Oct 20th 2013
Ok, we’ve been extremely naughty because we haven’t written a blog in a while. It seems like the last 3 weeks we’ve been doing a lot of traveling with long passages and a lot of running errands, trying to get to the next destination before our deadline is up. We have two weeks to get home to Australia and we have 10 sailing days ahead of us! We have had heavenly highs and deadly lows on this trip but one thing that has stayed the same is something always seems to break on our ol’ gipsy wagon and because of it we’ve been forced to stay at whatever port we were at and fix whatever had broke and unfortunately that cut short our time on some other islands. I can’t believe our trip is coming to an end, I have to say I’m ready. I’m excited to be here in Fiji and I’m looking forward to New Caledonia but I’ll be so relieved when we get back to solid ground (even though Tim and I will live on the boat for a few months when we get back), but let me pick up where we left off in our last blog.
On the way from Palmertson to American Samoa the weather was amazing, what I mean when I say amazing is the wind was around 20 knots with a great South East trade wind blowing just behind us to have a good wind angle for our sails and lightly healed over to starboard side so it’s not tossing the boat side to side. It was nice, everything was working, we were listening to music the whole way and I even had the motivation to spoil us and make home made pizza, the crust and all! It took us 5 days to get to Samoa so we were ready to get on land. We timed our arrival just before noon and as we came close we jumped on channel 16 (the universal emergency/info channel) to get ahold of the harbor master or immigration to find out what we needed to do for clearing into the country. We didn’t get any officials but we did get a local that we later learned had been living on his yacht for 3 years and loved guiding in the newbies. We tied up to a tugboat, waited for the officials and we were in. The one thing that stood out from the other islands we’ve been to was how lusciously green it was. I loved the vibe there, all the local buses were made from the frame and engine anything from a minivan to a Ford F350 truck. The top and sides was just a simple steel frame covered with wood. They all were totally decked out with custom paint jobs and bumpin’ stereo systems, they blast their music so loud you can’t even have a conversation but everyone seems to enjoy it. American Samoa is nothing like the U.S. except the fact that they receive imported goods from them but they are living the ‘Island life” just like the other island people we’ve visited. Samoans make sure they enjoy everyday and make sure their friends enjoy their day too, usually with an invite to their family home for food, drinks and loud island music. The first thing we had to do was laundry! We hadn’t done laundry in a real machine since Hawaii (2 months) so we excited to have some clean clothes and if we were lucky we could throw in a dry sheet for extra freshness! So Tim and I went to a local corner shop, grabbed 2 local beers and headed to the Laundromat. While doing laundry we got talking to woman that was from Brisbane, Australia (very close to where we live now) and she insisted we come to her house on Sunday and have lunch with her family. Two days later Sunday came around and all Tim and I could think about was the Packer game and the only place we knew was playing it early enough was McDonalds at 5am. I stormed into MiccyD’s with my Packer earrings and Rodgers jersey loud and proud! After watching a much needed victory we made our way to our invite at our new friends home that ended up being at the local Methodist church. They are amazing people, the children respect their elders and serve them first, bring them drinks and fan the flies away from the food. As always we said a sad good bye and spent the rest of our last few days stocking up, fixing our oil leak in our engine and refueling. The one thing that the people are still affected by is the tragedy that happened in 2009, a Tsunami that devastated the economy but not the people’s spirit. We would hear horror story after horror story from taxi drivers, checkout clerks and passerby’s. After the earthquake only a few miles out to sea the people had only a 15 min warning to get to higher ground and save their lives. The bay where we stayed was filled with cars, pieces of buildings and debris. When we got there they had just recovered from the damage (huge help from the U.S. of course) while little signs of the Tsunami was left to remind the people how their people and their land had suffered. As we pulled up anchor to leave for Fiji it was obvious the windless (anchor motor) was struggling to pull the anchor up. As we got our anchor in sight I saw something dangling from it, it was two huge chains that looked like it was from a fishing boat. It took about 20 mins of prying and one lost grab pole but we finally got free. Goodbye American Samoa.
It was 5 days to Fiji and on any crossing it’s nice to have a quick stop in between to break up the trip so we scoped out a small island in Tonga and headed SW towards our destination. The wind was absolute crap to put it bluntly. I think we motored without sails for a day and a half then sailed at about 3 knots the rest if the way. It also was stinkin’ hot! You can’t even put on sunscreen because you just sweat it off a minute later. Two days from Tonga, hundreds of miles from land Tim and I were scooping up buckets of saltwater from the ocean and dumping over our heads to try and get relief from the hot weather we heard this loud booming sound over our heads, we looked up and saw a private plane, maybe government plane, that was swooping down to check us out, they were maybe only a few hundred feet over our heads! Out in the middle of the ocean, doing a crossing like ours you’d be lucky to see a floating pair of undies let alone a jet plane swooping down to check out your situation! Crazy! Anyway, we got to Tonga but as we arrived the only sailboat in the bay, a guy from Australia, he motored over in our dinghy to tell us that the Tongan people will want $130 to check in. Since we only wanted to stay a night in the country we decided it wasn’t worth it, the Auzzie also said that there was a low front coming from Fiji with 25 knot winds. We said thanks and on our way we went. The wind picked up just hours after we left Tonga, it started to rain heavily and the clouds turned black ahead, we weren’t sure what we got ourselves into. We had a 4 day trip to Fiji and again we were out on our own. That night the winds were too strong for the sails so we took everything down and motored until the winds calmed down. We stayed up all night, checking the wind and our direction. The boat was getting thrown around more than ever, waves were crashing over the port side and we had to keep all hatches closed to keep the water out and the wind got to a howling 40 knots! The wind was the strongest I’d ever seen it and the autopilot was struggling. At 3am the boat was turning in a slow circle and the autopilot had obviously stopped working, Dad got on the helm and there was no response to our hydraulic steering, we had no control with the rudder hard to starboard in 40 knots winds. I screamed to wake up Tim to have him help me pull out the emergency tiller arm so dad could fix over the rudder to steer us straight. It was dark, pouring rain and was just freaking scary! After we got the emergency tiller on we put hydraulic fluid in the helm and eventually got our steering back. I immediately went down to the galley and was so stressed and seasick I puked out all I had. Ughh, what a horrible night but dad and Tim always impress me, the boys hand steered throughout the night… They’re tough and do whatever they have to do to get through a bad situation without crying… HA! I cry sometimes ok! How else am I supposed to relieve stress in a near death situation?! :) Oh and I didn’t mention in that last bit that the mizzen (sail) halyard rope broke again (Is that the 3rd time??)! When it rains it pours! They next day was still raining but the wind and clouds seemed to ease up, we had gone though the worst of the storm and we were exhausted but grateful. The next two days we had great wind, nice and consistent but I don’t have time to tell you anymore, we are in Fiji and Dad wants to head to New Caledonia right now so I’ll have to post the rest when we get there.

30SEP13 2231h 16.19.230’S 165.40.960’W en route to America Samoa


Coconuts, volleyball, church, and fishing. If you had only four words to sum up Palmertson Island those would be sufficient. You won’t find Palmertson island in any magazine, the travel channel, or last minute deal on expedia, as a matter of fact before 1969 you wouldn’t even be able to find it properly located on a map! What you will find on Palmertson though is a pure and simplistic way of life surrounded by you guessed it…. 100% paradise. There is no runway for planes to land, and no ferry shuttle from a nearby island. The nearest island in fact is over 300 miles away. The islanders (all 64 of them) only get shipments of supplies a few times a year. They are completely self-sufficient otherwise. Tourism is also a non-factor. Only about 50 sailboats make it to Palmertson every year (and only for a quick stop during the sailing season). We had to make a choice when we left French Polynesia between two islands: Suwarrow and Palmertson. With a decent weather report and a little reading about both we just decided to go with the latter. We knew very little about Palmertson other than it is considered very difficult access, extremely remote, a bit of history (this is a must read: http://www.cookislands.org.uk/palmerston.html), and that the people were very hospitable. The people were hands down the friendliest we have encountered so far on the journey, but I’ll get to that in a minute. One thing that we read and had heard about was that when you show up to the island someone will come out on the water and greet you and show you where to anchor. Seriously?! Are they just sitting around with binoculars in hand waiting anxiously for a sailboat to ‘maybe’ arrive? I had my doubts but sure enough just a mile away from where we were heading to anchor and here comes a small aluminum fishing boat motoring quickly right towards us. David, our greeter, showed up and told us to follow him to one of the mooring slips that they had made for cruisers, perfect!
We got tied up and were instructed by David to wait for customs to come out to clear us. Customs and immigration?! Crap! We thought we were gonna get away with it here. Well customs and immigration ended up being three of the local men who decided to take on the duties for the island (part of the Cook Islands and owned by New Zealand they are required to fill out the paperwork and keep it documented)
After a bit of chit chatting and scribbling down some information on what might have resembled official documents they asked us to hop in their boat so they could take us to shore to feed us and give us a tour of their private island. They maneuvered through what seemed like a maze of coral heads and reef just inches below the water (so glad we didn’t pass up the offer and try it ourselves!) until we arrived at one of the most surreal and beautiful beaches I have ever been. The vibe upon arrival was a mix between Gilligan’s island and Swiss family Robinson. Handmade hammocks dangling from palm trees, remnants of the hull of a huge boat to make a bit of a shelter, piles of split coconuts…. The locals greeted us with warm and energetic smiles and immediately handed us plates so we could dive into the smorgasbord of food they had out on a table buffet style. I turned around and there was a fresh chopped coconut being handed to me from Simon (who ended up being our chaperone during our stay. You can see a picture of him on the link above. I’m sure it was taken a few years back). I had only been on land for less than two whole minutes and I had a drink in one hand and a plate full of smoked fish and poisson cru (fish soaked in lime juice and coconut milk with onions – a polynesian staple) in the other. We sat down and indulged while we got to know some of the locals and a few of the other sailors that had found their way to Palmertson as well. After stuffing ourselves with food prepared so well it could easily find its way onto a plate in a five star restaurant we thought it’d be good to walk it off and get some exploring in as well. David our greeter took us on a tour of the main part of the island, consisting of a gigantic satellite (which picked up the only television you will watch on Palmertson, usually rugby or other sports. Everyone just gathers around on benches or the sand and watches one tv that they set up outside next to the satellite. Next to it is a posted paper with events and times that they will be broadcasting anything), a church, a school, a volleyball court, and a hurricane shelter made from timbers of old boats that had shipwrecked nearby made by Mr. William Marsters himself back in the 1800’s. After the full 15 minute tour we were invited over to the “Wolleyball” court where the locals play volleyball a few times a day every single day except on Sundays when they do absolutely nothing but attend church. Brooke and I got distracted from the volleyball when we spotted an enourmous pig just 50 yards away and had to go check it out. When we got closer we noticed it was relentlessly devouring coconut after coconut in his food bin. Literally chomping right through a coconut as if it were a Dorito. I had no idea pigs ate coconuts but when I looked over my shoulder there were nearly a hundred chickens right behind us doing the same thing! They were all eating coconuts! We later asked Edward (the island “cop” required by New Zealand) if that was all the pig ever ate. Edward said yes but then added shortly after “well sometimes he will get some fish scraps”. Incredible….
We lost track of time walking around the beach, watching volleyball, soaking in the beauty, and playing with the kids and noticed we had to get back to the beach to get our ride back to the boat. We hustled back and met up with Edward - who was still sweaty and covered in dirt from volleyball - and Simon who took us back to the boat for the night. They dropped us off and said they would be back in the morning to pick us up for church.
We watched a movie that night and fell asleep early to the rocking of the boat. It was the first time on the trip that we had anchored (we actually moored) outside of a lagoon and out of the protection of the coral reef we had gotten so use to while we were not cruising (the only pass into the lagoon on Palmertson is 4’ deep, not sufficient for our draft of 6’ on the Fury). Although it wasn’t rough we sure did a whole lot of rocking around for being safely anchored. By morning it really felt like we had gotten somewhere.
The next morning we woke up and began baking cookies and banana muffins for our lunch after church. Simon and David arrived at our boat promptly at 0845 just like they had said. We hopped in and made it over to the other two boats moored near us and loaded up the boat with the others. We headed in again through the maze of coral and reef but this time with a full and very heavy aluminum boat. It was amazing to watch as David turned corners so sharp around coral heads that we missed some by less than a foot. It was like he had done it a million times, and perhaps he has. We walked through the overhang of dozens of coconut trees on white powder sand onwards to Simons house and sat outside conversing about sailing, weather, fishing, traveling, etc with the other French cruisers and locals until it was time to walk to church. After a quick 4 minute stroll on over to “Zion” we were seated and the service began. There was a whole lot more standing up and sitting down than any church I have ever been in and everyone on Palmertson speaks English but they also like to sing their praises in the native language as well. There was one lady that would kick off the beginning of a hymn and everyone else would follow suit, without reading it out of a hymnal. Everything was memorized. And then they began to sing in their native language… and when Palmertson islanders get to singing, ears begin a ringing. These people sing loud, and when I say loud I’m talking airhorn pointblank in your face LOUD. It caught all of us off guard and there was a whole lot of looking around at first making sure others were just as impressed/confused as we were. There were two gentlemen from France who had traveled there by boat and were making a documentary on the island. One was filming on one side of the church while the sound guy was on the other and they were positioned right at the very front where everyone could see them. The look of astonishment on their faces was priceless. The sound guy was trying his very best to keep it in but the tongue in cheek was a dead giveaway. The camera guy knew he was filming gold and took full advantage of the situation getting the camera right into some of the local and heftier womans faces, which only made them screech louder. Everyone would sing (if you want to call it that) together and then the woman would take over with loud high pitched yelling followed then by the men. It really was quite amazing. After the third or fourth screaming competition ensued (sorry guys you lossed) the service ended and everyone went outside to meet and greet each other. We then walked back to the beach but stopped at Simons house along the way to pick up all the food for lunch down on the beach. We brought down braised pork, smoked and grilled chicken, three or four different kinds of fish, taro (starchy potato like veggie), desserts, and drinks. It was fantastic, every little bit of it. The pork was absolutely killer and Edward knew it. He was very proud of his pork and hovered over it cutting it up for everyone making sure they got way more than they wanted. Nothing went to waste. It was the best meal we have had on the trip thus far. After snapping out of our food coma Brooke and I walked the beach to take some pics and walk off the chocolate brownies we just devoured for dessert. We came back and took some group photos and then decided we had better get going. The wind was excellent and the other cruisers had said the wind was suppose to die down in a few days. We weren’t going to wait another day to check it ourselves online so we said our goodbyes and got a ride back to the boat with Simon and Edward. The people had been so nice and hospitable that we thought it would only be right to give something back to our friends. They did after all give us a huge break on the customs fees when we came in, and they have zero immediate access to any kind of goods. Edward scored himself a new set of rubber boots, which he appreciated since his pair had holes on the bottom. He was extremely happy about that. We gave Simon some fishing gear and tackle, which I am sure he will put to good use(note: the islanders at Palmertson are extreme professionals at fishing and they stock up on fresh fish the two weeks before the supply ship shows up so they can trade and make some money) , a bunch of flour and other food items, and some two-stroke oil which they were low on. It was a bittersweet goodbye. I felt like we could have stayed longer but in the end everyone left happy. We did get their contact info and will look forward to hearing from them in the future. Edward actually has plans on visiting Australia and wants to come visit us. He is thinking about taking up a gentlemen on a job offer in south Australia working on a crabbing boat too.
We left that day heading west into the sun watching as the tips of Palmertson island’s tall and abundant coconut trees quickly faded behind us, nothing but a blip on our radar screen just a measly 5 miles from where we had just moored last night. How did Captain Cook ever find this place? Does it really exist? Was it too good to be true? It’s like it was just a very surrealistic dream…. Anyways looking forward we had American Samoa as our next destination, which from what we have read sounds like a lost and confused Hawaiian island nesting in the southern pacific all by its lonesome. We are hoping to get there Thursday if this wind keeps up. Maybe if I’m lucky I can find a sports bar to catch the packer game at on Sunday….

26th Sept 2013 Brooke (220 NM to Palmerston, Cook Islands)
We left Maupiti on the morning of the 23rd. We knew we had to time the tide perfectly to be able to get out of the pass safely. As we mentioned before, Maupiti’s only pass has a bad reputation for pushing boats onto the reef. The current is always strong and the pass is narrow with reef on either side but if we could ride the outgoing tide we would have a good chance. We downloaded a grib file (weather data) the night before and we had a hard decision to make because we only had 3 more days of good wind then it dropped down to 5 knots for the rest of the week, our fuel tank was 70% full and we had an 11 day pass ahead with no fuel stops. With a full tank of diesel we could motor for 7 days without letting our fuel get too low so with our 70% we had only 3 maybe 4 days to motor (not wanting to drop below 50% and run into the same problem as we did on our way from Hawaii to Tahiti and clogging our fuel pump with sediment from our 38 year old fuel reservoir) on our 11 day passage. We had two choices, we sail back to Bora Bora and refuel or take the chance, pray for good wind and head to Palmerston then American Samoa. Dad wanted to play it safe so the plan was to head back to Bora Bora that morning then leave straight away. Sooo, it was 7am as we finished stowing the boat, we pulled up the anchor and started to head for the dangerous pass. It takes about 15 mins to motor to the pass so it gave us all time to build up some butterflies, I was especially nervous because of how dangerous the pass was just to come in. Tim of course strapped the GoPro to his head and as we turned the corner and saw the pass…. the swell looked much bigger than the grib showed and the current and riptide looked strong… we all said a quick prayer for God to help keep us safe and went for it. Dad was on the helm, Tim and I were on both sides of the boat helping dad guide us straight. As we passed the green and red markers the current started pushing the boat to port, as dad turned to correct it the rip took hold of our full length keel and started to turn the boat too much to starboard, it was extremely hard to keep the boat steady because of our bow to stern keel, it’s like a sail under water so when a current grabs hold of it it’s almost impossible to steer (and our hydraulic helm that takes 8 full turns to turn 180 degree’s didn’t help). So as dad was trying to stay in control the swell instantly reached 15ft. We all knew we were in trouble when the first big wave came and our boat climbed the wave then nose dived into the next, the entire spritz and some of the bow went underwater right where Tim was standing! We got a few waves like that then a big one to our side, the wave pushed our boat heavy to port, everyone hung on tight (I screamed of course), water poured in the boat and everything came off the shelves and out of the cupboards, I’m surprised we didn’t lose anything overboard including ourselves. It took about 5 mins to get pass the rip and waves but finally we were free! Maupiti pass was by far the most dangerous experience we’ve had on this trip. If we knew how bad it really was we would’ve never tried to leave that day. I’ve been thinking about it a lot the last few days and how out here you have to be extremely careful, strategic and aware of everything around you, things could end, people’s lives could end in merely seconds. Everyday I’m thankful for this life, the people I’m close to and I’m blessed to have these experiences and lessons I’ll keep forever.
ANYWAY!! After we all gave each other a few high fives and finally took a deep breath we started heading to Bora Bora to refuel, the wind was strong but the current was working against us so after about 30 mins of going nowhere we decided that we were just going to risk it and try and sail to Palmerston without refueling. After we turned around we wanted to take full advantage of the wind , the mizzen and main were already up so just to add a knot or two we put up the smaller genoa sail. It’s one of our favorite sails if we’re jibing, it’s a huge sail and catches a lot of wind. The genoa was up and as we were trimming it I noticed a small rip in the sail, near the clew (where you tie the sheets – or ropes – to the sail), I called the boys over to look and right as we were all staring at it the corner of the sail ripped completely off! The sail was whipping around in the wind and we were all devastated for the loss of our favorite sail. We then put up the heavier genoa after carefully examining it and we were off to Palmerston.
We had 3 beautiful days of wind. Everyday was sunny and peaceful and the Fury was charging! It was probably the easiest, most relaxing sailing we’ve done, Tim said that things were just too good and something had to go wrong. It’s true, even though you don’t want to talk about it, something always goes wrong and the one thing you can count on out to sea is that things never stay the same.
As we were enjoying the beautiful weather a big tuna hit Tim’s line, it was jumping from the water and putting up a good fight, dad and I tried to let the wind out of the sails as fast as we could to slow the boat down but there was too much pressure on the line, it snapped and our dinner got away (I thought Tim was going to cry) and that’s when they busted out the big boy! Tim and dad made up a bulletproof 400lb test hand line connected to the winch so even if we catch a shark we can just winch the bastard up (please excuse my language but I am a sailor now).
We are now 210 miles from Palmerston, we really want to catch a big fish so we have something to give to the people when we arrive. The people only get food and supplies a few times a year. The Island is unfertile because the highest point is only 4 meters! Not enough soil I guess, so I’m sure they would be happy if we brought something good for dinner.
So this is our 4th day out to sea and we knew the good wind would end and of course it’s ends in the middle of the night, we turned on the engine and started motoring at 2:30 am and went back to bed. Usually we all wake up just before the sunrise, around 5:30-6am. Our internal clocks are timed perfectly. But something else woke Tim up earlier, a loud banging against the mast. He walks outside and saw the first pair of spreaders dangling from the stay that was supporting our main mast! I guess you would have to know sailing terms but basically there’s an aluminum bar that sticks out horizontally from the mast and the other end is connected to a thick cable wire that runs from the top of the mast to the side of the boat, it’s an important piece that helps support our mast. The boys have been working all morning trying to fix it. Tim just came down and told me that the bolts holding the spreader to the mast didn’t come loose like we thought but instead snapped in half! We won’t be able to fix it until Samoa and now our main sail is out of commission for the next 800 miles! We’re going to have to rely on our genoa and the mizzen to get us there, and now the excitement begins… again!

21SEP2013 1820h Isle De Maupiti, French Polynesia (last stop in country) -Tim

So Huahine was unimaginable and we all believed it wouldn’t get any better. I mean how could it? There’s no way. Everything was a perfect ten here. I want to live here for the rest of my life. Yet as we got into Bora Bora the rumors we had heard turned out to be true. It just might be THE most beautiful island in the world. Not really a rumor I guess when numerous travel magazines have actually named it “the most beautiful island in the world.” It’s hard to judge really. What makes any one of these islands better than the next? Each one has it’s own vibe, it’s own style, its own people and unique features. They all have plenty to explore, above and below water. I guess it’s just what YOU make of each one of them. The memories and experience that YOU create will ultimately dictate your opinion of each one. But with that said there is no doubt that Bora Bora sticks out just a tiny bit from the others in one way that no one can argue with no matter what their experience. It is ridiculously, out of this world, insanely, mind blowingly beeeeyooootiful. (no matter what “side” of the island you are on)
We left Huahine early in the morning, around 0600, and set sail for Bora Bora. It was a sad day before saying goodbye to our friends anchored nearby and although it was nearly a two week stay our last four to five days were less than perfect. It was terribly windy and we had to re-anchor numerous of times. Rick was gone in Australia taking Savvy back home while Brooke and myself were left taking care of the boat. Everyone we talked to while we were there said it was the trickiest anchorage they had ever been too. We even saw one boat slip and bump into another behind it, wups! Just a love tap I suppose but the Brazilian captain didn’t seem to feel much love from the Italians who wanted to play bumper boats as he cursed them up and down in Portuguese. We saw many boats pick up and leave after only a short stay due to the gusty winds. We finally had to pick up and move a half mile away to a better location and literally drop anchor on a huge rock/coral pile and do a few circles around some coral heads to stay put. It worked. We stayed put for 4 days after that. I must have gone out to check the anchor with my mask about 4 times a day (partly just to make Brooke happy), but we slept a bit better at night. We couldn’t have done it without Justin though (our San Diegan friend). He snorkeled out to the best place to drop anchor while I was busy at the helm holding the boat in one place against the gusting wind and then continuing to do circles around his floating body while we tried to interpret the hand signals he was throwing up. We finally got it and when it was over he came on board and emphasized how he could not believe how hard it was for our boat’s anchor and chain to grab ahold of anything. It just rips through rocks like a steak knife through butter. I guess that’s the difference between a 29K ton cement boat and a 6k ton fiberglass boat.
We had met Justin and Anna just days before and hit it off pretty quick. The two were from San Diego and 31 and 32 years old. They lived on their boat for 4 years before making the trip and left San Diego with only $400. Justin was convinced that we had met before but we never did figure out when and where. They came over one night and we cooked them up a fantastic sushi dinner with fish that Justin had acquired from a nearby boat that he had given fresh made donuts to. We ate and drank and then they busted out the guitars… Simply incredible. They played for quite awhile through the gusting wind we could unnervingly hear outside until it got late and they retired to their 35’ “Ichiban” (name of their sailboat) great night, good times. We hung out with them until we left Huahine and also with their friends that they had been sailing close to with since the Marquesas, Brad and Tamara from Canada. We actually learned later that Rick had met Brad in Tahiti. Both couples were moving westward. Brad and Tamara plan on eventually going north up towards Japan and then back towards Canada after hitting the Aleutian islands. Justin and Anna are both pretty motivated to make it to American Samoa where they hope to find jobs and make enough money to stock up and move on again… somewhere. We have actually talked up Australia quite a bit and think they might be seriously considering it.
Anyways I’m pretty sure I was talking about leaving for Bora Bora a few paragraphs back. So we left and it is only a short skip and a hop on over so we wanted to spend some time splitting two islands that we decided to skip, Raiatea and Tahaa (pronounced TAH–AH-AH, Like HAHAHA! Polynesians like vowels and you pronounce every one of them even if there is three or four in a row, which is actually quite common. One of the surf breaks we liked in Huahine was Fitiii like FEE-tee-EE-ee). It was a great and beautiful day of sailing. We actually considered spending a quick night at a very nice anchorage on the west side of Tahaa but the wind wasn’t so favorable so we kept moving on (No worries we got some amazing pics of both islands as we passed through). We made it to the outside of the atoll and ran into some heavy wind. The sails went up and we were cruising fast and steady towards Bora Bora. As we got closer the binos came out and we began checking out the surf and what we could make out of the shoreline (on the inside of the atoll). It wasn’t long before we could see the white sand beaches and rows of bungalows hovering over the bright turquoise waters the color you thought only existed in photoshopped magazine pictures of places like Hawaii and the Maldives, or maybe even Bora Bora. The color here was much better in real life, indescribable. Just as I was looking towards the southwest corner of the atoll and daydreaming about… something I was distracted by a gigantic whale jumping high out of the water and doing a massive half twist flopping right down on his back making and enormous splash. I yelled “WHALE” so fast that Rick and Brooke both had time to see me point in the direction and still see the whale fully out of the water and making a splash. It’s like they move in slow motion when they get air. It’s a whole lot of mass in motion and always fun to watch. It never gets old for me, I love it…
We made the pass into Bora Bora with ease and began looking for a place to drop anchor and call home for the next 2 or 3 errrrr… 7 days. We found a nice little protected anchorage right next to the Bora Bora yacht club, which seemed convenient, but after going to shore and getting a price for stuff we were gagging at the cost of things. This was Bora Bora and we were warned about going to shore for anything. It is by far the most expensive island on our way and 90% of tourists here are honeymooners go figure. $15 for a load of laundry? No thanks I’ll wear my dirty underwear for another month.
The place was beautiful though and our home was on a boat and that’s all we needed so we enjoyed the scenery and exploring the island a bit. A couple days after arriving we were lounging out on the boat making lunch, listening to music, swimming, sunbathing, etc., when we heard a familiar voice on the radio and it just happened to be our friends Brad and Tamara talking to Justin and Anna. They had thought they would need to wait out the wind before moving on but we could hear them loud and clear and they were on their way to Bora Bora. We finally got in range and got in contact with them. They finally all made their way in and anchored right next to us. We got together that night on our boat for dinner and had some of the best tuna sushi I have ever tasted. Justin had gotten lucky and caught one just on his way out of Huahine. He is on a hot streak and it’s killing everyone. No one is catching fish like Justin right now. At least he is a great sharer and we all got to indulge. The next day we took the Fury down to the south end of the island where they have magnificent powder white sand beaches, excellent snorkeling, and ridiculous views. Justin and Anna came with us and we all had a great time. We snorkeled with gigantic stingrays and found a bunch of octopus holes - with believe it or not - a bunch of octopus inside of them. We had initially gone out to shark feed but I guess it wasn’t the right time of day. I’m not sure but I think Brooke ended up eating the rest of the canned mackerel we brought so I guess we did feed one shark. Eventually we made our way back to the boat, cooked up some dinner, and played poker until we got tired and went to sleep. The last night we spent on Bora Bora we got together at the yacht club where Justin and Anna were performing live at the restaurant. We had a good group of friends and passerbys (some simply locals, some dive instructors getting off work, some tourists there for a drink or dinner) sitting around in the sand next to the restaurant outside watching the sunset, cheersing beers, as we listened to our friends play live music and entertain a fun bunch of people, good times…
We said our goodbyes again and left very early the next morning and headed for Maupiti, which again was very close by. All we knew about Maupiti was that it was considered Bora Bora’s little sister, very quiet almost zero tourism, our last possible stop in French Polynesia, and that the entrance was very tricky and known for its many shipwrecks. We dialed in the tide, swell, current, timed it right and nailed it, barely… If you’re off a little bit here you are on the reef. It was easily the craziest entrance we have encountered, even after reading about it in numerous books and websites, but our teamwork was flawless and it turned out to be well worth it. We continued very cautiously as we worked our way towards the only seemingly good anchorage where there were only two sailboats (passing over two monster manta rays along the way). One of them was friends we had met in Huahine that we actually saw our last night in Bora Bora at the yacht club for the musical performance. Once we anchored and explored the island it was evident…. Do you remember how I was talking about Bora Bora being the most ridiculous , out of this world, crazy beautiful blah blah blah? Yeah… Maupiti has it beat.

(Brooke)
Ever since we arrived to Maupiti it has been nothing but breathtaking and pure relaxation (after making it through the death trap of an entrance, no wonder there is hardly any other sailboats around). The 1,000 people that live here seem to not have one ounce of stress, everyone waves and says bonjour, even the dogs are much happier and have zero aggression (the dogs in Bora Bora would chase me and dad every morning on our run), the people live a very simple life, the one road that runs around the island is very quiet with just a few food stores built from their garage and there's a few homes selling pearls and handmade seashell jewelry. There's only a handful of cars and everyone else gets around by bike. Yesterday dad, Tim and I wanted to hike to the top of Maupiti mountain that was recommended from our lonely planet guide, it said it would take about 3 hours total. The trail was easy to find after talking with some locals, and there were even arrows marked into the rocks to guide us where it got confusing. As we started climbing the trail only became more and more vertical, half of the trail we were on all fours climbing straight up! There was a good portion of it where there was a rope to help pull yourself up the really steep parts. Once we reached the top we were sweating and our legs were shaking but oh my lord, the view was nothing I've ever imagined! I've never seen so many colors of blue. We were so high up and we had a 360 degree view of the island and the entire lagoon surrounding it and us, there was a flag at the top were people have put there sailing flag (dad thought it was people's underwear) or something significant because after the intense hike we felt like we were on top of a mini Everest. It was a little cloudy and even sprinkled on us a bit while we were up there but the pictures we took say it all (although Tim doesn't believe they serve justice).
Later on that day we took the dingy and loaded up with our beach grill, chicken, beach chairs and our machete and found a beautiful deserted beach. We made a fire, BBQ'd, stocked up on coconuts and soaked up the sun.
We are now getting ready to leave French Polynesia and we will be heading to America Samoa. The trip is almost 1,200 miles (about 11 days), this will be another long passage and we all are not looking forward to it. We've been so spoiled with all the islands being only 20 to 50 miles apart from each other and sailing for just half a day is exciting and effortless. About 5 days in to our trip to Samoa we are stopping at a small atoll called Palmerston, it's owned by the Cook Islands and how it originally became populated was from a man named William Marsters, he settled on the island with 3 island wives and fathered 26 children, he divid the island into parts for 3 families and established strict rules about intermarriage. The families still live and control the island and all share the same last name.... Still not sure about if the intermarriage rule stuck. Anyway I think it's going to be an interesting island to visit, we heard the people there are very welcoming and it will be a nice break from our 11 day passage.
We've had a very nice steady 20 knot trade wind and hopefully we'll have smooth sailing. We just got invited to a family lunch by a member of my dad's church and they spoiled us! We ate all sorts of fish and king crab pulled right from the ocean by her 14 year old son! They also had a farm and gave us 2 weeks of tropical fruits and veggies for our trip to Samoa. They are amazing and generous people. We are so blessed...

16th Sept 13’
(Brooke)
I’m sorry we haven’t been blogging since we’ve left Tahiti but we’ve been in a state of absolute euphoria, and the concept of picking up a laptop and typing away just seems a bit un-island like, BUT we have been anxiously awaiting the time to fill everyone back home in on what we have been up to and how things are going. We fixed our engine, generator and refrigerator in Tahiti and started Island hopping across French Polynesia. It felt like our vacation really started when we sailed to Moorea but the last day we were in Tahiti we met up with our friend Valentin (we met him at the house party) and he drove us to Tahiti’s waterfalls and natural mountain toboggan slides. Valentin borrowed his mom’s car, he picked us up at the yacht club and we stopped at the local market and bought some marinated chicken, baguette and a few hinanos, the local beer. It took an hour and a half to drive on the bumpy dirt road to get to the middle of the Island, which is very high up in the mountains. It was a beautiful drive, very surreal, on the way we saw 10 picture perfect waterfalls flowing off of the top of the enormous jagged mountains. When we reached the middle Valentin showed us a secret spot that he and his friends would hang out, bbq and swim. We set up our fire on a rock next to a stream over looking a beautiful mini lagoon. Valentin said there was nothing that I should be scared of so I climbed down the rocks and went for a dip while the boys started a small fire for the bbq chicken on the rocks. When I got done swimming Valentin told me that there were eels living in the lagoon and he feeds them every time he comes to that spot! Of course I freaked out a little because I just got done swimming there but he said the eels are scared of humans… He threw a piece of chicken in the water and told us to wait, a few minutes later we saw a head poke out from the rock, the eel cautiously swam out toward the chicken, he was at least 4 feet long! After we ate and had a beer he showed us to the natural water slides, it was a bit of a hike so I brought my shoes but Valentin said the best shoes for climbing are your bare feet. After hiking through a beautiful thick forest we came to a swimming pool that had a waterfall slide with a 25ft drop! It was beautiful! It was a hidden gem that only very few locals knew about. I wish I could show you some of our GoPro footage of Tim sliding down the waterfall. Valentin dropped us back at the yacht club and we exchanged information and said goodbye.
​One thing we were desperately hunting for before we left Tahiti was an outboard motor for our dinghy. We were so tired of rowing to and from shore and it really was limiting our experiences. Some days the wind would be so strong we could hardly make it back and forth from shore with only two people! It was really hard to find a motor that was in good shape and still in our price range. But we bought a 15 horse power, 2 stroke. Tim said that he wished his dad could see his new motor, since Tim spent most of his childhood fishing boats with an outboard and was pretty proud of it. Our new outboard purrs like a kitten and has proven to be very reliable so far. It has already given us so many more opportunities to catch epic uncrowded surf, dive, whale watch, explore other parts of the islands, make it too and from shore with groceries from the market with ease… well worth the money!
The night before we left for Moorea we invited our friend Marc over for dinner, exchanged stories and emails then said goodbye. The next morning we were off to Moorea, we didn’t have much wind but we decided to put the mizzen up anyway. Kelli was excited to learn about our boat so it was fun to play with the rigging on our 3 hour trip there. Kelli doesn’t want me to say but the rocking motion of the boat made her sick but it put Savannah straight to sleep. As we approached Moorea we all started feeling giddy, everybody we talked to has told us that Moorea is one of the most beautiful islands in French Polynesia. We got closer and all we saw was white sand beaches with huge palm trees hanging over the turquoise blue water. We anchored in Cook’s bay, when Tim and I were in San Diego and imagining what French Polynesia would look like Moorea was it. It was an absolutely stunning, picturesque view. The bay had green jagged cliffs that shot straight up from the water and only one quiet town (if you want to call it that) occupied the magical bay, we anchored next to a few other sail boats and took the dinghy to explore. While we were there we snorkeled around the reefs and saw a lot of huge stingrays and found our own private beach to soak up the sun and enjoy the Island life. When we were back in Tahiti we had met a woman named Penelope that sweet talked a taxi driver into giving us a free ride into town, she told us that she lived on a sail boat in Moorea and she had to cut her wooden masts down with a chain saw because they were rotting from the inside, it was pretty much a floating house she said. So while Tim and I were on one of the many private beaches enjoying the beautiful blue water I looked over and saw an old sailboat without a mast, we both wondered if it was her. That’s just when we saw a little lady poke her head up. We then got in the dinghy and motored over to the boat and Penelope recognized us straight away and was beyond amazed. She invited us in for coffee. We sat with her for 2 hours sharing stories and she told us how she used to live in England with her husband and 3 kids and they decided to sail around the world, when they got to Tahiti they ran out of money and stayed, that was 20 years ago! Her kids are now grown up and live on the islands in the area and the boat is her home, she’s currently trying to buy a small piece of land on Tahiti so she can retire and have her own garden. It was a treat to get to know her, I hope she gets her little piece of land.
​We were all very sad to leave Moorea, when this trip is over I know that this beautiful, peaceful Island will always be one of my fondest memories.
​We got the boat ready for our over night trip to Huahine. The trip took 21 hours and unfortunately there was ZERO wind! We motored the whole way, actually I’ve never seen the ocean so glassy and still. We had 2 hours shifts through the night watching for other boats.


(Tim)

Leaving Tahiti and Moorea was a bit sad. We had built fond memories and friendships, but leaving one island meant the excitement and fun of getting to know another, and Huahine was very high on our list. Ever since Hawaii we had met and talked to people who said that Huahine was their favorite island in all of French of Polynesia, and also the best surf in the islands, double bonus! I took my night shift watching as we passed a few big very lit up fishing vessels. After going to sleep I awoke to the most peaceful ocean setting, the glassiest I have ever seen it. Pretty much what we were expecting in the doldrums (hence we were motoring). As we approached I pulled up our charts and started guiding Rick towards our passé. We got near the reef and in shallow enough water to see the bottom. The water was crystal clear. Moments later we got surprised by a whale breaking the surface of the water not far from us. We turned around and tried to get a closer look but she seemed to have sounded. As we continued we saw a pod of dolphins and just minutes later a good size shark swimming at the surface very close to the boat. The dorsal fin looked a bit peculiar and we decided it wasn’t a blacktip reef or tiger shark. Still very curious as to what it was. Next time I won’t miss the opportunity to jump in and get a better look. Once again just minutes later we were blessed with more marine life action. This time a very large mother humpback and her baby calf. This time we killed the motor and as the whales got closer they both took a big breath of air and dove down showing off their big beautiful tales just as they submerged, only meters away from the boat. We got high on the spritz standing on the rails to try to get a good look at them as they passed underneath. Seconds later you could see them both cruise by the boat, the calf passing directly below Brooke and I. The mother was massive, bigger than the boat. It was the closest we had ever seen a whale and our jaws were on the deck. Kelli was unknowingly at the time already in the water with her snorkel gear trying to get a closer look. After picking up Kelli we continued on for another few miles before entering our pass. We could not get over how beautiful the island was. It had a different feel to it. We knew that where we were entering was where the good surf we had been waiting for was. We had the binoculars out and could see the waves breaking. It looked absolutely perfect, almost world class, and there were only two guys out getting wave after wave all to themselves. We got in and anchored as quickly as possible. After double-checking that everything was secure we got the dinghy in the water and motor mounted asap. The sun was coming down but we had plenty of time to go catch a few and that’s exactly what we did. The locals were very friendly to us and let us surf with them without any hassle. After catching a few epic, fast, beautiful waves, some of the best I had ever surfed, I handed the board over to Brooke while I took out the spear and dove for dinner. It wasn’t long before I had speared a nice big yellowtail tuna… Pfffff! I wish… the fish here are fast and crafty, maybe next time.
We eventually all made it back to the boat and enjoyed dinner together in the galley agreeing that it was one of the best days ever, pure bliss. Does life get better than this?
The next few days were just unreal. We surfed our brains out, snorkeled, went for walks around the tiny little village, whale watched, explored private beaches that we could only access with our dinghy and got our tan on, and every night cooked an amazing dinner back on the boat. This was paradise. This is what we had dreamed of. This is what we worked so hard for and what made those long agonizing passages all well worth it. This was living and life was good….
A few days after arriving in Huahine we re-anchored closer to shore for convenience reasons (even though it was pretty convenient already, spoiled? Yes). We were very close to town and a ridiculously pristine beach. We were also close to other boats. One of the boats came in and anchored right near us. It’s hard for me not to be nosy about where these other boats are from and what kind of crew are on them. I grabbed the bino’s and read “Chippewa falls, WI”… Noooo waaayyy. I had seen this boat on the “pacific puddle jumpers” website and wondered if we would cross paths. It seems no matter where I go in the world I always find a fellow Wisconsinite. Just days before I had met a kid in the market with a Packer hat on from Hudson, WI. We have hardly met anyone that speaks English much less anyone from the states and even more less anyone from near home. Him and two of his former college buddies had hitched a ride from Panama crewing for a French catamaran owner. We swung by their boat one night and chatted for awhile and were planning on meeting up and hanging out but the captain of their boat wanted to move on one morning so we missed the opportunity. All we know is that they were making it to Fiji where they had to fly home in order to make it back in time to hang Christmas lights, their winter job. They had no idea what they would do after that just that they were doing it together. A good bunch of young buddies living life… pretty sweet.
So after verbally yelling over to our other cheesehead friends informing them (and the rest of the boats around us) that I was from ‘Fond du Lac’ they invited us over for cocktails and snacks later. When the time came we went on over and got spoiled with blended mai tais, delicious snacks, and a wonderful time. We also talked a whole lot of Packers (who just hours earlier lost to the 49’ers, ouch! Starting to hate them a bit) Their boat was amazing. They also showed us footage of them diving with sharks in the Marquesas. They were big scuba divers and even had a compressor onboard and offered to fill our tank if necessary. Super nice folks that retired, bought an immaculate sailing vessel, and are sailing the world in search of epic scuba diving (and good rum). Arnie and Chris were their names. We have their contact info and hope to see them again someday. The friends you make on these sailing passages are of a different breed that you do not want to lose touch with.
Although currently we are in Bora Bora and I am staring up at Mt Otemanu (google it! Unless you’ve seen “couples retreat” it was filmed here) from our galley window I will continue our story in Huahine next time. It would just be wrong of me to waste this beautiful day here in paradise sitting in front of a computer. We will do our best to blog shorter and more consistently rather than long and once in awhile. No promises though, just that we will do our best…. After all we are on island time ;)

We've been here in Tahiti for 10 days now. We've met amazing people, drank too much Hinano (the local beer ), been so close to see the expressions on the worlds most talented surfers as they drop into cranking, crazy waves, we've partied with the locals, snorkeled in crystal clear water and got a hitch from an ambulance. There's only one thing left to do before we head to Moorea, Lava Tubes! Tomorrow we're going with our friend, Valentine, a Tahitian local and he's going to guide us through the dark, cold, underground lava tubes that were formed thousands of years ago. We've also been fixing the boat, Kelly put on her snorkel gear and scraped the newly formed barnacle hitchhikers off, we had to run a ton of errands and find a good mechanic to fixed our engine. My dad went back to Australia for a few days to pick up Savannah ( his 4 yr old daughter and also my half sister) and is returning today. Hopefully everything will be done by Tuesday so we can continue on with our journey across French Polynesia.