Kia orana and greetings from Marumaru Atua first of all thankyou lord for guiding and protecting us on the Journey thus far. id also like to thank the crew for putting there hand up and embarking on this long Voyage to this years pacific arts Festival in Hawaii. for some of them its been almost 3 Months away from loved ones and friends in Particular our Crew from the pa enua whos resilience is a reflection of the small islands they come from. A diverse group from mechanics, planters, machine operators to real-estate agents and DR’s I am grateful for the company of great people I am sailing with.
About a day ago we had recently crossed the Equator which was our first major waypoint our halfway mark for this trip a moment the crew could be proud of and celebrate. The days and nights consist of 3 watch’s in which the 16 man crew minus the captain are split into. 4 man teams with one watch captain in charge the shifts go 3 hours on and 6 hours off with the watch’s rotating everyday eg.6am-9am 1st watch 9am-12pm 2nd watch etc. breakfast lunch and dinner are a must and have to be sorted out by the watch’s 6am,12pm,6pm.A large amount of Responsibility and ownership is entrusted for each crew member for the man on the Oe or rudder is to steer us and is manned 24/7 day and night.
Personally This will be my longest voyage to date as for the year before that I’d just finish sailing to Samoa & Back on the vaka Paikea. life on board the vaka is somewhat hard but also simple. distraction free from the busy world with everyone on board having a common goal of working together to keep this floating island operating in reaching its destination. yes, there will be trials and literally storms but these help grow and change you as a person a respect for the Moana and how insignificant you are in the middle of nowhere yet significant as you look at the Stars its seen the past present and soon to come future. Maybe that’s why our ancestors looked to them to Navigate this world.
Meitaki Ngao
Zeb Revake
