Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

Today was Jen´s 20th birthday.  We celebrated it with several renditions of Happy Birthday and a delicious Upside-down Pineapple Cake, made by Karen, Gillian and Arwen.  What a place to have a birthday . . . like paradise.  We moved to a neighboring bay early this morning.  It is stunningly beautiful and quiet here.  There is only a road; there are no homes or buildings anywhere along the coastline of the entire bay.  When we arrived here this morning, everyone jumped over the side to swim.  It felt so good.  Last night as well, trainees and crew swam before supper, right off the boat.  We set up a swing from the outer end of the yardarm, on the outhaul.  Trainees climb out to the end of the bowsprit (the spar that sticks out the front end of the ship), hold onto a line and swing over the water, letting go at the furthest extremity of the swing.  Very fun.  It is also nice to be able to wash hair and clean bodies by jumping over. The other way is to haul water from over the side in the deck bucket, and pour it over yourself a bucket at a time, soaping and rinsing until you are done.   Tonight everyone was back on the boat and the dories and zodiac had just been raised onto the deck and covered over with their tarp when a powerful rainstorm moved in.  Several of us stood in the rain and had a fresh water rinse.  The tarps were up and if you worked cleverly, you could collect the rain in a dip and have it pour over yourself when the dip was full, by gently pulling down on the edge of the tarp.  Fresh water rinses are a real luxury on the ship.  We are now feeling quite clean.  This morning, trainees and crew took their time getting ready to leave the ship.  It was enjoyable to hang out together playing in the water and chatting in groups around the deck.  Starboard watch was on dishes and with Sam in our watch, it´s bound to be fun; there´s always a musical being sung or a tune we can join in.  Trainees spent the better part of the day exploring the island again.  Tavish and Chase hitch-hiked west around the island and walked back.  They said it was beautiful, but a long walk.  Elske and Bec visited a vanilla bean shop and tested out samples, learning about the different vanilla bean products made and sold on the island.  A large group of us walked about an hour uphill to the Agricultural School.  Skipper and I went with the three boys and met
Claire, Kelsey, Carolyn, and Katie just finishing a walk of the grounds and gardens.  The road inland was incredibly beautiful; narrow, quiet, winding through the many different kinds of trees and bushes, and flanked on either side by fields of grasses, cows, goats and horses.  The smells of the various blooms and the vegetation was wonderful and we breathed in deeply.  Some of the trees we saw were papaya trees, banana trees, mango trees, avocados trees. Coconut trees, some sort of calabash tree, and huge bamboo trees reaching 70ft into the sky.  There was so much that was lovely to take in. At the school we were given samples of the jams that are made from the fruits the students cultivate; pamplemousse, tiare, papaya and banana, banana, mango, and uru (breadfruit).  These were also for sale along with homemade sorbet, also made from fresh fruits. We took a walk around the property with a booklet that told us about the different trees and plants.  The pineapple bushes were probably the most interesting.  One pineapple grows per plant and it takes one year for it to ripen.  The top is then taken off and this becomes the beginning of the next crop. On the way home, we found a stem of bamboo that had broken off it´s main group and we were able to take a small piece back to the ship to try to make something from it.  The peaks of Moorea are known for their majesty and we just can´t get over looking at them and exclaiming to each other how spectacular they are.  After supper we ate cake and then groups settled down to various activities.  Jose read out loud to a group on deck with his headlamp, from Shackleton´s ´Endurance,´ written by Alfred Lansing.  It´s an excellent read. Many trainees were listening to their music, and writing in journals or reading.  There were several groups, in the dark, under the tarp, just chatting and laughing.  Down in the hold the guys were just generally making lots of noise as they were getting themselves ready for bed.  The foc´sle was pretty quiet.  Tonight there will most likely be more people in their bunks below deck.  The rain caused the entire deck to be wet.  A few of the faster ones will find dry spots on the seat lockers, others won´t care and will dry their bedding in the sun tomorrow.
We are leaving early for Huahine, about 90 nm away.  It will be good to have a day at sea, with meals in our watches around the table. This is when we really get to know our watch partners and begin to share bits of ourselves.  This is it, good night, Bonice.