01/18/2011

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01/12/2011

Hello all,
Today is the birthday of my sister. I do not have any photos of her that she would like to see on the internet so here is one of our grandmother holding her first great grandchild. And it speaks for itself I think. I love you Allison.
Love Eric

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01/10/2011

Hello all,
The quality of life on my boat just went up a lot with the addition of a fan (ventilateur). My friend Alain had an extra one and I got 220 volts to the boat with a big extension chord. It seems like the simplest thing but it makes an enormous difference with both the bugs and how hot the inside of the cabin is.
Thats it for now I was just really happy to get a fan working onboard.
Cheers,
Eric

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01/10/2011

Hello all,
The internet rocks right now so I thought I must post even though there is not much to report. Today Alain had the use of the car that belongs to a boss at the Tahiti Yacht base. We went into town and I got some food at the store and went to the bank and got some CFP. (that is Polynesian francs). The mission was to do laundry at the Yacht basin. I also looked at scooters and bikes for some transportation. I dont know what Im going to do about this yet because on these islands everything is about 20-30% more expensive than in the states because of the shipping. It was really nice to wash some cloths that had been sitting my boat for 6 months and were very grody. The washing machine was very small though so Ill have to do my sleeping bags by hand. Alain has really gone out of his way to help me out and I want to give him a shout out and say "Thank you very much man" I know you will read this with the translation program so I hope it comes across en francais. Not much else new for now. I hope you all are well and will throw up some comments soon.
Cheers
Eric

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01/09/2011

Hello all,
I believe I just discovered that my internet connection works way better with safari than Internet explorer. I could not get images loaded before and just had some luck and it was fast. The sport here as with most places I have been in the south pacific is volley ball. I went to a practice in town on friday and had a blast. I am OK but these people play a lot and I wasnt quite at their level. I also played barefoot and ended the practice with blisters on my big toes but they are not too bad. There is a big game next week that me and my friend Alain will go to and Ill bring my camera. I see that it is 36 degrees in tacoma. The only way I could get anywhere near that temp is to stick my head in the fridge. It is 93 degrees in the cabin right now and I am dripping sweat. But it is a beautiful day here it has been blue sky without any squalls so far today which is unusual. I hope you all are well and I can keep getting images up on the blog.

Cheers
Eric

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01/09/2011

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01/07/2011

Well the internet here is very sketchy. Sometimes is is great and sometimes it is not even there. I just spent a long time writing a great blogpost and lost it trying to send. This is very frusterating because I try to write something interesting and fun to read for you guys and then loose it. this happens a lot I guyss I should figure out how to back them up before I try to send. Todays was about mosquito poison and skippering a moorings boat on a trip next week with a bunch of employees here at the boat yard. Not much exciting going on. My french is good enough that I am not a fly on the wall when hanging out with my french speaking friends.

Cheers,
Eric

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01/06/2011

Well Im back in the tropics. And it is very tropical. The temperature is in the mid 80s and the humidity is very high. There have been some pretty violent squalls with a lot of rain in them the past few days but I guess that is the tropics for you. Coming straight from Tacoma on the first of the year was a bit of adjustment for my body. I have done a lot of sweating, drinking water and standing under the cold shower here at the boat yard. The boat was fine when I got here except for having grown a lot of mildew. There are also lots of mosquitos which is a bummer. I only have two ports with mosquito netting and It is really nice to have everything open for the breeze. Last night I did wake up to mosquitos in my ears a few times and have fed them pleanty of my blood this week. The people who work here had monday and tuesday off so I met some of them for the first time yesterday. And there is a frenchman Named alain who is living on a boat here too who I have been practicing my french with. Other than that I have made a huge list of boat projects but have mostly been going throught the boat and cleaning so far. I miss you all and hope you are well.

Eric

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12/30/2010

Hello all,

Tomorrow I am flying back to the boat. It was wonderful to get some months back in the PNW and see all of you. (Especially my new niece). I am sorry to have missed all my friends that I did not see and look forward to catching up with you all down the line. Special "Peace" to: Jack, Croix, and Ramsey. Here is my Mom modeling the new Secret Agent Man battle flag.

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11/27/2010, Tacoma

Hello all,

I will be back on the boat in a month... I miss my boat and I am really looking forward to seeing her again. I will stay on Raiatea for a couple of months doing boat work and waiting for cyclone season to be over. This is my niece Ingrid. She was 8Lbs 6 OZ which is 0.5982 stone. She is very healthy and a wonderful baby. She cries when she is hungry or wet and thats it. She is a very social baby and likes interesting shapes and patterns. I miss all my cruising friends and hope to see you all in the future.

Cheers
Eric

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06/20/2010

Hello all,
Soooo... Secret Agent Man is on the hard in raiatea. And I am sitting down in port townstend WA writing to you. Today Mom and Dad and I motored up here on the start of the first of two trips up to the san juans this summer. And when I say summer that is technically what season it is but up here at 48 degrees north in late june, it is about 40 defrees F and raining. Today I wore all the gear I brought and was very glad to have my foul weather gear once again.. Its been a while. The boat is safe. Air france rules. and I look forward to seeing everyone who is still in the south pacific at the start of next season. It has been wonderful to see and spend time with my family again. Allison is quite pregnant. I very much enjoy speaking english to people on the street once again. But I am very happy to have a round trip ticket back to paradise. (and a wicked internet connection) Brian and erin and brady, it was great chilling with you in rangaroa and I did try on allisons BC first thing when I got home. I will miss you all and please email me once in a while with updates on what you all are doing.
Peace
Eric

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06/11/2010

Hello all,
Just another day in paradise. Today I drove the dive boats for the crews of Delos and Ghost for a pass dive. The current was ripping and I instantly lost their bubbles. I knew how long they would be down for and put myself pretty close to where they ended up. The current was running at 5-6 knots... After that we snorkeled around the motu at the end of the pass which was really fun. The current was ripping and to get around the point you seriously had to rock climb on coral in about a foot of water. The current was so strong that the girls struggled to keep their tops on.. I got close enough to a four foot black tip to touch it. After that we went back out the pass and I got to do a drift dive which was really cool. I saw two white tip sharks really close and flew over the reef in a flood that was still strong. And finally after a late lunch and frisbee session with some local kids we made some bling with black pearls and the some of that kit that you sent me in mexico mom, thanks for that. Still no rangaroa pics on the computer so here is me hiking above the bay at hanavave.
Peace
Eric

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06/10/2010

Hello all,
I am here at rangaroa writing this from Delos with a full house on board. We have all the Bubbles guys, and some english and australians from "ghost" and we are about to go on a night dive. Me and erin for our first times. I have dove twice in the last two days and got down to 60 feet this afternoon. The delos guys got down to 130 this morning which is gnarly depth. Brady went deeper but his computer is broken. Other than that we have been snorkeling and wakeboarding. There is a high over us right now so the entire atol is glass and the visability is better than usual.. 100 feet plus. Today I came face to face with a decent sized black tip which got the heart rate up. It was a beutiful shark and I was really close in extremely clear water. Better than any aquarium. Not much else new. My tuamotus pics are not yet on my computer so here is one from bay of virgins on fatu hiva.
Peace
Eric

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05/31/2010

Hey all,
The internet connection is terrible. I just lost several posts trying to load them. Liz is leaving the boat today and I am about to sail to the tuamotus.
Here is a picture of the anchorage in Anaho which has been the best in the marquases so far.
Peace
Eric

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Eric's Dad
05/23/2010

Eric has not had internet access except in the two large villages of the Marquesas, and that is without attachments, meaning small notes and no photo's. All is well and here are his last four e-mails.

5/26 - Anaho Bay
Anaho Bay is spectacular. I got my anchor stuck on a coral head really bad and spent most of yesterday diving it to no avail. It was lodged under it and in about 30 feet of water. i could get down there but after about five seconds of exertion had to head back up. Today I had a rescue team of three guys and a lady help me as they were headed out to dive with two resident mantas. They got it out right away and I moved about four boat lengths to some nice sand. We just had them all over for a dinner party and heard all about the Caribbean and Panama. They were all English. Liz and I hiked over a mountain range today to the next village and had ice cream with Margo and Frank and Logan from Silver Lining. We will continue to circumnavigate and probably be in town within a week and check out and head to the Tuamotus. Not much else new. The engine is fully operational.

5/21 Circumnavigating Nuka Hiva
I have had a really hard time getting out on the radio here. We are circumnavigating Nuka Hiva. We are in Typee Bay right now and are sailing to Anaho tomorrow. I caught a Mahi Mahi yesterday and today we hiked to an awesome archeological site with lots of Tikis and cool Maeae (platforms) after that we treked and i do mean treked to a waterfall. It was about 20k or more round trip and some bush-wacking to get to the fall but it was spectacular. Lots of water and hundreds of meters high. We sat under it and bathed (see photo - Dad;-))and the pressure of the water was incredible. Like getting a massage. Everyone says high, and I do mean everyone. They are all here getting ready for the Tuamotus. We served Delos Mahi Mahi last night and they left for the Tuamotus today.

5/12 In Transit
Just sailed from Tahuata to Nuku Hiva. We left in the middle of the night and had a great sail. The trades have been reinforced but last night they were mellow We had full sail up the whole time and never saw more than 20kts. There are lots of fires but they are intentional. Delos was out there with us. We got to spend some time with them on Tahuata. Not much else is new. I got my radio parts a long time ago and just got the engine parts from Silver lining who got them from Capaz at my request. Hopefully today I can get the engine up and running My arms are getting a little too ripped from the rowing... Ill try to post on the blog today but between emails to you and mom, there is not much else to report. Hope you are well and get out on the boat for 17 May.

5/7 Coconut
In Fatu Hiva I could receive poorly and did a couple of times, but transmitting sucked. Here is is OK at night. We are the only boat in Baie Hapatoni. The anchorage here is sketchy which is why, but the locals are the coolest and most friendly I have seen so far. We think it is because they don't get many boats. We chilled with a carver and his apprentice most of the day at his house because it rained a lot. We might go to his cousin's wedding on Saturday. We also hiked down a beautiful beach all to ourselves and swam in the sea. I did hurt my toes climbing up some rocks getting out of the water. I don't think I broke any but it hurt worse than it should have and they are sore now. I also ate my first coconut off the ground. Liz knew how to do it and now so do I!
Cheers
Eric

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05/12/2010

Hey all,
We just sailed from tahuata to nuku hiva. This one will be short just to see if I can load a blog post on this connection. We went to an epic wedding. I carved a thunder bird for a wedding present and Liz made the bride ear rings. Fatu hiva and tahuata were both wonderful in different ways. The people in hapatoni were the best yet. I think it is because they dont get a lot of boats. The trades were reinforced, but last night we had full sail up the whole time and never saw 20 kts. I hope you all are well. today I will fix the outboard, my arms are getting a little too ripped from the rowing.
Cheers,
Eric

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liz
04/21/2010

Kaoha Nui, this is liz in Hiva Oa, just joined onto secret agent man a few days ago, and am stoked to become crew! Have gotten a sweet marquesan family to hang out with , and met their grandpa today, who is the mayor too. Everyone here is really friendly, and it will be sad to leave this island, but i am excited to be moving on soon.

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