05/17/2013, South Pacific
A new blog is clearly past due so it is time to sit down and write this one. We have now been in the Toau Atoll for four days, and we continue to enjoy this idyllic spot, but we are also anxious to move on. Our plan was to leave today for Fakarava, but the winds and weather have chosen not to be cooperative with continued high winds and a fair number of squalls. Last night and during the early morning we experienced two of the wettest squalls since reaching the Tuamotus. A couple of the boats in this anchorage do not have watermakers, so these squalls were welcome events as they helped to re-fill their water tanks via various water-catching devices. We, on the other hand, find the rain to deprive us of the cooling breezes which make sleeping a little easier, and we thus have to get up to shut the hatches when the rains begin and open them again when they stop, usually about 15-30 minutes later. This definitely interferes with a good night's sleep. Now to bring you up to date on past events:
Tuesday was our designated night for dining ashore, along with the crews of several other boats. One of them was Wild One, a catamaran built in Sri Lanka, and owned by a young Austrian man, Martin. Earlier in the day we had stopped by Wild One to introduce ourselves. There we learned that Wild One had been struck by lightning several days earlier at the very same mooring to which Murar's Dream is now attached. His biggest problem was the loss of his autopilot, and he asked whether we used the same device, which we did. He asked if it would be possible to borrow the controller to test the extent of the damage (controller only or the computer which operates the entire system), and we just happened to have a spare for him to use for the test. This led to an invitation for coffee onboard Wild One of which Debra took full advantage, Andy not being a coffee drinker. Martin conducted the test and unfortunately determined that it was the computer which had been damaged-potentially a very expensive repair. Nevertheless, at least he was able to determine what needed to be done to fix this serious problem. Martin had several guests onboard from Germany and one crew member, a woman for South Africa. All spoke good English, so communication was not a problem. Andy was later invited to join them for a snorkeling trip to the outer reef where the men aboard Wild One were going to scuba. He took full advantage of this and found a spot to return the following day with Debra to see the vast variety of tropical fish that inhabit that reef.
Now on to dinner. Valentine put together quite the spread. The night began with her version of pizza bites made with Parrotfish, the local form of preferable "poisson" (eating fish). Before dinner was time for Bacci Ball (sic?) with the locals, one of whom, Phillipe, was quite good at using his ball to knock yours away for the target. We were then seated for dinner at an outdoor banquet table, replete with a beautiful tablecloth and fresh flowers. The meal was served family style and included the meat of Mother of Pearl marinated in olive oil, poisson cru, Parrotfish nuggets, and grilled lobster which they were able to catch the night before. It was all quite delicious, and, despite the fact that we had probably eaten too much already, the meal was topped off with homemade coconut cake, which was amongst the best cakes we have ever tasted. The cake was light and moist, and the icing just right. We returned to Murar's Dream in the darkness of night, fully satisfied with this outstanding meal.
It was the following day that the stiff winds began to blow. We were invited over to Giggles, a Dutch Ketch, for coffee and cake the following morning, where we were joined by the crews of Irene and Kahiba. They served a chocolate cake which was also quite moist and tasty. Tapio then took all of the captains of the three yachts and shared a program which allows you to download the actual weather maps generated out of New Zealand for the entire South Pacific. Andy brought a stick to which the program was downloaded, and he has successfully installed it on our laptop. By having these weather maps, it helps to better understand the MaxSea grib files and see the actual weather troughs, ridges, fronts, and systems to help us with weather predictions. Later that day, we took the dinghy ashore and walked out to the point of the motu where we could look out over the ocean to the west of our anchorage. Upon returning to the dock, Andy was invited to another round of Bacci Ball, this time with Gaston and Valentine. Gaston demonstrated the same ability of Philippe but Valentine and Andy (one team) managed to tie the score a 10 apiece (the game is to 11) when darkness fell, and we had to suspend the game when the No Nos came out in full force, and ankles were quickly attacked. It was quickly back to Murar's Dream for dinner aboard and a good night's rest.
Yesterday morning, Debra used the remaining, overripe bananas which we had acquired in the Marquesas to make a couple of loaves of banana bread which are now in the freezer waiting to be consumed. Then in the afternoon, after the winds had somewhat subsided, we were joined by Giggles and Kahiba for a snorkeling adventure to the outer reef. It was an amazing display of fauna. We almost immediately saw our first Blacktip Reef Shark of about 3 feet pass nearby, and we then enjoyed viewing the vast variety of tropical fish, culminating with the sighting of a moray eel. It was, by far, the best snorkeling, to date, and it will be hard to top unless we can find a place with more colorful corals, most of them here being brownish in color.
We will spend the day today reading our Kindles and going back for another night of dining onshore, but it is unlikely that we will get lobster tonight with the strong winds of the past few days. Unless weather conditions are really bad tomorrow, we will head to Fakarava in the morning, arriving sometime in the mid-afternoon, which, according to the tide tables, will be the best time to enter the pass into that atoll. There we hope to join Double Diamond which has been anchored there for the past few days awaiting the arrival of their friends from the U.S. and the departure of their final crewmember, Erlin.
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05/12/2013, South Pacific
We are happily moored in Anse Amyot, Tuomotus, the most idyllic spot that we have experienced, to date. We arrived at 7AM after a pleasant night of sailing and motorsailing in order to time our arrival at slack tide, something that is highly recommended for the passages into any of the atolls here. However, once we arrived, we confirmed that, because this is actually a false passage (it is an opening between motus but it culminates in a very shallow coral reef which prevents you from entering the lagoon), currents, and therefore tides, are really not an issue here. Besides, there are excellent markers to locate the channel and enter, including two range markers which, when lined up, have you centered down the middle of the channel. Once you enter, they have placed 6 mooring balls for use by any visiting cruisers. They are attached to dead coral heads via chain, and then there is a large line to which you connect your own line to your forward cleats, thereby providing a very safe anchorage. This is, by far, the calmest place that we have ever anchored or moored, even some of the marinas in which we have docked. There are no waves or swell, and there is a beautiful breeze blowing. We have heard that it can get quite windy, but, for now, it is near perfect conditions. We just experienced another beautiful sunset. We are now amongst another handful of boats, some of which are very close due to the location of the mooring balls, but, when we arrived, there was only one other boat here, Irene. They came over shortly after our arrival, and we met Tapio and Eeva who have been cruising since 1975 and have been in French Polynesia for five years now, leaving only on occasion to return to Finland, their home country. They were therefore a wealth of information which we soaked up eagerly.
After resting for the remainder of the morning and into the afternoon, it was time to go ashore, so we launched the kayak, as we are only a matter of a few hundred yards offshore. There we met Valentine (pronounced "valenteen") whose family owns this atoll. She is known for her warm hospitality which were quick to experience at our initial encouter and the dinners that she prepares for visiting cruisers. We have scheduled our dinner and eagerly await it, as her reputation for great meals is well-known throughout the cruising community that has visited here in the past. It is no surprise that she specializes in local catch from the sea: fish and lobster. Right now, she has no lobster, but we are all hoping that tonight will bring in a good supply for our upcoming dinner. The remaining supplies must be purchased from stores on other islands, the closest being 21 miles away by boat. She invited us to explore the atoll which we have begun to do. We have seen their pigs, chickens, and coconuts, as part of a huge coconut farm, the trees being planted in very neat rows.
Today we purchased some freshly caught Grouper from one of the locals who had just spearfished them from the adjacent coral reef. It made for an outstanding dinner tonight. Tomorrow will be our chance for what has been reported to be some of the best snorkeling in the World. We can actually see the corals only 100 or so yards from our mooring. After tomorrow, we will get a better feeling for how long to enjoy this beautiful atoll. It is then on to Fakarava which is a totally different experience with an actual town.
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05/12/2013, South Pacific
We are sorry for not blogging yesterday,, but the last 48 hours have been both interesting and challenging. On Friday, it was a smooth day of sailing all day with clear skies and moderate winds. This continued into the early evening hours, but then things quickly changed. We were confronted with a series of squalls of both wind and rain throughout the remainder of the night and well into Saturday. One of the worst occurred just before sunrise, and another bad one (winds up to 28 knots and a lot of rain) hit just at dusk, and there were many others which we had to confront throughout this period. It seemed like they would never end. While getting wet in the cockpit is never fun, and we have to repeatedly open and close portholes and hatches to deal with the rain and the heat, the most difficult parts were the continually shifting winds. We experienced winds angles anywhere for 30 degrees to 140 degrees, and the direction of the boat would have to be constantly corrected for these wind shifts. It had gotten so bad by mid-day on Saturday that we doused the sails and began motoring just so that we did not have to deal with these shifts, but it still meant dealing with the high winds and rain that would accompany these repeated squalls that were so prevalent that it was impossible to avoid them. After dusk on Saturday, however, things started to calm down. On Debra's first night shift from 6-9PM, she had to deal with 3 minor squalls, two of which contained rain. However, when Andy's shift started at 9PM, the skies were virtually clear and full of stars, and his first shift went without incident, so it was decided to finally turn off the engine and return to sailing, which we have done. The sun has now arisen, and we continue to sail towards our first destination in the Tuamotus which will be the Toau Atoll. We should arrive there early tomorrow and enter the atoll at the first available slack tide (You try to go in and out of atoll passes at these times to avoid the strong currents and possible large waves which they can cause depending upon wind intensity and direction). We have been assured of crystal clear water which is something which is not usually found in the Marquesas, so this will be a good chance to clean the hull, check the zincs, and, most of all, fit it time for some outstanding snorkeling.
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05/12/2013, South Pacific
We are about to complete our first 24 hours underway, having left Ua Pou yesterday at 8AM local time. However, before going into the details of this trip, we need to share the events of our final day in the harbor. First was the arrival of the local fishing boat with its small catch, one of which was a Yellowfin Tuna. They were all laid out on the cleaning table where one heavyset man was scaling some of the small fish. We told him that we wanted to buy the tuna but he said "no." He wanted to give it to us! He then handed us one half and so we insisted on paying something, which he continued to decline. We decided to return to the boat where we secured a bottle of white wine and returned to shore where we graciously handed it to him. He was very appreciative, and we felt much better about it-We did not feel that it was fair to take some fish which would otherwise feed the locals without some token of our appreciation. We also went into our stash of items to give to youth along the way and removed a dozen individual-sized bags of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers and toss them from our dinghy to about that many school-aged kids swimming and diving off of the ship wharf close to where we were anchored. They had been there most of the afternoon because it was part of a two day holiday in French Polynesia, so there was no school.
In the town, up on a hill, is a pension which offers dinners to cruisers. One has to make a reservation earlier in the day, as it is not a regular restaurant. Double Diamond checked it out and made the reservation for that evening, so we all rendezvoused at the dock and walked up the hill to the pension. We were immediately greeted by the husband, having married the daughter of the family who owns the pension after retiring from the French military. He was very accommodating and first prepared a local cocktail featuring ginger syrup made locally on the island. We all sat at a table overlooking the harbor while our host filled us in on French Polynesia and his family. After cocktails, we all moved to an adjacent banquet table where we were joined by the host and hostess, as well as two Belgian guests staying at the pension. The wife was a physician who was providing medical care to the Polynesians based out of Papeete, and this was their vacation, so we were able to learn a lot about Papeete from someone who was actually living there. However, the best part of the evening was the dinner itself. It was, by far, the best meal that we have had in French Polynesia. We were served family style with Wahoo carpaccio, a ragout containing one of the local fishes, potato/breadfruit au gratin, and last but not least, Languste (French for lobster) since lobster season had just opened. Everything was outstanding, and the dinner was culminated by a dessert of vanilla ice cream served with a sauce of various local fruits. For any of our blog readers who will visit French Polynesia, it is definitely worth a trip to the pension on Ua Pou, either to stay and/or dine there (Jerome and Elisa, Pension Pukue'e, www.pukuee.pf, pukuee@mail.pf, monitoring VHF channel 72). The experience could not have been better. Now back to our travel details:
The tradewinds was filled in nicely so that, after the first hour of motoring to clear the island, we have been under sail this entire portion of this leg of our travels, and the weather router indicates continuing favorable wind conditions. We are once again sailing downwind, and it is a bit lumpy, but, once again, this is a fair tradeoff. We left under clear blue skies, and they have continued into today. We may ultimately encounter a squall or two from here to the Tuamotus, as we still have at least two full days of sailing ahead of us before reaching our intended, first atoll: Toau. If all goes as planned, the entry to the atoll is relatively easy, and there are half-a-dozen mooring balls available rather than having to anchor amongst the coral heads. One of the boats that was part of our trip from the Galapagos has already visited that atoll, having now moved onto Tahiti, and they thoroughly enjoyed this location. Our most likely next atoll will be Fakarava, a much larger atoll with more amenities. After that, things are up in the air before heading for Tahiti, an overnight trip from the Tuamotus.
We will try and blog every day while underway, so keep checking daily if you are so inclined.
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05/10/2013, South Pacific
We are about to complete our first 24 hours underway, having left Ua Pou yesterday at 8AM local time. However, before going into the details of this trip, we need to share the events of our final evening in the harbor. In the town, up on a hill, is a pension which offers dinners to cruisers. One has to make a reservation earlier in the day, as it is not a regular restaurant. Double Diamond checked it out and made the reservation for that evening, so we all rendezvoused at the dock and walked up the hill to the pension. We were immediately greeted by the husband, having married the daughter of the family who owns the pension after retiring from the French military. He was very accommodating and first prepared a local cocktail featuring ginger syrup made locally on the island. We all sat at a table overlooking the harbor while our host filled us in on French Polynesia and his family. After cocktails, we all moved to an adjacent banquet table where we were joined by the host and hostess, as well as two Belgian guests staying at the pension. The wife was a physician who was providing medical care to the Polynesians based out of Papeete, and this was their vacation, so we were able to learn a lot about Papeete from someone who was actually living there. However, the best part of the evening was the dinner itself. It was, by far, the best meal that we have had in French Polynesia. We were served family style with Wahoo carpaccio, a ragout containing one of the local fishes, potato/breadfruit au gratin, and last but not least, Languste (French for lobster) since lobster season had just opened. Everything was outstanding, and the dinner was culminated by a dessert of vanilla ice cream served with a sauce of various local fruits. For any of our blog readers who will visit French Polynesia, it is definitely worth a trip to the pension on Ua Pou, either to stay and/or dine there (Jerome and Elisa, Pension Pukue'e, www.pukuee.pf, pukuee@mail.pf, monitoring VHF channel 72). The experience could not have been better. Now back to our travel details:
The tradewinds was filled in nicely so that, after the first hour of motoring to clear the island, we have been under sail this entire portion of this leg of our travels, and the weather router indicates continuing favorable wind conditions. We are once again sailing downwind, and it is a bit lumpy, but, once again, this is a fair tradeoff. We left under clear blue skies, and they have continued into today. We may ultimately encounter a squall or two from here to the Tuamotus, as we still have at least two full days of sailing ahead of us before reaching our intended, first atoll: Toau. If all goes as planned, the entry to the atoll is relatively easy, and there are half-a-dozen mooring balls available rather than having to anchor amongst the coral heads. One of the boats that was part of our trip from the Galapagos has already visited that atoll, having now moved onto Tahiti, and they thoroughly enjoyed this location. Our most likely next atoll will be Fakarava, a much larger atoll with more amenities. After that, things are up in the air before heading for Tahiti, an overnight trip from the Tuamotus.
We will try and blog every day while underway, so keep checking daily if you are so inclined.
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05/08/2013, Ua Pou
It has now been three days since our last blog, so it is time to fill everyone in since then. We have been anchored here in Ua Pou (actually, according to a native, the correct pronunciation is "oo-ah pow") now for three days awaiting the weather window to the Tuamotus, which appears to finally be opening tomorrow. Actually, the delay has worked in our favor as those cruisers who have reached the Tuamotus already have reported strong winds (25-30 knots) in he achorages, which has made them all nervous, being anchored amongst numerous coral heads. On the other hand, we have been enjoying partly cloudy skies, the only drawback being the constant sun and accompanying heat which, at times, is oppressive. Sleeping has been somewhat uncomfortable even though we have been cooling down our cabin each night with the a/c before retiring. By about midnight, the effects of the a/c have worn off, and the lack of a steady breeze means a warm and muggy condition for sleeping.
As far as daily activities, there is not much to do here unless one wants to try the 4 hour hike to the adjoining cove in the oppressive heat-something that we have passed on. However, we have and will get much done aboard, including Debra's hull cleaning: something that she has done well. I have passed the torch on this activity for the moment as I try to heal up various cuts and scrapes which are very slow to heal, and keeping them wet does not help. I want to be 100% ready for snorkeling once we reach the Tuamotus since we are told of the crystal clear waters and beautiful coral heads. We have been able to secure some fresh fruits, namely a large stalk of green bananas and a handful of pompelamousse-something that we are told will be nowhere to be found in the Tuamotus. Despite the lack of activities, we were provided with a special treat yesterday when the Aranui 3, a cargo/cruise ship, visited the port. The locals, in anticipation of the tourists, were out in full force with their handicrafts and some food items. We managed to secured a few bone carving necklaces and a tapa cloth with an ink drawing of a tiki. Andy also discovered a table selling locally-made ginger syrup which should be a nice flavoring for our carbonated water that we make almost daily for limonadas. However, before the ship was able to reach the dock, we were told to weigh anchor and make sure that we were clear of the ship as it maneuvered into this tiny harbor. We had to re-locate to a less favorable spot with more swell, so, after watching the ship depart, we returned to our prior anchoring spot where we will remain until we leave tomorrow for the Tuamotus.
We have been joined in this anchorage by some new boats, and we have been able to meet new cruisers to add to our contacts-the latest being Brett and Stacey of Bella Vita from Seattle, Washington. On the night of their arrival, everyone went over to Double Diamond for Margs and apps before walking into town for dinner at the local restaurant. It was choice of wood-fired pizza (Andy's choice) and poisson cru (raw tuna and vegetables marinated in a coconut sauce-Debra's choice). It was a very pleasant evening for all.
We are expecting the arrival of Kahiba from Nuvu Hiva later this afternoon, so it will be nice to see them before we all head to the Tuamotus and different atolls. We should begin again to rendezvous with most everyone once we reach Tahiti where it will involve extended stays.
This will definitely be the last day of internet for several days, if not a week. There may be internet at Fakarava in the Tuamotus, but we won't be sure until we get there. Otherwise, it will be Tahiti, for sure, so that's all for now.
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