Lahaina to the Equator

Children Posing for pictures

Schoolgirls on the main road

Climbing for coconuts

We have limited bandwidth on board, so only a couple of pictures until we arrive in Rarotonga.

Friday, October 7, 2011

The remainder of the day in Lahaina was pleasant.  We stopped for lunch at the Lahaina Yacht Club on Front Street and watched the boat traffic and surfers from the lanai.  After more shopping we finally headed back to the ship about 1500.  The ship began departure preparations about 1630 and by 1700 we were underway south past Lanai as the sun set.  The evening entertainment was a repeat from the very first night, so we skipped that and had a leisurely dinner instead.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Overnight the wind and seas picked up a little with an 8-10 foot beam swell which rocked the ship all night.  Morning rain squalls were gradually replaced by partly sunny skies, but the brisk wind made being on deck unpleasant at first.  The wind and swells gradually decreased and we spent the afternoon relaxing in or around the pools under mostly sunny skies before getting ready for formal night number three.  We joined Bill & Ruth Craven in the Pinnacle Grill for a special dinner finished off with Chocolate Volcano Cake.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Overnight we crossed the International Date Line (due to Kiribati wanting the who nation on the same day, even though we are not actually that close to the official date line) and lost Sunday entirely.  We woke up to rain showers and 79 degrees, with visibility of less than one mile.  The swells continue, now with a sizeable wind chop on top.  We seem to be picking up the edges of the tropical storms headed for Mexico as we head south towards the equator.  Our next stop, Tabuaeran (Fanning Island), part of the Northern Line Islands and the nation of Kiribati is tomorrow.  We will be able to go ashore only if weather permits.

Tabuaeran is an atoll with a diameter of about 7 miles at the widest point and has about 2000 residents.  There is no electricity or running water and no cars, but a few trucks.  Most families live in a “Fale”, a house consisting of a single room with dirt floors covered with gravel.  There are separate cooking and dining rooms to keep pests at bay.  Lifestyle is described as shared, and ancestor worship is still practiced.  The name “Tabuaeran” itself is taken from a Polynesian phrase that means hallowed footprint, probably from the shape of the atoll from the air.  It is a low lying arid atoll and just barely above sea level, so is very vulnerable to the effects of global warming.  The atoll has no native population, all the current residents moved here following its rediscovery by Captain Fanning in 1798.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

As the sun rose over the SE horizon we could see Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) in the distance.  There was both a swell and wind chop, but the captain used the ship as a windbreak and created a lee as we stood offshore, no anchor.  Miriam and I were on the first tender ashore and the passengers were all greeted by islanders singing songs, selling curios and posing for pictures (for a fee).  We walked south from the landing and saw people processing seaweed, gathering coconuts, and lots of kids, including many in school.  There were also lots of dogs and pigs and relatively lush vegetation.  After several hours sightseeing we went back to the ship for restrooms (there are no facilities on the island) and then returned for more pictures and some swimming on the site of the former Norwegian Cruise Line beach, now fallen into disrepair.  After a long day in the sun we finally left Tabuaeran at 1700, bound for Rarotonga.  Tomorrow we cross the equator and will have the appropriate ceremonies to appease King Neptune and initiate some “polliwogs” on the crew that have not yet crossed the equator on a ship and received their “shellback” certificates.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Another day at sea marked by crossing the equator at 0602 in the morning.  At 1000 we celebrated the crossing with the fun King Neptune ceremony around the aft pool.  No passengers are allowed to participate, only watch, and the pool is then closed for cleaning out the debris from coating the polliwogs with everything from colored egg whites, syrup to dry cereal.  We had rain squalls late in the afternoon and the skies turned mostly cloudy.  At noon we had some 1100 nautical miles to go in order to reach the next stop, Rarotonga.