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.