Yap.. Traditions Holding True – Lamotrek Atoll

Once all our repairs in Pohnpei were completed it was time to move on. We made the decision to head straight for Yap proper, 1200 nautical miles away, in the hopes that we could make it in time for Yap Day. We had heard it was a wonderful, colorful, delicious celebration of Yap traditions.  

Plans and reality are not always compatable. At 400 nm’s out we had another boat crisis. Our main sail halyard (the line that raises and lowers our main sail) got jammed with our main sail half way up. Doug to the rescue. We waited until the seas were somewhat calm and up the mast goes Doug in the bosin’s chair. A precarious situation. He managed to get half way up on the wildly gyrating mast, enough to undo the jammed main sail and let it drop. Later we figured out to use our gennaker halyard to at least raise our sail to the first reef, about half way up. On we sailed.  

One day later the crux was reached. Our wind steering rudder was falling off! Between Doug and I we were able to get it aboard. This meant the final 800 nm’s was hand steering…. or we divert. Lamotrek Atoll, here we come.  

Suka (on the right), Irish Melody and Kanaloa at anchor at Lamotrek Atoll

A visit from anyone at an outer atoll, hundreds of miles from the closest neighbor, is an event. Lamotrek was quite suprised, and excited, to get three cruising yachts at once.   

Anywhere you go, world wide, it is the children who are most curious and are ready to greet you.  

Our first Lamotrekians.....

The first order of business when you visit an outer atoll is to pay your respects to the local chief. A small gift is appropriate. In our case we took him a can of spam, a can of fruit and a new deck of playing cards.  

Chief Manuel

   

One of the traditions that the Yappese, at least on the outer islands, has held on to is the way they dress… or in this case, undress. They are practical and have not bowed to missionaries or pressure from the modest outside world. Nobody, male or female, wears a top garmet. It is just not practical, what with the consistant warm weather, lack of water (for washing), and tradition.  

A lovely young Yappese girl.

And another one!

Lamotrek is one of the Central Pacific atolls famous for its traditional navigators. They still make their outrigger canoes on the island and use them for transpotation and fishing. It is truely amazing to see all the resources they make use of on such a small piece of real estate.    

A smaller size canoe in the making.

Our first full day there we, naturally, wanted to see as much of the island as possible. And, I was very excited about being able to photograph something so rare… a pretty primitive, by our standards, culture. Our guides just naturally fell in as we began our explorations. Notice how natural they look… still lots of innocence there!  

Our island guides.

The Lamotrekians may be backwater, but, they do have a hospital on island. More like a clinic. It does have a slightly abandoned look. I guess they are a healthy lot.  

The hospital.

In our world of fast food I doubt we can imagine having to start food preparation in the morning, every day, day after day. For these women, it is just part and parcel. Seemed every household we passed by the women were in some stage of preparing the day’s food. Here they are preparing taro. First they mash it. Then they place it with coconut milk, which also needs to be prepared, in various leaf layers. Then they bury it for 3 hours to solidify into a cake.  

Taro root, in the mashing stage.

Getting the various leaf layers ready.

Adding a layer of coconut milk.

Lastly, the mashed taro root.

All wrapped and tied up in a neat bundle. From here, into the ground for 3 hours.

More taro preparation.

Notice the colorful wraps the women use for skirts. These are called  lava lavas and they are woven by the ladies on the atoll.    

Another staple for their meal, besides fish, is breadfruit.  

Breadfruit being prepared.

On our walk about the island we found that there was a swampy area in the interior which was totally dedicated to growing the taro.  

A taro patch, planted in a natural swampy area.

Another Yappese tradition is the building of stone paths. In this case one was built directly through the taro patch.  

A lot of work went into this.

As with all the Central Pacific islands, there is a lot of WWII history. On Lamotrek, as small as it is, there are actually three planes still laying about in various states of disintegration.  

All that is left of one plane.

Fellow cruiser, Mike from Kanaloa, trying to identify what make plane this is.

The kids consider this a local playground!

Our little troop continued to expand as we rounded the island. Notice the all boy make-up of the group. I think the girls are probably off  learning how to make taro cake!  

The troop.

And they definatly got into the swing of things with the photography. It finally switched from me asking to do a photo to them striking poses. If you can call it that. They just seemed to have a natural poise.  

Some island girls heart throb!

  

A warrior in the making??

 On our trip around the island we worked up quite a thirst. Again, our tour guides were more than willing to oblige us with fresh coconut milk.

Up a tree for refreshments.

A pro.

Mike and Doug... cheers!

 

The Lamotrekeans still use an open fire to do their cooking.

Coconut husks are their fuel for their cooking fires. These thatched storage huts are all over the island.

Closer to each dwelling you find the coconut husks strung up to dry, ready for the next fire.

Another tradition, going along with the segragation of the sexes, are the the men’s houses. They are where the men hang out and drink the local coconut toddy. They are also where the unmarried men sleep and they store the canoes. Women are strictly vorboten!

A men's house.

 I have to admit, though, the last day we were on island, I, as a foreign woman, was invited to sit with a group of men in the men’s house. Their curiosity of information beyond their small, insulated island overcame the strict tradition.  I felt honored.

Coconut toddy in the making. The sap drips into the coconut shell.

On our way back into the village from our trip around the island we stopped and paid our respects to the other chief! I wonder why such a small island has two chiefs? …  both obviously on the other side of 50! Chief Joe had been napping on our first stop. More spam and more canned fruit.

Chief Joe

That pretty much concluded our first outing on the island. The next couple days took up boat repairs. While we were there the monthly supply ship came in. It brings in staples like rice, flour, sugar and canned milk, as well as medicines, school supplies etc. etc.

Supply ship.

The arrival is an “event” on island. The kids especially love to come visit the ship.

For the kids, the canoe is like our bicycles.

We asked permission to go aboard the ship and tour it. Not only was it interesting, but it made a great, high platform for more picture taking!

The ship's foredeck.

The bridge.

One of the crew.. and a view of down lagoon.

Suka's tiny dinghy next to the ship.

A returning tender.

Down lagoon.

This atoll was much different from Majuro, which is studded with islets the whole way around the lagoon. This atoll only has three islands. It is roughly triangular shaped and there is an island in each corner. The only one with people on it is the biggest one, the one we visited. As you can see, this atoll is mostly reef.

The night before we sailed for Yap proper we went ashore to say our goodbyes and snap a few more pictures. Doug had visited the local church without me and insisted I needed to take pictures of its very unusual pulpit.

The Lamotrek church. Notice the hanging tank. It is stuck, ringing out very loudly, to summon everyone. This device is used the whole breadth of the Pacific ocean, north and south.

Inside the church. I imagine it is also used as a storm shelter. Yap rarely gets typhoons, but they breed here.

I think the canoe is right up there with God! This alter was made of all local woods.

Or maybe this was the alter... a bit warlike, yes?

After visiting the church we noticed that the island’s large canoe was coming back from some errand down lagoon. I wish I had caught it with its sail up.

The island's largest canoe.

We decided to walk down to where they store it, another men’s house.

This is how they beach the large canoe. These branches and a lot of muscle.

The large canoe, beached. A men's house in the background.

The canoe outrigger.

After our goodbyes it was time to head back to Suka and finish our preparations for tomorrow’s departure. It was a wonderful visit. I don’t think tropical islands will ever pale for me.

Setting sun in the palm trees.

A small canoe... waiting for tomorrow's chores.

Our last night on Lamotrek.

Here are a few more pictures of Lamotrek…. enjoy!

This lady insisted on a photo. Don't know what the bag and jar are about??!!

These are actually sisters. Having a lot of children is still a practice here.

One of the men in front of a men's house.

This young lady also insisted on a photo and then gave me this pose. Go figure!

This is copra, i.e. coconut, spread out to dry, which is sent off island and used in all kinds of coconut products.

A small graveyard. Don't know if this is local or WWII related.

The base of a water tower built by the Japanese during their WWII occupation of the atoll.

Local flora.