Land ho! (part 13)
Saturday June 18th
“Land ho!“ was called by Chris at 03.59 am this morning. Just then the wind gusted for a moment, and Ohana gave a giddy little jump too.
When I arrived up on deck the island was shrouded in the same mist that had surrounded the boat last night, so my very first impression of the place was of just a rocky headland peering out into the overcast grey sea. I was waiting to see a giant gorilla in the mist.
Sails down, motors on, we made our way around the southern coast of the island and into the mouth of the harbour that makes up the centre of the island, and anchor off the small jetty down town. It is the first time I have sailed, well motored, into the centre of a crater of an extinct volcano. Job done, we have arrived.
A few hours hours later we headed into the village in the dingy. Customs and immigration were first on the list, so we headed to the Mairie (the town hall). Chris took care of the formalities with Joe translating. Myself and Niko stood around chatting to all and sundry… François the 1st deputy mayor, Octav the vice-mayor, and many of the people working in the building or sitting around relaxing outside. We are only the third boat to arrive this year (other than the scheduled supply and passenger ship to and from Tahiti about once every six weeks) so there is plenty of interest and enthusiasm amongst the locals to talk to us.
We get invited into a “mission civic” session — sort of a cultural heritage class for 16–25 year olds on the island, to pass on the local knowledge of the islands crafts, farming and music heritage to the next generation. They were funny and welcoming. The main things that they impressed upon us… a number of times…were that they are working hard to get a large marine reserve, like a 200 mile economic zone, declared around their island to stop foreign boats coming in and taking all the fish (read about a National Geographic research expedition here to support this, part of their Pristine Seas programme), and that while we were very welcome as visitors and guests we couldn’t stay permanently and make a claim for some land to build a house on… unless we were to marry a Rapa woman first! They made sure to fit that in during our first hour on the island here. Hilarious!
With all the paperwork done, we headed back to the boat to grab some food and an early night on board, before heading out to explore the island the next day. Everyone was pretty exhausted from two weeks of non-stop watch keeping and sailing excitement, and it was a relief to be able to switch out of the regimented pattern of life at sea. I laid my head down and fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep that lasted 15 hours, right through the night until the next morning. I found out next morning that everyone else had done the same thing.
Looking back
By the time we had reached Rapa Iti, I was delighted to get off the boat and walk around on land for an hour or two, and delighted that our daily watch schedule was suspended, at least until we headed out to sea again, but it didn’t take long for my perspective to shift to one of overall appreciation for the trip and what an accomplishment it had been.
Yes there were a few days at the beginning when I was so tired at the end of a watch that I would have gladly gotten off the boat and checked into a hotel to sleep for a while, had that been an option, but happily it hadn’t been.
There were times when I felt unsafe as things were breaking or being damaged around me and I couldn’t understand why, or what to do about them. However, those areas of the voyage were Chris’s responsibility as skipper rather than the crew’s, and he handled them really well. I suspect I’d be more relaxed about it all on a future trip, having been ‘broken in’ to this aspect of bluewater sailing by this trip.
Certainly once we got past the worst of the early weather and settled into a good shipboard routine, the positive sides of sailing in the open ocean, essentially a watery wilderness, came strongly to the fore. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, watching the seabirds and dolphin and whales, meditatively calm watches, and just the fun of being onbroad with the rest of the crew… I was delighted to find so many references to wonder and gratitude in my daily journal afterwards.
So, some shakey moments aside, I’ve been delighted with the trip so far, and look forward to the next sections of it over the coming weeks.
The voyage to Rapa Iti
- Part 1 — Introduction
- Part 2 — Auckland to Tauranga shakedown trip
- Part 3 — Leaving New Zealand
- Part 4 — Trying to get into the swing of things
- Part 5 — Action stations!
- Part 6 — Now we’re sailing
- Part 7 — A very happy birthday
- Part 8 — Action stations again!
- Part 9 — Whales
- Part 10 — A day with a bit of everything in it
- Part 11 — The sky is on fire
- Part 12 — Almost there
- Part 13 — Land ho!
