Trinda's Birthday Speech

The camera doesn't do all that well at night, but you get the idea. It was an emotional evening.

Sorry I had to edit it down so it would be small enough to upload. Its still 24 Meg, down from 68 Meg, in case you don't want to wait.

Photos from Manihiki

Cathy is John-Mary's wife.

On the way to the kowa where John Williams lives. He is John-Mary's father. A kowa is a coral head in the lagoon that has trees and is large enough to build a house. It is also a pearl farm.


The fish trap. Just carefully placed rows of rocks. The fish enter during the tide change and can't find their way out.

Me, Arthur Niel and John-Mary Williams. It was sure hard to say good bye.

A few photos

The John and Veronica's son caught a coconut crab so that Ian and Lynn of Cloud Nine could see what they were. We did not get to eat this one, as they are protected here on Suwarrow.

Ian did get to hold it. We all escaped injury as we played with it. It is about the same size as the ones we had on Manihiki with John-Mary and Cathy.
It still amazes me that this guy can shuck and eat a coconut. Those are some powerful pincers!



Back on Penrhyn, Alex's son is displaying the varo (mantis shrimp) we caught, Actually, they caught, I did not succeed in catching one. Those claws stuck in the flip-flop are very sharp! Sauted in the shell in butter, these were fantastic. This are the ones Trinda had for her birthday dinner.





These are from the dinner. The matching shirts Christine made for us and the hat for Trinda. Alex, me , Trinda and Christine.

These are a few of their kids. Some of the older girsl and the older boys are hiding somewhere else.

Trinda blew out all the candles.

Samoa - internet access

We are here and fine. The email would not work so I couldn't send any updates.

I signed up for internet access (wifi) in the bay just now so maybe I can send some updates.

Pago Pago Arrival

We made it in and anchored by 6:30PM on 8/24
Tired

Suwarrow to Samoa

Still making good time. Tonight there are rain storms all around us. We took down the jib and are still making over 6 knots with just the reefed main. The sea is still rolly.

Still no fishing. We had canned ham and instant hash browns yesterday and spaghetti tonight.

Our daughter sent a copy of her blog. Had a good read. Izzy seems to be growing like a weed.

Suwarrow to Samoa

I had forgotten how it is to sail down wind. We have 15 to 20 knows of wind, but it only feels like a light breeze at our backs. The swell is a little off to one side so the boat has a nice gentle motion for a few minutes then a rough roll to the side. things flew around for a while til we got it all wedged in.

other than that it has been a pleasant ride so far. Nice weather, no rain or gusts yet. Should be only 60 more hours at this speed. We are making over 6 knots most of the time.

No highs or lows and were not fishing yet.