Sea Mercy Vanua Balavu – One step at a time

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
RECOVERY: ONE STEP AT A TIME
The school in Mua Levu (East Coast of Vanua Balavu) is just matchsticks
Malaka Bay, Vanua Balavu, 
June 5, 2016 (17*14.260S, 178*58.090W)
In Mua Levu, school is conducted under a UNICEF tent.
Kids travel by long boat and open transport from 4 villages, rain or shine, no raincoat, no shoes
When faced with such a massive disaster and a recovery process of such magnitude as Cyclone Winston, where do you start? How do you proceed?  
What is left of the school in Avea… and the beach beyond it has been washed away
SEA MERCY coordinates with major NGOs (Red Cross, UNICEF) as well as government agencies, and identifies gaps in the aid process.  Since the organization is small, it is nimble and able not only to respond quickly to small needs but also to initiate long-term, inexpensive programs that benefit long-lasting recovery and self-sufficiency.  That’s what we did this week with interventions in Loma Loma and Delaconi, Avea, Susui, and Cikobia.

Super Yacht NOMADESS came to the rescue
When we toured Loma Loma last week, Dr. Malo —the hospital physician— asked for the women’s ward windows panes to be repaired, for the children’s ward to be repainted and for some linens for the beds.  Within hours, our coordinator had relayed the need to NOMADESS, a super yacht coming our way.  That yacht was only with us for 2 days, but what a powerhouse! 

NOMADESS crew at work: repainting the hospital children’s ward
The crew repainted the wards, fixed the windows, brought linen… but they didn’t stop there.  They went on to the 3 islands in the lagoon in dire need of water.  The situation in Cikobia was so dire that the islanders were ready to light up their emergency signal: a fire seen by the next island, then relayed to the mainland!  Sea Mercy yachts Peregrine and Remedy relayed for immediate help!
Cikobia: filled 6,000 liters by jerry jug on long boats
In 2 days, NOMADESS brought relief while using daring, exhausting means:  6,000 liters in Cikobia, 6,000 liters in Susui and 8,000 liters in Avea.  TWO DAYS… and they were gone, having relieved the immediate water needs and worries of hundreds of islanders.
You can read the story at http://seamercy.org.
The crew of INTERLUDE IV babied the solar panels and water maker kit all the way from the mainland.
DOMINO will deliver them to Avea for water making
Right now, we are loading 2 water makers on DOMINO, complete with solar panels, pumps and hoses to deliver next week to Avea where one of our fleet yacht will monitor water making and refilling of the water tanks.  Then, on to the next island!
Fitting the fishermen with more wetsuits from Dive Tutukaka, New Zealand
Meanwhile, on the west coast of Vanua Balavu, DOMINO was preparing the next step: help the fishermen, improve the community gardens and start composting.  It takes a lot of talking, meetings with the chiefs and the officials, respect for local customs and hierarchy, but once the rapport is established the people are eager to let us in.  
Vanua Balavu’s agricultural officer gives JP the Thumbs Up on the Sea Mercy gardening program
With the full accord of the local agricultural officer and spurring from the public health nurse, we went to work.  Six of us met with the women’s club leaders and the school teachers.  
In Mua Mua, clearing space for the 1st compost pile
If JP thought he was pretty good with the machete when he started to clear the site for the compost pile, Mila showed him how to really use a machete!  A few stick, and there we are, the first compost pile on the island… and more to come, in each of the 12 villages!

First compost pile in Malaka
We loaded our backpacks with fresh bokchoi and the women were happy with their first vegetable sale.
The Sea Mercy Volunteers pile up in the hospital’s truck to visit the villages, travelling Fiji style
Given the success in DELACONI, we are more than happy to go on. 
 Monday: Malaka and Mua Mua, 
 Tuesday: Mua Levu, Boitaci, and Mavana
  Wednesday: Avea
Dr. Gretchen reviews priorities
It’s a busy schedule but the smile on the Fijian faces is all we need to keep us going.


“And how are we to get all this aid to shore?”
Clothes and food… a start but far from being enough
WANT TO HELP VANUA BALAVU?
SEA MERCY now has a specific donation page for each site where they deliver aid.
Pick Vanua Balavu!  
THANK YOU
Dinghies start shuttling bundles of clothes and food to shore
Sea Mercy Volunteer Anita Damiani walks through the wrecked school library in Mavana
Until next time…
Returning to our anchorage in Malaka Bay after a long day on the road
dominomarie

Mississippi River Here We Come!

By on June 21, 2016 in Tourist

Our stay at Green Turtle was a good one as it always is. So much so that for a few moments we thought about stopping right here for the summer. But then I saw the river levels on the Mississippi dropping and our thoughts of staying quickly vanished.
M…

Mississippi River Here We Come!

By on June 21, 2016 in Tourist

Our stay at Green Turtle was a good one as it always is. So much so that for a few moments we thought about stopping right here for the summer. But then I saw the river levels on the Mississippi dropping and our thoughts of staying quickly vanished. My…

Vanua Balavu: One Village at a Time

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
WINSTON REFUGEES: ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME
DELACONI – flattened homes
Malaka Bay, Vanua Balavu, May 31, 2016 (17*14.260S, 178*58.090W) 
The 3 west coast villages of Vanua Balavu:  Delaconi, Malaka, and Mua Mu
You’ve seen it many times on TV, refugees in tents, precarious living conditions, but it doesn’t hit you until you see it for yourself.  Never had I imagined that a cyclone could deal such utter devastation and perhaps the annihilation of a traditional lifestyle.

DELACONI – 3 months ofter Winston… still no roof, still no gutter… a disaster
The three villages we are assigned are located on the west coast of Vanua Balavu: Delaconi, Malaka, and Mua Mua.

Mua Mua – devastated coconut and pine trees, 80% of the people under tents or precarious shelter
 Of the villages total 95 structures, 80 have been completely destroyed, and only 15 are still standing but damaged.  Tents and Shelter Boxes line the villages lanes, flanking the concrete slabs where the houses used to stand.  Women are cooking the last of the staples distributed by the government. All contemplate a lasting hardship.


In Delaconi, where the 3 school buildings have been flattened, the schoolmaster makes do under UNICEF tents.
The Kindergarten building is almost rebuilt (Fiji Governement)
Delaconi was the darling of cruising yachts, since its chief controls visits to the Bay of Islands, a favorite cruising ground.  The we visited last year, we couldn’t help commenting how wealthy the village was.  Indeed, the entire village had put together a traditional birthday celebration for Robbie (one of the cruisers), complete with roasted pig, flower necklaces and dances.  Wealth no more.  The school’s 3 building have been wiped out and the new schoolmaster copes with teaching all grades k-8 under UNICEF tents.  “We’re coping,” says he, grabbing our soccer and rugby balls.
Sea Mercy delivering aid in Malaka
Malaka, a favorite anchorage in good holding mud, is no better.  On the beach landing, the fishery’s ice maker and blast freezer were damaged, but the fisheries department has just shipped a new freezer: help is coming.  Along the main village path, again, tents line up under damaged solar panels.  There is no electricity in the village, aside from individual solar panels.  
Sonny, Malaka’s headman, welcomes our visit.
The pine forest is devastated, so are the coconut groves.
The cassava plantations have been 90% wiped out
Mua Mua is perhaps the poorest of the 3 villages, with little hope of quick recovery.  
The very hard-hit Mua Mua
As if the loss of their homes were not enough, villagers also have lost their way of income: copra.  All coconut plantations have been severely damaged and the villagers estimate it will be 5 to 10 years before they will harvest a decent crop.  Meanwhile, they need to clear the plantations of fallen trees and replant a new crop.  But they just don’t have enough coconuts left to replant and must import them from Rotuma.
Mua Mua is a disaster zone
Women, whose traditional occupation was the weaving of pandanus leaves into mats and trinkets for tourists, have lost their ways.  Pandanus trees have blown away and they estimate that it will take up to 5 years before an adequate crop.
Unisi, Malaka’s leading woman, tends the community garden and is desperate to fight the caterpillar infestation
Yet, in this dismal picture, life goes on and we admire the spirit of the Fijian people.  Women are leading the way with their community gardens.  The gardening kits donated by the Australian government have been put to good use in all three villages and the community gardens are trhiving.   In Delaconi, the women pride themselves in having been voted the best community garden in the entire island.  And they should be proud: lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, and all sorts of roots.  They are eager to start a composting program, boost their production and sell fresh organic produce to the yachts visiting the Bay of Islands.
Making do in Malaka
In Malaka, the fisheries representative is eager to support the fishermen, who provide food and income for the village.  The 7 professional fishermen, however, run on scant material and equipment: not enough fishing lines and hooks, masks, fins, snorkels.  Women help with night fishing and we can hear them babble while they fish out of their canoes, on our port and starboard.  
It’s the same disaster zone everywhere we go
In Mua Mua, the chief struggles to understand how to rebuild after such a devastation.  The young men are overwhelmed with the task of clearing fallen trees and replanting the coconut farms.  Yet, the nurses and dietitian come from Loma Loma to conduct their regular clinic… under a tent.
JP meets the health care team under their makeshift tent-consultation room
The needs are staggering.  The government is responsive: each family has been issued a credit card with funds to rebuild their homes.  This week, all heads of households have travelled to Suva to collect their credit cards and order their building materials: work on building houses will start soon.  But what about tools? Supplies? Household items? Clothes? Food?
In Malaka, the community garden: cucumber row
That’s where Sea Mercy comes in.  This week, 8 Sea Mercy yachts are working the “Sea Bridge” around Vanua Balavu, assessing the needs of each village and delivering what aid they can, from organizing water delivery to clearing trees and delivering food and tools.
In Delaconi, Biu guards our aid delivery on the beach
As for us, we are working with our 3 villages.
In Delaconi, our guide Biu shadows us and makes sure that our supplies get to the people in need: food, clothing, shoes, tools are snatched up in a snap.  On Sunday, after church (blown roof and windows), the pastor delivered our first case of canned goods.  To the question, who should get the first of the canned goods, his answer was quick: “Widows and orphans.”  And so it was that we met the many orphans and widows in the village.
The pastor lost everything, his home, his property, and lives under a tent.
Yet, when we brought the aid, he distributed first to the neediest: orphans and widows
In Malaka, the young headman and his wife (the village nurse) are keen on distributing our aid of equitably.  
The fishermen appreciate the wetsuits
This afternoon, the fisheries rep. is taking us to fit the 7 fishermen with wetsuits donated by Dive Tutukaka in New Zealand.
The chief fell in love with the Sea Mercy Luminaid solar lights.
In Mua Mua, our guide Lo is taking an active role in making sure the aid gets to the chief’s house.  In the afternoon, she calls all the women and distributes the aid.  But it is the chief, who had to think a bit about according us Sevu Sevu and asked many questions before allowing to work in the village, who was dazzled by the LuminAid solar lights that will give each home a bit of light in this village that does not have any generator and where most individual solar panels have been blown away.
Do-Mini is loaded to the gills
In the last 3 days, we have delivered 8 cases of canned foods, 110 lbs of rice, 10 kg of flour, 2 kg salt30 machetes with files, 3 bow saws, 3 boxes of nails, 50 solar lights, 3 tarpaulins and sails, 11 packs of fishing line, 7 boxes of fishing hooks, 4 bags of shoes, 6 bags of clothing, 2 bags of bedding,  25 bars of soap, 3 cases of water sanitation tablets, 7 wetsuits.
In Mua Mua, Lo is anxious to plant the seeds that Sea Mercy provided, thanks to the donation from the RamaKrishna, Fiji
We are barely scratching the top of the iceberg.  Village women are very eager to create sustainable community gardens, while the men will be busy to replant the coconut and rebuild the homes.  It is an overwhelming task. 
Tomatoes grow year-round
Want to help?  Gardening tools, gardening education, seeds, and of course for food, clothing, mattresses, bedding, sturdy plastic containers, home-building tools, linoleum floors… if you care to help, send your donation to seamercy.org – The Sea Mercy fleet of volunteer yachts will make sure it gets where it’s needed!  One beach at a time, one village at a time.

The Delaconi school: the only building left standing…
(Photo: Marie HF)
Marie Dufour, Yacht DOMINO Powercat

Sea Mercy in Loma Loma

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
Sea Mercy Vanua Balavu
The Sea Mercy Fleet in Loma Loma, Vanua Balavu
May 27, 2016
Loma Loma, Vanua Balavu, Northern Lau Group, Fiji
The Island of Vanua Balavu and its outlying islands: Avea, Susu, Muni and Cikobia
Providing help to remote islands of the South Pacific has been our long-range goal for the last 15 years.  And here we are, in Vanua Balavu, Fiji’s remote Lau Group, with 7 other yachts, all parts of Sea Mercy.  We are on a recovery and rebuild mission, assisting the local populations after Cyclone Winston slammed its Category 5 fury into Vanua Balavu on February 20th.
The shoreline in LomaLoma
OUR MISSION – Vanua Balavu was the hardest-hit of all the islands in the Lau Group.  Casualties were heavy: five people died in the village of LomaLoma, four in Boitaci, and one in Delaconi.  Dozens were injured.  Ten were medivac’d to Suva with severe injuries.  The devastation is obvious, even 3 months later.
Not much left of this home
The health officer who cleared our quarantine was still traumatized as she recounted a night of horror, she and her family trying to escape the surge that was overtaking her home, swimming to higher ground while avoiding flying debris, roofing, trees.   The psychological scars are obvious and deep.

Sea Mercy Yacht PEREGRINE at anchor in Loma Loma
Our fleet of 8 Sea Mercy yachts has a 2-step mission:  
1 – Assess the needs of remote islands
2 – Request supplies, deliver them, and help rebuild.
Jonathan Robinson, our coordinator, loads water purification tablets on the dinghies
Jonathan Robinson, a retired Royal Navy helicopter pilot, is our task master, fresh from his experience with Sea Mercy last year in Vanuatu, where he provided relief after cyclone Pam.  And what energy!  No sooner had we finished our clearance that Jonathan had gathered the aid that had been shipped by Sea Mercy: 4 pallets of supplies, canned food, 16,000 water purification tablets, dozens of machetes, tarps, chain saws, clothes and linen.  Quickly divided into 8 stacks, supplies were shuttled all afternoon to the various boats.  
DOMINO’s aft deck is the perfect place for our daily briefings, assessment reports, priority settings, and tasking
At briefing, Johnathan had us paired up and tasked out.
  • Peregrine and Remedy to assess Avea, Susui and Munia 
  • Perry and The Southern Cross to assess Tuvuca (difficult access, by catamaran only) 
  • Amelie IV  and Dream Catcher to assess Nayau (no access, stand out only)
  • Amelie IV and Domino to assess Panacea and Yacata (o access, stand out only)
while Jonathan on Chez Nous will remain in Loma Loma to take our reports (emailed by Iridium) and stage the coming of Super Yachts.
Drs. Gretchen and JP visit with Dr. Malo at the Loma Loma hospital
Still we had time to visit the hospital and meet with Dr. Malo.  This young doctor has been at his post for only 4 months and we can only imagine how horrendous his task of dealing with a Cat. 5 cyclone within weeks of starting his new job.  He is responsible for 3,000 souls in Vanua Balavu and surrounding islands.  He is assisted by 20 nurses (clinical and public health) and he runs the Loma Loma hospital, a 16-bed facility.  Kindly, he gave us a tour while forgetting his lunch hour, and this is what we found.
  • The children’s ward (4 beds) can use a new coat of paint, happy murals and toys.  The 2 young boys lying there were quite lonely.
  • The men’s ward (4 beds) is rather basic.
  • The women’s ward  (4 beds) also includes an emergency cubicle with basic gurney and crash cart.
  • The birthing center is not being used, its windows broken, its paint peeling.
  • The dentist chair is used for tooth extractions only, since all electric parts have been damaged during the storm and have been sent to Suva for repair.
  • The linen cabinet is virtually empty
The Women’s ward

NEWS FLASH –  As soon as we visited the hospital, we communicated our findings to NOMADESS, a yacht coming our way.  Within 24 hours, the crew had delivered supplies and linens to the hospital, repainted the children’s ward and replaced the windows in the women’s ward (and delivered 6,000 liters of water (each) to the islands of Susui, Avea and Cikobia
The NOMADESS crew repaints the Children’s ward
The women’s ward windows, all fixed up






































To the side of the hospital, the health center where mothers usually take their babies for checks-ups has been boarded-up, rocked off its foundations, condemned for the time being.
The Health Center, rocked off its foundation, no longer safe
Wherever we walked in the village, we saw condemned buildings but tents for temporary shelter, signs of re-building, and the ever-present “Bula” of the Fijians.
Concrete slabs and tents: a common site all over Vanua Balavu
Our job here is to communicate those needs to Sea Mercy, to get what we can delivered to the villages, one village at a time.
Want to help us?  Just log on to the Sea Mercy website and donate.  Your donation will go a long way, since all of us are volunteers.  $ for a pot of paint and paint brushes?  $ for toys?  $ for children’s shoes and women underwear? Yes, please!  Visit http://seamercy.org/
Blown-out roofs, no gutters = no water catchment = no water!
More on the next blog…
dominomarie

BROADSWORD – The Ultimate Passagemaker

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
BROADSWORD – The Ultimate Passagemaker

BROADSWORD entering South Minerva Reef
May 21, 2016
North Minerva Reef
PASSAGEMAKERS!  Much has been written about them since Robert Beebe’s initial coining of the term Passagemaker.  As a reminder, what was that initial definition?  A vessel that is affordable, economical, capable to cross any ocean, and simple enough to be handled by a couple with no particular sea-going experience.
BROADSWORD made a “splash” at the Auckland Boat Show
Since Beebe’s Passagemaker and Leishman’s Nordhavn 46, the market has evolved and designers have struggled to fulfill the demand of MORE (accommodations and systems) on LESS (hull length,) often resulting in vessels that are complicated, inefficient to run, and expensive to maintain.  
We spotted Dashew’s ICEBERG off of New Zealan
 Dashew’s sleek FPB series, though spectacular, is yet one step beyond the concept of affordable or simple.  Somewhere along the line, the initial Passagemaker concept has been lost.  Today’s yachtsman should not have to break into Fort Knox to afford  his cruising ambitions and should not need an engineering degree to operate his yacht.  Where to turn to, then? 
Dashew’s complex FPB has, in our opinion, a major flaw: no aft deck room 
Thanks to Dennis Harjamaa, the Passagemaker concept has just been revived in the body of the  LRC 58.  When we saw BROADSWORD glide into South Minerva Reef without making a wake, its slender aluminum hull gleaming salmon-pink in the rising sun, JP and I fell in love with that yacht.  In addition to its sleek ratio (17.6m/3.6m,) wrap-around windows, spacious aft deck, and one-level living, the LRC 58 checks off every box in our Passagemaker checklist.
BROADSWORD’s bright galley
  • Affordable: around $700,000 US.
  • Economical: at cruising speed of 9.5 kts, burns 1 liter per nautical mile.
  • Capable: with a range of 4,400 NM at 9.5 kts, this is a true circumnavigator, self-righting should it broach.
  • Simple: One owner’s stateroom, one head, and adjustable sofas in the parlour that allow for a double and a single bunk.
  • Understated elegance: bare 5083 aluminum, soothing interior in slate-and-sand tones, a classic yacht feeling thanks to the withe-painted wood headliner, sleek integrated stainless steel counters in the galley; this is a true gentleman’s yacht that has everything to please a lady.
The lovely Parlour
Kindly, BROADSWORD’s owner Dominic Park invited us to tour his home, accompanied by the designer himself, Dennis Harjamaa, and shared his story with us.  Dominic was looking for a motor yacht that could fulfill his dreams of spending the summers in Greece and the winters in the Caribbean, meaning two transatlantic crossings a year and the ability to handle the Gulf Stream at any time.  Simple systems and easy maintenance were at the top of Mr. Park’s list.  But no ocean-crossing monohull on the market met his criteria.  Enter the young designer, Dennis Harjamaa. 
Dominic (left) and Dennis (right) built a lovely, capable, affordable passagemaker
The right man, with the right idea, at the right time and in the right place, Dennis is not your ordinary designer.  Born and educated in Finland, his youth was steeped in the rich brew of sturdy Norse boats.  Dennis then honed his skills at the Washington County Technical School in Eastport, Maine, where he studied all aspects of classical wooden boat building and lofting. After that he spent one year at the Landing School in Kennebunkport.  He is now running Artnautica Yacht Design in Auckland, New Zealand.  Four years ago, he started designing the LRC58 for himself, perhaps to prove the point that “LESS IS MORE.”  With hull # 1, KOTI  (“Home” in Finnish) on the launching block, Harjamaa had triggered enough of Mr. Park’s interest to start building hull #2, BROADSWORD (launched last September 2015.)  Hull #3 is currently under construction at Dickey Boats.  Another hull will be starting construction in Holland within a few weeks.
The bow
If we like the LRC 58’s clean design and simple systems, we also like the fact that BROADSWORD was built in New Zealand by DICKEY Boats.  Quality craftsmanship is obvious in all details, great care has been taken at all steps to prevent galvanic corrosion, materials and furnishings are of the highest quality, all complying to the exacting New Zealand standards.  One detail we like: the massive hoisting rings that allow the LRC to be lifted by any crane! 
The massive hoisting ring
We asked Dominic Park what he liked best about his yacht.  “The bed!”  Indeed, the queen-size bed is spacious, an extension of the parlour where Mr. Park finds serenity while he lounges in the saloon’s diffuse light, appreciating the comfort of a cocoon without the darkness of a dungeon.  He also likes the Raymarine electronics smart suite on C-Zone which affords him to select the running mode of the electronics at the push of a button.
“Mr. Todd” –
We also asked him what he would do differently.  A bigger engine? no, but a get-home engine would be nice, although the LRC58 is fitted with trick-booms that can be rigged with sails. 
The Raymarine Suite
As for Dennis, he particularly likes the KUBOTA engine block, a 4-cylinder tractor diesel engine marinized by BETA Marine in the UK, that comes with a 3-year self-service warranty. Do your own maintenance!
The saloon and helm
What about future boats?  Dennis Harjamaa, still inspired by classic designs ranging from George Buehler’s “Troller Yacht” concept to Nigel Irens and Michael Kasten, even Philip Stark’s futuristic designs, has several designs on the drawing board, including a 20.8m and a 24m cruiser that will have 2 cabins, 2 heads, 2 engines (1 main and 1 get-home.)  Currently designed for Mr. Park —whose requirements now include a crew member— we expect to see this yacht in production very soon.

The ample aft deck, ready for dinghy storage during passages: just fold the table and chairs!
Marvelous one-level design, room for a large party!
What about technology?  With an eye on the future but not willing to be a Guinea pig, the designer looks for developments in solar panel efficiency, gyroscopic stabilization (LRC58 has no stabilization and perhaps needs none) diesel electric engines, proven and tested.  Dennis will not put a client underway with a half-baked system.
Dominic Park, proud and happy owner!
“It’s not so much going from A to B that I like,” quips Mr. Park, “it’s rather enjoying the life at B!”  This no-nonsense gentleman’s yacht should delight Mr. Park as BROADSWORD embarks on her Maiden Voyage, from NZ to Fiji, Tonga, the Samoas, French Polynesia, Panama, the Caribbean, and—at last— Greece.  Doing this passage at counter-current is the ultimate test for a motor yacht.  
Why?  “Just because I can!”  Bon Voyage, Dominic!

Dennis and Dominic enjoy their creation
 Looking for a world cruiser?  Take a good look at the serious LRC 58 by Artnautica’s designer, Dennis Hargamaa… and remember Dennis’ name: this young man might surprise us yet with clean, efficient, affordable designs!
Till next time…

dominomarie

NORTH MINERVA REEF

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
NORTH MINERVA REEF
All alone at the edge of the reef
May 17, 2016 – North Minerva Reef – 23*39.500S – 178*54.129W

Grim discovery on the reef… some wreck…
Like a giant eye staring from the ocean, its turquoise pupil dilated in spite of the glaring sun, its reef-streaked brown iris a warning to keep away, North Minerva is another mythical stop on the way to Fiji from New Zealand.  

An eye on the sky
There, we rendez-vou’d with the rest of the Sea Mercy Fleet,  for a little fun before starting our Recovery Mission in Vanua Balavu.

Entering the reef
NAVIGATION NOTE – The pass is rather straightforward, easy in fair weather, but can get some pyramidal waves if the wind kicks up and the swell outside is large – Time the entrance for slack water.  There is a navigation beacon on the reef.
North Minerva Waypoints
Unlike the South Minerva Reef, where access to the reef is rather difficult, one of the main attractions in North Minerva is actually to walk the reef. 

Looking out
And you stand there, at low tide, at the outer edge of the reef, ankle-deep in seawater, staring at the deep Pacific just a few yards away.    How small are we in the face of the ocean’s immensity!
Spotting an octopus
The water is not nearly as clear as in South Minerva, and the hunting is definitely not as good, but the anchorage is calmer, a perfect spot for a yacht gathering.  We took advantage of it to have our 1st Sea Mercy planning party on board DOMINO… and the entire anchorage joined in, Including John Martin’s Island Cruising Association yachts… some 18 dinghies tied to DOMINO’s stern a good 50 of us on board launched the cruising season!  A good start!
Let’s get this season started!
One awesome encounter: the motor yacht BROADSWORD, which we love, and in fact much prefer to Steve Dashew’s creations, much simpler, much cheaper… but more on this later.

Dominique, owner of Broadsword (left) and Dennis, the designer (right) walking the reef
Here are a few pix for your enjoyment!
Always a treat
Until next time…

Now, that’s what I call fishing… Off Vuata Ono, Souther Lau Group
dominomarie

SOUTH MINERVA REEF

By on June 21, 2016 in Domino
The pass at South Minerva
MINERVA REEF – SOUTH
Friday May 13, 2016
23*56S – 179*06W  – Back to the West… and gained a day!
Friday the 13th!  What a day to arrive at one of the most isolated atolls in the world, under gloomy skies and drizzle!  The Minerva Reef.  It only took us 3 1/2 days to make the trip from 780 NM from Opua, always thankful to  our faithful John Deere engines who like to push us at 10 kts at 1000 rpm.  But on this trip, we had to slow down as not to arrive at Minerva in the evening.  So we travelled at 9 kts, at 900 rpm, burning 3 gallons per hour.  At sunrise, in front of the entrance of South Minerva Reef, we dropped the fishing lines overboard and were rewarded with an almost-instant double hookup of yellowfin tuna.  Kept one!
South Minerva Reef waypoints
NAVIGATION NOTE – There are 2 entrances: the north and the south channels of the western pass.  We took the north channel, at low tide (using the Raoul Island Tide Table,) with the reef very visible on starboard, straight through and across the lagoon to the anchorage close to the beacon; no problem spotting bommies.  The south channel is also a possibility, but one needs to take a sharp turn to port in order to avoid the rock in front of the pass.  Note that the light charted on top of the rock at the entrance no longer exists.  However, there is a working beacon on the east end of the reef, flashing 1” on, 3” off (messes up the view of the stars!!!)
With an eye on the weather, always!
Here, there is no land; here, there are no trees; here, there are no birds.  There is only a ring of coral pounded by the long Pacific waves, their spewing foam the singular telltale of the reef’s presence and the primary clue to the mariner that this 5 x 3 miles obstruction to his progress exists.  How many yachts have crashed on this hidden reef?  Just a few years ago, a yachtie had not zoomed low enough into his electronic chart, had no idea that the reef was there and crashed into it, lost his yacht.
Checking in with Northland Radio and the Pacific Seafarers Net (14300 kHz @0300 UTC)
“Gin-clear water” is an expression I’ve heard before, but even in the Tuamotus I’ve not really, really seen it.  Well, this is gin-clear water.  The seas break over the reef and the water is filtered by the reef, with constant flow.  It wasn’t until the third day at anchor, once the clouds had dissipated, that we realized how special this place is.  Of course, we are the only boat for hundreds of miles around, which may seem a bit eery to you but is entirely satisfactory to us.  Anchored in 10 meters of water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

Sea Urchin
And the fauna?  Giant clams are really, really giant, the way we used to see them in Bora bora 25 years ago, and they are everywhere: just pick them up off the seafloor, try not to strain your back throwing them in the dinghy… 

Giant Clams heaven!
Lobsters are a bit trickier to find.  The first day, we found a bommie with at least 10 enormous spiny lobsters, the kind with long, white antennae, that are so skittish that they hide the moment they feel your disturbance in the water.  Sill, JP managed to shoot one (about 4 lbs!) but had all the trouble in the world getting it out of its hole, as it was clinging with amazing strength to the rocks, helped by its companion who clung to it till the end.  
“White Antenna” is the tip-off… 
The next day, we found another bommie with just 2 lobsters, again enormous, the kind with blue eyes and electric-blue cartilage at the base of the antennae, bumps all over the body (instead of spines).  That one decided to run back into its hole with JP’a arrow and it was a nail-biting experience to watch JP wedge his entire body in the hole to try to get his arrow back.  A good 20 minutes later, he got his arrow and lobster, another 4-lb beauty.  
“Blue Antenna” beauty
And today, we snorkeled for 4 hours, covering almost a mile of reef, and didn’t see a single antenna.  So, you see, don’t believe everything they say about this place, the lobsters don’t exactly crawl up your anchor chain.  Two lobsters in 20 man-hour of hunting is not a stellar performance!
Cleaning a giant clam: Muscle in sashimi, lips pressure-cooked for an hour, then in curry & coconut milk sauce
Sharks are pretty territorial here.  Although they check us out and usually leave us alone, these white tips let us know when they want us out of the water.  This morning, we dropped on a mama shark and her pup who were obviously hunting.  Within seconds, the mama was charging me, clear in her message that she didn’t want us around.  Like a good son, the little one followed suite and charged me too!  Pointing my slingshot in their direction, I swam quickly backwards to the dinghy, JP and I covering each-others’ backs, and we got away from the hunting territory.
Gin-clear water

Sunny days like today are spectacular. So clear is the water that I can see JP dive some 100 meters away and not have to look for his snorkel above water.  Coral blocks and canyons are home to yet new varieties of fish we had not seen before:  black Trevally, Dotted Sweetlips beyond 1m long, orange-gold and black Silver Sweetlips, all really tempting to hunt.  But with the shark activity and our fridge full of fish as it is, we don’t need to look for trouble.  So, we just enjoy.   
Spectacular coral beds
Moray Eels of all varieties are everywhere; I reckon I’ve seen at least 5 varieties in the last 2 days: giant Green, peppered, yellow-headed, snowflake, reticulated…  
Shells?  Disappointing… It seems that the giant clams have taken over all other forms of mollusks.  My collection will have to wait, but I managed to find 3 new varieties of cones and a tiny form of abalone.
 Dinner: lobster salad, tuna poki, Giant Clam
Diet?  Try this for lunch:  tuna poki, sashimi of yellowfin tuna and giant clams, lobster salad, white cabbage salad (token green stuff;) clam lips in curry-coconut sauce for dinner, lemon Basmati rice.  All good!
The anchorage has been uncomfortable.  Although it is rather calm at low tide, it is incredibly rolly as soon as the waves break over the reef.   From mid-tide, to high tide, to mid-tide, it’s 6 hours of rock and roll, and since the last 3 days have seen swells in the 3.5 meter range outside the reef, we have been rolling in our bed at night… not the most pleasant.
But it’s a small price to pay to see the biggest, most electric green flash ever!  And the stars!!! Shooting stars!!!   We are totally alone… and loving it!  It will be another 2 or 3 days yet before the rest of the Sea Mercy fleet catches up with us.
Till next time….

dominomarie 

FPB 78-1: First Sea Trial

By on June 20, 2016 in Wind Horse

It is a little over a week since Cochise splashed and we are on our first sea trial. As the …Read More

エステに行くことを思えばお安く…。

By on June 19, 2016 in Ruff Life

本当に永久ミュゼなどの脱毛にトライする方は、自分自身が希望していることをプロフェショナルに確実に伝えて、大事な…