We are planning to take a few days anchored out at the Rock Islands. It is kind of a park about 5 miles out of the marina here. There will be NO e-mail from there.
Still no resolution on the ticket for 'parking the boat on the reef' for the afternoon. Maybe when we get back. Another boater did it worse than us and forced them to hurry and decide. He paid $200. We are still hoping for less.
We got a rat on board last night. We had gone shopping for more vegetables for the 8 days out and left an ear of corn on the settee. This morning half of it had been eaten!!! Must be a big rat! I borrowed a live trap from the marina and am buying some 'glue boards' to put around. They seem to be really bad here!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Palau - first day
We arrived in Palau at 11:00 Jan 6 here. No wind, we motored all the way, 48 hours exactly.
It is a big real island with a coral reef outside, and lots of little islands inside the reef too. The islands here are all limestone and the sea is eroding them away, so every one is a mushroom shape. I hope to get photos soon.
Trinda is still a little sick. We both ate something that didn't agree the day before we left Yap.
It is a big real island with a coral reef outside, and lots of little islands inside the reef too. The islands here are all limestone and the sea is eroding them away, so every one is a mushroom shape. I hope to get photos soon.
Trinda is still a little sick. We both ate something that didn't agree the day before we left Yap.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Computer Problems
Been having more problems with the computers! Arg!! One has a bad keyboard still, but it is worse as it will no longer let you type even on an external keyboard. The other, the new netbook, has decided to overheat the display chip so I get 5 minutes before I can no longer see the screen!
I am trying to send this note from the 'movie machine'.
I cleaned the bottom today in prep for leaving Yap for Palau tomorrow. Trinda is having a bout of Montezuma's Revenge but I hope we will indeed be leaving. It is 250 miles so should be only a coupe of nights. Denny left this morning.
We had a nice Christmas with Juliano's family and a nice New Year's Day too. He is bringing something from his wife in the morning.
I am trying to send this note from the 'movie machine'.
I cleaned the bottom today in prep for leaving Yap for Palau tomorrow. Trinda is having a bout of Montezuma's Revenge but I hope we will indeed be leaving. It is 250 miles so should be only a coupe of nights. Denny left this morning.
We had a nice Christmas with Juliano's family and a nice New Year's Day too. He is bringing something from his wife in the morning.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Dinner
Trinda with Juliano's son.
Denny and I are waiting to eat. I got so hungry looking at the food I forgot to take a picture of it!
We went to the local Lamotrek Village site, where the outer island folks from Lamotrek have places here in Yap. Juliano invited us to join his family for dinner. His brother-in -law just returned home from 21 years as a chef in Hawaii.
Needless to say it was a wonderful feed.
Turtle cooked 2 ways, BBQ chicken, hot dogs and a pig. BBQ ribs, broiled pork loin and blood pork. And veggies, taro, breadfruit, papaya several ways and other local delights.
It rained a lot, but they were prepared for it. It rains often here.
Denny and I are waiting to eat. I got so hungry looking at the food I forgot to take a picture of it!
We went to the local Lamotrek Village site, where the outer island folks from Lamotrek have places here in Yap. Juliano invited us to join his family for dinner. His brother-in -law just returned home from 21 years as a chef in Hawaii.
Needless to say it was a wonderful feed.
Turtle cooked 2 ways, BBQ chicken, hot dogs and a pig. BBQ ribs, broiled pork loin and blood pork. And veggies, taro, breadfruit, papaya several ways and other local delights.
It rained a lot, but they were prepared for it. It rains often here.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Lamotrek
Most of the villages we visited in the Marshals gave Trinda homemade flowers for her hair. With short hair they fell out, so she put them in her hat. I thought she really wanted it, but the chief's wife her fell in love with it and was so cute in it that Trinda gave her her hat with all the flowers.
Denny took a photo of us with Chief Manual and his wife in their yard. It seems really hot here, thus the blue tarps to change the color of the photos. It may also be why they are sticking to the old custom of not much clothing. They live in a more primitive style than in the cities in the state capitals of Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. Very similar to the outer islands of the Marshals. That is their cooking fire in the background.
While we were here the US Air Force dropped a Christmas package to the island. They do it every year it seems, for the small islands that have no air strip and little regular transportation. It was a thrill to gather on the beach with nearly everyone in the village and watch the C130 fly over and drop the package in the lagoon by parachute. When it left it waved its wings.
There were a few sad parts of the experience though. First the box fell apart when it hit the water. Everything in it got wet with the salt water. Not to dramatic for the plastic toys, but the rice, ramin and Pop-Tarts didn't fare so well. Next, the package had a few cans of food but mostly common items (mackerel, corned beef, etc), not unique Christmas stuff. Then toys, lots of which came with dead or missing batteries, and electronic toys don't work with salt water. A lot of stuffed animals and cheap plastic balls. Then clothes and shoes. The clothes were mostly T-shirts. Only very young children are "allowed" to wear shirts, except while working in the sun, like fishing, so shirts were not the best choice. And shoes! they wear flip-flops, crocks or nothing. 4" patent leather spiked heels didn't seem appropriate nor the whole pile of polished leather dress shoes. As the chief's son sorted and divided the package among the village family men, it was obvious that it was mostly considered a joke.
It would be really nice to communicate back to the folks in Guam that organize and drop the "Christmas Package" that almost every year the box breaks in the water and that the gifts are not appropriate. Christmas cookies, oranges, apples, nuts and toys suitable for the island climate would be better. The islanders are much better off than in the Marshall's where they don't get such packages. They had better food, clothes and shoes than were in the package.
We didn't see as many handicapped people as the Marshall's. This young lady had mental problems but her twin sister was fine. She was really attached to Trinda.
One of the chief's grandsons in a 'local playpen'. They believe that the kids learn to walk faster if they spend time in these playpens pulling themselves up to standing position. They didn't leave him alone much in it though.
We were surprised to see they did not eat much rice, flour, sugar or ramin like other outer islanders. They grew and ate 3 kinds of taro, tapioca, breadfruit, bananas, and coconut based dishes. Lots of fish, fried, boiled and raw (sushimi). They do have their bad habits though. Nearly everyone chews bettlenut and the men drink tuba every afternoon. Tuba is the sour toddy from Kiribati, or fermented coconut sap. When a coconut palm produces a bloom stalk for a bunch of coconuts, the cut the blooms off and hang a container under it to catch the juices that would grow the coconuts. If it is a sterile container, it is used to sweeten drinks and season food (taro and pumpkin cakes) or to drink straight by women and kids. If it is collected in a coconut shell that has previously held fermented juice, it makes beer in only a few hours. I heard one young man complaining that with the morning cut, the afternoon cut and the evening cut of his seven trees he hardly had time for anything else! In the morning they collect the fresh stuff for the women, and start catching for the afternoon tuba. Before 3:00 they change the containers and all the men go to the 'men's houses' and drink the morning cut. The men's houses are the canoe huts and meeting halls. Really just a large thatched roof with mats over gravel for the floors. They drink till 5'ish then go change the container for the sterile ones again. Afterward they return to the men's houses and drink the afternoon cut. They didn't seem to get very drunk, but Forrest had a hard time returning to the boat one night. I tried a few cups, but couldn't get past the taste and besides I don't do too well with the strong drink lately. I don't recover like I did when I was a kid.
Some senators came on a patrol boat and had a long meeting for the afternoon. They were inspecting their previous grants and taking questions and requests for more support. Surprisingly they handed out cigarettes and bettlenut to everyone throughout the meeting. To the men under the men's house, to the women setting around the outside edge listening and to the children all around. It seemed like 10 and up were allowed to chew, but I did not notice the youngsters smoking.
I was low on fuel, so I asked and succeeded in buying 45 gallons of diesel from the patrol boat. We transfered it in 3 trips with the dinghy in 3 5-gal jugs. The captain said they were on their way to Chuuk to get fuel cause they were running low too. But because I requested it and they barely had enough, he was obligated to help me out. Then he was very nice and accommodating. He made sure the jugs were more than filled to the 5 gal mark. He also gave me coffee in the bridge while they figured out how much fuel they had and needed.
We asked if there was ample electricity and a workspace ashore to repair the sail. They had a generator at the elementary school (1st-9th grade) if I had gas for it. Denny helped with the sail repair.
Trinda too!
And Forrest distracted the kids for us.
Taking the sail and sewing machine back to the boat.
Denny took a photo of us with Chief Manual and his wife in their yard. It seems really hot here, thus the blue tarps to change the color of the photos. It may also be why they are sticking to the old custom of not much clothing. They live in a more primitive style than in the cities in the state capitals of Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. Very similar to the outer islands of the Marshals. That is their cooking fire in the background.
While we were here the US Air Force dropped a Christmas package to the island. They do it every year it seems, for the small islands that have no air strip and little regular transportation. It was a thrill to gather on the beach with nearly everyone in the village and watch the C130 fly over and drop the package in the lagoon by parachute. When it left it waved its wings.There were a few sad parts of the experience though. First the box fell apart when it hit the water. Everything in it got wet with the salt water. Not to dramatic for the plastic toys, but the rice, ramin and Pop-Tarts didn't fare so well. Next, the package had a few cans of food but mostly common items (mackerel, corned beef, etc), not unique Christmas stuff. Then toys, lots of which came with dead or missing batteries, and electronic toys don't work with salt water. A lot of stuffed animals and cheap plastic balls. Then clothes and shoes. The clothes were mostly T-shirts. Only very young children are "allowed" to wear shirts, except while working in the sun, like fishing, so shirts were not the best choice. And shoes! they wear flip-flops, crocks or nothing. 4" patent leather spiked heels didn't seem appropriate nor the whole pile of polished leather dress shoes. As the chief's son sorted and divided the package among the village family men, it was obvious that it was mostly considered a joke.
It would be really nice to communicate back to the folks in Guam that organize and drop the "Christmas Package" that almost every year the box breaks in the water and that the gifts are not appropriate. Christmas cookies, oranges, apples, nuts and toys suitable for the island climate would be better. The islanders are much better off than in the Marshall's where they don't get such packages. They had better food, clothes and shoes than were in the package.
We didn't see as many handicapped people as the Marshall's. This young lady had mental problems but her twin sister was fine. She was really attached to Trinda.
One of the chief's grandsons in a 'local playpen'. They believe that the kids learn to walk faster if they spend time in these playpens pulling themselves up to standing position. They didn't leave him alone much in it though.
We were surprised to see they did not eat much rice, flour, sugar or ramin like other outer islanders. They grew and ate 3 kinds of taro, tapioca, breadfruit, bananas, and coconut based dishes. Lots of fish, fried, boiled and raw (sushimi). They do have their bad habits though. Nearly everyone chews bettlenut and the men drink tuba every afternoon. Tuba is the sour toddy from Kiribati, or fermented coconut sap. When a coconut palm produces a bloom stalk for a bunch of coconuts, the cut the blooms off and hang a container under it to catch the juices that would grow the coconuts. If it is a sterile container, it is used to sweeten drinks and season food (taro and pumpkin cakes) or to drink straight by women and kids. If it is collected in a coconut shell that has previously held fermented juice, it makes beer in only a few hours. I heard one young man complaining that with the morning cut, the afternoon cut and the evening cut of his seven trees he hardly had time for anything else! In the morning they collect the fresh stuff for the women, and start catching for the afternoon tuba. Before 3:00 they change the containers and all the men go to the 'men's houses' and drink the morning cut. The men's houses are the canoe huts and meeting halls. Really just a large thatched roof with mats over gravel for the floors. They drink till 5'ish then go change the container for the sterile ones again. Afterward they return to the men's houses and drink the afternoon cut. They didn't seem to get very drunk, but Forrest had a hard time returning to the boat one night. I tried a few cups, but couldn't get past the taste and besides I don't do too well with the strong drink lately. I don't recover like I did when I was a kid.Some senators came on a patrol boat and had a long meeting for the afternoon. They were inspecting their previous grants and taking questions and requests for more support. Surprisingly they handed out cigarettes and bettlenut to everyone throughout the meeting. To the men under the men's house, to the women setting around the outside edge listening and to the children all around. It seemed like 10 and up were allowed to chew, but I did not notice the youngsters smoking.
I was low on fuel, so I asked and succeeded in buying 45 gallons of diesel from the patrol boat. We transfered it in 3 trips with the dinghy in 3 5-gal jugs. The captain said they were on their way to Chuuk to get fuel cause they were running low too. But because I requested it and they barely had enough, he was obligated to help me out. Then he was very nice and accommodating. He made sure the jugs were more than filled to the 5 gal mark. He also gave me coffee in the bridge while they figured out how much fuel they had and needed.
We asked if there was ample electricity and a workspace ashore to repair the sail. They had a generator at the elementary school (1st-9th grade) if I had gas for it. Denny helped with the sail repair.
Trinda too!
And Forrest distracted the kids for us.
Taking the sail and sewing machine back to the boat.
Yap Arrival
Made Yap safely. Only one small rip in the main sail. Need 75 gal
diesel at $4.20/gal here. A little tired. Checked in, hamburgered and
laundried! Hope to do a real update soon.
diesel at $4.20/gal here. A little tired. Checked in, hamburgered and
laundried! Hope to do a real update soon.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Day 2 to Yap
It has been a great passage so far. We had to motor most of the first day, but it was flat seas. Today we sailed at 5 knots all day in 10 knots of wind. Nothing broke!! 2 1/2 more days, should get there mid day the 22nd.
we are talking on 6,236.0 at 0800Z & 2000Z daily.
Merry Christmas!
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