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Saturday, September 13, 2003, 11:00 a.m. At anchor, Suvarov Atoll, Cook Islands Most photos by J. Kosyna and C. Neunteufel Dear friends and family: We are remaining in Suvarov longer than we thought – things are always interesting, and at times unexpected. Other boats come and go, bringing an ever changing cast of characters into our isolated little world.
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Shortly after I last wrote, we had a visit from Colin
and Gloria of QueSara. They are circumnavigating the world on the tightest
of shoestrings. They came directly here from the Marquesas (about 1300
miles), bypassing all of French Polynesia, because they could not afford to
pay the bond. (French Polynesia requires an approximately $900 per person
deposit from every non-French, and non-EU visitor. You get it back when you
leave, minus a bank service fee, exchange rate losses and, of course, lost
interest. The theory is that if you become a bum and try to stay in French
Polynesia, they’ll be able to buy you a plane ticket back to your home
country.) So Colin and Gloria hadn’t visited a grocery store since the Marquesas, and they were down to rice and canned tomatoes (and the occasional tuna fish Colin caught). We still have plenty of food, so I loaded them up with a grocery bag of beans, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, hamburger, hot chocolate, oatmeal and 3 fresh pamplemousses. They are heading back to Australia (where they last lived) as fast as they can, because they are both permitted to work there. They have been trying to get work in various places as they travel around the world, and have been mostly unsuccessful because of local work regulations. We received an invitation to visit the Ukrainian boat, Batkivshchyna. It’s an old schooner, which captain Dmytri restored with Ferro cement about fifteen years ago. It’s a very crusty ship, with some Soviet equipment, a military tank engine, cramped, cockroach-infested crew quarters, and interesting posters and photographs on the walls. The crew isn’t too happy with the captain (he makes them work too hard) but Craig points out that most captains aren’t liked by their crew. They continue to come up with more and more electrical appliances for Papa John and Baker. At last night’s potluck, it was an electric fan, and a hand blender. Monday night it was a microwave oven. Evidently these were all given to Batkivshchyna in Los Angeles, and require 110 volts (they have 220). So it’s unclear whether these are gifts or merely a way for the boat to get rid of things they can’t use anyway. It’s also not clear whether Suvarov can use these 110 volt appliances, but Papa John and Baker accept them graciously. (The appliances show up in a formal ceremony announced by Captain Dmytri at the beginning of the potluck.) |
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Right: Colin and Gloria of QueSara, with baked tuna wrapped in palm frond (left), tern egg omelets (upper right) and coconut pancakes (lower right) |
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 Denise and her trevally |
Jens, Cori and I went along with Denise (of Vellamo), Papa John and Wolfgang on a fishing and motu exploration expedition. We went in Papa John’s boat (open, aluminum, Boston Whaler type) to a remote motu several miles away, catching three trevally fish on hand lines. |
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We anchored in a shallow tidal stream, and walked a mile or so, across low motus, dry tide flats (like a desert filled with broken coral), and through shallow, very warm water. At one point I saw a juvenile moray eel, with its evil looking face. I quickly moved away, and the eel quickly circled his rock to a hole, where he disappeared. We walked to one of the many tern nesting grounds. There were thousands of terns wheeling in the air, and thousands more on the ground. The noise was incredible. Papa John is very upset these last few days, because a reporter visited here a few weeks ago, and has written an article criticizing Papa John’s work as caretaker of the island. Someone from the government is perhaps coming to investigate. Wolfgang says it’s all “talk, talk, talk” and no one is going to take away Papa John’s job. |
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From our perspective, Suvarov could not have a more perfect caretaker. It appears to us that he shows respect and care for the islands, the ocean, and all the creatures that fly, crawl and swim, makes friends with all the cruisers, and puts Suvarov and the Cook Islands on the yachtsman’s map, as a destination. We prepared a letter to the Cook Islands Prime Minister, in support of retaining Papa John and Baker as caretakers here. At last night’s potluck, cruisers from the ten boats here all signed the letter, and Wolfgang will carry it next week to the Prime Minister in Rarotonga. We’re considering moving to another area of the atoll, known as Seven Islands. Reportedly snorkeling is better and there are lobsters to be caught (if you know how, which we’re not sure we do!) Then we’ll move on to American Samoa, which promises to be a very different experience. Best wishes to all our friends and family! Craig & Barbara Johnston S/V Sequoia |
We continue to be fascinated with Papa John and Baker.
For the cruisers potlucks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Papa John
catches fish and collects tern eggs and coconuts. The fish are baked in an
outdoor oven, and then elaborately wrapped in woven palm fronds for an
elegant presentation. Other fish are prepared as poisson cru. The tern
eggs are made into tasty orange colored omelets.