02/20/2011

This is the forward pump. It was very gross and I cleaned it, and it also got a new hose because the new pump took over it's old one. Also visible is the hand pump. Between the rules and the hand pump I should be able to get a lot of water out of the boat.

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02/17/2011

Hello all,
Yesterday I was hanging out watching the soccer game after work and I heard people speaking english. I went over and was very happy to have the first english conversation of the year. I ended up going out to dinner at the "snack" with two surfers from a big catamaran. They were my age and the owner had done lots of cruising here. In the cook Islands, which is where I think Im headed, he highly recommended Penrhyn which is the furthest north up at 9 degrees south. Today they put their boat in the water and set off for the tuamotus. Today I did a bunch of little projects because I am still waiting on parts. I did hook up the radio and listen in on some nets. I copied a bunch of different stations on the Pacific Seafairers net very well for being out of the water and super close to a bunch of masts which made me happy. The boat is very happy right now too and we are both itching to get in the water. This is a globe that I brought back from seattle which is finally mounted (wickedly). I had to fix the globe because they made me check it from Tahiti to Raiatea... My chain of thought during this project went like this. I have been reading about making all kinds of passages and racing all over the world. I was looking at the globe and thinking of where I have sailed and where I wanted to go. Then about how long it would take to make the passages. And then that the world is really small for how big it seems sometimes.
Cheers
Eric

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02/15/2011, Fish on with Raiatea Careenage in the background

Hey fisherwomen,
I have found that a good lure for dingy fishing is a Rapalla. Below is a picture of the one that I got back after it was lost on the reef in the mouth of a big grouper. (see "fish story") below. In mexico I was able to see what the bait looked like and I got lures that were the same colors. They were very productive. Bottom line is that they swim very well at dingy trolling speed and look like a bait committing suicide to big fish below.
Eric

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02/15/2011

This guy had a lot of teeth and reef marks after only one day.

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02/15/2011

Hello All,
Happy St. Valentines day. I did not give a valentine to any one or have any romance. I did wave at a girl though. My two projects, the new bilge system and fixing one of my fresh water tanks, are held up because I need a specific part for each project and parts are not easy to track down on this island. Don't take West Marine and Fisheries Supply for granted. The boat is ready (almost) to go and I think I will be getting in the water sooner than I had planned. My visa extension fell through so I have to leave by april 1st. I would like to sail around here for a few weeks and shake the boat down and the tropical depressions have all been way to the west of me this season. Here is a pic of canvass that I found that I believe mom may have made a long time ago. It is totally made for the spot and should hold a bunch of stuff in there in a seaway. Also visible is the throughhull for the new bilge pump top right.

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02/12/2011

Hello All,
This is a pamplemousse. In the french dictionary it is translated a "grape fruit". But I hate grape fruit and I love pamplemousse. It is very much a sweater grapefruit taste. Only the cells are edible. It is like eating an orange, but peeling the skin off of the sections themselves. Not the peel but the skin on the sections.... They are delicious.
Eric

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02/08/2011, "Id like to take my counterpart down to maintenance"

Hello all,
This is the turnbuckle for the forestay. It was getting hit by a set screw in the bottom unit of the Pro Furler. The damage has not compromised the structural integrity of the old turn buckle so it is now a spare. However, it feels good to take apart the pro-furler and clean everything and replace the piece. Over the last two days I have been working on my new bilge pump system. The bilge was gross and It has been one of the top ten worst projects in memory. The bilge is grody. There are bugs living in it. I put quiet a bit of bleach in it when I left but it was about an 8 on the grody scale. Now it is Ok and at the end of the week I should have two independently wired 2000 Gallon Per hour bilge pumps and a hand pump. The reason for this sub par post is to keep it coming for you so you will post comments.
Cheers
Eric

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02/08/2011

The worst two areas on a boat that a crew member might work is the head/brown water system, and the bilge. Here is a picture of what takes over your bilge pump after a while.

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02/07/2011

Hello all,
Well for all you fishermen out there I have a crazy fish story from today. We were fishing with two of my best and favorite Rapallas. (which is a plug that swims) Alain got hit really hard and by the time I had reeled in and started driving the boat he had lost the lure. I thought for sure that he had caught the reef. We took our bearings as best we could and went back in to get my mask and fins. I swam and looked around for about ten minutes as our friend Helmut swam over and talked to Alain about the futility of my search. To make a long story short, I did in fact find my lure. I also found the grouper that had eaten it and I caught it with my bare hands. Helmut and Alain could not believe it when I finally had the fish in the bucket and I was very very happy to get my lure back and catch the fish. Insane!
Eric

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02/03/2011

Hello all,
Yesterday I went to the visa office and found out that I may be able to extend my 3 month visa that I have to account for time working on the boat. If I cant then I have to leave french polynesia at the end of march. It also turns out that because it is a la nina year, cyclones occur further west than usual and it is relatively safe to sail around. So I am getting psyched to continue getting the boat ready and start sailing in several weeks. Yesterday I also finally fixed the gear shifter on the engine that I broke on the wharf at Hiva Oa in April. Dad got the part in Tacoma, and sent it with a crew member from Seattle sailing with Totem from Mexico to the Marquesas. So I had the part but it was going to be a mission to install it. Yesterday I finally got it done. Here is a picture of it. I had to take the fuel tank out and the engine apart and it took a long time but now I have taken most of the engine apart which feels good. I hope you all are well.
Eric

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01/29/2011

Hello all,
Alain and I caught two grouper this morning. The fishing was slow because we didn't get out there until 8:30. But we both caught a grouper using different swimming rapallas. They are not very big and the local knowledge is that there is no ciguatera here so we have decided that they are not going to poison us. (ciguatera is caused by highly local populations of benthic dinoflagellates. they are toxic and are most concentrated in bait eating predators like big groupers and amberjacks.) But I have heard from multiple sources that the fish here are OK. We are going to go out again this evening. The right time is right at dust.
Cheers
Eric
PS here is an outrigger made by a local Frenchman.

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01/29/2011

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01/23/2011

Hello all,
Today I finally got the dingy in the water and used the engine for the first time since I put the boat away. Guess how many pulls.... 3. That is why it is important to properly winterize your engine. A little work in the fall helps to avoid a lot of work in the spring. Alain and I went for a tour of the lagoon. I did have a good fight with a fish (big bonito) but the camera was on video so no photos for the blog. The engine was running OK and we ran a tank and a half of Gas through it. Perhaps it could use a little maintenance but beyond the plugs and filters I don't know what to do and it is impossible to find a manual online that is not really expensive. My friend Hero is the engine man and we are supposed to go spear fishing next week so maybe he will hear how it is running and know what it needs. But over all I am very happy with the engine running and the boat not leaking. Here is another image from hiking last week.
Peace
Eric

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01/19/2011

Hello all,
Here is another photo of Alain. For those of you just re-joining the blog Alain is a frenchman who lives two boats down here at Raiatea careenage. He has lived on the island for several years and knows his way around and has been an enormous help to me. So here is his shout out.
Peace Alain
Eric

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01/18/2011

Hello all,
On Sunday Alain and I climbed Mt Taptoi. The hike was fun and I learned french as always. It was very nice to hang out with Alain all day and speak French. I learned a lot. The reward on top is a panoramic view. You can see Taaha, Bora Bora, Huahine, and Otura and the lagoon that taaha and Raiatea share. The price that both Alain and I paid was a coup de soliel (sun burn) which we are still recovering from. The next mountain on the list of mountains to cap is Mt. Temehani. This mountain is where the Tiare Apetahi grows. It is a rare flower that grows no where else on earth except this mountain. If I see one I promise a photo. Not much else new. The rest of the week Ill be doing boat work and I hope to get the dingy in the water and do some fishing. This photo is of Taaha getting rained on with a little piece of Bora Bora visable in the distance.
Cheers,
Eric

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01/18/2011

Squalls about to hit Taaha

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01/18/2011

This is how they grow vanilla.

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