Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

Well . . . this has been an incredibly superlative day.  How can I begin
to describe this amazing island, our experience on it and its wonderful
inhabitants; it overwhelms me.  It is late and we just returned from the
´All Hands Club´ where we had a huge Mug- Up with the islanders.  We brought
all our instruments, sang some boat songs and enjoyed the pool tables,
shuffleboards, ping pong tables, giant shuffleboard and karaoke.
At 0815 this morning Barry met us outside the reef´s entrance.  Midway is an
atoll which means it lies within a coral reef.  The coral reef encircles the
atoll and in places forms small islets or motus; a lagoon is formed within.
The bottom of the lagoon is fine white sand and the water is many different
hues of brilliant light turquoise to intense deep aquamarine blue-green,
absolutely stunning.  It is incredible, one cannot stop taking photos.  The
beach we can go on (the others are for the monk seals and the green sea
turtle) is wide, desolate, sandy, and has incredible water . . . everyone´s
image of paradise . . . with the albatross flying overhead.  If a turtle or
seal comes on the beach, they have priority and we are required to leave or
give them at least 150ft clearance.  At one beach the boys and I saw 9 sea
turtles basking in the sun, quite big ones, probably with shells 50-90 cm.
diameter. After we were tied up, a naturalist named Matt introduced us to
the island, showing a map of where we could go, and explaining the important
rules of the island vis-a-vis the wildlife.   The 3 rules we had to know
where:
1.      This island belongs to the wild life, we and the islanders are the
visitors.  There are 2,000,000 albatross here and many, many, many . . .
chicks, brown balls of downy fluff the size of basketballs, all over the
road, all over the fields, all over the yards, all over the airstrip etc.
We pick our way around them because they won´t move; the adult birds will,
but definitely not the chicks.  Wherever you look you see big birds. Midway
atoll is home to the largest population of Laysan albatross.  There are 19
species of birds here and the island is only 1.2 by 1.8 miles (we´re in the
U.S.).   There are also the endangered green sea turtles, the monk seals,
petrels, canaries (brought by the first settlers as pets), terns, tropic
birds, black-footed albatross and more.  The albatross are big birds with a
possible wing span of 2 meters.  They soar over us all day long, hundreds of
them, and you always hear them; it´s a nice sound; they make at least 15
different sounds and motions, they´re fascinating to watch.  The smell isn´t
bad; I think we´re already used to it.
2.      The island is a memorial to the Battle of Midway
3.      The island is an emergency landing spot for planes and an emergency
harbor for ships needing a place to stop (like us).
Everyone was free to explore the island.  There´s an incredible feeling of
´newness´ when you come off the boat after a long passage.  All the senses
are sharper.  To have that initial experience in a place such as Midway is
truly a gift and we are thankful.  There are so many senses being awakened;
there are so many details of the birds´ behavior to notice.  We had lunch
with the islanders at their communal dining room, the ´Clipper.´  It was
smorgasbord style; we ate and ate, there were so many choices and food we
hadn´t enjoyed for awhile:  cold juice, apples, pecan pie, cheesecake, ribs,
mixed cooked greens, hot dogs etc.  The cook and his staff were thrilled to
have us, they were especially happy to see the small boys; they repeatedly
came up to them introducing foods they though they might enjoy i.e. the
hotdogs and the cookies, and asking them questions and touching their heads.
It continued throughout the day.  One of the islanders said it´s been 2
years since there was a child as small as Simon on the island.  It was fun
to meet and chat with the islanders, to relax around a table on a porch with
them . . . just to stop.    All of us went on a 2 hour walking tour of the
island with Murray, a naturalist on the island.  He shared so many
interesting details of the island, its history, its changes over the years,
the refuge work being done, and information on the wildlife of the island,
especially that of the birds.   Trainees played beach volleyball in the
afternoon and there´s word that the islanders want to compete against the
Grace tomorrow evening.  After supper the islanders came to visit the Grace.
Skipper gave an introduction to SALTS, the Grace, its programs and purposes.
They were able to tour through the entire ship, talking to trainees and crew
along the way; they were overwhelmed at how beautiful the ship is and they
marveled at all the wood.  We were able to share with a lot of them what
goes on when we sail together and live in community; they wanted to know
what it was like to live on the ship for such a long time with so many
people.  It was good for us to be reminded again of the uniqueness of this
program and the benefits it affords all of us.  At dusk the petrels return
to their burrows in the sand.  They descend quite quickly and in large
groups.  As we walked the 20 minutes to the Mug-Up we had to keep alert for
low-flying petrels and albatross chicks in the middle of the path; it truly
is an amazing place.  I´ve been told that Pete, a naturalist/photographer
who has come to work on the island for a year, has incredible photos on his
personal blog.  If you google pete@midway you will be able to see the how
unique and wonderful this island is.  Until tomorrow, good-night,
Bonice.