French Polynesia

Cruising French Polynesia French Polynesia is a series of islands in the South Pacific. They are grouped into the Iles de Marquises, Archipel des Tuatomu, Iles de la Societe. We visited several islands and atolls in this area. It is Paradise. 4/13-14, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles de Marquises 08 54.910 S, 140 06.170 W, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles de Marquises, French Polynesia After a much deserved rest we gather ourselves together and look at the beautiful bay we are in. The landscape is lush and tropical, from the shoreline running up the steep hillsides. Taiohae is the administrative capital and the largest town in the Marquises. It lies in the open remains of a volcanic crater with the caldera walls surrounding the bay. There is a road along the waterfront with small 4x4 vehicles going back and forth. At one end is a hotel with about 18 bungalows overlooking the bay. We can see the cathedral peeking through the trees. Baie de Taiohae, looking towards hotel on opposite side Gilles and Marie offer to take us on a tour and show us around. We all pile in the dingy and head for the pier. A short walk up the street is the gendarmerie. We go in and check in. The gendarme is nice and helps us fill out the paperwork. After being Mexico for a while we got used to answering in Spanish. Now we have to switch to French. I catch myself responding si instead of oui! We need to post a bond but since the banks are closed we will have to wait until Monday and return to visit the gendarme. There are four grocery stores here. We stop by three to get an idea of what is available. After the passage, the fresh foods including the baguette look great. We all get a cold pop at one of the stores. We walk up to the cathedral and the square near it. There are two bell towers with an arch between them. We look through the arch back towards the bay and we can see Windarra lying at anchor. In a park on the shore is a paepae. It is a reconstruction of an ancient Marquesan ceremonial site. There are carvings of tikis on the stones forming an altar. By the way, the Marquisas is the last island to perform cannibalism. Adds a new meaning to the expression, "having your friends for dinner". The sun starts to go down so we go to Pierre's restaurant, La Kohivi, and sit on the veranda and wait for the restaurant to open. Later the restaurant opens and we enjoy a fabulous meal. You don't know how good a fresh lettuce salad can be after a 3-week passage. I have chevrette provencale (shrimp). Rich and Ronna have tuna. For dessert I share a coconut pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Pierre, the proprietor, brings over a large coconut with 6 shot glasses. He pours 120 proof rum that has been 'aged' in the coconut for 7 days. The liquor burns down our throats as we listen to Pierres' stories in French and a smattering of English. He is wearing a t-shirt that he got in New Orleans. In the background is playing Aretha Franklin's Respect on the stereo. Is this paradise or what? It is dark when we walk back to the dock and our dingies. Thank goodness for a little bit of foresight of turning the anchor lights on before we left. Ah, a good night's sleep. In the morning, Jesse gets up early and takes Ronna to shore for morning mass. He buys some fresh pasteries from the baker and brings them back for our breakfast. Yummm! 4/15-16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles de Marquises 08 54.910 S, 140 06.170 W, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Ilse de Marquises, French Polynesia Well we are getting adjusted to anchoring mode versus passage mode, but I still wake up at 5:45am to be ready for my 6am watch. Luckily I am able to get back to sleep! Yesterday we tried to get out bond through the Banque Socredo. We were not very successful using our Visa cards to pay for the bond. It is a story in itself that I might tell when it is done. Suffice it to say it now involves sending faxed and trying to wire money from the States to Hawaii and then to Tahiti. We checked our email and the status of our refrigeration motor delivery. It has gone from Seattle to LA to Sydney to Auckland and now is at Papeete. They need some sort of declaration so tomorrow we will go visit Rose Corser to fax some info to the DHL folks in Papeete. Rose is a former cruiser who settled here. She is half owner in the hotel with the bungalows that I mentioned in the last email. She also studies Marquisian art and runs a small museum with Marquisian artifacts. These include pieces used in ritual cannabalism, tikis, war clubs, harpoon hooks made of human bone as well as some carved masks. After visiting with Rose we went to the hotel bar and sat on the patio with a hot tub overlooking the bay. A beautiful setting for juice drinks with rum. The dingy ride back to the boat was a little damp getting through the surf that had built up. Crews of Windarra, Saperlipopette and Second Chance explore Nuku Hiva That evening we joined the gang from Saperlipopette for pizza in a small restaurant down the road. You sit on the patio near a large brick oven with a wood fire where they bake the pizza. It was more Italian style than what you are used to in the States. Thin crust, light on the sauce but great with mushrooms, ham, and other items. No they don't serve Hawaiian pizza. This morning we got up early to fill the fuel tanks. Rich and Jesse went to the fuel dock with half of the jerry jugs and fill them. Rich brings them back to the boat, gets the empty jugs and returns while Ronna, Sarah and I fill the tanks. It took 8.5 jugs (5 gallons each) to fill the forward tank and another 6.5 jugs to fill the aft tank. Rich also filled the jugs to store on the rail. It was a long process from 7am to 11am. We all have had enough of the smell of diesel to last us a while. After lunch we rested. Most businesses such as the bank and the stores close from noon to 2pm. In the afternoon we went in to town to work the bond, send a fax from the post office, visit the gendarme and visited the dept of agriculture to let them know we have a cat on board. Then we went to the grocery store to buy some croissant, canned ham and some brie for our dinner tonight. In the late afternoon we returned to the boat to relax. As we sat in the cockpit we watched the locals paddling around the bay in their outrigger canoes. They went around non-stop twice, a distance of about 5 miles. At the end they turned around our boat and headed back. What a way to keep in shape. Outrigger canoes passing by Windarra It's dark and I need to send this off. 4/18, Baie de Hakatea, Nuku Hiva, Iles de Marquises 08 56.645 S, 140 09.867 W, Baie de Hakatea, Nuku Hiva, Ilse de Marquises, French Polynesia also known as Daniel's bay On Wednesday Rich and I got up early and went to shore to buy some fresh pain au chocolat and baguette before the stores sold out. We sat by the park and had our pain au chocolat with some orange juice then we walked over to see Rose Corser by the hotel. We needed to sent some paperwork to Customs in Papeete so that they would release our refrigeration parts. On the way back to the grocery stores a local offered us a ride in his truck. I sat up front and Rich was in the back with his friend and a load of fish. The driver was very talkative and asked all sorts of questions about our trip. He told me that we should stock up on lemons since they are a good trading item for fish in the Tuamotus. Later that day Ronna and I did some laundry at the fresh water tap at the dock. We were there with bucket and soap washing and rinsing. While Ronna was checking her email and I was washing a fellow came by and asked if I spoke English. I was so surprised I almost answered in French. He was a cruiser from Australia. He and his wife were returning to Australia from Norway via the Panama canal. It took them 46 days to go from Costa Rica to Nuka Hiva and they do not have any refrigeration. Geez, our 23 days look a lot better than 46. She was not a happy camper. In the afternoon Rich, Jesse and Ronna went provisioning. Sarah worked on schoolwork and I did some chores. In the evening we went over to Second Chance for sundowners. The etiquette when someone invites you over to their boat for drinks is to bring your own drinks since most cruiser do not have much for themselves much less company. We brought our drinks and had a great visit. Sheri and John are from Arizona. They have two boys, Brenden and Trevor, 15 and 14 respectively. Their boat is a Hylas 44, complete with a game cube and playstation2. This morning we pulled up anchor and motored the short 5 miles to Baie de Hakatea. It is also known as Daniel's bay. It was also the recent site for the filming of a new episode of the Survivor show, due to air in the October-November time frame. If any of you are fans, we have the low-down on who won. What is it worth to you? Looking up river from Daniel’s orchard Daniel's bay is a picturesque spot. He moved here in 1982 and cleared land and planted all sorts of fruit trees - bananas, mangoes, breadfruit, pompamouse and coconuts. He lived on this section of the bay until 1988 when the cyclone came through and then he moved to the other section. The folks from the Survivor show moved he out of his location and built him a house near where he was previously and tore down his house since it was in the middle of where they wanted to shoot the show. He and his wife, Anntoinette seem very happy. They showed us some of the logs signed by the different cruisers who have visited him over the years. There have been boats from the US, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Croatia, Lithuania, Germany, Norway, and more. Many, many people have visited this couple in this little bay in the middle of the ocean. Daniel cutting some coconut to drink Tomorrow we will get up early and hike up to the waterfall, the third highest in the world. Not sure which ones are one and two but we will see number three. It just keeps getting better. 4/19-22, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles de Marquises 08 54.910 S, 140 06.170 W, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Ilse de Marquises, French Polynesia On Thursday morning we got up early and joined Team Saperlipopette for the trek up to the waterfall. We pass Daniel's house, then through the little village behind it and cross the river. There are mango trees as well as coconut palms. It becomes more lush as we trek on. After 2 hours we come close to the base of the waterfall. The trail is a little obscure, mainly marked by stacks of rocks. There is a large pool in the river so we decide to take a tip. The water is 'refreshing' but it feels good. The unfortunate part is the no-nos. They are vicious flying jaws that swarm and bite relentlessly. You have to quickly get into the water up to your neck to avoid becoming eaten. Ronna hiked up to see the waterfall but it was a no show, meaning no water! We dried off and hiked down to avoid the no-nos and had some lunch on the trail. It was a good adventure and a great stretch of our legs since passagemaking. The downside is we are all covered with no-no bites and we have tried every remedy under the sun to relieve the itching. Rich seems to be the least effected. The rest of us are suffering. Second Chance had come in while we were trekking. They brought with them our refrigeration parts. Hooray. Rich has gotten our refrigeration working again. You don't know how good cold water can taste. Cold beer too! On Saturday we returned 4/20 return to Taiohae. The no-no's drove us out. Jesse and I took some gifts over to Daniel before we left and he gave us some lemons and pamplemousse. Back at Taiohae Bay we found a few more boats had arrived in our absence. We went out for pizza with the folks from Saperlipopette, Second Chance, Cardinal Sin, Scheherazade and Onnetar. It was fun to catch up on everyone's passage. On Sunday morning Jesse and Ronna got up early to get pasteries. Pain au chocolat, brioche, mini quiches, eclairs, etc. Yummy!!! Ronna and I went to do some more laundry on the dock. One of the boats belonging to a local had sunk in the bay. There was diesal everywhere. We watched then try and raise it using empty oil drums. A lot of discussion by the onlookers on shore. Monday we went to the Banque de Socredo to get our bond. We had to have the money wired from our bank to the Bank of Hawaii into the account of Banque de Socredo in Papeete. The fax of the bond had not arrived in the morning so we had to come back in the afternoon. Every business is closed between noon and 2pm. So we walked to the different grocery stores getting provisions. Once we got the bond from the bank we went to the post office to purchase stamps to extent our visa for 3 months. Then we went back to the gendarmerie. He reviewed our bond, completed our paperwork, and stamped our passports. Very official! Tomorrow more provisioning. 4/23-24, Baie d’Hakahau, Ua Pou, Iles de Marquises 09 21.520 S, 140 02.910 W, Baie d'Hakahau, Ua Pou, Ilse de Marquises, French Polynesia Tuesday was more provisioning. We also went up to see Rose and purchase a few souvenirs. Rich and I got a carved bowl so that we can remember our trip here. In the evening we planned to take Ronna out for dinner since it was her last night with us. Before going we were invited to Alcynon, a classic wooden schooner out of Port Townsend to celebrate Bridget's birthday with cake and ice cream. Not ones to shirk dessert we decided to go there first. Alcynon is a gorgeous boat. Sugar and his wife Leslie and their two girls travel around the world on Alcynon and take guests on charter. Their crew includes a fellow Chris and Bridget, who is also the teacher for the girls. After the Marquises they will go on to the Tuamotus, Cook Islands, Hawaii and back to Port Townsend in time for the Wooden Boat Festival there in September. Their new guests were Bertram and Bobbie from Port Townsend. Bertram is a urologist as well as a musician who plays tango music in a sextet. They will go through the Tuamotus with Alcynon for a month before returning home. So if you are up at the Wooden Boat Festival, stop in and say hi to Alcynon. We left to go to dinner in town but changed our minds when we saw the surf at the dock. So Ronna had her last dinner with us on the boat. She will stay in Taiohae Wednesday night and on Thursday, take a plane from the other side of the island to Papeete. She has a few days there before returned to Seattle. We will miss her!!! This morning Rich and I went to the dock early to buy some tuna from the fishermen. We also got some fruit. We have become addicted to mangoes and pamplemousse. We made our last stops at the banque, the store and the fuel dock. After we bid Ronna safe passage home we pulled up anchor and headed to Ua Poa (Wa Po u) which is 25 nautical miles south of Nuku Hiva. We are following Cardinal Sin and Saperlipopette who left earlier in the morning. The winds were light as we sailed to weather towards our destination. It even drizzled a little. Then about 10 miles out the winds picked up to 13 knots and 5 hours later we were setting the hook in Baie d'Hakahau (ha ka how). It is a small bay and the town is the third largest in the Marquises. More exploring tomorrow. 4/27, Baie d’Hakahau, Ua Pou, Iles de Marquises 09 21.520 S, 140 02.910 W, Baie d'Hakahau, Ua Pou, Ilse de Marquises, French Polynesia Baie d'Hakahau is a cozy place. There is a gendarmerie, a post office, 2 magasins (stores with groceries and other items), a snack (small restaurant) and one other restaurant. The one magasin has a bakery attached so we order baguettes after 3 pm for pick up the next day. On Saturday you can order pasteries for pick up Sunday morning (apple turnovers, pain au chocolat, tarts, pain du coco (coconut bread) and more). The gendarme is laid back and friendly. Two nights ago we went to Mobisle for sundowners. They invited everyone in the anchorage, which was 8 boats at the time. Mobisle hails from Seattle also. It is a custom Perry 57. Nice boat, complete with 400 gals of water, 400 gals of fuel, icemaker, washer and dryer. Last night we had Second Chance and Saperlipopette over for sundowners. We will be traveling to the Tuamotus around the same time. We arranged radio check-ins for along the way. Today Rich and I went over to the dock to do laundry at the fresh water spigot. Saperlipopette came by to do some of their wash also. Some local kids came by to talk. We communicated using my fractured French. Rich gave a few of them rides on the dingy. In the afternoon, Jesse and Sarah were halyard jumping on Windarra with Lucy of Saperlipopette and Travis and Brendon of Second Chance. They had a great time. The anchorage is getting a little crowded. There are 14 boats here including one from Spain, Netherlands, Guernsey, and Canada. Hope a storm does not come through. We may drag 3 boats out with us if we had to weigh anchor! Tonight is a potluck on the beach. This social life is keeping us busy! The island is beautiful. Large basalt towers appear to be the only remaining artifacts of a once large volcano. It looks like the set of a King Kong movie, complete with a dock for the ship only missing Faye Raye. Approaching Baie d’Hakahau 4/29, Day 1, passage to Tuamotus 10 14.360 S, 140 13.250 W, 5:30 Zulu time This morning at 10:30am we pulled up anchor and headed out of Baie d'Hakahau on Ua Pou and headed for Raroia, Iles de Tuamotus. We are buddy boating with Saperlipopette and Second Chance. Second Chance left 2 hours after us, it took them a while to get their anchor up. Saperlipopette is spotting us more time and did not leave until 6pm. Can hardly wait for them to blow by us. On leaving the bay we motored east to clear the motus on the east side of the island. We were heading into the wind and the swells. Needless to say our can of butter that was upside down in a bowl of water to stay fresh went a little rampant during this time. I went down in the galley and found splotches of butter everywhere, the counter, the floor, the towel, the cabinet. It sure was fun to clean in the rocking seas. Yesterday we went to a Marquesan cookout sponsored by the rowing club to raise money to send their team to Tahiti to compete. There was bananas, breadfruit, octopus, shark, goat, chicken, yams, etc. It was nice to sample their food and support their efforts. I will sign off and send this. We were sailing at 7 knots but now the winds have died so we are motoring to find more wind. SV Windarra, Day 1 passage to Raroia, Iles de Tuamotus. 369 miles to go 4/30, Day 2, passage to Tuamotus 12 20.820 S, 12 20.820 W, 3:00 Zulu Another day. Around noon we saw Second Chance and Saperlipopette in the distance behind us. By 6pm, Saperlipopette was a beam of us about 4 miles away. Most of the time the wind has been from the East and we have been on a broad reach. Late this afternoon it switched to the southeast and now we are beating, doing a respectable 6-7 knots. Winds are about 13-15 knots. I am getting ready to chat with Second Chance and Saperlipopette on the radio. We will exchange position info and tide data. Not much to tell other than that. I did have some dolphins join us during my watch (9-midnight) last night. Kept me entertained for a while. And the sea goes on and on and on. SV Windarra, Day 2 passage to Raroia, Iles de Tuamotus. 369 miles to go 5/1, Day 3, passage to Tuamotus 15 05.320 S, 142 14.430 W, 8:13 zulu We are closing in on Raroia. Only 56 more miles to go. The winds have been 17-23 knots most of the day. We are doing about 6-7 knots SOG (speed over the ground). Our speed log is still not working. Something to fix when we get there. We have a first reef in the main and we are using the staysail. We would bring out the yankee when the winds lightened up. We hope to be there around 9am (Papeete time, 1/2 hour before the Marquises) to hit the tides and currents correctly so that we can get in through the passage. Today is Rich's birthday. We will wait until we get settled to bake his cake and celebrate. The seas were to confused and uncomfortable to do it today. Hope to be at anchor by noon. SV Windarra, Day 3 passage to Raroia, Iles de Tuamotus. 56 miles to go 5/2, Raroia, Iles des Tuamotus 16 02.350 S, 142 28.260 W, 2:32 utc zulu (4:32 pm Papeete time) It was Mr. Toad's wild ride last night. Winds were 17-25 knots. We were cruising at 6-7.5 knots, sometimes up to 8! We were under the staysail and the main with one reef only, no yankee. Unfortunately there was the occasional squall and Robert the Robertson autopilot would sometimes complain about the conditions. There would be an overcurrent alarm from the autopilot and then the man or woman in the loop had to take over to get the boat back on course. It was quite frequent last night! It takes a bit of arm strength to get the rudder to turn when we are racing along. We arrived at the waypoint around 9am. The atoll is a large ring of small islets covered with coconut palms and white sand beaches. We are right on time for the tide to go through the pass into the atoll! Second Chance went through first, followed by Saperlipopette and then Windarra. It was amazing that in 5 fathoms of water you could still see the bottom! We followed the entry makers to the village to anchor remembering that it is Red-Left-Returning outside of the US. We are anchored in 12 meters of water that is a beautiful turquoise color, really! The colors of the water are incredible. I thought it was only in pictures. Seeing it in real life makes it even more amazing. Windarra, Saperlipopette and Second Chance from dock, note color of water After anchoring and diving in for baths, some villagers came to visit. Their family owns a black pearl farm and they showed us some of the pearls. They are beautiful. We plan to visit their family tomorrow or the next day to talk about acquiring some. We chatted a little in French and English. Lucy and Alice helped with the conversation. We plan to be here for a few days. Relax, walk on the nice white sand beach, do some snorkeling, and do a few boat chores. Don't worry if you don't hear from us right away. Paradise Found! 5/5, Raroia, Iles des Tuamotus 16 02.350 S, 142 28.260 W, 3:20 utc zulu (5:20 pm Papeete time) Bonjour! On Friday we did a few boat chores, read and the kids did schoolwork. A small runabout came by with two guys, Felix and Ramone. Ramone is the brother of Alena and Danielle, the two sisters that came by on Thursday to show us some pearls from their family farm. Felix is Marquisan. They wanted to trade some ishi for rum. Ishi are pearls that are not perfect or round. They are odd shapes, ovals, spirals. We traded some tequila for some ishi. Ramone's brother, Gilles came by also. Gilles was with his girlfriend and their baby girl. He speaks some English. His girlfriend bakes bread using a oil drum over a wood fire. We traded a loaf of bread for a reggae cd. Gilles will catch us some parrotfish which we will purchase from him. Gilles and Marie came over and helped with the conversation. We learned that there are only 50 inhabitants on the atoll. They either farm pearls or copra (coconut meat). It was interesting to learn about them and this place that they live. In the evening everyone from Saperlipopette and Second Chance came over to celebrate Rich's birthday, a little belated. Jesse made a great chocolate cake. The boys played video games, the girls watched movies and the adults sat in the cockpit talking and having drinks. A fun time was had by all. Saturday, Rich and I worked on finding the leaks in the dingy. We found a large one and applied a patch. We will see if it cures the dingy tomorrow. In the afternoon we got a ride to the village with Saperlipopette and Second Chance. We went to Chez Gaston. This is the house of the family that we have been talking to about the pearls. We all purchased a few pearls and ishi. It was a good experience. Pearls, ishi and shells for sale Gaston’s daughters who we bought the pearls from We walked through the village and stopped at the little grocery store that serves the atoll. It consists of one small wall of shelves. We did by a box of oreo cookies! Later in the afternoon Gilles came by with the bread and the fish. Each loaf of bread is cylindrical, 8 inches high, 7 inches in radius. Big Bread. Sunday morning Rich and I did the laundry. We wash in salt water, rinse in salt, rinse in fresh. You should see the laundry hanging on the lifelines! In the afternoon we got the dingy ready and joined everyone for a hike to the blue lagoon for some snorkeling. The lagoon is surrounded by a white sand beach and we had it to ourselves. We saw damsel, angel fish, tetras, sea cucumbers as well as large clams, 10 inches across. Paradise Found! 5/7, Overnight to other end of Makemo 16 28.950 S, 142 58.180 W, 9:51 zulu (11:50pm, Papeete time) Iaorana (Polynesian for hello) We left Raroia at 2:30pm to exit the pass and sail overnight to Makemo, hopefully to arrive at slack tide to go through the pass there. The winds have been 10-14 from the East, swells 3-5 from the East. The winds are now under 9.5 and for this course, directly behind us. Now we are motoring, slowly so we don't get there too early. We had a great time at Raroia. We got to know Gilles and his girlfriend Lavaina and their daughter, also named Lavaina, who is 1 year old. Lavaina wrote down some words in Polynesian for me. She is from Maupiti and went to school there. They have a small school on Raroia for children under 10. After they turn 10 they go to boarding school in Makemo and come home on the holidays. Gilles, Lavaina and their daughter On Monday evening Saperlipopette had everyone over for potluck. Unfortunately I had to pass since my stomach was not feeling good but everyone else went. Sarah baked foccacia bread, a big hit. We plan to stay at Makemo for a while. It has a larger village than Raroia and we hope to do a little provisioning. There is an airstrip on Makemo and fairly regular air service. Nana (goodbye in Polynesian) SV Windarra, passage to Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus, French Polynesia 35 miles to go 5/8, Makemo, Iles des Tuamotus 16 37.650S, 143 34.420W, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus Iaorana, We arrived at the pass to Makemo around 6:30am local time. At 7am we talked with Saperlipopette and Second Chance and discussed going through the pass into the atoll. Slack tide was for 8:30am. For those of you who have cruised in the San Juan, Gulf islands or north of Desolation Sound, you can appreciate the term pass and the wisdom of going through at slack. Passes like Active or Porlier come to mind. We motored by the outside of the pass, checking out the navigation markers, the breakers, the rips, etc. Saperlipopette goes through at 8:20am. They radio back that they are at full throttle and proceeding at 2 knots only. We watch their mast rock back and forth and they squirt through. Second Chance proceeds next. We watch as their boat turns sideways and takes a boarding wave on the stern. John radios that they are at full throttle and his engine is starting to over heat. It seems to take forever before they are through. We begin to question the local interpretation of slack tide! We start our approach. There are numerous rips. On the port side are breakers, some slap the hull and send a cascade of water over the deck and into the cockpit. Rich turns the wheel strongly to keep the boat on track and to line us up with the range markers. The boat rocks from side to side. The engine protests and the rpms go up and down. The engine temperature is steady. We are proceeding at 2 knots or less. The current is at least 5 knots against us. Rich applies more throttle for the turbo to kick in. Suddenly silence, no engine! Jesse and I madly unfurl the yankee and the staysail so that we can maintain way. Sarah goes below to reset the key. Rich pushes the engine start button, nothing. John radios asking if we need help. Rich replies that we have a situation, no engine but we are trying to recover. He pushes the button again, the engine starts but it is hard to hear over the noise of the waves. We motor through, finally reading the end of the pass. The adrenaline is pumping! We follow the navigation markers around into the small bay by the village. We set our hook not to far from Saperlipopette and Second Chance. Now we can start to relax. The wheel will not come hard to port. Not sure why but glad it didn't happen a few minutes before! The sail cover goes on, the lines are cleared, and halyards are secured. Time to rest. We are safe at anchor. We are the only boats here! Nana 5/12, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus 16 37.650S, 143 34.420W, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus Iaorana, Happy Mother's Day! Sarah served me breakfast in bed this morning, pain au chocolat, fruit cocktail and orange juice. It was delicious. A nice treat for Mother's Day. We both called our mothers via the satellite phone and wished them well and reassured them that we are safe and sound. To bring you up to date on our activities: On Thursday, 5/9, it was pouring down rain. Like Seattle rain, gray overcast skies, continual rain. Rich had volunteered to help Gilles with his generator that quit working in Nuku Hiva. Gilles and Rich went through the diagnostics in the manual. They bleed the fuel line to get rid of any air bubbles and in the process sprayed some diesel around their immaculate generator compartment. Lo and behold when they reconnected the line the generator started right up. Rich explained that when you fix something in the US, you have to get things dirty, then they work. Not sure if Gilles believed him but they are very happy that their generator is running again. While Rich was at Saperlipopette, I was working on web pages. We hope to update the web site when we get to Tahiti. We will let you know. That night we had quite a thunderstorm go through. Thunder, lightning, rain, wind, you name it. We clocked the winds at 37 knots at one point. Now that we are getting farther south of the equator we are back in weather front country. Friday morning Rich and I went ashore to check out the village. We joined John and Sheri from Second Chance. They showed us to the bakery where we ordered baguette to pick up later. We went to the two magazins (groceries stores) and picked up some provisions including some fresh lettuce, flour and sugar to support Jesse's baking, frozen chicken wings, canned pop and even some pain au chocolat. We found out that the plane delivering mail arrives on Saturday and that mail is available on Monday morning after 7 am. In the afternoon I helped Rich fix the problem with the wheel not turning to port. The autopilots are attached to a separate quadrant on the rudder stock. This quadrant had slipped down for some reason (loose set screw) and was coming in contact with the steering framework, prohibiting it from making a full turn to port. From the confines of the lazarette Rich was able to reposition the quadrant and now the steering is just fine. He also changed the fuel filters on the thought that this might be the cause of the engine quitting at high rpms. In the afternoon Sarah joined the girls from Saperlipopette and Alcynon. Alcynon arrive Thursday morning. They had a great time trying to stand on a windsurfing board. That evening we went to dinner at the snack, a small restaurant in the village with the family on Second Chance. You make reservations in the morning and you make your menu selection at the same time. The choice was steak and fries or chow mein. We all went for the steak and fries and it was good. Not Black Angus but the best for the Tuamotus! Saturday was another day of rain. We did a few chores and read books. Sarah and Jesse worked on homework for a while. Alcynon is gone. A boat from England came in on Friday. Different World, a boat from the Puddle Jump just came in today. Tonight we will join Gilles and Marie and John and Sheri for sundowners. Now if the sun would only come out.... Nana 5/15, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus 16 37.650S, 143 34.420W, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus Iaorana, On Tuesday morning we decided to join Team Saperlipopette for a walkabout the village and a picnic lunch. We send the kids off to the bakery (boulangerie) to order some baguettes for us to pick up later. Main dock at Makemo, post office on left, pavilion on right We walked around the village near the pass we had entered a week before. It looked a little more docile now but not by much. We saw a few black tip reef sharks cruising the shoreline. Our first stop is to a place where they have started a pearl farm. Pearl farming is new to Makemo compared to Raroia. We watched as they clean the oysters to prepare them to be implanted. One fellow cuts the oysters off a string and then cleans the shells. Another fellow pries the shell open a little and puts a spacer in. The next fellow implants the seed and puts in a small bit of another oyster, then removes the spacer. They put the oyster in a small mesh bag and tie it to a line. Once several oysters are on the line the line is returned to the water and then taken out to the farm area. They will check the newly implanted oyster after one to two weeks to see if it has spit out the seed or not, it will be in the mesh bag. If they find the seed in the bag they will reseed the oyster and try again. The pearls develop over 1 to 2 years. It was quite an operation and everyone was busy. They change jobs every so often so they know all of the steps. It was interesting to see. Implanting yellow seed into oyster We continued our walk and passed the dormitories of the elementary school and middle school students. We passed the lighthouse we saw when approaching the island. The next visit was to the home of a fellow who carves sperm whale teeth. Two sperm whales have washed ashore on Makemo. One about 5 years ago, another less than 5 months ago. This fellow collects the teeth and the bones and carves them. Some of his carvings include turtles, dolphins, mahi-mahi, flying fish, and other sea life. They are beautiful and very unique. He is quite a craftsman. His wife takes oyster shells, grinds off the hard shell so that only the mother of pearl remains and makes small dishes with carvings on the inside. She also carves designs into the pearls. Beautiful work. Sample of Sperm Whale tooth carving We walked to the boulangerie and waited in the rain for the bread to come out of the oven. The smell is great. We walked on to the magazin for pate, brie, chips and soda for our lunch and walked to the pavilion near the dock to eat our repast since it was still pouring out. After a quick ice cream we went back to our respective boats for it was time for homework. Today Rich and I, Gilles and Marie, and Damien went in for pain au chocolat and to get fresh baguettes. We also stopped at the post office to see about getting some more francs for our pockets. There are no banks on Makemo, no ATM machines. No one takes travellers checks, or Visa cards nor American Express! Gilles and Marie will try to have money wired from a French bank since they will not accept wires from international banks. Hope they are successful! Remember to have lots of cash if you travel this way! Nana 5/19, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus 16 30.906S, 143 49.332W, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus Iaorana, Saturday was a busy day. In the morning we joined Gilles, Marie, Alice and Lucy on a visit to an acquaintance they made. Gerald's house is on the shore opposite where we were anchored. Together his family harvest copra from the family plot of land. Gerald explained how they gather the coconuts that have fallen to the ground and have started to turn brown. They use an axe to cleave the husk and the nut inside. The nut is left to dry in the sun for a week. They use a curved blade to scoop the meat out of the nut. This is put in burlap bags and weighed. They get a receipt at the weighing that they turn in for cash when the copra ship comes to take the bags. The coconut is an intimate part of the lives of people living on the atolls. Lucy, Sarah and Alice enjoying coconuts In the afternoon we had a ringside seat as Windarra was on the starting line for the outrigger canoe races. We found out that it is not easy to turn an outrigger canoe and the level of skill here is not as high as what we saw in Taiohae Bay in the Marquises. There was at least one collision and one canoe flipped over! However the excitement was high and everyone in the village was there cheering on the home teams. We had ordered a pendant the day before carved from a sperm whale tooth from the local artist. This was the second sperm whale carcas that had been beached in the last five years on the atoll and nothing goes to waste. We asked for a traditional carving style. On one side is a lizard and a dolphin with waves, on the other is coconut trees, a house, birds, a face surrounding a leaping dolphin. It is beautifully done and a piece that will remind us of this time and place. Gilles and Marie had a pendant done as a 16th birthday present for their son Damien. He is very proud of it. We went to shore in the evening for more activities with Saperlipopette. First there was a men's volleyball game between Makemo and Taenga. It was played in a lighted outside cement court near the pier and village center. This was big event and was well attended by the villagers. Some sit on the tailgates of their vehicles backed up to face the court. Some bring lawn chairs. We plop down on a coconut tree bench to watch. Some players are in bare feet. The crowd is into the game and the level of play was very good. We were a little confused at first since 4 hits per side is allowed. There were 4 line judges, 1 net judge on a scaffold and a referee. The line judges also chased off the numerous dogs that were in attendance. At one point there is a call that is challenged by the home team captain. A discussion ensues between the net judge (on the scaffold), the two team captains and the referee. A decision is made and everyone was sportsmanlike but the sentiments of the spectators is summed up by a dog peeing on the scaffold of the net judge. When the teams switch sides between games (best of 5), the spectators switch benches also. Midway it started to rain. The crowd and the teams gathered under a tree nearby to wait it out. The coaches were able to have some time to talk with their teams. It was tied to the last game and the home team pulled out a victory. The villagers were excited. The exiting traffic was like the end of a Seahawks game, no place to go, narrow streets, a mixture of cars, mopeds, bicycles, baby carriages and pedestrians but at least no cops trying to direct traffic. After the game there was a dance for the young people at the pavilion. Damien and Jesse were looking forward to this. During the game, they were both surrounded by young boys wanting to meet them and talk to them. Jesse got a chance to practice his French. The dance was fun for them. They played oldies but goodies like Cecelia by Simon and Garfunkle, some reggae by Bob Marley and the Wailers, some rap, some French bebop and of course the ever popular, "Who Let the Dogs Out", in English. Not sure if the crowd understood the words but they all got up to dance. Jesse got a chance to dance with some local girls. Sarah was asked to dance by a boy who looked high school age. It surprised her and her father! We got back to the boat around 11pm! This morning, Sunday, we pulled up anchor and motored our way to the west end of the atoll. We took turns on the bow watching for buoys of the pearl farms and for coral heads. Now we are in a quiet spot for the night. We will see what tomorrow brings. Nana 5/22, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus 16 28.320S, 143 58963W, Makemo, Iles de Tuamotus Iaorana, On Monday, Sarah and Rich went snorkeling at the reef near where we are anchored. They joined the gang from Saperlipopette. Tuesday we stayed on board and waited for the weather system to go through. Lots of rain and wind. This morning the skies cleared a little and it promised to be a nice day, at least nice enough to get closer to the pass. As we made our way through the coral heads the winds built and so did the seas. We finally found the pass and chose a place to drop the hook. Saperlipopette decided to transit the pass and start their way to Papeete. We were still towing the dingy and had to get it back on board, deflate it and lash it down before we are ready to head out. We talked to Saperlipopette and Second Chance on the SSB. Second Chance is now in Papeete. They had winds from the SE, no winds and winds from the N, NW on their way to Papeete. They are tired. Saperlipopette has winds from the SSE, 17-23 knots and are going along at 8 knots with just a jib. We will talk to Saperlipopette in the morning on the SSB and make our decision on heading out to Papeete. The passage should take about 3-4 days. We will keep you informed. Nana 5/23, Day 1, passage to Tahiti 16 35.790 S, 145 00.300 W, 5:58 zulu, passage to Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, We pulled up anchor at 8:45am this morning. With Jesse and I on the bow watching for coral heads we threaded our way through to the pass. It is like going through a minefield. The lighting was a little tough but we wanted to make it through the pass at 9:15 to catch it at slack. A couple of times we had to make fast course corrections to avoid the coral just under the surface. You look for patches of water that are either colored light green or brown. You can't just tell by looking down in the water since the visibility is so good you can see bottom when it is 60 feet deep! The pass was a non-event, which is great. It was easy to line up the markers and the water was relatively calm. After that we pulled out the staysail. Once we cleared the end of the atoll the seas got lumpy so the ride is not the best in the world. In the early afternoon we got a call on the VHF from a French maritime patrol airplane (we never saw it). They were looking for an airplane lost at see and asked if we saw anything. We hadn't. It could be tough to find in and among the atolls. Time to send this off. Nana, SV Windarra, passage to Papeete, Tahiti, Iles de Societies, French Polynesia, 270 miles to go 5/24, Day 2, passage to Tahiti 17 09.510 S,147 27.820 W, 5:46 zulu, passage to Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, This is a short note to say that we are still on our way. Today was pretty uneventful, another day of motorsailing. The seas are about 6-8 and very uncomfortable. Rich was lying in the cockpit and a big swell knocked the boat around and he fell onto the cockpit floor. A lot of cussing followed. Sarah, Mandu and Jesse anxiously watch for Tahiti We hope to be in tomorrow afternoon. We can hardly wait to get off of these seas and rest. Nana, SV Windarra, passage to Papeete, Tahiti, Iles de Societies, French Polynesia, 125 miles to go 5/25-26, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, At 5:15am, during his watch, Jesse saw the full moon set behind the peaks of Tahiti. The moon was a shade of yellow and had lit the sky all evening as we made our way. After many years of planning and dreaming we were finally arriving in Tahiti! We had about 60 miles to go! We arrived at Papeete at 2pm local time. Gilles and Marie called us on the VHF and led us to a place to settle in. At 2:30 pm we were attached to a mooring buoy at the Tahiti Yacht Club! On one side is a reef and then the Pacific Ocean beyond and the other side is coconut trees which give way to pine trees as the island rises up to the clouds. Windarra at the Tahiti Yacht Club After a passage of 54 hours, motorsailing most of the way, we can rest and enjoy. We put on the sail cover, straightened the lines, got the dingy inflated and into the water and take much needed showers! We hopped into the dingy and went to shore. Gilles and Marie showed us around the yacht club. There are showers, a laundry, 2 snacks, a fuel dock and a beautiful club house. We met Michel, who is the manager of the club. This place is great! We joined the Concordels (Team Saperlipopette) and walked up to the Continent Arue. It is a magasin, or a grocery store that also has clothing, TVs, books, auto parts, etc. The grocery section is amazing after being in the small places in the Marquises and Tuamotus. According to Gilles and Marie is is like a typical magasin that you would find in France. The cheese counter, the pates, chocolates (more than 20 kinds of dark chocolate)! We walked around wanting to buy a lot of stuff. It is dangerous for us to go into a store like that after more than 2 days on passage! We did walk out with a package of pain au chocolat and some dark chocolate. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot at the Continent Arue. Of course, 3 small rolls of paper towels cost $7.50 US! We tried to go out to eat at one of the two Chinese restaurants near by but they were full for Mother's Day. In France, Mother's Day is not the same Sunday as in the US. So we went to eat at a snack trailer. They take a large van, convert the back of it into a portable kitchen and park along the road, put out some plastic tables and chairs and provide meals. The Concordels had pizza and we all had hamburgers and fries! They were the best! We watched the cars zooming along the road that leads to downtown Papeete. Apparently they have a rush hour here. Hard to believe. Today we cleaned up a bit. I did some laundry and Rich walked to the Continent to buy a few things. Jesse and Sarah worked on school work. We found out about the plane they were looking for. It was carrying some officials from Papeete and the mayors of Arue on Tahiti and Taiohae on Nuku Hiva. They were on their way to do some campaigning on Makemo when the plane radioed that they were going to make an emergency landing on Katiu. No sign of the plane yet. Tomorrow we will go into Papeete proper, check in with officialdom and explore the town. I think we will be here for a while. Nana 5/31, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, Lest you think that we came to Paradise to just sit around and drink Hinano beer or French wine, we have been busy. On Monday we did the check-in thing. It was a pretty simple task going from Immigration to Customs to the Port Captain, especially since they are all next door to each other. They had our paperwork from when we checked in at Nuku Hiva. The best part was no fee. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe on the main street across from the Quay. And yes, we had some French wine. On Tuesday, Rich and Gilles went on some boat errands. I did laundry. It was nice being able to use a washer and dryer with fresh water. It is those simple things that make life good. Wednesday, Rich and Gilles took the propane tanks to be filled. Marie, the kids and I took the Le Truck, or local bus, to downtown to the market. On the first floor they have fruit and vegetable stands and the fish market. Upstairs they sell pareos and handicrafts such as carved bowls, items made out of shells, etc. I bought a pareo. It is a large piece of material that you use to make outfits by tying in various ways around your body. Sarah got a crop top and a wrap around skirt to match. We had lunch in the market from the various stands that sell food from pizza to panini to hum bow. Thursday, Rich, Jesse and Sarah went diving with Saperlipopette. My stomach was acting up so I passed. They went out in the bay not too far from where we are moored. There is a giant coral head that goes down about 120 feet. They went to about 40 feet. The visibility was 96 feet, considered below average, but they had a great time anyway. The colors of coral and fish were impressive. This morning we had a visit from a veterinarian to check Katmandu. She checked his chip, gave him a shot for local parasites and dusted him for lice. Mandu was much affronted by the de lousing and hissed a retort. We talked to the vet about the process of taking Mandu to New Zealand. We will need to have another vet visit the boat to check his titration of rabies and give him a booster shot. It is great that the vets make boat visits. Rich also fixed the steering/autopilot quadrant today. We repaired it in Makemo but it had come lose again, just as we had entered the harbor here at Papeete. Hopefully this repair will be more permanent. This afternoon we went downtown and updated the website. You can now read our position updates from Puerto Vallarta to Tenacatita and back, Puerto Vallarta to Nuku Hiva, and around French Polynesia to Tahiti. We have added photos with the updates and to the Photo Gallery. Enjoy (www.svwindarra.com) Right now Jesse is heating some pizza and Sarah is making a salad for dinner. We are trying to decide which DVD to watch with dinner. We are practicing our French and enjoying pain au chocolat for breakfast. The yacht club is great and we can stay here to the middle of the June. At night we had watched the local Polynesian dance group practicing for the upcoming competitions. We can hear the drums back at the boat. The music is intoxicating. Will we be able to leave this place? Nana 6/4, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, On Saturday, Jesse and Sarah joined Damien, Lucy and Alice for Hobie Cat sailing lessons here at the yacht club. Jesse and Damien were on a Hobie 15, Sarah, Lucy and Alice were on a Hobie Dragoon, which is about 13.5 ft long. They learned the particulars of the Hobie Cats, including the trapeze and then took off. They had a great time zipping around as there was a nice breeze in the bay. Two of the instructors here at the yacht club won the Hobie 16 Worlds two years ago. Sarah with Lucy and Alice on Hobie Cat Sunday was laundry day and lunch at the yacht club. We had a most hedonistic adventure Monday and Tuesday. The two families joined for two days of fun. We hired a driver and a four wheel drive vehicle, a Land Rover Defender, to take us into the heart of Tahiti, the Papeno'o Valley. The valley is located on the slopes of the Tahiti Nui volcano which is a round crater with a diameter of 8 km. We drove through the lush valley higher and higher on a road that can only be traversed by four wheel drive. Sometimes we are up to the hubs forging the rivers. The waterfalls are spectacular. We left the yacht club at 9am but by noon we have arrived at the Relais de La Maroto. View from Inn In the middle of this valley at about 5000 feet is a beautiful Inn called Relais de La Maroto. We had booked 4 rooms so that we could relax and spend the night. Relaxing started with lunch on the terrace looking down the valley. We had a small salad with vinaigrette, rice, chicken in a curry sauce and green beans. Dessert was either Mousse au Chocolat or ice cream - chocolat, coconut, Tahitian vanilla or coffee. After lunch we went to our rooms to rest, nap, read or whatever. At 5:00pm after a shower we met in the lounge area and had aperitifs. We watched the valley slowly darken as the sun went down. Dani, our hostess, is an ex-cruiser from France. She and her husband and three children left France 30 years ago and cruised to French Polynesia and beyond. Now she is running the inn until August when she will return to France to join her husband there. She talked to us about cruising, the islands and the inn. The inn is also famous for it's wine cellar. It has hosted many wine tasting affairs. Unfortunately the present owner has not been replenishing the cellar like it has been in the past and it is down to only 2000 bottles. Since we were the only folks staying at the inn overnight we had the dining room to ourselves for dinner. It started with a small salad with vinaigrette with a cooked banana rapped in ham covered with a cream sauce that included tarragon, curry and mustard. The main course was Beef Burgundy with Potatoes au Gratin. We had French Burgundy from the wine cellar to accompany the meal. Dessert was a Norwegian omelette, this is lady fingers topped with vanilla ice cream and meringue. It is topped with rum and served flambe. Our tummies full, our minds relaxed we all turned in and fell asleep quickly with the chirping of the lizards in the background. Morning came a little too soon at 7am. At 8am we all met on the veranda for breakfast as the mist slowly rose up the valley. Mixed fruit, baguettes, fresh orange juice, coffee and of course pain au chocolat were enjoyed by all. Our driver, Matahi, was ready at 9am to take us through the rest of the valley and through the tunnel to the southwest side of the island. I am glad he was driving. Many times we bounced over large boulders, across rutted roadbed and forging small streams. Sometimes it was as if the vehicle was climbing a ladder it seemed so steep either up or down! Lake on the other side We arrived at the southwest coast and drove along the coastline. At a nice, white sand beach we had our lunch of baguette sandwiches that Dani had packed for us with fresh bananas and pears for dessert. We drove around the island on the west side, back towards Papeete and Arue. There was a quick stop to get some ice cream cones. We returned to Arue and the yacht club around 5pm. Mandu was anxiously waiting for us, glad we had returned. If you get a chance to visit this paradise, don't forget to go to Relais de La Maroto in the Papeno'o Valley. It is a hedonist adventure. BTW, the place may be for sale, if any of you are thinking of making a career change. Nana 6/6, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, Wednesday was not the best of days for Mandu. We had Jerome, the vet from the local clinic, come out to Windarra. In order for Mandu to enter New Zealand, we have to show that he has been vaccinated for rabies and that he has sufficient antibodies such that he will not contract the disease nor spread it. Once we have shown this, he only has to spend one month in quarantine, versus six. Rich picked up Jerome at the dock and brought him to Windarra. Mandu was suspicious from the start. Jerome tried to check Mandu's identification chip. This is a small electronic chip that we had implanted before we left Seattle. This way they can get a positive identification. Unfortunately, the version of the chip that Mandu has is not an international standard, only good in the US and Mexico. To check the chip, the vet waves a wand like device over Mandu's shoulders and around his neck. The next step was to shave the underside of Mandu's neck so that the vet can get a good blood sample. Since the vet's shaver runs only on 220, we used Rich's shaver. Mandu is getting real suspicious at this point. This is not to his liking. The next step is to take the blood sample. Now most people don't like this since it means sitting very still while someone pokes you in the arm with a large needle and draws blood into a syringe. Mandu definitely was not going to sit still for this, especially since it was from his neck. I held Mandu against my left side, and tried to hold his head still. Nope, Mandu decided that trying to wiggle free was the best course of action. Next we got a towel and tried to swaddle the cat as best we could and try again. This time I held the cat, Rich held his head and Jerome tried to take the sample. Mandu decided that three on one was not good odds so that hissing and scratching was added to wiggling. After applying some scratches to my arm and side, I was ready to give in. Jerome said that he had some anesthesia that he could give Mandu to make him more relaxed and amiable. So Jerome gave Mandu a quick injection and Rich held onto Mandu to keep him from departing the scene. Slowly Rich could feel Mandu's muscles relax. Pretty soon Mandu was one zoomed out feline, his eyes dilated and his body limp as a noodle. Jerome took the blood sample, gave a rabies booster shot and injected another chip into the shoulder. Now Mandu is dual standard and his new chip can be scanned in New Zealand, Europe, etc. Mandu was in kitty la-la land. We carefully put him in his bed and took him down below to sleep it off in safety. Rich took Jerome back to the dock. A few hours later Mandu stumbled out of his bed and onto the floor by the forward staterooms. He looked like a furry grey/black slug. In a little while he could twitch his tail, the rest of his body inert. An hour or so later he rolled over. Two hours later he half dragged himself to the carpet in the main salon. We removed his food and water dishes so that he would not choke or drown. Later he would sit up, look around dazed and lie back down. At dinner he tried to jump onto the settee, the front half made it but he needed an assist from Jesse to get the trailing half up also. He lied down at my usual spot for meals. I tried to move him but got a moan for a reply. I got the message and chose another spot to sit. By morning he was back to his old self. Not sure if he had hallucinations of pink and purple cats floating in the air but he was definitely not all here. Hopefully he does not remember the trip of the vet. International travel is not easy for a feline. Nana 6/9, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, Here is a quick catch-up. On Thursday we went diving with the Concordels. Jesse joined Gilles, Marie and Damien. Rich and I went with Sarah, Lucy and Alice. The visibility was about 80 feet. We saw fish, small moray eels, large snails, etc. The snails have a trap door that they close when you pick up their shell. The shell is about the diameter of a large dinner plate. Friday we went into town to check on our package. With Gilles and Marie's help we initiated a trace on the package at the post office. Since there was a recent election, the package processing is little behind according to the post office folks. We will check again on Monday. Friday evening we went for a night dive. Rich will write about this, stay tuned. Saturday evening we went into town and had dinner near the Cruise ship dock. There were a variety of small trucks serving all sorts of foods. I thought I had ordered a small green salad and wound up with potato salad. It was great but not what I expected. Later that evening we took a truck (bus) to the airport to pick up Alec. Alec is Jesse's friend from Seattle Academy. He will be visiting with us for the next 3 weeks. Today Rich and I did some chores on the boat. Alec and Jesse explored downtown Papeete. They found it pretty closed up on a Sunday afternoon and they had a long walk back to the dock. Time to send this off. Nana 6/13, Tahiti, Iles de Societies 17 31.343 S, 149 32.210 W, Papeete, Tahiti Iaorana, Wednesday was an interesting day. In the morning, Rich went up the mast. He fixed the end covers on the upper spreaders. He also checked the inner shroud on the port side. Remember that this was the shroud that was troublesome during the passage from Puerto Vallarta to the Marquises. We went into the yacht club to have lunch with the Concordels. Sarah joined Lucy and Alice and went sailing on a Hobie Cat Dragoon. Rich and I sat with Gilles and Marie, talking after lunch. There was quite a bit of wind, and the Hobies were zipping around. As we were chatting, Rich looked out on the water and pointed to a Hobie Cat that was pitch poling. Could it be our daughters? Later we found out that yes, it was indeed our daughters. No injuries, they are safe and sound but with plenty of stories about their experience. Later that afternoon, we got the chance to meet a princess of the Cook Islands. Linda's family is part of the royal family of the Cook Islands. She was born on Raratonga. She and her husband live in Papeete now but they will retire on Raratonga. They told us a lot about the island and what to see and where to go. So I guess that will be our next stop after French Polynesia and before Niue. Today we went into Papeete to do the check out thing with Immigration, Customs and the Port Captain. We were concerned that since our visa runs out July 13 that we would have to be out of Bora Bora and we would miss the celebrations on July 14. With Gilles help, we talked with the fellow at Immigration and we can attend the festivities and depart on July 17. Hooray! It is refreshing when you can talk to officials and they can be reasonable. We also stopped at the Post office. The package that we were waiting for since Makemo is now in Papeete, just not at the Post office we have been at. So tomorrow we will go to another post office and pick up our package. We wanted to send a few things back to the States. We asked for directions to the Federal Express office. No one was sure where it was. They called the phone number and I talked to some one in their office. She asked were I was and I said that I am in the Air Tahiti Nui office and I gave her the phone number there. In five minutes one of their couriers called back and asked if I could meet him at the Big Burger around the corner since he was there waiting for someone. I said sure but I needed the packaging to send the items, he replied no problem, he had that too. So Rich and I met Chuck at the Big Burger and handled the transactions to send our items Fed Ex, complete with packaging. Try doing that in the US! We plan to go to Moorea on Saturday or Sunday. More adventures in Paradise. Nana 6/16, Moorea, Iles de Societies 17 31.972 S, 149 46.181 W, Vaiare, Moorea Iaorana, After showers and a quick trip to the Continent for a few items we got ready to head out. We let loose of the mooring buoy and headed out of the pass and say goodbye to the Tahiti Yacht Club. Jesse and Sarah stood on the foredeck watching for coral. As we head out the pass you can see the rocks and coral heads on the reef poking out of the water, yet we are in 24 meters in the pass. After negotiating the pass we pull out the staysail and yankee. Winds are blowing 24 knots from the north, northeast and right in the direction we want to go so we need to crack off but now the seas are on the starboard aft quarter. It is a little rolly but we are tracking along at 6.5 to 7.0 knots. The seas are 6-8 ft. The distance to Vaiare is about 15 nautical miles. Alec got a taste of passage making! As Papeete and Tahiti receeds in the distance the island of Moorea rises from the sea. Five miles out the winds do a 180 change and start to weaken to 6 knots. Time to start up the iron spinnaker. The ferry from Vaiare to Papeete is steaming out. It is a giant catamaran but much higher than the Victoria Clippers. It looks huge as it passes. We wait for it to clear the pass and make our entry. We line up the range markers and start to motor to the pass, large waves breaking on the reefs on either side. Within the pass the water is like a lake. The reef is a large shelf from 2.5 to .5 meters deep then it rolls down to 28 meters. We anchor on the shelf. The water is so clear you can see the anchor, the chain, the shells, pieces of coral, sand, etc. You can see patterns in the sand where anchor chain has been dragged across it. Jesse, Sarah and Alec don their snorkel gear and investigate the warm, clear water. Sarah brings up large shells for us to see. Windarra anchored near Vaiare Moorea is where Dino de Laurentiis filmed The Bounty in 1983. It has a population around 9000. Mt. Mouaputa rises 830 meters behind us. Moorea means offshoot. A hole right through the summit of Mt. Mouaputa is said to have been made by the spear of the demigod Pai, who tossed it across from Tahiti to prevent Mt. Rotui from being carried off to Raiatea by Hiro, the god of thieves. Tomorrow we will start our exploration of Moorea. Nana 6/21, Moorea, Iles de Societies 17 29.420 S, 149 51.110 W, Baie d'Opunohu, Moorea Iaorana, Let me catch you up on our activities for the last few days. Sunday we arrived in Moorea at Baie de Vaiare. Monday was rainy and windy. Jesse, Alec and Sarah took the dingy into town and wandered about. The rains stopped and provided a lovely rainbow On Tuesday, Rich and I went into town. After a quick bite we went to investigate renting bicycles. Yes, they rent bikes, for 1100 CFP per day, but, there is only one bike and it is on it's last legs so to speak. We will pass for now. Wednesday we motored to Cook's Bay on the north side of the island. Lo and behold, we find the fleet. 34 sailboats are anchored in the very deep bay! To get into the bay we pass the Windjammer cruise ship, a four masted wonder. At night it is all lit up. We anchor not too far from Second Chance. Jesse and Alec head off to hike up to the viewpoint over looking the two bays. They only got partway before an angry Doberman bared their way. They decided not to confront the irate canine and returned to Windarra. Rich and I went over to Second Chance to catch up on what they have been doing. The last time we saw them was for drinks in Papeete before Sheri flew back to the States. We had a great evening and consumed a bit of alcohol. Windarra and rest of fleet in Cooks’ Bay Thursday we rented bikes for Jesse, Alec and Sarah. They explored the island. It had rained in the morning and the bikes did not have mud guards so they came back covered with splatter! In the afternoon they went tubing with Brandon and Travis of Second Chance. This is where they use a dingy to pull an inner tube with handle around the bay. They had a great time. In the evening they went out for pizza. We were told that it was the best pizza ever, or at least in French Polynesia. That evening we watch the second half of the Shackleton movie on DVD. A great presentation with Kenneth Branagh. (thanks D&N!) Today Jesse and Alec went back to hike up to the viewpoint. While they were gone Sarah did schoolwork and Rich and I did boat chores. I cleaned the bilge and checked out the bilge pumps, switches and alarms. What a dirty job! We replaced the diapers underneath the engine. These are an absorbent material that will hold any oil, etc that leaks from the engine. We found one partial bolt and two loose bolts. This is not good. Rich determined that they were from where the engine mounts connect to the engine. Rich was able to replace two of them. It will be a major ordeal to replace the third. We will monitor this regularly to see if we need to do a repair in Raiatea. The boys were successful reaching the viewpoint this time. There was a small stand at the top selling fresh fruit juice. A nice reward. Just before they returned to the boat we got a call from Gilles and Marie. They were on shore will a large piece of plywood could they have a ride to their boat which is in Baie d'Opunohu? The piece of plywood is to replace one of their floor board that has de laminated. So we picked up Gilles and Marie, Jesse and Alec and pulled up anchor and headed to Baie d'Opunohu. We are anchored in 3.2 meters of water and we can see our anchor, our chain, manta rays, etc. We are also not too far from the Moorea Lagoon Hotel with their bungalows over the water. More adventures to follow. Nana 6/24-25, passage to Raiatea, Iles de Societies 17 03.492S, 15 48.876 W, on passage to Raiatea Iaorana, It is 12:13am, and I just got off watch. It is Rich's watch now until 3:00am. Jesse, Alec and Sarah are crashed out. We are motorsailing to Raiatea. The passage is just under 100 miles and we have 38 miles to go. We left Baie d'Opunohu at 1:15pm. The winds are from the ENE or NE. The swell is on our starboard quarter so the ride is very rolly and uncomfortable. But there is a full moon which lights our way. Saturday night we went to the Sheraton Beach Resort for a seafood buffet and a Polynesian dance show. It was a lot of fun. Alec, Damien and Rich were invited to dance with the Vahines, ladies of the group. It was a hoot. We even got pictures! Wait til you see the dancing vahines! Unfortunately when we walked back to our dingies we found that someone had stolen our outboard motor, gas tank and pump to inflate the dingy. Luckily the oars were still there so we could row back to the boat. It put a damper on the night. This morning before we left, Rich and Gilles went to the Gendarme to report the theft. Doubt we will get it back. Anyway, we are looking forward to Raiatea. Almost there! Nana, SV Windarra, Iles de Societies, French Polynesia 38 miles from Raiatea 6/26, Raiatea, Iles de Societies 16 43.685 S, 151 28.694 W, Marina Apooiti, Raiatea Iaorana, We arrived in Uturoa, Raiatea in the early morning. We waited until the sun was up and we had enough light to negotiate the pass entrance into the lagoon. After passing the cruise ship quay we tied to the dock along the waterfront. Sarah and I walked just up the street to a grocery store to buy some fresh pain au chocolat and some orange juice for breakfast. At the dock we met a few other cruisers. The Japanese family that we met during the Baja Ha-Ha are here along with Peter on Sojouner. Peter is an ex-Marine pilot and former 757 pilot for Eastern Airlines. We met him through Second Chance in Papeete. He has been cruising for about 8 years. There was also a couple from Seattle who are going on to Fiji and a German couple. We shared some local information and a few stories. Later Saperlipopette pulled in. Jesse and Alec went off to explore. The rest of us went to lunch by the cruise ship quay. We discussed our passages. Gilles and Marie had a batten snap during their passage. The decision is to go around the north end of the island and stay at the Marina Apooiti. It was a short motor passed the airport to the Marina. This is the first time we have been at a marina since Mexico, 3 months ago! We are not actually docked in the marina. We are 'Med moored' outside the breakwater of the marina. There is a line from our stern to a mooring buoy and two dock lines from our bow go to bollards on the shore. We borrowed a plank to get from the bow to shore. It rocks a bit but it works. The marina has showers (cold water and no water pressure after 8pm), bathrooms (byop, bring your own toilet paper), and water. Next door there is a laundry service. Within walking distance is a small magasin with fresh baguettes. There is even a restaurant/snack that looks out over the water. Moored at Apooiti, looking towards Tahaa This marina is also home to the Raiatea yacht club and Moorings yacht charters. If you decide you would like to charter a boat in French Polynesia, this is the place you would go. From here you have easy access to Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and Bora Bora, all day sails! From where we are moored we can see Tahaa and Bora Bora off in the distance. More exploring and of course, some boat chores. Nana 7/2, Raiatea, Iles de Societies 16 43.685 S, 151 28.694 W, Marina Apooiti, Raiatea Iaorana, There are two main reasons we came to Raiatea. One was so we could fly Alec back to Papeete for his flight home and the second was to have some work done on the boat. On Saturday, Rich and Alec flew from Raiatea to Papeete. It was a short 30 minute flight. They had dinner at the airport and Rich got Alec checked in. Alec left just after midnight. Rich spent the night at the airport and flew back to Raiatea on the 7:30 am flight. Boat work. When we were in Moorea we noticed that the bolts connecting the engine to the motor mounts were loose or missing. This is not good! We found a few sheared bolts in the engine pan . So one of the first things we did upon arriving at the marina was call the Raiatea Carenage Services (boat yard) to have someone come out to make repairs. This was Friday morning. They determined that the engine was misaligned, and that one of the bolts used to install an engine mount was too small. This means that the engine was moving too much and bent one of the mounts and became misaligned and damaged a seal to the transmission. Luckily between the boat yard and our spares we had the parts and pieces to do the job. Of course Saturday was a holiday, Autonomy Day, so no work then. On Monday they removed the transmission. Today they rebuilt the transmission and tomorrow they will install it. In the mean time we discovered that the watermaker had stopped working. More exactly it is putting out salt water instead of fresh water. So we have another project to work. Since we are unable to make water or run our engine it is nice to be in a marina where we have access to water and power. Access to power became a little more tricky. Power here is 220 as opposed to 110 as in the states. We had never used 220 in the boat before. This required some sleuthing to determine what was wired in the boat and what we would have to do to connect and charge the batteries. Rich and Gilles were able to get the boat connected. Engineers working a problem. So, a few more chores and then we will check out Raiatea and then on to Tahaa. Boat life is always full.... Nana 7/5, Tahaa, Iles de Societies 16 38.590 S, 151 31.014 W, Baie d'Hurepiti, Tahaa, Iarona, On Wednesday Herbert and his nephew finished installing the engine on its mounts, and the transmission. Then they aligned the whole thing. We tested it out and found out that the throttle was reversed, backwards was throttle forward, forward was throttle back. This would not do, so Herbert fixed it and now we are good to go! On Thursday we took a day off from boat chores and took a tour around the island in the rental car. It is a beautiful place. The perimeter road is about 100 kilometers. We stopped and had lunch in a small place where the village is preparing for their fete or Heiva celebrations. These run from July 8 through July 14. We hope to enjoy this celebration in Bora Bora. View of lagoon around Raiatea Along the way we stopped at Mare Taputapuatea. This is one of the largest and best preserved religious site in Polynesia. Human sacrifices and firewalking once took place in the marea. Mare Taputapuatea This morning we completed a few last minute tasks and after lunch we motored across the lagoon to the island of Tahaa. Raiatea and Tahaa are enclosed by the same ring of coral reefs. We are now moored in Baie d'Hurepiti. It is a medium sized bay which we share with only 4 other boats, one of which is Saperlipopette. Deck hands preparing to grab mooring buoy Tahaa is known for its production of vanilla. A third of the vanilla from French Polynesia comes from Tahaa. Fertilizing of the plants to produce the vanilla beans is done by hand since the bugs that would normally provide this service are not found in French Polynesia like they are in Mexico and elsewhere. We will try to fix the watermaker tomorrow. oh boy. BTW, we heard that there is a ring of outboard motor thefts going around. Our friends on Final Straw had someone cut the painter of the dingy during the night while it was tied to their boat, waited for it to drift to shore, then took the outboard, and everything else that was in the dingy. At least five outboards were stolen from cruisers in one bay on Moorea, the same night. From now on, everything will be locked up, everything! Ta-Ta from Tahaa 7/9, Bora Bora, Iles de Societies 16 29.431 S, 151 42.653 W, Bora Bora Yacht Club Iaorana, I need to bring you up to date. On Saturday, we tried to fix the watermaker. Rich took it apart twice, I provided moral support. No such luck, it still makes salt water from salt water. On Sunday we ran the replacement wire to charge the windlass battery. We had a JFN, just for now, solution that ran over the floor thru the salon and under the v-berth. We put in the permanent solution which involved removing everything from the starboard side cabinet in the salon, forward head and through the closet in the v-berth, then removing some of the cabinets to install the wire. Fun! Monday morning we joined the crew of Saperlipopette for a tour of the island of Tahaa with Alain. Alain is a botanist who immigrated from France over 10 years ago after sailing here with his family (do we see a trend here?). He operated a vanilla farm for about 10 years. Now he just gives tours around the island to visitors. He explained how you grow vanilla and cure the beans. There are only 5 people in the whole of Polynesia that do the curing. It is a very labor intensive activity. He also drove us across the top of the island and around the northwest corner. Along the way he would stop and point out some particular plant and how it arrived here and what it is used for. There are 900 indigenous species of plants in French Polynesia. 700 arrived via the wind or birds, 200 arrived via the water, all of them from Asia. Now there are over 2000 species of plants on the islands. Some were introduced by the arriving Polynesians, such as bananas, taro, breadfruit and other staples for their diet. Windarra in Baie d'Hurepiti Along the drive we noticed rather long mailboxes by the road in front of many of the houses. I asked Alain about them. They are not mailboxes at all. They are baguette boxes! The baker drives along the road and delivers fresh baguettes daily by putting them in these boxes. Isn't that cool! Baguette delivery After our tour with Alain we returned to the boat, let loose the mooring and headed for Bora Bora, some 21 miles to the northwest. We hoisted the main sail and almost immediately dropped it since the winds died and we wanted to be through the pass before dark. We set an anchor near the Bora Bora Yacht Club. We got the dingy ready and went to the club to relax and have dinner with the crew of Saperlipopette. Second Chance is also here as well as Sojouner and some other boats we had met along the way. Bora Bora as seen from Tahaa Today, Tuesday, we went into the main village, Vaitape. We visited the Gendarme, had lunch, walked to the internet cafe, called Fed Ex about our package (it arrived in Papeete and should arrive in Vaitape tomorrow!) went to the grocery store and walked back to the boat. Plenty of exercise! Closer view of Bora Bora This evening Rich and I hitchhiked back into town to watch the traditional native dance and music presentations that are part of Heiva, the July 14 celebrations. We ate at one of the booths set up around the pavillion area. We had chinese food at Chez Arf's. It was good. Then we watched the dancing. They sure can move their hips! After the performances we got a ride back to the boat. It has been a long day and it is time to say good night! 7/11, Bora Bora, Iles de Societies 16 29.431 S, 151 42.653 W, Bora Bora Yacht Club Iaorana, On Wednesday we went into Vaitape and the Air Tahiti office and lo and behold our package was there! hooray! The system worked. In the afternoon Rich and I changed the oil. This is such a fun job! Afterwards we had hot showers at the yacht club. Peter, who runs the yacht club is Austrian. He spent some time in Florida as a commercial diver. He also was a SNUBA instructor and trainer. He is renovating the yacht club. There are three bungalows on the water that he is renovating. When they are complete he will build a new restaurant and bar to replace the existing one. He is quite the character and we enjoy talking to him. The food at his restaurant is excellent. In the evening we joined the folks from Second Chance, Infidien, Rag'n Drag'n, Lil'Gem, and Sojourner and went to Bloody Mary's. It is a restaurant that has a sort of reputation with respect to Bora Bora. The original restaurant was made famous by James Michener's book, 'Tales from the South Pacific'. It is a place that caters to Americans and cruisers. They sent a shuttle to pick us up and take us to the restaurant. The decor is beautiful with plants, flowers, carvings, etc. In the women's restaurant you pull a ring on a string suspended from the ceiling and water cascades down a rockery into a pool/sink for you to wash your hands. You select what you want to eat from an ice table with day's catch as well as selections of beef, chicken and other seafood. They grill your selection and it is served with salada, rice, fresh cooked vegetables and fruit. Rich had a wahoo steak, Jesse had seared Ahi, Sarah had teriyaki chicken and I had beef brochette. The food was good and we had a lot of conversation about where everyone was going next. This morning Rich and I walked to the Banque Socredo to let them know we would be departing soon and would be getting our bond back. This is the bond we had so much trouble trying to post in Nuku Hiva. Hard to believe that was three months ago. Right now Sarah is swimming with Meagan from Infidien. Meagan is Rick and Patti's niece from eastern Oregon. She has been visiting with them for the past 3 weeks and will return home on Saturday. Jesse is working away on his Biology paper. Rich is power napping in the aft stateroom. Mandu is power napping on the floor near the mast, cool and in the shade. Tonight we will go into town to see some more dancing for Heiva. We will all go in, have dinner at one of the stands surrounding the pavilion and then watch the show. Nana 7/15, Bora Bora, Iles de Societies 16 29.431 S, 151 42.653 W, Bora Bora Yacht Club Iaorana, Since the last update we went one more time to the Heiva celebrations. We joined Saperlipopette and went early to put our towels/pareo on the ground to reserve a place to sit along the perimeter. We went to dinner at Chez Are (we thought it was Chez Arf but a sign covered the bottom of the E). This was the night of the pairs dancing competition and the awards ceremony. The pairs were very interesting. One group had decorated the performance area with Tiki torches and carried the male dancer on an outrigger canoe to the dance area. The dancing is very seductive. Watching the dancing competition at Heiva The awards ceremony was a bit long for us. Everyone got a trophy, from the ticket takers, to most tickets sold to best drum group, on and on and on. The trophies started at 1 foot tall and the largest was taller than me (5'5"). Since there were 5 districts competing in all categories we had to wait for all 5 places to get their awards. Prizes included not only the trophy but also gifts such as black pearl necklaces, trips to Papeete and cash (up to $400,000 CFP, or about $3200 US). Last night we joined happy hour at the yacht club. On Sunday the yacht club is not officially open but Peter put out some beer and pop in buckets of ice and everyone signed on the list of who took what. We met a lot of the Puddle Jumpers, such as Final Straw, Li'l Gem, Rag'n Drag'n. Surfer Girl, Second Chance, Wilhelm, plus some others like Sojourner, Auroe and Fidelia. It was quite a crowd. Some folks even brought guitars and provided entertainment. With Peter in front of the Bora Bora Yacht Club Today we checked out with the Gendarmes. It was pretty easy and straight forward. Tomorrow we will try to get our bond back from the Banque Socredo. Hope this will be so easy. We did one last internet check and stopped at the store. Luckily we found some kitty litter, a must before a passage. Tonight we are having dinner at the yacht club with Saperlipopette folks. They will be staying on in French Polynesia when we go to the Cook Islands and beyond. They will fly in and meet us while we are in New Zealand. We will miss them. Nana

Passages