Wednesday 11 August 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Wednesday 11 August 2010 בס"ד

Another triple entry. Monday morning I stood anchor watch from 0200 to 0300. Before me, Liam told me the wind shifted around eight points or so towards the end of his watch and he had woke Paul. After about half an hour on my watch, I noticed that we were moving much closer toward shore and a nearby German yacht, and on the chart plotter it showed we were in a spot we'd not been before. I woke Paul, and after check it out he said at the rate it was going we could wait a while before we'd need to weigh anchor and move, but that I should keep a vigilant eye in case it changed. It didn't, and after seeing a shooting star that was huge and looked like it was as low as a jet streaming across the entire night sky, I went to bed. All-hands to the windlass at 0715, when we couldn't wait any longer. We pumped away at the windlass, got the anchor up, and relocated to drop it again. After breakfast, I betan to sharpen my machete with a file and whetstone, but after a while Paul told me I'd have to have Chris take the grinder to it (since it had absolutely no edge from the store), so I abandoned the task and packed up my stuff for the expedition in the small boats. I got in Monomoy and we set off first by rowing. We were sailing into headwinds, so for a few hours we tacked around and occassionally rowed. I learned a lot about small boat sailing, which is both very different and quite similar to sailing a large vessel like the PC. It took us about six hours to beat up past “goat island” to “uninhabited island,” which turns out to be inhabited. The dory Sea Never Dry had given up on trying to tack around the dangerous coral heads, which surrounded the channel in, and was towed by the skiff. We ran up in the beach, and I joined most of the bros at bro-camp, a site down the beach a bit from base camp. It was son dark, and we ate around the campfire. Two local guys, Raimi and Jean-Marc, joined us, along with their dog, Tuki. We learned the name of the island we were on was Akamaru, which means “go slowly” in Mangarevan Polynesian . I spoke a lot with Raimi in my broken French, and he in broken English that he learned while living in St. Martin in the Caribbean. He told me Tuki, the dog, is named for a mortar and pestle-type thing because the dog has a big dog member, which resembles said tool. After a few hours of sitting round the fire, I went off to bed in my cloth Panama hammock (I had lent my camping one to Jo the night before). Fortunately it did not rain.

Jo woke me up at 0645 and we went for a walk to a nearby pig farm. The woman of the farm was out and about and very friendly to us showing off her swine, which included several piglets. It looked like the bulk of the pigs' diet was coconut, and I noticed that they didn't smell whatsoever, which is not like our smelly pigs back home. We then found a dell path that led to a small church. The grounds around the church were beautifully maintained, and as we were walking around, a local woman greeted us. Jo speaks basic French, and they talked a bit while I tried to follow along, and in about one minute's time the woman had us back to her house sat down for coffee, juice, and toast. We chatted with her and another woman, and learned she had lived in mainland France for twenty years and her children and grandchildren live there now. She told me that when I am Captain, I must return for coffee (in French, of course). At around 0800, we told her we had to be leaving, but she wouldn't have it until she loaded us up with more toast and a big box full of fresh fruits and vegetables. I believe this woman's name was Maka, although I might be mistaken, but her hospitality was unparalleled. We returned to base camp and shared our fortune with everyone for breakfast. Soon after, we got underway (I in Monomoy again) and rowed out past goat island before we set sail and prepared to “shoot the chutes” (as from the film “A River Runs Through It”), through a very, very narrow channel in the coral reef. This time we had the wind on our quarter, and were ripping through the water. Jo taught me how to trim the jib sheet for speed (she's a small sailboat racer in her hometown and at university), and so the ride back was around an hour. We executed what I thought was very cool docking with the PC, having “both pages open,” as they say, and then tacking around, taking in the jib and then taking in the main. Switched out the one group for another, had lunch, and then set off again, also in Monomoy. We were making a better course this time, and I was on bailer duty, and had an uncommonly good time scooping up and pouring out the bilge water as it came over the floorboards. Coming around goat island in the coral, there was a snafu with the main halyards and we found a defect in the wood of our gaff when the one halyard was hauled while the other was still fast. The result was our gaff cracked in half, so we rowed in the rest of the way. It was still only about four or so hours this time, and so I set up my camping hammock for Robert at brocamp, and went on a quick search for wood. Had dinner round the fire, and after I was quite exhausted, so I went to sleep in my hammock. About an hour later, Paul came over and woke me up telling me that I was requested at the camp. I got up, then Paul told me that I should get some hardwood to bring back and that he made me dayman carpenter for the next passage. I was naturally very happy with the news and went over to basecamp to hang out. Chiled for a bit, then went back with a hatchet and saw to go to work on my hardwood. I had just finished cutting it up when Brad told me I must return as I was again requested at basecamp. So I did, and Vassos insisted that I dance. Although I'd probably be the first to propose this normally, it was not my idea this time to go skinny dipping and then run around the beach naked with flaming palm fronds. That doesn't mean I didn't do it, but I was quite tired and went to bed after a bit. I was in my Panama hammock, and it drizzled very lightly about three times in the night, but not enough to get me wet.

Woke up at 0630, started packing up camp and left at 0815 in Monomoy. Rowed out of the coral around goat island, then shot the chutes again under sails and made it back to Picton Castle in no time. When rowing, I thought I was the stroke oar, and then Paul was like, “Follow Yo,” and I said, “Oh, I thought port side was the stroke oar,” and he said, “It is,” and I was like, “WTF?” so I dunno if Yo is really good or I'm really bad or they're just screwing with me? When we returned, we completely downrigged Monomoy, removing the sails, the spars, and all the rigging. Then, back aboard, I helped hoist up the old skiff, then Sea Never Dry, then upon the quarterdeck the Monomoy back into the boat davits. I rigged up one of the snatch blocks, which was the first time I had actually done that, and although I used the strop correctly and properly moused the hook, I did it a bit low on the rail post, and so when we were hauling on the stern falls we bent down at a weird angle near the snatch block. I didn't make the same mistake later when we hoisted up the rescue skiff. The Captain mustered us and explained about how we were going to leave on a rising tide near high tide, so that if we hit coral, the tide would lift us off of it rather than lower us onto it more. He also explained more about Polynesian navigation, which is really very interesting. Then I helped lash the boats atop the galleyhouse to the strongbacks for a bit, and also wood, spars, bamboo chutes, and the gangway. While there, [person] asked me what watch I was on, and when I told [person] I was dayman carpenter, [person] replied, “How did you get that job? I wanted that!” in such a [explicative] tone, that I very, very, very, very nearly lost my cool for the first time and told [person] to [do something not nice to] themself. I refrained though, and just vented about it on the well deck to a few of my confidants. Then I was over it. We had a fire in the paint locker drill and then an abandon ship drill before we loosed sails. I remember loosing the fore tgallant and course, and I don't think I did any others, but I may have and don't remember. On our departure, we motor-sailed and tacked a few times as we gradually set more and more sails. When safely out of the coral reef, we killed the engine and sailed away. We then had a MOB drill. Later, Paul pulled me aside to explain a few things about being carpenter. Once everybody was stood down, I organized my bunk and wrote this log.

NOTE: I've started typing Monomoy as the name of the vessel, instead of “the monomoy” like before, because I asked Maggie for typing in the Captain's Log and she said the monomoy is named Monomoy.