Tall Ship Soren Larsen Sailing adventure for all ages

Tall Ship Soren Larsen Archive 2005 ~ South Pacific Sail Training Adventure for all ages

See Previous 2005 Voyage Logs

G´day G´day readers.

My names Kenny and I´ve been aboard Soren for almost a year now. It has been a true memorable experience, something I´ll never forget, but anyhow lets talk about this last trip Rarotonga to Tonga....

It began in the tiny port of Avarua. The weather had been rather bleak, what with the wind and the rain (Tropics? Mmmm!), so it was nice to set sail towards some sunshire (fingers crossed).

It was an early morning departure and with fairly moderate winds, (force 5) sails were set and the new voyage crew got a taste of sail handling in a 2-3 metre sea.

Ship board life, whilst sailing, revolves around 3 watch groups, each doing two 4 hour watches. This trip I was to be on the 4-8 watch (evening and morning).

The afternoon was spent showing the new crew lines and sails and generally discussing life aboard. Soren Larsen meanwhile had the bit beween her teeth, with winds from the aft quarter she was pulling along at a reasonable 7.5 knots and all was well.

After watch (20:00 hrs) I retired to bed, warm, full and looking forward to a pleasant morning watch.

Sailing

Apart from the movement of the ship, its hard to tell weather conditions down below. Upon being awoken at 04:00 everything felt the same. Opening the door from the galley to the outside world provided an altogether different perspective. Wind had increased to force 6 with driving rain and vague shadows huddled around the midship hatch. All square sails except the lower had been handed and we were sailing under reefed main and inner jib.

With wind increasing over the next hour the mate had Sarah and I go aloft to stow the square sails. It was about that time that the winds reached their most ferocious strength, with one gust healing the boat on her beam ends. It took us about an hour and a half to stow all squares and on that time we had been following the wind direction around, we had in fact completed a perfect 360º circle within the hour, my only guess being that we were infact in the eye of the storm. The sunrise that morning was, to say the least, rather subdued with rain and heavy cloud. Ah the sailors life for me!

Palmerston Island was to be our first stop after 2½ days sailing. A tiny atoll consisting of 3 islands inhabited by three families. All are decendents from one man who took 3 wives and placed them in 3 different parts of an island.

Unfortunately, what with the weather conditions and all, the sea was mightly confused. The reefs surrounding the islands being all but impassable even on a calm day by small tender, the local knowledge of the islanders being the only way to navigate these daunting hazards. So much to the disppointment of all aboard it was decided to head for Tonga, another 2-3 days voyage. The weather fortunately was improving with the one exception, the wind was dying. From one extreme to the other over 4 days. We had to motor sail most ot the way to Tonga.

Fishing

Whilst cruising along we always have a couple of lures tralining away behind us. During the day, never at night. You can go for days, even weeks without any action but then all of a sudden “Bang” the line snaps taught and you find yourself fighting to bring in a healthly sized fish.

Over two days we caught 3 yellowfin tuna and one Mahi Mahi. The colours of these fish vivid blues and yellows. Sleek and streamlined. Very tasty.

Whales

Tis whale season in the Pacific and what a season it is. I´ve lost cound of how many we have seen this trip, fully grown adults to infant calves. To see these creatures of the deep frolicking in their natural environment is breathtaking. One call of “WHALES” is enought to bring all onboard on deck with cameras in hand each and every time. Typically whales don’t breach or play on cue. Most picutres are pictures of the mind, stored in the brain to be brought out and developed and embelished at some future diner party or round of drinks at the local pub. I think we spyed at least one whale a day, if not more, for most of the trip, awesome.

Islands

A big part of Soren Larsens itiniary is island hopping. Islands and atolls in all their extremes. Upon reaching Tonga we dutifully clear customs and set off for a couple of days cruising the outlying archepelego.

These islands are sheltered to the open sea and provided us with cosistant wind and calm seas, perfect. One night we anchored out the front of a tiny village at Hinakauea beach and were treated to traditional dancing and a feast served on clam shells and local root vegetable leaves. Even a local pig had been slowly cooked all day and everyone returned to the ship happy and content.

Kenny Kao & Tofua islands are two volcanoes, Kao a perfect pyramid and from a distance at sea could even be mistaken for a pharoh inspried monolith. Tofua at some stage in the past had blown its peak and was actually full of water once you got to the top. Getting to the top however was another story. This once inhabited island has been deserted for a year or so now and any tracks or paths that once existed were completely overgrown, indeed the only paths left are created by wild pigs that remain on the island. Getting to the top was in fact a mission in itself. Climbing over volcanic rock on shore was a test, weaving through dense rain forest was challenging but trying to get through shoulder high ferns (I´m 6´6”) was an act of extreme bush walking. The island is 507m high and 60% of this was spent negotiating these infernal ferns. Literally making our own paths. The views however were spectacular and worth every minute of the excursion. To see the Soren Larsen anchored with the island of Kao still twice as high as we were was amazing.

Thats all for now.

So if you read this and are wondering whether to take a trip on Soren or not, I hope it inspires you to come. I can´f fit in everyting that happens over 17 days here and I´ve missed out on a lot from the Islands with its beautiful sandy beaches and snorkeling to our fancy dress parties (good one “Stinge”), cave diving at Mariners Cave and fiddle playing in a naturally accoustic cave whilst sitting in the tenders, to general ship board life.