Voyage of Minimus: Manihi, 7-16-2017--Snorkeling, churches, supply ship

By Pearl

(Some of this is a repeat from our texts to the map page, in case some folks aren't reading that.)

Since it was Sunday morning, I was interested in exploring the local church scene. According to Carlos (of yesterday's post), there are 5 churches in the village. He said the “Protestant” is the biggest, so I wanted to check it out. I was told the service started at 7 am, which seemed early but lots of things do start early here. It was closed tight at 7:30 am when I finally got there, so I walked on toward a church I remembered seeing way on the other end of town. Turns out it's Seventh Day Adventist, so definitely nothing happening there on a Sunday.

I finally ended up at the Catholic Church. The congregation was small, maybe 40 people. There was no priest, but a lay person reverently lead the service. The main thing that set the building apart as local was the use of shells for decoration. There were numerous shell chandeliers and swags of shells. Ordinary prints representing stations of the cross were framed with shells and lots of black pearls.

A small part of the liturgy was in a local language, but was mostly in French. As in Nuku Hiva, the music was exceptional. One guitar accompanied the singing, most of which was in harmony, with the men adding lines of their own. It reminded me much of the singing in the Mennonite church I grew up in, though with its own elements and character.

It was a beautiful setting, just inside the sea wall on the ocean side of the pass into the lagoon. The windows were open wide and the sea breeze passed through with the sounds of the surf and a brief shower as part of the service. As in Nuku Hiva, garlands of tiare buds decorated the church. The minister also wore a lei, which he then took off and used to encircle the sacraments in a sort of fragrant blessing.

On the walk back to the boat, I again went by the Protestant church which was open finally. With 3 tiny pews I concluded it wasn't the largest. In fact, the Mormon Church was much larger and appeared to be the most active of all on a Sunday morning.

I later found out that the protestant church Carlos was referring to is actually called Community of Christ and they're meeting in an unmarked house while waiting to rebuild their church.

While I was in church, David was having his own spiritual experience. He donned mask and fins and drifted with the current through the pass among nature's underwater splendor. An incredible array of tropical fish surrounded him. He also reported a few sharks, though all of the non-man eating, black-tipped variety.

Following that, he headed back to the boat where he dove dozens of times, laboriously scraping barnacles off the bottom of Minimus with a spatula. No wonder we hadn't made better time from the Marquesas! The bottom of the keel, most of the rudder and the auxiliary rudder (part of the self steering apparatus) were all covered in acorn barnacles, several inches thick in places. It took over an hour to remove them all. She should do much better on the next leg.

I soon changed into my swimsuit and got in too and had a great time snorkeling around Minimus. What amazing patterns and colors! While I always wish I felt more comfortable in the water, it's still hard to believe I can get into water way over my head, not only without panicking, but actually able to enjoy myself.

Late in the afternoon we heard a ship's horn and went to the wharf beside the pass to watch another supply ship, the Moreva Nui, dock. This ship carried mostly fuel drums, propane and an outboard boat, all of which were off-loaded onto the dock. Crates of copra were brought to the ship by forklift and hoisted aboard for transport to Tahiti. Interestingly, mini stores sprang up on the dock in which vendors got off the supply ship and sold snack food, toiletries, sunglasses, etc.