06/10/2009, Papeete, Tahiti
We left Rangiroa on the afternoon tide, on the backside of a big windstorm that kicked up 10 foot short period waves outside the pass over the previous several days. We were expecting to make the 200 mile trip over two nights and arrive in Papeete in the morning. Instead, the 18-25 knot winds on our beam allowed us to average well over 7 knots the entire passage. Rather than head into Papeete, we stopped at Point Venus, about an hour before Papeete and got to anchor behind a reef in clear blue waters just in time for sunset. 200 miles in 27 hours for an average of 7.4 knots. I think that is a new 24 hour record for Follow You...177 miles. It was a bumpy ride, but well worth it to only spend one night at sea.
The next day we motored into Papeete harbor. OMG: Civilization... Dirty water, tons of cars, lots of noise... tons of restaurants, a fully stocked Carefour superstore market, and the hustle and bustle of lots of people. Kinda exciting. Our reservation at Marina Taina, made over 6 weeks ago, meant nothing apparently. To paraphrase that great philosopher-king J. Sienfeld, [with irony] "You know how to *take* the reservation, but you don't know how to *keep* the reservation. *Keeping* the reservation is the most important part of the reservation" We had to schmooze constance in the harbormaster office every day for 4 days to get a side-tie, in which we are now comfortably ensconced.
Megan arrived on Tuesday night and it's the full nuclear family together for the first time in 6 months... feels nice. After a chill day yesterday while a big storm created overcast, high winds and constant monitoring of our dock lines and fenders, we are headed out to play tourist today, touring the island in a rental car under blue skies and gusty winds.
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06/02/2009, Rangiroa
Take a look at the updated gallery for cool underwater pics of octopi, Alyssa swimming, our best sunsets yet, Rina and Allan fighting with the Watermaker (again) and other assorted stuff.
Off to Papeete!
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How insanely awesome, youse two (three), gonna peruse the gallery now.
06/02/2009, Fakarava, Tuamoto Islands
Yes, we've been delinquent in our duties... We arrived in Rangiroa a week ago and got so distracted that we neglected to share....
Upon arrival, we enjoyed some of the best weather and snorkeling yet, with a vibrant reef and clear water. We anchored off the Kia Ora resort at Passe de Tiputa in a glassy calm, where the horizon within the lagoon blended seamlessly with the sky above. The scenery here is exotic, with high end resorts bungalows over the water, an inviting dock, multiple dive centers and a very cool but way-to-expensive bar.
On our first night, we took the dinghy in to enjoy the sumptuous Sunday night buffet, which was an oasis of taste the crew of Follow You had been craving for months, including sushi, oysters, crab and other recent rarities. We snorkeled twice a day, seeing a different variety of sealife, including dolphins, octopi, and those fish that swim in real tight schools, just like in "Finding Nemo", LOL.
The idyllic scene eventually changed however, as a significant front came through, dropping many inches of rain on us over a couple of days, clouding the waters and bringing 20-25 knot winds. Once again, our 69lb Rocna anchor proved its worth, spinning and resetting in the sand as the winds reversed direction.
We passed the time playing scrabble, watching movies, skyping with an increasingly excited Megan, who will join us shortly and completely disassembling and cleaning the high pressure pump for the watermaker. Our replacement parts await us in Papeete and we will depart today, assuming the winds decline enough to squash the 8 foot standing waves in the pass. Several boats tried to leave this morning, only to turn back in the face of the intimidating conditions.
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05/24/2009, Rangiroa, Tuamoto Islands
Anchored off the many coral heads, sitting on the beach, taking it all in after yet another great snorkel adventure.
After dropping Stephanie and John at the Airport, Rina, Alyssa and I headed just down the inside coast of the atoll to anchor where there was rumors of good snorkeling and good internet access. We found both, although the winds made the anchorage very bumpy the first night. Luckily, we were rewarded the next two nights with a dead calm and glassy conditions. We also found a great restaurant, Teanuanua that we did both lunch and dinner at over a couple of days, enjoying the ambience and food. Check out the newly updated gallery for a bunch of new pictures of this restaurant, snorkeling and passage pictures taken by Carinthia.
We made an overnight passage to Rangiroa last night in calm seas and light winds. We did get 8 knots on the beam overnight though, which allowed us to sail in quiet comfort with a positive current. We arrived at high slack tide and had an easy entrance through the pass, which was filled with drift divers and snorkelers. Even at slack tide, we were doing 9.5 knots SOG while only 5 through the water. We'll hang out here for a couple of days, snorkeling the pass and catching up on some maintenance items before heading to Papeete next week.
-allan
Ps. LOTS of new pics in the gallery
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05/03/2009, Nuku Hiva
but never on a rocking sailboat in the wind! Knowing Allan likes to wear his short I offered to cut his hair today, he didn't hesitate. I have always enjoyed working outdoors but this was the ultimate challenge, as I got into the haircut I didn't even notice the gentle rocking. I do have a tendency to drop combs which would be a big oops being on the water. All dropped combs were retrieved and every hair was cut, then it was a jump in the water to rinse.
-Pep
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05/03/2009, Nuku Hiva
After visits to several Marqueses Islands, I've come to the conclusion that I've never seen so many lush, green islands. I feel like I'm lost in a movie of jungle cruises and still on a never ending adventure. The views are amazing, the waterfalls are fully worth the climbs, mud, tree climbing, and rain squalls. Many pictures to show the views in our albums. John's waterproof camera broke so he's been using mine and we are sharing taking shots along the way. It's great with more perspectives.
More to come from the Tuamoto's (and our 5 day crossing over there!). Off to re-provision for crossing tomorrow. We'll be visiting another few anchorages before we cross, but this will be our last stop for a week and we must have enough to get through the Tuamoto's since they don't have many places to re-stock.
Love to all, miss everyone, it's been awhile since we've been home...and I DO feel it, but am enjoying every step of this trip. Can't wait to be home to tell face to face stories...
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05/02/2009, Between Ua-Pou and Nuku Hiva
Once again our boat was surrounded by dozens of dolphins as we left Ua-Pou for Nuku Hiva. About ten of them fight for the spot just forward of the bow as more play about the sides and more are seen on the horizon coming to join the fun. Just look at some of the pics John got... they're amazing!
Ps. I finally got confirmed that I'm registered for both Gavilan College during the summer and Cabrillo College for fall'09. Thanks for checking in on that Grandma Sue!
-Alyssa
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05/02/2009, Nuku Hiva
After a brief stayover at Hiva Oa to reprovision, Follow You left at 5am Friday, sailing the 60 miles northwest to Ua-Pou in 15-18 knot winds. We read in Charlie's Charts that there was a restaurant on the island called Rosalies that we could enjoy. After a 25 day crossing and two weeks cooking aboard, we have had exactly one meal off the boat, and that was our expensive lunch on Hiva Oa when we first arrived. The crew was commenting on how conditioned we have all become to balancing eating in with nights out within our normal routines, and certainly while vacationing, as Stephanie and John are. Cruisers also get used to eating out in Mexico, where the food was always fresh and inexpensive. While we expected the Marquesas to not be very tourist oriented, I think we have been surprised by the lack of off-boat options. Even the high end resorts on the islands rarely accept outside reservations for meals, as they tightly align their food purchases to the number of hotel guests... Makes sense given the low volumes here, and especially now given tourism, other than cruisers, has dramatically declined this year.
After walking for an hour and a half to look for a restaurant on Ua-Pou, we returned to the boat disappointed, yet ate well upon our return. The next day we motorsailed to Nuku Hiva in light winds, the largest of the Marquesian Islands, hoping for better luck. We arrived in an expansive bay, and noticed a much more developed coast side infrastructure for boating. The locals have build facilities for selling local artisan goods and there are a few storefronts.... Internet access, yacht services and a restaurant, right at the quay. Down the road that fronts the bay, there were a couple of market/hardware stores and low and behold; a pizza restaurant! After a long walk around the town exploring, we sat down at 4pm for a cold beer. (or 3) Through our muddled French, we first understood the restaurant would close at 6 or 630, only to find signs that said just the opposite. Food service started at 630. Hmmm, what to do for 2.5 hours? Well, the table was not rocking, and the beers were cold, so we just hung out waiting for food service to start.
Around 6pm we ordered pizza and wonderful fettuccine crevette (shrimp) as the patio started to fill up with locals and visitors. While we were trying to translate the menu a French-Canadian guy started to assist, and we struck up a conversation. As food started to arrive, he pulled his chair over and we heard the full story... We knew we were in for an interesting tale when he started off by explaining that he had purchased 12000 square kilometers of the great white north above Quebec, but the government had screwed him by *giving* it to the Inuit Tribes as part of a settlement. He was in French Polynesia looking for islands to purchase to start, get this, a "new society" based on eco-friendly concepts... The more John and I asked questions, the more it came clear that we were dining with a bit of an eccentric with some kooky ideas.
A couple of hours later, we were totally convinced he was on to something. His vision of a utopian society out here in paradise was that compelling. This morning, when we got wifi connectivity, we transferred the contents of all our bank accounts to him.... NOT!
Boat systems are all working well, although I am coming to the conclusion that the decision to size the major systems for the needs of two people rather than five was short-sighted. I could have easily selected the higher volume watermaker, for example as we have plenty of amps to run it with the solar panels... my concern for power usage on the watermaker has been a non-issue.
Our heightened awareness of water use and need for drinkable reserves means that we have split the tankage in half... 50 gallons of pristine drinking water that we use to fill 3 2.5 gallon jugs for daily drinking and cooking, and 50 gallons for toilets, showers, washing dishes, etc. We go through that pretty quickly, which means we are making water almost every day. The watermaker produces 8 gallons an hour and while working fairly reliably, is still finicky about the conditions in which it will produce potable water. The new motor seems more susceptible to voltage drops, which then lowers the pressure in the watermaker itself, which then stops making water until it adapts, sometimes taking an hour to start making water again... It's still much preferred over schlepping jerry jugs, but a hassle nonetheless to babysit.
We will hang out here through Monday to do our last re-provisioning before spending a few days at various anchorages on Nuku Hiva, and then leave for the Tuamoto Islands later in the week.
The Gallery has been updated with more pics for those who NEEEEEED them (luv u mom!)
-allan
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04/29/2009, Hiva Oa
We're back on Hiva Oa for a day, reprovisioning and getting a bit of internet.... and hey Donna, we gotta get you a job after your arm mends... keeping the blog updated for you is getting tough with no good internet connections out here LOL.
The gallery has been updated with pictures from our last week on Tahuatu and Fatu Hiva, which is now in our top 3 exotic places we have ever been. Stunning scenery and great people.
Tomorrow we are off to another night on Tahuatu's sandy beaches before heading north to Nuku Hiva for a week. Then it's off on a 5 day passage to the Tuamoto Islands.
Enjoy!
allan
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Love Mom, Grandma and sister Susan
04/19/2009, Hiva Oa, Marquesas
Alyssa and I were joined by Dietmar and Kurt for a hike to the ancient petroglyphes in the Tehueto valley near our bay. We walked about 4 miles up the rustic jungle valley, crossing rivers and marveling at the scenery. Locals told us it is ok to pick any fruits you want as long as they are not behind fences. We were able to find bananas, papayas, limes, pamplemouse and mangos. At the top of the trailhead near the petroglyphes, we found a deep swimming hole where we all took a refreshing swim.
Alyssa took great pictures of the hike which can be found on the gallery to your right, along with pictures of our arrival and 80 pictures from our crossing.
Enjoy!
-allan
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No comment to all these Hunks
But just to say on the blog thanks for a wonderful time and goodbye to everybody who has been following me on Your Blog!
