Our favorite anchorage in Fulaga was at “The Sandspit,” aka “Kid Boat Corner” and the only downside was that it was far from the pass, so it was quite a dinghy ride for the spear fishermen. However, for the rest of the family it was a great spot. The anchorage had very good holding and it also had great protection, so it was a preferred place to be during periods of very strong trade winds. There is an absolutely gorgeous white sand beach that almost entirely disappears at high tide, however at other times it was the perfect place for me to go for a run or for the kids to play. Even with the disappearing beach, the kids were able to stake out a spot that stays dry, and that’s when construction of kid boat village began. They built huts out of tree branches and palm fronds, and they pitched several tents and lived there for the better part of four days. Brenden was the exception: he spent his days there, but he chose to sleep in his own bed on Exodus rather than on the beach because, well, he likes to sleep. Alex, on the other hand, I hardly saw for the whole 4 days. It seems like the kids only interacted with the parents when they needed to restock their food supply. They drank coconuts, cooked breadfruit on the fire, and even cooked most of their meals on the fire as well. One evening the parents joined the kids on the beach for a bonfire and a potluck dinner, but the kids made it very clear to us that is was their expectation that all the parents go home after sundown!
There were twelve kids in total ranging from Age 13 (Alex and Ainara) down to age 5 (Nils). I loved watching Alex and Nils together. Nils was always sitting with Alex on his lap, and he was so excited that he got to sleep in a tent with Alex. They reminded me of a group of cousins where the oldest and youngest have a tendency to bond.
One day, Tim organized a beach scavenger hunt for the kids. He printed out a list of approximately 35 items for the kids to find or make, like “a live creature,” “a woven mat,” or “3 coconuts for drinking.” The kids broke up into two teams with boys against girls, and they all spent a couple of hours doing their best. Wow, what a great job they all did. There was a perfect palm frond dress (made by the girls) and a bow and arrow (made by the boys). There were hermit crabs and heart shaped sandcastles. Tim even conned them into cleaning up the beach a bit by putting “10 plastic items” on the list. All the parents were on hand with cameras and smiles while the judge gave rulings and the scores were computed. The girls eeked out a win by only 3 points in the end, and it turns out that being able to make a woven beer cozy was the difference. Later, when we were all back on our boats, the girls from Lumbaz radioed and gave Tim an exceptional lyrical thank you for organizing the game for them. It was very sweet. Then, a little later, Hans, the dad from Nautilus, in a bit of a parody, radioed and gave Tim another lyrical thank you for helping him to learn to spear fish. Both Alex and I had the same independent thought, “well, it could be worse, it could be the wind turbine song!” (For those that don’t know or don’t remember, Exodus is only powered by solar, but in addition to solar, Lady Carolina also has two wind turbines. In a fit of mad creativity or peraps a rum stupor, Steve once sang us an ode to his wind turbines over VHF, and unfortunately, it’s a tune that is hard to forget!)
On another day the parents organized spear fishing and snorkeling in the pass, but the kids opted to stay in their village on the beach. Since all the parents would be in the water and out of radio contact, I suggested maybe we hand a few safety rules down to the kids while we’re gone. We decided to tell them, “No climbing coconut trees,” and “No machetes.” There, that’ll keep them safe, right? When we got back and asked them what they did all day, it turns out they had a sparring tournament with long sticks. Apparently, Gigi won, and only a few cuts and bruises were had by all. I guess it wasn’t enough to say no climbing trees and no machetes, we forgot to tell them not to hit each other with large, sharp objects. Priceless!
One of the best days at the sandspit anchorage was when we had a big picnic with people from the village. Two of the boats that were anchored near the village, including our friends on Lumbaz, ferried about 30 people from the village over to the beach near us. They put kasava in a lovo (underground oven), fished, caught crabs, dove for clams, made a table out and plates out of palm leaves, made coconut milk, and basically made sure that all of us yachties had a great time. I tried everything, even the raw clams and the crab guts, and they even seemed to like my pasta salad.
We anchored four different places in Fulaga including near the pass and near the village, and Kid Boat Corner was by far our favorite.
Gresham Family Exodus 