- Date: May 18, 1987
- Location: Homoe Bay Sariba Island, PNG
- Subject: Chicken on Board
Dear Water Fairy:
Yesterday, I woke up to find a surprise waiting for me in Homoe Bay! A sailboat was anchored at the other end of the cove. I was so surprised to see another yacht around, I almost could not believe it.
In the morning, Capt and Mom were up before me, having breakfast in the cockpit, just chatting away as usual. When I came out to join them, I noticed the boat. I started jumping up and down saying, “It’s another boat, it’s another boat!!” This was the first sailing boat I have crossed paths with since we left Samarai over two weeks ago. Now I kind of know how the island kids feel when they see a boat anchored in their bay, it is very exciting! I could tell from the flag off the stern of the boat, that the boat was from the USA. There was another flag flying from the yardarm on the port side of the boat, which tells you what country that boat is from. That flag had an eagle with a shield decorated with stars and stripes, and the letters V I. We looked it up in the book, and that flag stands for the US Virgin Islands, which is in the Caribbean, very far away.
Mom said we could not go over to the boat so early in the morning and disturbed the people. We would have to wait until we see the people walking around on their deck. So, I got all my chores done and schoolwork done and out of the way. About mid-morning Capt and I jumped into Dingdong and rowed over to the boat and invited them over for mid-morning tea. Mom stayed behind to whip up a batch of scones.
The sailboat is named, Junior Achiever and is owned by the GIRL!! Her name is Kerrie. Her crew is her boyfriend, Dave. I just think it is so cool that the captain of the sailboat is a tiny little lady and her crew is a huge guy. They have been sailing from St. Croix for about 2 years, they went through the Panama Canal, stopping at plenty of places in Central America, over to Hawaii, Guam and through the islands of Micronesia and Marshall Islands. They are on their way to Australia and then over to New Zealand, and then….who knows. Their boat is 35 feet long slope, made of fiberglass and simple but has everything they need, including a gas grill attached to the aft rail. Before they left to go sailing, they both had worked for many years on an apple farm in New England. Kerrie was the farm manager and Dave was the field worker and mechanic.
But the best thing about Junior Achiever is the black and white fluffy chicken named Sheila who lives aboard, and is their pet. A chicken on a boat, as a pet! I just never would have expected that. When Kerrie and Dave came over to Sacha-B for tea, and we were talking about sailing stuff, as you do, I just could not stop asking Kerrie questions about Sheila. This is what I learned. Sheila has been on the boat the ENTIRE trip, and comes from the island of St. Croix. She is a breed called Brahma or Brahman and she has lots of fluffy feathers down her legs onto her feet. She is three and a half years old and weighs about 9 pounds. She will come when Kerrie or Dave call her name, and she loves to sit on their lap and get a pet, like a cat. Kerrie made a holster for Sheila, so they can take Shiela for walks on shore. Sheila lives “free range” on their boat. This means she just walks around the deck, and hangs out. All along the life lines is netting, which keeps Sheila from falling overboard. Sheila is not allowed down below, except at night when she goes to bed. Her bed is a small wooden box in a cage, which is called a roost, and her bed is lined with shredded newspaper. Every once in a while if Kerrie has seen a bug down below, she will put a diaper on Shiela and let her “graze” in the cabin, eating any bugs that might come out. If she poops on the deck, Kerrie just washes it off with sea water. Of course the big joke on Junior Achiever is all decks are poop decks. Every day Kerrie will hide a few berries on the deck for Shiela to find. Her favorite berry is blueberry, and Kerrie has a freezer full of blueberries. Sheila also likes cracked corn and any vegetable scraps, so Sheila is a live-aboard garbage disposal system. One thing Shiela does not like is limes. Kerrie said the bonus part of having Sheila on the boat is she lays 3-4 eggs a week, so they always have fresh eggs.
Because I was so interested in Shiela, Kerrie asked me if I wanted to come over and hang out with her. Of course, I said YES! So later that afternoon, Mom and I went over to Junior Achiever and I got to play with Shiela for a few hours while Mom and Kerrie were fixing some of the tears in their main sail. I got to sit in the cockpit and had fluffy Sheila on my lap, feeding her corn and berries, and playing with her fluffy self. I did put a sheet of old newspaper on my lap, and I am glad I did, because Sheila pooped a bunch on me. I want a chicken as a pet, but even before I could ask Mom, she said, “Don’t get any ideas. No pets, not even chickens on Sacha-B. But I want one so BAD!
While us girls were visiting each other, Capt and Dave went ashore to take a look at the village engine that the kids said was “dead finished” You would have thought it was Christmas morning for Capt. A broken engine to fix and a new friend to help fix it. Dave said that he did lots of engine work on the farm, fixing tractors, movers and diesel trucks. So, the guys packed up their tools and headed to shore.
So, last night we had Kerrie and Dave over for dinner and happy hour. I made the appetizers and then we had the rest of the mudcrabs and fresh tomatoes and cukes. The grown-ups sat around for a long time talking about the different places they went and different anchorages that were good places to stop and others that were a good place to miss. I knew I was in trouble when Capt pulled out the charts and started marking the good spots, so I went to bed to catch up on my reading. The grown ups were laughing well into the night.
Capt was so happy this morning to have Dave’s help hoisting Capt up to the top of the mast to fix our mast light and some other little things. I am glad going up to the top of the mast is not my job. I do not like being that high up in the air. Capt. took advantage of Dave being a skilled mechanic and they also took a peek at our big motor “Mr. Gardner, Sir” and gave him a bit of a tune up.
Mom and I went over to visit Kerrie and brought some books to trade. Kerrie said she has not seen another cruising couple for over 5 weeks and ran out of books to read. She is rereading her stash so is very happy to have a few new books to read. So, Mom lugged a stack of books, which Capt and she already read, and Kerrie had a “yachtie book swap”. That means a pile of books is measured against the other pile of books, and it is an even swap. Because it is so hard to find any books while cruising, it does not really matter what the books are about. Mom says she will read anything, even a cereal box if there was one onboard. Capt is a little more particular, he likes adventure guy, spy stuff. It is really hard for me to find books for me to swap because I am a kid, which is why Mom let me bring extra. She said I will be reading them more than once! I also have my encyclopedia set for my research, which is pretty interesting. Sometimes Mom just picks up a volume and reads it from cover to cover. Maybe that is why she knows so much.
Kerrie, Dave and Sheila are leaving in the morning and heading to Lae, PNG. So sad we only get to visit for two days, but what a great day it was. Maybe we will run into them again. Kerrie brought me over three eggs from Sheila, as a little parting gift. Dave was telling me back in the whaling days 1700-1800s, when big sailing ships were out to sea for 2 or three years or longer, the ships had little animal farms on the deck; chickens, pigs, and goats. Most of the animals were kept in pens and were eaten when the ship ran out of food. When the ships were in the tropical island waters, they would hunt or trade for live sea turtles and store them upside down on their shells so they could not get away. That sounds so terrible to me, being mean to the animals. I am glad I am not on one of those ships.
I think I will make deviled eggs with curry out of Sheila’s eggs. Tomorrow we leave to head back to Samaria and meet up with Toni and Craig of Mollemok. It’s going to be a long sailing day.
