Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Love You


Captain's Blog 4-19-2016

If you only knew two words in a foreign language, what would they be? 


In Spanish, I've really only known cerveza and baño, because to me they pair together crucially. One day recently, two boys on the beach on the island of Olo‘ua gave Karen and I some greater perspective on language. 

The medical team was ashore at a village clinic when Karen and I spotted the boys playing near hammocks hanging in the palm trees. The hammocks looked inviting, so off we went toward the trees. When we got to shore we engaged with the boys, played, and took a few pictures of them before they took off toward an old shack nearby. We said "bye!" and waved big. About halfway to the shack they turned and yelled back,“Love You”, and nothing more. 

Turns out they were going back home to get two worn out children’s books written in English. When they returned with the books, we sat on the hammock and read to them, and quickly realized that they did not know English at all. We both were a bit taken aback, realizing those were the only two words they knew in our language.  Nice! 

We tried the phrase out ourselves the day after when we were back in the town of Neiafu, where there is always a group of young kids swimming off the dock at dusk. As we passed by in the dingy we greeted them with a loud “love you”!  We heard a whole chorus of young voices yell back the same.  Not the worst choice of words if you only are going to learn a couple. They won't get you a beer, but no doubt the true yield is far greater.
  
Rotation 1, in the Va’vau group of Tonga was absolutely splendid. Despite being pinned down in the harbor of Neiafu for the first three days due to three low pressure systems (one of which formed into a cyclone), we managed to operate clinics in every remote village in the group. The team we had was absolutely fantastic, dedicated, and worked tirelessly.  We had a couple from the UK- Hanna, a medical student, and her fiancé James, in aviation logistics; Ika the Medical Officer from the Ministry of Health; Alyani, a Nurse Practitioner from the Ministry of Health; Brian and Sandy, two NZ doctors, married, who not only shared service in their local clinic, but also came with us to all of the villages we visited.  

It was an awesome team! We saw over 200 villagers, and left no one behind who desired to be seen. I realized the value of how the team functioned together when I was trying to keep us on a daylight transit schedule. It was late afternoon and all the team was aboard, except for Ika. I returned and waited on the village dock as Ika dressed and bandaged a very badly infected finger. “Malo aupito”, (thank you very much) the injured man said as we departed.  I wish I had the courage to say what the children had taught me, that underneath those two words are two others worth learning, worth saying… “Love You”! Because this is why we help. 

Karen and I are off now for the Haap’ai group of islands to the south.  We have two rotations scheduled there before heading off for Fiji.












For more information on our cause, visit www.seamercy.org. The Catamaran has now traveled from Carolina Beach, NC, to Tonga- to become a FHCC (Floating Health Care Clinic) for Sea Mercy - and we've completed our first three rotations. Sea Mercy's vision is to be the most effective preventive, curative, promotional and rehabilitative floating health care provider and service delivery mechanism to support the remote citizens of the island nations. Their mission is therefore to ensure that the community sector has the practical tools and talent available to accomplish those visionary ends. To accomplish this in the short term they will provide floating health clinics to needy populations. To effect long term community improvement, they work to increase awareness of the health issues facing these vulnerable populations.

Please consider getting involved or donating to Sea Mercy, or simply share our cause with your friends and family. Thank you for being with us on this journey!



Thursday, April 7, 2016

Happy




Captain's Blog 4/6/2016

We are happy to be back in Tonga!  To bring you up to date…. It has been now four months since we left Sea Angel in Neifu Va’vau, Tonga on our way back to America.  Karen flew a direct flight back, or as direct as possible from here, Nukalofa, Fiji, LA, Charlotte, Wilmington, which took her a mere three days.  My dear friend Mike Bartz flew out to Neifu and helped with the last rotation, preparing the boat for the summer cyclone season, then we enjoyed a 10 day road trip together through New Zealand before flying back for Thanksgiving.  One thing that struck both Karen and I was how different it felt to be back home after having spent so long in the South Pacific Islands.  Both of us felt a kind of “shock” in our returning home to the “land of plenty”.   Being back in Tonga is very pleasantly simple.  We spent a long 10 days with the boat in the yard taking care of maintenance, putting it back together again, and cleaning.  We had the pleasure of staying in a wonderful little cottage on the water during this time so we could relax a bit in the evenings.  We are now back in the harbor at Neifu and have our first volunteers (Hanna, James, and Sam) aboard for rotation 1.  Unfortunately, Tonga has been under a late season cyclone alert and the weather has been downright miserable!  Today seems to have been the worst of it, with the strong winds that have backed around from the typical SE to the N, then West, squally, rainy, and with large confused seas.  A second low has developed into a cyclone, now classed as a category 3 which is currently approaching Fiji.  It is projected to weaken substantially before passing over us but it is keeping me anxious.  We have been staying put in the main harbor with the volunteers helping out at the main hospital in the mornings.  Needless to say we are all getting a bit of cabin fever, and all of us want to get out to the villages!  We will keep you posted.  

DL





Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Tonga: The Season Wrap Up





This blog is the toughest one yet to write...

Sea Angel is now sitting blocked up and strapped down to the ground in the brand new boatyard in the Vava’u group of Tonga. (We were the first catamaran to be hauled there!) She will sit out the pacific cyclone season there. Mike Bartz, my good friend from Minnesota/Carolina Beach flew out to not only help cleaning and preparing the boat for the lay-up, but he also helped as crew on the last and final Tonga remote island rotation of the season. As a little treat to ourselves, since I chose not to sail the boat to New Zealand, and since it was not far away, we took the opportunity to fly here and spend a couple weeks before heading back to the states for our winter (the rainy summer, cyclone prone season here). Karen, who sailed with me over 1,100 miles from Tahiti, and worked side by side with me throughout all the rotations, flew back North Carolina to take care of some things back home and to catch up with friends and family. There is a great deal that we have experienced together, and these events will leave a lasting impression on our lives and our characters. I miss her and look forward to reuniting with her on my return. The end of this season is bittersweet, to be sure, but these feelings will pass.




At Work - For more photos visit our facebook album

The last rotation and the wrap up brought with it so many feelings and emotions. Having brought clinics to all the remote villages in the Ha’api group, we had decided to move the boat for the last rotation of the season to the Vava’u group where the hospital staff had not reached the most distant villages at all this season. Doctor John Lee, the acting director of the hospital in Neiafu was great and even went with us to some of the remote islands. The islands are beautiful, being much higher and rockier, and there were few reefs to navigate through, as compared to what we had to deal with in the Ha’api. We had two resident doctors from NY (Tracy and Barie Salmon) who are identical twins. They were splendid to be with and made the rotation a true pleasure. Over the ten days we visited and set up mobile clinics at the eastern most villages on the islands of Ofu, Olo Ua, and Mata Mata, as well as re-visiting the closer island villages on Taunga and Hunga. All told the doctors and staff saw 56 patients, many of whom were older and could not travel to be seen at the main hospital. We were also able to sneak in a few snorkel trips and swims off the boat after a day of clinics. The Tongan doctors and nurses onboard with us even swam, speared fish and played a bit. We rented a car on the weekend and all of us toured the main island. We all felt good that we competed a very successful rotation.

On a sad note, during our eastern island visits when we were out of the main port of Neiafu, a fellow sailor on a boat that arrived the day before suffered a heart attack. There are no resources in Tonga for emergencies, no EMT’s or first responders, and it was early morning when the hospital was closed. The locals tried to reach us as they were aware of our doctors aboard but unfortunately we were not there that night. Despite long attempts at CPR but no available defibrillator in all of the island group, he passed away. It was an acute lesson that simple tools available to most of the western world are absent out here, and the consequences are unforgiving. We have been asked by the local pastor to try and help them locate at least one AED unit that can be available through the emergency response volunteers.

The last rotation of the season contained a lot, it was full of beauty, great people, anxiety, sadness, happiness, accomplishment, and a real sense of completion.

-DL






For more photos from our first rotation, visit our facebook page here. For more information on our cause, visit www.seamercy.org. The Catamaran has now traveled from Carolina Beach, NC, to Tonga- to become a FHCC (Floating Health Care Clinic) for Sea Mercy - and we've completed our first three rotations. Sea Mercy's vision is to be the most effective preventive, curative, promotional and rehabilitative floating health care provider and service delivery mechanism to support the remote citizens of the island nations. Their mission is therefore to ensure that the community sector has the practical tools and talent available to accomplish those visionary ends. To accomplish this in the short term they will provide floating health clinics to needy populations. To effect long term community improvement, they work to increase awareness of the health issues facing these vulnerable populations.

Please consider getting involved or donating to Sea Mercy, or simply share our cause with your friends and family. Thank you for being with us on this journey!



Monday, October 19, 2015

We only have today...




Today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. We only have today. They live by that motto here in Tonga. More on that later...

We have just finished up the third of four outer island rotations here in Tonga. In all, we have visited every remote village in the Ha’api group at least once this season. Some villages we have visited twice. Everywhere we have been the villagers welcome us with thankfulness and a simple appreciation that we care, we care for their needs, and we care about them. We have been blessed to work alongside the local hospital staff that truly cares, that undertakes the challenge of open water passages, rock cliff island access, big surf, reef crossings, rain, sea-sickness, all to serve the needs of others. We traveled as far as the northern sub group of Namuka that is very remote and infrequently visited. In total on that visit we saw 154 patients on the medical side, and tested for and distributed 22 eye glasses. We closed out the Ha’api tour by visiting the nearer outer islands one more time before our departure.

We have moved the boat to the northern Vava’u group of islands to complete the final rotation of this season. We have two medical residents arriving on the 19th and will work within the beautiful Vava’u group through the end of the month. These are a totally different set of islands with deep water, protected anchorages, cliffs, high hills, and short distances between each. The Ha’api group on the other hand challenged us with shallow water, many reefs, open ocean across longer distance, and villages on the weather side of the islands making anchoring and shore party transport difficult. We are quite happy to close out the season here. Mike Bartz, a good friend of mine will be joining us for the last rotation, and will be remaining into November to help prepare the boat for safekeeping for the upcoming cyclone season. We have scheduled to have the boat hauled out of the water at a new boat yard here in Vava’u. Karen and I will both be flying back to the states for the season. We are both looking forward to seeing our friends and loved ones again.

“We only have today”…..Paea, our nurse practioner this rotation described the Tongan schedule, dare I say their view of life with those words. When we arrived here two months ago and met Moses, our liaison to the Hospital for our duration, addressed my many questions and perhaps underlying anxiety, with a simple, “No worries”. Those two statements sum up the simple and beautiful life of these South Pacific peoples. It has taken Karen and myself a while to understand, but we finally have. As westerners, even having been out here as long as we have, we carry with us a residual desire to manage, to control, to anticipate, to plan, to worry about tomorrow. We do it less now, but we still do it. Even out here in the middle of the Pacific we have car payments, insurance, storage unit bills, document renewals, blogs to post, and the list goes on. A couple of days ago we were at one of very few places in Pangi that have of the best basic and slow internet service. I was trying to renew the boat document with the USCG, an important and necessary task, but found myself frustrated when the westerner at the table next to me started to download a book to read which sucked up all the bandwidth and crashed my final attempt. I will admit that I thought about spilling a drink on her tablet. Then I remembered a quote by Cicero from “Wisdom of the Ages” that Karen is reading…. “First it makes no sense to worry about the things you have no control over, because if you have no control over them, it makes no sense to worry about them. Second, it makes no sense to worry about the things you do have control over, because if you have control, it makes no sense to worry”. We have learned a lot here.

David



A Tongan Girl

Bethany and a patient

Breaching Whale

For more photos from our first rotation, visit our facebook page here. For more information on our cause, visit www.seamercy.org. The Catamaran has now traveled from Carolina Beach, NC, to Tonga- to become a FHCC (Floating Health Care Clinic) for Sea Mercy - and we've completed our first three rotations. Sea Mercy's vision is to be the most effective preventive, curative, promotional and rehabilitative floating health care provider and service delivery mechanism to support the remote citizens of the island nations. Their mission is therefore to ensure that the community sector has the practical tools and talent available to accomplish those visionary ends. To accomplish this in the short term they will provide floating health clinics to needy populations. To effect long term community improvement, they work to increase awareness of the health issues facing these vulnerable populations.

Please consider getting involved or donating to Sea Mercy, or simply share our cause with your friends and family. Thank you for being with us on this journey!

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Our First Rotation

Our first medical rotation is complete and we think it went quite well!  It was prefaced by some anxiety about the unknown, some unforeseen events, difficulty in provisioning here, and boat equipment failures; despite the challenges the entire team and the clinic staff here in Pangai performed splendidly.  In the first week of rotation the newly coronated King of Tonga arrived and all of the islands in the Ha’apai group took part in the celebration. We enjoyed the activities here in Pangai but were unable to fully put the volunteer’s talents to work. Also, Karen and I had a harrowing few minutes on day two as we were running the generator and the RO fresh water-maker.  I was in the cockpit and noticed black smoke starting to bellow out of the small manual bilge pump handle holes. It turned out to be an electrical fire in the water maker control box! It took a fire extinguisher, and a bunch of engine room clean up to recover.  Fortunately it was contained to the water maker and both we and the boat were safe.  The result however, is that we are now routinely schlepping water from the police station rainwater catchment system to the Sea Angel fresh water tanks.

These setbacks however have been FAR overshadowed by the blessings, kindness, thoughtfulness, and help from these wonderful Tongan people!  We stand in gratitude and through these words we can only touch on the highlights….

When we arrived we stepped immediately into the wonderful legacy of Sea Mercy’s prior work here over the last few seasons.  There has been such a beautiful warm, kind, and over the top welcoming feeling for our arrival. They want and need our services here desperately. We see the difficulties they face with the costs to provide adequate health care to the outer islands and so very much appreciate our being here to help reach those people. Craig from the resort on Uoleva Island offered us the use of his private mooring ball, the only one in the tiny inner harbor where we are safe from all wind directions and have great ease in our frequent departure and arrivals in Pangai. The clinic here provides us all of our transportation needs in Pangai, and they have done our large bags of guest laundry; both of which are of great help to us. The Police department gives us free access to their rainwater catchment systems; the Army has offered us any and all help we might need.  Matt at the Ha’apai Beach Resort, and Magda at the Mariners Café have opened their hearts and help in any way we need.

We have also been guests at the local church to two separate over the top “feasts” celebrating the arrival and departure of pastors. On our return from church dressed in our finest attire, drenched in pouring down rain and finding our dingy stuck under the concrete pier, two boys without hesitation jumped into the water and tirelessly worked it out for us. As I was lamenting the toasted water maker and a suspected need to replace the main sail, an angelic couple anchored near us- he was an electrician and she was a sail-maker! She fetched her machine and sewed up the main on the spot, also giving me assurance the main was in good shape and not in need of replacement.  He troubleshot the water maker with me and it appears it may be possible to rebuild the part that burnt. On shore in the outer islands, as the team and staff worked though the lines of patients, the locals would bring baskets brimming with coconuts, lobster, papayas and local foods for lunch and as gifts.


In all we went to the villages of Uiha and Felemea on Uiha Island,  Ha’ano village one day and Fakakakai village on another day (both on Ha’ano Island),  and the village on Lofanga.   In some places the team set up our mobile clinics in the back of trucks, under shade cloths stretched between palm trees on the beach, community halls, and occasionally a rarely visited outpost clinic building.  We will be compiling a report on the patients seen, prevalent diagnosis, general observations, eyeglasses and sunglasses distributed, and dental work performed to aid Sea Mercy and future volunteers prepare for and best address the needs of these wonderful island peoples.





For more photos from our first rotation, visit our facebook page here. For more information on our cause, visit www.seamercy.org. The Catamaran has now traveled from Carolina Beach, NC, to Tonga- to become a FHCC (Floating Health Care Clinic) for Sea Mercy - and we've completed our first rotation. Sea Mercy's vision is to be the most effective preventive, curative, promotional and rehabilitative floating health care provider and service delivery mechanism to support the remote citizens of the island nations. Their mission is therefore to ensure that the community sector has the practical tools and talent available to accomplish those visionary ends. To accomplish this in the short term they will provide floating health clinics to needy populations. To effect long term community improvement, they work to increase awareness of the health issues facing these vulnerable populations.


Please consider getting involved or donating to Sea Mercy, or simply share our cause with your friends and family. Thank you for being with us on this journey!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Sailing into Tomorrow


"How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened." -T. Jefferson


A Gift for Karen
Captain's Blog, 8/17/2015

Caves on Niue
Lava Cave, Niue
We sailed into tomorrow a few days ago, if that makes any sense. The International Date Line does a bump around the east side of Tonga because they wanted to be the first nation to welcome in the new day. Depending on where we were standing on the boat one of us was in one day, and one the other, at least for an instant.
Scooter ride in Niu

Today we are in Tonga!! Arriving here has been a huge milestone for both Karen and myself. It has been a long journey for each of us; totally different, but each in its own way challenging us to step out in faith, trust, and hope. The trip from French Polynesia was a relatively long one, the second longest passage of the entire trip. There were several highlights; they included a harrowing lagoon pass entrance, whales breaching off Niue, 4 meter seas, either a lot of wind or a little wind, a crazy dingy landing requiring a crane, a scooter ride to explore caves, and even the beautiful gift for Karen of a rainbow on July 23 under a blue sky with waves thundering and spray flying 100’s of feet into the air (pictured above).

Whales breaching and slapping tails



New friends and inspiration!
Pass at Maupihaa
Tonga has been our destination, it has taken a long time, a lot of work, emotional ups and downs, and many, many miles to arrive here. The journey itself, and ultimately our recent arrival, has taught me a lot about fear, anxiety, and living in the day without knowing the future. To do something like this one must have the faith and the trust to step through those emotions, but honestly, even when you do step through they are pervasive and tend to continue to work their way into your thoughts and heart. For me it is my faith in God and a much bigger plan that gives me the perseverance to keep pushing them away. I have found that if you open your eyes and ears along the way, He gives powerful confirmations that you are doing the right thing. This comes in the form of experiences and introspection, but most profoundly through encouragement through other people. We have met many new friends along the way who have demonstrated both similar perspective and faith, and they've been a consistent inspiration to us on our journey. On arriving here, Mosese (Moses), our local official and contact for our work here, uses a favorite phrase a lot, “no worries”. That is a good summary.

I read recently in a daily devotion, When you worry about the future, you heap day upon day of troubles onto your shoulders and you stagger under the heavy load. You re-live over and over things that may not even happen. No worries, we are here today. Later on we will sail into tomorrow again.

First meal, Tonga, Sea Angel at anchor at last.



Sea Angel is sailing for a cause. The Catamaran has now traveled from Carolina Beach, NC, to Tonga- to become a FHCC (Floating Health Care Clinic) for Sea Mercy. Sea Mercy's vision is to be the most effective preventive, curative, promotional and rehabilitative floating health care provider and service delivery mechanism to support the remote citizens of the island nations. Their mission is therefore to ensure that the community sector has the practical tools and talent available to accomplish those visionary ends. To accomplish this in the short term they will provide floating health clinics to needy populations. To effect long term community improvement, they work to increase awareness of the health issues facing these vulnerable populations.
Please consider getting involved or donating to Sea Mercy, or simply share our cause with your friends and family. Thank you for being with us on this journey!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Our First Humpback Whale

Captain's Blog 

At Sea, July 21st, 2014

Our first Humpback whale

Karen and I have been sailing now 9 days, having left Bora Bora in French Polynesia on the 11th with a brief rest stop at Maupiaa.  We have traveled now about 1,000 miles in a mixed bag of conditions, most of which has been absolutely beautiful.  The last two days the ocean has been almost glass calm, very little swell, and just ripples on the water from a gentle breeze.  We have motor sailed to keep the speed up hoping to arrive in Niue tomorrow by midday.  Niue is one of the world's physically smallest countries.  We hope to stop there and spend a day catching up on rest and a few provisions, then move on to Tonga, a 2 day sail.

Today was very special, as a matter of fact, it was AWESOME! We had both just walked up to the trampolines on the front of the boat to sit in the sun for a while.  The ocean was calm.  As I gazed off to the right of the boat a humpback whale breached about 75 feet away.  It took our breath away.   We sat there in complete awe and excitement not believing what we had just seen.  It was HUGE!  I guessed it to be 1 and a half times the size of the boat, perhaps a granddaddy at 45 to 50 feet long.   As we sat there it breached again, about the same distance and direction off the starboard side.  Five minutes later our hearts jumped into our throats as it apparently swam directly under the boat and then breached right in front of us.  We were almost looking right down in its blowhole as it took a breath.  It felt like that if he lifted his tail it would have picked up the front of the boat.  About 15 minutes later he did a lazy breach about 200 feet away, laid on the surface, and then disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.   WOW.  It is exciting to know that it is calving season in Tonga now for the Humpback, and we hope to frequently share the breathtaking experience with the volunteers aboard.

As we now approach Tonga we look forward to beginning work there.  We look forward to new relationships, friends, and sharing this beautiful and unique experience with the volunteers who are willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.

Thanks for staying with us! 


DL