30 May 2021 | Sawmill Point Marina, Wilmington NC, USA
24 May 2021 | Wilmington Marine Center, USA
23 February 2021 | Cape Fear Yachts
20 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
11 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
05 February 2017 | Pte Miri Miri, Raiatea, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | Raiatea Lagoon, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | South end of Raiatea
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West side of Raiatea
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
28 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
27 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Where you going?
07 January 2017 | Raiatea central reef, French Polynesia
Bill
Well, when the wind is light we like to take the dinghy to town. It is much more pleasant, 12 minutes with an 8HP 4-stroke engine rather than a borrowed car with, well, I'm not sure how many HP... but it must be more fuel as the ride takes almost as long...
And, out here, no traffic. Yes, even Raiatea has traffic... not like NYC... I would still rather take the dinghy.
sunset with people
29 December 2016 | SW Huahine, French Polynesia
Bill, Photo crdit Lara
Well, yes, another great sunset...
This is what high CAPE index means
28 December 2016 | South Huahine, French Polynesia
At a distance, this is a beautiful sight, close up...
When the CAPE index is high, we keep our eyes peeled for this kind of formation. When the CAPE index is high, it means that the atmosphere doesn't cool off as fast when going up, as usual. So, once you get some warm air rising, the condensing cloud generates more heat, which sends the cloud higher and higher, lifting the moister higher and higher, until weight of the droplets is higher than the lift of the rising air... and then you get a terrific downpour and often lightning! This cold wet air falling can make gusts that are many times the current windspeed. We have seen 5 knots go to 35 knots in seconds.
Isobel knows to yell warnings if she feels a blast of cold air... which will proceed the gust and downpour.
Christmas breakfast
25 December 2016 | SW Huahine, French Polynesia
Photo and food credit: Lara
Swinging around
22 December 2016 | Avera Bay, Huahine, French Polynesia
Bill
We have spent a lot of time in the water these past few days... Isobel has spent a bunch of time over it!
A ride to town
10 December 2016 | Raiatea Lagoon
Bill
During the “rainy season” the Iles Sous Le Vent (Leeward Islands) are often in a little zone (I believe it is part of the South Pacific Convergence Zone… ) the normal trade winds are not there. The wind is often light from various directions.
For us, it allows us to take the dinghy to town. This is much more fun and very scenic. With Isobel in school, it seems like we are on vacation (No homeschooling, no projects, and a few hours of quiet.) So, Lara and I go to town, sometimes just for the ride, sometimes because we are shopping.
The route is through the lagoon out around the airport, past the Haeva tent, past the other Marina and into the little port of Uturoa.
Overview of Huahine and Cyclone prep
05 December 2016 | Over the Iles Sous Le Vent
Bill
Of course, because we were a day late, we had lost our seats on Air Tahiti to Raiatea at 7:30. The folks at AIr Tahiti are so nice though. They suggested that we "air freight" our bags to Raiatea. This way we could be on standby and leave at a moments notice. The girls were put on the 8:30 flight, and I followed on the 12:30 flight.
This photo is of the SW corner of Huahine. A little place called Parea. We have been hearing about this place since we arrived in French Polynesia. This was our intended place to spend Christmas. Flying over on my Air Tahiti gave me a great preview of the place.
First, we had to recover from the trip, provision the boat, put all the stuff back on the boat we had taken off when we left. Since we were leaving during the official Cyclone Season, we had to strip the sails and all canvas on deck (shades, weather cloths, etc) and remove anything that might blow away in 150 knots of wind. This was a little painful this year as it is La Nina and the probability of a storm is very low. Also, we were leaving in November-December and the real high probability season is February-March. Ah well, better safe than sorry.
We had found used tires to mount on the sides as additional fenders. All the fenders and tires had to be tied under the boat so they would stay down in a big wind. I added two more bow lines. These are lines that I tied to a huge chain that runs across the bottom of the harbor between immense concrete blocks. While I was diving, I also checked my neighbor's lines and retied a couple that were broken or chafed. We had four stern lines also tied to different cleats.
Our friends on Te Ara offered to adjust our lines in the event of a threat. Two key things: Move the boat away from the pier and make sure that our mast was out of line with our neighbors. If there were waves in the marina, we didn't want to bang on the quai or tangle our rigs with our neighbors.
Diving In
30 September 2016 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
I write this retroactively. Sorry about the silence on the blog this past month. We have been through quite a process… trying to figure out what to do next. We left more than 7 years ago for a 5 year cruise…
Now, we find that we are looking for a change. Maybe a little less “work” and a little more ease. Maybe a little more time for reading, writing and thinking. maybe a little easier contact with family and friends…
Yet, we are not yet willing to give up the boat life that we have. The compact space, the joy in simple things. The amazing beauty around us. The connection with things natural. The connection to the weather. And very little “screen time” for any of us.
So, our current plan is to stay in the Marina Apooiti, here in French Polynesia at least until April 2017. Isobel will be in school, which is 200 yards away. There is OK wifi signal on the boat. There is all the water we can use here. A very clean bathroom with hot showers. We have bought into the Washing Machine club, which gives us access to a very nice front loading clothes washer. Town is a 10 minute dinghy (or a $10 taxi ride away). The airport is a 5 minute dinghy ride away should we have visitors.
On weekends we can sail a few hours to some of the most beautiful anchorages in French Polynesia, across the lagoon, which is like lake sailing. If we want a real vacation, we have heard the south end of Raiatea is beautiful as is the SE corner of Huahine.
This year there is low probability of cyclones and we will be as protected as we can be in the Marina.
So, we are now marina rats! This will be quite a change from Cruising, and we are looking forward to it.
Skinny Pizza
24 September 2016 | Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
When she is not reading, or doing up her hair in creative ways, she makes pizza to cook in our solar oven. A GoSun Stove has helped us to cut down on propane use for baking especially.
Being tied to shore is not quite there
24 September 2016 | Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
Well we have the advantage of being in a marina, yet we are on the "outside", which gives us a great view, swimming off the boat and some privacy... to get to shore we need to use the dinghy to ferry us back and forth.... or the kayak, which is a little more interesting... especially when you try to stand up.... I'll try to catch a photo of that!