Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

We have changed our plans again. We decided late yesterday that we would stay one extra day here in Anse Amyot and take off tomorrow for Tahiti instead. The Puddle Jump get together is coming up and we don't want to miss it. With today being the 12th and the party set for the 24 and it takes two days to get to Tahiti, we felt that it would be better to leave the Tuomotus now. So tomorrow about 1100, we will cast off the lines from the mooring buoy we have been attached to for the last 8 days and get the heck out of here. It's still blowing in the high teens but we need some wind to get there and now is the time. Another boat took off today for Tahiti and fours boats came into the anchorage. So as of tonight, we are back up to seven boats.

One boat--a catamaran named Yolo ("you only live once") came into the anchorage with 30 loaves of French bread. Dave on Soggy Paws had told them in a earlier radio call to bring as many as they could. At that time, the anchorage had 17 boats in it. When they pulled in today, there were only 4 left. I greeted them at 0600 as they entered the anchorage. They made a general call through the anchorage about the loaves and within an hour, three of the four boats had pulled along side to stock up. What ever is left, Valentine and Gaston will buy as the supply ship only gets here once a month and their only other option is to go over to Rotoava on Fakarava and get supplies there. I'm sure they were happy to get what ever they could from Yolo. We snatched up three loaves our selves. Yolo had picked them up on another island right off the plane that flew them in from Papeete (the capital) on Tahiti. If they had gotten here a day earlier, they would have been swamped with other boaters.

We spent the day cleaning and getting ready for leaving tomorrow. Stowing and tying down everything that isn't nailed down. Tracy made chili for the trip so there will not be any big cooking along the way and did a Pad Thai Red Curry dish for tonights dinner. It's about 220 miles or about a day and a half to get there so it's not a big trip. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes along the way. At least we will have the better part of a full moon to keep us company along the way.

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

We dingied ashore a bit before 1800 to join 9 other cruisers as well as Valentine and Gaston for a diner ashore. It started with an appetizer of pizza as we watched the barbecue(a 55 gallon drum on it's side) settle down from a roaring fire to nice coals for the cooking. Everyone discussed their histories as well as plans for the future. Many are headed for Tahiti while others are staying here of heading South to Fakarava. The main courses were lobster, Poisson Cru(fish "cooked" in lime juice), marinated tuna steaks, sashimi and barbecued marinated chicken and rice plus a coconut bread. Some brought their own wine or beer or bought it from Valenine. Desert was a coconut pound cake. It was great!!! They put on a heck of a spread for he cruisers. We didn't get back to Zephyr till almost 2200.

As of yesterday, there were 15 boats in the anchorage. While the wind is still blowing in the mid teens or higher, cabin ever has taken over and there may be only four of us left by Sun down tonight. They started leaving at 0600 and we expect the last to be out of here by 1500. Most are headed for Tahiti--an 18 hour trip normally but some are headed South. We got the latest compendium for the Tuomotus as well as the French Society Islands that Soggy Paws puts out for cruisers. They have been here numerous times and have made quite a reference guide for the area. It's on just about everyone boat out here.

This afternoon, we think we will take Puff to one of the small local motus(islands) for some beach walking if we can find a beach. Probably do some swimming while we are there. We expect to be out of here tomorrow heading North to Apataki for a few days before we head Southwest for Tahiti. the big party for all the Puddle Jumpers is set for the 24th through the 26h and we don't want to miss it. From what we have heard, the harbor at Papeete is jammed with boats that have made the crossing. There are still lots of us in the Tuomtus that have yet to make the crossing and join the gaggle of boats that are already there. I expect it to be a mad house-at least till the 27th.

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

We worked around Zephyr in the morning and then took off to do some snorkeling in the early afternoon. We jumped in the water. OK, I did but Tracy slowly lowered herself off the stern ladder into the water. While the temp gauge we have says the water is about 82 degrees, it is actually a shock to the system plunging into it. I tend to do it the down and dirty way by just jumping in. We swam South farther into the cove about 50 yards to the reefs and watched the fish as they swam around the big horns of coral. Lots of colors and types we have no idea what they are. No sharks thank God. We did see a Manta Ray with a wing span of at least 8 feet as he glided below us with his mouth open to snatch what ever he could find. I swam directly above him and marvelled at his size. Never having seen one like this before, it was incredible. As was the normal course, Tracy first saw him and pointed him out to me. I don't know how she sees these fish that I miss. We'd swum into the cove as the tide was going out so once we got as far in as we wanted, all we had to do was drift back to Zephyr on the outgoing tide. It's a lot more fun to glide on the tide than fight it let me tell you.

Once back at Zephyr, we took showers and Tracy cut my hair. It's my first haircut since we left Mexico two months ago and I was looking a bit like Bozo the Clown. She even shaved off my "old man hair" on the back of my neck. A "Happy Hour" was scheduled for shore at 1500 as Valentine and Gaston had planned some festivities for all the cruisers. Plus she had plenty of beer and wine for sale. Several of us brought some snacks(popcorn, potato chips and jalapeno cheese dip, some yummy pecans baked in cinnamon sugar and we brought olives stuff with pimentos(a rarity out here). Some of the cruisers and their kids took off for a round of volley ball while the rest of us stood around and swapped stories about our trips across from the main land. Gaston cooked up some huge ocean snails(2.5 to 3 inches across) on the barbecue drenched in garlic and butter as well as some bonito and chicken. Plus bread fruit with peanut butter for dipping. Tracy tells me the snails were a bit chewy. I passed being allergic to most shell fish(better safe than puking). They had on display a huge "Keivu"crab also known as a Coconut Crab. They live in the trees, not the water. Their shells are colors of salmon and beige and blue. His claws are strong enough to crush a coconut shell. The meat is supposed to taste like coconut as that is their primary diet. I kept my fingers far away from him. About 1800 the heavens opened up and a light rain started to fall. With our hatches open, we quickly headed back to Zephyr. We took off Dragon(Mercury 8hp out board) and hoisted Puff up along the starboard side to get her out of the water. It's still blowing in the mid teens so it's not so bad but there is less chance of loosing her in the wind if she is out of the water. We take Dragon off each night not so much as a concern for theft though it does happen out here, but more for a safely concern that if Puff should get capsized in the wind, Dragon would need a major overhaul. Plus, we both sleep better knowing that she will still be with us on the morrow. To lose your dingy out here is like loosing your car back home. There is no mass transit out here, just the courtesy of other cruisers that will ferry you ashore when needed. There were reports of 6 dingies getting stolen over the Easter weekend in Moorea. At least there are no pirates out here.

Today, we started in on more tasks. One of the other cruisers was running short on water so we offered to fill one of his 6.5 gallon jerry cans for him. Having a water maker out here gets you some friends. It was also time to change the oil so we pulled out all the tools necessary as well as 8 quarts of oil and went at it. I'd started the engine so the oil was nice and warm while we were sucking it out of the dip stick tube. It's not possible to get to the drain plug on the bottom of the engine. We have a s small pump that attaches to our drill and it will pump out all the oil. It takes a while but it's easier than manually pumping it out with what looks like a garden sprayer except that it sucks rather than sprays. We keep lots of oil aboard as well as numerous filters so that if something happens and the oil gets contaminated(happened in California) it's not hard to just up and change the oil. We got water in our oil while in California and I had to change the oil twice to make sure all the water was sucked out of the engine. This afternoon, I'll be putting the third coat on the small teak rail that goes around the cabin top.

This evening, Valentine and Gaston are opening their restaurant for the cruisers. At last count, 12 of us are attending as she can't handle more than that. Normally, she only cooks up enough for 8 but since we are all trapped here by the wind, she is making more. I'll let you know in the next post what we get for dinner.

We needed a tortilla fix as we finally ran out so Tracy mixed up a batch from scratch from a recipe she got from the mother of one of her friends when she was a child. Fried eggs on a tortilla. Don't knock it till you tried it. For desert, we had a tortilla covered in butter and orange marmalade. It doesn't get much better than that out here.

I'll let you know about dinner tomorrow if I can get connected on the radio to get the post out. It takes a while and a good bit of patience to get on line out here.

Graham, I'm glad to hear from you that you read our posts. It's a different world out here than back home. If you have any question, feel free to email me and I'll get back with you.

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

We're still stuck in Anse Amyot as the wind continues to howl outside. It's now going into day 5 of the blow and it's getting old. We finally put Puff back in the water yesterday to make a trip to shore to burn our paper trash. The last time we had been ashore was last Sunday for the pot luck. We'd gotten soaked during the ride as the winds had kicked up a good bit of small chop in our little cove. A call was put out yesterday that a trash burning was to be held at 1330 hours so most of us headed in to get rid of what trash we could.

Over the last few days, I've made three loaves of French bread as we were finally out. Tracy has done heaven only knows how much laundry trying to get things cleaned up here since there is not much else to do. We've been running the water maker to replace what she has used and what we have used for other purposes. With it blowing so hard out side--mid 20 knot range--the DuoGen is making lots of volts for our batteries so they are nice and topped off. For once, we don't have to economize on the use of our power(though we still do).

Today, only three more loads of laundry to do. We use a "Wonder Wash" machine. It's like a small drum that sits on a stand so that it can be spun. The end screws off of and you simply add water(hot is preferred) and soap and spin it on its stand over an over for several minutes. Pour out the dirty water(yuck) and then pour in clean water and spin it again for a rinse. We then take it out on deck and put everything through a wringer that we have screwed to our ladder. We sometimes string lines around the deck but most times we simply clothes pin the wet stuff to the life lines and let Mother Nature do her job. With little rain here in the Tuomotus, it only takes a few hours to dry. Of course if it does rain, it just adds another rinse cycle to th cleaning process. Once the laundry is done, if the Sun is still shining, we will swim over to the coral reef off our bow and do some snorkeling for a while. It may still be blowing, but with the Sun now out, we can take a look at our reef here.

Yesterday, one boat left and two came into our little anchorage. We're now up to 17 boats with 13 on mooring buoys and 4 on their anchors. One of the boats that came in is about 70 feet long so he has to b e careful as to where he drops is hook. He's right in the entrance to the cove. If any one comes in now, I'm not sure where he can stay. At least we are comfortable on our buoy. I'm glad we got here when we did to get one as we got the last one they had fo a boat of our size.

With luck, we will be out of here on Saturday. This blow is set to be over by then.

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

The storm began about 1300, about 7 hours before it was forecast. We were lucky that we had finished all the outside chores we had planned for the day. I even had time to snorkel on the mooring buoy to make sure it was secure. The folks on Soggy Paws(another cruising boat here in the anchorage) had gone diving on all the moorings earlier in the season and had found them to be in good shape but better safe than sorry. With winds forecast to be in the 30 knot range and Zephyr weighting in at about 45,000 pounds, that creates a lot of strain on any mooring or anchor that we use. All looked good when I got to the bottom. We'd covered just about everything on deck from the mainsail to the winches to the windows on the dodger, we were on a mission. Tracy took care of the teak while I did other things. We were on a tight time line.

At 1300, you could see the wind and the rain as it marched from the South across the lagoon of Toau heading for our little cove of Anse Amyot. There are currently 14 of us here in the anchorage. Thirteen on mooring buoys and one big 68 footer(Imagine) on his anchor. He's too big for any of the moorings. There was a pot luck scheduled for 1500 with everyone to bring in a main course for themselves and a side dish to share. In between showers, we climbed into Puf(our dingy) and fired up Dragon(our Mercury 8hp out board) and headed in. By the time we were half way there, we were both pretty well soaked(at lease our bottom halves) from the waves breaking over poor Puffs side. We got to the dock, along with several other brave souls and tied up and met several of the other cruisers that are taking refuge here. Valentine and Gaston(own the atoll) had set up a barbecue for all of us to cook on. Fish--both in filets and whole ones were covering the grill. Just about everyone had brought in something they caught earlier in the day. We of course brought hot dogs. We haven't caught any fish since we set off so we were digging into the freezer to see what we had worth taking. Being gone from Mexico for almost two months, the stock in our meat locker is down a good bit. The folks on Soggy Paws brought to gorgeous filet mignons wrapped in bacon no less. They have a much bigger freezer than we do. We bought two Hinano beers and had great conversations with the other cruisers. We sat across from Dave and his wife and two young daughters, the owners of the 68 footer. We found out that they had gone through the same things we had after they bought their boat trying to get it ready for cruising. They even went farther in their difficulties in that they had to re fiberglass their entire hull as it was delaminating. I can't imagine how much that would have cost having been done in the US. While I think my systems are enormous, his electrical panel is a big as a conventional door on a house. He has two 8 kilowatt generators on board that he has to run 6 to 8 hours a day to keep his systems running. I makes me feel better that I only have to run our about two hours a day to keep up with our demands. He also has a crew of two along to help out.

While the winds continued, the rain had let up for a while. We finally decided to head back to Zephyr about 1800 as we wanted to get Dragon off and pull Puff back on board. With the forecast for the winds to continue for the next four days, I don't think we will be going anywhere in her for a while and we knew we would sleep better with her safe and tied down on deck. Of course on the way back we got soaked again but nothing a quick shower wouldn't fix. We made sure everything on deck was tied down and were safely below decks by 1900.

The winds continued through the night hitting into the 30 knot range and are still blowing in the 20s as I type this. Our wind powered electric generator is spinning like mad on the stern actually making nice volts for our system. It take a good storm like this with lots of wind to make her sit up and take notice and actually make some power. Anything less than 20 knots and she just isn't in the ball park for power generating. I'd planned on firing up our little Honda generator when we returned from the pot luck but the DuoGen was making lots of power and had reduced our need quite well so there was no need to turn on the Honda. As we went to bed later, she was spinning like mad and continued through the night.

It's been about an hour since I typed this post and we have more excitement in the anchorage. About an hour ago, a catamaran called Phambili radioed in to see if there were any available moorings. With the answer being NO. They prepared to come in and sit at anchor. They traveled all the way from Raiatea considerably West of Tahiti. Now why they bucked the prevailing winds and came back East is beyond me but to each their own. The normal progression is from the eastern atolls to the western islands.

As a separate point, upon our arrival we crossed over 4,000 miles since leaving La Cruz. So now we have made it over 12,000 since we took off for Alaska back in April of 2008. Not bad for some lake sailors from Colorado.

So here we sit and here we wait. The storm continues around us.

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Plans change

We were forced to alter our original plan two days ago when we ran out of time to get South to Tahanea before a big storm was set to arrive. We'd traveled South along the inner East coast of Fakarava and dropped the anchor in two places as we traveled. On the third day, we planned on setting off out the South pass to made the the jump to Tahanea. We'd been led to believe that the slack water tide was just after 1200. We'd planned our arrival accordingly but for some reason the tide was wrong and missed it. The next chance of going through the pass was 6 hours later and that through off the trip. Instead we decided to make out way back up the center channel of Fakarava to Rotoava and spend the night there before heading North to a protected anchorage on the Northwest side of Toau called Anse Amyot. It's a small coral cove protected from all winds except from the Northwest. Since the storm was set to come from the Southeast, we felt we would be fine.

By the time we decided to change course in South Fakarava, we had 26 miles to cover before sundown. We headed for the center channel instead of going up the East coast as it would be much faster with less chance of running into coral motus(big out croppings of coral) that are here and there in the water way. None well marked on our charts. Most of the time as we had headed South, I'd been at the bow looking for them. We arrived back at Rotoava and were lucky enough to find the mooring buoy we'd left available. We grabbed it and tied a line to it and we were set for the night.

On Saturday, we let loose the line at just after 0600 and set off for the pass out of Fakarava. Slack water was to be at 0644. We got there about 0655 and ran into an out going tide of over 4 knots. Our speed increased from 6 knots to over 10 in the blink of an eye. We were flying toward crashing waves at the pass. As we slammed into them with water crashing over the bow over and over again. We were rocking like a bucking bronco as we headed out. While the pass is quite wide, it's not too long so we were through it in about a quarter mile when we hit the open water. Suddenly the ocean settled down and we were in calm water. Also calm wind. There was nothing to take us North to Toau. We were forced to motor through the calmest water we have seen in the ocean since we traveled South from Juan de Fuca to New Port Oregon in September of 2007. The water was like a piece of black satin. As we headed through the pass, another sailboat was about a mile behind us. A big 68 footer that had been at anchor at Rotoava with us. With his increase in size, he didn't look like he was getting slammed like we did as we passed though the pass. Size does help sometimes out here.

On we went with the 68 footer(Imagine) behind us. As we approached the Southeast side of Toau, we were joined by a catamaran that had just passed through one of the South passes of the atoll. While they had been ahead of us, we slowed overtook them so we were the engine in a train of three boats all headed to the same place--Anse Amyot. All in all, it was about a 32 mile trip that was uneventful other than having to run our engine the entire way. While on the SSB net the night before, I'd inquired about the anchorage we were headed for and two boats that were moored here had come on line and told us all about it as well as the fact that there was still one mooring buoy left. We'd told them to watch out for us as we would be in the next day. When we were about 5 miles out, I called them on the VHF radio and they were all set for us. The mooring buoy was still available. We were told to call when we were about a mile out. I advised the anchorage that there were three of us coming to the cove. As I ended the radio call, Imagine(the big 68 footer) came on the air to ask about a mooring for them. With their size, they were too big for any mooring buoy. There is your size disadvantage. When they were done, the catamaran came on line and asked about a mooring buoy. Their problem was that they spoke just a bit of English but were fluent on French. The folks at the anchorage don't speak French so they had to try and find a translator to help. While the native language of the Tuomotus is French, no one here speaks it. We're all English speaking on the cruiser boats.

When we were a mile out, I called back and we directions into the cove. It's a narrow opening in the coast with large banks of crashing waves on either side of the pass. We lined up Zephyr on the pass and headed in with the catamaran about 10 minutes behind us. Given their size, they had no problem getting a buoy as there are some set aside for catamaran in shallower water. We grabbed our assigned buoy and tided our lines to it. The folks on Soggy Paws(other cruisers) are helping out with the buoys and came along side to talk to us. Being one of the last boats in, we were in a less than perfect place, quite close to two other boats. With there being no wind, every one was drifting around in the anchorage. It was possible that we might bump another boat. The wind passing through the anchorage helps keep everyone apart. With no wind, we were all just sort of out here waiting and watching each other. We were encouraged to take a stern line to one of the local out croppings of coral and tied our stern line to it to keep us in one place. While Tracy got the line ready, I put on my swim suit, mask and fins and jumped in the water(82 degrees) and swam over to the best coral head. Amazingly, I found a steel cable from some earlier boat was already attached to the head. All I had to do was swim the stern line over and hook on. Fifteen minutes later we were all tied up. Tracy took the line and wrapped it to the winch in the cockpit and with our mighty Milwaukee drill she winched us perfectly in line so we would no long be a problem to the other boats at the anchorage. If the wind came up, we could always drop the line and pick it up later. We cleaned up Zephyr from the last few days and dingied a shore to meet Valentine and Gaston. They own the island and run a restaurant a shore. She greeted us as we came ashore. We chatted--she speaks English much better than we speak French so there was no problem communicating. After a beer, we walked around the atoll and headed back to Zephyr for the evening net as well as a shower to get the salt water off me from my swim and a quiet night in our new home.

This morning with the storm coming we set about getting our chores done as early as we could. Tracy jumped into Puff(our dingy) and slowly made her way around the side lightly sanding down the teak side for another application of our teak oil and sealer. It was time for some sprucing up for Zephyr. I meanwhile worked on deck cleaning up things and putting covers on the dodger windows(after cleaning them) and then getting things away from the top rails so Tracy could apply the sealer. Once she was set, I jumped in to Puff and held her close to the side so Tracy could apply the sealer. Around we went with the job taking just a few hours. The sides look great!!! I sanded down a small teak rail that runs around the cabin top and she even did it. As we were finishing, the winds started building and I jumped into the water to head back to the coral head we had tied to yesterday and I detached the line and Tracy pulled it in. And so the rain came and it poured and poured. I took advantage of rain and stood on deck taking a nice fresh water shower in the rain(my first). A bit chilly in the blowing rain but I didn't care. I was clean from my swim to the coral head. We sat in the cockpit and watched as the rains continued. Now we are off to a pot luck supper ashore.

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