Hiva Oa to Mangareva

Report on 08/25/99, A.M.

An Entry from Moana Doi's Journal:

Throughout the night I could feel the toss and turn of the canoe, the sounds of the night are only those of the wind humming thru the shroud lines and filling the sail, and the water lapping up against the hulls. An occassional wave breaks on the starboard side, as the canvas gets cool, all I remember thinking is, thank God the canvas has no leaks! I could feel the canoe pick up speed, and thoughts of maybe seeing the island ofPitcairn tonight sometime, or perhaps sailing past it in the dark.

Last night's watch was probably the most challenging for me. As a student apprentice navigator under Chad Babayan, my biggest fear is disappointing him. So while he rested shortly after our watch began, my job was to hold course. Using whatever clues I had, despite the cloud cover for most of our watch, all we could do was to do our best. While I was the eyes, I had Mel Paoa, Gary Suzuki, Tim Gilliom and Nalani Wilson to steer the canoe and hold her on course.

I awoke around 4:30am to the voices of yelling and screams of joy! Gary Yuen on watch, was the first to spot land. We found Pitcairn!! Everyone came up on deck and ran up to the bow to have a look. There was the island, right off our port bow. It's a navigators dream to have the island right in front of you as you sail right to it. It could not be better. Ideally, you want the island to come to you-Chad is awsome-he's the "bomb"!

I made my way from my bunk to the bow and there it was, a dim shadow in the distance. The morning was overcast and cold, passing squalls on the horizon, choppy seas, rocking and rolling-wind still out of the east. Looks like Diamond Head, or maybe Rabbit Island. My eyes filled with tears-for a moment I became overwhelmed with mixed emotions, but mostly, to feel what it feels like to find an island and see it fise up from the horizon, to know that everything you believe in, everything you work so hard for, to visualize, believe, and to make it happen.

Pitcairn is 2 mile sby 1.5 miles wide, much smaller than Rapa Nui. Population, 42 people a cargo ship with supplies comes every 4 months sometimes every 6 months.

This is like a dream. I'm so happy for Chad, for us the crew-we made it! No searching, the island cam to us. It was awesome!

Our breakfast is saimin, another staple food and an easy meal to prepare on the ocean--and great for cold mornings like today. We head for Pitcairn, hook up our tow line and anchor inside Bounty Bay. The island is lush, plenty of Manu O Ku flying about, palm trees, steep cliffs, blue water.

A woman fishing in a kayak comes to greet us; the Mayor, Jay Warren, comes by way of a aluminum boat to shuttle us in to land. Greeted by the local islanders, they invite us to their homes for a shower, and ice water, the two things I enjoy most when first coming to land. Not too many people can say they've been to Pitcairn!!

Our host family for Kat, Nalani and I is Thomas and Betty Christian. Betty takes us on a tour of the island by way of a 4 wheel drive quad-the only means of transporation on the island. No cars, just the 4 wheel drive quads. You even see the 60 year old "tutus" driving them around. Pretty cool.

Pitcairn has some amazing scenic spots, a tiny little island in the middle of a great big ocean which surrounds you every way you look. What it would be like to live on a tiny island, totally self sufficient, life is simple. The people here are totally content, happy, no desire to venture to the rest of the world. I don't blame them. They have everything they need right here. The island and its people are truly a gem. How lucky we are to be here!

For more information on the quest for Rapa Nui, go to the PVS Homepage