AlexandrA comes home

Vessel Name: AlexandrA
Vessel Make/Model: Catamaran Fontaine Pajot Bahia 46'
Hailing Port: Coming home from St Martin to Oz
Crew: Max (Skipper) Sandra (Mate) and Mark (technology management)
About: A Family, a Boat and many a tale to remember
Extra: This tale will unfold in almost real time so we shall see what we shall see.
04 July 2012
11 June 2012 | Tahiti
29 May 2012
22 May 2012 | 100o mls short of next landfall
16 May 2012
15 May 2012
09 May 2012 | Galapogos
06 May 2012 | Guess!
28 April 2012
23 April 2012 | Panama Canal
18 April 2012
16 April 2012
08 April 2012
04 April 2012 | colon Panama
24 March 2012 | Roseau, Dominica
Recent Blog Posts
04 July 2012

CYCLONE KEITH

Well at present we are well in transit between The Cook Islands and Tonga. Having motor sailed due to light winds in the middle section we are now back to sail with a lovely 15 knots off the port stern. 48 hours away till the greetings of the Tongans. we encountered cyclone Keith upon leaving The Cooks. [...]

11 June 2012 | Tahiti

Sharks one Bannanas

Well while at Hivo Oa we grabbed some fruit from a farm in the mountains. I Bunch of 120 bananas for $5 and my new bestest favorites food, pomellos. I have never heard or seen pomellos but the are like a grape fruit but up to 30cm. Not as bitter as a grape fruit, they are delicious. At only $1 each if [...]

11 June 2012

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Listen up guys...I am not the writer and I have things to do so I don't always have time to do an instant update so please don't winge when I am not intantly updating this website. I do it when I can. Tha being said here is the next episode.

29 May 2012

Land at Last

As we approach the Marquise islands we come to huge sheer cliffs hard to gauge their height but can easily be 500m plus. I cannot wait to get ashore and out of the boat confines. I have been cramming for the last week and long for a decent walk. The first place I will head to will be any store that has [...]

22 May 2012 | 100o mls short of next landfall

Fishy Tales

Happy birthday Sis! (How many people get to have their birthday in the middle of the Pacific and be with their Dad and Brother? (BG)). We have now made it 2/3 on this leg, currently we are at 5 degrees south, 123 degrees west, 1000nm to the Marquises . The wind goddess Blusterina forgot us [...]

16 May 2012

Middle of nowhere

6 days out from the Galapagos and we hit 1000nm. 1/3 of the way, haven't see a boat of any sort since leaving. The winds have been consistently 10-15 knots with our boat speed averaging around 7+ knots. We look likely to cover the 3000nm in 18 days assuming the same weather. When the weather map is downloaded we check to confirm out current course directly east at 3.5 degrees south of the equator has predicted good winds. On every download there are always larger winds and storms to the south for us to be wary. If they come more northerly than predicted we plan to sail with them towards the equator as they reduce in intensity. Sandy has the cooking sorted and I'm sure the boys home in Cairns are missing that. Such a long way still to go and one has to be mindful to keep your mind occupied. It took me two days to get back my sea legs on this trip as I did not quite feel right. As the boat speed has been up too high for any fishing I still have managed to catch a flying fish in my bed courtesy of an open window. Cheers for now, mark.

CYCLONE KEITH

04 July 2012
Well at present we are well in transit between The Cook Islands and Tonga. Having motor sailed due to light winds in the middle section we are now back to sail with a lovely 15 knots off the port stern. 48 hours away till the greetings of the Tongans. we encountered cyclone Keith upon leaving The Cooks. With a strong 20 knots off the port beam, side on winds to the left, we had a rough and bumpy passage for the first 24 hours. Keith took on breakfast claiming he does his best work when drunk and by sure the conditions simulated this. With best plans he summoned up his cooking skills in the rough weather and bashed together omelets. Interestingly he had no qualms in explaining like lightning never strikes the same place twice that his cooking never produced the same results either. With plenty of prime ingredients left in the pantry Keith presented us with Asian style omlets with the addition of fish sauce. Fortunately all 5 serves were used, one each for Keith, Mark and Simon, the other two being for the floor and stove top. One would not think it possible to use every utensil on the boat other than 2 tea spoons to make such a dish but one had to see to believe. The Cook Islands saw us stop at Roratonga the capital, with no access to the harbour we anchored close to the shore in the lee of the island on the north side. Dinning ashore for a break from cooking we had seared tuna salads, steaks and Indian to expand our culinary experiences. Keith and i took a walk across the island and got lost on the trail due to talking too much and continued along the ridges in the jungle to one of the mountainous peaks. The last portion being identicle to climbing a tree as a kid, at close to 70 degree incline we went up up up. Stringing together a few dives here the water temperature had dropped from all previous dives of 28 degrees to 23, now having become very soft this was cold! The day temperature has also dropped to mid 20's and required a Tshirt for the first time in 5 months. The previous sail from Bora Bora saw the two crew a little green as this 3 days passage was quite bumpy with large swells and constant 25-30 knot winds. Broa Bora is an amazing island and one to see on anyones list. The resorts all have their rooms on stilts over the water with decked piers connecting them. The Packer super yacht the Arctic P was present as well. We snorkeled in the lagoon with the 28 degree water being warmer in than out. The island is like a castle with a ringed moat around it. The peak at about 800m high is surrounded by a lagoon with the fringe reef being a little further out like an atoll. a yacht can complete a circuit within the lagoon, amazing. Definately worth a google to look at the resorts on line, stunning. I strang together a few dives here, all amazing. A dive inside the lagoon saw us sitting on the bottom with manta rays circling above, the biggest being 4m for wing tip to wing tip. they were like ufo's hovering above. Again the marine life came to us, they would go nearly out of view and then turn around to come back and glide over us at about 2m above our heads. The biggest one i cannot describe accurately how breath taking it was. An outer reef dive saw me find the lemon sharks that Sandy and i did not see at Tahiti. With about 10 Lemon sharks at 3m long plus plenty off black tip reefs too. The sharks, which were truly bloody big would cruse up to us about 3m away, one of out dive leaders swam and caught the tail of one for a tow! Not my cuppa tea! Thats all the tails for now, cheers mark.
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