07/10/2012, 16 57.892'S:147 13.396'W, en route to Tahiti
All is well. Position is as of 22:30 zulu. COG 243 mag. SOG 5.7 kts.
Not much happening. Watched Mrs. Brown's Boys last night. Very funny series.
We are in VHF contact with Picara and Baracca while en route.
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07/10/2012, 16 42.207'S:146 05.391'W, WSW of the Fakarava S. Pass
We have grudgingly left Fakarava. We will miss the snorkeling and kite flying. And the sharks, yes, the sharks. Three of them circled the boat this morning while I was scrubbing the bottom. I think they just wanted to say so long.
We left about 1pm today at low slack tide. We are now heading COG 245 mga. At just under 5 kts. We expect to arrive in Papeete, Tahiti on Wednesday.
Right now I'm stuffed to me gills with tuna--and so is the freezer. We caught a 30 pounder at about 4:20 pm. Yummy. Skipjack again, though we keep hoping for a yellow fin. But the skipjack tuna are still pretty darn good.
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Let me know the next time you have internet and we can skype.
Give the kids a big hug from me.
Love you all!
07/08/2012, 16 31.226'S:145 28.386'W, Fakarava, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
We've moved about half a mile to the west side of the pass at the south end of Fakarava. The snorkeling and diving is the best I've seen. All the coral is alive. The area is full of fish plus some large manta rays and spotted eagle rays. There are also, of course, plenty of sharks. There seems to always be at least one black tip reef shark in view when we are snorkeling, or even just sitting on the boat. We were flying our kite surfing trainer kite yesterday off the back of the boat, and right under the stern there were 3 or 4 sharks constantly in view. We also tried the kite while in the kayak which was a lot of fun.
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07/04/2012, 16 30.334'S:145 27.307'W, Fakarava, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
We moved 30 miles to the southern end of Fakarava. ....just thought we'd let you nosy people know....
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Love, Mom
07/03/2012, 16 03.560'S:145 37.261'W,
We heard yesterday that Lonesome George has died. Very sad. George was the last survivor of the subspecies of giant tortoises from Pinta Island in the Galapagos. He was found there in 1971, and in 1972 he was moved to the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz. The attached picture is of Lonesome George, taken on our first day ashore in Santa Cruz in the Galapagos on May 6 of this year.
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07/02/2012, 16 03.560'S:145 37.261'W, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
We came in the north pass of Fakarava at about 10 am. And we were anchored by 11 am. Beautiful lagoon!! Off to do some snorkeling.
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07/02/2012, 15 41.032'S:145 26.077'W, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
Enjoyed a very bright moonset a couple of hours ago, Followed by sunrise a few minutes ago. We are amongst the Tuamotus, watching some of them slowly pass by on radar. We have yet to actually see on. We are expecting to be at the North Pass of Fakarava at about 11 am where we will take a look at the conditions of the pass. The passes into the various atolls can have strong currents Up to 8-9 or more knots depending on the tide, the seas and the wind. As the seas are small, and the wind is light, and the north pass at fakarava is wide, we are not expecting strong currents. Having spent time in the bahamas going through the many cuts to and from the banks to the the deep water--we've had a bit of training. If the cut is passable when we arrive, we expect to be at anchor around noon today, and snorkeling within minutes thereafter.
Position is as of 1600z (6am local UTC - 10). SOG 6 kts. COG 204 Mag.
Take a look at the google earth position map once we are at anchor, you ought to get a cool view of the atoll and the others nearby!
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07/01/2012, 13 53.850'S:144 06.828'W, the ocean
We are about 1 day out from Fakarava. Second biggest atoll in the Tuamotus. Third biggest atoll in the world. We are very much looking forward to some snorkeling and diving!! The weather has been nearly calm. So we have had to motor rather than sail.
Yesterday we had a fun surprise. Out in the middle of nowhere we found Ruby Soho. Another sailboat, that we first met in Shelter Bay in Panama. They first spotted us on AIS. A few hours later we were 20feet apart. They threw us some freshly made rolls, and we threw them some freshly caught Mahi, and a bit of sail repair tape.
Its kind of strange and fun to see other boats out here in the middle of the ocean--especially when its people you know! We knew they were out here as they left Daniels bay, Nuku Hiva the night before we left. But we didn't expect to see them out here. Maybe we should call them Ruby SlowPoke heh heh.
It would be funnier if we were sailing rather than motoring.
Our position is as of 6:30 local, 16:30zulu. SOG 5.6kts. COG 204 Mag.
We should spot our first atoll in the Tuamotus group sometime early this afternoon. At least I hope we spot it!!! After all, tuamotus means dangerous islands, because they are low lying and hard to see. Plus large portions of the atolls are really just shallow underwater reefs.
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06/30/2012, 12 15.385'S:142 51.533'W, the ocean
We've finished our second night, and started our third day. We will hopefully be at anchor on Monday sometime. We are now headed towards Fakarava as the wind didn't cooperate to go to Rangiroa. Oh well, the diving is supposed to be better on Fakarava, and the pass is easier to traverse. Position is as of 8:15am local (same as Hawaii) and 18:15zulu. SOG a whopping 5kts. COG 204Mag.
We caught a nice Mahi Mahi yesterday. But didn't feel like eating fish. Very nice sunrise this morning. Brilliant blue sky with orange clouds and the stars still visible in the sky. No light pollution. It is fairly sickening to see all the lights of cities. What a complete idiotic waste.
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06/29/2012, 10 23.029'S:141 20.793'W, the ocean
First overnight for this trip is now over. Position is as of 16:25zulu. SOG 5.5kts COG 206Mag. Wind about 12kts on the stern.
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