Taleni Aiolipotea

E muamua ona si’i le viiga i le Atua  ona o lana tausiga
ma lana leoleoga ia’i tatou o lana fanau .

O le Atua o le leoleo mamoe lelei o ia, so’o se mea tatou te ia,
so’o se mea tatou te fai, e faatasi mai lava o ia.

I woke up last night, and someone on my  shift said, still far?
And I said, yeahh!!!!!! That’s us , we are almost there.

We are all good, we got a lot of flying fish on board.
We got nice and strong wind, every time I wake up for my shift,
I always enjoy it.

It is a nice sailing, but I can’t wait to go back to the island,
where I come from to eat taro and lot of Samoan food.

E momoli atu la’u faamalo I lo’u atunu’u pele o Samoa I lana tapuai’ga.
E ui ina e le’o tatou feva’ai a’I ae talitonu le mafaufau
olo’o maua lava e outou  le manuia mai le Atua.

Olo’o manuia lava le auva’a a le Gaualofa, le susga ia captain Nick
faapea susuga I watch captain ia Kalolo, Fealofani, ma John, aemaise
le grew atoa lava. Tu Ieova I lo tatou va.

TOFA SOIFUA
Taleni and Gaualofa crew

Position: N 18°41.099, W 106°59.154.

It’s Friday 17/02/12. A full 50 or so hours since we left Cabo San Lucas and we have put 330nm (nautical miles, 1nm = 1.8kms) behind us. It’s overcast but sailing conditions are good. We have a following 3m sea (sea with 3m swell coming from behind us and generally going in the same direction as we are going), a good steady 20 knot wind from the North West and we are travelling now at an average of 8-9knts, surfing down some wave faces at 12 knots. We are due to have this weather and wind pattern until Saturday afternoon, where thereafter the wind will drop to 5knots and come from the east by Sunday. We have to take advantage of the wind we have now and get lots of miles under our belt.

Now for some of you out there I’m sure there are some nautical terms and things that have been described in our blogs that you have read and thought, what the *&%$ are they talking about. So this post will describe some of the more commonly used terms.

When we talk about wind, we either hate it or love it. We want more of it generally as it means we can sail at a faster pace and get to where we need to go quicker, and try and keep to our sail plan J.

When we talk about wind speed, or our own speed for that matter, we talk in knots. 1 knot of speed is equal to 1 nm (nautical mile) traveled in 1 hour. So, our average speed since leaving Cabo has been 6.6 knots as we have done 330nm in about 50 hrs (330/50 = 6.6).

You may also ask, why is nautical miles used and not just kilometers or miles? Well, there are two answers to that.

One definition given by the “Adlard Coles Nautical logbook” is that “it has always been the basic unit of measurement at sea being defined as the arc of the earth’s circumference subtended by an angle of one minute at the center of the curvature….”???...Yes I scratch my head at this definition as well.

Another way to put it is that for navigating, the ocean is divided into degrees and minutes, and when you look at an ocean chart you will see these numbers running down the side of it. And each degree consists of 60 minutes and 1 minute is equivalent to 1nm. That’s a pretty basic description but I think one that will suffice for now and give you an idea.

Okay, let’s talk about sails. On our va’a and in most other sailing yachts we have a head sail (sail at front of va’a) and 2 masts (main, and a mizzen mast). The main mast is the one in the middle of the canoe and the main driving mast, and the mizzen is the mast at the rear of the canoe and helps us sail closer to the wind.

In yesterday’s blog, Robbie talked about us changing rigs and switching from the traditional rig to the Bermuda rig. On the va’a we have two “rigs” or sail set ups that are used on our masts. The traditional rig and Bermuda rig.

The traditional rig is best described as an upside down triangle shape sail rig with a boom that runs at a 45 degree angle to the mast. It is one that you see most commonly with the va’a’s when they come into port or that you see in those beautiful va’a photos at sea. They are a good performance rig in light winds and around coastal areas due to their increased surface area at the top of the mast. These rigs were also traditionally used by our early ancestors with this particular va’a design (Tipaerua design).

We use the ocean rig or Bermuda rig in open ocean as it allows us to reef the sail in (reduce sail area by collapsing a portion of the lower sail) during high winds and high sea. It is most definitely our safety rig and one we always use for large ocean crossings, such as now.

It is also the classic sail set up you see on most yachts throughout the world. Its boom runs parallel to the deck, at a 90 degree angle to the mast. Most of the surface area is at the bottom of the sail, near the deck.

As I finish writing this entry we have just reefed in our mizzen sail a bit. This will reduce our speed a little, but is also a safety precaution as we don’t want to strain the canoe too much in high winds when you don’t need to. This will also allow Maru-Maru Atua, Haunui, and Uto Ni Yalo to catch up to us as they are some way behind.

Another day closes in on us here and already on this leg of our journey I have seen much. I have seen a pod of dolphins appear as ghostly comets in the dead of night, their bodies whizzing through the night sea bioluminescence cutting long streaks of ghostly green tails in a background of black. I have seen many flying fish, flying in all directions, one even onto our deck last night. I have seen a great sunset melt slowly into the night. I have seen our crew keep good course and morale in some difficult seas. I have seen laughter and learning. Things are well in our world.

Only 1850nm left to go to Galapagos.

Fa soifua, our love to everyone.
Schannel and the Gaualofa crew.

Blog entry: Thursday 16th Feb 2012.

Day 2 out of Cabo on a heading of 150 degrees: the winds have been flukey, but overnight we managed to make good ground on the rest of the fleet, who were ahead of us. We have now reeled them all in and slid past them while running our A.P head sail. All except for Hine Moana. She is currently about one nautical mile off our starboard beam on the same tack.

With her crew it’s always a case of seeing who blinks first. If we make a first little slip with the gennaker (we switched during the night) we’ll be all over them like a rash. Same for us though, with the rest of the fleet that is within sight just behind us.

Since switching to the Bermuda rig (as opposed to the traditional rig) at Cabo for this long reach of 1700 miles to Cocos, we seem to have evened the playing field: evened the sailing abilities of each watch on our va’a, as well as, between all the 6 sisters travelling as one.


Now the game is seeing who can hold a truer course and run with it for the longest time by sailing as close to the limit of the gennaker as possible. Sometimes though we've only got a 20 degree of arc to work with before she starts luffing and if we don’t bring her right real fast we might just find ourselves dead in the water as she collapses. Or worse, if the va’a gybes, making it an interesting time, until we swing the canoe around and get the sail to take a deep breath, hold it and pick up our speed again.

That’s easy enough during the day, but come night and dancing with wind becomes that little bit trickier. As now we’re trying out your celestial navigational skills as well: sliding stars around the va’a trying to hold as steady a course as possible.


Sure, we got a compass and GPS to keep us in line in case we drift too far of our ideal heading. But channeling the spirit of the ancestors on their epic voyages of old is way more fun.


The way I figure it is, sometimes you've got to listen to the canoe. She’ll tell you what she wants to do. She always wants to lead the dance with the wind. Sometimes you let her, then you coax her ever so gently back. It beats fighting, trying to dominate her and force your will on her all the time.


Sacrifice your heading just a bit for a short time to head up wind and pick up some speed then see if you can pinch it back downwind a little at a time before you over cook it and then do it all over again.


From my understanding, navigating traditionally was more like wayfinding in a general direction than trying to hold true to a strict course. Understanding a concept though doesn’t mean you can necessarily expect to be put in practice…the gods must still be in your favour.

Robbie.

Postion: N 22°21.513’, W 109°55.942’

Talofa lava, malo le soifua ma le lagi e mama I lou atunuu pele o Samoa, I la outou taupuaiga a’o folau lou Vaatele Gaualofa e molimoli atu so tatou sao I le puipuia mai lea ole siosiomaga o tatou vasa, ae o le ea ma o tatou laufanua.

E momoli atu ai sina faamatalaga I taualumaga o le faigamalaga a le Au folau mai le Pasefika, faatasi ai ma le Vaatele o Samoa le Gaualofa.

E fai atu le tusi lenei ae o le lona lima ai lea o aso talu ona malolo le va’a I le aai o Cabos i Mexico.

O se vaaiga e fou i se vaega o le tatou auvaa aua o le taimi muamua I lea foi ituaiga o matagofie e aulelei ai foi lea aai pe’a faatusa atu isi o tatou atunuu.

Ua lauiloa foi ia I lona lanulauava, mama ma le talimalo lelei.

O le tala I le auvaa, Na taunuu loa le vaa i Cabo ma vavae matou I uati I le ta’I ono itula.

Ia o taimi vaovaogata lava ia aua ua taunuu i pa’umatu.

Ma sa molimauina ai lava le oso faalava mai foi o le tama lea o fealoalofa’I i isi sifi o aso ta'itasi.

O le aso Lulu lenei I Cabos e tuua ai le fanua nei, ae agai atu i lesi motu I Mexico lava. ,

O le tala fo’I I mea taumafa e tausi ai le soifua maloloina o le auvaa, e lelei atoa, vagana ai o lo’o misia tele e matou ni nai fasitalo, ulu, fa’I , se faalifu ufi piiniu, se saka talo e le faalifua e momoli e le luau ulo, poo se fasi taamu e goto I le faiai ipu. E le maua lava tatou lava taumafa e to’a ai le moa..

E iai foi o matou faafitauli I luga o le vaa ae o lo’o faigofie lava ona foia ma toe sologa lelei aso uma.

O le faamalosi tele I le auvaa o le Vaatele Gaualofa, ina ua usi le matou tapuaiga I le taaloga a le Manu Samoa ma manumalo I le taaloga I Amerika ma Niusila..

E fou fo’I taliga o tagata o le motu le pisapisao o le tapuiga a le auvaa a Samoa, aua o loo iai foi iinei ma auvaa mai Maori Niusila I le folauga lenei.

Ae faamalo faafetai I le Manu Samoa taito’afitu, ua matou fiafia uma ai lava, ma faigofie ai foi ona see la o le tatou sa, i lesi afe ma ona tupu maila tautai, o loo folifoli atu iai. .

Ia manuia lo tatou atunu’u ae ola le auva’a I le alofa o le Atua.
Soifua, Faapau ma le auva’a Gaualofa.

GAUALOFA BLOG – Feb. 12, 2012

Sailing to Cabo San Lucas from San Diego took a bit longer than anticipated. With several days of no more than 3 knots of wind and intermittent stops along the Baja Peninsula (for immigration in Ensenada and whale watching in Magdalena Bay) our anticipated travel time of 8 days to Cabo turned to 16 days. Despite not maintaining the schedule, the added time was cherished by our crew, as it was a gentle and joyous welcome back to the Pacific Ocean after the winter break. Every day on the ocean to Cabo, Gaualofa was visited by the beautiful creatures of the ocean and sky, including sea lions, dolphins, California gulls, frigate birds, pelicans, terns, flying bat manta rays, squid, thousands of floating red baby lobster, and more than a hundred whales! The overall condition of the ocean along the Baja Peninsula appeared to be healthy and full of life with no trash seen floating on the surface. This is a wonderful way to see our blue Pacific Ocean.

In addition to the beautiful marine wild life, Gaualofa was also visited by several Mexican fisherman. While approaching Bahia de los Bolinas before dawn, Gaualofa drifted in the dark and in light winds off the coast of a small village. Upon approaching what appeared to be fishing nets, fishermen quickly appeared and were very curious about our rare and unique va’a. We were at the front of the fleet and were the first to arrive and it was clear the fishermen were a bit confused with our presence. We communicated with basic Spanish and were happy to hear the fisherman express “este bote es muy bonito”, which means “this boat is very beautiful”. After a few exchanged words in our broken Spanish we agreed to follow the fisherman. The fishermen guided us through the maze of fishing nets which were outlined with buoys. After following the fisherman for about 5 minutes through their nets, we thanked them and gave them several Gaualofa T-shirts. The sun was rising and we could see that there were many small speed boats lined up on the beach, it was clear that this was a fishing village. Later, the fisherman stopped by our boat again and gave us three fish and an octopus! We liked these visitors! Lole, our beloved chef, quickly fried up the fish and made both fai ai fe’e and sua i’a!

The three days spent filming in Magdalena Bay were amazing. For the new Gaualofa crew members, this was the first time being so close to whales. While gazing across the bay, we could see numerous whales spouting. At one point, three grey whales surfaced a meter away from Gaualofa! The whole crew screamed and shouted with excitement! We could see their silhouettes in the water which stretched longer than the length of Gaualofa! It was amazing to see these gigantic creatures up so close (and they were mating)! It was truly a blessing to be able to see these magnificent creatures. The following day, as we departed from Magdalena Bay, the whales continued to grace us with their presence, this time by the hundreds. They were everywhere, spouting, breaching and fluking! We saw both gray whales and humpback whales! It was a beautiful day.

To pass time on the va’a down to Cabo, especially during times of light wind, the crew members read, exercised, fished and played cards (to name a few). One day, we had a Suipi Tournament, which was won by Taleni. It’s seems counter intuitive to be playing cards on a sailboat, but the light winds were no threat to our cards. On one occasion, Gaualofa was approached by Hine Moana and was summoned to a race. Hine Moana had good momentum and passed Gaualofa and once they were a boat length ahead, they performed a haka to show-off their victory. We were unpleased with the outcome and retaliated with an impromptu performance in full costume. While Nick, our skipper, queued up the music, the crew hid behind the fale, out of sight from Hine Moana and put on their Snuggies (a blue robe-like blanket given to each crew member as a gift from our Samoan aiga in San Diego). Once the music started blasting from the speakers, the Gaualofa crew jumped out from behind the fale and did a performance to “Shake Your Booty”. Both crews laughed out loud as the boats sailed side by side each other. This prompted a 30 minute dance competition that went back and forth between the two crews. The Gaualofa and Hine Moana decks were temporarily transformed into stages. Time does fly when you’re having fun.

Currently we are in dock in Cabo San Lucas and have been happy to be on land to visit with friends, have a little break from the ocean and have fresh water showers. We were also particularly happy to be in port today to watch the Manu Sevens win the Las Vegas round of the Rugby Sevens competition! Go Manu Sevens! On Tuesday, Feb. 14, we will set sail for Cocos Islands. Our local contacts here in Mexico have been great hosts. The fleet has made several trips to Los Barriles to meet the local community. Yesterday, we were also hosted by a community at a marine sanctuary called Cabo Pulmo where we dived and snorkeled. We saw lots of healthy beautiful fish and even swam with bat manta rays and sea lions. Mexico has been a very enjoyable stop. Muchos Gracias Mexico.

Fa’afetai lava to all our family and supporters. Thank you for helping us make this voyage possible and for keeping us in your prayers. We think of you often and keep you in our prayers as well. The Gaualofa crew are all truly proud to be representing Samoa as we continue to spread the message of the Pacific Voyagers and raise awareness of the condition of our oceans.

Fa Soifua ma Fa’afetai lava,

Sala McGuire

Towards Cabo San Lucas 5-7 February 2012

Its two weeks since we left San Diego and what was to be a 5-7 day trip to Cabo has turned into 14 days sailing and probably 2 more to go before we arrive. I am learning to be patient... We are after all at the mercy of the weather gods and they will dictate our schedule, not us. So far, despite the lag of wind the weather has been kind- we have had no rain since San Diego, only sun, which gets hotter by the day, and cold clear nights with the occasional foggy morning. Everyone is changing colour- but some are going more red than brown...

Mexico has been kind to us so far, and has shown us some of her natural beauties - the land may be dry and desolate here in southern Baja California but the fertility of the ocean and lagoons is incredible. We have seen billions of baby red crayfish floating past (the whole ocean was red for over an hour), every evening we see thousands of cormorants streaming past on their way to their roosting areas on shore, and we see large flocks of California gulls and Brown Pelicans out fishing every day. The frigatebirds birds seem to be drawn to us - they often come and rest on the mast and leave gifts behind on deck before they leave...(I am told it is good luck to have such gifts from our avian friends, but it seems a bit disrespectful to me...)!

And of course the Gray Whales that we are here to film and that we have seen every day for the past 5 days or so. Yesterday we almost ran over a boisterous lovemaking couple who seemed oblivious to our presence... We have now got the film footage we needed so we can start moving on to Cabo San Lucas.

The wildlife here indicate that the ocean here is still rich. However there are threats and they are increasing. For the past 2 nights we have moored at a small fishing hamlet of perhaps 20 hardy souls who make their living from shark finning- for the Chinese they say... We found dead shark remains strewn all over the beach area- Mako, Goblin, Hammerhead and other shark species we couldn't recognise...What is clear seeing the shacks people live in that life is tough here. Despite that, the local people are very friendly and have given us free fish and always wave as they go by in their fishing boats. They are keen to trade too- yesterday we bought lobster and huge shrimps for our dinner served by our onboard chef Lole (and I thought I was going to lose weight on this trip...). John our onboard master fisherman has also been successful at catching mackerel; sadly my fishing skills aren't up to it yet.

So, as I write the wind has dropped off again. However, we are all happy and in good spirits. We are looking forward to a nice shower and a cold beer in Cabo in 2 days time. We plan to be in Cabo for 4 or 5 days to provision and then we are off to Cocos island (1800 nm SE- 14 days sailing if we have wind).

With lots of alofa from James Atherton and the Gaualofa crew

28 January - 1 February 2012

Position: N26°42.61‘ W113°33.97’ (At anchor in Punta Abreojos, waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive).

The days have been gentle and beautiful. We have had some winds, we have had some sun, we have reached 10 knots at one point, we have had fun, and spirits are high. Now we wait.
We have come a long way, not figuratively (as we really haven’t) but as a crew and team. Our course is good, our minds are focused. As stated in an earlier blog from the Gaualofa last year: “The course of a canoe is not determined and maintained solely through one factor. It is not just the position of the foe, or angle of the sail that keeps a canoe on course, but the accumulation of changes (often small) to all factors which influence the path of a canoe carrying a va’a to its ultimate destination. A navigator cannot, on their own reach the ultimate destination, it is the work and responsibility of all crew members to ensure that the island is found”.

Having said this, our crew have come together very well on the start of this year’s journey. Half the crew is relatively new and our adopted Cook Island captain (Nick “the Samoan”) has been very happy with our progress and ability to keep us on our course. Having had some luck with the little winds around and our team work we have found ourselves unexpectedly a long way in front of the rest of the fleet and have had to come into a sleepy Mexican fishing town bay called Punta Abreojos to wait so we can all travel on to Cabo San Lucas together.

The magic of the va’a attracts. It always has and always will no matter what culture you come from and what language you speak, the va’a speaks to you. This morning when coming in we were approached by local fisherman and patrol boats, curious and friendly, they escorted us in to the safety of their harbor, navigating around the numerous fish and crab pot buoys that litter the entrance of the bay.

The mana of the va’a attracts. Just after anchoring at 7am, a young male greater frigate bird (or Atafa in Samoan) came out of the blue and landed at the top of our main sail. This was a good omen. Two minutes later it was joined by another. Nick the Samoan has said in all his years of voyaging he has never seen this happen. The birds then crapped on our newly washed decks and flew away. Thank you for your blessings….

Over the past few days while sailing here our routines have become more set. We have all become more comfortable with our new world for the next few months and each other. We have a simple existence on the va’a - we sail, we take shifts day and night, we clean, we read, we discover, we laugh, we exercise, we tease, we pray, we tire, we are happy. I find a lot of our time so far has been praying for wind.

I have found myself thinking at times how surreal some of this really is at times. This came to me one night while on shift and on deck at 2am in the morning writing a journal entry under the glow of my red light headlamp while seated in a comfy director-style camping chair, with a fresh breeze on my port side and the crystal clear sky above twinkling like rare jewels. I felt alive and very happy to be out on the water again. This was good for your soul. And I know as I wrote that entry I know that I was not the only one thinking at times of such thoughts. But I know what the ocean can do. And so far we have been very lucky, the sea has been kind with us. The weather has been kind, painfully so. I am not sure after some large swells, big winds, and open ocean to contend with that the feeling may be different. I think such challenges make you feel alive.

The alive feeling also comes from experiencing the marine life that you get at random moments during the day and night…sailing along on and having the silence of the night interrupted by the powerful breathing of whales, or cruising along in the sun, daydreaming and then having your field of view filled with travelling pods of dolphins or a few large whales…this is also good for the soul. This is one of the many reasons why we care and want to bring attention to our sea, our ocean, our Pacific.

The wind has really picked up here in this bay. It’s cold again. Tomorrow we sail to Bahia Ignacius to look for more Gray Whales to film. Apparently it is “heaving” with whales. The film crew accompanying the fleet should be stoked.

As I finish this blog entry, again we still wait……
Fa soifua
Gaualofa, Schannel and crew.