear water in 2.2 m of coral sand.  It was great.  The main anchorage (recommended by the guide books) is just off the town, near coral heads, has poor holding, etc.  But we only draw 1.4 m and can anchor in more remote areas.  We were only about .5 km from town so it was an easy dingy trip ashore.  The town of Fare is supposed to be a "typical" island village town but we found it to be more like the typical "principal" town of every island.  It had two gas stations, one grocery store, a farmer's market, two banks, and of course tourists stores.

 

We rented a car one day and toured the island.  We met a group of American girls from a private college in Iowa who were also touring the island as a part of their education.  They had been in Tahiti for 6 months and were getting ready to head home and thus seeing the "other islands" just before leaving.  We also saw a huge old Marae site (ancient site of rituals, etc) and the "magical eels" that supposedly protect the bay downstream and stopped for lunch at a "recommended" restaurant.  It was actually a very good restaurant – for lunch – as dinners started at $30 and went up from there.  We ordered the Mahi Mahi sandwich and what showed up was a huge baguette, sliced lengthwise and filled with fish and French fries all in tartar sauce.  The fish was good but the bread was way too much and eating soggy fries in tartar sauce wasn't too thrilling either.  The restaurant overlooked a pretty bay called Avea and it was also recommended as one of the best snorkeling spots in the Society Islands.  We decided to come and check it out.

 

Again we were able to anchor in shallow coral sand on the edge of the deep water and we happened to end up (with the anchor in 2m of sand and the boat over 15m of water) right over the most beautiful deep coral head that was full of fish.  The water was clear to about 15 meters so we could just sit on the back of the boat and watch the fish swimming around.  We stayed three days and snorkeled all over but our favorite spot was right under the boat.

 

Unfortunately we (mike really) became overconfident of our anchoring ability and after a short sail to the island of Raiatea we anchored in 15m of not so clear water over a little mount in the middle of area of 40m bottoms.  The next morning we found to our dismay that the bottom was not sand but rock or coral and the anchor would not come up.  We worked long and hard and eventually the chain came up but not the anchor!  The chain, we had just bought two weeks before leaving for home, had split – leaving about 25 m on the bottom.  This was real depressing to say the least.

 

We motored (no wind) around to the other side of the island where the carenage (work yard and haul out facility) were located on Sunday and waited for the office to open on Monday.  They might have old anchors or even sell new ones.  They did, but the ones they had were sized for the small panga type local fishing boats.  No one had anything like our 55 lb delta anchor.  We next took a dingy trip to the Mooring/Sunsail charter marina where there was a dive center.  We signed up for a refresher dive and hired them for an anchor dive.  Our "check-out/refresher" dive was like "do you remember how to use the regulator – yes – good – let's go" so off we went.  It was an advanced wreck dive to 30 meters.  It went fine except Mike kept signaling that we was low on air and the "dive master" kept signaling that all was fine.  Mike ended up with 20 psi left in his tank and that was cutting it too close.

 

However, a different dive master was the one who did the diving while looking for out anchor.  He found it after 30 minutes and we soon had it on board the dive boat and by the afternoon it was back on our boat.  We now had an anchor but needed new chain again.  The carenage had new chain and so we parted with more money and were soon back in business and much more careful.

 

All this took the better part of a week and since Raiatea is not known for its diving, snorkeling, beaches, or places of interest for tourists we decided that we'd move on to its sister island of Tahaa.  This island is the least developed of the major islands on a par with Huahine.  We stayed on a mooring buoy at the Taravana Yacht Club (taravana means crazy in Tahitian) for three nights in order to be there for the Tuesday night buffet (including Mai Tai drinks) and dance show.  Then it was off around the island for exploring and snorkeling.

 

This island likes to promote its "coral gardens" and in many ways that is what it is like.  A big area between two motus (islands themselves on the outside of the main island) that is fairly shallow with small coral heads all over the place that you can snorkel in between.  They are nice but – seen one – seen them all.  They just didn't stack up to the beauty of Avea bay and the number of fish.  We stopped by Vahine Island resort for lunch and then proceeded to anchor again in 2.2m of water off the largest motu and went exploring and looking for the supposed "great snorkeling".   We never found it.  That night the wind really came up and the next day the whole fleet of the Tahiti Pearl Regatta came sailing by us.  It was blowing 30 knots and we decided not to move for the day.  The next day it was blowing 40 knots and we just stayed put again.

 

It finally stopped and we moved to Hurepiti Bay; got a mooring ball from (and signed up for a tour) the Vanilla Island Tour company.   The fellow who leads the tours is a botanist and a vanilla farmer.  The island is known as the Vanilla Island where about 90% of all Tahitian vanilla is produced.  For four hours he showed us the island and explained how each vanilla plant has to be hand-pollinated because they don't have any hummingbirds on any of the islands.  We asked about all the Acacia trees we'd seen on all the islands.  They were imported early on and are now taking over the landscape of the islands.  While pretty they are drastically changing the scenery and eliminating native species.

 

Then a short sail to Bora Bora.  Everyone (locals) we had talked to had discounted spending any time on any island other than Bora Bora.  We came to understand why.  This place is gorgeous.  The old volcano has sunk low enough to fill in with sea water with about two-thirds of the old ring left above and showing.   Of that, two thirds is really dramatic with solid rock faces and jagged peaks.  A million pictures must have been taken of this place.  Around the outside of the volcano are multiple motus with coral sand, aqua blue water and breathtaking views of the mountain.

 

The concept of the "over-water" bungalow was probably born here and now it is way overdone.  Beautiful beaches are now off limits as they are blocked by hundreds of bungalows (at least $700 per night) and most were empty.  It must be an ego thing with the hotel companies with each major chain deciding that they must have a presence here – regardless of whether they are profitable or not.  The recent hurricane (February) did damage some and the world wide economy probably has something to do with it also but the shear number of rooms and nightly charges would be enough to scare away most ordinary folks.

 

We used the Bora Bora Yacht Club for our base of operations.  We stopped there upon coming in, upon coming back from the east side of the island, upon back from the south side of the island and while awaiting the return of wind.  Yep, from 40 knots on Tahaa to 2 knots on Bora Bora.  You never know in the game of sailing what you are going to get.

 

We snorkeled and fed fish out of our hands.  So many would come that we could not see each other.  We found yet another advertised "coral garden" and went to see it.  Its main attraction was the tropical fish that swarmed up yet again when we broke up stale French bread.  We followed the tourist boats out to the reef one day and found ourselves standing waist deep in and amongst about 40 Tahitian Sting Rays.  They were so used to tourists standing among them not one had its tail up and its very dangerous stinger out and ready to attack.  Since we had encountered others on the other side of the island that did not like our presence, this was a real change and we enjoyed it so much that we returned on our  own about four days later and had 10 of them to ourselves.  We petted them and they in turn rubber their white undersides against our skin.  We brought bread to feed them but they just follow the fish that eat the bread and seem to simply be curious about these fish that stand and rub them and don't try to hurt them.

 

We went scuba diving again.  The first dive was down directly in the mouth of the ancient volcano.  It sounds better than it was as the mouth is probably 4 million years old and has filled in with sand.  We saw some eagle rays and lots of trigger fish.  The second dive was outside the reef near the pass into the island.  There we swam with Lemon Sharks and they did not look friendly at all.  One was pregnant, about 3 m long, with at least two cleaning fish clung to it and one yellow damselfish right in front of her nose – kind of leading the way around.  The dive master assured us that this was a very healthy reef and therefore the sharks had plenty to eat and not to worry.  But each time they came around we all just sat and watched until they had passed.

 

We went to the famous restaurant "Bloody Mary's" where Mary order a $12 bacon cheeseburger – "the hamburger in paradise".  It opened in 1979, long after the movie South Pacific which created the fiction.  Turns out that the movie was based on Michner's book about Bora Bora but set on the Island of Bali Hai.  The US did build a base here to fuel boats on their way to pacific war so the basis of the story has a ring of truth.   Historians have called the building of the base here the most disorganized and unsuccessful USA venture during the entire war.   It seems that someone had the idea that the base should be jointly and cooperatively built and controlled by both the Army and the Navy.  It got built but the stories of errors and misunderstandings are many.

 

We hiked up a mountain and found two of the old cannons that had been placed to protect the island from a Japanese invasion.  They say that the cannons were fired twice for practice and never used again.  But the view was great.

 

We'll leave here as soon as we get at least some wind.  Our next internet access point is 1500 nm away in Apia, Samoa so it could be a while before the next post.