Holidays to Remember Aboard ‘Synergy’ and ‘Tahu Le’a’
Reading the stories of cruiser Christmases in the December Changes in Latitudes prompted me to write regarding two experiences we had on related topics: celebrations in far-flung locations, though not necessarily Christmas.
The first is a distinct memory of celebrating New Year’s Eve in Gizo, Solomon Islands, in 1988. Gizo is either the second- or third-largest town in the Solomons, with a current population of about 7,000. When Sharon and I were there 36 years ago, it had perhaps 2,000 residents, counting neighboring villages.
New Year’s Eve was spent in the compact but congenial bar of the very small Gizo Hotel, which at that time was either the only such place — or one of few — in town. We joined an eclectic mix of locals, expats, folks from two other cruising boats, and a few other visitors for a remarkably great buffet dinner — what, giant spiny lobster again? OK, we’ll take it! Quoting from our letters home, “The evening was complete with frangipani leis for everyone, including the dog.”
There was a bamboo band for entertainment, with instruments of varying sizes; the musician playing one of the larger, around 5 inches in diameter, created a sound remarkably like a bass fiddle. Again quoting our letter, “The band played cheerful, rhythmic music, with the bamboo instruments carrying the tune, and accompaniment by three guitars, three singers, and the dog.” It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of 1988 and the start of 1989. A few days later we would leave, heading north to Pohnpei and more adventures.
We don’t have any pictures of that New Year’s Eve, as we were all too busy talking and having fun. But one other memorable fact about Gizo is that it was the first place since leaving California in 1987 where we could actually pull alongside the fuel dock — meaning it was small enough and safe enough for Synergy, the 35-ft boat we had then, and deep enough for our 5.5-ft draft. Everywhere else had commercial fuel docks for large vessels, which were almost all unsafe, or not available to cruisers; or much smaller and shallower fuel docks, used by local skiffs and canoes. In Gizo, the commercial vessels were about the size of Synergy, hence the accessible fuel dock.
The second celebration was a bit smaller, but equally memorable: our younger daughter Kaela’s 10th birthday party, celebrated at anchor in Baker’s Bay, Abaco, Bahamas, in 2006. Participating were our family of four, on our “new” cruising boat (now 25 years old) Tahu Le’a; a family from the cruising boat Symphony with daughters about the same ages as ours, with whom we had been cruising off and on; and Scott and Kitty Kuhner from the Valiant 40 Tamure, whom we had met in the Marquesas back in 1988!
