Remember Pulp Fiction?
July 26, 2012

Royal with Cheese, Please
In a recent conversation I had with my mom on the telephone she told me how friends of hers commented on how they could NEVER live on a boat like we do. In other words, she doesn't agree with our life choice as well. My first thought was, "Good," because if everyone wanted to do what we did the ocean would be overrun with people. My second thought then was of surprise because this was coming from people who have done some extensive living and traveling around the world, including during the time of raising their young children. We want to travel. We want to meet other people and learn about different cultures. We are not in a rush, and if we like a place we want to stay as long as we legally can or safely can due to the season and weather. We do not have an unlimited budget, but we do have an unlimited passion for really living, and this lifestyle satisfies that need. On the other hand, not that I'm asking, I know I won't get a lot of sympathy from most of you because it is easy to think that we "have the life", but I've said this before and I will say it again- this is not easy! Sometimes the payoff is huge, other times it is just so-so, and other times it is just plain awful. I hope that I can explain clearly enough that we are living life just like all of you, our backyard view just changes frequently. We still have to pay the bills, do the laundry, grocery shop, cook, and clean. Throw in the need of making frequent repairs on really important items like engines, generators and water makers, which contribute greatly to our ability to survive. We still have to exercise to try and stay somewhat healthy, mentally and physically. We still do school just like all the other homeschooling families. Now on top of this, throw in the pressures of unknown everything! It would be like you living in a "double wide", as one boating friend put it. Now imagine moving said trailer every few days, weeks, or months because if you don't you'll get thrown in a foreign jail, or a huge storm might come and crush you. So, when you need to, you plan a route to another destination, watch the weather closely because you don't want to die as you move, you buy as much food as you can find in said foreign country (which is quite often things that you would normally never eat like Spam or canned vegetables or boxed milk or canned butter or Velveeta type cheese), put everything away that might fall over as you move because you never know for sure if you are going to go for the ride of your life or if it is going to be dead calm, close all the windows, say a prayer and pull out. Now imagine as you move along for the next day, week, or month that you can never pull over at a rest stop or get a meal in a restaurant or fast food chain. If you want something to eat you have to make it which makes you feel really awful and sometimes can be downright dangerous due to the movement of the double wide. Throw in the overwhelming lethargy from only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time and it takes a bit of time to recover when you stop at your next destination. Now that you have reached said destination you have to find a place to park that will be safe, that won't move and won't crash into anything otherwise you could potentially lose your home, then it's time to figure everything out. Can I get to shore and if so where can I park my rubber car? Is it safe to leave said rubber car? What language are they speaking, what kind of money is used and what is the exchange rate? "Oh, the numbers 2,800 is kind of like $30.00 American." Where is the bank and do they have an ATM? Can I walk to the grocery store or take a taxi. If I need a taxi where can I find one and about how much will it cost? Without a car or taxi we have to carry all of our groceries from the store to the shore, dinghy, and finally the boat. Is it safe to leave my "water home" (let's stop calling it a double wide), is the anchor set good enough? Do we need to lock everything up? Is there laundry available? Is there internet? If I have to go to the bathroom when I'm away from my water home is there a bathroom, is there a toilet seat, or toilet paper? And most importantly, is there a restaurant with a bar?

I could go on and on with all the "is there's" and "what if's". Bottom line is, most of the females on this journey (I do need to point out not all) are not super crazy about their water home. As a matter of fact we often downright hate the sailing aspect but sometimes love the destinations. The general consensus is though that we love our husbands and this is THEIR journey, and when you love someone, you nurture and support them. And so we, us gals, forge ahead - sometimes have a down day, sometimes get really cranky, sometimes drink too much wine - but then pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and get back to the daily chores. So, "Here's to you mom." I'm sorry you don't like what I/we do, but I do because it makes my husband happy, and sometimes me too.

We are now anchored in the most gorgeous location on the Island of Moorea, 17⁰29.256 S / 149⁰52.707 W, about ten miles away from Tahiti. After spending a little over two weeks in Tahiti we were very much ready to move on. Tahiti was nice, but not the mecca we had expected. I had visions of having new cockpit cushions made, maybe having the boat hauled out for a much needed bottom job, doing extensive shopping, maybe seeing a movie in English at a theater, but sadly no. What we did find however, was a beautiful island, very friendly people, a few decent restaurants, and yes...a Royale with Cheese - at Chez McDonalds of course. It made us think of all you Pulp Fiction fans! I did find an amazing salon for my annual haircut, including good products and vitamins for said sun bleached salty hair, a fantastic esthetician for my annual facial, and a plastic surgeon for my annual...oh I can't tell you or I would have to kill you...I'll just let your imaginations run amuck!

During our two night passage from the Tuomotu Islands to Tahiti we came as close to dying as we have probably ever come in the past three years. On the second night, shortly after dark, Ben and I were downstairs just finishing up our dinner when Larry came down to tell us he thought he could see the lights from Tahiti, cool we thought. Shortly thereafter Larry realized that this was not a glow from a large city he was seeing but lights from a huge vessel coming our way at a high rate of speed. We were under sail therefore somewhat limited in maneuvering out of her way. We had squalls all around us on the radar, therefore making it challenging to see the radar target and there was no AIS* showing so we couldn't hail the ship on the radio by name. This vessel was so lit up that it made it impossible for us to distinguish any type of running lights, so we were unable to tell what part of the ship we were looking at through our binoculars. What we did know was that something very big and something very bright was coming our way very fast. I ran down, threw on our strobe light on the mast, turned on all our deck lights, and grabbed our large hand held spotlight. Suddenly an AIS target appeared on our chart plotter for a split second, showing the name of the vessel and that we were on an almost direct collision course, another words way to close for comfort in about 8 minutes. Larry tried calling the ship on the radio immediately, asking if they saw us, stating the fact that we were under sail and what were their intentions. On the second try the captain finally answered. He "claimed" he saw us, as we transmit on AIS as well as receive, and he agreed to turn his ship so we could pass at a safe distance starboard to starboard (meaning right side to right side). Then to our horror he actually turned into us. In the pitch black Ben asked the question, "Should I be able to see his wake?" Yes, it was that close. Larry hailed the ship on the radio one more time asking, "CAPTAIN, DO YOU SEE ME? WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE, YOU NEED TO ALTER YOUR COURSE IMMEDIATELY." Our AIS was showing a collision in about 4 minutes. We froze for a moment, not knowing which way to turn. If we turn more to the left and he turns more to the right, we're screwed, and if we turn more to the right and he turns more to the left we're screwed. We had turned our engine on to give us extra power, but I think at the last moment we throttled back figuring the slower we hit the better. We were blinded by the ships lights and truly did not know which direction was the best option to go. The AIS would pop up on the radar one moment then disappear. I flashed our spotlight, Ben had the air horn in hand and we all held our breath. At the last moment the captain made the correct course change and passed us by. Phew! That was way too close and we were shook up and angry. We hear stories like this from other sailors. We're not sure if it's a case of the crew just simply not paying attention, if they think it is funny to scare us like that, if it's one of those "lost in translation" things, or if it's just plain old incompetency. Needless to say, Larry never really went to sleep that night.

*AIS = automated information system; it automatically transmits your vessels name, size, course, speed, location, and turning rate. It also calculates its closest point of approach to you and when that will occur. This information shows on your chart plotter screen and also transmits on the other vessels screen as well.

Getting back to Moorea...ahhhh...it has been fantastic. What a beautiful island with some stunning anchorages. Again the combination of blues in the water, from dark to medium, to light and lighter is surreal. Once again the white birds that fly overhead reflect the gorgeous turquoise color of the water. We've filled our time hiking up the hills, walking through the pineapple fields, and enjoying drinks and dinners at sunset with friends.

Opunohu Bay, where we are currently anchored, is where the HMS Bounty landed in 1788 to search for breadfruit, causing what is known today as "Mutiny on the Bounty". This is also where the movie was filmed. Yesterday it almost caused a "mutiny" (just kidding!) on the Lisa Kay, as Larry's dream finally came true. As we made our way to shore in our dinghy there, right in front of Larry's eyes was exactly what he had been dreaming French Polynesia to be like. Standing in the surf was a beautiful young Polynesian woman in a bikini bottom and nothing else but her long dark hair skimming her naked breasts. It was like a slow motion moment, a scene from a movie. We giggled and I said, "Larry, there it is honey, what you have been dreaming about."

Moorea is also famous for being one of the few places in the world where a large group of stingrays have been habitualized, allowing you to pet and feed them. This actually is a really neat experience. The black tip reef sharks that swim nearby also help to enhance the experience. Please enjoy the video we have put together for you!

This is actually another video, please enjoy while we edit the shark video!