The 2003 Tall Ship Soren Larsen Pacific Voyage Log

NEW 24th July: Noreen Hill - Ship's Cook, camera-ace, and voyage log scribe writes her third installment of her account of life aboard: Tonga to Fiji

Austrian Voyage Crew Emil Gruber flew out to New Zealand to join Soren Larsen for the entire 5 month 2003 Pacific season. Read his Tonga- Fiji story here

July 7th 2003 and trip three Tonga to Fiji has commenced.

Our six new voyage crew join our ‘repeat offenders’ Emil and Syd (we agreed that they are like the two men who sit up on the balcony on the Muppet Show! By the way, if anyone can remember the names of the two characters, please let us know!) Nonetheless with such few numbers, the ship is relatively a quiet place.

On Tuesday we headed north for the Haapai Islands, I must admit I am having trouble writing the journal this time around due to the bad weather and unpleasant seas I spent the day ‘feeding the fish’ and was a bit out of touch with the on goings of the ship. There were a few faces on deck for the trip up, but the majority of VCs were getting some shuteye in their bunks. I suppose my feeding the fish paid off because we managed to catch three large tuna fish! As I lay in my bunk Daniel, Jacob and Lucy gutted and filleted them, great job guys! Joel braved the weather and headed to the t’gallant for coral watch. (Someone is sent aloft while we sail through reefs to be on the lookout for a safe passage for the ship)
The ‘wet bum taxi’ took the VCs ashore to do some beachcombing and tramping on yet another Tongan island. After lunch we will be weighing anchor and motoring a few miles north to have a bonfire on the beach tonight! We are due in Vavau on Friday to check in with customs and stock up on fruit and veggies before our journey to Fiji!

Neiafu Anchorage July 12: Thea and I alternate trips to the veggie markets and have started bringing a deckhand ashore to help us carry the goods. It is great to see how excited the deckies get with a little extra time ashore! Lucy and Thea headed off to the markets while the ship was tidied from the voyage up. As I laid out lunch the sun magically appeared for the first time in days and we were hitting the water as soon as the swim call was given. A local man, by the name of Lofi came by the ship asking if we wanted to take part in a Tongan feast. After the delicious feast we had last time we were here there were no hesitations in going. Mikkel, Fraser, Jacob, Daniel and myself joined the VCs and we met Lofi at the jetty at 1500 and took a short taxi ride…to his house! Because it has been raining steady for almost a week now, the ground is a slippery and muddy so were very cautious as we climbed over the gate designed to keep the pigs in, and took off our flip flops as we walked into his house. As we entered what looked to be his living room there were piles of watermelon and bananas surrounding 13 plates.

We were asked to sit down as Lofi prayed in Tongan, and then asked to start eating. His daughter had prepared some deep fried tuna, pork, chicken and beef all covered in a lovely ‘red sauce’ along with local tapioca. It is a very starchy root vegetable and is the main Tongan diet along with taro, another similar root. Anyways, me being a vegetarian, looked at the plate and thought, wow this will be an expensive meal of watermelon and banana! It was fantastic to be inside a local’s house and really experience the Tongan way of life, although it was not what we had expected we were very pleased with Lofi’s hospitality! We were shown the Pandanus trees, which are used to make mats , we were also shown Tapa cloths made from mulberry bark. The cloths are made by the women and are one of Tonga’s identity elements. They are a part of the wealth of the families; for any type of ceremony large amounts are exchanged between households.

We admired the carvings, which Lofi’s brother had made, and took part in a kava ceremony, after the bowl was finished the VCs caught a ride back into town while the permanent crew and Emil walked back with Lofi. Later in the evening Emil was to meet up with our host to attend the funeral of a local man. I set up my sleeping bag on the foredeck and wished that I had gone along with Emil; the singing coming from ashore was like none other I have ever heard. The choir continued on till around 0400 this morning, and at breakfast Emil assured me that I had really missed out, it was a spectacular sight.

Today is Jacob Thomsen’s 25th birthday and after Thea made his favorite breakfast of crepes filled with yogurt and honey, we weighed anchor to go do some snorkeling for the day. When we asked what kind of birthday cake he wanted, he kindly answered, “Ï don’t want a cake, I just want the two cooks to relax for the day as long as I can have as much Papaya as I want!” With that said, we made a reservation at the Mermaid Bar for dinner ashore tonight!
At 1400hrs on the 14th, we departed for Fiji. As we left Neiafu Harbor, Vavau, whales were spotted, a great way to begin a voyage! With an average speed of 6.9 knots and wonderful following seas the ship seemed to glide over the water. Although the sun continues to hide behind clouds, the water temperatures rise as well as the humidity. As we crossed over the international dateline, the crew not on watch celebrated with a relaxing beer on the foredeck, we also needed to move the clocks back an hour! Jim informed us that 1600hrs would become 1530hrs (we would do two time changes); Mark (a.k.a. Frank) was not around when Jim told us about the time change. When I came up to do smoko I sat tapping my watch wondering why it was reading 1545 when the galley clock was saying 1515. Here Frank had gone and changed the clocks at 1500 instead of 1600, well this not only confused myself, but Bobby began asking “what time do I start the generators at, the old time or the new time” Thea wondered what time the roast should now go in, Fraser wondered whether he had to do an extra half hour of watch or not! To solve the mix up, we decided it was indeed Frank’s fault and he should wash up all the smoko mugs!

At 0045hrs on the 17th, we anchored off the old Fijian capital city, Levuka. After breakfast we awaited for Customs and Immigration to come and clear us in. With the o.k. from the authorities, voyage crew and half the crew went ashore to take in the sights and sounds of Ovalau Island. The sun shone most of the day and it is very obvious that we are further north; the humidity is getting to all of us! The 18th was my day off and I headed straight to the post office and phone booth! A $10 phone card got me a three minute call home, it is amazing how clear the phone lines were, but man does time fly by quickly! It is so great hearing a familiar voice after a few weeks, makes you feel a lot closer to home then you really are! Mikkel, Fraser, Daniel and I paid a taxi driver $10 to give us a tour half way around the island. The voyage crew took a trip around the island and were entertained at a local village. There were many dirty bums when the taxi dropped the VCs off, they had been jungle walking! The island is volcanic and so due to the lack of soft soil, houses are built up on stilts and roads are very rough, Wyo commented on the wild ride down the mountain! It was great to see the local culture and another part of the South Pacific!

July 19, we anchored early in the morning just off Dravuni Island after an overnight trip from Levuka. Jim and Joel went ashore to offer Kava to the island chief; after accepting our gift, the chief, his wife and their seven-year-old daughter visited the ship along with a few other local men. Ledua, the chief’s daughter took a liking to us girls, especially Marita, and she held on to her hand as if never wanting to let go, it was so special! We were invited to join the locals for a kava session at 1900hrs. We sat in a large open room with woven mats on the floor and a large kava bowl in the center.

The voyage crew and crew sat amongst the villagers and all introduced ourselves in between drinks of kava. One man sat at the kava bowl filling small coconut cups for two other men to pass around. He would offer us the kava, clap five times and then we were to drink, after we had choked down the ‘muddy dishwater’ everyone else would clap twice. The pace in the room had slowed in the two and a half hours we were there but it did not stop Thea, Marita, Lucy and I from talking with the local women exchanging stories on how we spent our days! It was so great to be treated as one of the locals and enjoy an evening ashore. The next morning, we were invited to attend a church service. Dressed in our Sunday best we gathered outside the church, and waited for about half an hour before the locals appeared! We congregated and the women began scripture readings and then broke out in beautiful Fijian singing. The pastor was very emotional throughout his entire sermon and I sat wondering what he was preaching! One of the church elders offered his hymnal to me and I shared with Joel and Marita as we tried sing along with the choir! We were welcomed in English by one of the locals and a plate was passed around so that we could make an offering to the church and its people! After the service the locals all slipped back to their homes to spend a quiet Sunday without work, I swung Ledua around and enjoyed the sound of her laughter!

The boat came to pick us up and it was so hard to imagine going back to the ship after spending such a marvelous day ashore, but when it was announced that we were going reef snorkeling I was a bit keener! Although there is still a lack of sunshine the snorkeling was fantastic. When Jim asked if we wanted a BBQ ashore, there was no hesitation in our answering, YES! What a magnificent way to end an already awesome day. Firewood was collected along with seashells and coral; Frank made another fantastic fire and I cooked Lamb chops, Sausages, and Veggie Burgers on the iron plate while the potato and kumara parcels sizzled away on the coals! Lucy had made delicious peppermint patties that we all indulged in after our hot but sandy meal, the voyage crew sang shanties while the crew stared into the fire!

We just spent two days with the most amazing group of people. We anchored of Lelati Village of Beqa Island, and Jim went ashore to offer Kava to the chief. After dinner we were invited ashore to sit with the chief in his home and drink kava. Joel, Jacob, Dan, Bobby, Jim and myself, along with a few voyage crew sat on mats and had a bowl of kava each. A group of women and their children came into the room with guitars and began singing. Four boys performed a traditional dance and then after a few more bowls we were all dancing together. Just as I would sit down after a song, another would begin and two local boys were taking turns asking me to dance. The dancing was like none other that I had seen. We faced the same direction linked hip to hip and took a few steps forward and then a few back, all in beat to the music. Bobby and Dan were all smiles as the toothless lady took hold of the two of them. I began laughing as I heard Bobby say, “These are difficult dance moves, hey!” Ken, one of our VCs was making all the locals laugh with his hip shakes and arm swings, the ladies were loving it, and of course all of them were wanting to dance with the captain, who sure showed off his moves! I was all smiles this evening, it was truly a night I will never forget, I am still kicking myself that I forgot the camera, but it will always remain in memory as one of the greatest evenings ashore!

Tuesday morning brought a boat of locals to the ship and took Jacob, Fraser, Daniel, Emil, David and Syd fishing off Storm Island. I believe they had a game of touch rugby with a coconut and did little fishing, but it sounded fun anyways! At 1400hrs most of the village came aboard the ship, the local boys took turns hand cranking the anchor and we went out for a short motor around the bay. The women pulled out their handicrafts and seashells as Lucy passed out her delicious chocolate cake to the children. The men stood aft with Jim, Mikkel, Frank and Bobby while the women began singing and dancing as they had the previous evening! It was wet and rainy but the atmosphere aboard the ship made it not so bad! We all headed ashore for a game of touch rugby, we mixed up the teams and began the mad game. Because of the rain the field was like a slip and slide, the red mud covered everyone’s body and the only sign of cleanliness was the whites of everyone’s teeth and eyes! It was so awesome to see everyone involved in such a vigorous sport, Marita and I held our own and tackled the smaller boys whenever we had a chance! I decided to take a break from the roughness and played volleyball with five of the locals, who had unbelievable talent. One of the guys played for the 21 years and under team Fiji, he was awesome! As the sun was setting we all took to the water to clean ourselves, the bay was filled with locals and us sailors, rinsing ourselves clean of the mud caked into our skin and clothing! A few of us swam back to the ship, grabbed a bite to eat and headed ashore for another evening kava session!

July 23rd and another trip coming to an end! We will sail for about 12 hours today to reach Lautoka in order for our voyage crew to disembark tomorrow morning. Although the past 17 days has been cloudy and muggy I believe each will return home with nothing but great things to say about the Tongan and Fijian hospitality along with the fantastic times onboard the ship!

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See Part 1 of the Tonga-Fiji Cruise Picture Page here
(the gallery may take a moment to download but its worth it)

Noreen Hill's tells of the crew's first sight of palm trees and beaches, and the the King's birthday in Nuku'alofa : "Tofua Island, the actual site of the mutiny on the Bounty, and best kava plantations in Tonga! Just after breakfast we sat gazing up at the two land masses, one of which we would begin ascending shortly. More...

 

Emil Gruber gives us of thier first taste of the tropical Pacific:
"The memorable events went on for the next days. A dinner in a village on Hinakauea Beach with all kind of fantastic local food, like roast pig, lobster, curried octopus, clams, beef and fish cooked in coconut cream wrapped in taro leaves. More...

As reports come in from the ship they'll be posted at a new Voyage Log page - see Soren's 2003 voyages through Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu.

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Crew profiles - here .

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