Change of plans, change of direction!

May 14, 2015, S 17d 32' 26" W 149d 31' 11",  Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Happy Birthday Anna May!!!

Last week, Jerry and I spent several hours with Jimmy Cornell, talking about the direction of the Blue Planet Odyssey.  Jimmy is the organizer of the rally and has written the most definitive book on sailing routes of the world.  Initially, the Odyssey participants planned to go through the Red Sea, into the Mediterranean, then on to the Caribbean, Panama and home.  However, with the current multiple crises in the Middle East, the group has decided to go south of Africa instead of the Red Sea, a route known for its length and difficulty.  Jerry and I have decided we will not take that route, which leaves us with three alternatives. One, continue west as far as we'd like through the Phillipines, and Indonesia, then return back, against the winds, an incredibly difficult slog home.  Two, continue west as far as we'd like and then sell Heron Reach. Three, as Jimmy suggested, go north from here, and return home via Hawaii, Alaska and Vancouver.

This was a VERY difficult decision, but there are at least a dozen reasons we are choosing to return home now. We are missing the first years of our new granddaughter, Vivienne, who wasn't even thought of when we first committed to this trip. We don't enjoy the really long passages, which the trip around Africa would be some 14,000 miles in one year.  To our surprise, we find we both miss working! Tropical beaches are beautiful, and many are endangered by climate change, but neither of us is the sit around the beach type. It feels a little like playing the violin while Rome burns, or in this case, working on our tans while the world fries.  Part of the reason we joined the Odyssey was to bring awareness to the dangers of climate change, and we wonder if we can't be just as effective at home. 

So. . . We leave Tahiti in the morning for Hawaii, a trip of about three weeks and 2,200 miles.

To our surprise, Hawaii is west of Tahiti! Prevailing trade winds mean we will first travel northeast until we get to the equator.  That will give us the luxury of heading northwest with the prevailing winds north of the equator. We will try to send a post en route. To do so, we send a radio based email to our friend Alicia, who then will post it on the web.  It cannot take any pictures or attachments and is MUCH slower than the slowest dial up. When any pictures are included, it means we found Wifi on one of the islands.

Meanwhile, I am inspired by the students in our daughter's classes in the Highline School district who brainstormed a list of changes they could make in their lives to limit their carbon footprint. I know we are all culpable for the state of the Earth. I am going to try to commit to as many as possible. How many can you commit to?

Drive less, ride your bike

Hang your clothes up to dry outside

Turn the heat down in the winter

Don't take plane trips

Play outside instead of electronic games

Don't practice "retail therapy", buy less

Eat locally

Eat seasonally (no tomatoes in winter!)

Eat organically, for your own health, and your grocery dollar won't contribute to poisoning Mother Earth

Buy locally, your dollar stays in your community instead of going to large corporations for CEO salaries

Don't buy plastic, especially single use plastic, get a water bottle and refill it

Decide what you want to eat BEFORE you open the fridge

Start or join a Transition group to build a supportive community (see www.TransitionWhatcom for an example)

Don't limit yourself, come up with more ways to live lightly on the planet.

May 19, 2015, S 15d 48' 09", W 149d 31' 11", Toau, an atoll in the Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We arrived just before dark last night in the small bay at Toau.  

This atoll has only one extended family of ten people and they have put a few mooring buoys in the bay to help prevent damage by anchors to the coral beds.  They charge 500 Francs for the night, or a little over $5  U.S.  They prefer to trade if they can as it is so very difficult to go to an actual store of any kind.  The last time we were here, we traded a pair of sunglasses my eye doctor had given me and a half bottle of ibuprofen for our stay. They have a series of fish traps that make it easier for them to provide for the family. Fish, chicken, and coconuts provide the mainstay for their diet.  Other than coconuts and breadfruit, they have no fruit or vegetables. With rising seas, this island paradise is in peril.  We went ashore for dinner with folks from two other boats.  They bar-b-qued all you can eat lobster and parrot fish fillets for 17 people, along with a raw tuna served in coconut milk.  You may notice the phone booth in the left side of the picture.  The French government put it here several years ago, but not all of the parts arrived, so it doesn't work.  Instead, they borrow the electricity that the phones solar panel makes for a little light at night.

The woman, Valentina, told us about one night several years ago when all the hermit crabs climbed up the big tree in their yard, something they never do. She and her family took refuge in their boat and went out to sea for the night.  The tsunami from the earthquake in Chili hit at four the next morning!

The next day we went ashore and did some more serious trading, this time for the local black pearls. Valentina and Gaston showed us a vast collection of pearls they had harvested.

We brought 10 lbs. of flour, 2 lbs. of sugar, yeast, two bars of soap, 25 meters of new rope, coloring pens and book for the two children (thank you Alicia!), new reading glasses, some fresh fruit, and four small Twix bars.

We are coming home with a handful of black pearls which our knome, Lief was admiring.

Later, Gaston took his skiff out of the lagoon for a short, 45 minute fishing trip, and returned with three small tuna, which he shared with us! Yumm!

Tomorrow we leave for the Marquesas, 543 NM away.

Big City Culture Shock, Recycling, the Market

April 29,2015, S 15 d 48' 03"

We left Tauo, a quiet atoll in the Tuamotos,

where the population consisted of one family.  

May 1, 2015, S 17 d, 32' 24"; W 149 d, 34' 12"

Tahiti greeted us at night fall

With another lovely sunset.

We got permission from the port captain to enter, a requirement for all sailboats as the airplanes cross over the entrance to the harbor on their way to land at about 30 feet over the water.  Our mast is 55 feet tall and we don't relish the idea of being dismasted.  The city of Papeete, Tahiti is home to 3/4 of the population of French Polynesia. We pulled into the marina on Friday night of a holiday weekend literally across the street from a disco blaring American rock and roll. Even after having been up almost all night, as is common on short passages through the islands, we dispaired of being able to sleep through the noise, but as soon as our heads hit the pillow, we were out.  All of the Polynesian islands are volcanic.  The young ones, like the Marquesas, have tall mountains with very steep shore lines and no coral around them. The older ones, like Tahiti, have smaller mountains and are surrounded by coral reefs. The oldest, like Fakarava or Tauo, have flat, coral atolls and the mountains have eroded into the sea, leaving a lagoon behind, surrounded by coral.

May 2, 2015

On our way to market the next day, women lined the sidewalks selling flower tiaras and coronas.

We thought the market was somewhat small and went to the Carrfour, a major grocery store, similar to what  we  would find in the states, except the prices were amazing.  We found orange juice for about $7.50 U.S.

and some California strawberries for about $9.50 U.S.

You can buy a whole veal there, or some m&m's.

May 3, 2015

We learned the main market is on Sunday mornings from 4:30 am to 8 am.  We showed up around 6 am and found every kind of local fish,

coconut meat

as fresh as it gets!

Jerry enjoyed it.

They sell the fresh coconut milk in re-used water bottles.

We also found lycee, both fresh and jam.

Note, they make use of any jar they can.  It probably wouldnt pass any health department in the states, but it was delicious!

You can also buy fresh sugar cane juice mixed with lemon or lime.

The market consists of a two story building covering a whole city block, and all the streets around it. 

Jimmy Cornell, the organizer of the Blue Planet Odyssey rally came to visit the fleet in Papeete and spent several hours with us, going over our choices.  We have major news on this subject, tune into the next blog post!

In case you're wondering, Jerry has lost 42 pounds, and I've lost 15, although a daily habit of French baguettes may be putting a dent in that.  It is interesting to try to weigh yourself on a boat.  You look at the scale and say, "Oh, I weigh 172 lbs, no that's 186, no 165, no 178, and so it goes until you finally use a dock, and it only wavers 2 or 3 pounds. . . not much for accuracy ;)

May 6, 2015

We had a great trip to Tahiti's recycling center where we learnd that almost everything is sorted 

and sent to New Zealand for recycling,

except the glass which is a raw product for road beds. Any small town can do it by adding the glass to a small cement mixer with a few bocce balls.  The resulting crushed glass makes a good interlocking draining layer for the road bed.

               

One sorter was collecting figurines and our knome, Lief, decided to make new friends.

    

May 8, 2015                  

A drive into the mountains gave us the requisite swim in a waterfall. REFRESHING!!!  We are having a cold spell as we enter into winter here.  It dropped down to 79 degrees this morning!  It usually varies between 83 and 86, 24/7.

The following Saturday brought a cruise ship into the harbor with 1,900 tourists and 700 crew.

The streets and shops were full of white people, normally a rarity.

May 10, 2015, S 17 d 29' 48", W 149 d 29' 29"

We visited Point Venus, where Captain Cook tried to measure the transit of Venus as a part of a worldwide scientific effort to measure the distance to Venus, but lack of consistent time pieces prevented it from being successful. A beautiful sunset from Point Venus over the island of Moorea capped our day.

Tradition of transgenders! Ecology report, leaving for remote islands, landing in Tahiti

Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia S 8d 55' 01", W 140d 05' 43"

One thing we've noticed here is how many women have Adam's apples!  It turns out that the early Marquesan cannibals only ate men, so most families, would raise one of their sons to be a woman so that at least one son would be sure to survive any raids by other cannibals.  That son was free to marry or not, but maintained life as a woman.  Perhaps as a result of that, gay and transgender men who become women are considered a normal part of the culture.  Many of them work in the hospitality industry and restaurant owners say how nice it is since they don't have the social restrictions that women do, they can work late without worrying about going home alone at night for example.  We had a lovely woman, about 6'2" with a high falsetto voice and an Adam's Apple  wait on us for dinner last night.  She was a delight.

On our way over the mountain, we also learned that they recycle only glass here and all the rest of the garbage is burned, including plastic.  The local dump is quite small and folks report that the tourists have much more trash than the locals who make good use of everything they can. We were careful to take our little bit of plastic trash with us.

We saw some incredibly beautiful flowers. This one is called the spider lily.

Tomorrow, we go to our local Internet cafe, Chez Joseph, which is basically a series of car port tarps on the cement dock.

They will have the weekly farmers market, and we will have a chance to stock up on fresh fish, fruits and veggies.  We will set sail in the afternoon for the Tuamotos and expect to arrive there in about five days, depending on wind.  We checked our mileage from San Diego to here and we covered about 3540 miles and used 31 galloms of fuel, including going through the doldrums!

April 22, 2015'. S 16d 3' 38", W 145d 37' 16"

Rotoava, Fakarava, Tuamotos, French Polynesia

It took five days to sail here, but we could easily have made it in four, except that the only safe way to enter this lagoon, is at slack tide, in daylight with the sun at an angle allowing the boater to see coral heads and reefs.  We got within the Tuamotos archipelago early in the evening of the fourth day after a steady strong wind of 25 kts. or more. We were heavily heeled over in heavy winds, making daily activities like cooking or sleeping very difficult.  Arriving to the mouth of the entrance pass, we did a maneuver called hove to, where the sails are set in opposition to each other, causing the boat to sit almost still in the water, and waited for the dawn.  

Rotoava is the largest village on the atoll of Fakarava.  The atoll is rectangular, about 25 miles long and ten miles wide.  It consists of thin strips of palm trees and sandy shore, surrounding the large blue lagoon.  I measured the width of the strip of land at about 400 Ginny paces (the only form of measurement available at the time).  The inner shore is sandy, and quiet, windy, but waveless.  The outer shore is wind swept and pounded by waves.  Chunks of coral and bits of plastic cover the outer beach, the inner beach is smooth sand, raked and kept clean.

Only one black pearl farm is still working after what once was a thriving business.  The pearls are seeded, then take several years to make it to maturity.  They must be kept protected from predators and periodically cleaned from parasites, then are harvested.

And the pearls removed.

Some think the global loss of a strong middle class is the reason for the downfall of the pearl market.  There are fewer people to buy them.

We took a walk into town this morning and bought some ice cream at the store.  We find that ice cream is appropriate at any time of day in this heat. As the only store in the village, it carries whatever it can. Below is a pic of one of the six aisles of the store, this one is the liquor store, hardware store, plumbing supplies, children's toys, jewelry, housewares and produce department consisting of two empty bins and one filled with some beautiful garlic.

The main street in town is paved and includes the elementary school, post office, medical clinic and general store.  Many modest houses line the street and while some have windows, others have only strong wooden shutters for storm protection.  The top elevation seems to be about 42 inches and storms can easily cause a wash over everything.  Climate change is likely to make their home and underwater reef in a matter of decades and an entire archipelago will likely disappear.  Today I saw no gardens and we were told in the Marquesas that folks would appreciate any fruit we could bring as coconut is the only fruit available here.  It is a stark contrast with the Marquesas where the soil was rich and a broad variety of fruits seemed to grow wild everywhere. We didn't appreciate how rare it was to have all the bananas, guava, papaya, limes, grapefruit, star fruit, avocado, watermelon and more.  

We sailed on to Tuao, the next atoll in the chain.  

Only one extended family lives here.  The husband had recently lost his dark glasses and the wife was hoping we had something for her chronic headaches.  We were able to leave behind both items and a bag of limes as well.

Soon we leave for the big city, Papeete on Tahiti. It is the largest city of French Polynesia, the center of all these divergent cultures, and, being mountainous, likely the first place for the climate refugees to turn.