Glory
Days
Gulfstar 50
April - September 1998
| This log covers our adventures from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico through the South Pacific. The earlier log covers our first 16 months of cruising Mexico. | |
| April 7 | Rod, Chris Chapman and John Allen throw off the lines and depart on their 2800 mile trip. They are estimating the trip will take about three weeks. Rod's captains log follows: |
| 4/7/98 | Chris Chapman, John Allen and I left the dock at Puerto Vallarta at 12:00 noon. Opeckimar had no fuel so we waited until 4:30 pm to get fuel and depart PV for Clarion Island. Winds were in the 20 knot range and we beat our way out of Banderas Bay passing the Tres Marietas at 21:00hrs. The 150 genoa was not the right sail for the beat out of the Bay but it looked like a good choice once out of the bay as winds changed to 18 knots at 50 to 60 degrees starboard tack. The seas were very sloppy. I got sick first after trying to go to sleep in the aft stateroom. Really rolly and pitching. After a sturgeon and 5 hrs rest in the cockpit I was OK. At 04:00 we furled the 150 to about 90 as the winds were up to 25 to 30 knots. The main was already double reefed. As the wind built to a firm 30 we furled the sail further to about a 60. Chris was sick and John and I couldn't stay below for very long. Really sloppy seas. However, we were going really fast (9 knots) and the ride was comfortable as Glory Days was parting the seas and leveling the ride. |
| 4/8/98 | Same sloppy seas and sick crew. Not fun yet. At about midnight the seas had a dramatic change to longer rolling swells and less short chop. The winds also fell to 18 knots so we unfurled the jib all the way and continued with a fast and very pleasant trip. As we cleared the Sea of Cortez waters and got into the Pacific Ocean the ride got a lot better. Cortez is known for it's short choppy seas. |
| 4/9/98 | The seas are long 8 foot swells and a mild 2-3 foot chop and the wind is a pretty constant 15 knots plus or minus a few. We unflaked the main at noon and continue to make 7 to 7.4 knots toward Clarion. Today was the first day we enjoyed. No one sick. John made spaghetti tonight with chicken. Simple things taste so good out here. |
| 4/10/98 | Midnight and we are still doing 7 plus knots with full sail. The main would probably do better with one reef in it. It overpowers and keeps heading the boat up which kept the autopilot busy. Spirits much better now that we are out of the Sea Of Cortez sloppy seas. 4 am the wind died to only 4 knots. We were able to keep going with the 150 genoa but were being headed. At noon we furled the genoa and hoisted the spinnaker. It allowed us to head further south towards Clarion. However, this only lasted for 2 hours in 4 knots of wind then the wind did a 55 degree wind shift placing us going straight south. We doused the chute and went back to white sails and had to hand steer to play the puffs going as high as possible. |
| 4/11/98 | Got up at 0100 to drop the sails. The wind was so light that the sails were flogging. The rolling of the boat in the swells was quite pronounced. Got up at 0400 to put sails back up with 4 knots of wind. Wind built to 11 knots and we were headed to the Island when I went to the sack at 0800. Unfortunately it didn't hold and we went back to hand steering on a 20 degree too deep course to hit Clarion. We will need to tack to make the island. Back doing 6.3 knots at 1330 but still will need to tack. Today's weather fax shows a Tropical Depression over the Tuamotus. Hope it quietly dissipates. A low entering S Calif. is the cause of our light winds here. |
| 4/12/98 | We made landfall yesterday at 1700, a little ahead of my prediction as the wind came around to a favorable heading. Landfall was celebrated with a bottle of red wine and a shower. The crew appreciated both of these almost as much as the captain. The mega yacht Imanjia is anchored here too. We spoiled the solitude of their private anchorage. It is a 105 foot Ron Holland designed aluminum sloop. Drool!! The 4 persons on board are the crew and they are playing while the owner isn't in need of the yacht. Drool!! I am suffering from a case of Yacht Size Envy. After a tenderloin, corn, and baked potato dinner and a 2nd bottle of red wine we hearty souls hit the sack and didn't stir until 1000 this AM. I guess we need to dedicate more time to rest on the next (2200 mile) leg of our journey. Chris and I lubed and adjusted the standing rigging. The Mexican Navy paid their respects to us also with a visit. Very nice 25ish commissioned officer came aboard and was entertained by our jokes. We then headed off in pursuit of the illustrious lobster (langosta) with the dingy. We, instead of langosta, shot 3 fish and had a late lunch of fish tacos. They always taste better when you put the meat on the table. The Mexican Navy came by again to show me their Easter gathering. About 6 lobsters weighing 10 pounds each. They saw the tears welling up in my eyes and offered one to us. It took me about 2 seconds to have it on board the boat. Now I think that these guys can do no wrong. Making water and doing a good charge on the batteries. Gen set is running. We'll have lobster and veggies for dinner. It doesn't get much better than this. I also tried to do a HAM phone patch to Brenda. Only got the answer machine so left a message. I'll try KMI later tonight, too. I miss her. |
| 4/12/98 | Spoke with Brenda last night via KMI. Good to hear her voice again and she seems a little less hassled with all of the details she is in the middle of. They buried Bob's ashes at the Veterans Cemetery with a 21 gun salute. The McCullys liked that. The crew and I got a big delight upon awakening. A cow and her calf (whale) are swimming around our boat. Awesome and endearing at the same time. The crew of Imangia went snorkeling with the whales. We went lobster hunting again. Chris scored with the Hawaiian Sling and I was within 3 feet of a grand daddy langosta with the spear gun but didn't get the shot off as the safety was "on". Bummer. None the less we had lobster for the 3rd time in 2 days and we are freezing the balance for omelets. Chris and John re-bedded the leaking chain plates. Seems that all but one needed it. I got the mast boot sealed too (I hope). Chris went up the mast and installed an eye for the flag/ radar reflector halyard and he pulled out of the mast the port spin halyard. It'll have to be an external halyard as the wear and tear at the mast exit on the top of the mast is too great. The Marquesas Net early departures are so far out that we cannot hear them (well). Therefore, I am doing the Mid Departures net at 1545 Z. We can get some of the data to Annapurna but it is of secondary importance to getting the positions of everyone and tracking them safely. |
| 4/13/98 | Ran the 1st reef line. Chris and John fixed the broken sail slug. John Bio Bar(ed) the diesel fuel and added a 5 gal can of fuel to the tank. Chris and Rod hooked up the wind angle wire to the Robertson Auto-pilot. Rod fixed beans and we all went over to visit Imangia and say goodbye. What a floating house. Gorgeous but not very boat like. They run a 40 KW John Deere genset 24 hours a day to power the refrigeration systems and to keep the air conditioning operational. Milton, Sue Sue, Viena, and Rafael. Nice people with great footage of the whales shot from underwater. We finally hauled anchor and set sail at 1800. The auto pilot wouldn't work so we returned to the anchorage and read up on the symptoms and crawled into the 130 degree engine room and found a shielded wire on the rudder position feedback sensor was loose (from an installation error 2 years ago). I fixed this and the autopilot was back in business. We disconnected all of our new wires too-just in case. We finally got underway at 2000 or 8 PM PV time. The nice people from Imangia inquired as to our problem, seeing us back into the anchorage. And they were on their deck waving to us and wishing us well on our passage. My pressure cooker beans turned out well. Very Well. |
| 4/14/98 | 4 am and the rolly seas are somewhat annoying making the sails slat occasionally. I have decided to sail hotter angles and then just jib and keep the sails from salting and this will make the boat ride better and roll less. Done. Re-tuned the autopilot for this point of sail also. It seems that the Counter Rudder is of little value on Glory Days. I keep it set at about 0.01 and adjust the rudder to correct for different sea and wind conditions. Update: Wrong conclusion! We are currently wing on wing in 24 knots of wind and the CR = 1.0 is making this work without flogging the main sail. (Wing on wing means the jib is on one side of the boat and is being held out using the spinnaker pole and the main sail is on the other side of the boat and the wind is essentially coming from behind us.) |
| 4/15/98 | Light winds in the AM had us jibing and poling out the jib on a port tack then on a starboard tack. This seems to work. Winds built to 25 true and have held there for about 12 hrs. (Its 0300 on 4/16) We are moving along swiftly doing upper 7 knots and it is all good towards the Marquesas. We may not make it to 125W to cross the equator (which is the way point) but rather do it at 128 to 130. All are OK. The weather faxes show several tropical disturbances south of the equator. This is the pre-hurricane description for a low that is organizing itself for bigger and better things. I need to figure out where they'll be when we are there--and avoid them. Today was a day of rest reading and watching the 7.8 knot water rush by. |
| 4/16/98 | Still wing on wing heading south. The wind lifted us 15 degrees and the vmg (velocity made good) went down to 1.5 knots so I jibed over to a port tack but still W on W. Headed east of the new 130 waypoint now but still making west and not east. The earliest boats headed to the Marq. are sitting in the doldrums between 2 and 5 degrees S latitude and east of 130 W longitude. Marv on Endurance has inmarsat C and gave us the benefit of their ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone) analysis and did point out that the storms of the ITCZ are most prevalent east of 130 which would cause doldrums just south of them. Our new waypoint is 130 from 125 for crossing the equator. The satellite photo weather fax shows clouds ahead of us so we may be entering a warmer more moist area. No squalls yet though. Tightened the watermaker pump and adjusted the refrig compressor belt. Installed the water maker filters so we can start making daily water every AM. Chris and John did sun sights then after 2 hrs of calculation gave up and played a game of cribbage. Beans and fettuccini for dinner. I made another pressure cooker of beans. My night for the 2 shifts of 3 hr watches. Uneventful-which is good. Cloud cover is blanking the moon and stars. Night winds are more variable therefore we need to adjust course to avoid slating sails. Glory Days is doing well. Miss Brenda. Look forward to our next call. |
| 4/17/98 | Tired day today as I did the 2 night shift routine last night. Made water this am for 1:30. Missed the net (1600) and we failed to get a weather fax last night and today's was too noisy to see. Winds continue at 30 to 40 degrees. I guess these are the NE trades we've been in for the past 3 days. It's noticeably warmer outside by 2 to 3 degrees and the clouds are carrying more water. We are at 11 degrees north latitude and in the equatorial current which sets us west. This is good. I just re-reviewed Cornells book on making the passage to the Marquesas and he builds the case for crossing the equator at 132 to 135. The ITZ is smaller there if there at all and the storm convections seems less populous on the weather faxes. We will probably jibe over onto a starboard tack so to get more west on while in the favorable current rather than waiting until the counter current which is farther south (3 to 5 degrees N latitude). Then we'll hop across the equator at 132--the plan for now. |
| 4/18/98 | Sunny day! Haven't seen the sun in several days so it's nice to have a change of scenery. At 0230 it's 82 degrees in the cabin. The constant winds keep the air circulating and comfortable. With the good equatorial current pushing us to the west (at about 0.2 of a knot) I decided to stay in this latitude longer and get the westing in that we need to make it to 132 to cross the equator. We jibed over to starboard tack and are on a good course to make the 132 longitude point while still above 5 degrees latitude. This should keep us out of the ITCZ until we are jibed over to port and heading straight across it. The rudder packing gland had leaked a gallon of water into the bilge where we store rags. Messy. I tightened the packing, with difficulty, and did a quickie fresh water rinse of the rags and dried them. The sunny warm weather inspired us to take a shower. Kind of a luxury to sit on the deck and use fresh water to shower. I'll make more tomorrow AM. We have now lost 3 fishing lures and have nothing to show for it. It confirms that there are fish out here. But it doesn't feed us. And it costs allot of money for all of those lost lures. Oh Well. The life of a sportsman. I see my first ships light at 5 o'clock relative to our boat. Cannot make out if it is a sail boat or a cargo ship. Regardless, it is fast as it is passing us rapidly. I therefore assume it to be a cargo ship. Made black beans in the pressure cooker today. Had it on rice for dinner. Good. I'm getting a bit better at the black bean dished. Some day I'll have to write down what goes in them. |
| 4/19/98 | A lovely sunny day with a few squalls blowing by in the distance. The temp outside during the day is up to 86 degrees and at night (0700 PV time-0500 CA time) it's 80. Today was boat cleaning day. I ran the water maker for 3 hrs and did a reasonably good charge on the batteries. We hand washed and desalted the boat exterior with special attention to all stainless steel. Cleaned the cockpit under the grate and wet mopped the cabin sole. The cleanest this boat has been since leaving PV. We all took another much deserved shower and read our books. Half way occurred at midnight 4/19. We'll have a champagne brunch of lobster omelets to celebrate. We also pre-celebrated with pork tenderloin for dinner. We went to a broad reach point of sail at about 1600. The wind has gone north to 20 degrees M and we don't want to sail as deep as we were with the poled out wing on wing arrangement. The boat motion is so much better!! Not as much of the wallowing rolling stumbling around sailing and more of the slight heel and go fast. We are back up to 7.4 knots now. We also hoisted the full main again. Winds aren't getting to the 26 knot realm anymore, only up to 22 at most so the added sail is a benefit. Current plan is to head to 132 W and 5 N. When we get there we'll jibe over to a port tack and cut across the ITCZ and the equator. Only concern is the low cell which appears to be hanging over 5 de S and 135 deg W. I expect that is will have moved west by the time we get there. That will be 4 to 5 days away. (4/25). Called Brenda tonight and gave her another "to buy list". She didn't seem very happy to have another list of things to do. She will be in Atuona on the 25th so we'll have to hurry there. As if we aren't already trying. |
| 4/20/98 | What a day! As the sun was rising the autopilot went into alarm indicating that the rudder was not responding. After some wiring troubleshooting, which revealed nothing, Chris and I tore up the aft berth and inspected the autopilot. After much consternation we concluded that the hydraulic ram was not operating correctly and the rod was being scored. Something was broken inside. With John driving the boat for 10 hours we removed and disassembled the ram to find that the roll pin in the piston had broken and the piston was being pushed along the rod (rather than pushing the rod) and scoring the rod with the sharp edges of the remaining roll pin pieces. After cleaning everything we epoxied a small bolt piece into the piston and rod to secure these 2 pieces together. We then used marine tex and the heat gun to fill the scored shaft defects and dry the marine tex quickly. Some emery cloth removed the excess. With the unit back together installed and bled of air by 5:00 PM we felt pretty excited when it worked. The seals are leaking slightly and I am using Automatic Transmission fluid instead of hydraulic fluid so it is thinner and will probably leak more. Since we were planning on having a 1/2 way point party brunch with mimosas when the A/P went out we decided to celebrate both the 1/2 way accomplishment and the Robertson Autopilot repair by drinking the bottle of champagne. 3 tired and happy sailors! I then called Brenda with instructions to get replacement parts for the ram so it can be fixed properly. Hopefully Robertson will replace the parts under warranty as this should have never happened. We'll see. |
| 4/21/98 | Checked the autopilot and added 1/4 inch of fluid. The ram seals are leaking slightly but the unit is working fine. This is a day of rest and relaxation. We caught a skip jack tuna. It's in the freezer awaiting tomorrow's dinner. All weather faxes and Marv's Inmarsat C weather info indicate crossing the equator after 132 to be a good move. This is our current direction but the low hanging off of the Marquesas make me wonder is we shouldn't cross at 130 to 132 thereby avoiding the southerly winds of the low. Hopefully within 24 hours the low will move on so this decision won't have to be made. |
| 4/22/98 | Squalls in the early morning hours caused the spinnaker to wrap around the forestay. I got up and dropped the main, which was flogging, and then tried to unwrap the spinnaker. No good. I got John up and he drove while Chris and I tried to unwrap it. No good. The sun was coming up and the wind dropped off to near zero so we took our time and lowered the halyard and the spinnaker came down, even though it was still wrapped. After an hour of untangling and sorting the chute was back up and we were doing 6.5 knots toward the magical equator. The laundry task was done for the first time today. Easier than I had imagined. Surprising to see how dirty the wash water was. We ate the skip jack tuna that Chris caught yesterday. It was good marinated in soy sauce garlic, and lime juice and fried. We will still head toward the equator even though our course is a little to the east side of the desired 132 degrees W longitude. Maybe we will get a wind shift and put us on a more westerly heading. If not then we'll probably cross the equator where we come to it. The weather fax tonight will be of great help to tell me if the "low" that is over Marquesas is moving and where to cross the equator to best deal with it. John and Chris get along well together. I wish I could relax a little more and enjoy the times like they can. Being captain and responsible for this passage carries it's penalties. Oh well. |
| 4/23/98 | Rats, the weather fax I most needed was lost. Now, which direction do we go??? The weather communicated from the boat Endurance clarified that the wind condition south of the equator is OK for us to continue on the same course. We'll hit the equator at or after 132 degrees. Maybe 134. The squalls built all night and kept me from sleeping. I hand drove through 2 squalls during my shift and got up after an hours sleep and helped John. We will not carry the spinnaker tonight. This is entirely too much sail area for these squall conditions and the squalls are getting larger and more severe. The clouds are building too strongly and I am sure that we'll have some interesting wind and rain. |
| 4/24/98 | The equator point keeps moving west. Now, I will stay on the starboard tack and make good time going SW. At sunset we will go to white sails and jibe over heading more south. John make equator crossing breakfast today. Lobster omelets with bacon on the side. Yummy. The lobster was the leftovers from our Clarion Island lobster hunt(s). Good winds today. Going 7.6 knots with 6.7 good toward Atuona. With light winds and very squally conditions I opted for a jib after night fall. Unfortunately, as we were preparing to sock the chute a squall came along and thoroughly washed "Glory Days" and us down. After the squall passed the winds were so light that we dropped the main. With only 6 or 7 miles to the equator we popped the cork off the Champaign bottle and toasted King Neptune a second time for seeing us this far, this quickly, and safely. A more appropriate prayer was said as well. The next squall propelled us to the equator quickly and we crossed at 03:49:45 UTC. The toilet does flush counter clockwise! An additional treat for our feat-the last of the tenderloin steaks with baked potatoes. Yummy, then off to bed for me for an hour of sleep prior to my shift. |
| 4/25/98 | The boat had moved 3 miles in 3 hours and was rolling and uncomfortable so I started the Perkins and ran a slow 1500 rpm toward Atuona (4.7 knots). The next squall was back winding the poled out jib (no main sail) so I furled it up and we motored for the next 5 and 3/4 hours. Then, when I was due up again, the wind came back and Chris unfurled the jib and doused the Perkins. So nice to get back to the mesmerizing sound of "Glory Days" galloping through the seas with a water fall rushing sound toward Atuona. Spinnaker set at 18:00 UTC ( about Noon PV Time) for a pleasant sail throughout the day. I'll take the chute down again tonight. Too many clouds around and no reason to take the risk of such a huge sail up in the unpredictable and often very strong winds of the squalls. Brenda should be in Atuona now. I miss her and am anxious to be there with her. It is 600 miles away at 02:00 UTC (21:00 PV time- or about 17:00 in Atuona-I Think-or 5:00 PM) |
| 4/26/98 | Ran the Perkins from 01:30 until 14:00 and then from 19:00 until 23:30 and again at 01:30 on the 27th. (14 hours of motoring at 1600 rpm) Today was the most frustrating day of the trip. Wind was 4 knots from the nne. Since we were motoring sse at 4.6 knots we couldn't sail. Putting the sails up would have just resulted in them tearing themselves apart with slating. We bricked and stored the 100% jib and put up the 150%. We got to deploy the 150 about a dozen times as the wind came from the nne, w, e, and as it is now, the ssw. Go figure. The satellite pictures show the convections which have created the squall weather, dissipating over this area. This is good. Maybe we'll get lucky today and the ssw winds will go further west and we can beat to Atuona under the white sails. Hope and pray. This wouldn't be such a disturbance, but Brenda and Sheila are waiting in Atuona for us and I feel we should be doing everything in our power to get there ASAP. If I didn't have this pressure, I could flow with the weather and play another game of cribbage. The Tres caballaros are doing very well together. I feel lucky to have these 2 fine people for my crew. They are and will always be very good friends. |
| 4/27/98 | 04:00 and the Perkins is on (since 01:30). Doing the Atuona creep. The wind shows signs of shifting to the west which will allow sailing. OH Please. Perkins off at 0600. Creeping on a close haul at 150 degrees. Shifty winds and very light between the squalls. 83 mile day. Getting bummed that we are going so slow and that the progress seems to come in one hour bursts when the squalls blow our socks off. Numerous reefs and unflaking reefs and rolling in and unrolling the jib. |
| 4/28/98 | A reasonable day with few squalls but with light 10 knot winds and beating close hauled into them. Another slow 85 mile day. Aggressive squall formed as I came on shift at 0100 PV time. It lasted for 3 hours and held at 25 knots from the WNW which gave me a 8+ knot run at Atuona. The wind built and headed us later and I ended up hand steering in the rain. John got up to assist. The wind died and we dropped sails and drifted for an hour. Then off we went on a 180 degree course in 10 knots. Running under jib only. Goodnight. |
| 4/29/98 | Very big squalls packed 40+ knot winds and loads of rain. Furled the 150% jib to 50% and still was overpowered so we drove downwind which was East and the wrong direction to get to Atuona. A night to remember! |
| 4/30/98 | The complete day was filled with activities to make progress towards Atuona. No wind is followed by 35 to 40 knot squalls. We got spanked last night by a 40+ knot heavy rain squall. Full jib let out and driving down until we could get the jib furled in 60%. Still a hell of a roller coaster ride in the pitch black night. We used the radar to tell us of the rain location but did find the winds in the 25 knot range without rain a couple of times. I was up with John during his shift and did an additional 3 hr watch of my own. Tired this am with 5 hours of sleep. The 150% jib will be put away today. No more of the big sail antics during these severe squalls. |
| 5/1/98 | Great winds last
night, some with 30 knots of wind. However, with the 100%
jib and 2 reefs in the main the sail plan was excellent.
We were comfortable, safe, and fast. This changes the
whole equation as now we can make landfall if we average
6 knots during the rest of the day. Winds continue at 15
knots allowing us to head directly to Atuona. At 13:00
winds began going south (literally) and diminishing until
we were 45 degrees off course and going only 3 knots. The
seas prevented us from tacking and using the shift to our
advantage so we motored into Atuona. A 7 hour motor
directly into the wind and seas (but not too bad).
Dropped anchor in the outer harbor at 9 PM local time
(01:30 AM 5/2 PV time). Got the dingy into the water and
the motor onto it. Got the boat put away and a shower and
we headed to shore at midnight to find our waiting wives.
They didn't leave their VHF on to hear out transmissions
and we couldn't hear their transmissions so we kept
missing each other until they gave up and went back to
their hotel room and went to bed. Needless to say, we
didn't see them. In retrospect the trip here was everything I'd imagined it would be. There were days on end of excellent trade wind sailing, squalls (some more ferocious than others), and the light wind sailing south of the equator which I didn't plan on. It took us 10 days to go 1500 miles and 8 days to do the last 800, south of the equator. The late seasonal cyclones Alan and Bart are the culprits. Chris and John were wonderful crew! Couldn't have asked for any better sailing companions nor better friends. The trip was a fast one for us in that we covered 2800 miles (as the crow flies) and did it in 21 days of sailing time averaging 5.6 knots. Given that 6 days were only 80 mile days and we averaged 3+ knots, the 5.6 knot average looks pretty good. Glory Days was in good shape. We had minimal problems. The most notable was the failure of the spring pin in the piston which goes in the hydraulic ram. We got that back in working order too. We were safe but went into the squalls with too much sail area several times. Usually this worked out fine and we just went fast. However, as the squalls got more intense we had to to to smaller sails. With just Brenda and me onboard I'll be much more conservative. All in all, it was a great adventure. A great memory. |
| April 25 - May 1 | Sheila Allen and
Brenda arrive on the island of Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas.
We flew first to Tahiti and then caught another smaller
plane that back tracks (travels northeast) to the
Marquesan Islands. We stay in a small hotel that has
three bungalows. Our cabin has a room with two twin beds
and a small bath with cold water only. It's hot and muggy
and unfortunately our room does not have a fan. Most of
the time we keep the doors closed to keep out the
constant mosquitoes and biting no-see-ums. Our mini-hotel
is on a hill that overlooks the most popular anchoring
bay. There is already twenty boats anchored and daily we
watch as more sail boats arrive. Sheila and I walk down
to the shore and ask people as they come into land, on
their dinghies, if they know of GLORY DAYS. Continually
the answer is "no". Every one we talk to has
come from Panama, mainly via the Galapagos Islands. We
meet many Europeans and a few South Africans. Margaret
and Norge, on IRISH MIST, offer to try to make radio
contact for us. I give them the SSB frequency and the
time we established for the westbound Mexican boats. They
willingly set their alarm clock for 6:00 am and on the
second day of trying they do indeed make contact. They
are able to get a estimated arrival time from our guys
and relay to us that all is well with them. During this week, we go for a walk everyday. Usually this involves getting wet because there are short showers throughout the day. We don't have umbrellas so we just take shelter under a tree. Usually the squalls are short lived, however one day we gave up waiting for the rain to stop and just walked down the road with dripping clothes and hair. Later on that night we heard from our hotel hosts that cyclone Bart was passing about l50 miles southwest. The clockwise rotation of the southern hemisphere cyclones pick up moisture and sling it on the surrounding areas. The locals say El Nino has given them an unusually raining year. |
| May 1 | The guys arrive about 9:00 pm and anchor in the bay. It has taken them 21 days to travel 2800 miles. Unfortunately we are unable to make contact with them this evening. |
| May 2 | The guys and the gals connect! It's a happy reunion. Brenda and Sheila are glad to hear that the three guys are safe, healthy and apparently have eaten well . The guys are tired so most of the day is taken by relaying trip stories and naps. |
| May 3 | The guys explore the little town of Atuona and Rod makes a trip to the local police station (Gendarmarie) to check into French Polynesia. Sheila and I shop at two little markets to reprovision the boat with fresh groceries. The prices are outrageous and the choices of anything that is not canned is slim. We do buy French baguettes, potatoes, carrots, onions, and a chicken. |
| May 4 | All of us take a hike into the jungle following a muddy trail that has us crossing a rushing river and ends at an ancient stone carving called petroglyphs. It's a hot muggy trip and our return to the stream was most welcome as Rod and the other guys took off their shirts and wet them in the stream. The evaporating water helped keep them cool for the rest of the walk. The Petroglyphs were interesting but the jungle walk was fascinating. Flowering plants at every turn and some plant life with leaves the size of a place mat. Some leaves were variegated and beautiful. |
| May 5 | Today, we set sail for the island of Tahuata, approximately ten miles away. It is a pleasant sail and we are delighted with the crystal blue water. We drop anchor in 35' of water and can see bottom. We immediately jump in for a swim. The water temp is 84.6! There are about five other sailboats here. |
| May 6-8 | It's so nice we decide to stay for awhile. Every morning the guys work on boat repairs and the gals do laundry, clean and cook. We try to get any baking done early in the day so the boat will have time to cool off before bed. Every afternoon we take the dingy around the cove point and go snorkeling. The coral formations are pretty but we don't see many edible fish. However, Rod uses his spear gun and shoots an octopus. It was somewhat of a fight because the octopus latched on tightly to a rock after Rod shot him. Rod was barely able to hold his breath long enough to break the creature's suction. Interesting things go through your mind upon shooting an octopus for the first time at 20 to 25 feet below the surface. First, it's excitement, "Oh boy, I got him". Then it's fright, "He may not be dead and I'll bet he is really angry". Then, when I am still 10 feet under the surface of the water and the octopus is pulling me down with the same force that I am expending wanting to go up, and "uh oh" sets in. I should have thought of this possibility. Finally, the 210 pound human wins the contest over the 5 pound octopus and we both head to the surface. Whew!! The octopus was a good 3 to 3 1/2 feet long from head to tip of tentacle. We followed Hank's (OMEGA) advice regarding how to clean and cook our eight arm creature. This involved removing the ink sack and the beak and then cutting the body into three pieces. Rod and John each had four tentacles, about three feet long and Chris held the head. Then they each threw their pieces into the rocks about l00 times each to tenderize the meat. The prep work was messy and the cooking time about two hours but the end result was quite good. We served part on pasta with a garlic wine sauce and saved part to eat on crackers as appetizers the next evening. Another highlight was the evening, as we were looking at the stars, that we were treated to a moon rainbow. What a treat, a rainbow of colors circling the moon at 8:00 pm! |
| May 9 | After storing our sun awning, snorkel gear and pulling both the bow and stern anchor we set sail for Pua Mau Bay on the north side of Hiva Oa. We have consistently strong winds, 25-30 knots, although we must beat into the wind and tack numerous times to get to our destination. It's a bumpy 6 hour trip; Sheila is sea sick the entire way. Our anchorage is breathtakingly beautiful with wild rugged steep palm lined cliffs! We are one of three boats here. The anchorage is reported to be rough in NE winds and the breaking waves convinced us that the author knew his stuff. We almost changed course to Ua Pou but decided to head in and have a look. We found a tolerable roll inside and decided to stay, putting out a stern anchor to keep the bow into the rolling seas. |
| May 10 | Our guidebook tells us that located high in the hills are ancient stone carvings, some as tall as two meters. We watch as one of our neighbors row their small dinghy to shore. They are unable to ride the breaking waves and end up upside down in waist high water. Fortunately we have a 15 horse motor and Rod is able to time our approach by riding one of the waves. We jump out in thigh high water and pull the dinghy on shore. After tying our dinghy to a tree we start our walk along the beach . We meet a local, friendly Polynesian man who gives us directions to the Tikis located high in the hills. We turn left and start up the dirt path. The 90 degree heat with the 90% humidity makes this hard work and within minutes we are all drenched with sweat. As we are going uphill we meet our neighbors from ECHO coming down hill. He lost one of his shoes in their dinghy pitchpole and is walking barefoot and she lost her camera; we promise to send them copies of our photos. Our hour uphill walk is worth it. We find stone ruins of a temple and numerous black, lava rock carvings of odd human shapes and heads. We wonder how many human sacrifices (if any) were made here. On the way down hill we find a cement road that curves through the village. We befriend Clara, 6, and Walter, 8; darling big eyed Polynesian children. They practice saying hello and good-bye to us in English and we practice counting to ten in French and asking simple phrases like "What is your name?" Getting the dingy back through the surf was a challenge. Brenda and John get into the dingy as soon as the water is 2 feet deep. Chris and Rod then walked the dingy into the surf keeping the bow into the waves as John started the motor. Once we were into 5 feet of water and the really big rollers were just in front of us, we timed the escape and Rod and Chris crawled aboard as John "hit it". We make it with only a couple gallons of water coming over the dingy bow. What a challenge. |
| May 11 | It was a short six mile sail to Hanaiapa Bay, another beautiful cove. As we entered we sailed past a waterfall falling l000' to the sea, spectacular!. After the anchor was set, we once again all piled into the dinghy and motored to shore. From GLORY DAYS it looked like there was little habitation here. However we were pleasantly surprised to find that our path lead us along a stream bed up through a valley, where humble houses have been built and many families live. Most of these are plywood homes, a few are made of longer lasting cement. All have tin roofs. Everyone we see says Bonjour with a smile. We meet a man on the path, who calls himself William, and he invites us to his house. After sampling his lemonade and meeting his family we write our note into his cruisers scrap book. He's been keeping a scrapbook since l975 when sailboats first started arriving. On the way out, William asks if we will take him out to see our boat and the obvious reply is "yes". William loads us up with grapefruit, limes, bananas, and a fruit we cannot recognize and we head to the boat. After giving William some T-shirts, baby cloths, and perfumed soap for his wife, we bid him "Au Revior" and take him back to shore just before sunset. |
| May 12 | Today we will
sail 69 miles northeast to the island of Ua Pou. We want
to arrive during the day light hours and since we not
sure what kind of winds to expect we plan an early start.
However, due to a mix-up with our alarm clock and local
time we somehow got up at l:30am instead of the intended
4:30am. The full moon was so brilliant it seemed like
pre-dawn hours. Our sails flopped around with the light
breeze until about 7:00am. Then finally the wind filled
in and for the next ten hours we had a very pleasant
sail, averaging about 6 knots. We arrive about 4:00pm at
Hakahau Bay on the island of Ua Pou. Even from a distance
we are struck by this picturesque tall mountainous
island. The tops of its mountains are more jagged than
those of the other Marquesan islands and some of the
summits resemble towers or spires. Up and down the rugged
hillsides is plush green growth including acres of
coconut palms. Hakahau Bay has a breakwater enclosing a small harbor. The town includes a few shops, post office, bank , police station and a snack bar. It is only a short row to the pier where we tie the dinghy. We treat ourselves to a fish dinner at the local open air restaurant. |
| May 13 | After breakfast we take the dinghy to town again. This morning we have errands to do. Rod checks us in at the local gendarmerie station and Brenda supervises the grocery shopping. We shop at three little stores and plan our menus around what is available and affordable. French Polynesian prices still continue to surprise us: $4.50 for a dozen eggs, $3.00 for a beer. The only fresh veggies we find are carrots, onions and garlic. The locals tell us the El Nino rains that they are still experiencing have limited the availability of vegetables. Crops are rotting in the ground before they are ready for harvest. However we are pleased to find fresh two foot long French baguettes for about 40 cents. We load up Brenda's back pack and the three guys each carry one of our plastic net bags laden with canned goods, fruit juice, etc. By early afternoon, we are under sail again. We want to get out of the harbor and continue on to another cove where we will be able to swim without fear of town runoff. Underway we make radio contact with MAR-E-ALTA and decide to follow them to an anchorage that is not mentioned in our guidebook. This turns out not to be a good choice, due to rolling serge and we end up leading them back to Vaiehu Bay. Both boats drop anchor in about 40' and we all immediately jump over for a swim . The guys see a giant eel, as large around as Rod's arm and two white tipped fin sharks. Sheila and Brenda swim close to the boat and miss the wildlife. |
| May 14 | We spend an easy day here in Vaiehu Bay, reading and snorkeling. Rod makes beans in the pressure cooker with some chorizo from Mexico and Brenda makes a chocolate cake. We invite David and Ellie from MAR-E-ALTA to join us for dinner. They bring some California red wine and we have a nice party. |
| May 15 | Last night the winds picked up and the boat tossed and rolled all night; pretty uncomfortable sleeping. We were glad to be underway by 6:00 AM and leave the rocking and rolling. However, the wind continued to blow across our beam and then a squall hit us! It was nice to sail fast but intimidating to Brenda and Sheila who had not yet experienced this type of weather. With a double reef in the main and the jib furled in half way we were still moving along at above eight knots. The clouds provided cover from the hot sun and the light rain was cooling, but we had to turn on the radar because the gray was so thick we couldn't see our landmarks. We were anchored in time for a late lunch on the island of Nuka Hiva. This is our fourth Marquesan Island to visit. Chris Chapman, John Allen and Sheila Allen will leave us at this anchorage so we go to "Roses" on Friday and have beers and dinner with wine. A real splurge. Roses is a 2 mile walk from our dingy so the walk back at 9:00 at night was a delight with the star filled skies. Unfortunately, we were not attentive when putting the dingy back into the surf and we caught a breaking wave over the bow pretty much drenching all of us. We just shrugged it off and continued. Brenda was particularly pretty tonight in a light loose fitting dress she purchased in the states. When we got back to GLORY DAYS, she pulled off her new dress and rinsed off the salt water and we all laughed at our misfortune at being caught by the wave. |
| May 16 | Rod, John, and Chris visited the Gendarme (the French port captain/police) to get John and Chris properly removed from Rod's crew list since they will fly out of Nuku Hiva. We do a couple of small errands in town and end up on "Glory Days" for a nap and a boat cleaning party before John and Chris take us to dinner (2 nights in a row!). Much more successful dingy ride tonight and no one gets wet. Fred, on WINGS, came by and took our sun awning. He will make some modifications for us to make it easier for 2 people to put up and take down. |
| May 17 | We rise at 06:00 and start ferrying the loads of baggage and people to shore. The walk to the helicopter pad is uphill and dragging the dolly with luggage is difficult and sweaty work. Oh well. Every day in the tropics is a sweaty experience and I am becoming accustomed to it. Brenda and I look forward to having our home to ourselves again but feel sad with our friends departure. John and Chris were excellent crew and company during the crossing and our friendships are all the stronger for it. Brenda, upon returning to the boat started cleaning and organizing. Rod read a book and slept. CRISTAL BLUE, our good friends Joe and Bobbi Kurka, arrived in Nuku Hiva. We hail them on the radio and make plans to see them tomorrow. |
| May 18 | After breakfast we both dinghy/walk to the village for fresh food. We find cucumbers, bananas, bok choy and more baguettes. We put the food in the dinghy and retrieve dirty laundry that Brenda has brought to shore. While she scrubs, Rod rinses and wrings the sheets and towels. Brenda will wash the smaller items in our galley sink, but it is easier washing the larger items in the cement basin located on the dock. Also on shore we don't have to be so careful with the amount of water we use. While Rod sleeps and reads, Brenda continues her cleaning , cooking and organizing for the majority of the day. Later, we take some of our fresh bread to "OUR PLEASURE", also some friends from our Mexico days, who have just arrived in the S. Pacific. A happy hour at "Roses" allows the cruisers to mix and share stories and is a fine end to an otherwise restful and wonderful day. The sun rises at 6 and sets at 6. It is a perfect day with enough light to enjoy the great scenery, walks, etc. and enough dark to enjoy the stars, get some good quiet reading in, and sleep! Rod is normally in bed by 8 PM and asleep by 9, while Brenda stays awake for a few more hours with her book or playing on the computer. |
| May 19-21 | After provisioning and more laundry and getting butane-they were out of propane- we haul anchor and try to head to Anaho Bay. No way! The winds were blowing 25 knots with 8 foot seas and we weren't going to bash for untold hours into these conditions so we did a 180 turn and go to Daniel's Bay (Hakaui Bay) instead. The opening into the bay is solid breaking waves and narrow but we can see serene waters beyond so we continue. It's times like this that I start thinking that my mother is correct. This Idaho farm boy should be safely planted on land instead of bashing through 4 foot standing waves. Mind over emotion: when we clear the entrance, it is beautiful and well protected from the carnage we had just experienced. We don't like Daniel's Bay very much as the No No's are biting us leaving itchy welts and the water is so full of run-off in which we cannot swim. The scenery is great though. Some friends go on a walk to a waterfall and rave about it. However, Brenda had a itchy night last night so we pass it up and make plans to head to Anaho Bay going clockwise around the island (behind the island) out of the big winds. |
| May 22 | We get an early start hoping to make the best use of the wind. However we are surprised by how little there is. We watch with dismay as our wind indicator drops to less than 4 knots. When our main sail starts slapping, because it is not filled with wind, we give in and turn on the motor. Then a little later the wind picks up and we shut off the motor. Then the wind dies again and we turn on the motor... It takes us most of the day to sail the 25 miles to Anaho Bay, due to the light winds. The rugged volcanic coastline with its peaks and valleys provide us continual landscape delights. As we round the point, we are delighted to see that CRISTAL BLUE is anchored there along with about five other boats. Over the next couple of days we will have a chance to frolic with good friends and compare travel plans. |
| May 23-26 | One night we have a wahoo fish dinner on CRISTAL BLUE, another night we have them over to GLORY DAYS for dominos and dessert, and our day time activities include snorkeling and hiking together. We are shocked to hear that Joe and Bobbi have decided to give up cruising the South Pacific after the Society Islands. They will head back to Hawaii and onto Portland/Seattle and then perhaps coastal cruise in a power boat. To them the beauty of the S. Pacific is not offset by the constant boat maintenance, long passages, oppressive muggy heat, biting bugs, and rolling anchorages that we are all experiencing. Of course, we have these thoughts from time to time too, but we are still excited about what is ahead and will persevere through New Zealand and Australia and then evaluate our plans. |
| May 27 | The entire morning we are hit with one squall after another. Obviously El Nino is not over yet. In between rain showers and gusts of wind we get our sun awning down, the snorkel equipment stored, the ladder raised and the dinghy motor raised. Finally at l:30pm we decide to make a run for it and sail back to Taiohae, where we left from a week ago. This will complete our sail, clockwise, around the entire island of Nuku Hiva. The brisk 20 to 25 knot winds are from the SE so we end up beating into the seas for 15 miles of the 20 we have to go. It is a bit bouncy but we are focused and Glory Days is up to the challenge. We arrive just before sunset, giving us just enough time to drop both a bow and stern anchor before dark. |
| May 28-29 | Our next stop will be in the Tuomotu Islands, 500 miles away. Our guidebooks tell us not to expect stores in the Tuomotus and so this is may be our last chance to find any provisions for a month, until we reach Papette in Tahiti. Again we find the small stores here in Taiohae devoid of almost all fresh produce. We do find more cucumbers, onions, bananas and we buy the only two grapefruit they have. (We are both beginning to crave a large green salad with tomatoes.) And of course, we buy more baguettes for sandwiches and we do more hand laundry on shore. In addition to the l00 gallons of diesel we carry in GLORY DAYS tank, we have four, five- gallon plastic jugs strapped to our decks filled with diesel fuel and two containers of gas for the dinghy motor. We empty these into our tanks and then load five empties into our dinghy and putter over to the fuel dock. The fuel dock was designed for the BIG ships that come in here, not sailboats or dinghies. Brenda climbs the ladder up seven feet to the cement dock and Rod tosses her the dinghy line. Brenda ties the dinghy to one of the huge cleats, while Rod secures rubber fenders to the side of our dinghy to prevent a puncture from scraping into barnacles when the dinghy is tossed by the surge. Then Rod passes up the fuel containers to Brenda while she is on her knees reaching down. Next Rod climbs up the ladder and we take the short hike to the gas station, since they won't let us use the fuel hose designed for ships. Carrying the filled containers back to the dingy requires two trips since Brenda is only strong enough to carry one. Once Rod is in the dinghy Brenda must pass down the ladder the heavy fuel containers. All the while the dinghy is jumping up and down with the serge. But we did it, we had to. We need the diesel for our generator, which we run two hours a day to put energy into our batteries (three hours if we are underway and running the autopilot 24 hours a day), and for the main engine in case we can't find any wind. The last errand is to visit the local hospital and ask for Elephantis pills. We have seen posters (in French) sporting cartoons of mosquitoes and enlarged, deformed body parts. Another cruiser explained to us that these posters are meant to inform the general public of the danger of Elephantis being spread by mosquitoes. Since we have both been bitten many times, we are anxious to get the preventative medicine. No problem, the pills were provided free, we just had to ask. Now we are protected for six months. |
| May 30-June 2 | This is the longest non-stop trip just the two of us have undertaken. Brenda had butterflies in her stomach when we started, having heard that sailing in the South Pacific trade winds is much more of a challenge than sailing in Mexican waters. However, within an hour Brenda is calmed. GLORY DAYS handles the constant 15-25 knots of wind easily and comfortably. We choose a conservative sail plan and lean back and enjoy the ride. We also elect to do four hour watches in the night, rather than the normal three, so each of us has more uninterrupted sleep. The air temps are in the mid 80's night and day. Every evening we use the just recently installed fresh water faucet on deck , to which we attached a short hose and spray nozzle, for our showers. The first two days there are four other sail boats within our horizon, but eventually we loose sight of each other. However we are able to keep in touch with boats in our vicinity by VHF radio and contact our friends on PHASE III twice per day using the HF radio at a predefined time. We originally planned to sail to the island of Ahe but when we realized we would be arriving late in the day, and thus not able to see coral heads, we altered our plans and set a new destination of Manihi Atoll. Arrival at Manihi was a welcome sight. We made the passage in 75 hours and averaged 6.7 knots. Entering the lagoon inside of the atoll was straight forward as per the book directions and our friends on GISELLE gave us added information that helped a lot. We arrived about 3 hours after high slack water and found the current in the pass to be 6 to 7 knots at the narrow point and only ten feet deep. We could barely make way in this condition but we gunned our motor to a high rpm and were able to force the boat across the outgoing current. Once inside the lagoon the water is calm, the depth goes to 150 feet and it is crystal clear. Beautiful. We anchor and are invited to a fish BBQ, courtesy of GISELLE. They caught a 5 foot shark today and all of the 6 yachties anchored here feast on it on the beach. It's great to visit with everyone and meet all of the people with whom we will be sharing this anchorage for the next several days. |
| June 3 | A day of cleaning the boat from the passage and putting everything away. We lounge around during the afternoon as a new squall blows through every hour. Rod takes the dingy back to the pass and leads PHASE III into the lagoon. The first entry into the lagoon is always such a stressful experience and you enter each lagoon only once in a lifetime. Later, while Brenda reads her book, Rod visits David, on GISELLE. David always catches more fish than they can eat, so Rod goes over to get fishing instructions. Look out Charlie! When Rod returns we have a pleasant evening of cribbage and fruit salad, then the "old salts" retire to bed at 8:00 PM. Rod is asleep within a half hour and Brenda reads late into the night. |
| June 4-7 | Numerous squalls of moderate intensity blow through almost every day. The locals say that this level of rain during their "dry" season is unusual. We blame el nino again. The snorkeling and walking the motus (the coral islands) is always interesting. We haven't seen shark while swimming the coral reefs but know they are around. Rod pursued a couple of grouper for 15 minutes but they know the game and stay just out of shooting distance. They also keep going deeper and deeper. They must know Rod is free diving and has a depth and a time limit. We joined the locals, whom speak French and some English, for a Saturday community party with food and volleyball. The yachtie coed team went down to defeat in 2 games to the local women's team. But we all had a good time. This small pearl farming village is approximately 600 large and they get together every week for a community party. Pretty nice! Clearly, a closely knit community. I (Rod) finally installed a fan above our navigation station (desk) and what a difference it makes. I am not bathed in sweat typing this note. Using my old salmon pole I caught 2 grouper from the side of the boat. They are the only grouper one can eat out of this atoll as the other 3 specie of grouper are full of ciguatera. (the coral toxin) After filleting them out we enjoyed a nice dinner. And in the evening hours we go to church with Eki and Elkie, from BARRAKUDA, and Graham and Julie, from PHASE III and with Yvonne, our Tahitian friend. The service was in Tahitian. Sunday was Mother's Day in the Tuamotus so the entire service consisted of people telling of their love for their mothers and then singing a song, accompanied by several guitars and ukuleles. The Tahitian songs are melodious and all of the people sing along so the evening was very special. One we will always remember. Then, disaster struck, the host asked us to sing. Our German friend can play the guitar so we sang, if that is what you call it, "When the saints come marching in". I think our performance was of the quality that the locals were happy when we sat down. We were then invited to eat with them. They had been roasting a lamb behind the church and the aroma convinced us to stay. Delicious! The dingy ride back to the anchorage, which is just over a mile away, was WET. The waves were just big enough that a constant splash got all of us thoroughly soaked. Some how it didn't seem important and we all just laughed and put our faces to the spray. This was a very special evening. |
| June 8 | John, Yvonne, Maguri, and his wife and the 6 of us visit John's pearl farm. (black pearls). We dive on the strings of oysters which are hung from cables about 25 feet deep. John unties a string of oysters and we swim back to the pearling shack where he shows us how the seeds, made of shell material, are grafted into the oyster. There is a lot more to the process than I'll discuss here. But suffice it to say, there is a lot of work invested in each oyster and only 7% of the oysters yield "good" quality pearls. They gave us several imperfect pearls as a momento of our visit. Upon returning to the boat, we decided to have a fish feed so Graham, John, and Rod take their spear guns to a coral head and spear a bucket full of grouper and parrot fish. The women make side dishes and we go ashore, build a fire, and roast the fish, wrapped in leaves. When the fish are adequately cooked, we take them into the sea water and remove the skin and the fins and generally wash them. Then, "bon apetit". As the sun sets with a pink and rose color on the horizon, we thank God for giving us this most memorable day. |
| June 9 | We were planning on leaving Manihi today and sailing to Ahe, an atoll about 20 miles away. However, in the early morning hours, angry winds and rain arrive and the decision to delay departure is an easy one. Rod reads and wires a small speaker for use with the VHF radio in the cockpit. Brenda visits BARRAKUDA and comes home with a necklace woven out of coconut husks and one of the pearls Yvonne gave her yesterday. A young man from the village did the weaving. It is very nice and certainly will be a memento that will be treasured . The bad weather continues throughout the day and the night. Rod lets out more anchor chain and sleeps lightly all night as the 35 knot winds howl through the rigging. |
| June 10 | The bad weather is explained by a couple of weather faxes. The satellite picture shows massive clouds covering this area. Fortunately, later in the day, another weather fax shows the clouds moving to the west and by 3PM it is windy but clear. We visit "OUR JOURNEY" with Boris and Judy aboard. They had 4 days of hellish winds and squalls coming all the way from Nuku Hiva. They sailed almost the entire distance with only a double reefed main on their Catalina 32. They are tired and kind of underwhelmed with this whole cruising thing after this experience, plus the long passage from Mexico. They are still smiling and very very happy to be safely anchored here, but are talking of having their boat shipped back to California from Papettee. We assured them that it gets better. We also stop by BARRAKUDA and visit with "the gang" enjoying a sundowner and a few jokes before retiring to "GLORY DAYS". A last weather fax shows the bad weather west of us so we are in for some more glorious days at last. The longer we cruise the more appropriate we think the name of our boat. These are "Glory Days". |
| June 11 | A great nights sleep and a wonderful sunny day. I guess we will have to stay around here a couple more days. It's too nice to leave and now we have new friends with which to visit and play with. A few more boats have arrived, three from England, one from Switzerland, and a couple from Australia that are on their final leg home after a world circumnavigation. We do some snorkeling today (and see several 4-5ft reef sharks) and plan another BBQ for tomorrow. This time we will include the 'newcomers' as well as our local friends from the village. |
| June 12 | John, our local friend, took Rod and two other yachters outside the atoll for some deep sea fishing. They dropped hand lines in about 300' of water and were back in about two hours with enough fish for our BBQ. The BBQ/potluck was a success with about twenty people in attendance. While the guys were fishing Yvonne taught the ladies how to weave serving trays from palm leaves and how to make coconut cream from fresh coconuts, by grating the ripe coconuts into a tea towel and then wringing the shreds into a bowl. Yummy! We have been wanting native cultural experiences and this day certainly counts as an experience we won't forget. |
| June 13 | Rod checked and
doubled checked the tide tables. He knew exactly when we
needed to leave and when we needed to arrive. So we were
awake at 6:00am and ready for an early start, so we would
make it through the pass at slack tide.. But when we
tried to pull the anchor it didn't come up! Seems the
anchor chain wrapped itself around several coral heads
during the week + that we have been anchored here. Rod
donned his snorkeling gear and gave me driving directions
from the water as he continued to hold his breath and
dive on the anchor. But after 90 minutes in the water he
was exhausted and we only had half of the two hundred
feet of chain up. Fortunately our local pearl -farming
friend, John, was nearby. John motored over and donned
his snorkel gear and within 15 minutes we had the other
l00 feet of chain up. John is amazing in that he can dive
50' in a single breath. John was able to dive down, grab
the chain and unloop the snags. We went through the pass at ll:00 instead of the planned 7:00am. But, lucky for us, the tide was ebbing and so we got a gentle push through and were on our way to Ahe, the next atoll. It was a motor sail the whole nine miles, with only 5-8 knots of wind coming at our nose. Our original plan had us sailing, but since we did no tacking and just made a straight motor course we still arrived in time for the second slack tide at Ahe. Entrance through the atoll pass was easy and we were anchored next to PHASE III by 3:00pm. Time enough for a game of cribbage before sunset. |
| June 14-19 | Brenda picked up an intestinal bug somewhere and was plagued by diarrhea for two days. Being ill when traveling outside States is always a concern; there is always the fear of a parasite. But after two days of mostly bed rest she was up and around again. While anchored here in Ahe several squalls blew through and we were pretty much boat bound for three days, while it poured buckets. Eventually it cleared and we snorkeled and fished the nearby coral reefs. These coral reefs are mostly dead but we did see some incredible lapis blue and jade green lipped clams. The brilliant colors are unmistakable in the midst of the grey coral. If you swim up and try to tug one of the clams off the rocks they immediately shut and their outside shells and blend into the dull grey background. Some people say the clams are edible, we tried one and didn't like it, which was a relief because it would be a shame to harvest and kill such beautiful, unique creatures. We also found time to explore the local village and met a local Polynesian family who invited us to a birthday party. We declined the invitation, struggling to understand the language is so tiring. However the next morning Brenda visited their home with two of the other sailing ladies and was taught how to string shells into necklaces. They use an icepick to punch the stringing holes. Grocery prices were even higher here than in the Marquesas. The only item we purchased was eggs, at a price of .50 each! We are eating quite well off our stores of canned goods and freshly caught fish. |
| June 20 | The skies have been clear for two days and Rod was up very early to receive a weather fax that verifies that today would be a good day to continue our journey. Our next destination is Rangiroa, eighty miles away. We must time our departure from Ahe, as well as our arrival in Rangiroa, to comply with the slack tide, since the entrances to the lagoons are narrow. Rod calculates that a late afternoon departure would be best, so we sailed through the night. It was a lumpy uncomfortable ride all night, since the large ocean swells were close together and bounced us around. With all the bouncing, cooking was impossible and sleeping on off shift was difficult. We were able to keep both eye and radio contact with our buddy boats, PHASE III and BARRAKUDA. BARRAKUDA is a catamaran, their double hulls made their ride a little more comfortable. |
| June 21 | The winds blew about 25-30 knots all night and despite our efforts to slow our boat down (by reducing sail and steering slightly off course) we arrived at the entrance of Rangiroa before daylight. We back winded our sail and hove-to for about two hours before we finally felt it was safe to enter. Going through the pass we encountered an outgoing current of about 5 knots. By running our engine at a high rpm as well as flying the foresail we made it safely through. Inside the atoll the wind was still blowing 20 knots . We anchored in 45 feet of water on the outside edge of a cluster of 25 sailboats, at l0:00am. We arrived hungry and tired. Brenda made a chicken pot pie which was planned for last night's dinner and after eating we slept most of the afternoon, waking in time for sundowners on BARRAKUDA. |
| June 22 -28 | Rangiroa is truly beautiful. Palm trees line the white sand and coral shores and the turquoise water is clear, with visibility about 50 feet. Unfortunately Rod's stay was sullied by being ill. He had a fever for three days and bouts of diarrhea. At first we thought he had a different version of Brenda's recent illness but then he realized the front of his right knee cap was inflamed and warm to touch. We hitchhiked to the local medical clinic where it was explained that his knee scrape, from some coral while freeing our anchor at our last anchorage, had become infected and sickened his whole body. It's amazing because the scrape was rather mild and mostly healed but I guess that coral bacteria is mighty powerful. The doctor prescribed some antibiotics and told Rod to keep his leg elevated. While Rod spent his days in bed Brenda made a couple of trips to the local village with the family from HOPTOAD . Snorkeling on the reef, however, was the highlight of this anchorage. It was spectacular, like swimming in an aquarium! Everything the tourist guides picture; both big and small fish brightly colored like Picasso paintings. It was a little errie seeing 4-5ft sharks hovering below, but none seemed interested in us. |
| June 29 | We have friends, from California, flying to Papette to meet us on July 4. We need to get going; we have business to take care of in Papette before they arrive. Papette is 200 miles southwest, if the wind is light it could take us two days. We have the anchor up by 8:00am and are through the pass by 9:00am. We have a pleasant sail all day, with the foresail held out by our spinnaker pole we average 5 knots. We're not going as fast as we would like (we could walk this fast) but the conditions are lovely , warm and clear. |
| June 30 | During the night the wind slowed. At times we made forward progress a rate of only 2 knots. Very frustrating. After breakfast we take a vote. The choice is to motor for the next twelve hours and arrive in Papeete tonight or continue to slug along and arrive sometime tomorrow. Two votes for turning on the diesel engine and zero against. By late afternoon we can see the 2000+ ft tall peaks of Tahiti in the distance. Obviously a very different terrain from the flat Tuamotus we have left behind. We arrive about 10:00pm. The city lights and the well lit harbor entrance guide us in. We anchor in about 45 feet of water to one side of the busy harbor. In the moonlight, we can see other sailboats anchored nearby. |
| July 1 | Papeete is a city of l00,000, the capitol of East Polynesia. We wake to the sounds traffic, including ambulance sirens and automobile horns. After almost three months of being at sea and being anchored in remote spots this is quite a change. In the daylight we see the volcanic hills of Tahiti towering above us-stunning. About 9:00am a harbor patrol boat comes by and tells us there will be outrigger canoe races this weekend and that we must move our boat and stern tie to the shore, to leave maximum room for the races. July is festival month in Tahiti and already there are many boats tied to shore, some that we recognize. Backing up between already parked boats is always tricky, but on this morning it is made difficult by 20 knots of wind. We call friends on two of the sailboats and ask for their assistance. The guys come out in their dinghies to help. Their advice is for us to pull our anchor, reposition GLORY DAYS , then drop our anchor again and back into our chosen spot. After our forward anchor snugs we will move backwards letting out more chain . Prior to moving in reverse we tie 200 foot lines to our stern. Then as we proceed backwards we toss the ropes into our friends dinghies and ask them to take them to shore and tie to the large cleats. It is quite an involved process but we are successful with the help of friends. |
| July 2-4 | We spend these days attending to errands such as checking in at the port captains office, taking sheets and towels to the Laundromat ($l5.00 US a load!), cleaning the boat, and attempting to get and send email. It is a huge disappointment when we find out our email system does not work in the S. Pacific. Our friends, Sharon and Vaugh Hampton arrive the evening of July 4. They brought with them an extra suitcase filled with boat parts that we had asked for and lots of other goodies that are a wonderful surprise, like tootsie rolls, Wheat Thins, flavored coffee, and other items we can't get here. Truly, they are good friends. |
| July 5-7 | We attend church,
which is lovely cultural experience. All the women are
dressed in white with hand woven hats. Most of the men
have on blue suits. We find it interesting that the women
and men are seated separately, not necessarily
segregated, but three or four rows of women and then a
couple of rows of men. Later the reason becomes apparent,
when the singing starts. Sections of the church sing
songs one at a time. The wind has been very blustery and our friends' 60 foot boat, CRISTAL BLUE, has dragged anchor twice. once bumping into shore. One of these times the owners were gone for the day and Rod coordinated the rescue of their boat as it floated to shore. One young man crawled into a open hatch and opened the door from the inside. Rod found the engine key and the next several hours were devoted to pulling them out of the offshore mud and resetting their anchor. In the process our neighbor's anchor chain gets snagged and his boat floats into the side of GLORY DAYS. Luckily, Sharon and I are on board and attach fenders to the side of our boat to cushion the impact. We call for help and Vaugh returns in the dinghy to help our neighbor reposition his boat. There are too many boats, too close together. The next day we use more of our Vaugh's precious vacation hours as we move GLORY DAYS to a new spot with more room Sharon and Vaugh brought us two months of mail. As we read our mail we discover some problems that need immediate attention. This results in a day of telephone calls and fax sending.. We spend another day attending to chores such as grocery shopping and finally we are ready to go. |
| July 8 | After walking to and from the port captain's office, to check out, we pull anchor and set sail for Morrea. We can see the mountains of Morrea , twelve miles away. The wind is strong and we have a lovely two hour sail. As we approach we see that this island is even more magnificent than Tahiti. The tall green volcanic mountainsides rise quickly off the white sandy beaches. Ragged spires tower into the clouds. Most interesting (to us boaters) is the coral reef that circles the entire island about one mile offshore, causing crashing , white foamed breaking waves. We know that this reef will provide us good snorkeling but now we study our charts carefully looking for a passage. Our guide book provides GPS longitude and latitude reference points and we find our way into a lovely bay. I feel like we are anchored in a tropical Yosemite. |
| July 9-15 | During this week, in increments, we sail completely around the island. We find Moorea to be much quieter than Tahiti and far less populated. We anchor in four different locations and each is beautiful. We explore the shoreline and village of each anchorage by taking the dinghy onto the beach. On every walk we see dozens of varieties of flowering shrubs and numerous fruit trees, including banana, papaya, grapefruit, breadfruit and star fruit. We also snorkel almost every day and are treated to colorful coral and gorgeous fish. One day we take a hike high into the rain forest and another day we rent a car and drive around the island. Overall, we have a great time even though one day it pours and fills our dinghy with water and two other days it rains on and off all day long . |
| July 16 | Vaugh must fly home tomorrow night, so we sail back to Papeete, Tahiti today. This turns out to be a miserable five hour motorsail. The winds were extremely light and the seas were big and angry. We had 8 foot seas coming from all directions, tossing us to and fro. It felt like we were sitting in a washing machine and it was disconcerting when we seemed to disappear in huge troughs between the waves. Rod describes this day as the worst day at sea he has ever had; he felt sick most of the five hours. And to make things worse, our fuel filter plugged and Rod had to climb into the warm, smelly engine room to change it . While Vaugh and Sharon attempted to maintain our course above with the sails, I handed Rod parts and a bowl for his vomit. As we entered the Papeete harbor we thought our troubles were over, only to find out that more outrigger races were scheduled for tomorrow and that anchoring was not allowed in the harbor. Several friends came out to meet us in dinghies and help us back into a narrow space that required us to stern tie to the large cleats located on the cement quay that runs along the city edge. This process takes about two hair raising hours, with dinghies pushing us, since GLORY DAYS refuses to back up straight with the winds pushing us hard to one side. Finally, we are in position and eat lunch at 4:30pm. Later, after showers and two well deserved rum drinks, we take ourselves out to dinner. |
| July 18 | Today we rent a car and tour the island. We find the NE coast is rugged and rocky with breaking waves that attracts the surfers, while the South coast is more gentle and populated. Black volcanic sand beaches fringe the island, there are no white sand beaches like Moorea. The car is a good way to see the island, however Rod finds driving in the two way traffic to be tiring and we are glad to get back to our boat for dinner. Vaugh leaves for the airport after dinner. It is a sad farewell, we have enjoyed his company and we don't know when we will see him again, since Vaugh and Sharon will begin their own world circumnavigation this fall. |
| July 19-20 | Sharon is staying with us for an additional week. We want to take her to another of the Society Islands but first Rod and I scurry around attending to tasks while we are stay here in the city. It will be several months before we reach a city again. Yesterday while we had the rental car we spent about an hour at a major grocery store. It was a treat to be able to fill the cart to the brim and know I was not going to have to carry all those the goods home in my backpack. It was also a pleasure to find a large variety of meat, canned goods and produce. The prices were still about 3-5 times more than California but we were willing to spend in order to get some of the items we have been longing for like tomatoes and lettuce. |
| July 21 | After 2 days of provisioning and performing maintenance we are ready to head out. We rise early and cast off dock lines to visit the duty free fuel station in Papeete to buy diesel. After finishing this we head off to Moorea for the day. The trip to Huahine is an eighty mile trip and with the 25+ knot winds we know that we will make it in less than 12 hours so we wait in Moorea until sun down to depart the barrier reef. After an hour of 7.5 knot speeds with a jib and a double reefed main it is obvious we are going to arrive at Huahine at 5:00am -too early-so we furl in the jib leaving only a 5 foot head sail. This scrubs a knot off our speed and we should now arrive at 06:30am . Now we can relax and eat one on Brenda's excellent one dish meals and start our watch schedule. With Sharon on board we are each able to get six hours of bed time |
| July 22 | At 5:00 am the island is visible in the distance. We all arise for the landfall. Again, our anchoring book gives us incorrect numbers in describing the passes through the barrier reef. Bummer. But our common sense gets us there. We nap and snorkel away the rest of the day. Brenda and Sharon see two eels and two red and white spotfin lion fish with their deadly spines spread. Rod finds nothing to shoot and eat and is disappointed. |
| July 23 | We get an early start to shore and head towards Maeva, a small village on the northeast side of the island. The ancient civilizations built rock structures here are called maraes which were religious settings . We are anxious to hike among these ruins. While walking a cloud burst on us. We hid under the eves of a Pentecostal Church during the downpour. The minister, Eugene, drove up and we chatted explaining where we were headed and he insisted that we allow him to drive us to the trail head. These people are so friendly and giving. Perhaps the best part was his telling us "God bless you" in English at the end of the ride. We walked and hiked in the rain up a mud trail to visit 4 maraes and found rock foundations and walls and giant stone slabs jutted out of the landscape. One can't help but wonder what went on here over the past centuries. Probably most interesting was the lakeside marae where we saw ancient fish traps built with stones inside the lagoon Some of these traps are still in use. Fish enter the traps with the flow of incoming and outgoing tides and then the fish are netted out. After our hike , we ate a baguette sandwich at a sandwich truck. As we neared the boat in our dingy the skies opened up again. Wow, can it ever rain here! A couple of hours later, the rain ends and we haul anchor and head south inside of the barrier reef to an anchorage named Bourgane Port. We anchor in 100 feet, the deepest anchorage we've ever been in. |
| July 24 | Huahine is actually 2 islands: Huahine Nue is the northern island and Huahine Iti is the southern island. They are separated by this anchorage and at the narrowest point they are only 40 feet apart. We take the dingy through the gap avoiding coral heads along the way. The east side is open to the easterly winds so we decide against snorkeling and head back to the more protected west side. As I was approaching the equator during the trip from Mexico to the Marquesas I tracked 2 cyclones which were in the southern hemisphere. One of them, Alan, did hit Raiatea and it's moody surrounding weather spawned tornadoes which ravaged parts of Huahine. We see the evidence of the storm displayed in destroyed buildings. A very exclusive resort borders, or should I say used to border, this bay. We walked around 40 separate bungalows which were simply blown apart. We can only imagine the beauty of this place prior to the storm. Since this is Sharon's last full day with us in this paradise, we head further south to an anchorage named Avae Bay. This bay is gorgeous. The barrier reef is over a mile away so the breaking ocean surf is not heard. The mile of shallow water between us and the breakers is turquoise in color. The deeper water we are anchored in is navy blue. The shoreline is white sand beach and has 6 cute bungalows along the waters edge. The tornadoes didn't hit this area. Brenda and Sharon have snorkeled and are walking the beach while the sun sets. This is a magical place and day. |
| July 25 | After a breakfast, of french toast made from stale baguettes, Sharon and Brenda start their day with one more snorkeling trip. Rod stays back to finish writing letters that Sharon will carry in her suitcase to the States. Snorkeling never gets tiresome, we always see something different. This time we are treated to towering mounds of coral of various types and colors. About noon we pull anchor and start our trip back to the town of Fare, where the airport is located. This is a lovely two hour sail inside of the barrier reef. As we approach our anchorage a humpback whale sounds right in front of us! We load Sharon's suitcase and backpack into the dinghy and tie up at the dock. Within a few minutes we are able to hitchhike a ride to the airport. We say our sad farewells, we have really enjoyed Sharon's visit. |
| July 26-28 | Sunday is a short
business day in French Polynesia. The grocery store opens
at 6:00am and closes at 10:00am so we roll out of bed and
dingy into town and buy another $60.00 worth of food (two
bags). There is a nice choice of fresh produce, but the
prices are still outrageous. Upon completing this minor
task we raise anchor and motor back to Avea Bay as we
aren't ready to leave Huahine and head to Raiatea and we
want some more time at this anchorage. It's beautiful. We
read Latitude 38 magazines, a San Francisco sailing
publication, which the Hamptons brought us and finish off
the day with a snorkel over the coral reef. The sky is
clear tonight and we spend some minutes admiring the
constellations from the bow of the boat. Beautiful. The
winds came up over night and were gusting to 25 knots
(about 29 mph). It's enough to make Rod sleep lightly and
get up to do an anchor check several times. All is OK, as
usual. I guess this is why we don't have problems with
dragging anchor. We are careful. Monday is project day. I paid a guy $80 to weld the leaks in my new Mexico ($250) muffler while in Papeete. I guess I should not be too surprised that it still leaks from 4 of the 5 areas he welded. I spend the morning draining, sanding, cleaning, and applying Marine Tex to the offending areas. I guess I'll have to replace the whole muffler in New Zealand. This muffler thing is getting both costly and very old. After lunch we take the dinghy to shore and go for a walk to a small town named Parea. We enjoy the exercise of the 5 mile walk and the scenery. Late in the afternoon as we get in the dinghy to return to our boat , our outboard motor won't run. We end up rowing which isn't easy with the current and the wind. It appears the gas we just recently bought at the gas pump is not gas but kerosene. The French labels on the pump and the communication gap between the attendant and me lead me to buying kerosene instead of "regular" grade of gasoline. Tuesday we drive GLORY DAYS back to Fare, paddle to shore and buy more gas for the dinghy . But the outboard still won't start, even after Rod dumps all the kerosene and changes the spark plugs. We decide to leave for Raiatea tomorrow. There is a marina there and a boatyard. We can find someone there to spot weld the muffler (again) and repair the outboard. |
| July 29 | Raiatea is a twenty five mile sail for us. We have good winds at our back and sail downwind with only our jib out. It would be ideal except we are surprised by the big seas that toss us around a bit. Brenda scares herself by looking back instead of forward. She sees towering waves race toward us and swears they will break on us. However, each time they roll under us instead of on top of us. Even when we get behind the barrier reef of Raiatea the winds stay with us and are gusting to 40 knots as we search for a place to drop our anchor. We survey several spots and eventually decide to call the Marina and ask for a slip for a few days while we get our repairs done. With the high winds, Rod doesn't want to remove the Perkins muffler and disable Glory Days while at anchor. If the anchor was to drag we'd be on a reef. |
| July 30-Aug 7 | It was lucky that we were tied up at the dock because the wind intensified and continued for five days. If we had been anchored we would have worried constantly about the anchor dragging in the big gusts. Actually several boats did drag . During the first five days while the wind was howling we did get the muffler repaired and Rod was able to get the outboard running again. I also found a local lady to wash our sheets and towels. And taking showers at the marina without having to ration the water was a real treat. Raiatea is one of the largest Polynesian islands, with an area of l05 square miles and l0,000 residents. However, Raiatea is not a tourist destination due to the absence of sandy beaches. Several different days we either take the tiny bus or hitchhike into the main town of Uturoa. In town we visit the Farmers Market and buy pineapples and bananas and do the rest of the grocery shopping in a conventional grocery store. Since swimming in this weather is not an option we do a lot of walking for exercise. One morning we take a vigorous three hour hike up to the top of Mount Tapioi which offers spectacular views of two neighboring islands and the surrounding reef. Standing on top of the mountain the wind strength seemed magnified and I had to drop to my knees for fear of being blown over. The blue and turquoise sea water far below looked like the picture postcards and we were reminded once again how fortunate we are to be here. |
| August 8 | Our friends on PHASE III arrived a few days ago and we are both anxious to get moving and find some clear water for snorkeling and fishing. Our guide book tells us that the island of Tahaa, only five miles away has several beautiful anchorages and good snorkeling. One huge loop of coral surrounds both the island of Tahaa and the island of Raiatea, so this barrier reef provides us natural protection from the surf as we sail along. We must just be careful and navigate around the occasional coral head. The wind is light, the sun is out and we have a very relaxing sail inside of the barrier reef to Tahaa. |
| August 9-14 | Buddy boating is
always nice, it provides the security of knowing another
friendly boat is nearby in case we encounter any problems
and it also adds spice to our life by having friends to
share walks, meals and games. We only have one really
nice day of sunshine; the other days it rained and the
wind howled. The day the sun was out we anchored off of a
tiny motu (islet) in l0 feet of turquoise colored water.
The setting was spectacular as it included all the
elements of paradise; palm trees, white sandy beach, and
clear water. After snorkeling and lunch, the four of us
took the dinghy to shore with the plan to walk around the
motu looking for shells. However as soon as we reached
shore we were swarmed by mosquitoes. In five minutes we
had at least twenty bites each and decided we needed a
different plan. We quickly loaded back into the dinghy
and motored around to the windy side of the islet and
took a short walk amongst the tall coconut palm trees.
Rod found a long pole and he and Graham managed to knock
off several fresh coconuts. After the harvesting we all
dashed back to our boats, put up our mosquito screens and
lit the bug repellent smoke coils. At sunset we met again
for pina coladas made with our fresh coconut milk
followed by a dinner of tuna (bought from a passing
fisherman). Our time in paradise was short, one day. In the evening the rain and wind started again. Also we were surprised in the morning when our depth meter told us we only had about 6 inches of water under our keel. A big tide change! With the wind blowing we were not comfortable anchored here; just too close to coral. We consulted with PHASE III and chose another anchorage about five miles away; a quick motor sail away. We continue to be surprised by how much rain and cloudy weather we are experiencing. Certainly the travel brochures about French Polynesia do not mention this. We are not sure how much of this weather is El Nino related. On the bright side we have seen magnificent rainbows, vivid with colors and seeming to stretch within grasping length. And one evening we were treated to a rare phenonomen: a moonbow. In the dark, a full rainbow appeared in the sky, as rain was reflected off the moon. However, living on a boat gets very tiresome in poor weather, the space seems so small. To keep our sanity we try to walk every day, rain or shine. Sometimes these walks have a purpose such as disposing of trash or buying fresh bread or produce and sometimes we are just seeking exercise. On the rainy days we occasionally seek shelter under the branches of a big tree or put out our thumbs and ask for a partial ride. The walks on the island of Tahaa are all on sandy/muddy roads and so it is common to see shells encrusted in our paths. Our walks take us through the local villages and Rod's height is always a wonderment to the children who run out to meet us. We are passed by people on bicycles and the occasional vehicles are almost all four wheel drive. This means if we are lucky enough to hitch a ride it usually involves a scramble over the tailgate of a pickup truck. I never wear a dress to town, because almost invariably we return home much dirtier and wetter than when we started. |
| August 15 | The rain has finally stopped and the wind has calmed to about l2 knots so several boats make their exodus from Tahaa, headed for Bora Bora. We are underway by 9:00 am and are about fifth in the pack. By 2:30 PM we are anchored inside another barrier reef in the lee of another ancient volcano; coconut palms line the shore. PHASE III is to our left and our friends on HOPTOAD are on our right. Cruising is a friendly way of life. We spend much more time with friends now than we did in California, it is nice to have the time to develop friendships, rather than worrying about jobs everyday. |
| August 16-23 | We anchor behind Isle Toopua , which is part of Bora Bora, in 40 feet of water. The water is so clear we can see our anchor on the bottom. Snorkeling is good with water this clear and we go snorkeling every day. We followed the hotel boats, filled with paying tourists, across the shallow reef one day and snorkeled with a school of 4' sting rays. They are accustomed to seeing people so they swam within 3 feet of us. We also pack the bikes to shore and do a mini tour of the island. An American living on the island, named Jeff Morehead, stopped and visited with us. He and his wife have lived here for 2 years. Their visa permits are based on writing a book on the local native family culture. Jeff invited us to his humble home and gave us Pompomous and mangos. Pompomouse are like a grapefruit only tastier and much more difficult to peel and eat. We love them and eat them at every opportunity. Jeff loves living here and absorbs the inconveniences considering them the trade offs of a much more peaceful and less hassled life. Since they cannot legally work they sell their time to people under the table and make a humble living as a result. They are learning Tahitian and French and are functional in both languages. Jeff reported that the rainfall this year is already 130% of last year's fall. We thought it was wet! On the 20th 2 young boys, age 7 & 5, paddle by Glory Days on a 2 man kayak. I invite them over and offer them some candy. Since they wanted to see our big boat I invited them on board for a tour. I had them call their parents on "Flegling", a British vessel", on the VHF to tell them where they were. They added that this nice man offered them candy. Within 4 minutes a second kayak with 2 young boys arrive. Good news travels fast. After 45 minutes of entertaining discussions over the atlas, the boys departed. The 2nd set of boys were from the Briitsh vessel Ashanti. They could show me their route from England with great accuracy. What a 4 some of bright precocious Brits. They made the day very special. Several days are consumed with projects and boat cleaning and preparations for Steve and Sue. |
| August 24-Sept 2 | Our friends, Sue
and Steve Salnick from California, flew into Bora Bora on
August 24. During their ten day visit with us we moved
the boat to five different anchorages around Bora Bora,
each only a few miles apart and each beautiful. The
highlights of this time included the evening we saw the
green flash as the sun set , the giant l0' manta ray that
glided beneath us as we snorkeled in 40' water and the
deep tidepool that we dove into and held onto the coral
edges as the tide came rushing over and formed a
waterfall that gave us a Jacuzzi bath every few minutes.
After 3 days on the west side of Bora Bora, we discussed
with a Moorings charter couple from Portland, Rick and
Sarah, the requirements of exploring the east side of
Bora Bora. They claimed the best of the island is over
there. The channels through coral are narrow and shallow
at some points but we made it to the first anchorage by
4:00pm and dropped the anchor in 10 feet water over a
white sandy bottom. A truly beautiful location. We move
to 3 other anchorages as well and find them all very
nice. The average depth while traveling between
anchorages is 8 to 10 feet, sand bottom. All in all, this
was a thoroughly enjoyable lazy time period with
swimming, book reading, game playing. We will send a
floppy disk to our friend Anna with this update, via
Steve and Sue, along with our annual newsletters. The boat demons are back. The refrigerator/freezer isn't operating and the 12 hours of troubleshooting and studying all point the finger to the expansion valve. I cannot replace the valve so we'll have to get by with the 110 volt refrigerator which we can run one hour in the am and one hour at night. It'll keep things cool but not frozen. We also had the opportunity to try to fix the wind speed and direction instrument. Having worked on it in Puerto Vallarta, I thought I knew what to do but it still doesn't work and we have no wind speed indication. Unfortunately these things have happened. Fortunately, we can get by with them quite easily. |
| Sept 3 | We dropped our friends at Club Med yesterday. They will spend four days pampered in a hotel before they fly home to California. We returned to the dive spot where we saw the giant manta ray. There is a deep through in the underwater landscape here. Sure enough "the big guy" was still there and today he was accompanied by two sharks. A real adrenaline rush! After a quick shower we continued on around the lagoon and anchored off town. We spent the rest of the day storing gear, grocery shopping and getting ready to set sail for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. This coming tripwill be 540 miles and the longest non-stop trip that Brenda has ever made. |
| Sept 4-7 | Brenda started off this trip to the Cook Islands with butterflies in her stomach. It has been two months since we made a passage longer than twelve hours. The passage began with mild winds and gentle rolling seas. Really nice. The wind kept building so Rod hove-to and put a double reef in the main sail. The wind kept building until the waves were 10 to 12 feet and we, on a broad to a beam reach were "makin time" going over 8.5 knots. The increasing wind and darkening clouds just before sunset got to Brenda. A little too much excitement this early in the trip, so I furled in 40% of the jib and the boat slowed down and the motion improved slightly. After the sun set the wind lowered to 20-25 knots, the stars filled the sky as the storm clouds cleared and Brenda went to bed so I put all of the jib back out and away we went. When Brenda got up at midnight to do her shift the winds were down to 20 knots and we were rolling along at 7.5 knots and comfortable. Brenda was fine; the rest and time away from the cockpit did her good. During periods of high winds and big seas one tends to say extra prayers. The incredibly fearful sea can turn angry so quickly and we are but one molecule on it's surface. As usual, our prayers were answered and we were blessed with good winds and made good time. Getting into the routine of three hours "on" and 3 hours "off" is difficult. The second day we were both tired and needed naps, having not slept well the night before. By the third day we were more comfortable with the schedule. During the day hours we read, talk, and spend hours just looking at the wonders of the huge ocean. A full moon rose shortly after sunset each night and back lit the entire sky of clouds until it set just before dawn. Although we did not have sunny weather much of the time, we can not complain because the light rain squalls brought us the wind that enabled us to finish this trip in three and one half days; a 6.7 knot average speed. We were planning on four days, so this was a delight. We were met at the Avatiu Harbor by 6 cruisers who talked us through the narrow entrance on VHF and took our lines at the dock. Since we arrived at 10:00 PM we would not have come into the harbor in the dark without their help. Cruisers help other cruisers in any way possible, all the time. |
| September 9 | Wow, are we ever impressed with Rarotonga. It is a vacation spot for New Zealand and Australian tourists. The island is beautiful but, more importantly, the people are all so friendly, talkative, and helpful. The town is more complete than any of French Polynesia and definitely cleaner, more modern, and the prices are 1/3 of French Polynesia. We check in with the Harbor Master, Don Silk, and pass the Health inspection with a Rarotongan Mari named Joseph. He helps us with the "hello, thank you, good" type words in Cook Island language. Then onto the bank for some local currency where we learn that our Charles Schwab debit cards have expired. OH OH! Instead we use our Visa card for money and ponder how to get the new cards to us from Idaho. (I assume the new ones are waiting for us in the mail.) We are tired, so Rod looks around for a refrigeration repairman (remember that I think the expansion valve is plugged/jammed) and puts the boat away outside while Brenda shops around town and settles the inside of the boat. Evening is pretty but we are tired and in bed by 8:00 PM. |
| September 9 | We are slow to rise but up in time to talk to our friends who are under way on the SSB. Soon we are visited by Calvin and Linda, Jehovah Witness Missionaries. He is a New Zealander and she is a local Polynesian. After a nice conversation I invite them aboard the boat to show them what our current "home" looks like. They are impressed with the space and the beauty of the interior. I also think they were happy with our friendliness. It must get awfully tiresome when people rudely dismiss them. After this visit, Steven, the refrigeration expert called (I thought the first visitors were he). He did the normal troubleshooting and also concluded the expansion valve as the offending element. Unable to remove it without a special wrench, he leaves and will come back to finish the disassembly this afternoon. Brenda and I hit the road to call Bruce, my brother, and Kathy, his wife, who handle our mail. We hope the new VISA cards are in the awaiting mail. If so they can ship them to us within a 5 day period, I'm told. I had the most delightful conversation with Bruce and Kathy. It is so good to connect with the loved ones back home. The news of the stock market taking a 2000 point dive doesn't make my day. The "black M |