John with the frisbee we gave him

Little John with a very accurate (in a couple years) tee-shirt

Palmerston Yacht Club

So I ended yesterday with the promise of telling you about my new friend, John. John is four years old and is visiting/living in Palmerston for the first time ever. He has heard about Palmerston and talked to family members (yes, they have telephones) all of his life. His Aunt Fiftieth always promised to take him some day. Well, some day came and John got his wish. He sailed over on a boat (cargo ship) with Fiftieth and her daughter Sami. He did very well, except when the diesel spilled and the fumes made them all sick. So my little friend now lives thousands of miles away from home and is loved and cared for in such a way that he has yet to be homesick. I think he has been here about six weeks. (My 12 year old son was homesick after 6 days – even though he too was with his aunt!) John is a vivacious happy little boy who wore a shirt yesterday that said, “Hide Your Daughters”. If it weren’t Palmerston I would agree! We brought John a Frisbee (thank you, Lat 38 and the Baja Ha Ha) and he has been involving everyone in his Frisbee games. When we first met John he was on the boat that came with the Customs official. He immediately greeted us and asked how our trip had been. I was smitten from the start. John now has a special hello and runs to greet me when we arrive. So cute. The world John now lives in is so simple. The house he lives in has no doors or windows. In fact, the kitchen and the bathroom are totally separated. The bathroom is in the back of the house, like an outhouse, but it flushes! The kitchen could be mistaken for a chicken coop and is across the front yard. The chicken wire is to keep the animals out. There is a sink and counter space under shelves for the dishes just opposite the stove. The whole area is only about 8 feet square but very productive! Every evening (and times vary a lot for the evening meal) we have been treated to a feast that is spread across a table in the middle of the yard covered from rain overhead by a tarp – the dining room. The meals always start with a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing of the food and the participants. The front porch includes a chair where Grandma sits all day watching her clan. She smiles and waves and loves to talk if you slow down and join her on the porch. The porch includes a bed covered by a quilt that Grandma handmade – a girl after my heart! The road to town has a round-about complete with benches to sit and rest on. Some coconut trees have initials carved in them as evidence of ownership from earlier days when there were more inhabitants and food could be scarce. The road is lined with palm trees that touch fingers overhead and create a lovely palm frond tunnel. The roads are coral/dirt but the school kids rake them on Saturdays to keep them clean for Sunday services. There are not many roads and we have only seen a few ATVs and a few scooters. Most people walk. The town has the old church and the new church. A grave yard that was there before Marsters and the current Marsters grave yard. However each family now has their own grave yards closer to their property. Their houses are constructed of available wood, whatever is salvageable that washes up on the beach and tin roofs, often rusted in many areas. Some of the houses are on cement bases, many are not. The school is quite modern with study areas for each of the students, a testing center and some computers. Their windows are chicken wire. The playground for the little kids includes a jungle gym, trampolines and a seesaw. Looked like fun. There is a volleyball (pronounced walleyball) court for the big kids.

There is even a Palmerston Yacht Club. Bill, the apparent proprietor, apologized for the lack of beer but proudly talked about the mahogany bar and extra large table. He said yachties could sleep on them if they needed to. Each piece is made from one huge tree. This kind of mahogany is not available anywhere in the world. It is African Mahogany and has been over cut and you can’t find trees like this anymore, yet they have a number of these huge trees still standing on the island. Apparently when the island feels it needs some extra money for a community project, they trim one of the huge trees, take the wood to New Zealand and sell it. The simplicity of this life abounds as you walk around the island (it only takes 45 minutes to walk the whole perimeter along the beach). A few beach balls had Bill’s four children playing “walleyball” with us over a clothesline! The game full of giggles ended with hugs and kisses goodbye from children we had only just met. I also promised to share the reactions to our gifts. Of course we brought some basics in an effort to restock their pantry for all of the food they are feeding us. We brought sugar, flour, powdered sugar and some rice. We also brought a few items that really excited them. As requested we found some extra finger nail clippers on board and brought two pairs – they squealed with delight. I pulled out the Nutella and Fiftieth’s eyes went big and she handed it to her daughter, Sami, to hide! Quickly! We brought some notebooks for young John who has been writing in the sand with us. I asked that they hide it until his birthday in September. (We brought balloons to help make the event more festive too!) We brought more cake mixes to help the celebrations. Then they pulled out the nuts: walnuts, pine nuts and almonds. They about fell over and quickly ran to hide those too. But first they gave one bag of walnuts to Grandma. Enough of the food stuff. We brought Bob’s last two cigars from Mexico for Edward. Apparently Edward asked about them the next day and we heard that the ladies were claiming them. I think he won. And finally I couldn’t bypass my quilting friend, Grandma. So I went through my quilting supplies and found some thread and some needles with a needle threader. Bob suggested I include some “reader glasses” to help her vision on the close up work. She immediately put them on and was quite pleased. Finally I gave her a two yard piece of sunflower fabric I had on board explaining that she could use it to make many quilts for her family. She smiled and said, “Or a lovely dress for me!” Silly me, of course these people who have such simple needs wouldn’t waste that much fabric on a quilt! Quilts are made from leftovers! I am humbled but thrilled with her smile. (From Bob: Grandma was so appreciative of Ann’s gift and friendship, she gave Ann a beautiful decorative container made from a coconut. This won’t do justice to its glory, but it’s a deeply burnished coconut, made a lustrous dark brown. The top has intricately woven decorative coconut husk with cowrie shell accent on top and a woven handle. It’s quite beautiful and we will treasure it for both its beauty the effort that must have gone into making it and the spirit in which it was given. Thank you Grandma!) We went back to Bob’s (the Mayor) house where we enjoyed a cool drink and parrotfish the first day we were here. We brought them some fish hooks and beaded necklaces (still aboard from the Ha Ha send off) and some balloons for their kids. And then we taught them to play Farkle. Their kids range from 21 to one (we know she isn’t ready to play yet) and were all very interested. We played an abbreviated game with Mom, Dad, Goldeen and myself to help them learn the game. Mom was a very quick learner but they all seemed to get it and enjoy it. As we left we decided that we could see Bob, who we found out today is also the mayor, might just pull rank and declare himself the winner. Hopefully his family will keep him honest! Palmerston – simple ways.

From Bob: I would add a couple things that have made this visit thus far memorable. First off, the meals. They are all huge feasts. Of course these for the most part are big people so they like to eat. Tonight we had fried parrot fish (delicious!), sautéed wahoo, fried donut things (my best description), rice, cabbage/pasta salad, and the special delicacy-lobster fresh caught last night on the reef. Wow. Last night was similar and included boiled taro root (think potato).

Dinner is usually at about 4 o’clock. That way everything is wrapped up in time for sunset. Why? They have to run a generator for electricity and don’t want to waste the availability. It’s only on from 6AM to Noon, then 6PM to midnight-and that’s only while the diesel lasts. Once it’s gone, they have to wait until the next supply ship. They only problem-they are never sure exactly when it will show up.

After dinner, we’re back on Charisma by about 6PM. Tonight we could see a lone figure about 75 yards away on the edge of the reef catching fish. They use a simple pole with a piece of line as a feather lure to catch small reef fish which they drop in the bay slung over their shoulder. Sometimes they will use a net and sometimes come out in their boats (about 18 feet with outboards) to troll for wahoo, tuna and mahi.

This island comes the closest to what I expected the South Pacific to be of any island we have been at yet. Simple, beautiful, peaceful and unimproved. It’s all here. We’re staying a few more days to enjoy such a unique environment and wonderful people and amazing hospitality before moving on.

And lastly, to answer my daughter Christine’s question about the gene pool here. Technically they are only allowed to marry “beyond” the third cousin. That’s their law. In reality it seems a fair number of the current residents have met their spouses as they have travelled outside of Palmerston when as young adults they left to “see the world”. For example; our host Edward, met his wife Shirley (who we believe is New Zealand Maori) while working as an engineer about a ship on which she was travelling among the islands.

The first settler, Bill Marsters in the late 1800's. All of the families here are descended from him

Here’s our host family on Palmerston:

Eddy

Sam (foreground) and Fiftieth

Shirley

Simon

David

Little John

...and Mama

(From Ann today) Before we share stories of life at Palmerston let me share with you what the guidebooks say:

“The island’s inhabitants have a unique history. They are the descendants of a patriarchal figure, William Marsters, a Lancashire sea captain who settled here with three Penrhyn Island (an island in the Northern Cooks) wives in 1862. He fathered 26 children, divided the islands and reefs into sections for each of the three “families” and established strict rules regarding intermarriage.” “Visiting yachts are given a warm welcome especially since the supply ship comes in only once every three or four months and families take turns to host the crew. Yachts are greeted and “adopted” by islanders, who may be quite competitive in seeking to guide them to “their” mooring buoy or anchorage spot. The family will discuss landing arrangements and will host them during their stay. (This means they feed you every night!) …the hospitality is offered with no ulterior motive. I t is courteous for yachts to return the hospitality with gifts of staples such as flour, fishing gear, outboard fuel, fresh produce or school supplies. The islanders have refused offers of an airstrip or visits from cruise ships as they treasure their self-imposed isolation. Parrotfish fillets are the island’s only export and for a major component of the local diet. ”

So now you have the back ground and we can share our experience thus far at Palmerston.

As Bob said in last night’s blog we arrived at 2 am and hove to until daylight hours. As we neared the island we were greeted by Edward who was out fishing. He informed us that all of the mooring balls were full but that he could direct us to a spot to anchor. We were a little worried when the spot he chose was in coral but apparently it is coral or coral. Not much choice at anchor so we anchored.

Edward explained that he would be our host and that Customs would be out in about an hour. And they were. Edward’s older brother is the Customs Officer who looked through our paperwork and charged us $10 for our stay at Palmerston – no matter how long you stay. It is really just a processing fee so that we are listed on their tally of what boats are coming through.

Later Edward came back with a boat load of cargo from Orcinius and two available seats to take us to shore. They recommend not using your dinghy to go ashore here due to the small passage and amount of coral in the lagoon. They are not kidding! But Edward skillfully threaded us through the maze following sticks that sometimes appeared in the water to direct us to the channel. Really amazing to see them maneuver through the channel. We arrived and were able to help unload the goods into waiting ATVs with wagons that needed pushing to get traction in the sand to get all of the goodies back to their homes. And everyone seemed very excited about all of the cargo. Lots of soda, lots of onions, potatoes and bananas. We helped them move the sodas into the house so that the kids wouldn’t see them as soon as they arrived home. Kids go to school here until about 2 in the afternoon.

While helping unload we met a couple (Kathy and Andy) that had come to Palmerston from Rarotonga on an exciting little sailing side trip. They actually are from Oregon and vacationing (anniversary trip) in Rarotonga. Unfortunately the boat that brought them here and then attempted to return them to Rarotonga had some weather issues complicated by some critical boat issues (their headstay broke!) so they returned to Palmerston and are awaiting different transportation back to Rarotonga. Of course, since this island is so remote, the next scheduled boat in here is due on September 14th. No problem, Edward and his family have cleared a room in their house that is under construction and the couple is staying with them.

Anyway, Kathy gives us a quick little tour around town. They actually have a few street lights to brighten the dirt roads/paths between homes and the major structures of the town which include the school, the administration building, a clinic, the Telcom station (complete with phone to call home), original church building and the new church. Most of these structures look fairly modern, but the homes and original church are made from miscellaneous parts. Each yard has a fair number of chickens running around and a picnic table where the families are lounging.

We happily wandered down the palm tree lined paths enjoying the sites, including the hull of a sailboat that was destroyed on the reef. The hull was hauled up from the beach and inverted and is going to be made into a shelter of some kind. We even circumnavigated the island – took us about 30 minutes. We were delighted by the number of shells moving quickly ahead of us – crabs running from our footsteps. The beach seems alive! And the lagoon is full of coral and is many shades of turquoise. We will snorkel it and tell you what else we find.

What we did find as we ended our walk was a delightful family welcoming us to their picnic table. As we introduced ourselves, we found the head of the family was named Bob! Bob and his family were busy relaxing as we headed back from our walk. We must have looked parched as they called to us to come have a cool drink. We happily complied and before we knew it, we were also being treated to fresh parrotfish fillets and homemade biscuits too! Bob, his wife and 4 daughters (ages; 18 to 1 years old) and one son – 12 years old, could not have been more welcoming. They listened to our story and we listened to theirs. Bob brought out a colorful parrotfish that he had caught that morning. Beautiful 20 inch long fish literally the colors of a parrot! His oldest daughter shared her adventures on a tall ship that she worked on. She was gone for 9 months and went from Canada around Cape Horn. Amazing. Here we thought these people only knew Palmerston. Most of them have spent time in New Zealand and Australia too. Many travel back and forth to New Zealand spending years in each location. And so this remote life in Palmerston is a choice freely made.

Our favorite comment from Bob was about his chickens. Apparently when he “calls” his chickens which are running free, they come. He says everyone has a different call for their chickens. However, he says that if a neighbor’s chicken answers his call and wanders into his yard, he eats it for dinner! Bad luck I guess. Who knew you could easily identify your chickens from your neighbors! Bob’s chickens are also used to help his compost pile. Very resourceful! And they have a few pigs roaming around to round out the fun.

Knowing that Edward’s family was planning a 4 pm dinner we excused ourselves and continued on, promising to bring back a thumb drive with the family picture that we took of the group.

Luckily we found our way back to Edward’s as the other hosted cruisers started arriving. We learned that this is not a one-time event. They expect to feed us every night we are here! And what a spread it was! We had poisson cru, wahoo (freshly caught that morning before directing us to our anchorage), steak (only served on special occasions), cole-slaw, taro and rice. The best poisson cru on our whole trip!

Dinner was prepared and served by Edward’s wife, Shirley and his niece, Fiftieth. Yes, that is really her name given her by her grand uncle in honor of the 50th year that he had been a missionary/reverend in the Cook Islands, Gilbert Islands and Samoa. At least there is only one Fiftieth. And these women were as warm and welcoming as possible. We had a really fun evening getting to know not only Edward and his family but the other cruisers on Edward’s mooring/anchorages. And of course, the house guests: Kathy and Andy.

Turns out that for Kathy and Andy’s anniversary the ladies and their niece Sami made a cake! Totally decorated to reflect their personalities. How special. The couple was speechless. The cake was yummy!

And then the last cruiser, who was out fixing his headstay with the help of Edward’s brother, Simon, came ashore. This guy reminded Sami of Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid so that’s what they call him-even though he’s Irish and his first name is “Andre”. It also was “Mr. Miagi’s” birthday and these incredible ladies had made him a separate birthday cake. Ever seen a salty sailor cry? I have. He was really touched. Just shows how caring these people are.

So it was 9pm before we returned to Charisma! What a day.

Today was less eventful as we waited to see if “Mr. Miagi” would complete his repairs and sail away so we could have his mooring. Last night was calm, but moorings are much better than an anchor in coral.

Our morning did include another visit from the frolicking whales that entertained us yesterday. Today they were 75 yards off of our stern. We forgot how awe inspiring whales are. They returned tonight to as we pulled up anchor to move to a mooring ball. No, Mr. Miagi did not move on but John and Lisa on Orcinius spent the morning in scuba gear, diving to help recover a mooring that had slipped to the ocean floor. Again, Orcinius to the rescue.

Tired but moored, I will close tonight and tell you more tomorrow about the reactions to gifts we brought ashore today and our new little friend, John.