Adventures of Aita Pe'ape'a

Time to Say Goodbye

2010-07-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long time between posts, but, we’ve got some news –the boat is sold and we’re home!

At the end of June we met our buyer and began the long process of selling the boat. Unfortunately, we met Marcus (the buyer) at the Vuda Point Marina. What a terrible place – if you haven’t been there, we suggest you don’t. Far from picturesque, the marina is a literally a hole surrounded by a haul out yard. Since you’re inland there’s no breeze making it stifling hot, which is compounded by an abundance of mosquitoes and small flying palm cockroaches who encroached upon our hospitality long after we’d left. The only saving grace is the island bar, but even that didn’t help the horridness of the conditions. After a few days we decamped to the newer Port Denarau marina. Although Denarau is crowded with tourists and feels more like being in Orange County than Fiji, the breeze and lack of bugs make it number one in my book.

Just before my mom arrived for her long-planned vacation, we finalized the sale of Aita Pe’ape’a. Though we should have been mourning the loss of the boat, we still had a problem to deal with – getting Joey home. We were able to book him in air cargo for a flight to LA, but as things go, we weren’t able to just drop Joey off at the airport, we had to have a little adventure. Because the flight was so long, we thought it best to sedate our little cat. Tristan’s mom sent out a natural sedative to add to his water, which we did the night before the flight. Instead of dozing out Joey became so relaxed and drunken that he jumped off the boat (which he’s never done before!), meandered down the dock, found the biggest sailboat near by us and decided that was his new home. He made himself a comfortable toilet in their forepeak, leaving a little surprise of pee and poo before decamping to the anchor locker for a snooze. Marcus was awoken the next morning by a friendly guy asking ‘hey mate, lost a cat?’ Luckily for us the owners were animal lovers and chalked it up to a funny story. We then spent the rest of the day shuttling our new friends from Quarantine to the boat where they watched us pack Joey in his traveling crate and then took us to check-in at the airport. Feeling relieved after filling out the paperwork and saying goodbye, we went to the bar for a little toast. But, as things go, the adventure still wasn’t finished. An hour before the flight we were informed that the airline refused to take Joey. After a little wheedling, a little crying and some begging, the nice men at ATF decided it was better to put him on the flight instead of leaving him in his cage until the next flight out.

The next day, boat-less and cat-less, we made our way back to Musket Cove with my mom and our friends Bon Bon and Elena for a 10 day vacation before heading home. It was wonderful. We stayed in a beachfront bure, had hot showers every night, a big comfy bed and lovely deck to enjoy the day. We walked around the island, said goodbye to our friends and had a few last ‘joys,’ including a paddle around the harbor and a few afternoons of kite boarding.

Now that we’re back at home, it’s quite surreal. We’ve stared at the many options of bread, cereal, fresh milk, chips, meat…the lists just goes on. It feels like we never left while at the same time we both feel like we’re on vacation from our ‘real’ life on the boat. America is so clean, the streets are wide, there is an abundance of everything, and best of all (something I didn’t realize I missed) all of the public bathrooms are clean and come with toilet seat covers! We’ve been gorging on our favorite Mexican food all while looking for jobs, a place to live and getting ready for baby. Wish us luck!

Finally, we’d like to say goodbye to the blog and to all of the friends we’ve met along the way. We hope to see you on the high seas again soon. This will be our last post as our trip is over, but the adventure is just beginning. Fair winds!

Oooh, Barracuda!

2010-06-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

AITA PE’APE’A is officially listed with a broker and we’ve advertised her on a few websites for private sale. The broker we met with was located at Port Denarau, the Newport Beach of Fiji. In all of our cruising, we’ve yet to see a place as dedicated to tourism as Denarau. The island was fashioned from a mangrove swamp into a lush land featuring a golf course, about 8 resorts and a brand new shopping mall next to the marina. The mall has plenty of chain restaurants, including a Hard Rock Café, where we enjoyed a burger, nachos and chicken fajitas. Near the marina, canals have been built for access to multi-million dollar vacation homes with private docks. Not too shabby. Despite the price-gauging taxis and buses, we managed to enjoy ourselves, and the marina itself is reasonably priced, offering hot showers, unlimited water and ice.

After Denarau, we spent two days at Musket Cove waiting for the right weather to head to the Yasawas. One morning as I was lazing about, Tristan yelled from the deck to ‘Get out here now!’ I ran and saw what the fuss was about – a huge 6 foot 100 pound barracuda was right next to the boat. As we stared at the beast, he rose to the surface, turned his head and looked right at us. We got a clear view of his scary teeth. As I was locked in a death gaze, Tristan quietly got his spear gun out and aimed. The shot was just slightly too high and we missed, but it was probably for the best as later we found out that despite the locals loving the large barracuda, they’re known for carrying ciguatera.

Later that day we had another encounter with Mother Nature, albeit with a much cuter creature. As we were on deck enjoying the sunset, a little gecko sauntered from the window to the trampoline. We're not sure how he arrived, but he's a welcome addition! We know Joey hasn't gotten him yet, as he fell out of our main sail a couple of days ago...hopefully little gordo can elude our hunter cat.

The next day we left for Navadra Island in the Yasawas. The skies were clear, the water was glassy and of course, there was no wind. We motored the entire 20 miles, and arrived at a beautiful bay, with deep clear water and lined by a expansive white sand beach. Unfortunately, the bay was quite rocky and we left the next morning without exploring too much. Our next stop was Likuliku bay on Waya Island. Again, we had to motor the entire way, but were greeted with a spectacular view of jutting hills and lush jungle, reminding us of the Marquesas. The anchorage is an open roadstead totally exposed to the sea on one side, however, it is comfortable in settled weather. This bay has the distinction of being the new home of MOONDUSTER, a boat that was lost this past cyclone season to Cyclone Mick. Its always sad to see a beautiful boat washed up on shore, but one does have to wonder why this was the anchorage of choice to ride out a cyclone when safer harbors were within a day’s sail.

We had high hopes of sailing from Likuliku to Manta Ray island, with a favorable wind weather report. It wasn’t to be. We set off on a reach and were soon beating into 20 knots of wind. It only took about 20 minutes for us to decide to abandon the plan and turn back to Waya. We ended up at Yalobi Bay, where we spent another rocky night. At this point we were just about out of gas, and decided to head back to Musket Cove to refuel before trying again for Manta Ray and the Blue Lagoon. Fiji’s beautiful, but so far, the wind has been either dead or from the wrong direction!

Instead of fascinating you with more tales of cruising, I’ll leave you with this sentiment…GO TROJANS! FIGHT ON!

Kadavu and the Coral Coast

2010-05-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

We’ve been busy bees since we last updated, sailing from Suva to Draveuni on the Astrolabe Reef, into Kavala Bay in Kadavu, up to Yanuca in the Beqa Lagoon and finally along the Coral Coast and into the Mamanucas, where we are now.

Draveuni, where we first stopped, is the Disneyland of Fijian villages. Located in a calm lagoon with turquoise water, expansive white sand beach and swaying palms, Draveuni is a home to about 100 Fijians, who live in cement and thatched bure. During the high season, cruise ships stop at this island once a week. We presented our first sevusevu (a gift of kava for allowing us to stay in their water) to the chief, and met the mayor and other elders. While we sat with the men drinking kava and watching rugby on satellite TV run by one of the many generators, we were invited to their mother’s day feast the next day. Mother’s day is a true day of relaxation for the women. The men of the village wake at 4am to begin the cooking and continue until noon, when the feast began. Because of the cooking, the men were released from church, and only the women attended. The male children seemed to enjoy this rare Sunday away from church, laughing and splashing in the water. While the men cooked and the women were in church, we explored the island. We followed a trail to the top of the highest peak and were greeted with a fantastic view of the region.

After the hike it was feast time. Tristan and I helped set up the decorations and then sat down to enjoy the feast with everyone. It was delicious! We expected to have mostly taro, breadfruit and cassava root, with a small amount of meat, but we were wrong. We started with a fresh fish stew, and continued with so many different kinds of fresh reef fish served with a coconut milk/onion sauce, taro leaves in coconut milk, lime and breadfruit. After the feast it was nap time, later in the afternoon was a break for tea and cake, and the day ended with everyone around the kava bowl singing songs.

From Draveuni, we motored to Kavala Bay in Kadavu, where we spent a few calm nights and had a beach bbq in between rain storms. When the weather cleared we sailed over to the east side of the island, dodging reefs along the way. Once we arrived the weather turned sour and we spent two soggy nights before we were blown out of the bay and had to motor out into 30 knots. We spent the next night back in the protected Kavala Bay before heading up to Yanuca in the Beqa Lagoon. Unfortunately it was flat calm with no wind so we were forced to motor the entire way. We anchored off the Batiliva surf resort and met the friendly American owner Sharon, who let us wander the resort, watch TV and join in for a DELCIOUS dinner of fresh caught parrot fish, coral trout, rice, garlic bread, salad, stir fry vegetables and brownie & ice cream for dessert. If any of you happen to be looking for a place to stay or a yacht-friendly hotel, Sharon is the best!

From Yanuca, we had a quick downwind sail with winds at 25 knots from the southeast to the other Yanuca just off the mainland, home of the Shangri-La Fijian Resort. For a small fee, we were able to use the resort facilities, fill up on water and drop off garbage. We spent a wonderful day lazing by the pool. We had an easy downwind sail to Robinson Crusoe island, the famous backpacker’s resort known to be yacht friendly and a good time for all. For $1 we joined the yacht club and were able to join in all of the resort activities, including volleyball tournament, snorkeling, evening island games and a disco party. Quite a few young backpackers were there and we enjoyed getting to know some new (and young) people. For you yachties, this is a great place to stop with cheap and hearty meals at $10 Fijian per person for lunch and dinner. Robinson Crusoe is near a river overgrown with mangroves that leads to the beautiful Natadola Beach. Tristan and I sped down the river and ended with a picnic lunch on the beach. That night, it was back to Robinson Crusoe for kiting and their Fijian dance and fire show. Touted as the best show in Fiji (and we can see why), for just the price of dinner (still $10) we were treated to some of the best dancing we’ve seen since Tahiti.

Amazingly, we didn’t run into one other cruising boat. That is, until we arrived at Musket Cove. All of the yachties seem to be hiding out here. We’re now members of the yacht club and have been enjoying the hot showers (finally a hot shower, its been so long!), lovely pool and beach, and nice ambiance. The winds have been blowing at a steady 15-20 knots with sunny skies, and Tristan’s been enjoying himself kiting off the small sand island at low tide.

We’re going to be here for another day or two and then we’ll sail up to Lautoka where we’ll meet with the broker to begin the process of selling our boat. If any of you would like a boat to start cruising, feel free to contact us at nybysail@gmail.com with any questions.

Exploring the Rainforest

2010-05-06T21:40:00.001-07:00

Our engine is finally fixed and we’re ready to head out to Kadavu and the great Astrolabe Reef. We’ve spent our three weeks in Suva eating, shopping and watching movies enough to last for another year. We also managed to do a bit of exploring, the highlight of which was the rainforest national park Colo-I-Suva. We spent a full day wandering the lush grounds and swimming in the many cool freshwater pools. The paths are well maintained and feature gorgeous picnic spots. Upon entering the park you immediately feel refreshed and the quiet of the rainforest drowns out the sounds of the many cars and buses just outside. If we weren’t leaving for Kadavu this weekend, we’d definitely take another trip to the park.

We’ll write more from Kadavu where we plan to snorkel the reef and enjoy the white sand beaches.

FIJI!!!

2010-04-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

We made it! Aita Pe’ape’a is in Fiji, and after the isolation of Tonga the bustling city of Suva is exactly what we’re looking for. We left Tonga on Wednesday, April 14th with a clear, but light winds weather window. Even though it wasn’t the usual 15-20 knot prediction that we look for, at 9am on Wednesday we decided just to go for it. We’re glad we did – the sail was easy, with light winds and following seas. We predicted that it would take us four days to arrive in Suva, but after the 1st night we realized we could make it in three. We averaged 6.5 knots the entire way and arrived at 3pm on Saturday, April 17th.

First thing on the agenda, eat out and go grocery shopping. Sunday we hit the Cost U Less and stocked up on much needed items such as chocolate chips and cheese other than the generic ‘Edam’ available in Tonga. We also found not one, but two McDonalds, a KFC and a pizza hut. We haven’t had American fast food, or really just fast food, in over a year, and the McDonalds grease bomb cheeseburger and fries were a little taste of heaven and home. A week later and 5 pounds heavier, we’re exploring the other culinary delights the city has to offer and plan to go to a recommended Indian restaurant this evening. The abundance of options has been overwhelming, but welcome. Not to disparage our fave Tongan hang out Aquarium Café, but man, its nice to have Chinese food! We even found a mall that has a food court.

Other than gorging ourselves we’ve been walking and exploring town. The Fijian people are welcoming and the jungle around the city is lush. To our delight we found a MOVIE THEATRE! We’ve already seen two movies – Date Night and Kick Ass. Date Night was HILARIOUS and Kick Ass was okay. We’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of Iron Man 2 next week....

We’re now on a mooring off of what used to be the Tradewinds hotel and is now a Novotel. Despite the name change, the hotel retains it’s cruiser friendly policy. With the purchase of a drink, you’re free to use the pool and other facilities. As soon as our engine is fixed, we’ll head out to Kandavu and the western side of Viti Levu. For now, we’re enjoying the spoils of the city.

Pig Roast Time

2010-04-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

It’s officially pig roast time in Tonga. Our friends from Independence bought a pig for Jenny’s birthday and invited us and quite a few other cruisers for a party on the beach at Port Maurelle. The party was great. We spent the afternoon swimming, exploring and playing a rousing game of volleyball.

Volleyball in Tonga is a lot of fun…We started out with 2 on each side and the teams kept growing till we had 6 on each side. The Tongan’s have an interesting defense tactic screaming “SORRY!” at the top of their lungs over and over when the ball is on the other team’s side. It’s quite distracting as the ball barrels towards you. We played for about an hour before we started keeping score, and it was another hour before the game was over. My team lost by only 2 points! It was 17-15. After the game it was time for food. Everyone brought a side to share and the pig was displayed on a bed of leaves and we all dug in pulling off parts that looked the best.

We spent the next few days relaxing at Port Maurelle and then headed into town for a few days of strong west winds and lots of rain. Once the wind switched back around to the east, we sailed to Kenutu for Tristan to get some kiting in. Unfortunately, he was only able to kite for one afternoon before the wind died completely. We filled our days with freeboarding and snorkeling the pass, where we saw the biggest Angel fish ever (at least 20 pounds!), a black tip reef shark and an eagle ray. Later, Tristan got some surfing in, near the reef by the Blue Lagoon. He spent 5 hours with a 2 ½ meter swell and came back tired, happy, and with sun burnt eyes.

After our relaxing days in the outer islands, we went back to town because strong west winds and rain were predicted again. Man, I’m glad we went back – in the early evening of the day we got back to town (when the winds were supposed to switch and pick up) it was dead calm and we were regretting coming back in. But, we were awoken that night at 1 am by howling winds and giant raindrops pounding on the deck. We jumped out of the bunk and quickly began taking down all of the flapping sunshades. Back in bed, we were soaked, but happy in our decision to come back to town.

At Easter last year, we were in the middle of the ocean sailing from Mexico to the Marquesas. Man, has time passed. This year, we spent an idyllic day on Eueiki Island with our friends Kevin, Brandi and their kids, Independence, Lori, and our two new friends Alex and Shawna, visiting from the Virgin Islands. Otis and Jenny had a pig leftover from Jenny’s birthday so the boys built a fire and we roasted it. Meanwhile, Brandi and I spent three hours making 83 tortillas for our pig and fish tacos. It was well worth it in the end and we feasted all night! We were too tired to go back to the boat that evening, so we got to be landlubbers again for a night and had hot showers and a fale of our own...

We’re awaiting a weather window to sail to Fiji and it looks like we may have one mid-next week. For the time being we’re getting the boat ready and taking long walks around town. Mostly though, we spend our time day dreaming about what kind of groceries we can find in Fiji…for those of you getting ready to set sail to the South Pacific, pack dried beans and chocolate chips!

Hopefully our next post will be from the sunny isles of Fiji…

…and then another tsunami

2010-03-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

It was our first night back on the boat. As soon as the owners of the house arrived, we hopped on the boat and headed out for the clear waters of Port Maurelle. We were in high spirits, swimming, organizing, relaxing…it was nice to be back on the boat. After an enjoyable pizza party on another boat we settled into our bunk for a good night’s sleep. It was not to be. At 3am we were woken up when our friend Philip from CARINA knocked on our boat with a tsunami warning. Port Maurelle was hit pretty bad during the last tsunami, so we quickly turned on the engine and motored to deeper water. Oh, and by the way, we were still in our underwear. Yup, we were so worried, we got out of there without getting dressed! And it was a full moon…

Information at this hour was scarce – we weren’t sure when the tsunami was supposed to hit. We only knew the cause, the earthquake in Chile. As we motored in circles in deeper water, we called our family in the US for information. After about 40 minutes, we decided just to head back into Neiafu where we’d be safe when the tsunami hit. We finally pulled up to our mooring at 5am and promptly fell asleep. We woke up at 9ish to find we’d slept through the beginning of the tsunami! There wasn’t any damage in Vava’u; this tsunami wasn’t as big as the last one. Joey was the most affected. He was jarred awake along with us and was so scared by the abrupt awakening that he pooped on me. Just little rabbit-type poops, but still. He pooped on me.

After the tsunami scare we went back to Port Maurelle, where we stayed for a week. Every day we fished and every day we came home with nothing. We’re still trying, though! We swam, freeboarded, worked on boat projects and got used to being on the boat again. Before we left Los Angeles, we took our time moving from our apartment to the boat, gradually getting ourselves used to the small space. Because of this (and probably the fact that I didn’t really cook at home), I didn’t think there was much of a difference in cooking on the boat and in a house. Boy, was I wrong! After living with a giant kitchen, I realize it is so much easier to have room to wander around in, stand up while cooking, and have endless counter and storage space. It’s been quite a change to be back to chopping on one cutting board while sitting on a bench and sweltering with both the oven and stove top working. Tristan misses the juicer from the house the most; he made gallons of fresh pineapple and mango juice, which was delicious. He’s managed to make it on the boat, but with a much bigger mess and a lot more sweat. At least we have the bright blue ocean to cool off in while we’re drinking sangria made with fresh tropical juice! Joey’s back to being a lazy cat – at the house he macerated geckos and killed cockroaches. Now, he just sleeps. We think he misses his dog buddies.

Before we moved out of the house, we explored the island of Vava’u by car and were followed by numerous barking dogs as we entered and exited villages. At one point we were lost in the bush and had to be directed out by a man on a horse. Once out of the trees, we were plopped into the middle of a village and surrounded by young girls and boys in red uniforms, just out of school. We asked how to get back to town and were pointed down the street. We followed what seemed like a fairly large road for about half an hour when the street dead-ended in front of large building. The kids had sent us to school! We backtracked through the village, driving through snickering boys, to the main road and eventually found our way home.

The weather here has been calm, absolutely no wind and hot. After a week, we left Port Maurelle for Taunga, which is a calm weather anchorage. We anchored in ten feet of clear turquoise water and went for a walk on a beautiful white sand beach. The next few days we enjoyed the water and visited our friends on Eueiki Island for a beach bbq.

Tristan’s been getting the boat ready to go to Fiji. He’s reinforced our forward ribs and cockpit floor, varnished our topside cabin handles and cockpit, and rebuilt all of the carburetors for the generator, boat engine and dinghy outboard. In 98 degree heat with 100% humidity, it was hard work. He was able to relax a bit last Friday when he helped the boat DAMN win amongst the under 30’ crowd during the Friday Night Yacht Race. They snaked in on the last tack and raced ahead to beat TRIESTE by 100 feet.

We’re back in town for a few supplies (and of course, to watch the Oscars) and will head out to Kenutu for kiteboarding in a few days.

Cyclone Rene

2010-02-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

We weathered our first cyclone fantastically. Cyclone Rene blew through Vava’u on Valentine’s evening, ruining the romantic dinner I had planned, with winds blowing at a steady 90 knots with gusts up to 125 at its peak. Before I continue, let me just say AITA PE’APE’A is fine.

Sunday morning before the storm, Tristan and I both felt that there was nothing more we could do to prepare the boat - sticking around second guessing ourselves was only making it worse. A drink was definitely in order, but being a Sunday in Tonga, nothing was open. We drove around for a while and finally found the one restaurant that was open in the hotel owned by the king’s cousin; of course, being the King’s cousin, he can stay open when no one else can. Tristan had a few beers and I had a rum and juice.

We happen to be house and dog sitting at the moment in the nicest house in Tonga, possibly even in the South Pacific, so after settling our nerves, we went back to the house to prepare for the storm by playing Wii. Later that afternoon as the winds began to pick up we went and picked up our friends from SERENUS and INDEPENDENCE to begin our cyclone party. As it got dark, the winds started to rage, but the house is so secure that we didn’t feel anything. The power went out fairly quickly and Noah got the generator running so we could continue playing video games and watching movies…after awhile the girls went to sleep and the boys continued to drink. Tristan, Noah and Otis even went outside, but were sent running back in as they felt the stinging rain. Boys aren’t so smart after a few drinks…

Just before the eye of the storm passed over the winds raged, and the house barely shook. We had a 2-hour wait in the eye of the storm before the winds started again, but again, the house is so secure it felt like a mild breeze. Ben, the son of Otis and Jenny from INDEPENDENCE, didn’t even remember strong winds the day after the storm.

A house two down from us lost part of their roof and one home in the neighborhood had a bathroom ceiling collapse. Other than fallen breadfruit trees and power lines, there really wasn’t as much damage as you’d expect from a storm that strong. Other villages did see worse, but no one was hurt. Living in the house, we experienced the warmth of the Tongans first hand – before, even during, and after the storm we had lots of calls and visits to ensure we were okay. Now, everyone is working together to repair damage.

The cruising fleet came through nicely. Two boats dragged. One is the derelict boat of the local net controller, whose boat ended up on the rocks, probably due to the fact that he didn’t do anything to prepare. On it’s way out it narrowly missed hitting our boat, but did hit the bow of a boat next to us. Luckily, it is only cosmetic damage. The other boat dragged into the middle of the channel at the beginning of the storm and then dragged back into the harbor when the wind switched. Scott from MARIAH provided some photos from the 2nd half of the cyclone.

Preparing for the cyclone was stressful for everyone, very stressful. We did everything we could to prepare by adding extra lines, new chafe gear, and even filling the forward hulls with water and hanging tires from the bows to ensure that our lightweight boat stayed low in the water and wouldn’t fly in the strong winds. A day before the cyclone, when nerves were at their highest, a lovely man got on the radio during the Cruiser’s Information Net, called out Aita Pe’ape’a and said our boat, and all of the other catamarans, would definitely flip during the storm and there was nothing we could do about it. People who stayed on their boats during the cyclone said that the cats rode better than the monohulls. Take that you big arse!

Before the storm, we wiled away our time as usual – celebrating my birthday with a tequila-themed party, followed by a Tongan feast and then Indian banquet the next night. On the Sunday after my b-day, I was hoping for a relaxing day, but it wasn’t to be. We were asked to help crew MARIAH, a Catana 582, as they took the Governor of Vava’u and other Tongan officials out for a day sail. It was awesome – they arrived with a Tongan feast complete with roasted pig, head and tail still intact, and beautiful weather. As we sailed, Tristan and I got to know the governor, a graduate of Cal (unfortunately), bonding over our mutual love of Pac-10 football. If he could move, he’d make a very effective center.

If you don’t hear from us for awhile, its because we’re having too much fun playing video games, taking long hot showers and perusing the internet for items we can’t get in Tonga. We only have the house for 10 more days so we’re going to enjoy creature comforts while we can! Miss you all…

Maninita

2010-01-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

The weather has been calm - virtually no wind and stifling hot! We’ve been waking up to 85-degree heat with 91% humidity. Luckily, the water is still cool and refreshing. We decided to take advantage of the calm seas and head to Maninita (#31), the southernmost anchorage in the group. It was beautiful – a clear shallow lagoon surrounded by a vibrant reef. We spent a few days on the island with our friends Noah and Vickie from SERENUS as well as Kevin and Brandie and their kids, transplants from Texas now living on Eueiki Island. We, of course, spent our time snorkeling and exploring, but Noah and Kevin also went spear fishing and came back with a prize – a dog tooth tuna that must weigh at least 150 pounds. It was a tasty bbq that evening!

After Maninita we spent a few days in Kenutu and then meandered over to Port Maurelle. All were beautiful, but HOT. On a particularly sweltering day we escaped the boat for a walk, and found a trail leading us into the bush with tons of mango trees. We were overpowered by the pungent smell of rotting mangos, which was oddly comforting and reminded us – hey, we’re in the tropics! We picked through the fruit on the ground and had a delicious snack on our walk. At the end of the trail we were greeted by two children pushing an empty wheelbarrow around, who led us into a charming village with a beautiful white sand beach.

We’re heading out to South Tapana today, more updates to come. Just in case we don’t have an internet connection next week, Happy Birthday to Ash and Shelby! Hope you guys have a great day. And, thanks to our friend Noah Faustman from SERENUS for the top picture of our boat anchored in Maninita!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-07T13:05:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope your holidays were fantastic. We had a wonderful Christmas and fun New Years, although I did get a bit homesick on Christmas day.

Before Christmas we spent a week or so at Port Maurelle (anchorage #7), where we fished, explored a few caves and swam every day. Luckily, our computer is working again and we managed to save the previously mentioned picture of the fish we caught!

After Port Maurelle we went to the island of Vaka Eitu (#16) and hid on the boat during some very rainy days. On the one clear day we had we took the dinghy across the bay to the village of Mata Maka. As we walked up the somewhat dilapidated concrete dock we were greeted by a family on the beach who were just preparing their mid-day meal. They offered to show us around the village, but we declined, preferring to explore for ourselves. We continued on the grass pathway and were led into a quaint neighborhood. All of the houses faced the ocean and had well tended gardens. Fresh laundry dried in the backyards of most of the homes and children played along the road. Everyone greeted us as we walked by and soon we had a trail of kids following us. We reached the end of the grass pathway, and as we were contemplating which way to go next, the son of the village minister offered to show us the way. He led us through the bush to the end of the island where we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the surrounding islands. On our way back, he described local life to us. In response to our questions of what the afternoon would hold, he said “Well, we’re cooking now. Then we’ll eat and have a sleep.” We asked if they would go fishing at any point, and his response was “maybe tomorrow.” As we walked back to the dock, one of the smallest kids who had been with us the entire time, grabbed my hand and contentedly held it until we got to the dinghy. It was the sweetest thing and we almost took a new crew member along…

For Christmas, we went to what is fast becoming our favorite anchorage, Kenutu (#31). The weather was perfect – sunny during the day and a cool breeze at night. Out on the sand cay, the wind was blowing a steady 15-20 knots and Tristan got some great kiting in.

On Christmas Eve we tried to follow our family traditions Tongan style. We made a feast of prime rib with mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. Our friend Eric from SIDETRACK joined us for dinner. We ate as the sun set and then lounged about with a pecan pie for dessert. Later that night Tristan and I opened our gifts for each other – a machete and video game for him, and new kitchen knife and jewelry for me! Christmas morning we woke up and our stockings were full of candy, crackers and what we thought were water guns, but were really just toy guns that made noise. We had coffee and spent the morning watching episodes of Greek, a Christmas present from Pascale. We ended the day with a walk around the island, sunset swim and cocktails on deck. Eric’s family has a Christmas Eve tradition of making pizza for dinner, so we did just that for our Christmas dinner. It was perfect, although we wish our families could have been here with us.

Just before New Year’s Eve we sailed back into town. We scoured the stores for fireworks and then settled in for burgers. At about 11pm we went to the local bar, the Mermaid Café, where it was really quiet – just a few cruisers were sitting around having drinks and a low music played in the background. At midnight, along with a few other cruisers, we set off our fireworks and shot old flares. Tristan and I decided to stay for one more drink and then go home. Well, it didn’t exactly work out that way. Just as we were leaving tons of people arrived and a DJ started. Turns out all of the locals are in church until midnight. Once church ends, the party begins! We stayed and danced until about 3am, but we heard the party kept going until breakfast.

We’re leaving for Hunga (#13) today and will update once we get back into town.

2009-12-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

After Thanksgiving we left Neiafu for the anhorages and spent a lovely week in Port Maurelle (anchorage #7) fishing,
swimming and freeboarding. If you'd like to see a map of the area, you can find one with this link:
Map of Vava'u. We caught a medium sized blue trevally, but may
have lost the picture due to our computer dying. If we are able to fix the computer, we'll make sure to upload the picture.

As some of you may know, the South Pacific had its first cyclone of the season. It passed directly over Fiji, where
some damage was caused. Luckily, cyclone Mick passed south of us. We had a night of steady 25 knot winds with gusts
up to 35 knots. We were tucked securely on our mooring in the harbor and the worst thing we experienced was a cooling
of the weather! It was a nice break from the steady heat we've had.

Now that the weather has cleared up, we're heading out to Kenutu (anchorage #30) to spend the Christmas holiday. We
hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Neiafu

2009-12-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

We’ve spent a few weeks here in Neiafu getting to know the locals, expats and other cruisers who will be staying here for the cyclone season. The harbor, which once had as many as 300 boats is down to about 10.

Before our friends off of KENA and DAMN left, we were able to catch the final fakaleiti show at Tonga Bob’s Cantina. Fakaleiti is Tongan for ‘like a lady,’ or literally, a man that dresses and acts like a lady. Despite the deeply religious and socially conservative nature of this country, fakaleiti’s are treated with respect and are accepted without reserve in society. It is quite refreshing to see this, and I hope that one day we can say the same about the United States. As for the show, it was amazing! It was really fun and Tristan received a very special lap dance…The show started with a rendition of a traditional Polynesian dance and went on to lip synching and dancing to classic hits like Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ and pop hits such as Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies.’ A particularly acrobatic and slightly scary version of ‘Cell Block Tango’ from the musical “Chicago,” featured a lady jumping from the rafters and then slamming a real knife into the stage. After the show was over, the stage turned into a dance floor and we had a great time dancing the night away (well, at least until midnight…)

Later that week was Halloween and the final Friendly Island Yacht Race. We dressed up as Romans, wore our sheets as togas and Noah from SERENUS made us fantastic leaf crowns. We came in 4th overall, but we were 1st among the multihulls. We were nose to nose with a fast 40’ custom cat for most of the race, but edged them out on the 2nd upwind tack, and we blew away a 38’ Brown trimaran and a Privilige 41’. We won a case of diet coke. It may sound silly, but soda of any kind is pretty expensive here, so we were really happy! Yeah us!

The next night, actual Halloween, was low key. We carved a pumpkin and then got back into our wrinkled sheets and went to the party at Aquarium. We got free drinks for being the best dressed and most original. You wouldn’t believe how many pirates there were. I guess Halloween costumes aren’t at the top of the cruiser packing list…The party was fun and featured a live band, but it didn’t heat up until the Vava’u rugby team arrived, all dressed as fakaleitis!

By the time Tristan’s 29th birthday arrived, we were partied out and had a quiet evening on the boat. We roasted a chicken, made spaetzle and had pumpkin pie made from fresh pumpkins. It was delicious and really relaxing to take a break from the socializing and hang out on the boat. The next day, due to the time difference, was Tristan’s birthday in the US, so we decided to celebrate again. It was pouring rain, but we managed to get ashore and have a great steak dinner at Laredo’s Bar and Grill. We motored into the dinghy dock dressed in full foul weather gear and were greeted by what seemed like the entire town. It hadn’t rained in awhile, and for the Tongans, it was a day to celebrate. Tons of kids were swimming and playing in the water, while the adults took rain showers. They were all in shorts and t-shirts enjoying the downpour and we looked really silly all covered up in rain gear.

For Thanksgiving, we managed to have two turkey dinners, which is quite amazing considering there are no turkeys on the island. Both restaurants special ordered turkeys from New Zealand and created fantastic thanksgiving dinners for us. It wasn’t quite like home, but at least we got to celebrate! After two turkey dinners we are completely stuffed and may have to fast for awhile.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the 1st day of the annual fishing tournament between Neiafu and the capital of Nukualofa, which is about 175 miles south of us. Tristan was invited to fish on the catamaran MARIAH. They left at 6:30am with dreams and plans for big mahi-mahis and marlins…and you guessed it, they pulled back into the harbor at 4pm with nothing. Apparently they had a few bites during the day, but sharks stole it all.

Everyone is gearing up for Christmas, with Christmas carols playing throughout Neiafu and although no one seems to decorate in Neiafu, we plan to deck the boat out. We found some pine trees on Kenutu and we plan to fashion a Christmas tree out of the needles. I’ll be making Christmas cookies as soon as we get an overcast day – otherwise it’ll just be too hot to sit inside with the oven on! Oh, the trials of a tropical Christmas season…

We’re heading back out to the anchorages tomorrow for a few weeks of kiting, freeboarding, boat projects and relaxing away from the rigorous life of the city. We miss you all and hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Aitutaki and Niue Update

2009-10-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Even though we’re in Tonga and loving it, we wanted to share a few more stories from our time in Aitutaki and Niue and show some great photos we just uploaded.

For our 3rd wedding anniversary, we went out to an ‘island night’ in Aitutaki. An island night is the Cook Islands version of the luau. The food was cooked local style and was absolutely phenomenal. A particular favorite of Tristan and mine was the creamed spinach that was unlike anything we’ve ever tasted. It was cooked in coconut milk and seasoned with a variety of spices, including nutmeg. Several fruit and vegetable salads, rice, taro, breadfruit, roasted pork and chicken, grilled parrot fish, and a variety of curries were available, including a delicious and tender curried lamb. After stuffing ourselves silly we had to make room for dessert, which was homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake. They used locally grown vanilla to make the ice cream, and what a difference that makes! I bought some vanilla beans to use with our ice cream maker when we get home. For now, I’m using it to make fresh vanilla extract as well as swirling the bean in cream sauces for a delicate vanilla flavor that goes well with most white meat fish.

Once dinner was over the show began. It was the best fire dancing we’ve ever seen. Each set featured 4-6 dancers who were having the best time and making sure the audience did too. Everyone was so into it! During the Maori Warrior dance, which luckily wasn’t a fire dance, a toddler walked up to the warrior and just looked at him like he was absolutely nuts. The dancer was supposed to keep a fierce look on his face but even he couldn’t hold back a smile as the toddler peered up at him.

In Niue we also attended a dance show, but of a much different kind. The island council threw a fundraiser/cultural show at the high school, and not only was the entire population of the island in attendance, every cruising boat was there to enjoy the festival. The beginning of the morning featured a farmer’s market competition, with the local farmers bringing in their biggest taro roots, pumpkins, coconut crabs and other plants we couldn’t quite identify. While the farmer’s wares were being judged we were free to walk around the grounds and visit the many food tents featuring pancakes, bbq and rotisserie meats, coconuts, juice and a strange soup consisting of coconut milk, carrots, taro and arrowroot. Also available was mini golf for prizes. Adults could try for alcohol and kids had the chance to win soda, snacks and mp3 players. We tried to win a bottle of tequila but failed miserably (luckily we found a bottle in the duty free store here in Neiafu!). After the local council finished their speeches and calls for us to spend money, the dancing began. Of course, being in the South Pacific we expected only Polynesian type dancing. Boy were we wrong! The dancing started out with a group of about ten women dressed in cowboy hats, red shirts and boots line dancing to George Strait! A confused fellow cruiser from Brazil looked at Tristan and I and said, ‘This is from Texas, right?” I could only nod! The dancing that followed consisted of some traditional Polynesian dancing, although the music was always modern and synthesized. Our favorite dance featured a young girl who welcomed the visitors. She was absolutely adorable! The last dance of the day was a group of teenage girls showcasing their moves to that South Pacific favorite, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” It truly was a cultural experience, and the Niueans made sure to include a dance from every corner of the world.

We want to give Keith and the Niue Yacht Club a special thank you for making us feel so welcome. We hope to come back again some day!

Here in Tonga, we’ve been hanging out in the outer anchorages with our friends that will be leaving soon for New Zealand. We spent a week at Vaka Eitu, aka anchorage #16/Coral Gardens, with quite a few other boats. The snorkeling at the gardens was amazing, with the most vibrant array of coral I’ve ever seen. However, the fish were the same as we’ve seen elsewhere – no spectacular new species. For the first time this trip, Tristan and some friends went for a night dive to catch lobsters. Although we’ve been fishing unsuccessfully for quite awhile, they were lucky that night. Tristan came back with 3 slipper lobsters and Noah from SERENUS caught 6. The next day we all met on the beach for an afternoon bbq and lunch of lobster tacos. It was delicious, despite the fact that I became intimately acquainted with the ‘bugs.’ They sure are ugly little crawlers…

From Vaka Eitu we headed back to town to re-provision and enter in the Friday Night Friendly Island Yacht Race. We sailed much better and came in 5th out of 8 boats, staying close to the front of the pack for the entire race. At the first buoy we were nose to nose with a sleek monohull, but we ran ahead on the downwind tack. Our prize was 2 free curries from Mahi Mahi Curry. Not a bad exchange – race for free food!

After a weekend spent in town spending more money than we have, we again went out to the anchorages. We anchored for 3 nights at Nuku and despite bad weather had a great time, with 2 beach bbq’s and plenty of freeboarding and fishing. At the bbq's we got to know some of the cruising kids - they are rambunctious, fun and have no problem hanging out conversing with adults. Tristan says they remind him a lot of when he was a cruising kid in Tonga in 1991. I was able to get to know a girl named Caroline and we had the greatest time chatting and playing in the water - we even freeboarded together on the Stand Up Paddleboard. It was awesome! She's only ten, but she reminded me of all of my girlfriends at home.

From Nuku, we sailed East to Ofu, anchorage #28, for a couple of nights. Ofu is a lovely island with a quirky little village. There is one amazingly maintained road of mowed grass with coconut hedges that traverses the entire length of the village. All of the houses are situated on the east side of the road facing the bay on the west. On our walk we encountered tons of little kids who loved having their picture taken and then shown to them. We also met a local coming back from picking coconuts. He had a horse and calf with him and the horse was carrying all of the coconuts. Unfortunately the bag had a hole in it and coconuts were constantly falling out! The small store, named New York City, was the local hangout and most of town could be seen sitting in front at all times of the day.

The next morning we had a very exciting start to the day. We were anchored near the church in the village and at 5am the bells started ringing insistently. They must have rang 30 times in a row, and both Tristan and I were startled out of a dead sleep. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening and for a moment thought that we must be under enemy attack. It wasn’t until we looked outside and saw the shining beacon lights of the church in the pitch black that we realized it was the call to go to church. Of course, just as we fell back asleep, the bells rang again warning people to get to church. Luckily it didn’t happen again that morning and we happily fell back asleep to the wonderful singing of the congregation.

After our morning scare, we motored to Kenutu, anchorage #30 where we spent a fantastic quite week. Every day we either kite-boarded on a sand spit that emerges at low tide, snorkeled, paddle boarded or freeboarded. Kenutu is small island with lots of pine and coconut trees. On the west side of the island is a long white sand beach, but when you hike to the other side, you are greeted with a view of crashing surf onto coral and volcanic rocks. The water is clear, but cool, with more starfish and shells than I’ve ever seen. I’ve got quite a collection of perfect sand dollars now…

Lest you think all we do is play, I thought we’d show some proof that we’re constantly doing chores. Every morning begins with a cleaning of the boat, laundry, and fixing whatever happened to break the day before. Granted, we do have a great view to enjoy while we work and can cool off in the ocean at any moment! And, after all of these chores, we then have to find a way to feed ourselves. Tristan spends hours on the water trying to catch us dinner. Most nights we aren’t very lucky, but while in Kenutu, Tristan caught a huge blue trevally. We had a bbq on the beach that night and fed 8 other people!

We’re now back in Neiafu and we plan to stay here for the rest of the week. On Friday night, the yacht club will have its final Friendly Island Yacht Race. Wish us luck!

Aitutaki, Niue and Vava’u

2009-10-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in the update, but we’ve been without internet for quite awhile! We ended up spending 22 days in Aitutaki waiting for a weather window to head to Niue. We pretty much became locals, with most people asking if we were immigrating... We departed Aitutaki for Niue on Saturday, September 12th and arrived on Wednesday, September 16th just before sunset. The sail was uneventful, with big confused seas at the start of the trip which calmed down by the time we arrived in Niue. We sailed at a steady 6-7 knots, making 150 miles almost every day.

Niue was a very interesting place – a geologists’ dream! We picked up a mooring in 70 feet of water. The water was so clear you could see to the bottom, which created an optical illusion that made you feel as though you could reach down and touch the coral below. We spent lots of time snorkeling around the boat and watching sea snakes, parrot fish and a few sharks go about their daily lives. Niue is a breeding ground for humpback whales, and though we were too late to see most of the whales, we did get to see a baby playing around just outside of the anchorage.

We rented a car with our friends off GILLAROO and drove around the island to check out the many caves and chasms. A particular favorite of ours was a deep chasm just after a short walk. The rocks were purple and the water was a combination of fresh and salt water. As you walked into the water, it was icy cold, but if you dove down a few feet, it was warm as a bath. And, there was no need for a rinse off at the end – as you walked out the fresh water on top rinsed off the salt. We also hiked through amazing caves with stalagmites and stalactites galore. Walking through them was quite eerie, giving one the feeling that some sort of ancient beast would pop out at any second.

From Niue we left for Tonga and had a very calm sail, with light winds. We sailed between 5-7 knots the entire trip to ensure we didn’t arrive in Tonga at night. It was a great feeling to finally arrive in Neiafu – it is the biggest city we’ve seen since Raiatea, with more restaurants and bars than we ever thought possible. We went out almost every night and have had some great food. There is a restaurant on a cliff overlooking the bay that serves great Mediterranean style food and an American style bbq place serving all you can eat ribs was a real treat and taste of home!

The citizens of Vava’u are more religious than the other islands we’ve visited. One village has 5 churches for 300 locals. As you can imagine, because of this the fashion is quite conservative, and my clothing options have become limited. Despite the heat, the women are usually covered to their elbows and down to their ankles. In the mid day sun, I really don’t know how they do it! I’ve finally come to the conclusion that if I have sleeves, I can wear shorts, and if I have a tank top my knees must be covered. This seems to be the consensus of most of the visitors to the island. The locals don’t expect the tourists to conform to their rules of dress, but we’re doing our best to fit in.

Although the Tongans are traditionalists, they do know how to party, as we found out last Friday night. Many of the restaurants turn into bars, and we spent our evening at the Mermaid Café. If you ever doubt the widespread popularity of MTV, come to Tonga. The newest hip hop songs are played and everyone dances, old and young. It reminded us of spending an evening at the Harbor Reef Bar in Catalina. Such fun!

After a few days of the ‘big’ city, we felt the need for some quiet and seclusion and headed out to the many small islands that spread south in the Vava’u group. We spent two lovely nights in Port Maurelle, one of Tristan’s favorite spots from when he was a child. During one of our expeditions, we found the underwater cave called ‘Mariner’s Cave.’ There is no place to anchor, so someone has to stay on the boat and drive it around while the others swim to the cave. We happened to join our friends Sebastien and Celine aboard their boat TORTEAU. Celine drove around while Sebastien, Tristan and I swam ashore. Once you get to the cave, you have to dive five feet down, swim under a wall for about 12 feet, then pop up into the cave. It was crazy! As you swim into the cave it is really dark and you can’t see how far you have to go. Once you pop up the cave is dark, but quite cool. As the water surges in, the cave is filled with fog. It’s a strange sensation as we had to constantly adjust our ears to the differing pressures. This was one of those times we wished we had an underwater housing for our digital camera, as a picture could describe the cave much better than I can.

After Mariner’s Cave we went to the lagoon inside of Hunga island and holed up there for a few nights. We happened to be in Hunga when the Tsunami warning came through. Luckily the bay is quite protected with only a small pass on the east side, so we were safe. As we were drinking our morning coffee, Tristan looked towards the pass and noticed a great amount of water pouring in, creating a standing wave. We turned on the VHF radio to talk to our friends next to us, and that’s when we found out we were experiencing a tsunami due to the earthquake in Samoa. It was astounding to watch such a phenomenon without being in any danger. Luckily, most of the boats in and around Vava’u didn’t sustain any damage, and there were no injuries to those who lived on shore.

A northern low-lying Tongan island did incur quite a bit of damage, and most of the buildings were washed away. The citizens and cruisers of Neiafu will be joining together to raise supplies to send to the island. We’ll try and do whatever we can as well. We’ve got plenty of canned and freeze dried food to send along, as do most of the cruisers here.

Every Friday night the Vava’u Yacht Club/Mermaid Café holds a friendly sailing race up and down the harbor. We entered last night, and although we got whooped, we still had a great time. The wind was blowing SSE at 10-15 knots and as we tacked upwind we lost a lot of ground, having to make a few more tacks than everyone else as we couldn’t point as sharp as the rest of the boats. The last leg was downwind and although we were able to catch up to the pack, we weren’t able to overtake anyone. We had hoped it would be a reach as our boat is fastest at that point of wind, maybe next week we’ll have better luck. We placed 4th out of 5 boats and won 2 free wines or beers at the Marina Wine Bar.

On another note, congratulations to PILOT, who just arrived in Long Beach after a 22 day sail from Hawaii.

Now that we have a reliable internet connection, we’ll update the blog on a regular basis. We plan to stay in town for a few days before heading back out to explore the many anchorages
Vava’u has to offer.

Bora Bora to Aitutaki

2009-08-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

We left Bora Bora on Monday, August 17th to head for Suwarrow in the Northern Cook Islands, where the weather looked the steadiest. The first day we had medium winds and big seas and to make the sail comfortable, we kept the boat at 5 knots through the afternoon and into the night. On the morning of the 18th, the wind had completely died and we were barely moving at 2 knots. After a quick look at the newest weather report, the winds had changed in favor of going to Aitutaki. We immediately switched our course to head for the Southern Cook Island. We didn't gain much speed, sailing downwind at 2-3 knots. That evening we were fed up and turned on the motor to get us through the night. By morning, we were sailing at 7-8 knots on a reach. The wind continued for the rest of the passage, and at the end, we had to slow down to ensure we didn't arrive at night! This was our best passage to date, with steady winds, small to medium seas and virtually no squalls.

We arrived outside of Aitutaki at 11am on Friday, August 21st, and had a tough time trying to find the entrance into the bay. Unlike the well-marked waterways of French Polynesia, this entrance is only marked by rebar poles lining the north side. After a bit of searching we located the pass and gunned the engine to go in. It was a scary pass to enter! There was 3-4 knots of current with a very shallow reef on each side. The pass is 40 feet wide at the narrowest and 5-6 feet deep the entire way. Tristan navigated the boat effortlessly and in no time we were anchored bow and stern in a small bay next to the main harbor, which was full.

After settling in and clearing the health quarantine, we rowed to shore to explore. The island is beautiful with a quaint main village. Everyone is really friendly and we enjoy speaking English to the locals instead of stammering in French. To celebrate our first successful passage without our favorite buddy boat, PILOT, we had a well-deserved drink at the Pacific Resort. To our delight, and the relief of those around us, we indulged in the hot showers located next to the pool bar.

We've spent our time here exploring the lagoon and the many motus with the other cruisers here. On a particularly sunny day we set up camp on a pristine motu at the far end of the lagoon and discovered a haven for hermit crabs. The motu was filled with them, ranging in size from as small as a grain of rice to as large as a hand. That afternoon the wind picked up, so Tristan tested out his new kite, a 10-meter C kite. The wind stayed over the next few days and he's had a great time kite boarding between the many motus. It turns out this is an up and coming destination for kite boarders, and we've met many fellow enthusiasts. One of the visitors was here testing new kites, and Tristan was able to fly a new 2010 North kite for the afternoon.

Surprisingly, the winds have brought cold to Aitutaki. The water temp has cooled down to the mid-70's, and the air during the day is a dry 80 degrees dropping into the 60s at night. We freeze at night and in the morning, and have to use our thick blanket and wear sweaters! Who knew such weather existed in the South Pacific. I guess, as the locals would say, it is winter.

We plan to stay in Aitutaki for another week or so, and celebrate our 3rd anniversary. After that, we'll head to Niue and then move on to Tonga for the cyclone season. More to come soon!

August 16, 2009 Bora Bora

2009-08-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Its been a month since our last update, and we have been busy! PILOT made it safely to Hawaii, weathering rough seas and two tropical storms. They are now safely ensconced in Oahu, going to lovely places like Costco…Oh, how I miss Costco and their giant cheap bags of Salt and Pepper Kettle Chips, soft toilet paper and unlimited amounts of paper towels.

Our friends Whitney and Jeff visited for 3 weeks and marked their 3-year wedding anniversary while they were here; it was a ton of fun to celebrate with them. We barbecued fresh tuna for dinner and then went for drinks at Bloody Marys. The place was full of honeymooners, who strangely weren’t saying much at all. If it weren’t for our raucous lauqhter and loud storytelling, the place would have been dead quiet. I hope we didn’t ruin any romantic honeymoon dinners!

While Whit and Jeff were here, we spent a few nights in the bay near Matira point, learning to freeboard and snorkeling some. One morning we woke up to particularly nasty weather - the wind was blowing from the Southeast at 30 knots with consistent rain. Our mooring was inside the bay, where the wind chop was surfable. A few locals were having a great time surfing their outriggers, while the 4 of us tucked inside to stay dry and warm. Whit and Jeff brought along a fantastic game called Catch Phrase, which we are now obsessed with. After a few rounds, we abandoned ship and went to shore for some exercise and a few hinanos. Once we got back to the boat we decided it would be better to run for the comfort of the Bora Bora Yacht Club instead of waiting for the weather to pass in the unprotected anchorage of Matira. Who can pass up free unlimited hot showers, a good band and great food?

Though the weather was cloudy and rainy for most of Whit and Jeff’s stay, we did manage to have a lot of fun. We rented bikes and rode around the island, stopping at various view points and to climb to a view point and location of WWII guns. We also hiked the peak again! Enough time had passed for us to forget how grueling it was the first time. It rained 2 days before we went up and the ground was extremely muddy. This trip wasn’t as physically exhausting as the last trip, but certainly much dirtier. It was well worth it, though, when we reached the top and finally saw the amazing 360° view. We slid back down the mountain, and I’m still trying to get the dirt out of our shoes and socks.

The day after the hike, all of us were exhausted and the weather wasn’t great, so we relaxed on the boat, reading, playing cards and met an interesting Tahitian kid named Steve. He arrived in the afternoon on his paddle/windsurf board. He didn’t say a word at first, just stared. We didn’t know what to do, so we gave him candy. Big mistake! He wouldn’t leave after that, entertaining us with bouts of singing “A Baby Girl dah, uh yeah, uh yeah, uh yeah.” He swears its an Akon song, but who knows…He was also very adept at card tricks and only left after we all decided to go to shore.

After a few days of wind and rain, the weather finally let up and we sailed to Motu Tapua and anchored off of the Hilton hotel. We snorkeled for a bit, and then went into the hotel bar. There were few people wandering around the hotel so we felt like the place was ours. Whitney and I took a dip in the pool, and Tristan and Jeff took showers in the pool bathrooms. The staff was super friendly and we ended up buying 2 rounds of drinks and then getting the rest for free! As we enjoyed our free drinks we toured the hotel and sat on the gorgeous beach. It was a lovely luxurious afternoon for us.

The rest of our days were spent exploring town, enjoying our smuggled Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee and Kirkland paper towels (thank you Jeff!!), reading on the boat and hanging out at the yacht club. Jeff and Whit were great guests and I hope they come back to visit, despite the lack of a comfortable place to sleep and private showers, and the addition of a smelly cat...

We are finally leaving Bora Bora tomorrow. We’re really sad to be leaving our favorite part of the world (so far), but the pull of discovering new places is too strong to ignore. We haven’t decided if we’re going to Aitutaki or Suwarrow in the Cook Islands, but will decide after checking the weather in the morning. If we choose Suwarrow we won’t have internet access, so the next update may not be for awhile. We’ll really miss our friends here in French Polynesia, especially Pierre, Maui, Kyber and Tina. We hope to see you guys again soon!

July 26, 2009 Sailing with PILOT

2009-07-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a sad week for us, as we just had to say goodbye to Tristan’s parents, aboard PILOT. We’ve been sailing with them since January and had to separate last Saturday as they took off for Hawaii and we stayed behind to continue west.

We started in Long Beach, sailed down the coast of Mexico and spent a wonderful month in Barra de Navidad. We set sail for the Marquesas on April 2nd, and didn’t lose sight of each for the entire trip - a feat almost as great as crossing the ocean. There hasn’t been a day that we didn’t either talk on the radio, eat a meal or explore the islands together and it has been quite an adjustment to get used to life on our own.

It has been a fantastic experience to sail with family, and something we’ll remember forever, from drinking margaritas and pina coladas on the beach to watching Kirk fall off the dinghy on a beach landing, plotting the destruction of all jet skis and sea-do’s in Cabo, to learning to surf from Tristan, shopping with Ines and eating the most delectable meals aboard PILOT.

After PILOT left we wandered aimlessly around Uturoa, Raiatea, and didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Luckily, our friend Whitney arrived a few days later and has been entertaining us ever since! We spent a night on Raiatea, then motored over to the Taravana Yacht Club and danced the night away.

The next day we sailed back to Bora Bora on a broad reach, averaging 9 knots with short seas off the beam. As we sailed out of the Taha’a pass, there were 3 other boats coming out with us, including a 50’ lagoon, who motored ahead of us at an incredible rate. By the time we were 5 miles away from Bora, we had passed everyone…we may have a small boat, but we’re light and fast. It’s an incredible feeling to burn past a big cat, although it was bittersweet without PILOT there to celebrate with us.

PILOT, we miss you, and just have to say, “Pilot, Pilot, this Aita Pe’ape’a, Channel One, Over.”

July 17, 2009 Bora Bora

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Bora Bora no longer deserves it’s nickname “Bora Boring” after the few days we spent. We had a lovely time exploring the island and hanging out at the Bora Bora Yacht Club.

Every beach and motu is filled with hotels and overwater bungalows, yet the lagoon remains untouched and pristine. We saw some of the clearest and most interesting snorkeling to date, encountering black tip reef sharks, moray eels and even a sea horse! The streets are crowded with tourists and locals alike, and we made a game of spotting the honeymooners – shiny new rings, perfect manicures and guys with pale pink polo shirts tucked in (with a belt of course!) to above the knee khaki shorts are all dead giveaways. Not a one had a sunbleached shirt, speck of dirt anywhere, or even a salty smell...aah, to have all the hot running water you could wish for….

Our days in Bora Bora were fantastic. We spent many leisurely mornings reading and sipping coffee and then exploring on shore. In the afternoon we would sail or take a dinghy to a great snorkeling spot; in the early evening we’d surf or paddle around and after gather at the Bora Bora Yacht Club to rehash the day over hinano and ping pong with our many new friends. It was awesome to have a social life again!

We had a great 4th of July at the Bora Bora Yacht Club, where they put on a traditional American bbq complete with burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw and a band playing American favorites into the night. You’ve never heard “Sweet Home Alabama” until you’ve heard it sung by a Tahitian with an Island French accent. It was magnificent! The perfect evening, and probably the best 4th of July we’ve had.

July 3, 2009 Huahine, Taha’a and Bora Bora

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We left Huahine just before the tradewinds started to kick up to go to Taha’a and hide out in a more secure area. As we left the anchorage, the surf was giant and several pro surfers were there shooting a surf video. We snuck a few pictures as we went out of the pass – the waves were much bigger in person, but you get an idea from these photos.

We had a great downwind sail from Huahine to Taha’a, averaging about 7 knots the entire trip with the double-reefed main and jib. We arrived at the Taravana Yacht Club, where we hid out for the next week as the wind kicked up to 25-30 knots. We were fairly protected although we did hunker down for the first few days to ensure that nothing went wrong. We passed the time
reading, watching movies and I even made tortillas (which wasn’t nearly as fun without Nancy here!) We finally tired of staying on the boat and hung out for hours in the yacht club, getting to know the other cruisers and the owners, Richard and Maui. The food was amazing, the best we’ve had so far. Tristan and I didn’t veer from our order of Mahi Mahi with Vanilla Sauce and Steak Au Poivre – it was just delicious. I think we must have gained about 10 pounds! On our last night in Taha’a, we went to the Polynesia Feast at the yacht club. The food was again fantastic and the show was just amazing. The dancers were brothers and sisters, whose parents used to be professional dancers in Tahiti. We had a rare treat with a traditional fire dance, which was all the more incredible given that the dancers were young teenagers. After the show ended, it turned in to a bar/dance club, with all of the guests (locals and cruisers) sticking around to dance the night away. We had our latest night yet, not getting back to the boat until 11:30. Finally some nightlife! Of course we forgot to bring our camera, but our friends off of the lagoon catamaran “Honeymoon” took some pictures, so we’ll post one or two once we beg for copies. We had a great time at the yacht club and hope to visit again before we leave French Polynesia.

As we left Taha’a we were escorted by a small pod of dolphins, always a lucky sign. The sail was downwind again and we flew from pass to pass, averaging 9-10 knots, with spurts between 12-14. We hit 14.7 for a second as we passed behind Bora Bora just before the pass. We contemplated flying the spinnaker, but as we were going so fast with just the reefed main and genoa it didn’t seem necessary.

We are now on a mooring at the Bora Bora Yacht Club, and so far the stay has been calm. Our first night here we had a few beers at the bar with some old friends from Huahine and met some new friends that we’ll hope to see along the way. The best part of cruising has been the people we’ve met from all over the world. Maybe by the end of this trip, we’ll have friends from every nation!

Yesterday we hiked to the top of the peak on Bora Bora, which is approximately 2053’ high. We heard it was a somewhat strenuous hike, but as that has been said about almost every hike we’ve done here, we didn’t think too much of it (to my detriment!) Instead of switchbacks up the mountain, you climb straight up at a 45 degree vertical grade for about 2 hours. The trail is overgrown and almost impossible to spot in a lot of places, and if it weren’t for Maui, we’d probably have taken a few wrong turns. Just before you reach the top, there is a small rock wall, where you must use a rope to pull yourself up. Unfortunately, when we reached the top there was a bit of cloud cover so we didn’t get the amazing view. However, we did get some great views on the way up. By the time we finished the hike (the trip was a total of 5 hours and 10 minutes), our muscles were shaking and we were dead tired. All of the other hikers were much more experienced than I, and the whole time I went slow to ensure that I didn’t fall, even though I was beyond scared, swearing and muttering to myself as I repelled down from the top.

It was a small easy wall for the others, but intimidating for someone who’s never done it before – all you see is ocean and jungle when you look down! Tristan was a great teacher and was always there to show me how to navigate the more difficult portions. Everyone made it down safely, and celebrated with Hinanos on the pier in town.

In the next few days we plan to explore Bora Bora and enjoy the Heiva festivities, as well as find the kite surfing instructor to get a few lessons.

June 23, 2009 Raiatea to Huahine

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Before we left for Huahine we snorkeled off of a motu near where we were anchored in Raiatea. The snorkeling wasn’t that great, but the motu had some fun aspects, including an abandoned surf shack, complete with upstairs bunks. However, the best part was the bathroom. Hidden between a few palm trees at the edge of the beach were nice wood stairs leading up to a perch with a bench sitting over the water. Of course, the bench came with a good size hole! Who needs reading material with such a view.

The day we left for Huahine the wind was great, although it was coming directly from where we were going. (I swear, we should have named the boat “Goes Where the Wind Comes From.”) We were close-hauled the entire trip, sailing at six to seven knots with the full main and genoa. Luckily the seas were mild, so it was only slightly uncomfortable at times. It was definitely worth it. We pulled into a calm lagoon with turquoise water and anchored off a white sand beach. The water was the clearest we’ve seen yet and beautiful coral heads teeming with fish were just off the stern. Nancy, Tristan and I had a great time snorkeling every day.

The town of Fare is just as we remember it, from the welcome hut at the dinghy dock to the main road with small shops and locals and tourists happily strolling about. The town and its inhabitants are friendly and relaxed, giving the place a very calming vibe. It is exactly what you’d expect of a small surfing community. The most welcome discovery was the super market. From the outside it looks like any other small store, but you walk into another world. It just keeps going and going and is filled with everything you could want – from Hawaiian shirts to French cheese.

The surf in Huahine is quite good, with waves that are double overhead on a regular basis. They are too big for me, but Tristan is having a great time surfing as often as he can. We’ve heard of a small beach break near Avea bay, and I hope to try it in the next few days.

Before Nancy and Jeff left to go back home, we decided to rent a car and tour the island. Our first stop was in Maeva, where the most expansive Marae in French Polynesia are (Marae are ancient ruins). While we were wandering around the gardens, we saw a small group of dancers and musicians in local dress practicing Tahitian dances.

They encouraged us to watch and share their fruit. Not only was the fruit delicious and beautifully arranged, but watching them practice was a lot of fun. Before we left, we were invited to join them in dancing. Nancy and Jeff were dressed up and taught the traditional Polynesian wedding dance - we’re not sure, but they may be married now (only kidding!). It was a lot of fun and definitely a more real and valuable experience than you’d find at a hotel. After we left the Marae we toured the rest of the island, where we saw lush jungle, endless white sand beaches, and snorkeled off a pier in Avea Bay, where we are now anchored in 5 feet of water.

The food in French Polynesia has been good, although we are starting to miss the tacos from Mexico. The fruit here is unparalleled – the star fruit is juicy but not too sour, the pampelmousse is sweet and the pineapple is just delicious. They are smaller, much juicer and sweeter than the pineapples available at home or even in Hawaii. Because of this, our favorite meal of the day is fast becoming breakfast.

We usually have fruit, fresh baguette with butter and jam, and a small bowl of cereal. Its amazing how wonderful breakfast can be, especially when you have a moment in the morning to enjoy it.

June 12th, 2009 Manihi to Raiatea

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Manihi was a calm anchorage and welcome respite after the squall filled sail from Ua-Pou.
The lagoon was idyllic – we were surrounded by a flat outlying atoll with white sand beaches and swaying coconut palms. The water was crystal clear and we swam and snorkeled every day. Tristan practiced his spear-fishing and although he only caught a ramora, it was fun to watch. The locals were super friendly, although we did meet a very enterprising man named Fernando. He was, among other things, the local leader of the Mormon church, French baker, gas and diesel proprietor, pearl farmer, and snorkel/diving/motu excursion guide. Every morning he would drive by the boat to see what he could help with that day, of course for a “nominal” fee. I think we spent more on the delivery charge than we did on the gas…

Due to a rudder problem on PILOT, we had to head directly to Raiatea from Manihi instead of stopping on Tahiti and Moorea first, as originally planned. We didn’t have enough gas to motor all the way to Raiatea, and because of their broken rudder, PILOT needed no-wind conditions in order to safely motor the entire way. Once we found a weather window that predicted super calm seas and light winds (strong enough for us to sail in, but light enough to not cause a problem for PILOT), we decided to take off. As we motored out of the pass, the seas didn’t change at all from the lagoon. The water was glassy without a ripple and each cloud was reflected on the surface. It was absolutely gorgeous. The passage passed uneventfully and we all made it safely to Raiatea.

We hauled out AITA PE’APE’A at the same time as PILOT to repaint the bottom and work on other minor repairs. It was really strange to be a landlubber again after living at sea for 5
months.

AITA PE’APE’A is now back in the water and we’ve been busy exploring Raiatea and Tahaa, and having fun with Nancy who is visiting for a few weeks. To celebrate Nancy’s arrival and us being back in the water, Nancy and I made tortillas. It was a long process, and although the tortillas were creatively shaped, they tasted great! We also discovered the longest green beans known to mankind – each bean was at least 2 feet long!

Near where we are anchored is a surf break that has been huge the past week. On a particularly big day with 10 foot waves, we drove by on the dinghy to watch and the locals were great surfers and boogey boarders, although a few were reluctant to even allow us to watch. I hate to think of what happens to the visiting surfers that try to surf there….

Today we’ll snorkel some more and hopefully swim with the rays that are living in the shadow of the boat. Tomorrow we head to Huahine, a small island, where there should be less localism on the waves, with a big break for Tristan and little ones for me.