Tuesday 27 July 2010 (PITCAIRN)

Big Fence, Adamstown, Pitcairn Island; Tuesday 27 July 2010 בס"ד

Okay, holy shit; well I didn't win the bet but whatever. Yesterday the Pitcairn longboat went thud at about 1030ish, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Woke up for morning watch at 0330 and stood first helm steering SW xW. After my stint on helm, Paul pointed out a faint gray speck on the horizon which was Pitcairn. At sunrise we took in the kites, and I along with Robert had to put a proper harbor stow on the main tgallant staysl. We did a lightning-fast deckwash and had a massive super sweet breakfast with cinnamon rolls and cocunut jam pastry things and cheese and all sorts of nuts and it was huge. Then, shortly after, we had all hands wakeups and got ready. We came round past Bounty Bay and took in all sail. I went up and harbor-stowed the fore royal with Bob, and then the upper and lower topsls. We dropped anchor and when the huge 40ft longboat came and smashed up against starboard, we unloaded all the fuel, lumber, and supplies in the hold faster than you can imagine. The starboard watch went in with them to help them unload, while we on port watch filled out our customs forms, packed our bags, and unloaded the cement bags from the hold to the deck. It was a tight squeeze, so they sent me in to the small space because I'm small and I'm strong, and I awkwardly lifted the 55lb bags out and passed them on down the daisy chain. The longboat came back, (Bob was, and still is, awesome. Why don't I write about her more often?) and we loaded in the cement and then ourselves. It was crazy getting in because the boat is smashing up and down alongside and one second it looks like it is going to end up on our deck and the next second it is gone from sight. So getting aboard is a serious matter of timing. We got in and went round to Bounty Bay, and the coxn timed the tidal swell to seriously just fly in and then super quickly maneuver to the landing because it was only a few yards to smashing into the rocks. We all disembarked and unloaded stuff, but the cement had been put on a pallet and so a big crane hoisted it out in two blocks. On the landing was the whole population of the island pretty much waiting to greet us. One by one, our families located us and picked us up, and people started going up the hill on the quads. Bob and I found Steve, Olive, Shawn, and Michelle, and it seems that Steve and Olive are in charge of the store and therefore they had to tally everything up and we loaded up their cart trailer with things and waited at the landing for a few returns. It also turns out that the Captain (who is called “Danny” by everybody here) is very close with Steve and Olive, and we didn't know at the time but he too would be staying with us at “Big Fence.” Steve and Olive Christian live at the property called “Big Fence,” and their son Shawn and his wife Michelle are staying there in the granny flat while their house is being built up the road. The Captain told us at one of the quarterdeck musters that people on Pitcairn are brutal ballbusters out of necessity, since they have a very minute amount of time to get to know people, but that we'd probably feel like family before long. Well, he wasn't exaggerating, and within minutes I was cracking up. We went to Big Fence and checked out “Christian's Cafe,” which was not here last time the Captain came since the prohibition and then strict regulation of alcohol had been completely abolished a few years ago. We had homemade breadsticks, sandwiches, and a beer or two, before we went back down to the landing to load up more goods. Came back, shot the shit, and then Bob and I returned to the landing to go for a swim in Bounty Bay. Of course we could only swim in a small area by the landing, lest we be pulled out to sea by the riptide and then hurled against the rocks, but the water was nice and I felt quite refreshed afterwards. We came back to Big Fence, and Dave, Davey, Jo, and Dave and David Brown (their family) were there and we chilled for a bit ball-busting, when Steve pulled up in a massive CAT forklift/front-end loader and said “Fred get the fuck in, we've gotta get the bloody shit timbers,” and we went down to the landing and loaded the lumber on to the forklift, then took it up to Brian's to drop off a few and then over to the storage area. Then I caught a ride with David and Shawn on a smaller but still huge John Deer front-end loader to drop off some cement bags. Hung out at Big Fence with Bob, the Captain, and the Christians, having beers and a Wild Turkey 101 on the rocks before dinner, which was a massive feast of lamb and potatoes and salad and all sorts of things. After dinner, Shawn and Michelle took us for a walk on the main road to show us the square and some other places along the way, then we ended up stopping at Pirate Pawl's for a bit where a few PCs were hanging out drinking and playing darts. After a bit, I went up with Shawn and Michelle to Dave, David, Lea, and Ariel's, and they were having a good time chilling around the table with Dave, Davey, Jo, Rebecca, Meredith M, and we sat around laughing and bullshitting and guitars came out and it was a great time. After a while there, went back to Pirate Pawl's and partied there for a bit before calling it a night. I ended up passing out at Big Fence at 0130, making it an exactly 22hr day.

Tuesday the 27^th I woke up at 0900 and had toast for breakfast. The Captain took us around to a few houses, and we met many Pitkerners. We stopped in the co-op shop, went to the cemetery, saw Thursday October Christian's house foundation, saw the school, and the square (which has the Bounty anchor, that is larger than ours for a ship smaller than ours; the Captain says it's because without auxiliary power, you gotta be sure your anchor works). We met up with the group headed to Christian's Cave, and we hiked up the mountain to check it out. The climb wasn't difficult, but it was very, very steep and after one minute you'd look back down to your friends and they're quite small little specks. The cave was really cool, but full of petrified goat shit. The climb down was cool too, and we had to chimney crawl down some cliff faces into the forest and hike through back to the road. Went back on the quads to Big Fence, had lunch, and at 1400 we headed over to St. Paul's pool, which is one of the sickest places on Earth. It's like a big natural, tidal pool completely encircled by the huge, jagged rock, and wen we went in it was “calm” and massive breakers would smash against the one side and spray a huge ocean wall down into the pool. There were big sea urchins in the water, but I didn't know and so I was stepping on the rocks all carefree like a kid playing in a minefield. Luckily, I seemed to miss them and escaped unharmed. After the pool, we rode up to Ship's Landing Point, which is a rock ridge that extends out and overlooks Bounty Bay. I climbed out for a photo and a moon-shot (of course), which got a rise out of Shawn C. and David B., with them saying, “Oh fuck Fred, put it away!” Then they ran away and I thought they were being chased by bees, but they were just messing with me saying that they felt the rocks rumble and shake and that we might fall to our deaths. Returned to Big Fence and took a shower, had some beers, and began writing this entry. Stayed for another huge dinner that increased my stomach size by at least double, and got ready to go up to Andy Christian's place for a huge party. On the way up there, we stopped at the future location of Shawn and Michelle's house, which is already framed out. Andy had a bar and dance floor set up at his place. He also made fids, and so I bought one for Brad since he had won the bet and that was my wager. I'll buy my fids from Dave Brown since I know him better I think. I was dancing here and there, but my body was shutting down fast from exhaustion and I quickly became dead to the world sitting on the couch. The Captain was dancing up a storm, and everybody had a time. Got back at 0130 again, and passed right out.