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Roots of Catholicism in Gambier

Characteristic of the islands in Gambier are the white churches and chapels. All Catholic. The services are in Managerevian and French, and some parts even in Latin. How did Catholicism reach these islands and root so firmly that this religion seems still very much alive in Gambier today?

Altar of St. Michael’s Cathedral, Rikitea, with the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus and mother-of-pearl decorations.

The penultimate king of Mangareva and the Gambier islands, Te Maputeoa Gregorio I , played an important part here. He ruled during the transition from traditional beliefs to Catholicism. To avoid a coup by his uncle, he sought the protection of the church. He even agreed to dismantle the traditional sacred place Te Keika marae in Rikitea, so that St Michael’s Cathedral could be built here. So, now we know the roots, and we know the marriage of church and state creates deep roots. But how to keep these roots alive now the last king died more than a century ago?

Mangareva: Rikitea

The centre of religious activity in Gambier is St Michael’s Cathedral in Rikitea, the capital of Mangareva. It is the largest in Gambier. The two hearts that you find in al churches (see picture of the altar in the Cathedral above) refer to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. This was the order of the founding missionaries, Honoré Laval and François Caret.

St. Michael’s Cathedral in Rikitea

The priest of St. Michael’s Cathedral is an energetic man who engages the whole community in the service. The lyrics of the songs are shown on a powerpoint so even guests can sing along. Some illustrations of Jesus, Mary and the pope flash by. A lady in white plays a central role in the sermon: she directs the singing. And, during the sermon, several members of the church, also dressed in white, take on parts of the service by telling their stories. They put their hearts in it, which makes it really personal. 

This is not the ‘one-man-show’, typical of the traditional catholic sermon. With this priest firmly rooted in his community, we are not surprised to find him working on a construction site. When we greet him, we ask him about the procession of the statue of Notre Dame de Paix from Akamaru to Rikitea. He explains that the statue is already in Rikitea, this will be celebrated 15th of August.

Statues of Holy Mary in St. Michael’s Cathedral, Rikitea

Akamaru

So, when we visit Akamaru Island, we know we will not find the famous statue. However, the church of Notre Dame de Paix is in beautiful condition, and the garden and lanes look great. The lady who meets us, tells us that all churches in Gambier were built in approximately the same time. The missionaries supervised the jobs going from island to island. Our hostess proudly adds that the Notre Dame de Paix was the first to be inaugurated, because Akamaru was the landing place of Honoré Laval and François Caret in 1834. This is probably also why the statue of Notre Dame de Paix plays such an important role in the yearly procession from Akamaru to Rikitea and back.

Freshly painted church of Notre Dame de Paix in Akamaru

When we arrived, the islanders had just finished painting the church for the festivities of the pilgrimage. The population of Akamaru consists of approximately 10 persons, but, as our hostess explains, fortunately there is always someone who can say the mass. And in return, the islanders take really good care of their church.

Altar of Notre Dame de Paix in Akamaru, with some flowers on the empty spot of the statue

Taravai

Bob Marly’s song ‘one love’ accompanies us on our evening walk on Taravai Island. During the festivities for ’14 Juillet’ we supported the restoration of the church by buying some delicious traditional food (poisson cru, cooked yams, breadfruit, bananas, and a pork stew). And indeed, this church dearly needs maintenance. It is in progress, but we hope the termites respect the work as much as we do.

Sacred Hearts on the walls guarding the church in Taravai; Ya seen through the gate of the wall

Sacred Hearts in Taravai’s church

Our guess: the roots are in the hearts

The missionaries of the congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary engaged the whole population of the Gambier Islands in building the churches. Mangareviens are still proud of having played a central part in building the cathedral in Tahiti. By engageing them, the missionaries have embedded the Catholic belief in the hearts of the men and women of Gambier. And this continues in the way the priest and his helpers share the care for the religion, traditions and buildings with the community. This keeps the roots strong.

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Slow Pleasure III – All you can eat of a coconut

Manon created a paradise on Agakaouitai, a small island near Taravai, one of the islands of the Gambier archipelago. He invited us and taught us all what you can do with, and eat from a cocunut. The way from the tree, through your hands, ending up in the special coconut milk that one ferments (Gambier cuisine) to cook your fish with.

Enjoy, like we did, in the next movie

We just departed from the Gambier Island and you can follow our Pacific Ocean passage to the Marqueasas here:

Map

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Dogs and finances

How to ‘sell’ the enumeration of the French subsidies to the people in Gambier, French Polynesia, and to France? First, by celebratiing the Quatorze Juillet., With a French ‘defilé’ That works. The French officials came.

But the mayor’s speech consists of the enumeration itself and that doesnot attract the Polynesians, nor we visitors. But very smart, the chairs of the grandstand were facing the field. The Polynesian dogs -friendly as always, and used to public- make a sweet and loving attraction.

I

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Singing every week

If everybody would sing every week just for an hour, the world would already be a better place.

The Polynesian Islands are such a better place. Part of the culture is to go to the church every Sunday and sing. Sing with your body and soul. It is great, contageous. So we all do.

Have a look -and an ear- on this video.

Have a good look, there is a screen showing the lyrics. OK, it is in Polynesian, but that is phonetically spelled, so easy to read and we foreigners can sing along, It doesnot matter whether you believe in the Man with the Beard or not, if you sing from the heart, you will leave the the church as a different man. In a better world.

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Growing pearls

There are many pearl farms and we went to one and saw how they ‘grow’ pearls. From all jewel industries, this is the most sustainable one, in terms of labor (honest), pollution (none, in contrary).

Have a look at the video.

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All galley equipment from a 12 Volt battery bank, it is possible

Stef and Manon sail their Long John Silver, an Ovni 43. Now they make their third large voyage, a circumnavigation. They came from Chile and Peter meets them in the Gambier archipelago.

Manon and Stef on the Long John Silver in the Anganui bay of Ile Taravai, Iles Gembier.


Many projects have passed to make the Long John Silver a better yacht to live aboard. Let us stick to the sustainable jobs: first, the  ship is  completely insulated. Stef told: “This implies that the complete boarding inside had to be taken out: all the wood work, the paneling, ceiling, the bunks. And then, after the insulation was placed, all had to get in again.”  Also, all window are double glazed.  Where the aluminium yachts easily have the tendency to ‘drip’ here and there because of condensed are on the cold alumnium, now the Long John Silver stayed dry. Or, nearly dry.

Main source of moisture is the gas equipment in the galley. Combusted gas consists of CO2 and a lot of H2O, water, in its worst aggregation: as damp. It condenses on all cooler parts, including your cushens,your bed, everywhere. They dedided to change all galley  equipment  to electric.

In the next picture you see the result.


Stef in the galley on the Long John Silver, which consists of  a stove with two induction burners, a microwave/oven/grill, a water cooker, and a coffee machine.

All equipment on a 12 volt battery bank

In the book Duurzaam Varen (Sustainable Sailing, sorry, only in Dutch) already is mentioned that a complete galley equipment fed by a 12 volt battery bank, is limited. The bottle neck is the inverter (the device that converts the 12 volt into the necessary 220 Volt). For safety reasons the biggest inverter can deliver 2600 Watt to your equipment. How did Stef do this?

“First, we chose devices with smaller power”, Stef answered. To sum up the maximum powers:

  • each induction burner is 800 Watt
  • the water cooker is  800 Watt
  • The coffee maker is 1000 Watt
  • The micro wave is 1500 Watt and the oven is 2000 Watt.

You could buy a two burner marine quality induction cooker with gimball, but it costs you a fortune. The fine thing of these  85 Euro burners is that you can built them in anywhere, like in your own gimball made plateau, like Stef did.

Stef and Manon pointed out: “With this inverter we can just cook with two burners and the water cooker all on full power. With the microwave on, we can even use a burner or the water cooker. Only in the rare case when the oven is on full power, the inverter would beep if we switch on another device.”

12 LFP cells

They thought of going to 24 Volt, or 48 Volt, but our battery space was limited. Manon showed a picture (here under) where you can see that the space for the 12 volt batteries is just 90 cm long.

The LFP battery bank (partually covered by the floor) is 90 cm long. The casing  originally contained 3 AGM batteries, and now exactly 12 LFP cells just fit in.

Originally, 3 AGM batteriesn could fit in this battery casing, and there is not really a good place to extend the bank. “So, there was place for 12 Lithium Ferro Phosphate cells and that was it,” Stef concluded, “so technically we were limited to 12 volt and made a  3P4S configuration.”

He continues: “Compared to AGM or any other lead acid battery, LFP has no problem at all to deliver the power you need. So with a relative small battery bank, LFP can deliver the necessary power .”

Conclusion

If you want your galley changed to an electric based on a battery bank of only 12 volt, then take the Long John Silvers configuration as the text book example.

The key line technically: take small users. So, the burners, the water cooker and more. Then there is no stress that your inverter can’t delver. And use LFP batteries because they are able to deliver the big currents that you need.

The key motives: your boat stays dry after cooking. The equipment is safer than a gas equipment. Also, everything is easier to clean. When you are a long distance cruiser, it saves a lot on gas and a lot of hassling with different gas bottles and bottle connections. All together, it saves money and provide more comfort.

And last but not least: your smaller CO2 footprint gives our children  a better future.

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Mother Earth

Just standing on top of the mountain of Gambier and having this view. Just to see the ocean where we sailed and will sail.

That is why one sails the Earth. That is why one loves Mother Earth.

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Europa brings memories and a paradox

One day before the European elections, we saw the three mast bark ‘Europa’ entering the bay. She moored at the only and small quai of the Gambier Islands.

For us, Peter and Inge, the Europa has a special place in our hearts because twenty years ago we married on this ship. We sailed a day with all our friends an family, went on anchor somewhere outside the territorial waters, and our friends married us.

The 56 meter Bark Europa along the quai of Mangareva, Gambier

.In the Southern summer, the Europa sails expeditions from Ushuaia (Patagonia) to Antartica. Last March she started sailing around the world, to celebrate that Magelhaes started this circumnavigation 400 years ago. Magelhaes never made it, he died in the Philippines and from there Juan Sebastian Elcano took over. (Funny thing: Elcano and his fellows were not the first humans who have rounded the world. That was Enrique, a man who was captured in the Philippines or Molucca and brought to Spain and served Magelhaes from there, on his voyage. So when they hit Philippines, Enrique has rounded the world as the first human).

The drawing of the circumnavigation that Magelhaen and Elcano made. Essence is the passages of two capes: Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. This is what the Europa also will do. (courtesy Brown University

The drawing of the circumnavigation that Magelhaen and Elcano made. Essence is the passages of two capes: Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. This is what the Europa also will do. (courtesy Brown University).

A visit

Peter paid a visit to the Europa and talked with Tim, the Mate, and several guests. This big square rigger could make it all the way between the coral reefs up to this little quai. First, that is excellent seamanship, and second, it is beautiful for the guests.

The guests chose to cruise on this sailing ship, rather than a motor cruiser. Main reason is that they consider the sailing itself as an essential extra value. Especially the square rig is more romantic, like in the old days. Yes it goes slower, but they dont mind, or even see it as an extra value. The guests also participate in the watches and they find that a great opportunity. No experience is required for it and you can always feel safe with the professional crew on board.

A guest and a deckhand aloft, folding a sail.

.Sustainability and planning, the paradox

Talking sustainability, we all agree that it is a pity that the Europa needs diesel, but in general she is propelled by the sails. The crew and the guests like to sail, so they are set as soon as there is space to navigate under sail. So it is a sort of 80-20 figure: 80% is sailing, 20% is motoring.

The motoring could be less if the planning would be easier. But, time is money, the clients want to see more places if possible. That requires a strict planning, and so a certain minimum speed, if not by sail, then by engines. The planning is that strict, that the Europa has only 2 days time ashore here in Gambier.

I walked up the road with some guests. They were curious about the planning of Ya, about how many days the Ya would stay here.

“Planning?” I answered, “Well, we just are here and enjoy it. It is only the weather or the hurricane season that dictates the planning. We just hiked some beautiful trails here, and visited a pearl farm. And now we just made friends with people on the island so the Ya will stay a bit longer I guess. And there are such beautiful other spots around here that we want to visit.”

-”How many days you guess you would be here? 5 days? 15? 50 days?”

-”Well, it can easily become 50 days.”

One guest responds: “Wow, our stop is about 50 hours, to do the complete Gambier Island group. That is just enough time to take some good walks on the main island and drink a beer in a local tavern.”

Another guest concluded: “It is a strange paradox. On one hand, when we book, we want to see some islands, to get the maximum out of it. But on the other hand we would enjoy more of the trip if we travel slow. Then we sail more, and see more in the places. It would also be more sustainable I guess.”

I could confirm that: “Indeed. If you travel slow, it is easy to travel fossil free. And with the current technology of regeneration and electric cooking, that is even what Magelhaes or Elcano couldnot do.”

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Wednesday is Earth Overshoot Day.

Let the things you bought be usable for many years, let them be durable and repairable. In that case: congratulations with everything you bought. Or will it soon end up in the trash, your barn or the attic?

Please be aware, the consumption of the people here on Earth becomes larger and larger. The quantity of ‘stuff’ we have is so big, it costs too many materials. Mother Earth becomes exhausted, depleted. When?

Next June 5, we people on Earth will have consumed that much, that from that date we need a second Earth if we don’t want to exhaust her. That day the overshoot takes place. (source: https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/)

We are the worst 10%

There is a consistency. The higher the income, the bigger the footprint. The 19 richest people create 10% of the footprint. The 10% richest -that is generally where we belong- make 50% of the Earths footprint.

You see it clearly on the Overshoot Day per country.

The Dutch Overshoot day was already on April 1. In the USA it was March 14. Qatar is the biggest loser (or winner,in terms of consuming).

Much happier?

Most of the impact is caused by the people with income, generally the Western people. (A little impact is caused by the growth of the The idea of buying all that stuff is that you would become happier. Well, since the Overshoot Day this year is nearly two months earlier, we consumed much more.

So compared to last year, would we be so much happier this year?

From consumentism to happiness

Or did you buy because marketing told you that you would need it? In that case, shut off the marketing machines like Whatsapp, Instagram and Google, or other commercial media. You could use Signal instead of Whatsapp, or read a book, see a movie, or, very simple see your friends.

That saves money, and you can put your money where your heart is.

So many people spend half a years income to buy the car they are happy with. Every day. ;-)

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