Notes from the open ocean. Part 2
South Pacific
S 14°39.808’ W 170°53.595’
306.9 nautical miles from Vava’u, Tonga - our next destination.
Holy shit! We set off for Tonga today and….
I’m sorry, ‘holy shit!’ is required.
Leaving American Samoa was as traumatic as arriving to it!
Not even ten minutes out of the harbour and back into the open seas we were hit with a squall with gusts and torrential rain akin to the storm we escaped from when arriving.
We went from 5 knots of wind to gusts in the mid 30’s and a sustained wind of 24-28 knots for over an hour. With a full main sail as we didn’t have time (or the safety) to reef it. Add to this - next to zero visibility and rain that meant it looked like you’d chosen to shower fully dressed.
American Samoa disappeared from the naked eye - just as it hadn’t been visible on arrival. An island swirled by storms and rain - the weather deciding who and when can glimpse it.
I have mixed feelings about American Samoa. I loved the people (bar one awful incident), the luscious jungle that covered the entire interior which was so very verdant and dramatic, the local busses were absolutely brilliant, personally decorated and fun, fun, fun and I will be forever grateful to it that it provided safe harbour to us and four of our fellow ARC boats (Salinity, Alegria, Living the Dream and Genestho) and I adored the company we got to keep. Every single person aboard each of those boats is an absolutely gem. I was deeply saddened however by how dirty the water was (because of the industrialised nature of the whole harbour side of the island - see a little later in this note), there were lots and lots of stray and mangy looking dogs which broke my heart, and it rained every single day, not a little bit - A LOT!
We made so much out of our unexpected time there though - we had a survivor dinner on arrival - swapping tales from the gales and celebrating Martha’s birthday with cake and the BEST French Onion soup I’ve had this year ;-)
(This was realising a dream for me - the whole way through French Polynesia it was all I could think about! Every time a perfect crusty baguette was in sight it would remind me of the French association the islands have and immediately imagine French Onion soup. But to no avail. I found it nowhere. And then we arrive into American Samoa, and in our first stop for dinner - Sadie Thompson Inn (lunch was MacDonalds to reward Elliot (who am I kidding, everyone!) for making it bravely through the storm) there it was on the menu. Almost glowing in gold. FRENCH ONION SOUP. This is one of my top 10 foods. And as I mentioned, it didn’t disappoint. Delicious in every way. It’s only slight oddity….a puff pastry top instead of a crouton! Who cared, it was liquid comfort and bliss!)
We explored the south side of Pago Pago, we saw fruit bats flying. we had another huge group dinner and an inpromptu party on Pure Joy until the early hours AND we went to the cinema and saw the latest Mission Impossible, which was the most ordinary and yet special thing to do!
The island of American Samoa is as beautiful and as luscious as many of the islands we have visited in the South Pacific, reefs surround it (perhaps closer than some of the other islands) creating crashing waves closer to shore and there was one gorgeous island off a peninsular that looked like something straight out of the picture book of perfect things.
The people were so warm and friendly, waving, happy to talk, welcoming and keen to ask about where we were from and how we got there. I think in part, this is because tourism isn’t really a thing in American Samoa. And herein lies a little of what made me feel slightly uncomfortable about our time there.
It was hard to find places celebrating the culture and heritage of the island (this was definitely hampered by the bank holiday weekend which meant we couldn’t visit the local museum which I’d have loved to do and appreciate that this omission is hampering my viewpoint!) but - as far as I could see - the country is built around the industry it supports. Tuna fishing and processing. The harbour is extremely industrialised and they use (according to Wikipedia 😬) 100% fossil fuel to make electricity. The harbour waters are filthy. And not just because we have been spoilt with crazy clear waters throughout French Polynesia, one of the local bathing spots had a sign that warned people out of the water. ”High levels of bacteria have been detected and swimming is NOT advised”. This is the first time I have seen things skew that way in the destinations we have so far arrived in.
I will ponder more on the nature of tourism, (which I’ve been a little wary of prior to setting off on this trip) thinking more about the the bad things it brings and less about the good - but I will attempt to organise my thoughts and try to write an observational post about how I think tourism when done well is so good for not just economy’s but also healthy tourism does seem to keep culture and heritage celebrated and alive.
Anyway, a lot of these thoughts may have transpired because of an incident I had in the local laundromat, I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t believe it is representative of the country and its people at all, but it did leave me both reeling and thinking. A woman used me to vent her frustration and anger, and when she was finished she spat on the floor at my feet. It reminded me of just how much privilege I have to not feel such prejudice often and it humbled me as well as left me quite shaken. She didn’t know I wasn’t American, and she was spoiling for a fight whether it had been me or any other person she could have vented her opinions at. But it also made me think of the responsibilities we have, not just when we travel, but in the grander scheme of things. Often things I don’t have much personal control over, about how countries are governed by others from afar. Anyway, as I said, I still need to reflect on all of these thoughts and hopefully I will be able to do so articulately and thoughtfully in a future blog post.
But for now, and for these Notes From the Open Sea, I will simply sign off hoping the last of the stormy squalls is behind us!!!
South Pacific
S 16°43.457’ W 172°31.559’
152.2 nautical miles from Vava’u, Tonga - our next destination.
Last night was the tensest night shift I’ve been on yet and I won’t lie, I’m exhausted. We’re nearing 6 months at sea and I absolutely, categorically and 100% love it. But, I’m shattered and the past week of storms and squalls seemed to weigh heavy on me last night as my alarm went off at 1.46am. I’d barely slept from the smacking of the waves on the side and front of the boat, so wasn’t feeling uber refreshed! And then as I put my life jacket on over the top of my rain jacket the weight seemed heavier than usual. I’m tired.
We are all tired!
I joined Martin and assessed the hand over shift. We had very strong winds still and we were sailing close haul - which means the wind is coming close off the front of the boat - this creates a higher apparent wind speed than the true wind speed and puts a lot of tension on the sails. I will be honest, I get nervous when there is a sail out that may need to come in during my shift because I don’t quite feel experienced enough to decide when to bring it in. I have guide wind speeds and these help greatly but on nights like last night these can change in the blink of an eye. Anyway, we had our jib sail out and I needed to keep an eye on the wind speed and bring it in if it got too fast.
I watched our monitor like a hawk. It’s a fine line - keep on course, maintain a decent speed, don’t threaten the sail with too high a wind speed. But I was juggling it.
Then add in a 360° lightening storm. And a squall that came out of the blue with zero warning on the radar. The wind speed jumped from 22 - which I was waiting to sustain for 5 minutes before waking Martin to help me bring the jib in, to 30 so quick it was as fast as the lightening itself. Then down to a sustained 26/27 and suddenly it was more of an emergency than a suggestion. Add to that rain which had also not been on the radar. It was tense.
The jib came in. But the wind remained crazy strong and so we changed course to move the wind to a different part of the boat/sails (called a beam reach) which lessened the apparent wind speed. These are lessons that are fixing in my brain (but I’d like them to fix quicker!!!!)
The entire rest of my shift was like this. The wind about half an hour later did the same thing but more dramatically - it went from 18 knots to 34.6 knots in another blink of an eye - again without any thing showing up on the radar and stayed at 34 for a tense five minutes. The boat can handle it. I’m just not entirely sure my exhausted nerves can!!! Mainly because there was no moon last night and it was pitch dark and there was lightening all around us for my full 2 hour shift and 2 hour standby shift.
I bounced about in my bunk as I tried to catch up on sleep from 6am to 9.30am this morning, but it’s safe to say, I can’t wait to get to Tonga!
One of the best things about feeling like a space cadet today however, is that in many ways I AM ABOUT TO BE A SPACE CADET! We cross the international date line in 18.4 miles. And in doing so we will cross from Wednesday into Thursday!!!! We jump 24 hours. We TIME TRAVEL!!!
We think we’ll be there at about 6.30pm - shortly after the sun sets. So we should have a golden hue to time travel in as we all update our clocks from 6.30pm Wednesday to 6.30pm Thursday. Fantastically peculiar. We lose a whole day. We’re creeping ever closer into tomorrow. I mean, I know we always are. But we are literally tripping and jumping headlong into it!
I will try to video it.
Ok, more from me tomorrow and apologies if this had too much sailing stuff in it. With no land in sight and it being somewhat feisty out here on the open ocean it’s all I’ve got for today!
Ah, except for a brilliant message from my friend Matt who’s question has had me reeling all day - so I’ll leave you with it all too…
“Hahaha!! How freaky is that!! What happens to time if you were to repeatedly cross back n forth over the international date line??? I’ll leave you to ponder that one and I expect a full and detailed explanation by 0600hrs BST! lol!! - joking, but not joking! Xx”
The good news is - I literally skip 06.00hrs BST as we make our leap, so I may never answer that pondering! Except to say - as I’ve always quietly thought, time is also just a human made concept 😜
Fair winds into the night and see you today tomorrow!
South Pacific
S 18°31.552’ W 173°.59.216’
7.5 nautical miles from Vava’u, Tonga - our next destination.
We’ve been able to see land since I awoke from my post night watch nap! Tonga is in sight. And what a sight for sore eyes it is.
This is obviously by no means the longest we’ve been devoid of land. But Tonga as our ultimate destination when we set off from Bora Bora two weeks ago seemed a long time coming and somewhat hard fought for!!
What a delight it is to be in its proximities. The ocean seems to wake up again near land. Brown boobies with their blue beaks are flying around Pure Joy, Pacific gulls with their graceful wingspan are ducking and diving amongst the waves - so many of them just off our starboard side it’s clear they are hunting a school of fish, and flying fish are back!
Looking back at the sky and sea from which we have come it is looking deceitful - clear blue skies hiding the truth of the squalls that lay back there!
I’m excited for our time in Tonga. We will be meeting back up with most of the rest of the World Arc fleet, those still not here will be arriving over the next week.
We have customs and immigration to clear upon arrival and then much needed laundry to do this afternoon. Tomorrow will be a boat jobs day and then…. We will be free to start exploring the Kingdom of Tonga!
The Polynesian kingdom is made up of 170 islands - most of which are uninhabited (only 36 are inhabited!). And we get to be here for about 10 days. We are just at the very beginning of whale season too. When the humpback whales make their way back up here from the Antarctic summer ready to breed and frolic. If we’re lucky we will finally have a whale sighting!!
Also, and I love this - Tonga is a remarkable place with a rich history and culture. It is the only country in the South Pacific that has never been colonised. Known as the Friendly Islands, Tonga is rich in its ancient traditions and customs.
I will try to write up my daily notes again tomorrow or Sunday (absolutely nothing happens here on Sundays. It is kept entirely sacred. So I might turn my phone off!!!) with a little conclusion of this two week passage - feisty, often unexpected, challenging and wet! But still sailing nonetheless and all the thrilling for it.
Land ahoy!
PS - I am so very sorry that I didn’t conclude these notes land-side in Tonga. I got a filthy cold and actually booked a small hotel off the boat and nursed my wounds ofr five days so to speak. I did however manage to explore the island and another blog post about the Kingdom of Tonga will follow!! Thank you all for still following along with my current Notes From the Open Ocean :-)
Get better soon. I never imagined you getting a cold, as it feels too pedestrian for a trip around the world!
Wow you are certainly going through it. Take care, keep healthy and keep enjoying every minute. You are a tough cookie remember. Lots of love xx