Update from the Okeanos in Tuvalu: As I write this, Kaip lays next to me in the whare, headphones on, watching movies on Steve’s laptop, Steve’s paddling to shore to deliver a fan, Iva’s still on shore hanging with her new friends, and I can hear the sweet symphonic sizzle of fresh fish in hot pan with the slightly less harmonic sound of Jonnywell’s rendition of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’ while he joyously prepares our fourth dinner in Funafuti – Tuvalu. The sail here was pretty cruisy: steady winds, calm seas, a night visit from a large pod of dolphins, and another big waloo which fed us for 2 days. Now with just the 5 of us however, voyaging is much more demanding. But of course we still have time to chill and have after dinner jams together on the waka guitar and drum, singing made up songs of our next destination. Funafuti is a clear contrast to Rotuma. Cosmetically there’s a calloused third world hand that slaps you in the face as you tour the island on one of many scooters. Because there’s no land to fill, the rubbish tip spreads along the northern sliver of land on the island and seems to be encroaching on civilisation or vice versa? Lack of a sewage system is polluting the lagoon where there’ve been several reports of illness from the consumption of reef fish. Sadly because the island produces little of its own food (although there are many pigs caged in close quarters), it’s hard to envisage the flow of packaged food from cargo ships subsiding any time soon. Benefits from dependence on other nations are difficult to see from an outsiders view point, although we have been assured that there are several positive initiatives under way. These include a sufficient sewage system along with two developing technologies: one having the potential to create energy through the burning of waste, the other producing solid objects from recycled plastic. The absence of our local contact person has meant we’ve had to do the ground work and brief the authorities and despite the fact that the nation’s 2 cargo/ passenger ships are out of order, leaving many people stranded, we’re still here anchored in the lagoon while we wait for permission to commence sailing/ research. Today though, after another meeting with the Minister of Transport and Communications, we decided to spend the afternoon fishing. We sailed across to a reef then out to a sea mount. Johnny and Steve took the gun first while Kaip and I watched the anchor. Then they cleaned and prepared their catch while we carried on, handing fish we caught straight to them so the burly kept coming – attracting barracuda, small sharks, and a massive school of skip jack. The highlight of the day had to be watching Johnny wrestle an octopus. As soon as we got back we headed over to play 10 aside touch rugby with the locals. I didn’t last long, scoring a try and hurting my back at the same time.... Now I think Steve and Iva are off for a grog session onshore. While for us, the next showing at the ‘Okeanos theatre’ commences once we clean up this fish... No reira e te whanau whanui, nei ano nga mihi aroha ki a koutou e tautoko nei i a matau e haere tawhiti atu ana. Thanks for all the support while we’re away. Phone and internet is neither that accessible or cheap here but for our families if you need to call, here’s our new number: +688 906 576. Arohanui, Rai, Kaip, Iva, Johnny, & Steve
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:38:32 +0000
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