New Leg - Update 8
print this page

Report Update by Lee-Anne
24th April, 2011 - Easter Sunday (watches retarded by one day so effectively two Sundays)
Position: Latitude 32 01.2 South, Longitude 178 12.1 West


Bula and I hope you all had a Blessed Easter Sunday as we the crew of the Uto Ni Yalo had on board.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when i came up for my shift which started at 0900hrs with Chris our watch captain, Angelo, Peni and Kaiafa the Traditional Navigator. After 5 days of sailing in chilly and rainy weather it was nice for a change to have almost everyone on deck to enjoy the sun. It was about 1010hrs when skipper said to reef the main and mizzen sails as we needed to wait for the Haunui to catch up. As it is now said on board 'The Flying Fijians wings have been clipped again'..... hehehehe.

At about 1035hrs while Angelo was on the Uli he shouted 'Whale'. This got everyone on their feet with excitement. Peni and I grabbed the cameras hoping to capture them, Loma and Billy Boy grabbed the binoculars, Skipper and Seta brought out the hydrophone while the others lowered the pods to enable us to motor closer to the whales as they were about 800m from the Uto. As we approached them they fluked which meant they were going to dive and within seconds they were gone. Of course we were all disappointed but Skipper and Kaiafa who are more experienced with whales brought our hopes up as they mentioned that the whales may resurface so to keep a look out.

This was sure to happen as the whales resurfaced at about 1150hrs and this time a lot closer to the Uto as we were able to identify them as a mother and calf Sperm Whale. To experience the excitement and overwhelming feeling of sighting such magnificent and graceful creatures swimming freely in the wild is unexplainable. Everyone on board feels truly blessed on this Easter Sunday as we know we are definitely privileged to sight these wonderful huge creatures in their back yard. We now wait in anticipation for the next sighting.

As the excitement wore off our stomachs started thinking of the lunch chef Ben was preparing while we were whale watching ;-). Ben made use of the oven that was installed while the Uto was under maintenance in Auckland. To celebrate Easter we had rourou and lamb shanks, roast pork, potato salad and roasted pumpkin and kumala. As a treat for dessert we had chocolate cake and a Whitakers choclate slab each........ yummy

After lunch my shift crew decided to have a bath then to bed to be ready for our next shift from 1800hrs - 2100hrs. It was definitely one of those 'kana moce' days as we call it.

At about 1745hrs just before my shift was to start, Loma shouted down the hatch to me that there was a fish to get the camera. When i made my way up on deck there was skipper with my blue towel hanging off the hook. This was a hilarious sight and got everyone laughing but of course Skipper was not impressed..... hehehehe. He said that he was enjoying the afternoon sunset and saw a 'fish' on the line so jumped 'Notre Dame' style to reel in the line as his back is still giving him a bit of a problem. I was then warned that if it should happen again I will be hanging with my towel from the mast....hahaha. Peni says my towel was caught cause I'm the 'Mother of the Vaka' which he refers me as.

Just before dark, Sisilia decided to have a bath. To warm herself up for the cold water Sisilia in her bright orange gangster jacket, black beanie with a blue cap worn on top of that to the side and red, green and yellow socks worn on her hands decided to dance for us to the music 1 2 1 2. This got everyone on deck in stitches. We will be sure to post pics and maybe a video on the website when we can.

Since we had a heavy lunch it was decided that dinner would be good old breakfast crackers, avocado, cheese, tomato and onions complimented with a cup of tea of course thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our evening shift was smooth sailing with jokes and laughter as usual to see us through.

We will retard 1 day at midnight tonight so will have another Sunday. Everyone is joking and maybe half hoping that we will have another feast for lunch...... hehehe. We all know that this is impossible as our meats are almost over and we need to catch fish, fish and more fish which we have not had much luck in.

To all our families, friends and well wishes we are all in good health and high spirits since departing Auckland on Tuesday. Even though we have about 2 weeks before reaching Fakarava I'm pretty sure this will not change.

Vinaka Vakalevu for all your prayers and support during our voyage.

Lolomas from the Uto Ni Yalo