S 19º21 W 159º47 @0830
The wind and waves were still pretty ferocious today and Southern Star was being tossed about. We are on a consistent port tack meaning that the wind is coming from our left and the boat is leaning to the right. Everything that can be thrown out of the shelves and cabinets on the port (left) side of the boat is in a chaotic pile on the floor.
Nonetheless, we decided we had to get back into the fishing competition since Eiao reported they had caught 3 tuna, a bonito and a 4'6" dorado that took over an hour to land. The secret they say is to go fast, particularly for dorado (mahi mahi).
We put a new red imitation squid on the line and trolled it so that it skims the water every time it goes down a wave. A few hours later, the reel began to sing and Mark settled in to land the fish. For the first 15 minutes the fish took line off the reel and it looked like we would run out before Mark could begin reeling him in. Finally, the fish began to tire (along with Mark). After 40 minutes, we could see the bright iridescent yellow-green sides of a dorado under the surface. I was steering, Andy was ready with the gaff and Mark had him right next to the boat when with one mighty twist, he broke the leader and was gone - along with our new lure. We won't know if that was the biggest or not but Mark's arms attest to the fact that "a big one got away". We put the lines in the water again but finally took them out as was really too rough to try to land anything that we might have caught.
Three months ago when we left Mexico we were treated to a marine show as whales breached and jumped out of the water. Since then, the word whale has not been mentioned on Southern Star. Yesterday, Mark was in search of a new book to read and came upon Moby Dick in the stack over Kurt's bed. This afternoon, out of the blue he said, "Gee, we haven't seen any whales out here". (What prompted that I cannot imagine unless it was Herman Melvill).
About a half hour later, Mark got up and announce he was going to "take a walk around". A walk-around inspection has been a common occurrence throughout the trip but with the extremely rough sea he has not done it in a few days. No sooner did he reach the bow than three whales breached a few hundred yard in front of the boat. There have been very few times that he has moved so fast to get back into the cockpit. Whales have been known to land on small boats and that would not be a good thing for Southern Star here with nothing but horizon around us. Mark started the engine as that is supposed to scare off the whales and we saw only one more breaching display far away before they were gone. Hey, there are whales here after all. By the way, as big as these whales might have been, they were dwarfed by the waves on either side.
On the 1900 net we heard that Liahona had reached Aitutaki and determined that the anchorage was not safe so they were diverting directly to Roratonga. As a result, we changed course to head a much South as we could considering the wind and set a new course for Roratonga. Since sailboats can go a maximum of 45º against the wind, we angled Southward with the hope that the trade winds would eventually overcome the winds from the passing front and blow again from the East.
The night was very rough again with squall winds and rain plus the continuing heavy seas.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Day 114 Waves
S 18º24 W 155º53 @0830
The wind is now consistently from the Southeast at 15 to 20 knots and the sky is clear making for good sailing to the West. The waves, however have built to 10 to 20 feet and make for bumpy going. Looking down the face of a passing wave is like looking down from the roof of a two story building. Southern Star climbs up these faces, crests the top and almost surfs down the other side. Peak to peak distances are about 4 boat lengths so there is little "plowing in", rather the ride is more like a roller coaster. Andy and Mark are both using the scopolamine patch and no one has been sick but our cooking is a bit curtailed so we are mostly eating things that we have pre-cooked. Last night for dinner, Mark combined the pre-cooked chicken with the pre-cooked noodles and made a delicious chicken noodle soup. Because it is a bit colder now as we move South the soup really hit the spot.
The weather in the South Pacific is known for its ferocity the farther South you go. Any latitude above 20º South is considered pretty mild. From 20 to 40 it gets more challenging. After that, the ten degree zones are called the "roaring 40's" and the "screaming 50's". Rarotonga is the farthest South we will go at 21º until we make the final run to New Zealand which is just below 30º South latitude. After Rarotonga we go North again to get to Samoa and Fiji and should see warmer weather. Since this is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, we want to stay close to the equator for a while.
The wind is now consistently from the Southeast at 15 to 20 knots and the sky is clear making for good sailing to the West. The waves, however have built to 10 to 20 feet and make for bumpy going. Looking down the face of a passing wave is like looking down from the roof of a two story building. Southern Star climbs up these faces, crests the top and almost surfs down the other side. Peak to peak distances are about 4 boat lengths so there is little "plowing in", rather the ride is more like a roller coaster. Andy and Mark are both using the scopolamine patch and no one has been sick but our cooking is a bit curtailed so we are mostly eating things that we have pre-cooked. Last night for dinner, Mark combined the pre-cooked chicken with the pre-cooked noodles and made a delicious chicken noodle soup. Because it is a bit colder now as we move South the soup really hit the spot.
The weather in the South Pacific is known for its ferocity the farther South you go. Any latitude above 20º South is considered pretty mild. From 20 to 40 it gets more challenging. After that, the ten degree zones are called the "roaring 40's" and the "screaming 50's". Rarotonga is the farthest South we will go at 21º until we make the final run to New Zealand which is just below 30º South latitude. After Rarotonga we go North again to get to Samoa and Fiji and should see warmer weather. Since this is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, we want to stay close to the equator for a while.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Day 113 More weather!!!
S 18º21 W 154º50 @ 0830
I was awakened at 2 AM by the frightening sound of a line banging in the wind. Andy was on watch and had called Mark on deck to help furl the jib. (The jib is attached to a spool that can wind up the sail) We were in the middle of a squall with winds above 20 knots and gusting to 35. While trying to roll up the jib, a gust of wind had caught the sail and totally unfurled it. The jib sheets (ropes attached to the clew or back end of the sail) were flapping uncontrollably - a very dangerous situation for both man and equipment. Finally they were able to get the jib furled and out of the way.
Over the next three hours the squalls continued and the wind shifted from the North through the West and finally came from the South. At the same time, the sea built to 10 to 15 foot waves with some coming from the North and some from the South. Southern Star was rocking violently back and forth while Mark and Andy tried several tricks to smooth out the ride. Finally by 5 AM, they had taken down the mainsail and the jib and were sailing North away from the wind under only the staysail. Remember that we wanted to go South. Mark has taught us that when the weather gets bad, reduce all sail to the minimum and go with the wind. Any other course results in pounding both the boat and its passengers.
I spent some time retrieving from the floor everything that had not been securely stowed. No matter how well we think we have put things away, a good shaking will find something to dislodge.
By evening, the wind began to shift again to come from the Southeast and we were able to put the mainsail back up and resume going West. We checked in on the 7 PM radio net and found that the Liahona had seen the same squalls and wind shift and were now making their way Westward as well. They are about 90 miles ahead of us.
I was awakened at 2 AM by the frightening sound of a line banging in the wind. Andy was on watch and had called Mark on deck to help furl the jib. (The jib is attached to a spool that can wind up the sail) We were in the middle of a squall with winds above 20 knots and gusting to 35. While trying to roll up the jib, a gust of wind had caught the sail and totally unfurled it. The jib sheets (ropes attached to the clew or back end of the sail) were flapping uncontrollably - a very dangerous situation for both man and equipment. Finally they were able to get the jib furled and out of the way.
Over the next three hours the squalls continued and the wind shifted from the North through the West and finally came from the South. At the same time, the sea built to 10 to 15 foot waves with some coming from the North and some from the South. Southern Star was rocking violently back and forth while Mark and Andy tried several tricks to smooth out the ride. Finally by 5 AM, they had taken down the mainsail and the jib and were sailing North away from the wind under only the staysail. Remember that we wanted to go South. Mark has taught us that when the weather gets bad, reduce all sail to the minimum and go with the wind. Any other course results in pounding both the boat and its passengers.
I spent some time retrieving from the floor everything that had not been securely stowed. No matter how well we think we have put things away, a good shaking will find something to dislodge.
By evening, the wind began to shift again to come from the Southeast and we were able to put the mainsail back up and resume going West. We checked in on the 7 PM radio net and found that the Liahona had seen the same squalls and wind shift and were now making their way Westward as well. They are about 90 miles ahead of us.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Day 112 Weather!!
S 18º32 W 153º36 @ 1900
We checked in with the other boats at 0830 and found that Liahona had caught the first fish - a 3 ½ foot wahoo. We had towed two lures all day without a strike. By evening, they had also caught a small tuna and a dorado. The score so far is Liahona 3, Southern Star zero.
The first part of the sail was uneventful although the wind was coming directly out of the North which is unusual in the Southern tropics at this time of the year. Of course, the books all say that the usual is to be unpredictable so maybe that should be expected. We made about 104 miles in 24 hours which is a little slower than planned but by afternoon the wind picked up a bit and we were able to go faster.
Eaio reported that they had some sail troubles - a small tear at the bottom - and had to reef (drop the sail part way so that the bottom is not exposed to the wind). Even so, their big 57' cat had made over 120 miles.
Everyone was having an enjoyable sail and we ended the day with a great meal of chicken and the fresh mangos that Andy bought in Bora Bora.
We checked in with the other boats at 0830 and found that Liahona had caught the first fish - a 3 ½ foot wahoo. We had towed two lures all day without a strike. By evening, they had also caught a small tuna and a dorado. The score so far is Liahona 3, Southern Star zero.
The first part of the sail was uneventful although the wind was coming directly out of the North which is unusual in the Southern tropics at this time of the year. Of course, the books all say that the usual is to be unpredictable so maybe that should be expected. We made about 104 miles in 24 hours which is a little slower than planned but by afternoon the wind picked up a bit and we were able to go faster.
Eaio reported that they had some sail troubles - a small tear at the bottom - and had to reef (drop the sail part way so that the bottom is not exposed to the wind). Even so, their big 57' cat had made over 120 miles.
Everyone was having an enjoyable sail and we ended the day with a great meal of chicken and the fresh mangos that Andy bought in Bora Bora.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Day 111 Departing Bora Bora
To Rarotonga
Departure was hindered by more heavy rain in the morning but we finally weighed anchor and got underway by about 0930. Eaio had decided to forgo Rarotonga and go directly to the island of Suvorov in the Northern Cooks. They are on their way to Perth, Australia and have 11 people aboard so there seems to be an urge to get there rather than dawdle along the way. Roy the captain and owner was a shark fisherman in Perth and he bought the boat in Papeete and did a small tour of the Tuomotus and the Marquises before returning to the Society Islands and Bora Bora. He plans to charter the boat once he gets home so he will have a chance to see the Western part of Polynesia at that time. Their plan upon leaving Bora Bora was go West by Northwest to the island of Suvorov in the Northern Cooks.
Liahona and Southern Star decided to go first to Aitutaki before going on to Rarotonga . Aitutaki is described as one of the most beautiful atolls in Polynesia but cannot be entered by a sailboat because it is too shallow. The guide book says it is worthwhile to anchor outside the atoll and explore for a day by dinghy. Also, Aitutaki is North of Rarotonga so we can reach it on the way.
Because the weather forecast called for winds from the South within 48 hours, we decided to head more South first and then turn West whereas Liahona chose to aim directly Southwest.
Yesterday, Mark and Jim (Liahona) met and agreed that Kurt would travel aboard Liahona for this passage. Wendy's parents have been aboard Liahona until now but had to return to the states for a few weeks so Jim and Wendy felt more comfortable with an extra crew member.
Also, before we left, we declared a fishing competition - once case of beer each for the largest caught and for the most caught.
For the next few days, we agreed we would contact each other at 0830 and at 1900 on the ham (SSB) radio.
Departure was hindered by more heavy rain in the morning but we finally weighed anchor and got underway by about 0930. Eaio had decided to forgo Rarotonga and go directly to the island of Suvorov in the Northern Cooks. They are on their way to Perth, Australia and have 11 people aboard so there seems to be an urge to get there rather than dawdle along the way. Roy the captain and owner was a shark fisherman in Perth and he bought the boat in Papeete and did a small tour of the Tuomotus and the Marquises before returning to the Society Islands and Bora Bora. He plans to charter the boat once he gets home so he will have a chance to see the Western part of Polynesia at that time. Their plan upon leaving Bora Bora was go West by Northwest to the island of Suvorov in the Northern Cooks.
Liahona and Southern Star decided to go first to Aitutaki before going on to Rarotonga . Aitutaki is described as one of the most beautiful atolls in Polynesia but cannot be entered by a sailboat because it is too shallow. The guide book says it is worthwhile to anchor outside the atoll and explore for a day by dinghy. Also, Aitutaki is North of Rarotonga so we can reach it on the way.
Because the weather forecast called for winds from the South within 48 hours, we decided to head more South first and then turn West whereas Liahona chose to aim directly Southwest.
Yesterday, Mark and Jim (Liahona) met and agreed that Kurt would travel aboard Liahona for this passage. Wendy's parents have been aboard Liahona until now but had to return to the states for a few weeks so Jim and Wendy felt more comfortable with an extra crew member.
Also, before we left, we declared a fishing competition - once case of beer each for the largest caught and for the most caught.
For the next few days, we agreed we would contact each other at 0830 and at 1900 on the ham (SSB) radio.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Day 110 Provisioning
Internet
In the morning, Mark and Andy boarded Liahona for a trip to town to stock up for the trip. We spent some time planning our menu so we would not have to do so much cooking on the rocking boat at sea and gave Andy the list of supplies. We have found that there are things we can pre-cook before leaving port that we can use to make quicker and safer meals at sea. For instance, cooking up a lot of bacon before we leave eliminates the hazard of hot bacon grease when the galley is tossing about. The same is true for macaroni and the hazard of boiling water. From Golden Lion we learned that cooking a batch of small bite-sized hamburgers in advance makes a nice snack at sea.
While they were shopping, I tried to load as many pictures onto the new blog site as possible. Once we leave Bora Bora, we will be at sea for the next 5 days and may not readily find an Internet connection once we get to the Cook Islands. After 2 ½ hours I was cross-eyed from looking at the computer and the crew returned so it was time to do some cooking as we left the marina to anchor behind motu Toopua for the night with the idea of doing one more Bitter End beach party before departing.
No sooner had we anchored than it began raining. The rain continued into the night so the three boats - Liahona, Eaio and us - ate alone after which we hosted a small card game.
The night ended with one last conference on the weather. The front that is moving South of us that will cause dramatic changes in the next few days and everyone wants the most up to date information.
In the morning, Mark and Andy boarded Liahona for a trip to town to stock up for the trip. We spent some time planning our menu so we would not have to do so much cooking on the rocking boat at sea and gave Andy the list of supplies. We have found that there are things we can pre-cook before leaving port that we can use to make quicker and safer meals at sea. For instance, cooking up a lot of bacon before we leave eliminates the hazard of hot bacon grease when the galley is tossing about. The same is true for macaroni and the hazard of boiling water. From Golden Lion we learned that cooking a batch of small bite-sized hamburgers in advance makes a nice snack at sea.
While they were shopping, I tried to load as many pictures onto the new blog site as possible. Once we leave Bora Bora, we will be at sea for the next 5 days and may not readily find an Internet connection once we get to the Cook Islands. After 2 ½ hours I was cross-eyed from looking at the computer and the crew returned so it was time to do some cooking as we left the marina to anchor behind motu Toopua for the night with the idea of doing one more Bitter End beach party before departing.
No sooner had we anchored than it began raining. The rain continued into the night so the three boats - Liahona, Eaio and us - ate alone after which we hosted a small card game.
The night ended with one last conference on the weather. The front that is moving South of us that will cause dramatic changes in the next few days and everyone wants the most up to date information.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day 109 Tennis
Rapa
The day began with a soaking rain and it looked like we were going to spend the day watching movies. By mid morning, however, the rain cleared and we heard from Liahona that they had arranged with Rapa the Yacht Club manager to play tennis.
Rapa is from Easter Island - original name Rapa Nui - and goes by the name of his island. He seems to have a dozen little enterprises from running the Yacht Club (really just an anchorage) to teaching tennis to kids, to carrying out a dozen little jobs for the yachties who take the moorings.
Kurt, Mark and I and Jim and Wendy from Liahona piled into the back of Rapa's truck for the 20 minute drive to the "tennis club". This was not a particularly sophisticated facility but the three courts were in good shape and the view of the ocean was spectacular.
Our complement of shoes and rackets was less than complete so we ended up sharing what we had and playing round robin doubles for over 3 hours. For some of us who had not played tennis in years, this was a lot of exercise but we had a great time and Rapa was an enjoyable addition to the group. He was a much better tennis player than the rest of us but humored us anyway.
By dinner we were back to the boats where we had another set of meetings about the ever changing weather and what that meant for course and time of departure.
We ended the evening with a card game with some of the Eaio crew. We continue to introduce "Oh Hell" to everyone we meet as the game is easy to learn, not too challenging and yet provides an outlet for the competitive spirit. On this evening, the competitive juices were flowing and a good time was had by all.
The day began with a soaking rain and it looked like we were going to spend the day watching movies. By mid morning, however, the rain cleared and we heard from Liahona that they had arranged with Rapa the Yacht Club manager to play tennis.
Rapa is from Easter Island - original name Rapa Nui - and goes by the name of his island. He seems to have a dozen little enterprises from running the Yacht Club (really just an anchorage) to teaching tennis to kids, to carrying out a dozen little jobs for the yachties who take the moorings.
Kurt, Mark and I and Jim and Wendy from Liahona piled into the back of Rapa's truck for the 20 minute drive to the "tennis club". This was not a particularly sophisticated facility but the three courts were in good shape and the view of the ocean was spectacular.
Our complement of shoes and rackets was less than complete so we ended up sharing what we had and playing round robin doubles for over 3 hours. For some of us who had not played tennis in years, this was a lot of exercise but we had a great time and Rapa was an enjoyable addition to the group. He was a much better tennis player than the rest of us but humored us anyway.
By dinner we were back to the boats where we had another set of meetings about the ever changing weather and what that meant for course and time of departure.
We ended the evening with a card game with some of the Eaio crew. We continue to introduce "Oh Hell" to everyone we meet as the game is easy to learn, not too challenging and yet provides an outlet for the competitive spirit. On this evening, the competitive juices were flowing and a good time was had by all.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day 108 Internet
Trip planning
Since we were at the Yacht Club we had a Wi-Fi internet connection so I tried to make the most of it by posting the blog text and starting to post the accompanying photos. Again, this is a time consuming process that eats a lot of Internet time - particularly with the slow connection speed. None the less, I wanted to try to get caught up with the posting before I lost the connection.
The plans for leaving Bora Bora seem to change depending on the weather. Both Liahona and Eaio will make the same trip so we spent part of the day going back and forth between boats to exchange potential courses and expected weather conditions. The forecast calls for a large high pressure to pass to our South as we make the passage to Rarotonga. Weather fronts move in the direction of the rotation of the Earth so they travel from West to East. The speed of the Earth's surface is higher at the Equator so the air around the front spins creating winds that change direction as the front passes. While big storms like hurricanes and cyclones (Southern Hemisphere hurricanes) keep sailors in port, small storms are navigable but can present difficulties for sailboats. For instance, we want to go South but if the wind is coming from the South we will not be able to sail against the wind and the waves. Thus the planning for a passage like this one of over 500 nautical miles requires looking carefully at the weather forecasts and guessing how accurate they will be.
After all that, we picked Tuesday as our departure day hoping that the forecasted winds will be in our favor.
Yesterday when we were walking to the tattoo artist, I noted that Bora Bora is not like the other islands we have seen in French Polynesia. The guide book says that it is the place where the rich and famous go to spend money. Partly because of that and partly because it is the number one honeymoon location in French Polynesia, there are many more luxury hotels than any other island. It is not uncommon for over-the-water bungalows to cost well over $1000 per night.
As a result of this influx of money, the island itself has a much more developed infrastructure than any other we have seen. The roadside is landscaped and there is extensive stonework not seen in the other islands. Where we were walking was far from the main town yet from the appearance of the side of the road, we could have been in Carmel, California. I am sure this wealth will eventually find its way to some of the other islands but for the moment, the charm of the South Pacific is elsewhere than Bora Bora.
Since we were at the Yacht Club we had a Wi-Fi internet connection so I tried to make the most of it by posting the blog text and starting to post the accompanying photos. Again, this is a time consuming process that eats a lot of Internet time - particularly with the slow connection speed. None the less, I wanted to try to get caught up with the posting before I lost the connection.
The plans for leaving Bora Bora seem to change depending on the weather. Both Liahona and Eaio will make the same trip so we spent part of the day going back and forth between boats to exchange potential courses and expected weather conditions. The forecast calls for a large high pressure to pass to our South as we make the passage to Rarotonga. Weather fronts move in the direction of the rotation of the Earth so they travel from West to East. The speed of the Earth's surface is higher at the Equator so the air around the front spins creating winds that change direction as the front passes. While big storms like hurricanes and cyclones (Southern Hemisphere hurricanes) keep sailors in port, small storms are navigable but can present difficulties for sailboats. For instance, we want to go South but if the wind is coming from the South we will not be able to sail against the wind and the waves. Thus the planning for a passage like this one of over 500 nautical miles requires looking carefully at the weather forecasts and guessing how accurate they will be.
After all that, we picked Tuesday as our departure day hoping that the forecasted winds will be in our favor.
Yesterday when we were walking to the tattoo artist, I noted that Bora Bora is not like the other islands we have seen in French Polynesia. The guide book says that it is the place where the rich and famous go to spend money. Partly because of that and partly because it is the number one honeymoon location in French Polynesia, there are many more luxury hotels than any other island. It is not uncommon for over-the-water bungalows to cost well over $1000 per night.
As a result of this influx of money, the island itself has a much more developed infrastructure than any other we have seen. The roadside is landscaped and there is extensive stonework not seen in the other islands. Where we were walking was far from the main town yet from the appearance of the side of the road, we could have been in Carmel, California. I am sure this wealth will eventually find its way to some of the other islands but for the moment, the charm of the South Pacific is elsewhere than Bora Bora.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Day 107 Tattoos
Dance competition
Andy has two tattoos that he got when he served in the Peace Corps in Samoa. On his arm he has a traditional Samoan design of parallel lines and on his calf is a Maori design from Australia. I guess once you get one, you crave more so he has been researching since the Marquises and found that the Marquesan artists have a unique and pleasing style. After hearing about the art, Mark and I got talked into joining him. We almost got one in Manihi where we really liked the work of a Tuamotu artist but the restriction of not being able to go into salt water for a week after the application convinced us to wait as we did not want to be excluded from swimming during that part of the trip. Because we have a 5 day passage in front of us from Bora Bora to Rarotonga this restriction would not affect us so Andy began searching again and found a Marquesan tattoo artist on Southern Bora Bora.
We moved the boat to an anchorage in front of Bloody Mary's, dinghied to shore and walked a mile South to Fati Motuehitu Tattoos.
Fati has been doing tattoos for 20 years since he was 14 years old. He works 8 hours a day and in the three hours we were there, he turned away three couples who showed up at the door. The next time he had free was in a week.
Everything was of almost surgical quality so we felt safe to proceed. Fati had many books of past designs or would do whatever his client wanted. Much of his work contains Marquisan symbols of marine animals and various gods. I chose a dolphin and a turtle (the navigator) and the tattoo took about 45 minutes. There was no real discomfort but I am sure it could be painful on certain parts of the body. Mine is on my shoulder.
Andy chose two tikis representing his parents and Mark got a really cool wave that could represent both surfing and sailing. His also contains an M and a K for his family.
In the afternoon we moved the boat back to the Yacht Club and in the evening took a taxi into town with the crew from Liahona. Each year there is a French Polynesia dance competition held in Bora Bora for two weeks and tonight was the first night. The town is very small but has a tiny stadium with a soccer field where the competition is held. All the local dignitaries were there along with judges from various islands. Over the next 3 hours, two groups performed songs and dances with musical accompaniment. There was a lot of spirited drumming and the dancers did not disappoint. There was a lot of amazing hip shaking as well as precision moves that look like the hand motions of Hawaiian hula. All in all, it was very entertaining and well worth attending.
As a bonus for the evening, we met a family from Australia aboard Eaio whom we had last seen in Rangiroa. They have daughters of Kurt and Andy's ages and next to the stadium there was a disco that opened after the performance. Dancing followed by dancing ended the evening.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Day 106 Motu Toopua
Happy winter
Mark and JIm met to decide if we wanted to stay in the windy anchorage in front of Bloody Mary's or move to a more protected location. Liahona was very concerned about the security of our present anchorage and after some discussion we decided to move behind the shelter of Motu Toopua where we thought we could find a calmer spot.
Our expectations turned out to be true as the space between the motu and the reef was very protected. We dropped anchor and enjoyed the calm.
We were near the reef so Mark and Kurt accompanied Liahona on an exploratory mission to evaluate the snorkeling. After a while they came back to report that this was not a very interesting spot for viewing marine life and coral. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful swimming location with a beach several hundred yards away. As a result, 10 year old Kai and 6 year old Kira spent all day in the water attempting to win the prune-lookalike contest. I applied a supposedly waterproof bandage as I could not resist the crystal clear warm water any longer. The adults swam for over an hour and played a bit of water football for exercise. If there was a prize for "doing very little and enjoying it a lot" we would have applied. Probably my most significant achievement today is writing this blog.
We may have had one thing against us in the competition. Yesterday in town, Mark bought a New York Times and today he tortured us with the cross word puzzle. To our credit, we were terrible at it.
The other distraction is that yesterday we met Far Niente. A week ago they had visitors from the U.S. who brought them some magazines. They were now finished and they passed them on to us. Somehow reading Time and National Geographic would probably disqualify us from the "goofing off" competition.
Mark and JIm met to decide if we wanted to stay in the windy anchorage in front of Bloody Mary's or move to a more protected location. Liahona was very concerned about the security of our present anchorage and after some discussion we decided to move behind the shelter of Motu Toopua where we thought we could find a calmer spot.
Our expectations turned out to be true as the space between the motu and the reef was very protected. We dropped anchor and enjoyed the calm.
We were near the reef so Mark and Kurt accompanied Liahona on an exploratory mission to evaluate the snorkeling. After a while they came back to report that this was not a very interesting spot for viewing marine life and coral. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful swimming location with a beach several hundred yards away. As a result, 10 year old Kai and 6 year old Kira spent all day in the water attempting to win the prune-lookalike contest. I applied a supposedly waterproof bandage as I could not resist the crystal clear warm water any longer. The adults swam for over an hour and played a bit of water football for exercise. If there was a prize for "doing very little and enjoying it a lot" we would have applied. Probably my most significant achievement today is writing this blog.
We may have had one thing against us in the competition. Yesterday in town, Mark bought a New York Times and today he tortured us with the cross word puzzle. To our credit, we were terrible at it.
The other distraction is that yesterday we met Far Niente. A week ago they had visitors from the U.S. who brought them some magazines. They were now finished and they passed them on to us. Somehow reading Time and National Geographic would probably disqualify us from the "goofing off" competition.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Day 105 Windy anchorage
Bloody Mary's
The night was rainy and we were all up several times to close the hatches each time the rain came and to open them again to get some needed ventilation whenever the rain stopped. Also, it was windy and each time we got up, we checked to see if we were still tied to the mooring. As a result, we did not get up until about 8 AM. Because it is one day from the summer solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun does not come up until after 7 even though we are North of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Liahona got a call from their friends on Manatee and they wanted us to accompany them South inside the lagoon to Bloody Mary's so we weighed anchor after breakfast and started South.
I needed to stop at the town of Viatape to visit the pharmacy and get my prescription filled so we pulled up to the town pier along the way. Viatape illustrates the character that Bora Bora has now become known for... tourists. This seems to be one of the major honeymoon destinations as well as a stopping point for cruise ships. This is the first place we have stopped where English seems to be the dominant language.
While we parked at the pier for quite a while as we took turns running to the store for "one more thing" a variety of people walked by including...
Twizzle - We had seen the motor vessel Twizzel sever times - the last was at Marina Taina in Tahiti. It is a sleek, very modern looking motor vessel that is large and imposing. A launch pulled up to the pier and let off a man in tan slacks and a black shirt with a Twizzle emblem. As he walked by we asked him about the boat.
Twizzel is owned by an English family. The boat is 186 feet long and has a crew of 13. When the family is not using it they allow it to be chartered to groups as large as 10 people. The cost per week - hang onto your hat - is a meager $250,000. We figured if we pooled our money and came up with $100 we could go on board for 4 minutes. Go figure.
"Can we take your picture" - Several groups of American tourists walked by and asked about the boat and about our trip. Most were fascinated and usually there was one man in the group who asked a lot of questions and admitted that he would love to take such a trip. One such group from Southern California asked us if we would pose on deck so they could take our picture. Go figure.
After an entertaining several hours we left the pier and motored South to the end of the island where the famous Bloody Mary's restaurant is located and set the anchor. At 6 o'clock we used the dinghy to very fancy restaurant dock to join Liahona, Manatee and Suzanne2 for dinner. At the entrance is a large wooden plaque naming the famous people who have visited the restaurant. I took a picture to show that Phil Jackson was here. Phil, if you are reading this, you should know you did not escape notice.
The restaurant has a sand floor and rustic tables although the staff speak un-accented English and it could easily be in San Jose except that 90% of the tables are filled with newly weds. The bloody marys were good as expected and the fish was all fresh.
By 9:30 we were back on the boat and ready to turn in.
The night was rainy and we were all up several times to close the hatches each time the rain came and to open them again to get some needed ventilation whenever the rain stopped. Also, it was windy and each time we got up, we checked to see if we were still tied to the mooring. As a result, we did not get up until about 8 AM. Because it is one day from the summer solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun does not come up until after 7 even though we are North of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Liahona got a call from their friends on Manatee and they wanted us to accompany them South inside the lagoon to Bloody Mary's so we weighed anchor after breakfast and started South.
I needed to stop at the town of Viatape to visit the pharmacy and get my prescription filled so we pulled up to the town pier along the way. Viatape illustrates the character that Bora Bora has now become known for... tourists. This seems to be one of the major honeymoon destinations as well as a stopping point for cruise ships. This is the first place we have stopped where English seems to be the dominant language.
While we parked at the pier for quite a while as we took turns running to the store for "one more thing" a variety of people walked by including...
Twizzle - We had seen the motor vessel Twizzel sever times - the last was at Marina Taina in Tahiti. It is a sleek, very modern looking motor vessel that is large and imposing. A launch pulled up to the pier and let off a man in tan slacks and a black shirt with a Twizzle emblem. As he walked by we asked him about the boat.
Twizzel is owned by an English family. The boat is 186 feet long and has a crew of 13. When the family is not using it they allow it to be chartered to groups as large as 10 people. The cost per week - hang onto your hat - is a meager $250,000. We figured if we pooled our money and came up with $100 we could go on board for 4 minutes. Go figure.
"Can we take your picture" - Several groups of American tourists walked by and asked about the boat and about our trip. Most were fascinated and usually there was one man in the group who asked a lot of questions and admitted that he would love to take such a trip. One such group from Southern California asked us if we would pose on deck so they could take our picture. Go figure.
After an entertaining several hours we left the pier and motored South to the end of the island where the famous Bloody Mary's restaurant is located and set the anchor. At 6 o'clock we used the dinghy to very fancy restaurant dock to join Liahona, Manatee and Suzanne2 for dinner. At the entrance is a large wooden plaque naming the famous people who have visited the restaurant. I took a picture to show that Phil Jackson was here. Phil, if you are reading this, you should know you did not escape notice.
The restaurant has a sand floor and rustic tables although the staff speak un-accented English and it could easily be in San Jose except that 90% of the tables are filled with newly weds. The bloody marys were good as expected and the fish was all fresh.
By 9:30 we were back on the boat and ready to turn in.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Day 104 Sail to Bora Bora
The Yacht Club
Three boats left the marina by mid morning with Bora Bora as their destination. The first was the French boat Alibi with the catamaran Liahona just behind them. We left about half an hour later. We had challenged Liahona to an "all sails" race (use all of your sails) and we called them on the radio to tell them to use their head start.
The distance is about 30 miles and the wind was about 5 to 8 knots with only a small swell in the water - perfect sailing weather. To get to Passe Teavanui, the only entry through the reef, we had to go around the island to the West side. This meant sailing with the wind behind us until we passed the South end of the island and turning North putting the wind on our starboard side. This meant that once we made the turn we could take advantage of the mono-hull's ability to sail on a "beam reach" (the wind is "abeam" or directly to our side). While catamarans may sail downwind very well, they are not known to sail across the wind as well as a mono hull.
As expected, we slowly caught up with Liahona even though we veered off several time to sail through flocks of birds visible on the water. Birds feeding mean fish and we had the lines out although we did not get any strikes. We passed Liahona just as we reached the turn and as soon as we had the wind to our beam we accelerated forward and left them in our dust (or spray, or whatever is the ocean equivalent). At one point we were exceeding 9 knots - a fast pace for a boat our size.
Bora Bora is typical of the islands in the Society Group. Unlike the Marquises - volcanic spires that rise up abruptly from the sea with no coral reef - or the Tuomotus - atolls that are the remains of the coral reef after the center island has sunken into the sea - the Society Islands have a mountainous island surrounded by a protective coral reef. Wherever a river flows off the mountain, the reef is eroded leaving an opening or "reef break" that is deep enough for a keel boat to enter. Once inside the reef, the lagoon is often navigable most of the way around the island.
Bora Bora is the quintessential tropical island. The mountain in the middle rises steeply to over 200 feet making an imposing edifice above the lagoon. The only thing that spoils this view is the amount of development which exceeds that of the other islands. Many over-the-water luxury hotels have been built on the main island and on the motus or smaller islands that make up parts of the reef. This appears to be honeymoon central and the guide book says it is the most frequented destination for newly married couples of all the islands.
We headed for the Yacht Club on the North shore and found a convenient mooring ball. Once secured we headed ashore for a quiet and relaxing dinner at the Yacht Club before returning to the boat for a brief round of cards before heading off to bed.
Three boats left the marina by mid morning with Bora Bora as their destination. The first was the French boat Alibi with the catamaran Liahona just behind them. We left about half an hour later. We had challenged Liahona to an "all sails" race (use all of your sails) and we called them on the radio to tell them to use their head start.
The distance is about 30 miles and the wind was about 5 to 8 knots with only a small swell in the water - perfect sailing weather. To get to Passe Teavanui, the only entry through the reef, we had to go around the island to the West side. This meant sailing with the wind behind us until we passed the South end of the island and turning North putting the wind on our starboard side. This meant that once we made the turn we could take advantage of the mono-hull's ability to sail on a "beam reach" (the wind is "abeam" or directly to our side). While catamarans may sail downwind very well, they are not known to sail across the wind as well as a mono hull.
As expected, we slowly caught up with Liahona even though we veered off several time to sail through flocks of birds visible on the water. Birds feeding mean fish and we had the lines out although we did not get any strikes. We passed Liahona just as we reached the turn and as soon as we had the wind to our beam we accelerated forward and left them in our dust (or spray, or whatever is the ocean equivalent). At one point we were exceeding 9 knots - a fast pace for a boat our size.
Bora Bora is typical of the islands in the Society Group. Unlike the Marquises - volcanic spires that rise up abruptly from the sea with no coral reef - or the Tuomotus - atolls that are the remains of the coral reef after the center island has sunken into the sea - the Society Islands have a mountainous island surrounded by a protective coral reef. Wherever a river flows off the mountain, the reef is eroded leaving an opening or "reef break" that is deep enough for a keel boat to enter. Once inside the reef, the lagoon is often navigable most of the way around the island.
Bora Bora is the quintessential tropical island. The mountain in the middle rises steeply to over 200 feet making an imposing edifice above the lagoon. The only thing that spoils this view is the amount of development which exceeds that of the other islands. Many over-the-water luxury hotels have been built on the main island and on the motus or smaller islands that make up parts of the reef. This appears to be honeymoon central and the guide book says it is the most frequented destination for newly married couples of all the islands.
We headed for the Yacht Club on the North shore and found a convenient mooring ball. Once secured we headed ashore for a quiet and relaxing dinner at the Yacht Club before returning to the boat for a brief round of cards before heading off to bed.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Day 103 New crew members
Last day at the marina
For several days, we have said we were leaving the marina but each day brings new activities that seem to keep us here. Our visas expire on the 28th so we will need to leave French Polynesia by then and we want to see Bora Bora before we go but the marina life with our cruiser friends is so pleasant it is hard to get underway again.
On either side of us is a catamaran with a family of four. The kids play from morning to night - mostly in the water and there are rarely any disputes. Sean took them all wake surfing again to the delight of participants and onlookers alike.
Mikaela presented us with a new crew member that we named Francois. He is a small gecko and we hope he will eat his fill of any bugs on the boat. He promptly disappeared and we expect him to carry out his duties in private.
Jennifer presented us with a small potted basil plant that we promptly named Basil (with the proper British pronunciation as in Basil Rathbone). Basil occupies a sunny spot in the cockpit protected from salt spray. We are expecting great things from him as sell on our journey Westward.
In the afternoon we prepared for our last Bitter End in Marina Apooiti. Mark did the barbecue, Kurt made the sushi, Andy provided the certified jet fuel and I invited a half dozen of the French boaters. By the time it was "four fingers" the usual suspects had arrived along with several of our French neighbors. Didier and Marie from Alibi spoke very little English and I ended up spending quite a bit of time with them struggling to make conversation with my meager French. I think we all enjoyed the experience although there were times when we had to work really hard to make ourselves understood. At the end of the evening, they wished us a good journey.
For several days, we have said we were leaving the marina but each day brings new activities that seem to keep us here. Our visas expire on the 28th so we will need to leave French Polynesia by then and we want to see Bora Bora before we go but the marina life with our cruiser friends is so pleasant it is hard to get underway again.
On either side of us is a catamaran with a family of four. The kids play from morning to night - mostly in the water and there are rarely any disputes. Sean took them all wake surfing again to the delight of participants and onlookers alike.
Mikaela presented us with a new crew member that we named Francois. He is a small gecko and we hope he will eat his fill of any bugs on the boat. He promptly disappeared and we expect him to carry out his duties in private.
Jennifer presented us with a small potted basil plant that we promptly named Basil (with the proper British pronunciation as in Basil Rathbone). Basil occupies a sunny spot in the cockpit protected from salt spray. We are expecting great things from him as sell on our journey Westward.
In the afternoon we prepared for our last Bitter End in Marina Apooiti. Mark did the barbecue, Kurt made the sushi, Andy provided the certified jet fuel and I invited a half dozen of the French boaters. By the time it was "four fingers" the usual suspects had arrived along with several of our French neighbors. Didier and Marie from Alibi spoke very little English and I ended up spending quite a bit of time with them struggling to make conversation with my meager French. I think we all enjoyed the experience although there were times when we had to work really hard to make ourselves understood. At the end of the evening, they wished us a good journey.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Day 102 Haircuts
The doctor
We have not had haircuts since Mexico so we are all getting a bit shaggy. The marina is several kilometers from the town where we might find a barber but with some scrounging we came up with hair clippers courtesy of Sol Searcher.
The white bucket served as a barber chair and an extension cord from the boat provided the power to our shoreline "coiffure". Mark and Kurt were the barbers and the customers included the Southern Star crew and young Kai from Liahona. The entertainment came from the gallery of onlookers who included not only the cruisers but some of the French inhabitants of the boats that have a more permanent residence at the marina. I only have still pictures of the event although it would take a video to do it justice. With all the laughing, it is amazing that we got relatively descent haircuts - at least good enough to serve us for a month or two.
The marina is an interesting combination of residents and transients. The residents are all French and many have lived aboard for years in this marina. Some have full time jobs while others are "here for a while until I continue my trip". Most of this latter group also seems like they have been here for several years.
The transients include both cruisers like ourselves and people who come to this marina to charter a boat from Moorings. They are usually only at the marina for one night and then are off to enjoy their week or two in French Polynesia.
One additional resident is a white duck who "lives" on the quay where we are anchored. He or she seems to "own" a small patch of grass under a bush and his/her ownership is quite well demonstrated to any interloper. Several of the French residents feed the duck regularly so he/she is happy to pad around from boat to boat for expected hand-outs. I never found out if the duck has a name but he/she certainly seems to be a fixture at the marina. Even the marina manager's dog give it a wide berth.
Another one of the residents is a young doctor who has been in Ra'iatea for 6 months. Before that, he was the doctor to the French National Surf Team. He bought an old boat a month ago and in his spare time, he is restoring it. His boat is moored behind us and about 5 boats further along the quay. His English is good and he stops occasionally to exchange surf-speak with Kurt.
Jennifer from Soul's Calling has insisted on checking on my infection periodically and today she asked the doctor if he would look at me. Being a typical guy, I protested that I am fine and don't need any help but the doctor listened to her just the same so he gave it a look and prescribed a different antibiotic than I had taken before. When I saw the doctor in Tahiti, he prescribed Bristopen which is specific for staphylococcus. The fact that I have developed another lesion indicates that other bacteria may have also contributed so this doctor prescribed a general antibiotic (Augmentin) that fights several strains. While I am reluctant to take this as I have read about the "over prescription" of antibiotics, I am also not looking forward to further sores that seem to last almost a month before my body conquers them. Also, my disappointment at missing one of the best parts of this trip, the swimming, will probably convince me to re-medicate.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Day 101 Water sports
The kids wake surf
Yesterday's wake surfing had been a huge hit. All of the kids wanted to give it a try so most of the day was spent with the kids finally mastering the technique and the adults giving it a second go.
Wake surfing starts with a life jacketed swimmer in the water holding on to the ski rope and laying on his/her back with their feet on the surf board that is floating in front of them. The board is perpendicular to the direction of the pull so when the boat accelerates it is possible to push against the board and stand up. The kids use a different technique since they can stand on the board when it is still in the water thus they start on their knees and slowly get to their feet once the board is moving.
The boat speed is slower than normal water skiing or wake boarding and the surfboard is less maneuverable as it only has small rear fins. Also, since the rider's feet are not attached to the board, any attempt to cross the boat's wake quickly results in the rider proceeding without the board - a short distance to be sure.
For riders who have water skied or wake boarded before, the excitement is a bit short lived but for the rest, there is a big adrenaline rush that lasts long enough to overcome the sore muscles that result. No one is accustomed to pulling on a rope so hard for so long and the next day everyone complained of sore arms, shoulders and back.
The afternoon ended with swimming and water football. Because of the re-occurance of a large infection on my back, I am temporarily staying out of the water. Except for this, I have not been disappointed in any part of this trip but the beautiful warm clear water is so inviting and the ability to get some great exercise so compelling I find it hard to just sit and watch. The infection is now at the volcano stage so I am hoping I will be able to get back to swimming is a week or so. Bummer!
One unexpected benefit of this trip is the opportunity to interact with the other members of the Southern Star crew. Many people remark at how well we get along and we have heard some horror stories about other boats whose crew leaves the boat and captain at the first chance they have to fly home. I guess we get along because we are all tolerant enough to prevent friction and we have all found roles that contribute to the welfare of the boat. We do, however, represent three generations with both similarities and differences. We talk quite a bit about this (at least as much as guys ever talk) and sometimes discover surprises. One might expect that we are surprised by how different the world is in each generation but sometimes the surprise is to find how little some things change. I have not asked the others but to me this is a great chance to learn and to try to understand the world a bit better.
Yesterday's wake surfing had been a huge hit. All of the kids wanted to give it a try so most of the day was spent with the kids finally mastering the technique and the adults giving it a second go.
Wake surfing starts with a life jacketed swimmer in the water holding on to the ski rope and laying on his/her back with their feet on the surf board that is floating in front of them. The board is perpendicular to the direction of the pull so when the boat accelerates it is possible to push against the board and stand up. The kids use a different technique since they can stand on the board when it is still in the water thus they start on their knees and slowly get to their feet once the board is moving.
The boat speed is slower than normal water skiing or wake boarding and the surfboard is less maneuverable as it only has small rear fins. Also, since the rider's feet are not attached to the board, any attempt to cross the boat's wake quickly results in the rider proceeding without the board - a short distance to be sure.
For riders who have water skied or wake boarded before, the excitement is a bit short lived but for the rest, there is a big adrenaline rush that lasts long enough to overcome the sore muscles that result. No one is accustomed to pulling on a rope so hard for so long and the next day everyone complained of sore arms, shoulders and back.
The afternoon ended with swimming and water football. Because of the re-occurance of a large infection on my back, I am temporarily staying out of the water. Except for this, I have not been disappointed in any part of this trip but the beautiful warm clear water is so inviting and the ability to get some great exercise so compelling I find it hard to just sit and watch. The infection is now at the volcano stage so I am hoping I will be able to get back to swimming is a week or so. Bummer!
One unexpected benefit of this trip is the opportunity to interact with the other members of the Southern Star crew. Many people remark at how well we get along and we have heard some horror stories about other boats whose crew leaves the boat and captain at the first chance they have to fly home. I guess we get along because we are all tolerant enough to prevent friction and we have all found roles that contribute to the welfare of the boat. We do, however, represent three generations with both similarities and differences. We talk quite a bit about this (at least as much as guys ever talk) and sometimes discover surprises. One might expect that we are surprised by how different the world is in each generation but sometimes the surprise is to find how little some things change. I have not asked the others but to me this is a great chance to learn and to try to understand the world a bit better.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Day 100 Waterfall hike
Surf skiing
Andy had found a hike in the guide book that he wanted to try. We canvassed the other boats and found that Jennifer and Mikaela from Soul's Calling wanted to come along so we packed some sandwiches and hitchhiked to the other side of the town to Kaoha Nui Ranch.
As we discovered when we have hitchhiked in the past, two guys may have trouble getting a ride but when there is a woman and a child present, the local people are quick to stop and let you climb into the back of their pickup trucks. The same was true today. The first truck to come along stopped and gave us a ride all the way to the Ranch although it seemed like it might have been out of his way. The driver spoke a few words of English and said "have a nice day" as we climbed out.
As we started up the road, we passed some ranch workers and asked permission to take the hike. They said the waterfalls would be difficult to find without a guide (the standard for all of the hikes we have taken) but we declined and said we would just go as far as we could.
We started up a steep dirt road past very well maintained farmed areas growing mango, taro and papaya. The road ended in a grassy meadow and after some careful searching we found a faint path that led to a rocky stream bed. There did not appear to be any trail so we carefully "bouldered" upstream and eventually found a path leading through a thick stand of bamboo. The path went steeply uphill following the stream.
The guide book mentioned three waterfalls with fixed ropes needed to reach the last and largest one. The first two were small with shallow pools at the bottom so we pushed on and found the fixed ropes. Eleven-year-old Mikaela demonstrated that young girls make exceptional climbers and scrambled nimbly up the incline using the rope to pull herself up. We climbed several angled cliffs with steps cut into the rock and a final walk along the cliff face with horizontal ropes for safety until we came to the third waterfall. This one was quite beautiful and the pool was large enough for swimming. Andy and Mikaela went in while I watched in envy. Since I have another infection I am trying to stay out of the water for a while.
We had our sandwiches and headed back down the steep trail. At the road, we quickly got a ride again from a local couple who took us all the way back to the marina. Again, it seemed that it was farther than they were planning to go but they cheerfully wished us well and we all said "maaruuru" which is thank-you in Tahitian.
While we were gone, the rest of the boats had come up with a way to surf without waves. Soul's Calling, which is a 50 foot catamaran, has a very sophisticated dinghy. Compared to the 8 foot inflatables with 4 or 5 horsepower motors that most boats use, this craft really is not a dinghy but rather should be called an inflatable boat. It is about 12 feet long and has a 40 HP motor, several seats and a steering wheel. Sean dug out a ski rope and life jackets and everyone was taking turns getting towed behind the boat while standing on a surfboard. By the end of the day, all of the adults had tried "wake surfing" except me who declined in order to keep my wound dry.
We ended the day with 6 boat loads of cruisers making the local pizzeria happy.
Andy had found a hike in the guide book that he wanted to try. We canvassed the other boats and found that Jennifer and Mikaela from Soul's Calling wanted to come along so we packed some sandwiches and hitchhiked to the other side of the town to Kaoha Nui Ranch.
As we discovered when we have hitchhiked in the past, two guys may have trouble getting a ride but when there is a woman and a child present, the local people are quick to stop and let you climb into the back of their pickup trucks. The same was true today. The first truck to come along stopped and gave us a ride all the way to the Ranch although it seemed like it might have been out of his way. The driver spoke a few words of English and said "have a nice day" as we climbed out.
As we started up the road, we passed some ranch workers and asked permission to take the hike. They said the waterfalls would be difficult to find without a guide (the standard for all of the hikes we have taken) but we declined and said we would just go as far as we could.
We started up a steep dirt road past very well maintained farmed areas growing mango, taro and papaya. The road ended in a grassy meadow and after some careful searching we found a faint path that led to a rocky stream bed. There did not appear to be any trail so we carefully "bouldered" upstream and eventually found a path leading through a thick stand of bamboo. The path went steeply uphill following the stream.
The guide book mentioned three waterfalls with fixed ropes needed to reach the last and largest one. The first two were small with shallow pools at the bottom so we pushed on and found the fixed ropes. Eleven-year-old Mikaela demonstrated that young girls make exceptional climbers and scrambled nimbly up the incline using the rope to pull herself up. We climbed several angled cliffs with steps cut into the rock and a final walk along the cliff face with horizontal ropes for safety until we came to the third waterfall. This one was quite beautiful and the pool was large enough for swimming. Andy and Mikaela went in while I watched in envy. Since I have another infection I am trying to stay out of the water for a while.
We had our sandwiches and headed back down the steep trail. At the road, we quickly got a ride again from a local couple who took us all the way back to the marina. Again, it seemed that it was farther than they were planning to go but they cheerfully wished us well and we all said "maaruuru" which is thank-you in Tahitian.
While we were gone, the rest of the boats had come up with a way to surf without waves. Soul's Calling, which is a 50 foot catamaran, has a very sophisticated dinghy. Compared to the 8 foot inflatables with 4 or 5 horsepower motors that most boats use, this craft really is not a dinghy but rather should be called an inflatable boat. It is about 12 feet long and has a 40 HP motor, several seats and a steering wheel. Sean dug out a ski rope and life jackets and everyone was taking turns getting towed behind the boat while standing on a surfboard. By the end of the day, all of the adults had tried "wake surfing" except me who declined in order to keep my wound dry.
We ended the day with 6 boat loads of cruisers making the local pizzeria happy.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Day 99 Dinghy flotilla
Snorkeling and the hookah
Mark and Jim hatched a plan to set up the hookah near the reef pass and let everyone who wanted take turns diving on the reef. The problem of how to get everyone out there was solved when Ned from Suzanne2 volunteered to motor out in his boat and tow all the dinghies. Once at the pass, we could anchor all the dinghies in shallow water on the reef and have our own island to dive from. One dinghy would contain the hookah and that could be either anchored or towed by swimmers to the most favorable location.
In addition to the hookah and the snorkelers, Eric and Gisela from Far Niente brought their scuba tanks as did Brian from Salicorn. We had enough people and equipment to run our own diving school.
Adults and kids alike spent several hours exploring the reef. There was very little current so the normal procedure of floating with the current through the reef break did not work. This was fine as it was easy to swim along the surface and dive to the reef that varied from just a few feet to about 30 feet below. At the actual pass, the reef drops precipitously to a dark-blue-nothing but the coral fails to grow at that depth so there is not much missed by not going deeper. In some islands where there is a current when the tide changes, many fish - particularly big ones - cruise through the pass and make for an interesting dive but on this day, there did not seem to be any large fish below.
On the inside of the reef there was enough living coral and small reef fish to make interesting viewing but on the ocean side, almost all the coral was dead. The guide book attributes this to the effects of the last El Niño. The result is a bit depressing with gray shards of dead coral everywhere. One can imagine what the surface of the moon might look like close up.
By early afternoon, everyone had worked up huge appetites so we re-attached the dinghies to Suzanne2, stopped at the town dock for some supplies and made heaps of ham and cheese sandwiches to consume as we motored back to the marina to relax for the evening.
Mark and Jim hatched a plan to set up the hookah near the reef pass and let everyone who wanted take turns diving on the reef. The problem of how to get everyone out there was solved when Ned from Suzanne2 volunteered to motor out in his boat and tow all the dinghies. Once at the pass, we could anchor all the dinghies in shallow water on the reef and have our own island to dive from. One dinghy would contain the hookah and that could be either anchored or towed by swimmers to the most favorable location.
In addition to the hookah and the snorkelers, Eric and Gisela from Far Niente brought their scuba tanks as did Brian from Salicorn. We had enough people and equipment to run our own diving school.
Adults and kids alike spent several hours exploring the reef. There was very little current so the normal procedure of floating with the current through the reef break did not work. This was fine as it was easy to swim along the surface and dive to the reef that varied from just a few feet to about 30 feet below. At the actual pass, the reef drops precipitously to a dark-blue-nothing but the coral fails to grow at that depth so there is not much missed by not going deeper. In some islands where there is a current when the tide changes, many fish - particularly big ones - cruise through the pass and make for an interesting dive but on this day, there did not seem to be any large fish below.
On the inside of the reef there was enough living coral and small reef fish to make interesting viewing but on the ocean side, almost all the coral was dead. The guide book attributes this to the effects of the last El Niño. The result is a bit depressing with gray shards of dead coral everywhere. One can imagine what the surface of the moon might look like close up.
By early afternoon, everyone had worked up huge appetites so we re-attached the dinghies to Suzanne2, stopped at the town dock for some supplies and made heaps of ham and cheese sandwiches to consume as we motored back to the marina to relax for the evening.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Day 98 Cleaning and blog posting
Bitter End plus
Of course, there was more boat cleaning to be done but most of my day was spent posting pages to the blog and beginning to set up the photo album. Fortunately, I when I was no longer able to post with iWeb, I began writing on the text editor on my computer so all of the pages are available to be cut and pasted into Blogger. While this is not difficult, it is time consuming. Also, all of the pictures that I want to post are already in albums. Again, not a difficult task to post them but even more time consuming due to the speed of the Internet. I am hoping to get all of the text and at least some of the pictures posted before we leave French Polynesia.
While I am working on the blog, Mark, Kurt and Andy are engaged in the kinds of activities afforded by being in the Marina. There are always other boats looking for help and consulting on one problem or another to setting up computers to link with their ham radio (Mark's task) to fixing a broken surfboard (Kurt) to installing some new boat hardware to replace something that had broken or failed (Andy).
In between chores, we get some exercise and relaxation in the water, usually playing water football. There are several kids on other boats ranging in age from 6 to 11 and they are eager to join the games. Again, I am impressed with their comfort in deep water and their ability to not just swim but to scramble for the ball when the outcome is sure to be a dunking. I know I was not nearly as comfortable in water of any depth when I was their age. In fact, I barely am today. Maybe the unexpected dunking I had when I walked off that dock at Saratoga Lake at about age 7 left a residual anxiety. That was before I could swim and I had to be hauled out of the water by my father. I can still remember the primal feelings.
The day ended with another Bitter End barbecue and an early night to bed.
Of course, there was more boat cleaning to be done but most of my day was spent posting pages to the blog and beginning to set up the photo album. Fortunately, I when I was no longer able to post with iWeb, I began writing on the text editor on my computer so all of the pages are available to be cut and pasted into Blogger. While this is not difficult, it is time consuming. Also, all of the pictures that I want to post are already in albums. Again, not a difficult task to post them but even more time consuming due to the speed of the Internet. I am hoping to get all of the text and at least some of the pictures posted before we leave French Polynesia.
While I am working on the blog, Mark, Kurt and Andy are engaged in the kinds of activities afforded by being in the Marina. There are always other boats looking for help and consulting on one problem or another to setting up computers to link with their ham radio (Mark's task) to fixing a broken surfboard (Kurt) to installing some new boat hardware to replace something that had broken or failed (Andy).
In between chores, we get some exercise and relaxation in the water, usually playing water football. There are several kids on other boats ranging in age from 6 to 11 and they are eager to join the games. Again, I am impressed with their comfort in deep water and their ability to not just swim but to scramble for the ball when the outcome is sure to be a dunking. I know I was not nearly as comfortable in water of any depth when I was their age. In fact, I barely am today. Maybe the unexpected dunking I had when I walked off that dock at Saratoga Lake at about age 7 left a residual anxiety. That was before I could swim and I had to be hauled out of the water by my father. I can still remember the primal feelings.
The day ended with another Bitter End barbecue and an early night to bed.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Day 97 Chores again
Creating a new blog site
Every time we reach a marina that has connections for water and electricity, we take the opportunity to clean the boat. Part of this is necessary to remove the salt that blows off the water and deposits on everything. Not only does this make the boat surfaces sticky but it makes any fabric damp. The laundry in the marina is a welcome sight.
Once the boat was clean, I turned my attention to photo editing. The good news about digital photography is you can take a lot of pictures. The bad news is that you take a lot of pictures - and not all of them are good ones. I have two cameras - the big and heavy Nikon and a small and very portable Canon (SD 500). I almost never take the Nikon off the boat so when we go on hikes or go out on the water, I take the Canon in a waterproof bag. In either case, I use Adobe Literoom to select the best shots and edit them - mostly to straighten the horizon and crop the non-subject mater.
In addition to my camera, Kurt and Andy both take pictures that I want to include in my album (mainly because that is the only way I can get pictures of myself). If I put their pictures in the album I mark them with a "K" or "A" in the title so blog readers will know who did the work. Wendy from Liahona has also provided me with some underwater pictures that I mark with a "W".
Sometimes, I have had to do more editing, particularly on Andy's underwater pictures. Without a strobe, underwater pictures lose most of their color except the green so I need to adjust the color back to what you would see if you were snorkeling or diving. I can do 50 to 100 pictures an hour depending on the amount of editing needed so when one considers that I have taken about 2000 pictures, it is easy to see where the time goes. Hey, one may only do a trip like this once but it is possible to re-live it many times over through the memories evoked by the pictures.
Because we had a reasonable Wi-Fi Internet connection, I also started to tackle the blog problem. I started the blog when I was in Mexico and used the Apple dotMac website as the host and the program iWeb to compose the blog. iWeb runs on my computer so there is no need to be on-line when writing the blog or choosing what pictures to post. Once each page is composed, I can establish an Internet connection and rapidly publish what I have written. At least this is the way it is supposed to work and indeed the way it did work when I was in Mexico. In addition, the result was an attractive, professional looking blog.
Once I left Mexico, the only connection I had to the Internet was through the ham radio on the boat, Through this, I could send the text to Tim and he could post it. The only glitch is that the iWeb pages were on my computer so he had to start a second blog site to which he could post from his own computer. That seemed to work pretty well until I got to the Marquises. At that point, Tim's connection stopped working and I was not able to post at all even when I could find a reasonable Internet connection.
Because Andy is "an IT guy" I asked him for advise and found that he was using the Google Blogger without problems. Although I did not want to start over, it seemed the only choice. I looked at Sailblogs as another option but finally decided to use the same site that Andy uses since if I encounter problems, I can ask him for help.
Today I set up a new website on Blogger and committed to the laborious task of re-posting the entire blog and creating a matching photo record on the companion site Picasa. I still like the "prettyness" of the Apple site but I need to use something that works so from now on you will be reading this on Blogger. I welcome your comments.
Every time we reach a marina that has connections for water and electricity, we take the opportunity to clean the boat. Part of this is necessary to remove the salt that blows off the water and deposits on everything. Not only does this make the boat surfaces sticky but it makes any fabric damp. The laundry in the marina is a welcome sight.
Once the boat was clean, I turned my attention to photo editing. The good news about digital photography is you can take a lot of pictures. The bad news is that you take a lot of pictures - and not all of them are good ones. I have two cameras - the big and heavy Nikon and a small and very portable Canon (SD 500). I almost never take the Nikon off the boat so when we go on hikes or go out on the water, I take the Canon in a waterproof bag. In either case, I use Adobe Literoom to select the best shots and edit them - mostly to straighten the horizon and crop the non-subject mater.
In addition to my camera, Kurt and Andy both take pictures that I want to include in my album (mainly because that is the only way I can get pictures of myself). If I put their pictures in the album I mark them with a "K" or "A" in the title so blog readers will know who did the work. Wendy from Liahona has also provided me with some underwater pictures that I mark with a "W".
Sometimes, I have had to do more editing, particularly on Andy's underwater pictures. Without a strobe, underwater pictures lose most of their color except the green so I need to adjust the color back to what you would see if you were snorkeling or diving. I can do 50 to 100 pictures an hour depending on the amount of editing needed so when one considers that I have taken about 2000 pictures, it is easy to see where the time goes. Hey, one may only do a trip like this once but it is possible to re-live it many times over through the memories evoked by the pictures.
Because we had a reasonable Wi-Fi Internet connection, I also started to tackle the blog problem. I started the blog when I was in Mexico and used the Apple dotMac website as the host and the program iWeb to compose the blog. iWeb runs on my computer so there is no need to be on-line when writing the blog or choosing what pictures to post. Once each page is composed, I can establish an Internet connection and rapidly publish what I have written. At least this is the way it is supposed to work and indeed the way it did work when I was in Mexico. In addition, the result was an attractive, professional looking blog.
Once I left Mexico, the only connection I had to the Internet was through the ham radio on the boat, Through this, I could send the text to Tim and he could post it. The only glitch is that the iWeb pages were on my computer so he had to start a second blog site to which he could post from his own computer. That seemed to work pretty well until I got to the Marquises. At that point, Tim's connection stopped working and I was not able to post at all even when I could find a reasonable Internet connection.
Because Andy is "an IT guy" I asked him for advise and found that he was using the Google Blogger without problems. Although I did not want to start over, it seemed the only choice. I looked at Sailblogs as another option but finally decided to use the same site that Andy uses since if I encounter problems, I can ask him for help.
Today I set up a new website on Blogger and committed to the laborious task of re-posting the entire blog and creating a matching photo record on the companion site Picasa. I still like the "prettyness" of the Apple site but I need to use something that works so from now on you will be reading this on Blogger. I welcome your comments.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Day 96 Sailed to Marina Apooiti
The Bitter End is open again
We had explored all of Guy's suggestions so we decided to head back to Marina Apooiti to clean up and re-stock before Bora Bora and the passage to the Cook Islands.
Mark challenged Jim to a "jib only" sailing race to the Marina. The wind was blowing from almost directly behind us which should favor the catamaran. The trip would be expected to take about 4 hours and although it is completely inside the lagoon, the channel winds around between the reef and the island so there is a lot of opportunity to display sailing skills. When the wind is behind a boat, the fastest way to turn is to gibe. This can be a delicate maneuver since an uncontrolled gibe (or jibe) has the potential to damage the sail and the rigging that holds it. This is more of an issue when sailing on the mainsail but can still be tricky when sailing with only the jib.
To make up for sailing experience, Mark gave Jim a head start. For more than an hour, we trailed the big cat as we both made turns around buoys that marked the reefs. Finally the channel widened and with the wind blowing almost directly astern, Liahona moved to the right side of the channel and Mark steered Southern Star to the left side. The boats were about a mile apart when they both turned for the next narrow passage between the reefs. When they came together, Southern Star was in the lead. For the rest of the trip, the wind was quite calm but Mark managed to increase the distance between the boats. It was a good demonstration of the skill that is acquired from years of experience.
Once again we "med moored" to almost the same location we had left several days before. This meant we could set up the Bitter End and host another barbecue. By now, several other boats were in the marina so the party included:
• Eric and Gisela from Far Niente
• Jim, Wendy, Kai and Kira from Liahona
• Sean, Jennifer, Mikaela and Jake from Soul's Calling (we last saw them in Tahiti)
• Ben and Rebecca aboard Manatee from England
• Ray and Peggy from Sol Searcher
• Ned and Paula on board Suzanne2 from Olympia, Washington
Altogether, this makes quite an array of people, all with their own stories of their travels and how their lives led them to sail for months or years at a time. All they need to come together is a catalyst and Southern Star appears to play that role well.
We had explored all of Guy's suggestions so we decided to head back to Marina Apooiti to clean up and re-stock before Bora Bora and the passage to the Cook Islands.
Mark challenged Jim to a "jib only" sailing race to the Marina. The wind was blowing from almost directly behind us which should favor the catamaran. The trip would be expected to take about 4 hours and although it is completely inside the lagoon, the channel winds around between the reef and the island so there is a lot of opportunity to display sailing skills. When the wind is behind a boat, the fastest way to turn is to gibe. This can be a delicate maneuver since an uncontrolled gibe (or jibe) has the potential to damage the sail and the rigging that holds it. This is more of an issue when sailing on the mainsail but can still be tricky when sailing with only the jib.
To make up for sailing experience, Mark gave Jim a head start. For more than an hour, we trailed the big cat as we both made turns around buoys that marked the reefs. Finally the channel widened and with the wind blowing almost directly astern, Liahona moved to the right side of the channel and Mark steered Southern Star to the left side. The boats were about a mile apart when they both turned for the next narrow passage between the reefs. When they came together, Southern Star was in the lead. For the rest of the trip, the wind was quite calm but Mark managed to increase the distance between the boats. It was a good demonstration of the skill that is acquired from years of experience.
Once again we "med moored" to almost the same location we had left several days before. This meant we could set up the Bitter End and host another barbecue. By now, several other boats were in the marina so the party included:
• Eric and Gisela from Far Niente
• Jim, Wendy, Kai and Kira from Liahona
• Sean, Jennifer, Mikaela and Jake from Soul's Calling (we last saw them in Tahiti)
• Ben and Rebecca aboard Manatee from England
• Ray and Peggy from Sol Searcher
• Ned and Paula on board Suzanne2 from Olympia, Washington
Altogether, this makes quite an array of people, all with their own stories of their travels and how their lives led them to sail for months or years at a time. All they need to come together is a catalyst and Southern Star appears to play that role well.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Day 95 Turtle preserve
River tour
Turtles plus
So far, Guy's suggestions had been good ones so we decided to sail South to Baie Faaroa where we could use our dinghy to explore the river that flows into the bay.
Along the way, we stopped at a turtle preserve that was in the guide book. Supposedly, they rescue turtles that have become ensnared in fishing nets and return them to the sea after are determined to be healthy. We saw about a dozen green sea turtles in a pen and that was about it. There was also a restaurant and a pension but the turtle rescue part of the site seemed to be more of a come-on than a real environmental effort.
Baie Faaroa is the Ra'iatea headquarters for a sailboat chartering company named Sunsail. They compete with Moorings and rent mostly catamarans that are tied to mooring balls in the bay. There were some empty moorings so Liahona and Southern Star tied up after asking permission from the friendly Sunsail people.
The guide book says it is possible to take a dinghy and explore the river that flows into the bay. When we got to the head of the bay we saw two branches of the river so we took the right branch and Liahona took the left. It was not too long before we realized we had taken the wrong stream so we doubled back and followed Liahona's path. In some places the jungle foliage formed a complete canopy over the river. It looked like something out of a jungle adventure movie. In other places we passed plantations that were growing banana, taro, papaya and mango. The river wound back and forth for a little over a mile before it became so shallow we could not proceed further. The trip was an interesting change from the sailing and hiking we had been doing.
By the time we returned to the boats everyone was hot and sweaty so we jumped into the water and had about an hour of water football. Again we agreed that this was really great exercise - and good "clean" fun.
Following showers and dinner we enjoyed a movie and went to bed early. It is almost the middle of Winter but we are North of the Tropic of Capricorn so each day is about equal length, nonetheless, the sun sets about 6:30 so when anchored offshore our typical activities are reading, playing cards and occasionally watching a movie whenever we have enough battery power.
Turtles plus
So far, Guy's suggestions had been good ones so we decided to sail South to Baie Faaroa where we could use our dinghy to explore the river that flows into the bay.
Along the way, we stopped at a turtle preserve that was in the guide book. Supposedly, they rescue turtles that have become ensnared in fishing nets and return them to the sea after are determined to be healthy. We saw about a dozen green sea turtles in a pen and that was about it. There was also a restaurant and a pension but the turtle rescue part of the site seemed to be more of a come-on than a real environmental effort.
Baie Faaroa is the Ra'iatea headquarters for a sailboat chartering company named Sunsail. They compete with Moorings and rent mostly catamarans that are tied to mooring balls in the bay. There were some empty moorings so Liahona and Southern Star tied up after asking permission from the friendly Sunsail people.
The guide book says it is possible to take a dinghy and explore the river that flows into the bay. When we got to the head of the bay we saw two branches of the river so we took the right branch and Liahona took the left. It was not too long before we realized we had taken the wrong stream so we doubled back and followed Liahona's path. In some places the jungle foliage formed a complete canopy over the river. It looked like something out of a jungle adventure movie. In other places we passed plantations that were growing banana, taro, papaya and mango. The river wound back and forth for a little over a mile before it became so shallow we could not proceed further. The trip was an interesting change from the sailing and hiking we had been doing.
By the time we returned to the boats everyone was hot and sweaty so we jumped into the water and had about an hour of water football. Again we agreed that this was really great exercise - and good "clean" fun.
Following showers and dinner we enjoyed a movie and went to bed early. It is almost the middle of Winter but we are North of the Tropic of Capricorn so each day is about equal length, nonetheless, the sun sets about 6:30 so when anchored offshore our typical activities are reading, playing cards and occasionally watching a movie whenever we have enough battery power.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Day 94 Hookah
Andy is a hero again
The hookah is a self contained unit consisting of a small gasoline engine connected to a compressor that has a long hose with several scuba style mouthpieces. The whole thing fits into a box that can be loaded into a dinghy.
Andy and Jim made the first dive while Mark monitored things in the dinghy. We had attached a 25 foot line to the bottom of the anchored line so they could make a radius sweep of the bottom.
The first descent was a short one. The hookah delivers enough air for two divers at 25 to 30 feet but at 75 feet, the divers must draw hard on the airline to get enough air. This is not the normal condition for scuba divers and it took some mental toughness to go to the bottom when it felt as though there would not be enough air. On the second try, they overcame their anxiety and stayed down for a half hour search although they did not find the chain. Wendy and Mark did the second dive after moving the anchor but were also unsuccessful.
We re-checked the GPS coordinates and moved the anchor for the third dive. Within a few minutes, Andy and Jim returned to the surface and reported that they had found the chain and had attached the end to the small line. Since it would have been impossible for a person to raise 75 feet of chain from the bottom, we untied Liahona and maneuvered her over the line that was now tied to the anchor. By using a winch on board, the crew were able to bring the end of the chain to the surface and then use the windless to retrieve the rest along with the anchor.
After inspecting the windless it was discovered that there had been a plate on the outside that prevented the chain from slipping out of its grooves. Somehow, this plate had come off and this was the reason the chain was not controlled in its descent. Jim realized he would need to replace this part before going much further.
After lunch both boats headed for another of Guy's suggestions, a snorkeling spot near one of the passes into the lagoon - pass Tohahotu.
We anchored carefully in 16 feet of water in case we had to dive again and use the two dinghies to transport all 8 of us and the hookah to the pass. Here the water was much deeper than at Tautau. The reef dropped to a flat area that was about 15 feet deep and at the pass itself, there was a precipitous drop into blue water - meaning it was likely to be several hundred feet deep.
Again by starting at the margin between the outer reef and the ocean it was possible to float on the current back into the lagoon. Here the fish were abundant and the coral even more beautiful than at the coral garden. The formations were large and generally undisturbed because of their depth. We free-dived and took turns on the hookah (except I had some problems equalizing my left ear and my turn on the hookah was very short). We all agreed that this was an amazing experience.
Because we were anchored securely and Jim and Wendy were concerned about tempting fate, we stayed near the pass for the night.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Day 93 Snorkeling
The Coral Garden
Finally the day was sunny so we crossed the lagoon to Tautau and dropped the hook. As Guy had instructed, we dinghied to the pass between Tautau and its neighboring Motu and then walked along the shore until we reached the other end of the motu at the outer reef. The current flowed from the reef to the lagoon so by floating above the reef one could ride the current back to the dinghy. Although the coral was very beautiful, the pass was very shallow and there were places where it was necessary to wade in ankle deep water to negotiate the pass. At one point little Kira got stuck in a shallow part and we had to rescue her by getting her back to deeper water. Again, I was impressed with her water skills and her composure. (I expect that William will show the same skills when the time comes).
Altogether, we spent about two hours in the water and everyone was starving by the time we finally got back to the boats.
Because we all needed some provisions, we pulled up the hook and crossed back to the village of Patio on Taha'a. This town (pronounced pat ee oh) is the largest on Taha'a and that means it is very small. Since we were not planning to stay very long, we did not work very hard to choose an anchorage but instead dropped the anchor in 75 feet of water. Usually we would look for a shallower spot in case we needed to dive to release the anchor from a submerged encumbrance like a coral head. Since coral usually grows in shallower water and there is not much rock in these waters, we felt pretty safe to anchor briefly in this depth.
We were safely anchored when Liahona pulled up beside us and proceeded to release their anchor chain. Our attention was drawn to Wendy and Jim scrambling as the chain went out so we were all watching as the last of their 200 feet of chain payed out and headed for the bottom. This was a pretty bizarre sight. Usually the "bitter end" of the chain would be attached to the boat or at least to a line that was attached securely to the boat. Also, it would be normal that the chain's progress would be controlled by a "windless" that would moderate the flow of the chain and stop it when activated. (a windless is a motorized spool with groves that the chain fits into. The motor is used to wind up the chain again when the anchor is being retrieved). It is hard to capture in words the look on Jim and Wendy's faces as the chain disappeared into the depths.
Immediately, Mark called them on the radio and told them to hit the "MOB" button on their GPS. MOB stands for "man over board" and it placemarks the position of the boat at the time it is pressed. The use in retrieving a man over board is obvious but it can also be used to mark the position of the boat at other events - like losing your anchor and chain. Mark then instructed them to tie up to the stern of Southern Star and he went forward with Kurt and Andy to deploy a second anchor since we would need to hold the force of two boats.
Next came the creation of a plan. Since it was getting dark, we used the dinghy and a hand held GPS to mark the location with a small anchor attached to a 100 foot line and a large buoy (actually a red boat bumper). This would allow us to locate the position the next day. We knew that Liahona had a "hookah" which is a compressor that can be used to breath under water so our plan was to send down some divers in the daylight to find the chain and the anchor.
Once the plan was in place, it was easier to be calm, go to the store, get some provisions and play a half-hour of water polo before sunset and dinner.
Andy slept on deck as an anchor watch and Jim and Wendy spent a restless night worried about the fate of their anchor and chain.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Day 92 Another hike
Plus water polo
We awoke to another day of rain and overcast skies so we decided to postpone snorkeling.
Since we were not very happy with the security of the anchorage (the anchor dragged) we decided to move to another bay where we would be more protected from any wind. We selected Baie Hurepiti and picked up a mooring in front of Boutique Sophie. This was a typical little shop that sold wood carvings and jewelry. Sophie and Gee Gee were charming and friendly and suggested we hike to the end of the point for some nice views.
Along with Jim and Wendy from Liahona and their two kids Kira (6) and Kai (10) we walked for about two hours. The views were not very exciting and it was very hot but it was nice to get to know Jim and Wendy better. Their boat is owned by Wendy's father and mother who have lived on it periodically for the last 4 years. Jim and Wendy joined them in Ecuador for the passage.
Recently, Wendy's parents returned to the US until July so they are alone on the boat for the first time and are very interested in sailing with another boat for part of the trip. Jim is a surfer who has not surfed much in the last few years but wants to go with Mark and Kurt whenever he can. They have about the same list of things they want to see so we decided to sail together for a while.
When we were in Mexico, Mark bought a small football and since it was hot, we decided to all play a version of water polo between the two boats. The water was about 60 feet deep so this meant swimming full time. Kai and Kira are remarkably comfortable in the water which must come partially from growing up in Miami. Wendy swam competitively in college so both she and Jim are also good swimmers. After an hour of swimming very hard we emerged from the water refreshed and tired. We all decided that this was both fun and great exercise so we would do it again whenever we got the chance. (Tim, you would have loved it!!!)
Another item on Guy's list was a restaurant named Chez Louise which was in the next bay. We called and found they would pick us up at our anchorage so with the restaurant boat and one dinghy we made the trip to shore where two cars were waiting for us.
Louse is a large Polynesian woman with few teeth (you will like the picture Wendy took of us together.) The restaurant is right on the water and the setting is perfect. We were served a fixed menu of lobster, crab, shrimp and fish which was delicious but a bit more expensive than we anticipated. At the next table was a German sailing club of husbands and their wives who had chartered a boat in Ra'iatea. Of course, I said hello and talked with them a bit. The leader was from Munich and fortunately they refrained from speaking Bayerish.
We awoke to another day of rain and overcast skies so we decided to postpone snorkeling.
Since we were not very happy with the security of the anchorage (the anchor dragged) we decided to move to another bay where we would be more protected from any wind. We selected Baie Hurepiti and picked up a mooring in front of Boutique Sophie. This was a typical little shop that sold wood carvings and jewelry. Sophie and Gee Gee were charming and friendly and suggested we hike to the end of the point for some nice views.
Along with Jim and Wendy from Liahona and their two kids Kira (6) and Kai (10) we walked for about two hours. The views were not very exciting and it was very hot but it was nice to get to know Jim and Wendy better. Their boat is owned by Wendy's father and mother who have lived on it periodically for the last 4 years. Jim and Wendy joined them in Ecuador for the passage.
Recently, Wendy's parents returned to the US until July so they are alone on the boat for the first time and are very interested in sailing with another boat for part of the trip. Jim is a surfer who has not surfed much in the last few years but wants to go with Mark and Kurt whenever he can. They have about the same list of things they want to see so we decided to sail together for a while.
When we were in Mexico, Mark bought a small football and since it was hot, we decided to all play a version of water polo between the two boats. The water was about 60 feet deep so this meant swimming full time. Kai and Kira are remarkably comfortable in the water which must come partially from growing up in Miami. Wendy swam competitively in college so both she and Jim are also good swimmers. After an hour of swimming very hard we emerged from the water refreshed and tired. We all decided that this was both fun and great exercise so we would do it again whenever we got the chance. (Tim, you would have loved it!!!)
Another item on Guy's list was a restaurant named Chez Louise which was in the next bay. We called and found they would pick us up at our anchorage so with the restaurant boat and one dinghy we made the trip to shore where two cars were waiting for us.
Louse is a large Polynesian woman with few teeth (you will like the picture Wendy took of us together.) The restaurant is right on the water and the setting is perfect. We were served a fixed menu of lobster, crab, shrimp and fish which was delicious but a bit more expensive than we anticipated. At the next table was a German sailing club of husbands and their wives who had chartered a boat in Ra'iatea. Of course, I said hello and talked with them a bit. The leader was from Munich and fortunately they refrained from speaking Bayerish.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Day 91 Meeting Norbert
A rain day
We woke up to rain this morning and decided to watch a movie and wait for the rain to stop. Since we are connected to shore power, we have no worries about using our battery power.
By mid morning, we had packed up and along with Liahona, we set off toward a motu named Tautau that is inside the lagoon and just Northwest of Taha'a. (A motu is an island that is the remains of the original reef that is now covered with sand, trees and other vegetation.) Motus are usually quite small and Tautau is no exception although it is one of a row of islands in this location along the reef.
On the way out of the harbor, we stopped at the fuel dock and while we were there we got a call from Far Niente who we had not seen since Huahine. They were returning from Bora Bora and were just entering the pass into the Ra'iatea lagoon. By coincidence, they were also heading for Tautau so we made a flotilla of the trip - two Island Packet mono-hulls and the catamaran Liahona.
When we got our list of "things to do in Taha'a" from Guy, we were told that one of the best snorkel spots was the "coral garden" between Tautau and its neighboring motu. Now there is a new Pearl resort on Tautau and nowhere to anchor plus the day was getting late and the sky cloudy so we crossed back to Taha'a and anchored in Baie Tapuamu.
Another thing on Guy's list was a local named Norbert who sold fresh fruit and vegetables. It did not take Norbert long to find us. Dressed in a flowered sarong and a thatched leaf hat, he pulled alongside in his wooden flat bottomed boat playing a ukulele. We bargained and bartered (check out the pictures of this) for some pampelmous and one vanilla bean (the main product of Taha'a).
All three boats had a pot luck dinner on Liahona. Being a catamaran, this boat has plenty of space for a crowd.
We woke up to rain this morning and decided to watch a movie and wait for the rain to stop. Since we are connected to shore power, we have no worries about using our battery power.
By mid morning, we had packed up and along with Liahona, we set off toward a motu named Tautau that is inside the lagoon and just Northwest of Taha'a. (A motu is an island that is the remains of the original reef that is now covered with sand, trees and other vegetation.) Motus are usually quite small and Tautau is no exception although it is one of a row of islands in this location along the reef.
On the way out of the harbor, we stopped at the fuel dock and while we were there we got a call from Far Niente who we had not seen since Huahine. They were returning from Bora Bora and were just entering the pass into the Ra'iatea lagoon. By coincidence, they were also heading for Tautau so we made a flotilla of the trip - two Island Packet mono-hulls and the catamaran Liahona.
When we got our list of "things to do in Taha'a" from Guy, we were told that one of the best snorkel spots was the "coral garden" between Tautau and its neighboring motu. Now there is a new Pearl resort on Tautau and nowhere to anchor plus the day was getting late and the sky cloudy so we crossed back to Taha'a and anchored in Baie Tapuamu.
Another thing on Guy's list was a local named Norbert who sold fresh fruit and vegetables. It did not take Norbert long to find us. Dressed in a flowered sarong and a thatched leaf hat, he pulled alongside in his wooden flat bottomed boat playing a ukulele. We bargained and bartered (check out the pictures of this) for some pampelmous and one vanilla bean (the main product of Taha'a).
All three boats had a pot luck dinner on Liahona. Being a catamaran, this boat has plenty of space for a crowd.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Day 90 Marina Apooiti
Housecleaning
There is something to be said for having your house in order. For us this means:
• Collect all the dirty laundry including the sheets, towels and dish towels. We periodically rinse things while underway and take frequent showers where bathing suits get washed as well but there is nothing like having clothes that have been through a washing machine and dryer. They feel better and they certainly smell better.
• Wash down all the living areas in the boat. This means taking the floor mats and cushions to shore where they can be spread out, scrubbed, hosed and dried. While that is being done, all floors and counter tops are scrubbed and Clorox is added to the water to remove any mildew. Who said "swab those decks" is obsolete?
Since a jar of pickles had leaked in the refrigerator this particular clean-up also included emptying and scrubbing out the fridge.
• Stock up the groceries. Of course the normal eggs, beer, butter etc are always on the list but here in French Polynesia there is a special treat - baguettes.
• Fix things. There is always a project. This time it was re-wiring the electrical cable that we use to connect to shore power. By now we expect that each marina will have a different plug and sure enough, this one does. At least we now have the transformer installed so we do not have to worry about voltage as we are equipped to accept either 110 or 240 volts.
This harbor is one of the locations of the boat chartering company "Moorings". The Moorings company has been in business for over 25 years and rents both mono-hull and catamaran sailboats in a dozen locations around the world. There are competitive companies in many of these locations but Moorings has the reputation of being the best at what they do even if they are not the cheapest. I am sure some readers of this blog have had experience with Moorings and know them better than I do. As I mentioned in and earlier posting, one advantage of being in "Moorings territory" is that the safe navigation channels are very well marked and that makes it easier for us in these unfamiliar waters.
There is something to be said for having your house in order. For us this means:
• Collect all the dirty laundry including the sheets, towels and dish towels. We periodically rinse things while underway and take frequent showers where bathing suits get washed as well but there is nothing like having clothes that have been through a washing machine and dryer. They feel better and they certainly smell better.
• Wash down all the living areas in the boat. This means taking the floor mats and cushions to shore where they can be spread out, scrubbed, hosed and dried. While that is being done, all floors and counter tops are scrubbed and Clorox is added to the water to remove any mildew. Who said "swab those decks" is obsolete?
Since a jar of pickles had leaked in the refrigerator this particular clean-up also included emptying and scrubbing out the fridge.
• Stock up the groceries. Of course the normal eggs, beer, butter etc are always on the list but here in French Polynesia there is a special treat - baguettes.
• Fix things. There is always a project. This time it was re-wiring the electrical cable that we use to connect to shore power. By now we expect that each marina will have a different plug and sure enough, this one does. At least we now have the transformer installed so we do not have to worry about voltage as we are equipped to accept either 110 or 240 volts.
This harbor is one of the locations of the boat chartering company "Moorings". The Moorings company has been in business for over 25 years and rents both mono-hull and catamaran sailboats in a dozen locations around the world. There are competitive companies in many of these locations but Moorings has the reputation of being the best at what they do even if they are not the cheapest. I am sure some readers of this blog have had experience with Moorings and know them better than I do. As I mentioned in and earlier posting, one advantage of being in "Moorings territory" is that the safe navigation channels are very well marked and that makes it easier for us in these unfamiliar waters.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Day 89 Destination Ra'iatea
Old friends
We decided that instead of following the path recommended by Guy, we would go first to Uturoa the capital of Ra'iatea to get some much needed laundry done. At 8 o'clock we pulled the hook, raised the sail and headed west for Passe Teavapiti. The sail was relaxing with relatively calm seas and a pleasant wind from the South East. Mark noted that it was like sailing on San Francisco Bay.
The pass was equally benign and the passage inside the lagoon was well marked. We headed for Marina Apoiti because it was reputed to have a laundry and Wi-Fi Internet. This latter claim should be amended to "almost Wi-Fi". As we neared the marina, we saw Liahona so we called our friends Jim and Wendy on the VHS radio. They were very happy to see us and indicated there was a space right next to them where we could connect to water and electricity.
This was an interesting marina. There was a rocky breakwater with sand on the top, a path and some palm trees interspersed with electrical boxes and water taps. It looked like something temporary but the water was deep and there were solid moorings a boat length or so from the rocky wall. By backing up in the direction of the rock wall ( a bit scary) we could pick up the mooring and then toss two lines from the stern to people on the shore who secured them to metal bollards (metal posts like you see on the pier in San Francisco). This left the stern about 15 feet from the rocky shore so we tied two lines to the dinghy and used it to ferry ourselves and any supplies from the boat to the shore and visa versa.
At our mooring spot there was a picnic table, some benches and a fireplace. The marina must have heard of our Bitter End reputation and provided the facilities in advance. In keeping with tradition, we hosted a signature beach party.
A few minutes after we hailed Liahona, we heard Sol Searcher calling us and found out that they were also anchored at the marina. We had not seen Ray and Peggy since Puerto Vallarta and looked forward to seeing them so we could get the details of their brutal crossing.
At the beach party, we heard Sol Searcher's story. Three days out of PV, Peggy learned that her mother died. This was totally expected thus no great shock, nonetheless it was a setback. On day 4 their autopilot self failed forcing the two of them to take on the laborious task of hand steering 7 by 24 the rest of the way. On day 5 their engine quit, never to be revived again. The crossing took 30 days to Nuka Hiva in the Marquises. Every day they were on the radio so that by the time they reached the island, every Puddle Jumper and many others along the way knew of their plight. When they radioed to several Puddle Jump boats in Nuka Hiva that they were in sight of the harbor, a flotilla of dinghies came out to assist them. The first to reach them was an Australian whom they did not even know. He took charge, ordered the dinghies into position and together they "tug-boated" them to a safe anchorage. It is nice to have friends even if you don't even know them. Peggy said that her hands and forearms were numb for three days from the stress of holding the wheel for so many hours. Why didn't they turn back in the early days of the trip? I am not sure even they know except the wind and waves were going West and they thought they could make it. Fortunately, they were right.
We decided that instead of following the path recommended by Guy, we would go first to Uturoa the capital of Ra'iatea to get some much needed laundry done. At 8 o'clock we pulled the hook, raised the sail and headed west for Passe Teavapiti. The sail was relaxing with relatively calm seas and a pleasant wind from the South East. Mark noted that it was like sailing on San Francisco Bay.
The pass was equally benign and the passage inside the lagoon was well marked. We headed for Marina Apoiti because it was reputed to have a laundry and Wi-Fi Internet. This latter claim should be amended to "almost Wi-Fi". As we neared the marina, we saw Liahona so we called our friends Jim and Wendy on the VHS radio. They were very happy to see us and indicated there was a space right next to them where we could connect to water and electricity.
This was an interesting marina. There was a rocky breakwater with sand on the top, a path and some palm trees interspersed with electrical boxes and water taps. It looked like something temporary but the water was deep and there were solid moorings a boat length or so from the rocky wall. By backing up in the direction of the rock wall ( a bit scary) we could pick up the mooring and then toss two lines from the stern to people on the shore who secured them to metal bollards (metal posts like you see on the pier in San Francisco). This left the stern about 15 feet from the rocky shore so we tied two lines to the dinghy and used it to ferry ourselves and any supplies from the boat to the shore and visa versa.
At our mooring spot there was a picnic table, some benches and a fireplace. The marina must have heard of our Bitter End reputation and provided the facilities in advance. In keeping with tradition, we hosted a signature beach party.
A few minutes after we hailed Liahona, we heard Sol Searcher calling us and found out that they were also anchored at the marina. We had not seen Ray and Peggy since Puerto Vallarta and looked forward to seeing them so we could get the details of their brutal crossing.
At the beach party, we heard Sol Searcher's story. Three days out of PV, Peggy learned that her mother died. This was totally expected thus no great shock, nonetheless it was a setback. On day 4 their autopilot self failed forcing the two of them to take on the laborious task of hand steering 7 by 24 the rest of the way. On day 5 their engine quit, never to be revived again. The crossing took 30 days to Nuka Hiva in the Marquises. Every day they were on the radio so that by the time they reached the island, every Puddle Jumper and many others along the way knew of their plight. When they radioed to several Puddle Jump boats in Nuka Hiva that they were in sight of the harbor, a flotilla of dinghies came out to assist them. The first to reach them was an Australian whom they did not even know. He took charge, ordered the dinghies into position and together they "tug-boated" them to a safe anchorage. It is nice to have friends even if you don't even know them. Peggy said that her hands and forearms were numb for three days from the stress of holding the wheel for so many hours. Why didn't they turn back in the early days of the trip? I am not sure even they know except the wind and waves were going West and they thought they could make it. Fortunately, they were right.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Day 88 Back to Fare
Boat tour
Dave and Melanie wanted to see the chart that Guy had given us so I visited Talerra and while there got a fascinating tour of the boat. When Dave was 10, he and his two brothers cruised on a boat with his parents and spent the next 8 years sailing the world. When he and Melanie met, he began building his own boat. He was in the house building business so he had all the tools and the skills needed. He built a two-story structure next to their house, bought the fiber glass hull and spent the next 14 years constructing the rest of the 34 foot boat. The structural members are all teak, cedar and Honduran mahogany and the decking is hand-laid-up fiberglass. All of the stainless steel railings and fittings were made by one of Dave's friends. The workmanship is excellent and many of the details that I have seen overlooked on other boats are covered in proper order. They launched Talerra 8 years ago, sold their house and have been living aboard ever since. Their son is married and has a child so it is just the two of them re-tracing the journey of his youth.
We raised anchor in mid-morning and headed North with the current to spend the night near the town of Fare before making the crossing to Ra'iatea in the morning.
I am intrigued by the different sailboats. About one-third of the boats we see are catamarans although the hard core yachties disparage them as not really sailboats. Inside, they are like a small apartment. They have a lot of space with cabins in each hull and a large "salon" over the space between the hulls. In the past they had problems with strength or with capsizing in heavy seas but those seem to have been solved with newer designs. The owners are all men sailing with their wives and the female element seems to be the deciding factor in the purchase. Somehow, having enough space and not banging around in heavy seas appears to be the attraction. Mark said that if he were charting with other couples, he would always choose a cat.
Among the single hull cruisers, the choices seem to be related a lot to price with luxury and speed at the top end. The Oyster built in England seems to be the top of the top with the Swan right behind it. Other small production boats built in Norway and New Zealand are in the middle with the French Beneteau at the bottom. Mark calls this latter boat a "Clorox bottle".
It seems that the right way to test the water (so to speak) is to charter with a reputable company like Moorings and see if sailing and cruising feels like a pastime of interest. Of course, for the extreme introduction, one could just decide to sail from Mexico to New Zealand and skip the preliminaries.
Dave and Melanie wanted to see the chart that Guy had given us so I visited Talerra and while there got a fascinating tour of the boat. When Dave was 10, he and his two brothers cruised on a boat with his parents and spent the next 8 years sailing the world. When he and Melanie met, he began building his own boat. He was in the house building business so he had all the tools and the skills needed. He built a two-story structure next to their house, bought the fiber glass hull and spent the next 14 years constructing the rest of the 34 foot boat. The structural members are all teak, cedar and Honduran mahogany and the decking is hand-laid-up fiberglass. All of the stainless steel railings and fittings were made by one of Dave's friends. The workmanship is excellent and many of the details that I have seen overlooked on other boats are covered in proper order. They launched Talerra 8 years ago, sold their house and have been living aboard ever since. Their son is married and has a child so it is just the two of them re-tracing the journey of his youth.
We raised anchor in mid-morning and headed North with the current to spend the night near the town of Fare before making the crossing to Ra'iatea in the morning.
I am intrigued by the different sailboats. About one-third of the boats we see are catamarans although the hard core yachties disparage them as not really sailboats. Inside, they are like a small apartment. They have a lot of space with cabins in each hull and a large "salon" over the space between the hulls. In the past they had problems with strength or with capsizing in heavy seas but those seem to have been solved with newer designs. The owners are all men sailing with their wives and the female element seems to be the deciding factor in the purchase. Somehow, having enough space and not banging around in heavy seas appears to be the attraction. Mark said that if he were charting with other couples, he would always choose a cat.
Among the single hull cruisers, the choices seem to be related a lot to price with luxury and speed at the top end. The Oyster built in England seems to be the top of the top with the Swan right behind it. Other small production boats built in Norway and New Zealand are in the middle with the French Beneteau at the bottom. Mark calls this latter boat a "Clorox bottle".
It seems that the right way to test the water (so to speak) is to charter with a reputable company like Moorings and see if sailing and cruising feels like a pastime of interest. Of course, for the extreme introduction, one could just decide to sail from Mexico to New Zealand and skip the preliminaries.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Day 86 Rain day
Ending with cards
The weather front that was indicated by the cirrus clouds came in this morning in the form of wind and heavy cold rain that killed the waves on the reef. What do you do on a rain day? Go to the movies. We turned on the generator (I am so glad it is finally working) and connected my computer to the external speakers and flat screen and ignored the pounding rain while we watched Layer Cake - one of the group of a new British genre of crime films. Like the other Guy Richie films, this one is full of memorable dialogue that becomes part of boat conversations for days afterward.
In the afternoon, the rain stopped so we went ashore to try to use the Internet. Success was minimal but I think I was able to send this "posting summary" to Tim. I won't know if it sent until we can connect again. The Internet in all of French Polynesia has so far been more myth than reality. I expected that at least in Tahiti we would have a connection like the one in Mexico. For the first month the best we saw was a horribly slow dial-up. Then they got DSL a month ago but it seems very unreliable. It is very frustrating to attempt to reach your e-mail site and then sit and watch the screen while the progress counter does not move. Here in Huahine there is supposedly high speed Wi-Fi but most of the time, it does not connect to the Internet. When it does, the best I seem to be able to send is text.
We discovered a different restaurant on the main street and I again enjoyed a meal that is becoming my favorite in Polynesia - "Poisson Cru au lait coco". This is raw fish in coconut milk. The fish can be tuna, wahoo or marlin and so far it has been delicious every time. The dish usually includes some cucumber and lime juice and sometimes it is accompanied with white rice. Delicious.
We got a few groceries at the enormous market and did our normal shore side showers before returning to the boat.
In the evening, Guy and Pascal came over and Guy showed us how to play Oh Hell. We could not tell if he had ever seen the game before but he whipped us all handily. Again the conversation was a mixture of English and French that Ian, Lara would have enjoyed.
We mentioned that we were planning to go to Taha'a and Ra'iatea in a few days and Guy indicated he could give us some hints on good places to go.
The weather front that was indicated by the cirrus clouds came in this morning in the form of wind and heavy cold rain that killed the waves on the reef. What do you do on a rain day? Go to the movies. We turned on the generator (I am so glad it is finally working) and connected my computer to the external speakers and flat screen and ignored the pounding rain while we watched Layer Cake - one of the group of a new British genre of crime films. Like the other Guy Richie films, this one is full of memorable dialogue that becomes part of boat conversations for days afterward.
In the afternoon, the rain stopped so we went ashore to try to use the Internet. Success was minimal but I think I was able to send this "posting summary" to Tim. I won't know if it sent until we can connect again. The Internet in all of French Polynesia has so far been more myth than reality. I expected that at least in Tahiti we would have a connection like the one in Mexico. For the first month the best we saw was a horribly slow dial-up. Then they got DSL a month ago but it seems very unreliable. It is very frustrating to attempt to reach your e-mail site and then sit and watch the screen while the progress counter does not move. Here in Huahine there is supposedly high speed Wi-Fi but most of the time, it does not connect to the Internet. When it does, the best I seem to be able to send is text.
We discovered a different restaurant on the main street and I again enjoyed a meal that is becoming my favorite in Polynesia - "Poisson Cru au lait coco". This is raw fish in coconut milk. The fish can be tuna, wahoo or marlin and so far it has been delicious every time. The dish usually includes some cucumber and lime juice and sometimes it is accompanied with white rice. Delicious.
We got a few groceries at the enormous market and did our normal shore side showers before returning to the boat.
In the evening, Guy and Pascal came over and Guy showed us how to play Oh Hell. We could not tell if he had ever seen the game before but he whipped us all handily. Again the conversation was a mixture of English and French that Ian, Lara would have enjoyed.
We mentioned that we were planning to go to Taha'a and Ra'iatea in a few days and Guy indicated he could give us some hints on good places to go.
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