At our location anchored at Ajirikku, every day we’d watch the outriggers head north in the morning and then south again in the evening, as the men of the village went to work each day harvesting copra. Not satisfied being simply a spectator, one day Tim decided he wanted to go to work with them. So, he had one of the boys dinghy him out to randomly intercept one of the outriggers as they were going by, and he flagged them down and asked if they would take him. Of course they agreed, and just like that he was gone for the day, helping them and learning about the copra operation.
It basically entails gathering coconuts on the ground, putting them in piles, then chopping them open and cutting the meat out and putting it in bags. Then they take the bags back to Ailuk where they dry the coconut meat and when the government ship ever comes then they export it for 25 cents per pound. Harvesting copra is something we’ve seen almost everywhere in the pacific, and from what I’ve read the world market for coconut oil doesn’t really support all the copra so usually it is heavily government subsidized. The men appreciated Tim’s participation. They told him he was different than the other yachties because he came to help them. I think this is a somewhat unfair assessment of the situation, because cruisers are always helping to fix things like generators and watermakers, but I suppose these sorts of efforts are more visible to the upper echelon of a village, while Tim helping with the copra was right in there with all the working men. One afternoon while Tim was out spearfishing some of the men stopped by the boat and I traded them some rice, DVD movies, and a flashlight for some more handicrafts, and they gave Brenden a ride on the canoe. One of the men told me that, “Tim is a very good man. He’s very kind.” I said, “Who?” No, not really, I said, “I think so too.”
The copra operation
Gresham Family Exodus 