LOST IN THE EDDY! : PACIFIC CRUISING ABOARD FELLOWSHIP: PACIFIC CRUISING ABOARD FELLOWSHIP

By Andrew, Sally

Book Id: WPLBN0100750253
Format Type: PDF (eBook)
File Size: 47.26 MB.
Reproduction Date: 6/4/2024

Title:	LOST IN THE EDDY! : PACIFIC CRUISING ABOARD FELLOWSHIP: PACIFIC CRUISING ABOARD FELLOWSHIP
Author:	Andrew, Sally
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, South Pacific Ocean sailing adventures
Collections:	Authors Community, Adventure
Historic Publication Date:	2024
Publisher:	Sally Andrew

Member Page:	Sally Andrew
Citation APA MLA Chicago Andrew, S. (2024). LOST IN THE EDDY! : PACIFIC CRUISING ABOARD FELLOWSHIP. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
"Flashback to Nineteen Ninety. The year we gave up careers, steady income, insurance benefits, television. The year we left California and went cruising. The year we cut the ties that bound us to Monday to Friday nine to five, reruns of "Cheers" each evening at seven and eleven and "The Wonder Years" on Tuesday night. "Suddenly we were thirty-something and unemployed by choice. No children ditto. No fixed address. No fixed latitude. Our goal - to spend the next few years enjoying ourselves and each other. Sailing. Relishing our independence. Breaking from the temptation of over consumption and the concept of upward mobility. Realizing our goal of independent mobility. Aspiring to an alternative sustainable lifestyle. Going cruising! "The announcement of our impending departure met with confused responses by our friends and co-workers. "That's great!" said some. "You're crazy!" commented others. Our co-workers felt somewhat let down and deserted - "Who's going to figure out why the computer is screwing up again?" Our bosses, however, understood and supported our decision. Though even now neither can figure out the "how", neither asked "Why?" "Read Lost in the Eddy! and find out why we got "stuck" in the Pacific Eddy, visiting and revisiting remote Pacific island communities, for over ten incredible years."

Summary
"LOST IN THE EDDY!" TAKES YOU FROM THE WEST COAST OF AMERICA ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND DESCRIBES A CRUISING COUPLE'S LIFE OF SIMPLE PLEASURES, WILD ADVENTURES, AND MAGICAL MOMENTS EXPERIENCED ON A TEN-YEAR PACIFIC VOYAGE ABOARD THEIR 33-FOOT SAILBOAT "FELLOWSHIP". THE STORIES GREW OUT OF A SERIES OF MONTHLY ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE NEWS MAGAZINE PACIFIC ISLAND MONTHLY (1990-2000) AND SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL YACHTING PUBLICATIONS. PORTS OF CALL INCLUDE STOPS AT REMOTE ISLAND VILLAGES IN HAWAII, FANNING AND CHRISTMAS ISLANDS, COOK ISLANDS, TONGA, FIJI, WALLIS AND FUTUNA, VANUATU, BANKS ISLANDS, TUVALU, NEW CALEDONIA.

Excerpt
Maui has a reputation as one of the most beautiful islands in the world - brilliant green cane fields sprouting out of the red earth, Haleakala crater rising high above the clouds. Each winter on the leeward side of Maui, hundreds of humpback whales make their phenomenal reappearance in the calm warm waters off Lahaina. I was really looking forward to returning. FellowShip arrived back in Maui on a warm blue Hawaiian day after a smooth and lazy sail from Molokai and anchored in the roadstead off Lahaina. Lahaina used to be a major whaling port - today the whaling ships and the old seadogs who sailed them have disappeared. Instead, it has become a whale-watching tourist mecca. Like everyone else, we hope to catch close sight of a whale or two lazing off the Lahaina waterfront. We often get up at dawn and find the world breathless, not a ripple on the water, not a movement in the air. On a morning such as this, as we are quietly sipping our coffee on deck, a local live-aboard sounds the alarm. "Thar she blows!" Sure enough, off to starboard and less than fifty feet away, three humpback whales are lazily swimming through the anchorage in front of the old Mala Wharf. They pass between FellowShip and another boat at anchor in only forty feet of clear water. Foster dons his snorkel, mask and fins to get a peek at the leviathans underwater. I am momentarily mesmerized and paralyzed - poetically awestruck - and grab a view from the deck instead. I can't believe it! I suppose I should be scared to death - humpbacks are much larger than FellowShip's 33 feet, averaging 40 to 46 feet in length and weighing up to 40 tons. And they are much stronger than our fibreglass hull - a mere flick of their tail on the water produces a slap that can be heard at once on the shores of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. But they are graceful animals with an other-worldly voice and a strange appeal. Humpback whales are migratory animals, spending their summers in the high latitudes (Alaska, New Zealand and Antarctica) where there are generous food supplies. In the winter, they cruise to warmer waters nearer the equator to mate and breed. The females choose the breeding ground each year and in the North Pacific they winter in Mexico or Hawaii. One year, or so I've been told, all the females decided on Hawaiian holidays. Consequently, those males who made the unfortunate decision to swim to Mexico to breed had to make the decision to stay put and be celibate or start swimming due west to Hawaii. Most opted for female companionship. Who can blame them? FellowShip follows a similar pattern, choosing the warmth and calmness of tropical waters in winter, and shifting poleward in the summer to avoid the hurricane season. Perhaps our affinity for these mammals springs from this like-mindedness. On Mala Wharf one evening, we have the pleasure of bumping into Marcy and Kevin of Breezin', a Brown 31 trimaran. “We have a crisis that demands immediate action. Do you like tamales?" was the rather desperate greeting. "My mom in California express-mailed a huge box of homemade frozen tamales - they arrived today and they're starting to thaw! Can you help us eat them?" When cruising, one meets new friends in the strangest ways. We answer immediately. "No problema!" That night, we enjoy one of the best extemporaneous on-board potluck Mexican meals we've ever had. While we swing on our anchor at Lahaina, dozens of turtles swim and graze on the bottom off Malo Wharf - I can see them nearly thirty feet down. In the anchorage is Tola, a Columbia 24 - a boat not much bigger than a turtle shell - with circumnavigators Mike, Karen and their young son Falcon who'd been born in Malta, half-way round the globe. Falcon took a liking to our boat mascot and spiritual guide Billy the Beaver, a hand-puppet who thinks he's human and whose eyes capture the hearts of both children and gruff old men alike. Day sailing out of Lahaina in the winter is always exciting. Each time we put to sea we had a different experience with the humpback whales. One day we sailed Lanai-ward and saw several male humpbacks breaching, slapping their flippers on the water and generally having a good time. The biggest breached right off the stern quarter of a commercial whale-watching boat before landing with a gigantic splash that left most of the camera-toting tourists wet and thrilled! Many of the humpbacks are singers and sing songs that are at once magical and mystifying. One calm day the haunting serenade of the humpbacks vibrated right through the hull of our boat and sent shivers up my spine! Another morning we watched as a mother humpback and her calf were led by two dolphins - a largo quartet gracefully swimming in perfect unison, rhythmically surfacing and blowing. A very peaceful encounter. Another day, while becalmed in Maalaea Bay, we spot several humpbacks in the distance - breaching, slapping the water with their long white pectoral fins and lob-tailing. Lob-tailing involves raising the tail high into the air and crashing it back to the water in a loud report. Whap!! With a quick but powerful thrust of tail flukes, the group sounds en masse and dives deep beneath the surface of the water. We hold our distance, because although we like to whale-watch, we also respect the laws that prohibit boats from infringing on the whales' space. We are waiting for them to re-appear when suddenly two of the leviathans leap clear of the water in a seemingly effortless display of power - less than fifty feet to starboard. Yikes! Each keeps one of their huge grapefruit-sized eyes on us as they rise to the height of our spreaders. We don't blink or breathe until they fall away from the boat with a big splash, splash and swim off. Cruising, we have sighted humpbacks in Hawaii, Alaska, Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Australia. While rendezvous with whales at sea are always a thrill, in Hawaii FellowShip was once again thrust onto a page torn from National Geographic. Close encounters like these will always be one of the ultimate pleasures of cruising. Although sea birds often travel hundreds of miles to accompany us into port, circling high overhead for days and occasionally landing on deck, and dolphins race up to our bow and gambol in our wake, cheering us on, the appearance of whales at sea is always the biggest thrill. They have entertained us, played with us, and occasionally frightened us. My fascination with these gentle giants is endless. I admire their mobility, their ability to navigate across thousands of miles of open ocean, and their affinity for winters in the tropics. They deserve humanity's utmost respect and protection.

Table of Contents
Foreword SAILING THE SOUTH PACIFIC * the dream * Chapter 1 GOING, GOING, GONE CRUISING! * the escape* Chapter 2 NORTH TO ALASKA * the shakedown cruise * Chapter 3 VOYAGING TO HAWAII * my first ocean passage * Chapter 4 ALOHA! * exploring our first Pacific landfall * Chapter 5 VISIONS OF PARADISE * my first glimpse of traditional Pacific life * Chapter 6 CROSSING THE LINE * our first encounter with tropical disease * Chapter 7 TONGA - IT'S THE PEOPLE YOU MEET * the friendly feudal isles: home of the oldest and last Polynesian monarchy* Chapter 8 RETURN TO TONGA * a celebration of rain and royalty * Chapter 9 VOYAGE TO TONGA, AGAIN * Weddings, Feasts and Trading in Tonga * Chapter 10 NIUATOPUTAPU - FAR NORTH TONGA * where time stands still * Chapter 11 LAZY LAGOON DAYS * adventure at Iles Wallis & Futuna * Chapter 12 FIJI HERE WE COME! * a fragile paradise * Chapter 13 THE MAGIC OF THE REEFS * cannibals in north-east Fiji * Chapter 14 SITTING IN A CHIEF'S LAP * the dry, funny side of Fiji * Chapter 15 FUN @ FUNAFUTI * island power * Chapter 16 ADVENTURE IN VANUATU * pigs in paradise* Chapter 17 GETTING INTO HOT WATER * hot springs and volcanoes at Ambrym * Chapter 18 SAILING TO THE LAND OF TA-HAR * bedevilled by winds * Chapter 19 PIG KILLING IN PENTECOST * our adoption * Chapter 20 SLEEPY SANTO * a beehive of inactivity * Chapter 21 THE "STONE-MEN" OF MALEKULA * a peek back in time * Chapter 22 MALARIA & BIG FISH * the two that got away * Chapter 23 RETURN TO RAGA * bringing light to Loltong * Chapter 24 MELODIC MAEWO * a veritable Eden * Chapter 25 WATER MUSIC OF LAKONA * aqua-robics island-style * Chapter 26 IN THE EYE OF THE BISHOP * to err is human, to be forgiven, divine * Chapter 27 THE GREAT SHRIMP HUNT * the double falls at Waterfall * Chapter 28 NEW CALEDONIA: RUGGED RED ROCK IN THE OCEAN * baguettes and bureaucracy * Chapter 29 LANDFALL: LOYALTIES * postcard paradise * Chapter 30 CLIFFS, CAVES AND CORAL * discovering the cave of the ancients * Chapter 31 ISLE OF PINES * back to school * Chapter 32 CYCLONE ! * close call with Cyclone Drena * Chapter 33 A BUMPY START * circumnavigating the Red Rock * Chapter 34 NAVIGATING TO MAHAMATE * in the wake of Captain Cook * Chapter 35 BALABIO BECKONS * fortune in the hills * Chapter 36 THE NORTHERN LAGOON * like nowhere on earth * Chapter 37 PEACEFUL PRONY * millennium dawn * Chapter 38 SHIFTING GEARS * the end of an era: a new beginning * Chapter 39 THE LAST PASSAGE * where is my captain? * Chapter 40 WHAT NEXT? * from voyagers to vagabonds * - APPENDIX 1 - How Did a Nice Girl Like Me End Up Cruising? - APPENDIX 2 - Living Simply * less is more *