Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

As Skipper and I went on a walk after the boys were asleep, we were discussing how normal our life has come to feel, and how comfortable everyone seems at this time.  Today was a day which reflected this; crew and trainees are accustomed to the pattern of our days and fill them easily and leisurely, doing what needs doing, as well as seeing and participating in what the island has to offer.  It´s a good feeling. We head out at 0700 hrs tomorrow, on our way to Aitutaki, 150 miles north of Rarotonga.  The first European to weigh anchor there was Captain Bligh in the ´Bounty,´ just two weeks before the infamous mutiny in the waters off Samoa.  The oldest church, built in 1828, in the Cook Islands is also on Aitutaki.  We´ve heard there is good snorkelling and people enjoy a quieter lifestyle.  Everyone was off doing various things today; cycling or hitchhiking around the island, fishing, setting up bunks, enjoying a shower, folding laundry etc.  Chase and Scott went on a 3 hr fishing charter and returned with 2 good-sized yellowfin tuna, which we had for supper, breaded, spiced and fried . . . delicious.  Gillian and Katie did another large food shop.  They were helped by Bill Marsters, one of the relatives of the descendants of William Marster who settled Palmerston Atoll.  He came by the boat yesterday and started chatting with Skipper and Jose and was very generous with his time and his truck.  He helped bring all the groceries to the boat and helped Karen with laundry issues, driving her 20 minutes around the island to the laundromat. Simon and Jacob were a huge help in moving all the groceries from the stern to the bow and down below into the hold.  Simon said, "It feels good to be doing something useful; it´s better than being bored."  Gillian enjoyed him, he was very happy.  Jacob rigged up a pulley system to lower the heavy bags of sugar, rice and flour from the deck into the hold below.  In the time we´ve been here, there has been a steady trickle of members from the Marster family coming to the boat and asking if we could take some supplies to Palmerston Atoll for them, for their families there.  They heard from the crew and from reading the newspaper of our plans to go there.  It became a joke to see yet another pick-up truck on the dock, with people trying to get Skipper´s attention. We have on board boxes of eggs, juice, pork chops, vegetables, a washing machine, 2 very large, blackboard-size, dry erase boards for their school, plus many more packages.  We lashed the washing machine down forward of the dories (it´s going to the policeman´s house, and we´ve been told we are welcome to do our laundry there), and put all the other supplies inside the dory.  We´ll be using the zodiac at Aitutaki unless we want to remove everything to raise the dories.  The 4 families we have met, all related, have said that we will be very welcomed by the islanders and that there is the possibility of trainees and crew being billeted in homes while we´re there, if we want.
The island has a population of about 50 inhabitants.  They apparently love volleyball and Jose has already challenged them to a match.  It sounds like our visit may be similar to the Pitcairn visit of last leg, where islanders come out in their boats to bring visitors in through the very narrow pass and warmly include them in their daily lives for the extent of the visit.  We are very excited about it.  Palmerston Atoll has an interesting history.  The inhabitants are the descendants of a patriarchal figure, William Marsters, a Lancashireman who settled there with three Penryn Island wives in 1862.  He fathered 26 children, divided the islands and reefs into sections for each of the three ´families´ and established strict rules regarding intermarriage.  The original home was built using massive beams salvaged from shipwrecks washed ashore.  Some of his descendants control the island while the rest live in New Zealand and elsewhere in the Cook Islands.  Everyone in the islands knows someone from the family and many Cook Islanders have the same last name; it´s a joke that you can guess Marster as someone´s last name and there´s a pretty good chance you´ll be correct.  The wife of Melbourne Marster, a fifth generation member of the family, brought us a large bag of absolutely amazing-tasting
starfruit.  It´s the first time for most of us to have a taste of this fruit.  It´s delicious; a combination of an apple, a pear, and some other things I can´t put my finger on right now.  She brought enough for the entire boat.  It´s a real gift as fruit is expensive here and we haven´t been given as much fruit as we sometimes have been, in the past.  She asked what time we were leaving in the morning, and we were afraid she had even more things she needed us to bring to Palmerston, but instead, she wants to bring us some fresh pies before we leave!  Trainees are starting to trickle back to the boat, as curfew draws near.  Only a few are sleeping on deck; the air is cooler and our blood has thinned enough for us to notice it.  Blankets and sleeping bags have resurfaced.  Thank you to everyone following our voyage. We love the idea that you are ´with us´ vicariously and know some of the details of our lives here at sea and on the islands.  Keep sending emails and mail; I know the trainees and crew enjoy hearing about what is happening back at home.  Time for bed, good night, Bonice.