En Route to Tonga 6 Sept 2010 (? We should pass the dateline soon) 16.8760S 169.9702W

We thought we’d spend 10 days in Suwarrow, but ended up staying a little more than 2 weeks. It really is the quintessential south pacific paradise. The coral was more alive there than any reef we’ve seen yet, and the lagoon was teaming with fish, including some very large parrot fish and groupers – sizes usually not seen at other atolls due to overfishing. The rangers, were very enthusiastic atoll lovers and organized many excursions above and beyond the call of duty. They spend 6 months of the year on Suwarrow, and are dropped off with limited supplies at the beginning of the season in May, so through potlucks and shared excursions they’ve inspired cruisers to be generous with their own supplies of fresh food, gas and propane. A very worthwhile exchange for all. And they were both neat guys well acquainted with atoll life.

We also took mornings to get back in the swing of school. Logan is officially in 9th grade now, so I officially have to start being a more meticulous in my tracking of his curriculum. In science we have some incredible resources available to us. We met an environmental chemist specializing in polar research in Suwarrow, she spent an afternoon talking to the kids about the periodic table. Another friend on Kamaya has offered a physics lesson in waves (sound and water), when we meet up with them again in Tonga. He told Logan to bring his Ukulele for the lab time, sounds like it should be interesting. And another boat offered his collection of University lecture podcasts including a whole series on Biology. Who needs internet when you’re surrounded by experts (with USB sticks!). Sounds like fun and games, but I now have to figure out how to give credit for 4 hours one on one with a researcher and 20 hours of podcasts.

Now we’re back on the water headed for Tonga. We were planning a stop on Niue (aka the internet nation?), but the weather was not willing, and last night we gave up pounding through lightning storms into the wind and headed farther west towards our new destination, Niautoputapu in Tonga. I’m completely relieved to be on a better point of sail with lighter winds today!

I’ve not been keeping up with you all very well. It’s only partly due to the business of land life, mostly I think I may be loosing the discipline of sitting down and putting thought to paper (or ether). We’re definitely living in the moment here, course when I was working like a madwoman to get here, we were living in the moment too, and I equally lacked the discipline to put thought to ether then. Was it just that in between change time that I was able to stop, reflect and document? I enjoyed it, and I hope to find a way to get back to sharing more vignettes of life moments with you and not the standard “went there, met them, saw that”.

But for now, there’s a big beautiful ocean outside, the cabin is hot and smelly, and I need some fresh air.

xoxomo