In the sea of stones

We need tales of Wonders - encounters with extreme experience, man-made or natural, which inspire or appal, and impart a sense of human smallness and  insignificance. A jungle forest, burning out of control. An entire town, wholly consumed and washed away by a wave. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, or C-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.

A yacht, sailing the Pacific, came across such a Wonder. "Early afternoon, somewhere east of the Lau Group in Fiji," wrote its captain, Fredrik Fransson. "We are sailing south of the island group to avoid having to pass through it during night. Yesterday we saw the birth of an island, most likely we were the first humans to see the new creation."

The story is told here and here on the weblog of the Maiken, a two-man yacht which docked last month in Australia after a six month journey from California. Skipper Fredrik and his uncle Hakan encountered the nascent island in August this year. Their online acount reads like the chronicle of a journey from earlier century. "You might have heard about the sailor superstition that you should never leave on a Friday," wroite Captain Fredrik. "Well, we did and the sea turned to stone."

Uncle Hakan tells the story:

SATURDAY AUGUST 12, 2006Lat 19 deg 00' Long 174 deg 48' Saturday Aug 12 17.45 local time

We left Neiafu and Vava'u yesterday after some tedious checking out procedures and set sail for Fiji, passing the north side of Late island as first way point. After five miles we noticed brown, somewhat grainy streaks in the water. First we thought that it might be an old oil dumping. Some ship cleaning its tanks. But the streak became larger and more frequent after a while, and there were rocklike brownish things the size of a fist floating in the sea. And the water were strangely green and "lagoon like" too.

Eventually it became more and more clear to us that it had to be pumice from a volcanic eruption. And then we sailed into a vast, many miles wide, belt of densely packed pumice. We were going by motor due to lack of wind and within seconds Maiken slowed down from seven to one knot. We were so fascinated and busy taking pictures that we plowed a couple of hundred meter into this surreal floating stone field before we realized that we had to turn back.

This is the view from inside the sea of stones.

The pumice choked the cooler for the engine, and chafed the paint on the hull "like we'd sailed through sandpaper". Fredrik and Hakan decided to anchor off the island of Vava'u over night, and as they sailed towards it they found themselves facing "a perfect rainbow ahead, like a big welcoming arcade". As they weighed anchor the next morning, three whales accompanied them, swimming around the Maiken at a close distance. They set a course for the source of the smoke and vapour issuing from the sea."We are two miles from it," wrote Hakan, "and we can see the volcano clearly."

One mile in diameter and with four peaks and a central crater smoking with steam and once in a while an outburst high in the sky with lava and ashes.

I think were the first ones out here so perhaps we could claim the island and name them.

Well folks, it's getting hot.
Have to quit!

The remarkable photographs are here.

Comments

[chen]

Much natural than those cements mantling over the coral reef, like a drowning man struggling to keep his mouth over the sea. Do you believe that he has any room "to do economy"?

[Diane]

New land mass in the Pacific was predicted by my teacher Ramtha many years ago. I was thrilled to see this. It is historical on so many levels. Times, they are a changing.
Does anyone have any info on the link between new land mass erupting in the Pacific and El Nino? I would suggest that since this volcanic action of plate techtonics has been going on for sometime, and now with the evidence of the earth's changes, the Pacific has also been warmed by these changes. Could it be the origin of El Nino?
www.ramtha.com is the website to learn more about this great being who predicted the "new earth".

[Mark Bellis]

Who gets to claim the Island? Given the quarrel over the Spratly Islands I'm surprised the Franssons didn't land, run up a flag, and auction it off on eBay.

[DJ Drrrty Poonjabi]

Nice Blade Runner reference.

[Richard Lloyd Parry]

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe . . . "