It’s Sunday, July 28, and Aldabra is still anchored at Ogea. The wind has been blowing the last couple of days so we’ve pretty much being hanging out on the boat. But two days ago, on Friday, we were invited to attend a celebration in the village. We were told to arrive by 10:00 a.m., so Katrina from Womble, Laura from RaLa and Jeff and I trudged in the pouring rain to the village, less than an hour walk. I was worried the whole time that the school supplies I was carrying in my backpack might be getting wet. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
When we arrived at the school, the children were rehearsing their dancing and the adults and children were making preparations. We were asked just to sit and wait in chairs out of the rain. But the music and dancing in one of the classrooms was so infectious that Jeff ended up joining in with the boys who were rehearsing. And the other three of us took pictures and took in our surroundings. We also chatted with several of the students as they gathered around us and asked questions.
Hanging out with the school kids
Soon, a man came with dry clothes for Jeff and had him change in one of the school rooms. Shortly thereafter, a woman came with dry clothes for Katrina, Laura and me and insisted that we change as well. It’s just one example of the hospitality and kindness of the Fijian people.
Jeff in his borrowed clothes being adopted by a village dog
Once the celebration started, we learned that it was twofold. Around the country, schools had been celebrating ECE, early childhood education. The village celebration on Ogea was a few days late because they had been waiting for the supply boat to bring provisions. With this delay, they could also commemorate Fijian Navy Day, which was being celebrated around Fiji that same day. This was relevant because there were several big strapping Fijian Navy sailors staying in the village. They were there because the boat they were serving on had run up on the reef at nearby Vulaga Island. It took a while, but the boat was finally towed to Ogea where they are waiting for a barge to collect it and take it for repairs in Australia. The sailors are remaining on the island to look after the boat until then. Once the boat is gone, they will return to their base on the main island of Fiji. But for now, they feel like they are on vacation as they enjoy being honored guests of the village.
Speeches honoring the sailors and welcoming us ensued, along with a religious invocation and speeches presumably about the Navy and early childhood education. We don’t know exactly what was said because it was all in Fijian. After the speeches, the older boys and girls performed dance routines separately. (The children here stay at the school until age 13, at which time they transfer to schools in Suva, the main city in Fiji.) Some adult women also performed a dance.
School girls dancing. Video courtesy Jeff Fredricks
Women dancing. Photo courtesy Jeff Fredricks
But the featured entertainers were the five-year-olds. Having just “graduated” from pre-school and poised to enter kindergarten, these seven small children were enlisted to perform about three times. They sang and danced and said something about themselves. Then each represented (in traditional costume) the heritage of people who can be found living in Fiji: Maori, Samoan, Chinese, Indian, Tongan, African Fijian.
The pre-schoolers. Navy sailors seated behind them. Photo courtesy Jeff Fredricks
The children in costume.
After the performances, we were roped into a bit of dancing before enjoying a Fijian feast for lunch: pork, fish, chicken, cassava, taro, a noodle dish and some vegetables. It was delicious, but way more than any of us could eat. We had taken some banana bread and flapjacks to share and presumably they were given to the children. Prior to lunch we were treated with some kava.
Laura and I drinking Kava in our borrowed clothes. Courtesy Jeff Fredricks
A little bit of dancing. Photo courtesy of Katrina Ibbotson.
Laura, Katrina and I at lunch. Photo courtesy of Jeff Fredricks
Jeff eating with the head teacher. Men drinking kava in the background. Photo courtesy of Katrina.
Before we left, we gave the head teacher some schools supplies and coloring books, along with a soccer ball. And we gave them a small cash donation toward the purchase of a Fijian flag for their flagpole. We started our walk back to the boat around 1:30, feeling very honored to have participated. By then the sun had come out and it was a very nice walk back to the anchorage.
Home has been the Nawi Marina since Aldabra arrived here on Thursday, May 30. This is a very new marina, still under development. The facilities here are very nice and the people who run the marina are really kind and helpful. The marina is on an island, so when we want to go to town, we take a small ferry boat that goes back and forth on a very regular basis.
Shortly after we arrived in the marina, Johno moved on shore to be with Thursday’s Child. Stephanie decided to fly to Australia to be with her former in-laws. Once I became an empty-nester, I started slowly reorganizing and cleaning the boat after the semi-chaos of the passage.
I also tried to hang out with friends who were here but leaving soon to go cruising in the Lau Group of islands – Ian and Laura on RaLa, Sarah and Bob on Rhapsody, Bjorn and Anneli on MaricX, Ted and Jenny on Southern Star, Alex and Yvette on Blue Beryl and Finn and Talissa on Beluga, among others. I also spent time with Dale and Katrina on Womble and Chip and Kristina on Second Set, who were flying to North America for a while.
Watching a demonstration of using coconut fronds to make a basket
Local singers at a Kava ceremony at the marina
Celebrating Alex’s birthday on Blue Beryl
\With RaLa and Womble, Stephanie and I took our dinghy to a place called Split Rock for a snorkel. It was great to be swimming in warm water after all this time. I also joined the crew of Thursday’s Child for a tour of the Kokomana chocolate farm and factory. And I joined other groups for drinks or dinners out. As most of my friends left, I started getting to know some newer friends, on Sawadiva and Rayfiki, Pulsar, Ticket to Ride. I went with Pulsar on a great snorkeling trip to Naweta Bay and on a tour of a pearl farm. With Ticket to Ride, I went on a tour of sites near Savusavu, including the Blue Lagoon, some hot springs and a waterfall. Our tour guide, Simon was great.
Stephanie and I returning from our snorkel at Spilt Rock
From right to left, the stages of a coco bean from bean to chocolate nibs, ready to be ground
Drying coco beans
Grinding coco nibs into delicious chocolate
Mary Grace and Frank from Ticket to Ride with Simon, our tour guide, at hot springs in Savusavu people use to cook their food
A river on a farm near Savusavu, with a hot spring behind the rock wall
Waterfall near Savusavu
Looking over at Nawi Island Marina from a hotel in town
As the social scene quieted, I spent time exploring the town of Savusavu, buying a few things that I needed and identifying where I would buy provisions right before leaving. I found a few good places to eat in town.
The boat was pretty much ready to leave when Jeff, my new crew, arrived on July 5 from Mexico. Jeff and his wife Jules were my favorite people to buddy boat and travel with in Mexico. They have now sold their boat and moved to a house, which frees Jeff up a bit to do some cruising on other people’s boats. Lucky for me.
The day after Jeff arrived, we set out from the marina shortly after 6:00 a.m. As we left the slip, we noticed the smell of burning electrical wires. Jeff checked the engine but the smoke cleared and he couldn’t immediately find the location of the short. As we continued out to the bay, I noticed that the tachometer and oil pressure and temp gauges weren’t working. Then I noticed that the alternator wasn’t charging the batteries. So we turned around and went back into our slip in the marina. After turning of the engine, we could not restart it, so we were really glad we went back instead of trying to diagnose the problem underway.
We were able to contact a marine electrician, Pillay, who came to the boat that morning. He spent the better part of the day with us, checking and cleaning connections, and finally removing the stater motor and relay. Both were quite fried.
It has been more than a week since this failure occurred. Pillay ordered parts and has been trying to rebuild our starter motor. Meanwhile, Whangarei Marina Services in New Zealand put a starter motor and relay into a DHL shipment. Pillay has had some snags in his efforts, but the shipment from New Zealand may arrive here tomorrow, Tuesday, July 16. So there’s hope, but we still don’t know how long this delay will be. And we’re watching the weather, because we’re on the cusp of a good weather window to head to the southern Lau Group.
While we’ve had this delay, there were also several days of high winds, so other boats came back to the marina. We were able to visit with Womble and Southern Star, Blue Beryl and Beluga. We said goodbye to Blue Beryl and Beluga for the final time as they headed toward Vanuatu, on their way west and then north. Jeff and I have done a couple of hikes and a tour of the chocolate factory. We’ve also shopped for additional provisions and done some chores on the boat. Jeff installed new cooling fans that he brought from Mexico and rewired a couple that had their wiring disconnected. He also recalibrated the autopilot with the help of Alex from Blue Beryl. And we swapped out the watermaker filters before repacking the lazarette.
It’s frustrating to be stuck in the marina for seven weeks, but cruising on a sailboat in somewhat remote locations requires patience. Jeff has been a great sport about our predicament. But I’m hoping we can leave in a couple of days.
Well, I guess it’s time for an update. I’ll be leaving New Zealand soon, bound for Minerva Reef and then Fiji.
So here is the long rundown of my time in New Zealand since arriving back here at the end of January. I’ll break this visit into three phases: On the boat in Whangarei Marina in the Town Basin, on the hard in the Riverside Drive Marina Boatyard, and back in the water in the Port Nikau Marina.
During the first phase, in the Whangarei Marina, the weather was mostly pleasant, sometimes muggy during the day but cool in the mornings and evenings.
The first thing I did upon returning was to buy a used car, a 2007 Honda Civic. The paint was cracking and coming off on many parts of the car, but it ran well except for faulty air conditioning, which didn’t really bother me that much. My plan was to sell the car when I left to the same dealer who sold it to me. I expected to recover about half the cost, which was fine because I didn’t spend that much on it. He told me that If I bought a more expensive car, I would still only get about half back, so buying this car was sort of a no-brainer.
Once I became mobile, I started getting around to chandleries and hardware stores. The chandleries didn’t seem as well stocked as West Marine, but they had a lot of gear and the main one I frequented, AllMarine, would order whatever I needed.
I worked with a man by the name of Tristan Campbell, who works at AllMarine and has his own boat-management business called BoatSmart HQ. He looked after Aldabra while I was in California. Upon my return he helped me purchase gear and find people to work on the boat. He found an electronics/electrician technician, a sailmaker and a rigger, among others.
The dinghy was losing air before we left in November, and the leak became significant while I was away. After a few informative discussions with Tim from Northland Inflatables, I paddled the dinghy down river at high tide to pull the boat out at a little “beach” and wheeled it to Tim’s shop. He spent a bit of time trying to find the leak. At first it was worrying because a non-obvious leak is far more expensive to fix. But in the end, he discovered a very obvious leak on the bottom of the tube. I think I know which coral reef attacked it. Once Tim found the leak, I left the boat with him.
Another important thing I wanted to do was get the boat attached to a battery charger, working off the marina’s shore power. It took a long time to identify the right equipment, which even though new, had to then be tested by an electrical services company before being put in use. After a couple of weeks, I finally had power to the batteries, which meant I could use more refrigeration and power tools. It also meant that I could remove the solar panels from the boat in preparation for putting new ones on. My solar panels had been underperforming, so I was hoping that new ones would give me a boost. The truth is that I keep putting new energy hogs on the boat, which is why it’s hard to keep up with the demand. (Starlink is the newest energy hog, but refrigeration and the autopilot are big contributors to the deficit.)
There were some big projects I wanted to have done while in New Zealand, but in Whangarei, the tradespeople are really busy, so it’s hard to find some skill sets. I did manage to line up people to make new canvas for the boat, a dodger and bimini and a new cover for the dinghy. Their work was to begin later in March.
Riggers are very hard to line up in Whangarei, at least at the busy time of year, but Tristan managed to make arrangements with one, Charlie, who would begin later.
While waiting on the arrangements for work to be done, I did some projects of my own, such as making new covers for the fenders. Another project was to make sure that my OpenCPN navigation software was ready with satellite charts for navigating Fijian waters, which can be quite treacherous because regular charts don’t show a lot of the reef hazards. That project took a long time for two reasons. One is that I have so little storage left on the PC that I have to clean up the hard drive every time I download a set of charts. The other is that I was confused about the process of setting up the charts. I was very pleased once I got that all sorted out.
One other thing I did during that time was to go down to Auckland for a couple of days to take a refresher course on emergency offshore medicine. Because we’ve had such good luck on Aldabra, I haven’t used any of the skills I learned before leaving the U.S. So, it was good to practice those skills again.
Besides working on the little projects, which took way too much time to complete, I found some nice walks. First, I was walking in a loop that goes up, across and down the river by the marina. Then I started taking trails that start near the marina and go up to higher elevations and beautifully scenic settings. The walks took you through Kauri forests with lots of fern trees. It could be really hot in town but the walks were very shaded and cool.
By hanging out in the marina to get work done, I was missing out on two activities. One was to explore the northern part of New Zealand by boat. I was seeing posts from people who were spending their New Zealand summer discovering gorgeous anchorages surrounded by beautiful landscapes and interesting towns. The other was to travel around New Zealand by car, which many cruisers were doing. I’m sad that wasn’t seizing these opportunities, but New Zealand is a good place to ensure that the boat is ready for some more seasons in the tropics. I’m toying with the idea of returning to New Zealand next year without the boat to travel by land.
The second phase of my stay here began shortly after Pat, my brother-in-law, arrived on February 24th. During that weekend, we started some projects. (Running a solar panel wire, installing new faucets and drains in the heads.) But on Monday, we walked over to talk to Terry at Alloy Stainless about doing some metal repairs on Aldabra. In talking to Terry and the Riverside Drive Marina Boatyard manager, Karl, it was decided that we would immediately bring Aldabra over to haul out in the yard. Pat and I walked back to the marina, let the marina office know what we were doing, and motored downriver the short distance to the yard. It was a bit tricky because the prop was coated with barnacles, so steering was difficult. But we managed to get to get into the slings without incident. We were then hoisted out of the water and put on a hard stand right in front of the metalworks building.
Aldabra on the hard in front of the metalworks shop
And that began the phase of living in the boatyard for a little over a month. Pat was here for the first two weeks, before going traveling with my sister on the South Island. About this time, the weather was starting to get ominously cooler. We got a lot of projects done. And the professionals in the yard got a lot of projects done. It’s hard to say enough good things about the marine tradespeople here in New Zealand once you are part of their work schedule. They are kind, thoughtful and competent. Here’s what’s the professionals did in the yard:
Three cracks in the arch welded and then reinforcing arms added to the base of the arch to provide more strength
A strengthening metal tube on the bow replaced
Two stanchions on the port side rewelded
A frame built and installed for the new solar panels on the arch
A frame modified for the new solar panels on the dodger
Support built for the two new solar panels on the rails so they can pivot up and down
Bottom sanded and painted
Hull cleaned and polished
PropSpeed painted onto the shaft and prop to keep growth at bay
Rudder removed from boat and rebuilt
Boat measured for all the new canvas (dinghy taken to shop for the canvas work)
New light installed for LPG solenoid switch at the panel
House batteries tested (and found healthy) and new starter battery installed
Software updates installed for B&G electronics
Stern light moved farther aft on the arch so that it doesn’t reflect back on the arch
Measurements for new rigging wire ordered and parts for the furling system ordered
Outboard motor for dinghy serviced
Rebuilt rudder installed
Here is what Pat and I did while the boat was in the yard:
Cleaned most of the tools with phosphoric acid
Unbolted four stanchions from the deck and then rebedded them after two of them were rewelded
Cleaned up all the parts associated with the rudder and steering, re-oiled the pulleys and chain. Removed the old packing material in preparation for new packing material and grease to be installed with the rudder
Pumped up the accumulator tank for the watermaker, cleaned the water strainer and changed the carbon filter
Removed the rusty anchor chain from the boat and put it in the scrap heap
Cleaned the anchor locker
Serviced and rebedded the anchor windlass, with a new gypsy
Installed new anchor chain and rope, marked the chain with paint
Installed forward-scanning sonar transducer, cleaned up paddle wheel for speed sensor and cleaned all thru-hulls of dead sea critters
Removed mast boot
Repacked stuffing gland for prop shaft
Put new hose clamps on many hoses throughout the boat
Spent some time at the top of the mast running the main halyard back into the mast after accidently letting it run out
Cleaned rust off of the hull and polished the stainless steel railings and fittings
Removed the seal from the aft-compartment portlight, cleaned the sealant off the portlight and put in a new seal
The rebuilt rudder arrived back at the boatyard on Tuesday, March 28. The rudder was rebuilt by Terry of Alloy Stainless and Craig of Northland Boat Repairs. The yard put the boat in the slings and Patrick of Future Classics boatworks installed the rudder and re-connected all the steering parts. The boat then spent the night in the slings and was put back in the water first thing on Wednesday morning. Tristan came to help and we motored the boat downriver to the Port Nikau Marina.
As soon as I got to Port Nikau, Whangarei Marine Services came to service the diesel engine. Working conditions were good in the mornings but the wind came up mercilessly in the afternoons. I managed to get a few things done, such as servicing and replacing the pump in the aft head and running up a couple of new halyards.
On Sunday, my friends Ian and Laura on Rala came to the marina and helped me move the boat to the working dock near the marina. We took the mainsail off the boat and then went for a nice walk and lunch. When I returned to the boat, the riggers Charlie, Alexis and Ian, were already preparing the boat for the mast to be removed. On Monday, I had the really fun job of cleaning the bilge and tracing the wires that run down the mast, because they would need to be disconnected to pull the mast.
On Tuesday, the crane came to remove Aldabra’s and Nereida’s masts. (Nereida is owned by Jeanne Socrates, who is the oldest woman to sail non-stop, unassisted around the world.)
Getting ready to pull Jeanne’s mast
My job was to hold the tag lines while the mast was being pulled out
Once the mast was off, I stayed a few more days at the working dock, and then Ian and Laura helped me move the boat back to the original berth on Pier C. The boat stayed there until it was time to put the mast back in a few weeks later. Meanwhile, lots of work got done:
Whangarei Marine Services took the heat exchanger out for cleaning and then reinstalled it. They also ordered a new radiator cap for me and aligned the motor mounts.
Nick of Canvas and Covers installed the new bimini, dodger and clear side curtains, and delivered the dinghy back with new chaps.
Calibre Sails installed reef points for a third reef on the mainsail
The mast was cleaned up and polished, new fittings installed as necessary, including newly manufactured tips for two of the spreaders and new sheeves manufactured for the top of the mast. Also new fittings were installed for where the halyards exit the mast.
A new deck light was installed on the mast
All new standing rigging was installed
Several new halyards and lines installed
New reefing lines were installed in the boom
The jib furler was rebuilt
The traveler car was rebuilt
New wedges were manufactured to support the mast once it was re-stepped
A pin on the boom vang was machined
The solar panels were wired to the controllers
I drove to Auckland and picked up the liferaft after it was serviced and repacked.
Two more stanchions broke and were re-welded, then we re-bedded the stanchions
The mast boot was secured around the mast collar after amalgamated tape was wrapped tightly around the mast and the opening
New mirrors were installed in the heads
While all this was going on, Ian and Laura relocated to Port Nikau so they could get a rigging inspection. They ended up on Pier C so it was nice to have them as neighbors. The three of us also got a chance to hang out with Dale and Katrina on Womble. We all got a nice hike in together.
We made friends with some of the people who live and/or work in Port Nikau. Ian and Rachel of Gypsea Lane were particularly welcoming and included us in the the social events with other liveaboards. They’re part of a really nice community of fun people.
During this time, my crew members, Stephanie and Johno joined the boat and joined in on the boat chores, including cooking some prepared meals to be frozen for the passage to Fiji. On Thursday, April 25, we moved the boat back to the working dock and the mast was re-stepped the next day. We continued doing chores while the final pieces of the rigging were were completed.
Aldabra’s mast being moved by crane to the boat to be re-stepped
Charlie and Alexis putting the rigging back together after the mast went in
Johno and Tristan working on the traveler car.
On Thursday, May 2, we drove up to Opua for a training session by Citizens of the Sea on how we would take DNA samples from the water each day on our passage to Fiji. After staying for the Citizens of the Sea launch event that night, we drove back to Port Nikau for more work on the boat.
On Friday, we delivered the car back to the dealer who sold it to me and rented a car from the marina. We then worked with Charlie the rigger on the reefing system and the lines running through the boom. On Saturday, Johno and I drove back up to Opua for a briefing on Fiji, put on by the Island Cruising Rally, of which we are a part. During the afternoon, I hung out with Debbie from Thursday’s Child, another California boat, and she showed me sights around Opua, including the towns of Paihia and Kerikeri, and a couple of the local waterfalls.
I drove back to Port Nikau that night and Johno stayed on Thursday’s Child. Meanwhile, Stephanie had stayed back on Aldabra while riggers Charlie and Alexis put the boom and the mainsail back on the boat, and installed the runners for the inner forestay.
On Sunday and Monday, we continued with final preparations for departure, casting off the docklines at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. It was rather emotional for me because I had grown quite fond of several people in Port Nikau. Seeing us off that evening was Blair, the very kind and thoughtful marina manager, Charlie our very busy, solutions-oriented rigger who was also entertaining and warm-hearted, and Tristan, who was such a help to me from the very beginning.
As we departed from Port Nikau, we discovered that we had no GPS signal on our chartplotter. Johno drove the boat using my iPad for navigation while Stephanie and I replaced a cable that restored the GPS. We didn’t know that we needed to restart the entire B&G system after replacing the cable, so we were without wind instruments all night as we motored north to Opua.
The overnight trip north was uneventful and we arrived at the dock a little after 9:00 a.m., where Ray, Debbie and Dana from Thursday’s Child helped us with our dock lines. Johno then went up the mast to check on the wind instruments. Once it was clear that they were properly connected at the top of the mast, we restarted the system and began getting wind speed and direction readings. Whew.
After getting settled into the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua, we did a few additional chores for passage preparation, and caught up with old friends, including Jaime and Fiona on Szel, Alex and Yvette on Blue Beryl, Dale and Katrina on Womble, and Chip and Kristina on Second Set. We’ve also met new people who are part of the rally with us. With the help of Predictwind and our weather router, John Martin, we were scheduled to depart for Minerva Reef this Saturday, tomorrow. A lot of other boats left today, which also seemed like a good time to leave. Shortly after all the boats left, we were alerted by John Martin that predictions for our departure had changed, so we are on hold for a few more days.
It’s brutally cold and windy here and we’re all looking forward to a warmer climate. The plan is to get to Minerva Reef and hang out for a few days and catch some lobster. We’ll then head north to Savusavu on the south side of Vanua Levu in Fiji.
On Wednesday, October 11, Johno and I arrived at the Ha’apai group of the Tongan islands and were anchored in the Haano anchorage at about 4:00 p.m., after a couple of attempts to anchor. We saw whales on the way as well as once we were anchored. Sea Wind, with Lars and Suzane aboard, came in a short while later.
Looking from the boat to shore in the Haano anchorage
Looking from shore out to Aldabra and Sea Wind in the Haano anchorage
We had a quiet night in the anchorage. The next morning, we explored the beach and snorkeled on the nearby reef. On our way back to the boat, we stopped by Sea Wind to meet them. We had seen them in Neiafu but had not become acquainted. Later that day, Rowan and Jenny on Pole Pole joined us in the anchorage and we stopped by to meet them as well.
Johno’s shell find on the beach, two of the shells are homes to deadly creatures
On Friday morning, October 13, we pulled up anchor and motored to Pangai, the main village of this island group, to check in with Customs and Immigration. We anchored outside the harbor and took the dinghy in. We walked to the office and took care of the formalities. On the way back, we stopped at a couple of small stores before heading to the dinghy and back out to Aldabra. We pulled up anchor and motored to the anchorage near Tofanga Island. Johno explored on land while I hung out at the boat.
On Saturday morning, we both went to shore and walked around the larger of the islands in front of the boat. After returning to the boat, I went in the cold water for a bit and Johnno snorkeled around for a much longer time.
At noon, we pulled up the anchor to head to Nuku Alofa in the southern island group of Tongatapu. We had wanted to spend more time in the Ha’apai group, but when we looked at the weather coming up in the next several days, we realized that we would be late to pick up Pat in NukuAlofa if we didn’t start that day. We chose the midday timeframe because we wanted to clear the island group in the daylight. The winds were strong and favorable and we were out of the hazard zone by 5:30 p.m. Because the winds were so strong, and we were going so fast, we realized that we would get to Tongatapu several hours too early. So, during the night, we slowed the boat down to a snail’s pace so we would arrive at the pass after daylight.
On Wednesday, September 20, we officially checked into Tonga. We were in the northern island group, Vava’u, which is a paradise for cruisers. The group is made up of multiple islands, higher in elevation than the low-lying atolls of some island groups. There is one large town, Neiafu on the island of Vava’u, and then there are lots of small villages scattered around. There are dozens of places to anchor, either alone or with other boats. The town of Neiafu has much to offer if you have time to explore, and it is a gathering place for ex-pats and cruisers, along with native Tongans.
A main building in Neiafu in front of the small boat marina
That night, we had dinner at Mango, a restaurant on the waterfront that has a good-size dinghy dock. (The folks at Mango get a lot of business from the cruisers and they let us dock our dinghies there even if we aren’t eating there at the moment.) Dinner was with Yvette and Alex on Blue Beryl, but we also talked with Kristina and Chip from Second Set and Craig and Dawn and Jeanie from Russula.
The next day, we went to town again to explore. We started off looking for a bakery we’d heard about, walking away from the main town. Soon, a man stopped in his car and asked us where we were going. He then drove us to the bakery, and after we discovered that their goods were sold out, he drove us to a market that sold bread. It turned out that I had given him some rope the day before, down at the wharf. He repaid that kindness by driving us around.
After doing boat maintenance projects for the rest of the day, we had dinner at Kraken, another waterfront restaurant, with Blue Beryl and Szel and dozens of other boats. It was quiz night, run by the daughter of the owners, and everyone had lots of fun.
Yvette and Jeanne Socrates at Kraken on Quiz Night
On Friday, we went to town so Tom could shop for gifts. While he and Linda were at the public market, I went to Immigration to get letters for Pat and Johno so they could fly into Tonga without return tickets. I also extended my visa so it wouldn’t run out before our departure from Tonga. We had lunch at a shop that makes custom T-shirts and cooks nice goodies. Back at the boat, Blue Beryl and Szel stopped by to say farewell to Tom and then we took him back to shore to catch a taxi to the airport.
On Saturday, Linda and I went to shore to the public market and bought baskets, then had a late breakfast at Mango. In the afternoon, we went to the small boat marina to catch a shuttle to the boatyard. The owners of the boatyard were hosting the first event of a multi-day festival for the cruisers. We got a tour of the boatyard facilities and were treated to beer and sausages. It was a great time to see some old friends and to meet new people.
Sunday is a special day in Tonga, which is very serious about religion. You are not allowed to work or play. Linda and I stayed on the boat as required, but we did run the storm jib and the trysail up just to check that they were set to use. I have never used either of these sails, but they might be necessary on the upcoming trip to New Zealand. That night Blue Beryl and Szel came over to Aldabra for dinner.
One of the churches in Neiafu
On Monday, Linda and I started the morning at the market, buying baskets. We also did more boat projects before attending the opening dinner for the festival, which was at Mango. The food was good and it was a big social event for all the cruisers, making new acquaintances and renewing old ones.
Opening dinner at Mango
The next day, Linda finished packing for her flight back home. Then we went to the Basque Tavern for a festival-sponsored breakfast. We had just enough time to eat before Linda’s taxi came to take her to the airport. Like Tom, she had made many new friends on this trip and they were all sad to see her leave. After breakfast, representatives from various New Zealand businesses and government agencies briefed us on things we needed to know to enter New Zealand.
I spent the afternoon taking care of laundry, reorganizing the boat and doing a bit of shopping. Alex and Yvette had me over to Blue Beryl for cocktails because they thought I might be lonely. The three of us then went to Kraken for pizza night, another festival event. We got there pretty late so the pizza was almost non-existent. We ordered some food and started planning for the sailboat race scheduled for the next day.
On Wednesday, September 27, Alex and I went to the race committee meeting at Mango at 9:00 a.m. The race was to begin from Mango. Competitors were to run from the restaurant, get in their dinghies and go out to their boats. To speed up our start, one of our crew members, Daisy from the sailboat Traveller, was in her dinghy, waiting for us with the motor running. Alex and I jumped in and Daisy ran us to Blue Beryl, which was quite close to the restaurant. Alex had prepared Blue Beryl by removing the lines from the mooring ball and tethering the boat to the dinghies we had attached to the mooring ball. He just had to attach Daisy’s dinghy, unclip Blue Beryl and we were off. It was a very strategic start.
The race was quite fun. We sailed with Alex, Yvette, Daisy, Kim and her daughter Liz from the sailboat Tranquility, Fred, who would be crewing on Blue Beryl after Yvette flew to New Zealand, and me. We sailed very well and it was a lovely day for racing. We were passed by two or three very fast racing monohulls and a couple of very fast catamarans, but we were pleased with our performance. At the end of the race, we motored to Mango and Fred jumped off and swam to the restaurant to log us in. Later that evening, we attended an after-race dinner at the Basque Tavern, where lots of fun prizes were given. Daisy and I left at a reasonable hour, but a lot of other people made a late night of it.
On Thursday, September 28, the festival activity was an all-day culture event. We were taken in buses from the main town of Neiafu to the other side of the island. There, the Tongan tourist organization had prepared a beach party. We helped prepare some of the food before it went into the Umu, the underground fire. We visited with fellow cruisers and local Tongans, and we were treated to singing and dancing by local children. There were also competitions that the cruisers participated in, such as spear throwing and juggling. The event was a fundraiser for the library, which offers all kinds of activities for the local children. These children performed at the event.
Public library, Neiafu, Tonga
Preparing the Umu
Preparing the food that will be cooked in the Umu
The children at Culture Day
Dancing at Culture Day
Boys dancing, the money being put in their clothes goes to the library
Children singing
The next day, I went to the Falaeu Deli and ordered prepared food for the passage to New Zealand, to be picked up before leaving Neiafu. I then went to a few small markets and found some food provisions before returning to the boat to bake banana bread. That night we attended the closing dinner for the festival, at Kraken, which included a live auction that benefitted two local charities. It was a roaring event with lots of participation.
Wild night at the charity auction
On Saturday, September 30, Alex, Yvette and I went whale watching. The other participants included one cruiser and two couples that were visiting Tonga by land. While out on the boat, we saw many whales spouting and breaching in the distance. And one whale breached right next to the boat. But it wasn’t until later in the afternoon that we got into the water to swim with a mama whale and her baby. We were divided into two groups of four and we each got to get in twice. The experience was magical.
Swimming with a baby whale
That night we had dinner at Mango with Bob and Sarah from Rhapsody, to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. While we were there, Mike and Daisy from Traveller, Craig and Dawn from Russula, and Thomas and Daniel from Saorise stopped by and joined us.
On Sunday, October 1, I left the mooring ball in the Neiafu harbor and followed Blue Beryl outside of that bay and over to Port Maurelle, a bay not too far away. After Alex and Yvette had anchored, Alex came over to Aldabra in his dinghy and helped me drop my anchor. It was nice to get out of town and to be in a more remote bay. That night we had a delicious potluck on the beach with a few of the boats.
The next day, Yvette and I went to shore to explore. We walked to one town and then doubled back to another. We didn’t meet very many people but we did stop by a small resort and talked to the owner and the chef.
Tuesday was a cold and windy day with some rain. I changed the oil and the oil filter in the diesel engine. Alex came over and put a block on the mast for a halyard for the storm jib. Later, Alex and Yvette and I went in their dinghy to see Swallow’s Cave and one other nearby cave. That night we had pizza on Blue Beryl with Bart and Kim and Liz from Tranquility.
On Wednesday, I discovered that my foot switch for my anchor windlass wasn’t working. Alex came over to assess it, and rigged up a toggle switch that bypassed the foot switch. He then helped me pull up the anchor, and both boats left Port Maurelle and went over to anchorage #16. (For convenience, most of the anchorages in the Vava’u group of Tonga are numbered.) It was very windy and rainy there, but that night, a lot of the boats in the anchorage had a progressive get together where they gathered for 30 minutes or so on each boat for cocktails and snacks. I had already planned to cook dinner for Alex and Yvette, so we stayed on Aldabra and had a nice dinner.
On Thursday, we took my dinghy to a beach near the reef, then swam through breakers to get to the outside of the reef. It was a pretty challenging swim and I got winded. I was wearing the wrong fins for pushing through waves and strong current. Once we got to the other side, it was beautiful, but we didn’t stay that long before heading back to the beach. As we were getting ready to head back to Neiafu, the resident of that island came out with some papayas, and then Yvette and Alex went to his house for a visit. After they came back, Alex helped me pull up my anchor. I then drove by his boat and he dived off Aldabra and swam to Blue Beryl while I continued out of the bay. They passed me at one point and I then pulled out my jib and sailed on a broad reach most of the way back to Neiafu. I rolled in the jib when I turned the corner to head to the mooring balls. I followed Blue Beryl until they picked up a mooring. They then called on the radio to let me know that Jamie from Szel was in his dinghy, holding a mooring ball for me. I motored over to him and he helped me attach my lines to the ball.
On Friday, Johno arrived from the airport by taxi in the early evening. We took his luggage back to the boat and then met up with Szel and Blue Beryl for dinner at the Basque Tavern. Johno was tired from traveling so we left around 8:30. Alex and Yvette stayed quite late and had lots of stories for the next day.
On Saturday, October 7, Szel and Blue Beryl left Neiafu, bound for the Ha’apai island group and then south to Tongatapu. Johno and I went to the market, where he bought baskets. (Linda and I have spread our addiction for Tongan baskets to Alex, Yvette, Tom and now Johno.)
Just a small representation of the Tongan baskets that have been acquired
We went to the Falaeu Deli and picked up our order for prepared food. Then we got 120 liters of diesel fuel. We did this by tying the dinghy up to a dock, carrying three jerry cans each up a long, step set of stairs, walking through someone’s yard, and then walking up the road a short way. After the fuel station worker filled up the cans, we went inside to pay. The matriarch of the business was not going to have us walk those jerry cans back to the stairs. She had her son pull the car around and put our jerry cans in. He then drove us back to the house and helped carry the cans down the stairs. What looked to us like a two-hour ordeal took about 20 minutes, thanks to this very kind Tongan man and his mother. This kindness is something that happens more often than not in Tonga. Our last stop for the day was the T-shirt store, where we had lunch.
On Sunday, the day of rest and not walking around town, we cleaned the foot switch for the windlass and Johno reinstalled it. We also changed the watermaker filters. The rest of the day was relaxing and at the end of the day we had sundowners on Rhapsody and then dinner at Mango.
On Monday morning, we joined Sarah and Bob of Rhapsody for a whale watching trip. Also on the trip were Bjorn and Annelie from MaricX and Jim and Perry from Yuva. Our experience was similar to the previous whale watching trip. We motored for hours before finally getting in the water with a mama and baby. The baby seemed delighted to play with us. And the mama would stop and rest and let us entertain her youngster. Another great encounter with migrating whales.
Along with many images in this blog post, Johno shot this video
Although it was spectacular, and we did not seem to harass the whales, I think that will be the last time I participate in this activity. On one hand, the Tongans are very respectful and restrained with the whales. Still, we followed them in a boat for hours before they stopped to play. I have to think that they would be happier if left unmolested. We all had dinner together that night at Kraken.
On Tuesday, October 10, we checked out of the Vava’u island group before trading a couple of bags of dried beans for produce. (New Zealand will make us throw out the beans when we get there, so we wanted to put them in good hands. The woman we traded with was very happy.) Then we went back to the boat, untied Aldabra from the mooring ball, and headed out of the bay. We motored over to Mariner’s Cave where Johno jumped in the water and I stood off with the engine running on Aldabra. Johno swam, looking for the opening to the cave, but the tide may have been wrong and he did not go inside.
We then motored south to anchorage #40. It was in front of a small island with a reef, but very exposed to the high winds. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, although another boat came in and shared the spot with us. At 4:00 the next morning, we pulled up the anchor and motored around a rather large reef area before putting up our sails and pointing south toward the Ha’apai island group. It was a good sail, a close reach with wind in the mid teens.
As we sailed away from Tahiti on Friday, August 11, we weren’t sure where we were headed. We could sail over to Moorea and spend the night. Or we could do an overnight to Huahine. (Yes, we had checked out of French Polynesia, but we planned short visits under the radar to some of the other Society Islands. By checking out in Tahiti, we could have Tahiti Crew take care of the process.)
As we sailed in the vicinity of Moorea, we decided to just keep going to Huahine. The first hours of the passage were in 18-20 knot of wind and big seas. Conditions mellowed out during the second half of the trip.
On Saturday, August 12, we arrived in Huahine around 10:00 a.m. We were lucky to find a free mooring ball in the anchorage near the pass and close to the town of Fare. Naps were the first order of business. Before that, Sarah and Bob from Rhapsody stopped by and we made plans for dinner. We went ashore around 4:00 p.m. and walked around before meeting Sarah and Bob for dinner at the Huahine Yacht Club. The cocktails and the food were good and it was a fun night. Rhapsody left the next day.
Linda and Trevor enjoying their welcome drinks
Tom took this picture from the Huahine Yacht Club
Huahine Anchorage
On Sunday, we had a lazy day on the boat. Trevor and Linda swam out to the entrance to the pass to see a whale. Blue Beryl came in and anchored near us. We barbequed steak on the boat and played cards that night.
On Monday, we went to shore and made arrangements to rent scooters on Wednesday. Dinner that night was on Blue Beryl. Tuesday was a holiday in French Polynesia and nothing was open. We stayed on the boat all day.
Dinner on Blue Beryl, Linda took the picture
On Wednesday, the crews of Blue Beryl and Aldabra rode scooters around the island. We rode for only three hours but it was a great way to see the whole island.
Sharing a coconut on the scooter ride
Trevor and Linda
Tom
Yvette and Alex
Stopping at a lookout
A view of another bay. That’s the cruise ship Wind Spirit
After lunch at the Huahine Yacht Club, we took the boats (Aldabra and Blue Beryl) halfway down the island to a different anchorage. It was a windy, rainy night and we did only a little bit of exploring the next day before picking up the anchor and going down to the anchorage at the end of the island. There were a lot of boats there. It was really windy. But Trevor and Alex got to kiteboard, and it made them very happy. After they were finished, we pulled up anchor again and went back to an anchorage near town.
Trevor enjoying a dinghy ride
We liked Huahine. The town of Fare had a nice vibe and it would have been easy to stay longer, but we had a lot of ground to cover and none of the crew had unlimited schedules. So, on Saturday, August 19, we left the anchorage at 7:00 a.m. and sailed to Raiatea. The winds were in the mid-teens and we sailed on a broad reach with just the jib. We arrived around noon and picked up a mooring ball across from town, got in the dinghy and headed across the channel to shore.
We got ice cream bars at the grocery store and started a bit of a search for motor oil for my next oil change. I should have bought it in Tahiti, but I forgot. The gas station was closed so we walked down to the operating base for Dream Yacht Charters to see if we could use the mooring ball we were already attached to. At the base, we were told we needed to provide a 6-pack of beer. So we walked back to the grocery store, bought the beer and then took the dinghy to the base. Once we presented the 6-pack to the base manager, we were told that they could no longer allow us to use the mooring ball. He told us that it was prohibited by local authorities. He got on the computer and showed me where we could anchor. I gave him the 6-pack anyway and headed back to the dinghy. We returned to the boat and headed north through the east channel and up to the east side of Tahaa to an anchorage on the reef. Blue Beryl joined us there, as did a few other boats.
On Sunday, we continued north on the east side Tahaa and rounded the island from east to west. Then we headed south down the west side of Tahaa to the Coral Gardens. It was quite windy but we found a decent place to anchor next to the reef. Blue Beryl arrived a bit later and we snorkeled the Coral Gardens in the afternoon.
The Coral Gardens are a small pass between two motus on the outside of Tahaa. You can walk up one motu and then slip into the water and follow the current through the coral. It is quite picturesque. I went down, then swam back against the current to go down again.
On Monday, August 21, Aldabra and Blue Beryl left Tahaa and sailed over to Bora Bora. We left at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in the early afternoon. It was a nice sail, with the spinnaker, until our spinnaker halyard broke and the spinnaker dropped into the water. We gathered it onto the boat and continued on in through the pass. After wandering around a bit, we attached ourselves to mooring balls in front of the Bora Bora Yacht Club.
Aldabra in Bora Bora
The sailboat Szel with Jamie and Fiona was also on a mooring near us. Linda and I took the dinghy over to see them for a visit. Later that evening Aldabra and Blue Beryl had drinks and dinner at the Yacht Club and Jamie and Fiona came later and sat at the table next to us. We chatted a bit before we left and they had their dinner.
Dinner at Bora Bora Yacht Clug: Alex, Tom. Trevor, me, Linda and Yvette
On Tuesday, August 22, Trevor went up the mast to retrieve the halyard that had frayed and broken.
Trevor up the mast
Then we followed Blue Beryl as we motored around to the back side of Bora Bora, through very narrow, shallow channels. Trevor drove and we picked our way through, sometimes within an inch of touching the bottom. In a catamaran, the trip would have been a breeze, but with a deep keel, it was quite nerve wracking. In the end, we arrived at a beautiful anchorage. We explored the motu on foot and in the water, and had a dinner party that night with Blue Beryl on Aldabra.
Crusing around the island
The next day, we had a swimming race between the two boats. Alex represented Blue Beryl and Trevor represented Aldabra. Trevor was handicapped in two ways. He was wearing his snorkeling mask instead of swim goggles. And he was wearing his swim trunks. Alex, with no swim trunks and with swim goggles beat Trevor by a small margin. But they were both completely spent.
After the race, Aldabra headed back around the island, following our track from the day before. After picking up a mooring ball in front of the Yacht Club, we took the dinghy to town to find out about a ferry for Trevor to get to the airport. After sorting that all out, we found a restaurant for lunch and a gas station to buy motor oil. Then we went back to the boat so Trevor could pack. Linda took him back to town later that afternoon so he could take the ferry to catch his flight back to Tahiti. He then spent the night in the Tahiti airport and caught a flight the next morning to San Francisco. (Once home, Trevor began his job search and rather quickly landed a job in his field.)
We had a quiet night on the boat. Then on Thursday, Tom and I went to shore early to hand over our laundry to Julie, a very nice woman who picked it up in her car. Back at the boat, we did some cleaning and reorganizing, along with paperwork to enter the Cook Islands. We had dinner that night at the Bora Bora Yacht Club and retrieved our laundry from Julie while we were there. We also took showers there and dropped off our trash.
On Friday, August 25, Linda and I took the dinghy into town to fill up a jerry can with gasoline and buy 2-stroke oil and some groceries. It was a windy day and we spent the rest of it on the boat, stowing things and otherwise getting ready for a passage. Alex came over and inspected the rigging and gave me a report on areas of concern.
At his suggestion, we connected the inner forestay and the starboard running backstay. We pulled the port running backstay back to a car on the rail because it was getting chafed on the spreader. It was a very windy and rainy night and we stayed on the boat.
On Saturday, August 26, Jamie of Szel and Alex and Yvette of Blue Beryl came over for a weather meeting. We all decided to leave that day for Penryhn Island in the Cook Islands. We were now saying goodbye to French Polynesia.
Johno and Trevor arrived in Fakarava on July 3. Johno was on Aldabra last year from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus, along with Trevor’s twin sister, Dana. This was Trevor’s first time on the boat in the South Pacific. He had just graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and was able to fit this trip in before some serious job hunting in mechanical engineering/robotics. They joined Pat and me on the boat and brought lots of goodies, such as a new wind generator, some new components for the refrigeration system and food treats.
On Tuesday, July 4, we picked up the anchor and went to the fuel dock.
Sitting on the boat at the Fakarava fuel dock with Trevor and Johno
We then sailed down to the Fakarava South Pass. We anchored at about 2:00 p.m. and snorkeled the pass before joining a Fourth of July picnic set up on shore by our friends Bruce and Alene on Migration. It was nice to see Bruce and Alene and to meet some new cruisers. On Wednesday, we sailed over to Hirifa in 25 knot winds and anchored in that more protected anchorage. I baked banana bread while Pat, Johno and Trevor installed the replacement wind generator. (We’d had so much wind since arriving in the Tuamotus that I was constantly aware of how much we were wasting it by not having a working wind generator to charge the batteries.)
Installing the new wind generator
The next day, Trevor and Johno took a really long walk across multiple motus and sand bars to explore a distant motu, three miles away. They did a lot of wading and were quite spent and sunburned when they finally returned.
Trevor on the long walk
While they were away, I was planning the itinerary for the coming weeks in the Tuamotus and measuring the watermaker output, which was way under capacity for no apparent reason. Bruce and Alene from Migration came over for dinner that night and it was great to see them again. We spent the next day cleaning the boat bottom. On Saturday night, we had a nice dinner on shore at Eliza’s, with a few other boats.
On Monday, July 10, we left Hirifa a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. and sailed back to Rotoava, arriving shortly after noon. It was a nice sail with 12-18 knots of wind. We went ashore to drop off a cooking gas tank to be refilled, and we bought some groceries. The next day we rented ebikes and toured around the atoll before having lunch at the snack that Pat, Bill and I had been to previously. After picking up the cooking gas tank, we went back to the boat to endure a windy, rolly night.
Exploring the outer beach of Fakarava during the bike ride
On Wednesday, July 12, we picked up the anchor at 5:00 a.m. and motored over to the north pass of Fakarava. We exited the pass at 6:15 a.m. at slack tide, with very mild current. Outside the reef, we put up the sails with two reefs in the main. We had a fast sail on a beam reach with winds in the high teens. We arrived outside the Aratika pass at noon, right behind Infinite Grace, a boat we hadn’t met yet. Once we were inside the pass, a squall came up and we had white-out conditions while trying to navigate across the lagoon to some mooring balls in front of the village. The visibility soon improved and we got ourselves across and attached to a mooring ball by 1:30 p.m. It was a rainy afternoon and we stayed on the boat.
On Thursday, July 13, we took the dinghy to shore and walked into the village. There we found the town clerk and paid a nominal fee for two night’s mooring. We were in Aratika at the suggestion of Bruce and Alene, who had done a lot of research to find a Tuamotu atoll that wouid be celebrating the annual Heiva festival. Many of the other atolls were sending their community members to Tahiti for the celebration, so they were not celebrating on their home turf. Aratika is a tiny community and we looked forward to meeting people and participating in the celebration. Infinite Grace was there for the same reason and Migration would be following the next day.
We walked around the windward side of the atoll to check out the beaches there, and we talked to Tea, who owned a restaurant that would be serving dinner during the celebration. He told us that the first event would be that night, a Mr. and Mrs. Aratika competition. After spending the rest of the afternoon on the boat, we returned to the town center in the evening, chatting with Jeff and Michelle on Infinite Grace, Bruce and Alene on Migration, and Yves and Marta on Breakaway. Then we watched the 3-hour competition before having a late-night dinner at the restaurant. The competition featured about five women and four men who modeled a variety of outfits, such as traditional, casual and evening wear. The two winners were announced after a rather lengthy and confused deliberation by the judges. It was fun to be there with all the members of the community and to see all the children running around and playing. We got back to the boat around midnight.
The women doing a final pose in their traditional outfits
The men in their final pose in their traditional outfits
The next day, we slept in and did not go into town for the scheduled parade. Instead we repaired a rip in the mainsail and Johno and Trevor snorkeled on the reef. We ate dinner on the boat and then went back to town that evening for the dancing competition, which included just women. Evidently the men were too shy for that. But we really enjoyed the women dancers and the evening was not a long one.
Actually there was one young man in the dancing competition
The singers and musicians
The cruisers visiting Aratika for the festival
The next morning, on Saturday, July 15, we left the mooring ball and exited the pass. We were a couple of hours before slack tide and the current was strong but manageable. It whooshed us out very rapidly.
The current as we left the pass
We sailed west across to the False Pass of Toau on a nice beam reach and were on a mooring ball shortly after 2:00 p.m. We talked to a very nice Dutch couple on Dina Helena. They were on their way to the Marquesas and had come from Patagonia and the Gambier. Johno and Trevor got out snorkeling on the reef near where we were anchored.
On Sunday, we all snorkeled near the southwest side of the anchorage, crossing the reef to look for mantas. It was a calm day and the snorkeling was great.
Johno up the mast in the False Pass
Johno’s view from the top of the mast in Toau
On Monday, we left the mooring ball at 5:30 a.m. and exited the pass, heading to Tikehau. During the day, the winds were in the low teens and we sailed with the spinnaker. We took it down before nightfall, but didn’t tie the sheet off properly. That night, with winds shifting, we needed to jibe to avoid hitting Rangiroa. Later, the winds picked up significantly and we needed to reef. As I pulled in on the furling line, I must have caught the spinnaker sheet, and the spinnaker ended up in the water, being dragged behind the boat and making it nearly impossible for Johno to steer. Trevor and I managed to get the spinnaker back up on the boat and we realized how lucky it was that we didn’t lose it altogether. We finished reefing the main just as the wind started calming down.
The next morning, as we approached the pass to enter the Tikehau atoll, we discovered that our old friends on Blue Beryl were anchored there. As we entered the pass around 11:00 a.m. they approached the anchorage near the pass and we met up in that anchorage. It was pretty windy but we had a nice dinner together that night and got caught up on their lives since we’d last seen them.
The next day, Blue Beryl exited the pass, heading over to Rangiora, and we sailed over to Motu Mauu to see the mantas that frequently hang out there. We anchored in pretty marginal conditions, high winds and very choppy. But we got the dinghy in the water and headed over to some mooring balls near the motu. After snorkeling for a bit, we followed a tour group and indeed got to see a giant manta. People would dive down and try to engage it and it would just hang out, unbothered by the attention. It was quite spectacular.
Trevor with the giant manta in Tikehau
Johno with the giant manta
After that splendid show of nature, we pulled up the anchor and headed over to the anchor near the village, where it was a little bit more protected from the wind and waves. We went ashore and walked around the village We found a pizza place on the other side of the motu and ordered a few pizzas. Then we walked to the airport just to see how far it was. After returning to eat our pizza, we went back to the boat.
Eating pizza in Tikehau
The next day, Thursday, July 20, Pat made omelettes and packed. It was a gloomy, windy day. We went ashore and walked with Pat to the airport, where he flew to Tahiti and then on to Los Angeles. On Friday morning, I went ashore to look for a bakery, but the woman had no baked goods because she had no flour. With the weather making it difficult to enjoy Tikehau, we decided to head over to the anchorage near the pass for a quick getaway the next morning. Once we got there, however, it was so choppy and windy that we decided to just leave that afternoon. We put the dinghy up, had lunch and headed out of the pass. The exit was smooth. We put the sails up and headed for Moorea in 14 knots of wind.
On Saturday morning we had light winds and sunshine for the first time in three days. The swells moderated a bit and we sailed most of the day on a close reach. The winds got even lighter as we approached Moorea. For the last twenty miles we used a motor assist, arriving at the entrance to Cooks Bay around 10:00 p.m. Because I had been in there so many times, I thought it would be easy enough to do at night. But everything is different at night and entering was a bit disorienting. We just followed the charts and the buoys into the bay and then started heading deeper into the bay. It was too dangerous to motor among the boats because we couldn’t really tell what was what among the anchor lights. We ended up dropping the anchor in deeper water, behind the fleet and then celebrating our arrival with a beer. I think we all slept well after our overnight sail.
On Sunday, July 23, we all slept in. I then started taking care of business I needed to attend to and Johno and Trevor went for a walk around the bay. The next morning, we picked up a rental car and drove around the island. We had lunch at the restaurant at the Timpanier Resort.
Enjoying the view in Moorea
The next day, we took the rental car up to the Belvedere and hiked the three coconuts trail.
Hiking in Moorea
Afterwards we had lunch at my favorite taco truck but she had run out of the good food so I was a bit disappointed with the cuisine. On Wednesday we took the car around to the other side of the island, looking for waterfall hikes and an illusive steep hike that Trevor and Johno wanted to do. We found the waterfall hikes but never found the steep hike.
Waterfall hike in Moorea
Afterward, we had lunch at the Polynesia hotel in Cooks Bay and then returned the rental car.
Johno and Trevor enjoying a soak and a beer in Moorea
I’m sitting in the cockpit of Aldabra on Wednesday, May 31. We’re in the anchorage in front of Rotoava, the town on the atoll of Fakarava, population maybe 2000. The wind is coming from the southwest, bringing choppy waves that build from all the way across the lagoon (15 miles), and sitting on the boat is not very comfortable. It’s been windy and rainy for about twenty-four hours and probably won’t let up until tonight or tomorrow. Despite the conditions, Gabe flies out from here on Friday, so we need to stay put. I’ll be sorry to see him leave but I’m guessing he’s ready to get on with his summer plans. Cruising on a sailboat in the Tuamotus can mean long days of unfavorable weather, yet those are interspersed with moments of adventure on land, dramatic coral in the water and lots of wonderful people to meet. There are also many opportunities to fix things on the boat, especially after it had been sitting for a few months in Tahiti.
The Tuamotus are beautiful low-lying atolls that are made up of reefs that surround a lagoon. A few of these 76 atolls are inhabited with some infrastructure for locals and tourists. Others may have as little as a few subsistence farmers or fisherman. And still others are completely uninhabited. These atolls can be mostly submerged, or they can be made of motus, small islands that support the growth of some vegetation and people’s livelihoods. The people that live here mostly speak French and/or Tahitian, but those that work in stores or in tourism speak enough English to help me get by.
A typical motu viewed from inside the lagoon
Not all the atolls have passes that allow you to safely enter the lagoon. For those that do, one must navigate through the pass when the tides and winds are in your favor, otherwise it can be quite a ride. Once inside the lagoon, you have protection from the open seas, and often you have protection from the wind, but to transit from place to place you must safely navigate the coral heads (called bommies), which could be hidden right below the surface and severely damage the boat. To anchor, you must try to find a sandy patch and then use floats to lift the anchor chain over the bommies on the sea floor. Anchoring itself is quite a challenge and can take multiple attempts to get situated. Gabe has become masterful at diving down to the anchor to reposition it or the chain, in all kinds of adverse conditions.
So, what have we been doing since we left Moorea? Here’s the way-too-detailed recap.
Our first destination was Tahanea, an uninhabited atoll that is a sanctuary for nesting birds, and a well-liked destination for underwater exploration of the three passes that lead into the lagoon. Cruisers also go to Tahanea to kite board.
Our passage to Tahanea was mostly smooth. Having left Moorea on Wednesday, April 12 at 6:30 a.m., we motored-sailed in very light air on the nose for several hours. In the mid-afternoon, the wind came up and very quickly we had a squall with 28-knot winds and rain. With the full main and jib flying, and seas building, I had to hand steer for some of it because the autopilot was overpowered. At one point we just took the main down for a while. In the evening, we put it back up with the first reef in, and had some spells of a nice beam reach in 10-14 knot winds.
For most of the next day we motor sailed in light air. The autopilot got fussy at one point so we used the backup CPT autopilot for several hours. The next day, Friday, April 14, we arrived at the gap between Faaite and Tahanea and turned right to round Tahanea. There was no wind and the seas were glassy. We entered the middle pass shortly after noon with no issues even though it was an hour and a half after high slack tide. (It seems to be the case that the passes are far less challenging when there has been no wind and the seas are calm.)
Tahanea
We anchored just to the west of the middle pass. No boats were there at the time but two came in shortly afterward. It took more than one attempt to set the anchor down in sand instead of coral. We did our best and had a good night’s sleep that night. The next day we spent quite a bit of time trying to re-anchor. We had been rubbing on some coral at night and we wanted to get the anchor down in a better spot and float our chain above the coral heads. After a few attempts, we thought we had it right so we took the dinghy to shore to explore the nearby motu and snorkel a bit. That night we had lightning and rain. A boat from Slovenia, Timy, came in and anchored very close to us.
The next day, Peter and Natalie from Timy dove on their own anchor and then checked ours out. They discovered that we were caught on some coral so Peter helped Gabe get the chain off the coral. It was quite an operation and we were very grateful. They had just come from the Marquesas with one shroud not working to keep up their mast. They had rigged some lines for support but really needed to get to Tahiti to pick up the part they needed. We took over some coffee and chocolate and they gave us the password to their Starlink. Suddenly we were really happy that they were anchored so close to us.
While we were trying to re-anchor, the windlass was having trouble pulling up the chain. Gabe and I took the windlass apart and cleaned debris from it. The anchor chain had sat for several months in Port Phaeton and it had a lot of rust that was flaking off into the windlass. That day we stopped by and met the folks on another nearby boat, Agape, who are from the U.S. but have been in the Tuamotus for a few years. We also met Greg and Robin on Salty Dancer, who are from Oregon.
On Monday, Gabe and I took the dinghy to the west pass to see if we could snorkel in it. It seemed a bit rough so we backtracked and snorkeled east of the pass. While doing so, Gabe got stung by a jelly fish and had a rather severe reaction, which fortunately subsided in a few hours. The winds picked up from the east in the afternoon and we had a windy night.
While we were anchored, I was slowly working on the stuffing box that is connected to the prop shaft. It was dripping a lot and I thought it might be why the bilge was filling with water more than it should. After putting some Gibbs penetrant on it and then later some vinegar, I got the nut to move and then tightened it a bit. While I was doing that, I realized that a part on the water pump had a crack in it and fresh water was spurting out and going into the bilge every time we used the water pump. I replaced that part, which slowed down water entering the bilge.
The next issue to address was that the wind generator was making a strange noise and was vibrating. Plus, the controller box was getting hot. We tied off the wind generator until we could troubleshoot the issue.
On Wednesday, Gabe and I took the dinghy back to the west pass but it was windy and rainy and we aborted the attempt to snorkel. We ran into Greg and Robin on Salty Dancer and invited them over for sundowners for that evening. In the afternoon, we tightened the hex bolts on the wind generator but didn’t fix the problem. I cracked the nose cone trying to put it back on. Fixing the crack with epoxy didn’t help so we were resigned to not using the wind generator until we could get new parts. That afternoon we took the dinghy to a different motu and explored. Then had a nice visit with Greg and Robin that evening.
By Thursday, the wind was out of the north in the mid-teens and the anchorage was uncomfortable. I started taking inventory of issues on the boat. With the wind generator out of commission, we had to run the motor each night to keep up with the refrigeration. Then the nozzle for the stern shower cracked. We tried to fix it without success so we started taking showers using a jug, which has worked pretty well. Then I noticed a slight drip out of the housing for the watermaker’s carbon filter, but I could not unscrew the housing, so the drip is just going to have to persist. I also noticed that the alternator belt started making a screeching sound. There was a lot of black just around the belt so we replaced it easily.
On Friday, we continued our repairs and tried cleaning the boat bottom, but the seas were just too rough to accomplish much and the day was otherwise uneventful.
With the wind and seas still rough, we took the dinghy on Saturday over to the east side of the middle pass and explored that motu, both on land and in the water. On the ocean side, the “land” was a large expanse of dead coral. On the lagoon side, we saw coconut palms and other vegetation. It was a bit of a challenge getting back to the boat in the dinghy as we fought standing waves across the pass. The unfavorable conditions kept us uncomfortably on the boat on Sunday. Finally on Monday the winds let up a bit. We pulled up anchor and headed down to the southeast corner of the atoll. The winds lightened up so much that we motored the whole way and ran the watermaker. We anchored before noon and floated our chain. We were the only boat there and enjoyed snorkeling near shore along a wall of vibrant coral.
It would have been nice to stay where we had successfully anchored, but we wanted to take advantage of a small weather window to go to a famous bird motu on the west side of the atoll. Other cruisers refer to it as the Number 7 anchorage because the reef looks like a 7 from the air. We got there and anchored in front of the motu and snorkeled from the boat to shore. We walked the perimeter of the motu to keep from disturbing the nesting birds. We saw lots of boobies nesting and some terns. We waded across a channel to another motu and met a Tuamotu Sandpiper that was quite friendly. It’s probably why its numbers are diminishing. I was sorry that we weren’t banned from those motus. The last thing those birds need is people hanging around. We snorkeled back to the boat and passed over a really rich coral habitat with lots of fish. Probably the first really good habitat we’d seen since arriving in Tahanea.
These and many of the photos here courtesy of Gabe Ares
That night was windy and choppy and not a good place to remain. So the next morning we pulled up anchor and returned to the southeast corner. When we arrived, there were several boats there and more showing up. It seemed to be a pack of family boats, headed by a large German catamaran called Moin. They shared all kinds of activities and even had their own dedicated radio channel. One night the kids all had a sleepover on the beach without the parents. They called it “Survivor Island.” We never found out how that went. The next night they had a bonfire on the beach and invited the non-kid boats. We went and enjoyed meeting several of their delegation.
While we were at the southeast anchorage, we walked around the motu in front of us. We got a bit lost in the bush and ended up circumnavigating the motu because we couldn’t find a way to cut through the jungle in the center. We also got the kayaks out and kayaked to the motu just to the east. On the way back we stopped by a boat that had just come in, Chip and Kristina on Second Set.
Exploring the motu in Tahanea
Back on the boat we discovered that one of the two feed pumps for the watermaker wasn’t working. Upon closer investigation, we discovered that it was leaking salt water into the bilge. We replaced it with the spare pump and it seems to have solved the problems with water in the bilge.
During this time, a big wave event was occurring in French Polynesia. The water was so high coming toward the atolls that huge waves were crashing on the reefs and several of the passes in the atolls were temporarily closed. The spray from the waves could be seen from miles away. Then, on Tuesday, May 2, we downloaded weather and saw that big winds might be coming from the southeast. It would mean that we might be confined to that anchorage for more than another week. Returning to our first anchorage wasn’t really an option because it would be uncomfortable. We really wanted to snorkel at least one of the passes, but it wouldn’t be feasible for the foreseeable future. Another option was to proceed to Fakarava. We had been without Internet for quite some time. If we were going to be pinned down by winds, at least we would have service in Fakarava.
We thought we might be able to snorkel one pass that day and then exit the pass in the evening and do an overnight sail to Fakarava. But when we got to the side of the atoll with the passes, it was clear that we weren’t going to be able to snorkel a pass. The winds were in the high teens, low twenties. We had to anchor somewhere so we could take the motor off the dinghy and secure it to the big boat. So, we anchored near the northwest pass long enough to do that. Then, instead of waiting for evening, we would exit the pass in the early afternoon and sail to the north Fakarava pass because we would get to the south pass too early. A very large National Geographic exploration ship went out of the pass at slack tide. We should have called them for a report but didn’t. Instead, we followed them out, about 45 minutes later, and had a very lively exit. We were motoring against large standing waves that were crashing over the top of us. The effects of the earlier wave event were still apparent. Once we got out, we had big seas for quite awhile as we headed toward Fakarava, and Gabe was out of seasickness meds.
Fakarava
We sailed with just the jib to the Fakarava north pass. The winds were inconsistent so sometimes we moved along quite well and other times we turned on the motor to help with speed and to charge the batteries that were being drained by the autopilot. We saw sunrise as we were approaching the north side of the atoll and entered the pass about 8:00 a.m., an hour and a half before slack. We were unsure if slack tide was going to come according to the tables anyway because of the unusual wave event. We had significant current against us and it felt like we were just sitting in the pass for an eternity as we made 1-2 knots progress into the atoll. Salty Dancer was just leaving the anchorage as we arrived so we said our goodbyes over the radio. We anchored in front of the town, Rotoava, spending the rest of the day on the Internet and recovering from the high waves during the sail. I ordered a lot of parts that my bother-in-law, Pat, can bring when he comes in June.
On Thursday, May 4, after a good night’s sleep (I stayed up all night on the passage), we got up early and put the dinghy in the water. We went to shore and disposed of our trash and our recycling. We talked to the guy at the fuel dock about hours and bought a couple of groceries. The supply boat had just come in but it didn’t bring any produce. We then headed over to Fakarava Yacht Services to drop off a butane tank for a refill, along with a couple of bags of laundry. Then we went to one more grocery store (for beer) and then headed over to the Havaiki Lodge for lunch – burgers. We then spent a windy afternoon on the boat.
Gabe enjoying coconut water before lunch at Havaiki Lodge
The next day we went to the pearl farm tour at the Havaiki Lodge, where Gabe bought an oyster with a pearl.
Lunch spot at the Havaiki LodgeDock at the Havaiki Lodge
Then we got 4 jerry cans filled with diesel and headed over to the Rotoava Grill for lunch. We met Kaitlin and Tommy from Southern Cross while at lunch. They are from Tennessee, which was fun for Gabe.
Looking out at the boats from our favorite lunch spot, the Rotoava Grill
On Saturday, May 6, we picked up our laundry and butane tank from Fakarava Yacht Services. We then went back to the boat, put the dinghy up, pulled up the anchor and headed halfway down the atoll to a deserted anchorage near a reef. We spent the night, snorkeled the next morning and then continued traveling to the south pass anchorage. We picked up an available mooring ball in the early afternoon and then snorkeled near the boat.
The south pass area of Fakarava is amazing. The water is crystal clear and there are large swaths of healthy coral on the lagoon side of the pass and in the pass. On Monday, we snorkeled on the lagoon side of the pass and then inside the pass itself before having lunch at the restaurant of a local dive hostel. In the afternoon, Gabe worked on cleaning Aldabra’s prop.
Crystal clear water at the south pass of Fakarava
In terms of issues, the Internet went down for a few days and we noticed that the fridge was having trouble getting cold. We transferred frozen food from the Engels to the freezer and put important cold food in the Engels.
On Tuesday, we snorkeled in the south pass in the morning and then headed over to the southeast Fakarava anchorage, Hirifa. We wanted to get there in anticipation of significant wind expected from the southeast. That night, as we sat on the boat, several giant manta rays would circle the boat upside down, then do a somersault. They stayed at the boat for a few hours while we watched.
Wednesday, May 10, started out calm. We took the dinghy over to say hello to Chip and Kristina on Second Set and then went ashore to explore. While we were ashore, a squall came up and we headed back to the boat. Over the course of the afternoon and night, the wind and rain kept building. At about 3:00 in the morning we both heard a big sound, as if the anchor had popped and hit coral. At first we just monitored the situation from the cockpit. The winds were between 40 and 60 knots and the lightning was exploding all around us. We noticed that we were near another boat and thought they had dragged their anchor. But in truth, we had dragged and we were dangerously close to them. We turned on the motor and used it to keep away from the other boat – Pura Vida. But every time we had a lull in the wind, Gabe would go up to the bow to first take the snubber off and then slowly pull up the chain. It took a while but he eventually got the anchor up. We then went outside of the anchorage and motored around in circles until dawn, about an hour and a half. Then we went back and re-anchored.
We had a quiet, uneventful Thursday. Then, on Friday morning, the wind shifted from southeast to northwest. Now we had waves building as we faced away from the shore. We didn’t realize that all the hobby horsing made the snubber come off the chain. As a result (because the windlass clutch had come loose), we had about 100-150 feet of chain pay out, and now we were too close to other boats once again. We didn’t know that the clutch was loose, all we knew was that the windlass wasn’t picking up the chain. So we were using a halyard and the snubber, alternately, to pull up the chain. Peter from Pura Vida came over to help. He drove the boat while I pulled up chain and Gabe was in the water directing us around coral hazards. We finally got enough chain up to stay in place. A short while later, Greg from Escape Velocity, who had watched us try to pull up the chain without the windlass, came over and asked if he could look at our windlass. He tightened the clutch and helped us replace the broken spring and everything worked! What a relief. My back was rather sore for a few days but I was so grateful that the windlass was operational.
On Sunday, we put the dinghy on the boat and headed back to Rotoava, motoring against medium winds all the way. Once we anchored, Chip and Kristina paid us a visit so we could compare notes on all that happened during the storm. (Lots of boats had issues that night and one went up on the reef.) Then, we made phone calls. It was Mother’s Day and my mother’s birthday.
The next day we put dock lines and fenders on the boat and headed over to the fuel dock to fill up with diesel and gasoline. Our anchor spot was taken while we were away so we picked up a mooring ball and then went to the Havaiki Lodge for lunch. We met Glenn and Oana from Cloudy Bay there and had a chat. When we returned, we got kicked off our mooring ball and then searched for a new place to anchor, which was becoming more difficult because the anchorage was filling up in anticipation of the supply boat’s arrival.
On Tuesday, Gabe and I rented bikes and rode to the north end of the atoll and then back south. We had lunch at the Havaiki Lodge again and saw Cloudy Bay along with another boat we had seen in Hirifa. We later met Katie and Bill on Flite Deck, a boat I had seen in San Diego.
Stopping during the bike ride, admiring all the pearl farm floats that decorate this small resortPause during bike ride
On Wednesday, we had lunch at the Rotoava Grill with Chip and Kristina and saw Katie and Bill there as well. Then on Thursday the supply boat came in. We thought we would go to the stores in the afternoon, after the shelves had been restocked. But we decided to go in early to see if they had any eggs, which are sourced locally. As soon as we got to one store, we learned that they were just about to bring out the produce. So we were there to start grabbing apples and oranges and potatoes. I left Gabe there and walked up to the store at the fuel station. There was a huge crowd of people waiting to get in, many who had been waiting at the door for three hours. I joined them and about an hour later the doors opened and there was a mad rush. Gabe was there by then as well and we managed to get some limes, onions, tomatoes, oranges and apples. We were not aggressive enough to get cucumbers. It was a crazy melee but we felt successful. We capped the morning off with another lunch at the Rotoava Grill.
Toau
On Friday, May 19, we pulled up anchor and exited the Fakarava north pass around 9:00 a.m. without incident. Outside the pass, we put up the main and the jib and made our way on a reach in rather light air. We arrived at the Otugi pass on Toau in the mid-afternoon. We turned left and followed Moin to the southeast anchorage, picking up one of five mooring balls. Second Set was there anchored. And Moin anchored over near Auryn, a friend of theirs.
It was a very quiet night except for the happy voices of children playing on shore. Toau is an inhabited island but with very few families living there. The next day, Gabe and I took the dinghy over to a nearby motu. We snorkeled and walked around the motu and met the family on Auryn.
We would have liked to stay longer at this anchorage. But in looking at the weather, we had only a brief window to go up to the north anchorage, referred to as the false pass. We had read that it had great snorkeling and a very nice family to visit. So on Sunday, we got up early and motored to the Otugi pass. It was a tiny bit challenging getting out, but we exited and motored up and around to the top of the atoll. The entrance was easy and we picked up a mooring ball. Moin was there and hailed us on the radio. We put the dinghy in the water and went ashore to meet a couple who owned the motu, Valentine and Gaston. It was Sunday, so their day of rest, but we arranged for Aldabra and Moin to have lunch there the next day. Then Gabe bought a couple of pearls from Valentine and we went back to the boat to go snorkeling.
Before lunch on Monday, Gabe and I took the dinghy deeper inside the little bay and snorkeled. Then we headed to shore. Valentine and Gaston are very nice people and we enjoyed getting to know them, along with the family from Moin. They had a very engaging cat that several of us played with. And perhaps there are fleas because of the pets. I came away with dozens of bites, from head to toe.
Mindful of weather, Gabe and I got up early on Tuesday morning and left the anchorage at 5:30 a.m. We motored clockwise around the atoll. Once we cleared Toau and were between Toau and Fakarava, we got enough wind to sail for a couple of hours. We were early to enter the Fakarava north pass so we just sailed slowly, until the waves were too much for the light wind. At that point we started motoring again, arriving early at the pass with no ill effects. We went back to the Rotoava anchorage and anchored, but weren’t happy with our position relative to coral heads.
The supply boat was in on Wednesday so we went into town for groceries, without the mad rush of the week before. On the way back, we stopped and met Don and Gloria from Windswept, a Monterey boat that I have been in email contact with for the last couple of years. Then we went back to the boat and re-anchored, taking a lot of care to get it right because it will be in the same spot for more than a week, as Gabe prepares to fly out and I wait for Pat and Bill to arrive.
Early on Thursday morning, both our refrigerator and freezer went off at the same time. Not wanting food to spoil, Gabe and I got to troubleshooting with a sense of urgency. We called my friend Chris in Santa Cruz for advice and spoke to him multiple times as we investigated the failure. Eventually we found a blown 15 amp fuse and when we replaced it, both units started up. But the fuse holder was hot and charred, so we thought we should replace it. In doing so, I messed up the new fuse holder and we didn’t have another spare. So we tried to splice in a different kind of fuse holder. Unfortunately, nothing we did after that produced a positive result. Thinking it might be the splice, we redid it twice. Finally, Bill from Flite Deck came over and determined that the issue was with the wire that connected the fuse holder we were trying to use. Because that couldn’t be used, he took the fuse holder that I messed up and rehabilitated it well enough that it could be used temporarily. He then reconnected all the wires we had removed in our troubleshooting. By now it was early evening but we ended the day with cocktails and dinner on Bill and Katie’s boat.
On Friday morning, we went to shore to see if any of the stores had fuse holders. They didn’t, so I ordered some from West Marine that Pat can bring with him. Then we had lunch at the Rotoava Grill with Bill and Katie before starting to put the boat back together. (For any project, like one that takes place in the battery compartment, I have to take several bins out of their normal storage locations and put them in the cockpit or somewhere in the salon. I then have to take out various bags of tools. When a project is underway, you can’t walk anywhere on the boat.)
We finished putting bins back in place on Saturday morning and said goodbye to Flite Deck as they headed to Toau. The rest of Saturday was spent reading on the boat. The expected wind had come up and the anchorage was rolly and uncomfortable. Plus, we seemed to have run out of Internet data. Saturday night was quite windy although it was dropping off by Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning, we went to church and the singing was lovely. Then we came back to the boat for a lazy day of reading and writing, after replacing one of the head pumps, which was leaking, perhaps with a crack.
Monday was a holiday, but we did go to the Havaiki Lodge to inquire about a boat tour to the other side of the lagoon. We also met Scott and Tammy on Animal Cracker and Chris on Lightspeed. He is from Santa Cruz. Tuesday, yesterday, is when the wind and rain started, so we have been confined to the boat except for lunches on shore. The only thing I accomplished was to fix the dinghy pump, which we use daily. One of the air chambers on the dinghy has a hole in it. I need to work on that when we can be without the dinghy for a couple of days.
Post script. Gabe and I had been trying to go on a tour of the “Green Lagoon” on Fakarava but they weren’t running them because of weather. Finally, on the morning Gabe was leaving, we got to go on the tour. The first stop was the Green Lagoon, which was on the northwest side of the atoll between the out reef and the main lagoon.
Looking from the motu at the Green Lagoon to the main lagoon on FakaravaStanding on the motu next to the Green Lagoon
It is so nice to meet local people and to meet the other cruisers. I have mentioned some of those we’ve met, but not all. And there are so many more in each anchorage that we see and don’t meet. But even with the folks that we do become acquainted with, we spend very little time getting to know each other before we go our separate ways. I hope to see some people somewhere down the line, but we’re all on our individual journeys with varying timelines, so many of the acquaintances will be sadly fleeting.
One boat that we met last year in Fatu Hiva showed up quite surprisingly in Fakarava. We have a special place in our hearts for Alex and Yvette on Blue Beryl. Alex and his dad are on their way from Hiva Oa to Tahiti to install a new mast and rigging, and it was great to spend a bit of time with them, especially on Alex’s birthday. This should be the last time we see Blue Beryl with this modified mast and rig, which has been just enough to get them from the Marquesas to Tahiti. We look forward to seeing them back in the Tuamotus soon!
After nice visits with family and friends from November through January, I returned to Tahiti with brother-in-law Pat on February 1 to get Aldabra ready for another sailing season. We stayed in a house on the Port Phaeton lagoon and kayaked to the boat each day to work. We started work very early in the morning and were usually done before noon, in time to shower before hanging out on the deck with small projects or reading. During Pat’s two-week stay, this is what got done:
Lots of laundry
Interior and exterior boat cleaning
Rebuild of 3 head pumps
Removal of tricolor light from the top of the mast
Shorten boom topping lift at a chafe point
Rewire a solar panel connector
Patch bottom of dinghy
Install new hatch above salon
Patch crack on cockpit table
Repair of two jibs by local sailmaker
Replacement of spring in windlass
Disassembly of windlass, inspection and re-greasing
Servicing of five winches
Remove and dry out the items stored in the most forward compartment
Replace foam in a few of the cockpit cushions
Turn seacocks
Install new light for compass
Install new braided ground strap for SSB radio
Remove, clean and replace bolts for the rudder
Remove filter housing for watermaker, replace with new filter
Unstick a variety of zippers
View from the Port Phaeton house to the lagoon
After Pat left, I completed a bunch of sewing projects. I made new straps for the cockpit cushions and fixed mosquito netting screens. I also cleaned and sorted. A week later, my mom and my sister arrived. They hauled me up the mast so I could install the new tricolor they brought. I also replaced a seal on one of the hatches. And we picked up the two repaired jibs and brought them out to the boat in the kayak. After a few days, we closed up the boat in preparation for leaving it for a few more weeks. We then moved houses and spent the rest of our stay touring around Tahiti. We flew back to California on March 8th.
Looking out at Moorea from our second house in TahitiMy mom and Wendy as we toured around TahitiWent to Moorea for the day, this is looking out at the Cook’s Bay Anchorage
After spending three weeks acquiring more boat parts and visiting with my family, I got on another flight. This one was bound for San Francisco, where I met up with my new crew, Gabe Ares, before heading back to Tahiti.
Upon arrival in Tahiti, we picked up a rental car and an Internet box and headed to Port Phaeton. Marc, our boat caretaker gave us a ride to Aldabra. We then put the dinghy in the water, put the motor on the dinghy and ferried our luggage from the car to the boat.
That began the long, hot, process of putting the boat back in sailing condition. We accomplished a little bit each day:
Prepared the cabins for sleeping by removing all the gear that belongs above deck – jerry cans, cockpit cushions, blocks and lines, sails, etc.
Turned the galley from a workshop into a food-prep area and restarted refrigeration
Unpickled the watermaker and filled the water tank
Got the boat bottom cleaned by a local man, Tanui
Installed the lines and blocks for the davits
Provisioned and stowed all the provisions
Organized
Tested systems
Refueled
Did final laundry
In the middle of all these chores, we took the boat from Port Phaeton to the anchorage near Marina Taina. We did two runs to the grocery store. For one run we each pushed a cart from the store to the marina dock. The anchoring situation there was dicey, so as soon as we could, we took the boat over to Moorea, which is where we are now. We’re waiting for a weather window to head to Tahanea in the Tuamotus, which may begin on Wednesday, April 12. Once we leave here, we will be out of cell-phone and Internet range for a number of weeks because the islands we are targeting are mostly uninhabited.
Gabe enjoying the waterfalls in TahitiLoaded up with bananas and ready to leave
Cyclone season in the South Pacific is from November to April. So my plan for this first season was to keep the boat in Tahiti. I had originally planned to keep the boat in Marina Papeete but the opportunity in Port Phaeton seemed worth trying. My sister Wendy and my brother-in-law Pat agreed to come back to Tahiti to help me with the decommissioning.
Wendy and Pat arrived in the early morning on Sunday, October 23. They took a taxi to Marina Taina and I picked them up at the dock. After they got settled on the boat, we returned to the marina for lunch (poisson cru) at La Casa Bianca. Later that evening we had sundowners on Rhapsody.
The next day was quite windy. We took the dinghy to the marina dock and walked to the Carrefour to buy a few provisions. Then we went back to the boat, pulled up anchor, and went to the nearby airport anchorage. The purpose of the move was to get a little closer to the Papeete pass to cut time off the trip to the boatyard, where we were to haul out for a couple of days. The anchorage was crowded and the conditions were rowdy, but we found a spot to fit in for one night. That night the wind howled. I didn’t turn on the instruments to measure the speed, but the wind generator was screaming so I knew it was probably well above 30 knots.
The next morning at the break of day it was still blowing over 20 knots but we picked up the anchor and started heading out of the Papeete pass and north toward the next pass. We were motoring against the wind but making decent headway. We went into the pass, turned right and started heading toward the Technimarine boatyard. They saw us as we arrived a half hour early and flagged us over to enter their slip in preparation for haulout.
The haulout and move into the yard went very well. The guys noticed spots under the keel and rudder that needed touchup. (We had touched bottom on the last trip to Moorea.) So while they focused on that, Pat and I worked on our initial purpose for the haulout, which was a broken thru-hull valve. We determined that the thru-hull itself did not need replacement so Pat removed the valve and replaced it with a new one. I went around to all the other valves and tested them, lubing the ones that needed it. I also cleaned the barnacles off the boat bottom, shaft and prop, greased the prop and put new zincs on the shaft and strut. Pat removed the speed/depth transducer, cleaned it up and replaced it. We removed the forward-scanning transducer, cleaned it up and left the blank in because we won’t need it until after cyclone season. We also took the windlass apart to inspect it, determinging that it has a broken spring that needs to be replaced. In the evenings we walked closer to downtown Papeete for restaurant meals before settling in for our boatyard slumber.
Wendy in the boatyardAldabra in the boatyardNancy in the boatyardEnjoying a restaurant meal
On Thursday, we splashed back into the water at 8:00 a.m. and headed out of the pass and over to Moorea, arriving in Cooks Bay before noon. The idea was to give Pat and Wendy a chance to explore Moorea before heading back over to Port Phaeton to decommission. But the weather didn’t invite a return crossing as soon as I had planned, so we tried to get work done while at anchor in Moorea. We did a nice hike in the rain at the park where the Belvedere lookout is, and we toured the island for a day in a rental car. We also walked around the east side of the bay a few times, stopping for lunch.
Anchored in Cooks BayAt the Belvedere LookoutRainy HikeLooking at Cooks Bay Through the RainDriving on the east side of Moorea with a view of Tahiti Lunch during our driving tour of Moorea, Poisson Cru
Otherwise, we did boat projects. We inspected the two jibs and put tape on the sacrificial cloth that covers the primary jib. (Both need to go in for repairs when I return.) Pat repaired a seam on the bottom of one of the kayaks. We removed everything from the most forward compartment in the bow, where some water had entered. We dried out the compartment and the gear before restowing it. We dried out the spinnaker, which had been stored on deck, and put it down below. Wendy polished all of the stainless steel railing. Pat worked on unclogging the aft shower sump, which had been draining too slowly. We hoisted the dinghy up on deck and cleaned the bottom. I mended the dinghy chaps.
After eight days in Moorea, we pulled up anchor on Friday morning, November 4. It wasn’t a good day to leave but I couldn’t see a better day in the forecast. The bay was calm, but once outside, we had 20+ knots of wind on the nose. We motored into the wind and seas, making less than 2 knots of headway. The first two or three hours were a slog but conditions did improve and we started to go a bit faster. We went into Papeete pass and then made our way down to the Taina anchorage, anchoring about 4:30 p.m.
The next morning, we left the anchorage at 6:00 a.m. and motored around the island to Port Phaeton. There was no wind and the seas were glassy until the last five miles. Then we got 20+ knots of wind on the nose and white-out rain as we made our way toward the pass and into the lagoon, picking up the mooring ball before noon.
Port Phaeton
The next day, Sunday, the real work began. Between rain squalls, we dried out the main and refolded it and dried out the jib, took it down, folded it and put it inside the boat. We took a lot of the hardware off the boat and covered anything we couldn’t remove. We washed the cockpit cushions, dried them out and put them down below, along with all the empty fuel jugs. Pat fixed a couple of hatch leaks.
On Monday, we took the bus on a two-hour trip to the airport and picked up a rental car. We then drove into the marine/industrial area to a marine store before heading back to Port Phaeton. Once there, we loaded up the car and headed a short distance away to do laundry. On Tuesday, I met with Marc Bordas who will be taking care of the boat during the next few months. Pat replaced the breaker for the bilge pump and then replaced the bilge pump itself. The next day, Wendy wiped down the interior walls with vinegar and I cleaned out the freezer/refrigerator boxes and threw out food. We cleaned the heads. We pickled the watermaker. We collapsed the bimini and zipped it into its cover. We tied a line around the main to keep it from catching air during high winds. In the past I’ve removed the dodger windows during hurricane season. This time, I left them intact, so we shall see what happens.
Finally on Thursday, we completed our packing, closed almost all the thru-hulls and put a variety of desiccants throughout the interior of the boat. They won’t keep moisture out of the boat but perhaps they’ll help prevent some of the mildew that will develop. I then discovered that the stern compartment with all the fishing gear was flooded, so we took all that gear out and tried to dry it and clean it up before putting it inside the boat. After shuttling Wendy and all our bags to shore to load the rental car, Pat and I returned to the boat, hoisted the dinghy motor onto the boat and then hoisted the dinghy onto the foredeck. We put its cover on and tied it down. With the boat completely closed up, we waited in the rain for Marc to pick us up in his dinghy. He shuttled us to shore and we left the boat in his care. He’ll open it up once a week when it’s not raining. And he’ll check the battery voltage and the bilge as well as the mooring lines.
Port Phaeton
After leaving the boat, Pat, Wendy and I drove to the Hilton Hotel near the airport and checked in with all the gear I was taking back with me. (I hate to leave my computers and electronics on the boat, so it all had to go to California.) We had a nice dinner and got to sleep in real beds. It was my first time sleeping off the boat in seven months. The next day we walked into town and back before taking some pool time.
Arriving at the hotelWendy and Pat in vacation mode
After another nice dinner and good sleep, we headed off in the early morning for the airport, turned in the rental car and boarded a plane. The plane made it part way to California before turning back for a medical emergency. We set off again five hours after our first departure, this time making it all the way to Los Angeles. I’ve never been through Immigration and Customs so fast in L.A. before, but it was a breeze. We then quickly got into a rental car and I slept all the way to Pat and Wendy’s house in Escondido.
So begins cyclone season. Monitoring the weather in Tahiti. Ordering boat parts. Visiting with family and friends. Squeezing in annual medical appointments. And planning the next season in French Polynesia.
