Pagan Island

Pagan Island was an unplanned stop in our original itinerary. We didn’t know it existed and now we know and it’s a place we would enthusiastically tell any sailor to stop at. Our passage there was slow, we had very little wind and after a couple days our motor would not spin the prop. There was a moment when we thought something was stuck in it and Bradley had the fins and mask on to go swimming. Turns out it the prop shaft had slid out of the engine and was knocking against the rudder. Bradley burrowed into the lazarette and fixed it temporarily but it was not possible to complete fix it and thus began our experience of sailing without a motor. We could only use it to charge the batteries but we would be anchoring at Pagan and entering Japan under sail alone. 

We made it to Pagan after about four days of sailing and successfully dropped our anchor using only our sails to maneuver. On the beach we could see about four people and a bunch of dogs. We launched the dinghy and rowed ashore to meet this Pagan Beach Patrol. These were four young guys; Sandman, Jay, June and Ty. Sandman is probably the oldest at about 30 and is who we considered the chief of the island. He was born on the island and had been evacuated with the rest of the village when the volcano erupted in 1987, burying the village in masses of ash. He returned in 2002, determined to re-establish the village on the island. The other three guys, all younger than he, are his recruits and Sandman’s girlfriend, Chris, lives there as well. The island is a piece of paradise. The volcano is active, it steamed the whole time we were there but there is a lot of other life as well. Wild goats, pigs and cattle roam the island and the soil supports coconut, mango and lime trees. It’s absolutely beautiful. 

Our friends Ian and Kim on Astrolabe I, whom we had met in Guam and who were also on their way to Japan, arrived the next morning and the four of us set about exploring the island with Jay, June and Ty. The guys took us through the lava fields, up over the ridge and down the other side to the beach on the east side of the island. We had fresh coconut breaks and June caught himself a cow with the dogs. The guys catch young cows and goats from around the island and send them on the supply ship back to their families in Saipan to raise and sell or eat. When they first told us this, both Brad and I had pictured full grown cows that they put in the little skiff to take out to the waiting supply ship; much to the amusement of the local guys who let us believe this. 

As we arrived back from our hike and we crossed the grass airfield, we saw a number of tents set up and a ship in the bay. As we approached we met the occupants and these were researchers from the Alaska Volcano Observatory organization. There were also people from the communications company that maintains the solar panels and satellite dish. Did I mention that on this remote island that the residents have internet? A helicopter also showed up the next day to move the researchers around the island to check on the volcanic measurement tools stationed all over. 

 

That evening we had a bbq with the villagers and learned about the history of Pagan, the Japanese occupation, the volcano and Sandman’s determination to re-populate the island. The American Navy has plans for the island to make it into another base for missile practice. This would surely ruin a beautiful place. You can sign their petition to save the island from this fate at www.savepaganisland.org like we did. Or you could just move there like we have thought about doing. 

Kim and Ian left the next day for Okinawa while we stayed one more day doing some work on the boat, mainly trying to cajole the engine into some sort of proper working order. We wandered into the village in the evening after dinner looking for the guys for a last visit before we left the next day. We didn’t find them, they were out hunting cows, so we joined the scientists for a few beers and learned about what they were doing. We ended up spending a lot of time talking about the Aleutians since they spent lots of time up there studying all those volcanoes as well. We were able to make a pretty detailed list of recommended stops on their advice.

The next day dawned with a nice of amount of wind so we went ashore one more time to say our goodbyes and by noon we had the anchor up and we were on our way to Japan and to experience the most challenging sailing that we have to endure.