Day 21

Dearest reader, I’m in a bit of quandary. This log was supposed to be a way to keep friends and family notified of our progress as we sailed across the Pacific. However, we made the crossing much faster than expected. I recognize that looking at slides of a random beach or bunch of trees as your crazy aunt drones on about her vacation tops nobody’s bucket list, but we are still on our Pacific adventure.

So I will keep posting highly technical sailing tidbits and delicious galley tips. There will probably be an anecdote or two about Leona’s intrepid crew and maybe some island musings. I hope you will tag along.

Yesterday we had scheduled a five-hour horseback ride into the interior, but torrential downpours led the very nice French-only guide to call it off because it was too slippery. At least, I think that’s what he said. “…pluie…dans le plateau…glissade…” and then the key word “Dangereuse.”

Instead the Wild Thornberrys (niche reference to a Saturday morning cartoon), AKA Georgie, David and I set off for a rain-soaked hike through the town, past the heliport, and into a jungle up to the point of the bay. The sun broke out as we reached the top, of course.

Ocean dreaming

This trip is giving me what I need, not always what I want. I think there might be a good rock and roll song there

The remainder of the day was work: Georgie and I deep cleaned bathrooms and kitchen and floors, and the Mario Bros. did yet more work on the dinghy. (Does she really have an issue here, or do they just enjoy hanging over the rails together?)

Later, Georgie and I hit the fish market: a temporary set-up on the quay where a fishing boat had just arrived. The fishermen unloaded buckets of red fish (snapper? squirrel fish?), barracuda, and more silver sea-beasts, a gang of men scrubbed off the scales with brushes,  and others got to work gutting and skinning. Then the yellowfin tuna appeared, whisked away by the women who had waited for them in a quiet and orderly chaos. Except for one little fish that I somehow miraculously won. The patience and good humor surrounding those folding tables on the quay side was humbling

This morning Captain Georgie directed her motley crew to up anchor and head out. We pootled up the the coast, under those startlng cliffs to Hakaui, commonly called Daniel’s Bay.

Sailing tidbit.

Pootled is not a recognized sailing term. But it is very descriptive.

The Wild Thornberrys hiked again, this time up to a waterfall. As David and Georgie walked ahead, deep in conversation about something Very Important, I dreamed…listening to the birds, the roosters, the dogs, more birds, the river and finally the waterfall itself. Mud, rocks, fallen trees, streams, boulders, rivers, and finally a scramble and swim to the base. Vaipo is not even in the tallest 150 waterfalls in the world, but other than Hawai’i and New Zealand, it is at the top of Polynesia’s rankings with 1148 feet of water and vapor pouring into a pool below. Primal energy emanating from the basalt walls, the water, the very air itself.

Back at the beach, a local couple Taiki and Huahei provided a perfect lunch: fresh grilled tuna marinated in herbs, green papaya salad, breadfruit fries, and fried bananas. Huahei chatted in her French-English, curious about our stories and eager to share hers. Later she introduced us to her grandmother Monette who sold us some of her freshly picked fruit: mangos, papayas, pomelos. She threw in star fruit and some other unidentified green oblongs…all from the garden she has tended her entire life.

Monette’s garden

The notion of “tourism” focused my dreaming. I have an aversion to being seen as a tourist, but over the past couple of days, on this island where tourism is a small piece and definitely not the whole of the experience, I recognize how broad that term can be. We definitely are tourists visiting this remote spot, paying a small fee to hike through such stunning natural beauty, observing and taking photos and making language errors. But the generosity and simplicity of the exchanges make me truly appreciate the delicate relationship between visitor and host.

We need each other, but we need each other’s respect and patience above all.

This unforgettable day wrapped with David and Georgie getting a little board action. Georgie tried to surf the little break, and David and Georgie both e-foiled, although that came to an abrupt halt when Georgie ran over a grey reef shark.

Explains why no-one else was swimming.