Shore Leave - Pitcairn Island

I hadn't heard of Pitcairn Island before I started sailing but among tall ship sailors it seems to have a bit of an iconic status as a really cool place to go. It's also really isolated so it's not somewhere a lot of people go.  

Maybe you've head about Pitcairn from the mutiny of the Bounty. Back in the eighteenth century the mutineers brought their Tahitian wives to Pitcairn where they burnt their ship ensuring the rest of their days would be spent on this tropical island. Today most of the population (of 46) are decendants of the mutineers. 

The island is pretty small (3 square miles) and very vertical. This is the main road and actually rather on the flat side. 

We came in to our anchorage without a problem and soon some locals came out to clear us through customs and see the ship. Once that was all done the students, teachers, volunteers and a couple crew members headed off for a stay on the island. My turn would come in a couple days. In the meantime there were only 9 on board so not so much to do food-wise. Took advantage of that an baked up the rest of the marzipan into (over 300) kransekage cookies. 

On Wednesday morning the crew who were off switched with some crew who were on. Getting to and from the island required going in one of the local long boats. Those guys are crazy good boat handlers which is a good thing as the swell getting in and out of the harbour is not to be taken lightly. On our way in we motored around for a bit trying to catch fish but after an hour or so of nothing we went in to the landing point. It had been quite wavy so I was wet from spray over the side, then while I was on the pier a big wave came and soaked my feet so I wasn't off to the greatest start. 

Mike, one of my hosts, met the boat with his quad (preferred method of transportation on the island) and drove me up to the house where I'd be staying. 

After getting settled in and eating lunch I went off with the school for a hike to St Paul's Pool. The hike was hilly, through areas of vegetation (jungle? Forest?) as well as plenty of parts with no cover from the sun. 

At the end there were stairs which were very welcome. It didn't take us long to scramble down the last few rocks and get in the water in what I think is the most stunning place I have ever swum. 

We spent the afternoon here, snorkelling, taking pictures, climbing rocks, watching the surf and being amazed that we in this incredible place. 

On our way back from the pool some of us detoured to see Miz T, the resident Galapagos tortise. While we were swimming Terry, the police officer, found Miz T and left her a bunch of bananas to keep her happy. By the time we arrived she'd wandered off but it didn't take us too long to locate her and then we all had a turn offering bananas to her while we posed for photos. 

That evening there was a community supper in the town square. This is something the islanders do fairly often so it was well set up with tables and chairs enough for everyone. It was potluck style with households bringing a dish or two as well as dishes and cutlery for themselves and their guests. 

After dinner there was a special opening of the post office on my request! Usually the post office is open Thursday mornings (as well as two other mornings a week) but the supply ship was due to be unloading cargo at this time so they very kindly had a short evening opening so we could buy stamps and postcards. It was pretty good timing as the mail will leave early March when the cargo ship passes by on her return voyage, with mailing leaving only 4 times a year 2 weeks isn't much of a wait!

On Thursday morning I joined the school again for another hike up to Christian's Cave. (Named after Fletcher Christian, one of the mutineers.) The end of this hike was rather vertical and we were definitely using hands as well as feet to make it up. 

At the top there was a tunnel with a lookout (and a steep drop) at the end as well as the "cave" which isn't really a cave, more like a sheltered spot in a rock. We enjoyed the view and a rest and headed back down which turned out to be not as bad as expected. Just before we got to town there was a bit of a shower, very glad we were off the steep hill when that hit!

After lunch we had a bit of time to relax and pack our stuff before heading back to the ship. Many islanders came down to see us off and after giving them three cheers we set off singing a sea shanty to them. 

We returned back to our home, got our stuff stowed, rinsed off the boxes and boxes of fruit the islanders gave us (currently the passionfruit and bananas are ripening faster than they can eat them) and were off in an hour or two. I enjoyed Pitcairn but the anchorage was quite rocky so I was happy to be headed out to sea. 

Fun facts about Pitcairn:

Power (from communal diesel generators) gets turned off every night. 

They supplement the supplies from the quarterly supply boat with provisions from cruise ships that stop by (8-14 a year).  

One of their biggest sources of income is selling handicrafts, T-shirts, postcards, etc to cruise ship passengers. 

Most cruise ship passengers don't actually get ashore, the islanders go to the ship. 

Queen Elizabeth has stated that Pitcairn Island honey is her favourite breakfast spread. 

Last year the island produced about 3 metric tonnes of honey. 

Islanders don't pay taxes but help out with public works like unloading cargo or maintaining trails. 

The police officer, doctor and teacher are brought in on yearly contracts. 

Houses are equipped with 2-way radios as well as telephones. 

Sailing Along - Easter Island to Pitcairn

On this sail I finally made it aloft! Went up one evening to help stow a royal (the highest sail on a mast). Also made it out on the bowsprit to watch the sunset one night. Another day there was a double rainbow behind the ship. 

We had some smooth sailing, some days a little rougher. One morning I found water all over the aft pantry floor - the kettle had auto-stowed itself in a horizontal position. While cleaning that up I noticed some of the water was coffee coloured, found the source of that was the iced coffee in the fridge (which must've sloshed over the rim because the jug was upright). So the fridge got a good clean. When I thought all was well I went to refil the dish soap bottle, a wave came and in catching my balance I spilled soap on the floor. In case you aren't aware, it's very tricky to clean up liquid soap. All this in the space of half an hour. 

One morning we had some squalls come in that resulted in a 04:30 all hands call. We manage it well and got the ship going away from the storm in an organized chaos kind of manner. Although it was dark and rainy we weren't heeled over too much which was nice. 

I started "Baking Club" on this sail. On Day 5s a few of the girls who like to bake have free time in the afternoon and come bake snack with me. It's fun to have different company and they enjoy doing something homey and different than deck work. 

Worked a bit more on celestial navigation, another noon height and started learning about star sights. That's a bit more confusing and it took a couple sessions to begin to get my head wrapped around it. The mates were also into celestial nav and made a chart, as they would've in the days before GPS, showing our position a couple times a day. 

Speaking of stars I happened out on deck one night when there was no moon and no clouds and the stars were amazing. Out in the middle of the ocean there's no light polution so it's a spectacular show. 

Deck crew continue their varnishing projects which ends up making it feel like the ship is boobie trapped with various doors, railings and benches being wet or sticky throughout the day. 

The last day before arriving in Pitcairn the students had a "snow day" without classes and no deck duties till 10:00. The maritime crew continued as usual so my day was about the same. 

As always these sails are same, same but different, just like life anywhere. 

Shore Leave - Easter Island

Ah, finally some real shore leave! We arrived at anchor a few days early and the decision was made to keep our original departure date making this a 9 day stay. On arrival day the swell was quite big meaning we couldn't get our boats ashore and no one got off the ship that night. Happily by morning a local boat had been hired as water taxi to take crew to land and back. 

The students and teachers went ashore every day and camped out for 2 nights so they could enjoy evenings ashore (the boats can't run after dark due to needing to see the shoals to avoid them). The crew each got 2 days off and it was a much needed break for all invovled. 

The first day off I rented a car with some crew mates and we drove around the island looking for moai. Didn't take too long as the island is only 24x12 km. 

The landscape here is rather barren, part of the reason the rapa nui population decreased so much hundreds of years ago is that they just didn't have the natural resources to support a large population. (Population of the island is currently around 6,000 with 800-1,000 tourists at any given time).

The island is volcanic and this makes for some spectacular shore lines. 

From what I learned during the field studies class I attended in the 18th century all the moai got knocked over. Likely from ongoing battles between tribes. Anyways, some have been restored but many, like these are are lying as they must have fallen. 

This hill is the quarry where moai were carved. It would take 5-6 men about a year to carve an "average" moai. Can you see all the moai on the hill? There are also some that weren't completed but lying partially carved in rock. 

This row of 15 is probably the most impressive set I saw and it's a scene on lots of postcards here. 

Again, with some people for size reference. 

And the obligatory "pretend to be a moai" shot. 

Only one moai on the island has been restored to how they all probably looked when they were first made. The eyes have whites and pupils and it's got a red hat/hairstyle. It has such a different feel with these details. That row of 15 must've been quite a sight when they were all like this. 

On my second day off I joined the school for a field studies program. They went to see the triathlon that is part of Tapati - the yearly cultural festival where two tribes/families compete to earn the most points over a series of events held over 2 weeks. 

A little different than the triathlons we are used to… the first event is to paddle a reed kayak down the lake (about 650 m). Then pick up 20 kg of bananas (in two bunches, each plastic wrapped to avoid chafe and keep the fruit from falling off) and run around the lake (2 km). Drop the bananas and run on the higher path back to the start and get in the water again to paddle a bundle of reeds surf board style (on your tummy). Each contestant makes their own reed craft, harvesting the reeds in November or December to let them dry properly. There were 5 divisions: children, youth, adult (the "main" competition), masters and - for the first time - women! The race I described is what the adult males did with the other groups doing a slightly "less" version. Each race took about 20 minutes to complete. Another difference to "normal" triathlons is the athletes wear traditional clothing… meaning a loin cloth and bare feet (ladies wore more modern clothing).

Here are the reed kayaks to start the race. 

And a close up of the water craft. 

Here's part of the run course. The high route is up by the moai. 

This is one of the most well attended events on the island, and this is the crowd:

Other than these outings I also spent some time in town perusing souvenir shops, eating ice cream and eating food I had nothing to do with preparing or serving!

These are the type of boats we used to get to and from Sørlandet. 

And so another port complete. Next up, Pitcairn - home to 46 people!

Sailing Along - Galapagos to Easter Island

This was the longest sail of this rotation and it passed quite peacefully. The winds weren't too strong for the most part so the boat wasn't heeled over too much which makes living conditions easier. 

As expected the weather has been warm but I'm surprised how cool it got at night. Definitely sweaters needed for night watch. 

Speaking of cool weather I had the chance to throw a few snowballs at unsuspecting people… because of defrosting the freezer, not any strange weather phenomenon. 

 

Towards the end of the sail there was a full moon and it was going down on starboard as the sun came up on port. Quite a sight! Now that we're further from the equator the sunsets and sunrises are longer and more spectacular. 

The students had exams for a few days and when those were done we had an afternoon deep cleaning the ship. 

I worked on learning a bit of celestial navigation. Mainly how to figure out your longitude by shooting the sun at noon using a sextant. The sextant is remarkable hard to use. It sounded easy but is a little more tricky in practice than in theory. Hopefully I can work on that some more. There is also a lot of math involved and that is a little easier to get a handle on. 

And now I'm half way through my rotation! Two more sails to come. 

Galapagos

You could say our stay in the Galapagos Islands wasn't exactly what we were expecting. There was some issue with customs/immigration and we spent 4 days at anchor before being allowed ashore and that was limited to town only and strict orders not to enjoy any wildlife (we weren't allowed in the national park that makes up 95% of Isla Isabella where we were). However as we'd rather given up hope of being allowed ashore at all even a couple hours to set foot on land (which makes our passport stamps more legit) and use wifi was welcome. As such nothing too exciting to report from land. I had a decent internet connection to do "life maintenance" (ie. pay bills) and had a nice Facetime session with family. Also sent postcards and enjoyed an ice cream but did not enjoy seeing iguanas and seals. ;) 

There was no problem to enjoy wildlife from the ship and at night we shone a light into the water which did a good job of attracting critters. During our stay I saw a penguin (! first wild one I've seen), sharks, seals, pelicans and sea turtles. I went swimming one day and did a bit of snorkeling but there wasn't much to look at (maybe due to waves?). 

So I have been to the Galapagos and seen some wildlife but there is definitely more to explore if I ever go back!

Sailing Along - Panama to Galapagos

First sail of the rotation done! Left Panama on Christmas Eve day and started with light winds and following seas which was nice for easing back into life at sea. Later in things got a little more interesting but nothing too crazy and we were able to make it most of the way under sail. 

We had a lot of gulls visiting the ship as we sailed along. They tried to make themselves at home and didn't seem much perturbed about our attempts to get them to leave. But eventually they did before drastic measures had to be taken. 

Of course the students were back for this sail and I easily met my goal of learning all their names on the first leg of our journey. As there are only 14 it wasn't too difficult and I'm now working on where they're all from and next they suggest I learn their ages. They are a great group of kids and it will be nice to get to know them more over the next couple months. 

After the summer it's so nice to have a longer staying and consistent crew in the banjer. It's such a refreshing change to have people on galley who know how to set up, run the dishwasher and understand the flow of meal times. And they are very appreciative to have a baker in board! If nothing else I've won them over with butter and sugar. 

We celebrated Christmas and New Year's on this leg. For Christmas we had brunch and dinner all together in the banjer, the students had the day off of classes and lots of Christmassy things going on throughout the day. I had a bit of a sleep in day and enjoyed opening cards and presents I'd brought from home. That night was a full moon and happily it wasn't cloudy - a full moon at sea is pretty spectacular and was a great finishing touch on the day. 

On New Year's Eve we set off some flares in lieu of fireworks; at 10:30 so that people could get to bed not too late if they wanted. At this time we also crossed the equator and brought Sørlandet to the south Pacific for the first time! What an exciting end to the year! 

New Year's Day started with a brunch as did Christmas and then we had our equator crossing ceremony with King Neptune. I can't say more than that here but it was a unique experience. After we were done with that we had our first south Pacific swim call! Yipee!

Our timing got changed a bit and we arrived to Galapagos on January 4 as that's when customs opened after the New Year's holiday. 

Overall a bit of an unroutine sail with the holidays thrown in there but a good first voyage and definitley warmer than I've experienced on board for a while. 

Panama City

Got here OK, few flight delays but nothing major. Got through customs and immigration, a driver picked me up and got more paper work sorted before delivering me to the ship. 

The weather, as you can imagine, is very warm. We all go around dripping on deck and enjoying the A/C inside. The nice thing about working in galley is you aren't at much risk of getting a sunburn!

We are at anchor here so to go ashore you have to take a tender in which means I haven't gone exploring much. My first excursion took me to a mall, very much like any North American mall, complete with a Santa to visit and Christmas trees etc. 

I've also visited Casco Viejo, the old part of town. It's a little touristy but interesting anyways. 

An interesting thing here is that during rush hour there are vendors selling snacks from little carts between the lanes of traffic! Good business opportunity really. 

We had Julefrokost here on board. It's a Danish lunch (though we had it for dinner) that you have to celebrate Christmas with co-workers or friends. Things on rye bread and lots of pork products. There were Christmas lights and Danish flags strung around the salon and it was quite festive. 

At night we get lots of pelicans flying or floating by. I didn't realise they are nocturnal. (Or else these guys are very confused). Haven't seen much other wildlife except gulls and giant moths. 

The first couple weeks the students were off on a jungle? rainforest? adventure and the teachers were back home for a break. Then the volunteers left for a few days of diving and the ship was quite quiet. Now of course everyone is back and we are ready to head out, spend Christmas at sea and sail to the Galapagos!