November 11th

Hello Everyone,
 
Well I realize it had been a while since I've written or updated the website. Things certainly have been busy, onboard and off.  Where to start...
 
I guess first off I should tell you that we abandon ship.

Yep, right now we are not on Kate, in fact Kate is no longer afloat.  It was a long and debated decision but we decided that we can sail no further this year.  And since cyclone season was approaching we had but one alternative; stop and find shelter. What we decided was to leave Kate in Fiji at the Vuda Point Marina. There they have what is referred to as a "graveyard berth". Essentially they dig a trench about the width of a sidewalk and as long as your boat and, with the aid of a travel lift, they raise you out of the water and chalk the boat up on tires so that the belly of the boat is resting along the edges of the trench with the keel shimmed up in the hole.  So, Kate is high and dry and safe for any impending weather.

 It was a busy 9 days of preparing to depart, we emptied and washed and cleaned every locker, hold and compartment with unlimited fresh water (what a treat!) including all their contents. After everything was dry and the lockers sprayed for bugs it was all packed away again. Then we had to empty all the food stores and wash all the clothes and sheets, wipe down the interior and again spray for bugs. The sails and all the canvass came down, all the running rigging removed, the mast wrapped in plastic, the anchor and chain dumped etc...We even took off the boom and laid it inside. Basically everything stripped and secured. All this while living/sleeping and sweating in the hot Fijian beginning of wet season.  But we did get a chance to run into some friends we haven`t seen since Panama and met some new lovely folks so it wasn’t all so bad. We ended up in a sweet hole, on higher ground and away from the trees, and we also employed a very nice Fijian man who is going to open the boat and do a general check up on things a couple times a week. He came highly recommended and it is piece of mind knowing that someone so kind and lovely is looking after our home while we are gone. The marina itself is very secure and friendly so we feel like we left her in good hands.  So what comes next?
 
 Well we thought since we were leaving the boat it would be a perfect opportunity to head to work, make a few bucks during the winter season so we can continue sailing.  The South Pacific is not much of a yachting center so we ponied up and flew to Fort Lauderdale, the hub of all boats big white and diesel guzzling, in hopes of find work. And we did. In fact I had an interview come tasting on the day we arrived in FLL, after 30 hours of travel, airport delays and almost no sleep for 40 hours. Thankfully we had accommodation booked and could go right to our apartment to sleep for a few hours before putting on the apron and picking up a knife. It went pretty well. Steve also found some day work so by the end of the week we had our bills paid and some prospective interviews under our belts.  After 9 days Steve got a phone call for an engineer’s position on a 37M. Things sounded good so he accepted the position. I was glad he found work but sad that it meant he would be flying back to Australia to meet the boat. Although it was the plan all along to seek separate positions, therefore doubling our chances of finding work (some people don't like hiring couples) I somehow thought we'd at least be in the same part of the world, let alone the same hemisphere. Suddenly the chances of us crossing paths just disappeared. Then I noticed an ad for a chef position that sounded like it was on the same vessel. And after a conversation with the Captain, Steve found out that indeed it was and two days later, at 7:30am I get a phone call and a job offer. One hitch, I am booked on the flight with Steve, and we find ourselves with two hours to pack up and get to the airport for another three flights back across the world. Yep we flew all the way to Florida to get a job on a boat in Australia!!!  This time there were no delays, we actually got some sleep and were not to worse for wear when we arrived in Cairns on Saturday afternoon to meet the boat. But, as they say, there is no rest for the wicked and an hour after arrival we were in uniform and at work.  With plans to depart on Monday morning Steve had a 5 hour hand over from the engineer and I had 36 hours to completely take stock and restock the boat. Thankfully we had a 24 hour delay and I was able to fill all four fridges and three freezers (Australian customs is pretty sticky about import meat and since they cleared in fairly recently the freezers were empty!) and find a few hours to cook a few meals for the passage.

So that’s where we are we are right now; underway to Indonesia. After that it sounds like we are heading to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. There is even talk to India!  The trip so far has been a dream, flat calm and sunny! Totally not what we experienced last time Steve and I were working on a boat in these waters some ten years ago. So not only have we finally caught up on some sleep, but I have been able to spend some time cleaning and arranging the galley to my liking and getting use to the new space. As for Steve, he's getting to know his new girl, with all her quirks and ticks.
 
So, you'll have to forgive me for not writing sooner, but as you can see we've been a little busy.  I bought a new laptop in the USA and have finally loaded all the necessary software to work on the website so photos and updates will be posted soon.   Love to hear what's been going on with you!!!
 
Love,
H&S

September 24th

BULA!! Hello!! From Suva, Fiji

  What a difference a day makes, ok three days at sea. We had a great passage last week, a fast downhill run that saw us cover 437nm in 72 hours.  On the second day Steve reeled in a nice big Mahi, 4 foot!!!  He was so long that when Steve was filleting him while it laid on the cockpit floor his tail was spilling into the cabin!!!  Guess you know what we’ve been eating these days? We arrived in front of the pass here in Suva just at day break, perfect timing to navigate the reefs and obstructions and try to identify/find the navigational beacons.  Contrary to everything that we heard check in was a snap, enough paperwork and carbon paper to bury a small child, but that’s exactly what we expected.  We are anchored out in the front of the Royal Suva Yacht Club, only a short 15 minute walk from downtown, and with a secure spot to leave the dingy. It is hard to believe that we are only a few hundred miles from our last port/country as things are so different here.
 
Suva Harbour itself is a typical industrial port; stacks of freight containers line the shores, derelict, rusty fishing vessels crowd the bay, the smell of burning fuel whaffs on the breeze as the buzz of labouring generators fills your ears, and the water is a lovely shade of cloudy slime green, with the occasional rainbow and running shoe floating by.  But is it surrounded by lush green hills and besides the industrial grit that dirties the buildings in this part of the city it is overall a very clean city, a big change from Tonga where every street, sidewalk and dirt path was littered with trash.  And what a city it is; shopping malls, traffic lights, speeding cars, coffee shops, brand names, a cinema and all the other trimmings of modernity. With a large Fijian/East Indian population (brought here as indentured labour by the British to work the sugar cane plantations a couple hundred years ago) the back streets are mazes of Sari shops and bazaars, tailors and curry restaurants.  On Saturday morning it was shoulder to shoulder, make way and Grandma can defend herself kinda crowds on the main streets-what a shock!!!
 
 There is a giant municipal food market here, with prices half of what we were paying in Tonga.  Can you believe it I even bought a bunch of fiddleheads the other day….FIDDLEHEADS here in Fiji!! Other than the best veggie collection we’ve seen yet you can find everything else you want or desire here: name brand or knockoff, quality or made in china and sold on the street corner.  Not only are goods cheap but services are also, at $5 Fijian a kilo to get laundry washed/dried/pressed and folded you can imagine the size of the bags I dropped off over the weekend. The Yacht Club offers free fresh water on the dock and all water in Fiji is potable and treated so we don’t have to run the water maker in this dirty water.  And, the icing on the cake is that showers ashore are free too, and they are HOT!!! I could count how many times on one hand since our water heater died in Panama City that we’ve had a hot shower. What a treat to stand under unlimited clean, hot water and not have to hold the shower nozzle above you head!
 
As most of you know the Rugby World Cup is on right now, and Fiji, like all the Pacific Islands, has rugby fever. The bar at the Yacht Club has been playing all the matches so we’ve even gotten a chance to watch some TV, unfortunately the Flying Fijians lost against Samoa on Sunday so the crowd was rather somber. But tonight is it Canada vs. Japan so I might put on my maple leaf and go support the home team. Combined with high speed wifi that is actually fast and the English language radio stations and update to news we are feeling like we are “back in touch” with the world.  But all this “civilization” has it price and after all air conditioned stores and contact with crowds we are both suffering with the start of a sinus cold. Sounds like it is time to go out island again and so we will be departing Suva tomorrow, heading to the west side of Viti Levu where we’ll find some small uninhabited islands and clean clear ocean again.  We will have internet again next week when we stop by Musket Cove Marina to check things out. Hope all is well with you; hear from you soon,
 
Love,
H&S
 

August 23rd

Vava’U-What a shock to the system!  Not only has the landscape totally changed; gone are the low lying islands with a myriad of shoals and reefs to watch for, replaced with tall green, lush, rolling hills with lots of protected anchorage to tuck into.  But the town is nothing like Steve remembers it from seven years ago. We came directly to Nieafu, the main town, to check in and restock and were greeted by a harbour full of boats, 50 at least, all on moorings!!  For those of you who’ve been here the Mermaid (a “must see” watering hole) burnt down and so many buildings have gone up. A popular place with the ex-pats it seems many have made their home here and each one has opened a café cum restaurant/bar.  Finding a beer isn’t hard, in fact you could bar hop down the water front in your dingy, but it also isn’t cheap. There is also Moorings/Sunsail Charter outfit here and the tourism industry is alive and well, with so many palangi (Tongan for white person) around the prices surely reflect what they are willing to pay.  And with so many boats around there is lots of radio traffic, lots of gossip and lots of activities to take part in.  We’ve seen a few familiar hulls around but haven’t found any new or old friends yet.  After our month in Ha’apai searching for the perfect spot to duck out of the weather and never seeming to find it we treated ourselves to a mooring and have been enjoying hours of uninterrupted sleep the last few nights.   Batteries charged, coffers stocked and the wind blowing we are going to try and get out of town and check out some of the surrounding anchorages later this week. The whales are still around and we’ve heard a couple secret spots where you can swim with them, so here’s hoping.  I have posted some photos from Ha’apai with more to come in the next few days. We have internet on board, YIPEE!, so give us the news from your corner of the world or send us a few picture of what you’re up to lately!  Hope all is well, hear from you soon,

Love,
H&
S

 

August 4th

Hello from Ha’apai!

Well, things have been anything but boring and predicable on board in the last few weeks.  It seems that the settled winter weather is taking it’s sweet time getting to Tonga, instead we’ve had wave after wave of low pressure coming over from New Zealand, those roaring forties are screaming now, giving us northly and westerly winds.  As a result we’ve been hopping around from island to island trying to find shelter from the predicted winds, only to find that the wind does not blow as predicted (who would have predicted that?!) and by this I mean it does 180 degrees opposite of three different sources predicted, leaving us not particularly protected at all.  We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights in the last two weeks, sitting informal anchor watches, but that’s ok because we’ve had mostly overcast and drizzly days.  On the upside, in all this moving about we’ve had some GREAT sailing, even with a reef tucked in we’ve been flying along at 7-8kts, and have seen more whales that you can count.  We sailed up to the Lafuka group last Saturday and are tucked into a beautiful bay with a long sandy beach, protected by a couple reefs with a view of the volcanoes 20 miles away and whales that jump and play regularly near by.  We slept and slept on Saturday night, flat and calm with no surprise coral beneath us to grind the anchor chain on.  When we woke up Sunday it was sunny and beautiful, making it seem like we are in a tropical paradise again, and despite not catching any fish on our explorations around the area we had a fire and cooked on the beach anyway, it was a lovely day, finally!!!  We have managed a couple snorkeling trips andI got a lovely Tonga fish/coral/shell book for my birthday so I can identify all the new things I have been seeing.  With almost no people around the reefs are in pristine condition but the water is a little chilly, might have to dig out a wet suit to scrub the hull this week.  The southerly winds are a bit cool (seasonal winds are east- southeast right now) which finds us looking for reasons to turn the oven on and warm up the boat a little in the evenings, and so Steve has been making some delicious ANZAC biscuits, yummy! 

We brought the dingy up to Pangai on Monday, the main town in Ha-apai, as the entrance to the harbour is riddle with coral and hazards and as it is only 4 miles from our lovely anchorage it was only an hour in the dingy, a chance to catch a fish.  Somehow we managed to find everything we were looking for; flour, rice, eggs, veggies AND beer.  What luck!!!  Since we found provisions we can take advantage of our nice weather and stay out in the islands a little while longer before heading to Vava’u at the end of the month.  We decided to make another trip up today taking advantage of the flat, calm weather and a chance for a few more vegetables. We will be out of touch for another few weeks but look forward to hearing from you soon,

Love,
H&S

June 22nd

Hello From Tonga!


We’ve done it! We’ve successfully modified our little boat into a time machine. Yes, right now, you are reading a message from the future! However, we’re still have a few problems with the space time continuum as time seems to pass faster inside the cabin than outside on deck, especially when you are the one off watch and trying to sleep down below. Although we have yet to sail over the 180th meridian, I am, of course, talking about crossing the international date line, which we did on the way to Tonga. We had all intentions of trying to erase Tuesday but the weather was good and we had to leave Niue so instead we lost a day on the weekend. Thank goodness we still got paid for that missing day, haha.

 We arrived in Nuku’Alofa, Tongatapu after a very nice passage, cleared in Monday and are anchored off a pretty little motu across from town that has a cheery bar and some great wreaks in the water-my shutter finger is itchy already! The winds have really eased up (we got in right in the nick of time) so the dingy ride across to town, about 1.3nm, this morning wasn’t too wet or rough.  There are a surprising number of boats here, 15 or so, and we’ve hear there is a BBQ at Big Momma’s (the cheery bar) on Friday, so no doubt we’ll get to know the neighbours.

The weather has been grey the last few days, reminding Steve of Victorian winters, except not quite so cold, although the last few nights on watch we’ve were bundled up, toques included!, against the chilly night air. And seeing as yesterday was the winter (summer) solstice the change in weather is quite suiting.

We don’t have internet at the anchorage, in fact we probably won’t have internet much at all in Tonga, except when we find a town, which there are only a few.  So we will let you know when we are about to head off from Nuku’ Alofa. Until then, if there is anything important we should know tell us now!

Until then, love to hear your news
Love,
H&S

P.S. The SPOT is working, so check out our “Where Are We Page” for our latest location.

June 9th

Hey Guys!!
 
Well, it has been a great couple days here in Niue, we love the place!  We were fortunate to arrive a few days after the monthly ship was in port so the shelves at the store are overflowing, not that we require much but free veggies, and they are rather expensive. We treated ourselves to a dinner ashore on Tuesday night, a somewhat traditional buffet and some dancing, we shared a lovely evening with a single hander from Estonia.  The boat is almost back to normal, just some sail repairs to finish up this morning then we are ready to go again.  It has been raining off and on here but in between the showers the sun lights up the lush green shore, which we are excited to explore a little further.  This weekend there is a show day at one of the villages on the eastern side of the island, sport competition, food, crafts etc... A definate "must do" on our list, I think we'll rent a car and make a day of it.  I am including my trip log-"Passage into the Dangerous Middle" hope you enjoy being on the ride with us! We have internet on board so fire away!
 
Love,
H&S
 
P.S. The "Dangerous Middle" is the name given to this general area of the Pacific ocean because of the weather patterns that plague it.

May 7th

We made it to Niue,it was a bit of a rough trip, the last two days we had near gale to gale force winds. Yesterday was a public holiday here so this morning we finished checking in, got some money at the bank and are now checking out "town".  Have a fwe things to send you but internet is not all figured out yet, might be able to get it onboard not sure.  Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are safe and sound in Niue. Hope all is well,
 
Love,
H&S

 

May 23

Hello Everyone,

Well, here we are, finally counting down our last few hours in FP-seems like we've been here a while....8 months now!  We have to hit the shop one last time, hoping there are some more veggies around and to return our beer bottles for the deposit then scrub the paddle wheel and prop, pull up the dingy and clean and deflat it so we can pack it away then we are ready to pull up anchor and head out. 

We decided this weekend to head directly to Niue. The atoll of Suvarrow is a marine park and offically closed until June 1st, it is also, sort of, in the wrong direction, and since diving is now prohibited and there are apparently tonnes of sharks (so much so that the Park Rangers insist on accompanying you snorkling with a spear gun to fend them off) and we've been to an atoll in the Cook's already, all signs point to get a move on and skip it.  Besides, this will give us some more time in Niue, the smallest self governed country on earth!  If all the reports are true the water is said to have 100ft of visability and is teaming with life, sounds alot like Coco's Island that we stopped at on the way to the Galapagos, and that was AMAZING!  We are looking at 1100nm or so, 8-10 days at sea depending on the winds, which have been a bit light recently, so lets cross our fingers.

I will be sending position reports to Thomas and have also activated our SPOT again, so hopefully within a few days that should be running and you can all follow us in real time on the website.  Speaking of which I posted some new photos and a new "Letter From Kate" Tahiti Ink... so check it out if you have time.

Sounds like we will have internet in Niue so I send an email through when we get ashore.  Hope you all have a good week and those at home in Canada a good May two four day off, don't forget to have a Keith's for us! Hear from you soon,

Love,
H&S

May 12th

The low clouds all but obscure the jagged line made between the mountain and the sky as the morning light slowly fills the horizon.  There is jumble of noise, a cacophony if ever I had to define one. The sounds fall over one another, tumble across the water and through the hatch above my head, crashing down upon me.  Dogs yelping, cocks crowing, the low rumble of heavy machinery, the drone of traffic, a flock of small birds perched in a tree somewhere singing together, the buzz of electricity, the whine of a motorcycle speeding down the highway and the occasional roar of a jet engine revving as another plane takes off from the airport just a few miles away. As I go about the cabin opening ports and propping up hatches more familiar sounds fill my ears; the surf breaking on the reef close by, wavelet lapping at the stern, an outboard zooming towards shore.  This is our last morning in Tahiti . We thought yesterday was our last morning in Tahiti which makes this one a little special and I am glad I am up to enjoy it.

This morning I am well rested and relaxed, we got all our work done yesterday (fueled, stowed the boat, made dinner for under way, did all the laundry our wallets said was possible in machines ashore( 800CFP a wash!!!) said goodbye to some friends ashore, paid our last outstanding bill and finished the last few boat projects) but decided at 3pm that it was too late to bother motoring the two hours up the channel and out the reef at Pape’ete; we’d be hoisting the sails at sunset. There was also some weather settling over Tahiti and the wind was dropping; why beat ourselves up for nothing, we don’t HAVE to leave or arrive on a certain date. So we came home from the last run to the grocery store and sat quietly in the cockpit watching the day end in another spectacular pink sunset over the island of Moorea just 12NM west of us.  A VHF report from our friends on “Full House”, who left earlier that afternoon and hadn’t yet made it to Moorea, was that they had 3-5kts of wind and were ghosting along with the spinnaker up. We were happy we decided to stay. 

We will depart this afternoon, hopefully sailing out of the Pape’ete pass by no later than 3pm, heading to Huahine just 100NM away. The trip should take us 14-16 hours, so we should pull in just in time for breakfast on Friday.  Huahine is our favorite island in the Society group, although we can’t quiet explain why, and so we want to stop for a few days to unwind before taking on the longer passages that will take up back to the Cook Islands then onto Nuie and Tonga. We are excited to be leaving, to be heading somewhere new; we’ve started to feel stagnant and aimless.  But at the same time we’ve had a lot of fun in French Polynesia over the past 8 months, and comfort comes with the familiar.  So we’ll enjoy a few more days of it, do the few last bits onboard that a calm quiet anchorage allows (send Steve up the mast and I’ll dive and clean the hull) then continue on to parts unknown, rejoining our adventure where we left of last year. 

I will send word when we plan to depart Huahine next week. Hope all is well with you, hear from you soon,

Love,

H&S

April 21th

What’s one more day…?

That seemed to be our mantra two weekends ago in Moorea.  I mean, who would want to leave a calm, beautiful anchorage right in front of a public beach park, especially when your next destination is the busy island of Tahiti?   Eventually, after five days of finding excuses not to, thank goodness for light winds!, we pulled up anchor. But even this seemed like an omen to stay as we had problem with the anchor winch and I had to crank 35M up manually (I thanked Steve once more for installing the windlass back in San Diego and then again when he resolved the problem while in Tahiti) We were finally out of the pass and had 12 knots on the nose and fairly flat seas. We threw up all the rag and made good time to Papeete.  Expecting Marina Taina and surrounding anchorage to be very busy as it is Puddle Jumper season (when people leave the America’s to sail the South Pacific as we did this time last year) we were surprised to find several mooring balls free, so we grabbed one.  Hot on our heels was our Aussie friends on their boat “Full House” who were returning for a few days to stock up before heading to the Tuamotu, what luck they were planning happy hour drinks at the Dingy Bar ashore, it was a hot day sailing!

But what we really came back here for is work so the next few days were spent walking around town getting prices and quotes and trying not to spend all our money in one day, easy to do in a place like this.  A few projects have been moved to the “One Day” list; the undersized kitchen sink will have to stay that way when replacing it is 200-300 dollars, somehow we managed for the last three years I am sure we’ll live without it!  But the BIG job, really the whole reason for returning to Tahiti, because we couldn’t get it done anywhere else, is finished.  After 5 trips up the mast for Steve he successfully installed a removable inner forestay and running back stays, he reinforced the deck and fitted the sail and most importantly did under budget!  So now all that’s left of our work here in Tahiti is buying some new line for the jib fuller and a few its and bits of hardware and fittings for a few small jobs left to complete.  But we won’t be staying here in the city to do them.  We decided to head back to Moorea for Easter long weekend and enjoy our quiet little anchorage, go fishing and swimming and have a BBQ on the beach; beats the rolly polly mooring field with 150 boats in it just off the channel and full of floating debris. We’ll have to come back to Tahiti to check out and finish provisioning but we’ve had enough for now. So one more run into town, a trip to the grocery store and a little cleaning up and we’ll be heading off tomorrow morning for a little R&R, or at least a little peace and quiet.

Love,

H&S

 

March 29th

Hello Everyone (yawn!)
 
Well we made it back to Moorea, sorry I didn't email you to let you know we were leaving Huahine but the internet went down and we'd already delayed our departure twice, once for lack of wind and the other because we love Huahine and were just being lazy not wanting to get ourselves collected and go. But go we finally did on Sunday morning and just spent 38 hours getting flogged, finally pulling in the pass and throwing the hook at four o.clock this morning (we've been to this anchorage twice and it is well lit and very calm). We were thinking to get farther, maybe the Tuamotus but it was a tooth rattler of a trip so we stopped in here (a planned ditch spot) and will regroup, rethink and reassess what is important to us, bashing ourselves and the boat senseless just to get to someplace we've alread been or enjoying our time left in French Polynesia without the headache, wet clothes, sleepless nights and a boat that looks lik e asnowglobe that's just been shaken up.  Can you tell I have had next to no sleep for the past two days?!?  Alright, well here we are, in a beautiful calm anchorage by ourselves, in front of a lovely public beach/park  perfect for bbq's as they have picnic tables and I happen to know where on shore I can find a spigot that has hot water free flowing out of it (as long as the person before hasn't used all the water heated by the 100M of black PVC hose laying in the grass), so it won't be such a bad day.  Internet is good so email away!!  Will update again soon,
 
Love,
H&S

March 11, 2011

All is OK onboard, no need to worry. We had ample warning for the tsunami and decided it best to up anchor and head to sea to wait out the possible wave. Thankfully we have nothing to report from our spot here in Huahine, Tahiti recorded a 40cm surge.  For a full account check out Tsunami, Tsunami. We are here in Fare, Huahine for the next couple days trying to decided what our next move will be, we will let you know when we figure it out ourselves!

Love,

H&S

 

March 2, 2011

Hi Everyone!!,

Hard to believe it March already, where does the time fly?  We’ve just spent another month in French Polynesia, this one legally, which is good as we were boarded this morning by the Gendarme (police) who were doing random checks. Yes, apparently the Gods do like us and we dodged another bullet.  Looks like we made a good decision on staying this far east for cyclone season, although it has been a busy one and a few have passed east of the date line, none have made any progress toward French Polynesia.  Our friends who held up in Vanuatu have not been so fortunate, thankfully no major harm done to their boat. Another month or so and we will be in the clear to start heading west at our choosing.  The winds are still strong out of the east, making our plans for heading NE still rather difficult. But, with hope and a little patience, we will wait out the weather and jump at the first signs of change, getting at least as far at the Tuamotus if not push for the Marquesas.  At the moment we are in Bora Bora, collecting ourselves after a busy month island hopping with our friend Kim. We have a few projects on the list and a few more on the wish list, so we might spend some time in Raiatea and Tahiti ticking things off and getting the boat ready for another season of sailing.  We have a few more days of good internet so I hope to get some photos up, for now I have included the latest (or maybe earliest) musing from my station here on Kate, hope you enjoy.  Love to hear the latest new from “home”, hope everyone is well!

Love,

H&S

 

8 February 2011

Hello Everyone!

We made it to Tahiti yesterday around lunch .  52 hours and 250nm to windward, just a hair over the 150nm straight line we plotted on the chart.  As Steve aptly put it, “We were truckin’ just not getting anywhere”.  But, besides it being a wet and bumpy ride with pleanty-o-wind we did not have much weather, that is to say we were not hit with squalls, rain and very gusty conditions.  We found a nice spot to throw the anchor back at Marina Taina, just south of Papeete . There are fewer boats here this time, so although the docks are busy and there are lots of boats on moorings the anchorage is not nearly as congested as when were here in Sept, we have no neighbours.  Our friend Kim arrives on Monday so we will spend the weekend cleaning up and getting the old girl ready for inspection.  Today is a trip to the BIG grocery store to stock up for the next few weeks while she is onboard, other then that, we are just catching up on some sleep and making sure the boat is secure at anchor.  I hope to post a few things this weekend as well.  Stay in touch,

 

Love,

H&S

 

Jan 21, 2011

Well, we made it to Bora Bora finally. The last of the Society Islands for us to visit, it has been pretty good so far, despite the rain.  We had a great sail over, got a chance to test our new boom end that we just got fabricated in Raiatea and enjoyed a sunny day- one of the few we’ve had for a while. Our first night here was spent at a poorly chosen anchorage; on paper it looked a little more protected and by the time we threw the pick it was too late in the afternoon to go motoring around the snaking channels and coral heads to try and find something a little more sheltered (navigation in these lagoons is sometimes best done with the sun over head so you can readily see colour changes as the depth increases/ decreases).  NO harm, just a rainy, blowing, bouncy night in the wind blown fetch that kept us up and checking out the ports.  The weather this weekend is looking windy so for safeties sake and rather than spend another few restless nights at a 25-30M anchorage we decided to bite the bullet and took a mooring at the Bora Bora Yacht Club for a few days.  Sometimes it is just worth paying a little for piece of mind.  We braved the impending rain and walked into town this morning, but didn’t manage to stay very dry. Thankfully it was wet enough to keep some of the cruise ship people at bay and we lucked out by finding a big bag of garden tomatoes in various states of ripeness among the stands littering the roadside.  It is our first tomatoes since we left French Polynesia in November, they almost look too beautiful to eat….almost.  Today was also haircut day onboard, I agreed to cut Steve’s hair if he cut mine. It turned out to be a very successful venture on both our parts, thank goodess!! I posted some new photos today, more to come soon.  I hope to have a little more writing done this weekend if we get stuck inside as well.  SO here we are in the “Pearl of the South Pacific” and settling in to what looks like a rather wet and windy weekend.  Not to worry, the yacht club has a fairly well stocked book exchange so we have a new pile of literary gems to get through, not to mention a couple magazines that are only a few months only AND in English, a rare find in these parts. However, the bar and restaurant have been closed since the cyclone last year did some damage…no romantic dinner ashore for us.  But since it is Friday night Steve is working on a loaf of bread and a pizza as I write this, so looking forward to a yummy dinner and a movie night on board. It also means we can turn on the oven and warm up the boat a little, sounds so strange seeing as we are in the South Pacific! 

Love,

H&S

Jan 5th, 2011

Holidays are over and we are back to business as usual. We sailed over to Raiatea on Monday, just a short 20NM hop, as we couldn’t get our propane tanks filled in Huahine and need to do a little work on the gooseneck at the yard here. Unfortunately the yard is closed until Jan 10th (too bad they didn’t post that on there website!) so we have a few days to kill.  Never ones to sit still for too long we have both been busy, I hauled out my sewing machine yesterday and did a few project including finally attaching the middle section of our bimini/dodger together, previously held together with a clever arrangement of clips and pins, fine until it blew more than 15 kts then they went flying and you were affreid of losing an eye!  So, now do we not only have shade but don’t have to put the board in every time it rains…and rains it does.  The holidays were a little rained out but the clouds parted and we saw a few stars above the mast for midnight on New Years Eve, yes we managed to stay up!!!!  But it is the rainy season now so daily squalls and down pours are the norm.  Take the sun when it comes and hope that you picked a good day to do laundry, so far so good. Not that we should complain, Queensland is underwater, and at least we live on a boat.  Looks like the wind is going to pick up for the next few days so we are heading across the lagoon to Tahaa for a little more shelter, this anchorage is prone to some bad fetch when the winds pick up. Things are pretty quiet here, seems this is holiday season for the locals, lots of families camped out on the motus (small islets that dot the reef surrounding the lagoon), and small boats putting around fully of people, so we might have lots of company in Tahaa, we’ll see.  Heading back here beginning of next week and will let you know when we have plans to head off to the Marquesas. Weather looks good, no major activity in the pacific, just a few stationary lows that are kicking up the winds, hopefully they blow through and we get a nice easy, breezey ride up north, here’s hoping!  Thanks for all the warm holiday emails, so nice to hear from everyone!

Love,
H&S

 

December 20th

Well, we made it to Huahine!!! We got in on Monday before dinner, found a nice spot to anchor, unpacked and inflated the dingy and headed to the store for a few necessities (bread and beer) before it closed, what luck!! 

The trip was good, considering it was a bash to windward.  We managed to add a few extra hundred miles onto our estimated distance by tacking back and forth while trying to make it eastward. We had everything from 35kt squalls to nice steady fair winds to no wind and drifting, and all pack into a matter of hours, of course.  So there was lots of sail adjustments, course corrections, winch cranking and strategizing to be done on watch and sleep to try catch up on down below while the boat crashed and banged into the sea.  Strangely I was seasick for the first 24 hours. I knew that things were going to be bumpy so I extended my usual pre-passage routine to 48 hours (no caffine, booze or unusual foods and a couple good nights sleep) just to give my body an extra boost, but I guess I left my sea legs in the quiet little lagoon in Penrhyn. Thankfully I always keep a spare set onboard and after a few hot bowls of plain rice and soya sauce, made with love by Steve, and some coma like sleep (funny how easily you can fall asleep when just the act of being awake is vomit inducing) I came around.  Steve actually did most of the cooking this time around, the boat was fairly heeled and bumping around and although I wasn’t throwing up anymore standing over a hot stove below deck didn’t really agree with me.  So, we had a hot dinner every night even though the pickings were slim in the old pantry.  6 weeks without provisioning put a good dent in our stores and we will re stock before we head north again and the prices start to climb.

 As for now we are just enjoying a few days off, well besides shopping for veggies!!  We are anchored at the main town of Fare for now but are heading south to Avea Bay later this week so we can have our Christmas day on a nice quite beach. We’ve decided to stay here for New Years but might come back to town and see what festivities are happening at the local sunset bar, we’ll see.  I have put up our little Christmas tree, strung a few lights up and bought some garland on sale yesterday so the boat is looking very festive! We have been gorging on holiday treats and just food in general knowing that the store is just a dingy ride away and very well stocked, boy am I missing those very forgiving wooly sweaters this time of year. There are lots of holiday specials on at the super market, including beer at 3500 CPF instead of 4500!!!  A nice surprise.  We have one last pork loin vacuum packed in the freezer (the last of our Panama meat) and a couple special bottles of red I splurged on at the duty free in Tahiti so we decided have a nice little feast on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas in Australia (they are on the other side of the dateline) and a beach BBQ on Christmas afternoon to celebrate with the Canadians.  Last year we had our friend Rick on his boat Evenstar moored next to us in Panama and had a lovely Christmas with him so this is first Christmas alone together.  Although we are missing family and friends we are both happy to enjoy a quiet holiday, just the two of us, and start a few family traditions of our own.

I will be spending a few hours trying to catch up today and tomorrow so I should have the site updated and some photos uploaded soon.  Hope everyone is well and look forward to hearing from you soon,

Love,
H&S

 

November 6th

It is another nice day here in Raiatea, although it has been sprinkling all morning there is also a little wind, good for sailing.  This last month has been a lot of fun exploring the laid back islands of Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea and Taaha, what a change from the busy Tahiti! We are just putting the final it’s and bits away and then it is time to up anchor and say good bye to French Polynesia for a while.  We are heading to Penrhyn, Cook Islands this morning, approximately 600nm NW of here. The Cook Islands are a country unto itself but it is a protectorate of New Zealand (they give them lots of money). The speak local dialects of Polynesian, which is closer to New Zealand Maori, but the main language is English, they are taught it in school.  So for the first time in almost two years we will be able communicate without hesitation, uncertainty or charades. It should be interesting.  Penrhyn is a fairly remote atoll, population 600 and the supply ship only visits once a month, so I don’t think we’ll have internet access for a while, then again where there are tourists, hotels and power there is often and internet connection.  But, I will be giving position reports to my brother Thomas who will be updating the website.  Hope to hear from you all soon,

Love,
H&S

 

Dec 9th,

We are leaving Penrhyn and heading back to French Polynesia on Monday, can't leave on a Sunday, it is a day of rest and worship. Our plan is to head to the Marquisas for the rest of the cyclone season, well out of harms way. However, from here it is a direct 1200NM eastward, a bash to windward and hardly a fun ride. So we have decided that we will break it up into three legs; first 600NM to the SE back to Raiatea to re-provision and rest for a few days. Then onto Rangiroa in the Tuamotus, 250NM to the NE, before the final leg to Nuku Hiva which will be 400NM to the NE. The trades have been blowing a steady 15-20kts out of the east for the last three weeks, although they are dipping down to 10-15kts with the seas flattening to 2M or so, which is typical for this time of year. This means that for all of our passages we will have the wind forward of beam and so too the sea, it might be a little bumpy. But, at least for the first leg to Raiatea, we should be on a port tack so will won't have to try and sleep on the floor. We have been getting daily weather charts via our high frequency radio receiver and computer software, which we will continue to do, and there are no major storms or tropical weather to worry about. When we are back in FP we will have internet access on a more regular basis. We are not sure where we will end up for Christmas, it will depend on how long it takes us to get to Raiatea and what the weather looks like after we provision. But our holiday wishes do include a nice calm anchorage, a small beach for a BBQ, a cooler full of beer, and somewhere to swim (we haven't been in water here at all as the lagoon is FULL of sharks, 10-15 swimming around the boat daily). We certainly do not want to be at sea! We will be sending position updates via our sat phone to my brother while underway and will email when we arrive at Raiatea. Hope this finds everyone well in the holiday spirit, only 13 days until CHIRSTMAS!!!

Love,

H&S

 

LA NINA and the Coming Cyclone Season-

Bob McDavit Weathergram Oct 24, 2010

First, a recap on our weather zones: The weather engine starts with energy from the sun. The warmest seas are near the equator and sun on them causes evaporation which rises to form the Intertropical convergence zone. Air rises as far as the tropopause and then travels pole-wards.  In the southern hemisphere a lot of this air sinks around
30S and returns along the surface as trade winds back to the equator---this is the Hadley cell.  The zone of sinking air is called the subtropical ridge. Further south are the westerly winds of the roaring 40s.  These weather zones move about, causing seasons.  By the time we get to the longest day, around 22 Dec, the subtropical ridge is usually "following the sun" southwards and gets to around 40S.  This is all part of the annual cycle.

The second strongest cycle for seasonal weather is the ENSO =El Nino Southern Oscillation (there are others). When the seas along the equatorial Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal, as the are now, we call it a La Nina episode.  The weather engine turns over more slowly. The peak upward motions in the Pacific occur over the Australian side rather than the Peru side.  This has the impact of, in the Southern Hemisphere, encouraging the weather zones to go further south than normal.  Already the "anticyclones of summer" are reaching northern NZ, and there are signs of an early start to the wet season in northern Australia.  This also tugs the South Pacific Convergence zone SPCZ to the south and west.

When we look at the sea surface temps, the Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) for Sep was -1.0 and when we look at the weather maps the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was +2.5.  Both these point to a La Nina that is already moderate to strong.  The sub-surface temps in the central Pacific are cool as well, so the consensus is that this La Nina will continue through the coming South Pacific Cyclone centre.

NIWA has been able to come up with 8 similar cyclone seasons: Nov 1970 to April 1971 or 70/71, also 71/72, 73/74,75/76, 88/89, 98/99, 99/00, and 07/08.  Using these years as a guide, the forecast for the Nov 2010 to April 2011 season is for 9 to 12 named storms (9 is average).  3 are forecast to reach at least category 3, and 1 is forecast to reach at least category 4 (average winds near centre of 64 knots or more).  The Coral Sea and surrounding places west of 180 have an elevated risk of Cyclone impact.

Although there appears to be a reduced risk for places east of 180, all communities should remain alert and prepared. In the 8 similar seasons chosen there have been some cyclone impact in southwest parts of French Polynesia and in the Southern Cooks.  During previous moderate to strong La Nina's, cyclones have been able to leave the tropics and cross the Tasman Sea onto southern NZ. 

Australian Bureau of Meteorology Summary: Tropical cyclone activity for the South Pacific is expected to be higher than average in the western region and lower than average in the eastern region.

The coming tropical cyclone season is likely to have a higher than average number of tropical cyclones in the Western region a lower than average number of tropical cyclones in the Eastern region. The confidence in this forecast is higher for the Western region than for the Eastern region.

 
South Pacific Seasonal Outlook for Tropical Cyclones:

For the Western region, the forecast chance that the total number of tropical cyclones will be higher than average is 79%. In terms of the total number of tropical cyclones for the coming season, the forecast range for the Western region is 7-8 tropical cyclones. This is 2-3 more than the long-term average value of 5 tropical cyclones.

For the Eastern region, the forecast chance that the total number of tropical cyclones will be higher than average is 33%. In terms of the total number of tropical cyclones for the coming season, the forecast range for the Eastern region is 5-6 tropical cyclones (1-2 less than the average value of 7 tropical cyclones). However, as the computer model used to produce this forecast has relatively low skill in the Eastern region, this prediction should be used with some caution.
This outlook covers the period from July 2010 to June 2011. Most tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere typically occur from November until April.

 


October 5th

We finally left Tahiti yesterday morning after spending a whole weekend sequestered on the boat and waiting out rain and +30 kt winds. We sailed to Moorea, just 15NM to the west but had a lovely beam reach with a “calm” 15-20 knots of breeze and mostly clear blue skies, atleast we didn’t get rained on!!!  We are happy to be out of the wind tunnel that was the Tahiti Yacht Club and away from the hustle and bustle of the BIG city, so are our wallets!!  We went for a stroll down the road late yesterday afternoon, checked out the “town” and enjoyed the sounds of birds, the smell of green mountains and counting the obligatory mange dogs.  We will be here, in Cook’s Bay, for a few days, possibly more, depending on how much we enjoy the calm waters, low winds and tranquil surrounds.  We will let you know when we move.  Hoping to go on a hike tomorrow and so will post some pictures soon.  But, until then I updated the photos page the other day in Tahiti.  Hope all is well, hear from you soon,

Love,
H&S

September 20th,

Hello Everyone,

Sorry to be a little slow on the updates but we’ve had some miserable weather and I have been suffering with a sinus cold for much of the last week, so laying pretty low.  Yesterday we moved the boat to the Tahiti Yacht Club, 4nm NE of Papeete, and picked up a mooring.  Our anchorage at the Taina Marina, 4nm W of Papeete, was much too crowded and very deep (20+ meters) and when we had a bit of a gale one night last week (sustained 35kts for a few hours with reports of 55kt gusts) and dragged a bit was a little worrisome. Not to mention when we noticed in the morning a boat that had ended up on its side on the reef, thankfully no one was hurt (as there was no one on board) and in a few days they righted it and it was again floating.  SO we are securely fasten to the bottom and enjoying the prospect of free HOT showers and cheep laundry ashore ($8 for wash only was a little steep!).  Our VISA runs out on the 28th so we have a busy week of running around and doing some restocking and small repairs.  Hopefully the weather will clear as last week we were boat bound for a few days due to rain, not that we can complain sometimes it is nice to be forced to sit and read for the afternoon.  Provision has been a snap, you can get everything here you want….as long as your pockets are deep enough.  But, Steve has been enjoying some well priced NZ lamb and I lucked into a stock of natural peanut butter, so we are both happy.  We will put in our order of duty free liquor before we go which means once again the “wine cellar” will be full and it won’t have broken the bank (shitty wine starts at 10-15 bucks here, and I hope you like it in a box), which is good news because I just opened the last bottle of red onboard from Panama.  AND when we checked in with the agent (used to avoid the “equivalent to an airfare home” bond that we both would have had to post in order to enter the country) he had 6 slabs of Panamanian beer dropped for us by our friends on a boat named Savannah who are a little ahead of us.  After we check out we will meander through the rest of the Society Islands on the way to Raratonga, Cook Islands. So we will have internet for a good while yet. All in all life to good, I am starting to shake my cold and this morning the sun is shinning and we are making power. Now it is time to put on the kettle and start the day. Hope all is well with everyone back “home”, love getting your emails.  We will write again before we depart Tahiti and get some more photos posted soon.

Love,

H&S


August 27th,

Hey Everyone,

After three FABULOUS weeks of sailing around the scarcely popluated Tuamotu Atolls we have arrived at the largest one, Rangiroa, which is a popular tourist destination and therefor has internet. I have spent a few hours updating and uplaoding (rather difficult after all this time to sit in front of a computer screen) and will be making a few more changes in the next few days.  All is well onboard, we've finally had the picture book weather everyone imagines the South Pacific to have these last few weeks and are glad to be soaking up the sun again, the Marquesas was so overcast!  The water is warm and full of fish, Steve landed a nice Mahi yesterday so it is fresh fish for dinner tonight.  Now to venture into "town" and find some beer!  Just wanted to let you all know things are good, hope all is well with you, more to come soon,

Love,

H&S


August 5th

Ka’oha


Well here we are on the morning of our departure from the Marquesas, heading south 600nm to the Tuamotu.  It hardly feels like we’ve been here for five weeks. In fact this island group is so vast and varied that we feel like we’ve missed many islands and anchorages and we could stay for five more weeks.  But the clock is ticking (we get only three months for all of French Polynesia and cyclone season does come eventually) so it is time to move on, say goodbye to the people we’ve met here and look forward to the next adventure.  Our weather window has opened a little, several boats have left in the last few days and the reports on the SSB nets are sounding good, the winds are fresh but the sea is laying down and as we expect both to be beam and aft of beam it should be a fairly comfortable ride.  And hopefully short, we are aiming for five days.  The Tuamotu are series of coral atolls that dot the sea half way between here and Tahiti.  Most of the atolls require taking the boat through a pass, or a break in the low lying coral wall, to enter the lagoon.  The waters are said to be incredibly clear, the fish plentiful (but mostly effected by ciguatera poisoning) and the surroundings picturesque.  Our first stop will be Kauehi, a small and quiet atoll with an easy pass and relatively good protection from all winds. Next to Fakarava, it will have some amenities and is said to be nice but is big enough to have cruise ships enter it, enough said. From there we plan to go to Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the world. If we have time we might stop at one or two smaller atolls before heading to Tahiti. Our last couple weeks here in Nuku Hiva have been rather busy and social, lots of boats around, so we are looking forward to our time at sea and hope to escape the crowds a bit with our first landfall. The Tuamotu atolls are not arable and sparsely inhabited so I have stocked and provisioned the boat here in Taiohae Bay. I managed to pry myself out of bed yesterday at 5am to head ashore and get some coveted fresh, green veggies, and the supply ship came last week so the shelves at the stores in town were brimming with new canned and dry goods.  With a few meals cooked and in the fridge and a case of beer onboard ($60 for 20X500ml bottles, plus 70 cents deposit on every bottle and 7 bucks for the plastic case, thankfully refundable!!!) we are ready to pull up anchor in a few hours and go sailing. We will be self sufficient for a few weeks and anything we find ashore will be a bonus.  I will be sending position reports to my brother so he can post the on the site, but it is summer back home so there my not be anything posted on the weekend.  We will email when we get to Fakarava.  It was nice to get some emails while we were here, we are slowly getting through the list and writing responses but the internet has been painfully slow. Hope all is well with everyone back home, hear from you soon,

Love,

H&S

 

29 June

Here is my latest update in "Log" format, a diary from our passage complete with our latest recipes, hope you enjoy!

21 Days at Sea- A Diary of a Pacific Crossing
 

 

5 June 2010

 

Well it is the day before departure, we´ve come to "town" for the last of our fresh veggies, which are slim pickings and a little less than fresh as the supply ship comes in tomorrow. We were able to find lots of under ripe tomatoes so we´ll have tomatoes for a few weeks and of course lots of bananas, passionfruit, plantains and carrots, it won´t be a bore at meal time I am sure. Yesterday was spent stowing and cooking, we are just about ready to go, if one can ever really be prepared to leave such a beautiful island.  Our month in the Galapagos was fabulous, I hope you´ve been enjoying the pictures I have been posting of our tours and adventures.  It is a long way to come but if every youhave the opportunity to do so then jump at it. The people are lovely, the food very good, the beer cheap and the surrounding breath taking.  I also recommend watching the BBC series about the Galapagos. It is of course a little glammed up and they were able to shoot on the islands no one is allowed to visit, but the animals and landscape well represented.  We are hoping to reach the Marquesas, 2970nm, in about 21 days.....we realistically know it could be more like 4 weeks and if it takes 5 weeks then we might just run out of br!!  We are looking forward to catching up with some people we´ve met here and in Panama and hopefully Steve´s Aussie mate Simon who bought a boat and is sailing from Vancouver, BC (and is rumoured to be bring me some Keiths, finger´s crossed).  We will be using our SPOT daily and probably using the track feature off and on but there is a black hole over French Polynesia where it will not work, we don´t know when it will drop out, if you don´t see an updated position it could just be this so please don´t worry. We will have the Iridium phone on and you can always text if  you are wondering how we are doing, or just to say hello, remember if is free to send and recieve.  We will try and update the site after we check into Hiva Oa and let you know we arrived, you can tell us who won the bet for days underway!  We are off to have our last meal on dry land for a while, then home to finish packing up the dingy and another few meals to cook before we sit and relax for our last few hours in Ecuador.  We will be in touch,

 

Love,

H&S

P.S. Here´s a couple of those penguins I keep talking about, they´ve been really active the last couple days, swimming and fishing around the boat all day, what a treat!

 

  1 June

We are currently in Isla Isabella, Galapagos where we´ve been exploring and enjoying the quiet island for the last two weeks. We´ve sharing anchorage on and off with four young Aussies on a cataman since Isla Coco´s and look forward to catching up with them again further down the tarck as they too are heading "home".  Preparations are underway to raise anchor and start our passsage to the Marquesas later this week, but it will be hard to leave, infact we´ve already decided to stay just a few more days!!  So far everything is going well, lots of fresh veggies and provisions ashore, especially the day after the supply ship arrives.  Yep, things maybe a little more expensive here but when you sit onthe beach and watch the boys unload a barge that has pulled up onto the sand with a full load, everything carried by hand no matter how big or small, you certain appreicate why a can of beans costs an extra 50 cents.  It is back breaking hard work and humbling to watch, we certain have it easy just being able to walk to the store and have everythhing you want on the shelf.  We have a few more little jobs before we leave (remark the anchor chain, repair the leak in the dingy etc..) but Steve has been busy checking over the rig and all the gear and I have repaired the frayed stitching in the headsail UV cover so we are looking good.  I will let you all know when we depart but we are look at Saturday, Thrusday is a little too soon and one should never leave port on a Friday!

 

Love,

H&S

 

May 15th

Hey Everyone!! 

  Well, we are about to depart Santa Cruz for our last island destination in the Galapagos, Isla Isabella where we hope to spent atleast a week, possibly two.  Isabella is less populated and one of the youngest islands out here, volcanos still rumble ashore!  We are looking forward to a nicer anchorage, this rolling around and watching the tour boats come and go daily here is Santa Cruz is getting old.  We are also really excited about getting back in the water and swimming with the Galapagos Penguins and Marine Iguanas.  Finished up the major provisioning here in town this morning and so will just need another round of fresh veggies when we depart for the Marquesas.  As there are tours and a few small hotels on Islabella we should have internet access, I hope to upload some more photos for you before we leave terra firma for a while.  We will keep you posted!

 

Love,

H&S

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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