Day 9 Update
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Report Update by Loma Mataika
26th April, 2011 - Tuesday
Position S 31 38.8 W 174 16.3

Bula Vinaka Viti Kei Rotuma,

Today is Day 9, it is 1615HRS and we have Te Matau a Maui now on our Port side. They had just overtaken us from the starboard side forcing us to slow down and give way. The plus of this is we get in close enough proximity to see our friends again.

Earlier we had the Haunui crew close by on our portside we exchanged a few words, especially words of encouragement to bear the next 10 or so days in the promise of feasting and endless talanoa sessions at Fakaravan in French Polynesia, our current destination. Soon it will be just us again, the Uto and the ocean. The deep, wide and endless ocean..i was watching the waves while on the uli just a while ago and appreciating the experience of the last couple of days, there were the two Easter Sundays, the whale sightings, the great company of the individuals that make up the crew, the good food our master chef Ben Sorby continues to produce each day and the good winds we have had in the last couple of days. I also have to mention my watch crew.

Our watch crew is made up of Sisi, my naita who is forever cracking the smartest comments and there is Billy Boy, (William. P) who in a heart beat, can get the crew laughing or dancing, whatever it is...this boy has heaps of good energy, then there is our watch-captain Carson, our Thinker. Ask Carson the hows and whys of things and he probably will have an answer, (de kalou)
In strong winds and rough seas Sisi and I pair up on the uli, while the two boys manage fine. In good weather us girls hold our own and have 20 minute shifts on the uli.

The other night we started our 0300HR shift with our main sail as well as the mizzen reefed, we were in the middle of a squall and had to reduce our sails as a safety precaution. Steven and crew were still on watch then so we gave them a hand with the reefing before they retreated below deck to rest after handing over.

Seta, our energiser bunny (who i reckon has the work rate of three people!) and assistant traditional navigator to Kaiafa, was on watch with us. On the horizon we spotted three more squalls after clearing the first. Whispered a quick prayer and we steered on. To our relief we avoided the other squalls but continued to steer in high winds and swells that broke on our Port aft. Almost an hour and a half into our shift while Sisi was on the Uli, the rest of us ran up to the front of the vaka to adjust the main sail. Pulling at the ropes, lifting the boom and trying to maintain your balance on a moving floor with the howling wind and icy sea spray is not a pleasant experience that early in the morning. A little out of breath we returned to the back deck, psyching up for our turn on the Uli. By now Sisi had been on the Uli longer then twenty minutes. The woman would’ve been strained as well. (the reason we have twenty minute shifts on the Uli is so that we can get the best out of our steerer, concentration levels as well as strength should be good for that length of time before getting rest while the others take their turn) Anyhow so Sisi is on the Uli for a little longer and wont call out for a change cause she can see how tired the rest of us are, i’m in the deck house trying to get the headlamps to work when i feel the swell hit us on the starboard fore quarter. We sat there stunned and confused for a split second..had the winds and swell changed in that short period of time? Checking the bearing on the compass we came to realise we had somehow managed to do a complete 180 degree turn. The boys ran upfront to adjust the main sail to help us pickup speed so we could pull of a port tack and get back on course, meanwhile Sisi and i pull hard to starboard. Just then Kaiafa, our traditional navigator pops his head out of the hatch to investigate what was happening. He could feel the change of movement with the swell now breaking on our starboard side, and this he sensed while asleep below deck! We got a stern word from him before continuing till 0600HRS. Our crew learnt from that experience and now even more alert with each other and our tasks.

Ok. Back to now, currently the temperature is 19 degrees, we have 16 knot winds with an overcast sky. It is now after 1700HRS, Seta is on the Foi, steering us ahead of Haunui who are making ground on our port side. He whistles calling the wind to fill our sails. The wind comes, so it seems as we have made good distance now leaving Haunui behind. Aggie is still up on deck, she was on Stevens watch earlier. Angelo is also up and so is Ben who is working on dinner. Everyone else is below deck resting up for their next shift. Black eye peas, boom boom boom, is playing and sure enough Billy and Sisi start break dancing. A mix of trying to get warm as well as entertain themselves...they sure are entertaining the rest of us on deck. Billy pulls off a Beyonce shake right before attending to the sheets, adjusting the mizzen. This guy is a crack up. Everyone is in stitches.

We enjoy the company of the rest of the crew now when we can, the early morning shifts usually only have the watch crews on deck. Everyone else tucked comfortably in bed until their next watch.
To end this note i’d like to mention a simple yet essential tool that is very much a part of vaka life. One i had forgotten about since last years maiden voyage only to be reminded again once we set sail last Tuesday.

That tool being the bucket. Life on the vaka is almost based around the use of the bucket. You need to be able to pull up a bucket of sea water while sailing for your baths, then for your laundry and the dishes, then there is the obvious cloakroom bucket, and then there is the bucket to wash the deck down. Bucket after bucket we maintain ourselves, we live, we survive life on the high seas on the Uto. Am appreciating the simple bucket today.

As for the ‘bucket’ function that exists back home, (i think it would be true for most of us here on board the Uto, if not for all of us)it would definitely be our loved ones. Thank you for the support and prayers. You continue to be in our thoughts.
Lolomas from the Uto.

Loma