Virtual Cruise Training Ship Golden Bear

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Virtual Cruise II

United States Training Ship Golden Bear

Status   July 5, 2002
Departure Suva, Fiji En-route to Brisbane, Australia

Total Distance:

1,512.3 nm

Projected Time:

5 Days 22 Hours 40 Min. at 10.6 kts.

Comments:

Vessel Data

Time Zone:

-12 (12 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time)

Length of Day:

5 Hours 6 Min.

Local Time of Position:

1200

Latitude:

18°-50.'S

Longitude:

178°-55.0'W

Total Distance Gone:

50.4 nm

24 Hr. Distance:

-

Distance to Go:

1,461.9 nm

Current Speed:

11.2 nm

Engine Speed:

Port engine - 70 rpm.

Weather Data

Observations:

Overcast and humid.

Forecast:

Back at sea again and I know you all are dying to find out what the weather will be like well don’t worry I will give you my best guess. It appears as we continue south the weather might actually be nice for a change, but as usual it won’t stay for long. We can expect over the next 2-3 days clearing skies, which will hopefully allow us to shoot the sun and other heavenly bodies. Winds should range from 10-20 knots from the NE and become varied over the next 2 days as we transit between highs. Tomorrow night expect to feel the winds blowing from the SE at about 15 knots. Seas will be out of the South ranging from 8 feet or less. As of now Brisbane looks to be a port with some good weather.

                 Meteorologist Guru Chris Muat

Air Temperature:

79° F

Humidity:

95%

Wind:

NE at 13kts.

Clouds:

Altocumulus

Seas:

S at 8ft.

Sea Temperature:

78° F

Water Depth:

2,187

Sunrise:

0653

Sunset:

1749

Aboard The TSGB Day 15

We were lucky to have a berth right in downtown Suva! We were at a busy cargo terminal, but just a few minutes away from the bustling city. We all had a wonderful time, despite overcast skies and occasional rain showers.

Fiji turned out to be a busy port, full of official activities. Shortly after arrival, the Captain hosted the US Ambassador and the Fijian Combined Law Advisory council to lunch on the Golden Bear. This was booked as an embassy function in preparation for the Fourth of July celebration of the 226^th birthday of the United States of America. The US Embassy was trying to get several days of front-page press about the United States and our visit was well timed to help with this endeavor.

Ambassador Hugh Neighbors and Captain Keever met the Minister of Education and made a presentation of 5 pallets of elementary and high school textbooks. Next came the Military Medical Division Commander who was presented with 3 pallets of medical supplies.

At 1330, Captain Keever and a group of cadets went to the Catholic Charity and presented a sewing machine and cloth material to the nuns.

Getting the donations to Namuamua Village was no easy task. The village is located several miles up a river, and the name of the village means 'the point where two rivers meet'. First we traveled by bus to a small town at the mouth of the Namu river, where we loaded boxes and a sewing machine onto small river boats. We knew we were probably in for a rough and wet ride when we were handed pink pink life jackets, rain slickers and plastic bags for our belongings. Cadets Mike Jessner, Makahla Moss and Kevin Freese (pictured above) were members of the official party that transferred the donations to the village elders.

Despite an overcast and rainy day, spirits were high as we approached the village, located on a knoll above the river. When we arrived at the village we were greeted by a young warrior in a grass skirt who carried a large battle club over his shoulder. He led us up to the village and into a large meeting hall constructed of wood, reed mats and a grass roof. We were then led to a special reed mat that was decorated with colorful yarn.

After the official greetings by the village elder, we were treated as the honored guests during a traditional Kava ceremony. While we sat on the mat, several warriors prepared the Kava in a large bowl. Next, they dipped a coconut shell into the murky broth, and handed it to us. Before accepting the grog, we clapped our hands once and exclaimed "Bula", to signify our desire to drink the Kava. After drinking all of the Kava, we clapped three times indicating that we had emptied our bowl. During the ceremony the villagers clapped and repeated several phrases in the Fijian language. After the elders received the donations, and adopted us into their village through the Kava ceremony, we in turn gave a bundle of Kava root to the village elder. Upon completion of the ceremony, we rolled up the mats we had been sitting on and were then given the mats as a remembrance of the ceremony.

About 300 people live in Namuamua Village, comprised of about 55 families. We were a bit surprised to learn that there were two churches in such a small village: a Catholic Church and a Methodist Church. The school, which serves several villages, has six 'courses', or grades. All of the children wear uniforms, and the boys all wore traditional sulas.

We were treated to a concert by the youngest students who sang several traditional songs. We were all amazed at how loud and strong their voices were given their young age! The students were also eager to receive letters from us in the future, and many of us left the school with the names and addresses of several students.

Later in the day we were treated to a traditional village feast. We sampled taro root, tapioca root, taro leaves and watercress sautéed in coconut milk, chicken with a tangy barbeque sauce, fresh fruit, tuna (that they trade for down river), mixed peas and root vegetables and fresh tomato and cucumber. After lunch, the villagers performed several traditional dances and songs, and then invited us to dance with them in several group dances, on of which was called the 'snake dance', which was not unlike our own conga line dances in America. A good time was had by all.

Despite the tropical locale, villagers dress rather modestly. When not dressed in their warrior costumes, men usually wear traditional sulas or shorts that go down to the knees. Women wear dresses that go below the know, sulas, or more frequently, dresses made of colorful floral prints. They never show their shoulders. Hats are also a sign of disrespect. Second Officer Elizabeth McNie (pictured above with a warrior) and the rest of the official party, wore outfits that were appropriate for their participation in the Kava ceremony.

When we left the village, we boarded several bamboo rafts and floated down river until we stopped at a large creek. We hiked up the creek, over boulders and rocks and enjoyed a spectacular view of a 200 foot high waterfall! We enjoyed swimming and diving into the warm pools of water. Unfortunately, the rest of the boat ride down river (we re-boarded the boats with outboard motors) was windy and cold! Hard to imagine that we could be so cold in a tropical country! We had a long, but thoroughly enjoyable day at the village. As you can see, we also had a lot of 'tired pups' who slept on the bus ride back to the ship.

Several officers and cadets were invited to participate in a Fourth of July celebration at the residence of the US Ambassador to Fiji. It was quite an honor to be a part of such a festivity as there were several dignitaries at the party, including Prime Minister Chandra. Pictured above is the official party as they were departing for the party. We were also honored when the embassy asked us to serve as the Color Guard. Five of our cadets who are in the naval

The channel leading to Suva Harbor was extremely narrow and treacherous. Wrecks of old ships littered the reef. As you can see from above, the waves were breaking just a short distance away from the ship as we passed through the channel. The pilot boat waited patiently for us to complete the transit through the channel, at which time the pilot disembarked and we officially departed from Suva: next stop - Brisbane.