Hello from Anse Amyot!
We are in another idyllic location - not quite inside the atoll of Toau, but not quite outside either. There is a false pass on the northwestern end of the atoll, and it is here that Gaston and Valentina, and their relatives, have established a small paradise that they willingly share with cruisers, even setting up moorings in the false pass so that you don't have to navigate anchoring. We are currently sharing the anchorage with two aluminum French boats and Shine, the family we have buddy boated with for a bit and had a great time with.
After South Fakarava, North Fakarava was a bit of a let down visually, though we certainly enjoyed some internet access (catching up on the Warriors!), and fresh baguettes. One day we rented bikes in the afternoon, along with the "Shine" family, and biked about 10 miles along the only paved road on the atoll. We made it down to the pearl farm we visited earlier, and the small grocery store that was next to it, that had cold ice cream, water and beer. It was fun to do a "Land activity again" and to bike big "beach cruiser" bikes carefree on a wide open road with almost no traffic at all. I'm especially proud of Amaia who made it the whole way on her own bike, with smaller 20 inch wheels it was quite a haul!
We had met "Shine" in South Fakarava for the first time, and had sailed down the Fakarava channel together- we have similar 47 foot catamarans which helps keep our sailing edge when we are sailing in company. In North Fakarava they invited us for a pot of curry and we enjoyed a great evening with Patrick and Ana and their kids George, Xesca and Archie (their oldest son Max is off crewing on superyachts and making real money!) During the evening the kids decided to go back to our boat for a movie, and somehow in the dinghy shuffle our dinghy was cast free, something we unfortunately didn't realize until 90 minutes later when Heather and I were about to head back. We were lucky that Shine has a very nice 13 foot dinghy with a steering console and 30 hp engine and they offered to help us search in the pitch black night. Using two flashlights and approximating the wind/drift current we slowly scanned a corner of the atoll, the most treacherous part being coral heads that we couldn't see. It felt quite hopeless after a while, and I was about to call it a night when we spotted our "family car" sadly bouncing on a coral shelf and being pounded by wind waves. We careful maneuvered it free and towed it home- elated to find it and our new engine, but cautious about the damage that had been done. Fast forwarding to today- we are on our third day of trying to find and patch all the holes to have it hold enough air- its probably a 50/50 proposition right now - certainly a bit troubling for one more of our most important adventure vehicles.
Having done a quick provisioning run right after the supply ship came in on Thursday morning, Shine and Family Circus raised our anchors for the 40 mile sail down to Toau and Anse Amyot. The breeze was almost perfect and we enjoyed a fast fun sail, using our gennaker and even patching up a two foot tear in our asymmetrical "Womper", and flying it successfully. We were gybing back to our destination, when one of our fishing reels started clicking wildly! Fish On! Setting the hook, I saw the fish jump and knew we had finally hooked a dorado again. We reeled it in fairly quickly, with Heather masterfully slowing the boat down both with the engines and the sail angle. Tristan handled the final few feet and I gaffed and boarded the largest iridescent green Dorado we had caught to date. It was as tall as Tristan and weighed in at 28 lbs. We quickly entered the false pass and picked up a mooring, and as I cleaned the fish we were circled by many sharks who patiently waited for scraps.
We are on our fourth night now, enjoying so much that is offered. We had Shine over to our boat for an amazing night of Farkle and Dibble games. They enjoyed learning these new games, and even Amaia and Alina participated in Dibble and charcoal marked faces by the end of the evening. We'll have to get some photos uploaded soon! The snorkeling is quite fantastic right next to the boats and the beaches are fun to forage around, but the stars of the show are the compound that Valentina and Gaston have - and for our kids - five 3 week old puppies, three adult dogs, and several piglets with two day old piglets. Our kids are regular visitors every day! The compound is shared with a few family members, and is completely self sufficient, catching rainwater and using a diesel generator and solar for power. The operate a part time restaurant and we made reservations a day ahead, and on the morning of we heard part our dinner being caught and silenced. Cooking the meal for the three boat crews attending was an all day affair. In the afternoon we joined Gaston and his nephew as they went over to their fish trap on the other side of the pass. It was actually quite a fascinating experience, as the pen was completely full of many different kinds of fish, as well as a few uninvited predators. As we arrived to watch, Gaston used a very long harpoon/spear to hit and pull a large 4 foot barracuda out of the water before spearing a 5 ft moray eel. Some of us put our masks on to watch from in the water- and Gaston moved to the entry pen where a reef shark was patrolling the water. Standing from the boat he speared the shark behind the head and landed it in his boat and then he jumped in to the pen with what looked like a garbage can made of chicken wire. He simply cornered the fish in to a corner, but the "can" down and hoarded 15-20 fish in to it- it was amazingly simple. We followed him back as they cleaning process apparently has a fun shark feeding aspect. The kids were fascinated as he gutted and cleaned fish, attracting sharks with the scraps, with the highlight being when he tied the barracuda to a line and we watched as 15-20 sharks thrashed around, getting a bite. It was quite a spectacle to watch, including instinctively pulling your kids just a bit back from the edge of the deck. The most astounding thing might have been the two medium size dogs that patrolled the dock, barking at the sharks, before one of them jumped in and chased them away! Apparently she does this all the time, and she stood on a shallow coral reef, barking at any shark that dared get close. It was great to see, and certainly not what I would have expected to happen!
We cleaned up on the boat and Shine dinghied us back to shore, as we are still without a functional car, and we sat down around a beautifully decorated, large square table with the other crews. The food came out quickly and was astoundingly good! A focaccia appetizer, coconut rice with parrot fish poisson cru, fresh pork in oyster sauce, BBQ pig, coconut bread, delicious french fries, pig cooked in its blood and a really wonderful moist cake to chase it down. It was all amazingly well prepared in a small kitchen and completely delicious. After dinner we were slowing down, and the kids were playing next door when our hosts invited us outside in a circle where they were tuning their ukeleles. With their nephew visiting, they were short a ukelele or guitar, and our kids headed back to the boats to get three ukeleles and two guitars. I was happy sharing the rhythmic duties with Gaston as he and I played the spoons and an empty 6 gallon water container. Our hosts played and sang some beautiful Polynesian and French tunes, under a starry night sky. They urged us to play our own songs- but unfortunately between us we had a very very limited repertoire- Xesca and Mykaela both strummed and sang some beautiful songs, but mostly our hosts strummed away, drinking their homemade, well fortified beer. It was great to see our older kids engaged and glimpsing at a very cool part of another culture. I hope they remember nights like that.
We probably wanted to leave today or tomorrow but the weather forecasts show "reinforced trades" that should calm down in a few days. Its only a 230 mile run to Papeete, Tahiti from here, but we will try and get the best window we can, knowing that we need to get to the Big City soon to start working on our more serious repair projects. Walking on a Sunday sunset beach stroll tonight, we were thinking what a shift it will be to leave the very remote and deserted Tuamotus and head to Tahiti and the next islands, where remote, small anchorages are much harder to find with all of the development and population. I am sure it will be welcome in some ways, but we will miss places like this for a while.
Hope you are all doing great and supporting the Golden State Warriors! CHRIS
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Family Circus
Wild Oaks Family Farm, Shenandoah Valley, Plymouth, CA
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Pictures Daniels Bay on Nuka Hiva and Swimming with the Manta's
Mykaela, Chris, Alina and Amaia with a giant Manta Ray in Nuka Hiva
Mykaela above a giant manta ray
Mykaela trying to swim along with
Pass into waterfall in Daniels Bay Nuka Hiva
Waterfall inside rocks of Daniels Bay Nuka Hiva
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Internet????? Really slow but here are some pictures
Hi Everyone,
We are still in Fakarava but anchored in North Fakarava for today and then leaving tomorrow after the supply ship arrives. It has been wonderful. We have met a really nice family on a boat called shine and they have 3 kids with them ages 12 (Archie), 15 (Francesca) and George 17. It has been a lot of fun here. We went on a pearl farm field trip yesterday and the kids got to see how they seed the pearls and learn about how the farms work. We even did a little shopping in the store...
The internet is extremely slow and we have to pay by the minute... this has been a reoccuring theme here in F.P. so I wanted to try to upload a few pictures... Believe it or not it took me 2 hours to get these out but it is well worth it... These are all pictures of our time in South Fakarava.. I am still trying to up load additional photos so you can see some of what we are taking about when we say screen saver country. Hope all is well at home...
Hugs and love to all,
Heath
Thursday, May 21, 2015
What the Fakarava are we doing????
Well we're still anchored at the South pass of Fakarava, our anchor chain is still wrapped around a coral head, and the water is still absolutely beautiful.
Heather eggs me on to write the next blog update, but there isnt that much to say! We are anchored in "Screen saver country" as my brother Andreas calls it and he's right. We are having a really good time mixing our days with snorkeling, diving, homeschooling, and visiting tiny islets that have a few palm trees and coral pink sand. We have brought most of our "toy" fleet out as well, the kayak and paddleboards have been out, the sailing dinghy has been sailed and is out of the way so the kids (and adults occasionally) can jump off our cockpit hardtop, and the dinghy is our workhorse that gets a daily workout and treats us well. It still leaks some air, but its good enough and the engine has been perfect, in spite of my diesel experiment a week ago. I also found a new "Mexican panga" setting where the engine can be propped most of the way out of the water so that you can navigate in super shallow water- about 8 inches, which is what we have a lot of around here.
When we arrived there were two other boats at this end of the pass, and both were anchored on the north side of the pass, so we discovered our own unique anchor spot, in 8 feet of water, and surrounded by reefs and islands on 3.5 sides. I think we arrived a week ago-ish, and since then we've seen more and more boats come and now there are thirteen at this end of the pass, but there is still plenty of room. Our anchor spot is tempting for many but seems to be best suited for catamarans with skippers who like to explore, and happily our friends Bob the Cat are anchored in our little coral pen. We've already had one "TexMex" night with whatever we've been able to scrounge up, and we even were able to make some successful margaritas. Amaia and Alina like having two boys their ages to play with and explore, and Heather and I enjoy the adult company- we enjoy hearing different stories and backgrounds, and comparing notes on cruising with kids, homeschooling etc. We also tend to gather more information on destinations down the road for us, which is helpful.
The other way I can tell that we have been here for a while is how comfortable the kids are getting with the reef sharks. When we first got to the Tuamotus, we were all a little hesitant to jump in to the water that visibly had sharks. Yesterday though, Amaia and Alina were rinsing off on the back steps of the boat after having played in the water, and Amaia spies two sharks that started swimming around the back of the boat, and all I heard in a sharp, loud voice was "Alina! Sharks! Quick lets jump in and scare them away!" and the two tanned, freckled Rancho Colorados swimmers go cannon-balling off the back, frightening the daylights out of these elegant sharks! We have come a long way.
Deeper underwater we do give the sharks a greater berth. I've done three pass drift dives with my scuba buddies Tristan and Alexia and its quite amazing. We have developed a routine now where we load everyone and the gear in the dinghy- drop off Mykaela and the two girls at the beach and coral reef, and then Heather drives us out to the edge of the pass, fighting the current slightly as we go. We have only dove on an incoming tide as its safer, and there are more sharks to see, though on the outgoing tide there are more fish and feeding sharks, though less visibility and the risk of shooting out in to the Pacific Ocean. We suit up quickly, put on the heavy tanks and flop over the side of the dinghy and the three of us start descending fairly quickly. "Drift" diving is exactly what it is, you equalize your bouyancy, and just start drifting with the current- which is anywhere from 1-3 knots usually, and watch the scenery go by- sort of an advanced, immersive version of the yellow submarines ride at Disneyland. The fish are generally small, as the big pelagics are farther out, but they are quite indifferent to us, and we cruise down a sand "highway" which gives way to fields of coral. We stay to the right of the pass and then after the first field of coral, we edge to the middle a bit more and find some dead coral to hang on to, and simply watch the show. There are usually 60-100 sharks- Greys, white and black tips - all just hovering in place, slowly swimming against the current. Occasionally, they will loop around and swim to the back with the current. Its quite a spectacular site to see and quite mesmerizing-the only tinge of concern I get is one one larger one will occasionally stray from the pack and slowly loop around us- even at a distance. By hanging on to the coral, we let our bodies drift horizontally downstream with the current and look somewhat like a flag or pennant fluttering on a flagpole. After a while we let go and continue our drift, stopping at two more shark "walls" and eventually heading back to the right and up a 30 foot coral wall that gets more spectacular as you get to the surface- there are tons of fish and its where Heather and the little girls do their own version of drift snorkeling. I am sure there will be other great snorkeling and diving spots- but this one ranks pretty high.
All the recent arrivals have also helped confirm that this is a pretty special spot, and we've decided to linger a while longer. We will most likely head to the village on the north end over the week end, and hopefully visit a pearl farm, internet and have some baguettes and ice cream early next week, but for now we are quite happy to make do with our dwindling provisions. We are getting caught up on some small boat projects, but are still frustrated by some consistent issues, and some untimely new ones- our dive compressor has failed to cooperate (probably electrical) - but we have thankfully had other cruising boats fill our tanks- the price is one beer per tank. All in all things are holding together well enough, with the generator and watermaker doing well- which guarantees our self sustainability in remote areas.
We're sending a big hello and lots of hugs from ScreenSaver Country- and hope you are all doing well! CHRIS
----------
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Heather eggs me on to write the next blog update, but there isnt that much to say! We are anchored in "Screen saver country" as my brother Andreas calls it and he's right. We are having a really good time mixing our days with snorkeling, diving, homeschooling, and visiting tiny islets that have a few palm trees and coral pink sand. We have brought most of our "toy" fleet out as well, the kayak and paddleboards have been out, the sailing dinghy has been sailed and is out of the way so the kids (and adults occasionally) can jump off our cockpit hardtop, and the dinghy is our workhorse that gets a daily workout and treats us well. It still leaks some air, but its good enough and the engine has been perfect, in spite of my diesel experiment a week ago. I also found a new "Mexican panga" setting where the engine can be propped most of the way out of the water so that you can navigate in super shallow water- about 8 inches, which is what we have a lot of around here.
When we arrived there were two other boats at this end of the pass, and both were anchored on the north side of the pass, so we discovered our own unique anchor spot, in 8 feet of water, and surrounded by reefs and islands on 3.5 sides. I think we arrived a week ago-ish, and since then we've seen more and more boats come and now there are thirteen at this end of the pass, but there is still plenty of room. Our anchor spot is tempting for many but seems to be best suited for catamarans with skippers who like to explore, and happily our friends Bob the Cat are anchored in our little coral pen. We've already had one "TexMex" night with whatever we've been able to scrounge up, and we even were able to make some successful margaritas. Amaia and Alina like having two boys their ages to play with and explore, and Heather and I enjoy the adult company- we enjoy hearing different stories and backgrounds, and comparing notes on cruising with kids, homeschooling etc. We also tend to gather more information on destinations down the road for us, which is helpful.
The other way I can tell that we have been here for a while is how comfortable the kids are getting with the reef sharks. When we first got to the Tuamotus, we were all a little hesitant to jump in to the water that visibly had sharks. Yesterday though, Amaia and Alina were rinsing off on the back steps of the boat after having played in the water, and Amaia spies two sharks that started swimming around the back of the boat, and all I heard in a sharp, loud voice was "Alina! Sharks! Quick lets jump in and scare them away!" and the two tanned, freckled Rancho Colorados swimmers go cannon-balling off the back, frightening the daylights out of these elegant sharks! We have come a long way.
Deeper underwater we do give the sharks a greater berth. I've done three pass drift dives with my scuba buddies Tristan and Alexia and its quite amazing. We have developed a routine now where we load everyone and the gear in the dinghy- drop off Mykaela and the two girls at the beach and coral reef, and then Heather drives us out to the edge of the pass, fighting the current slightly as we go. We have only dove on an incoming tide as its safer, and there are more sharks to see, though on the outgoing tide there are more fish and feeding sharks, though less visibility and the risk of shooting out in to the Pacific Ocean. We suit up quickly, put on the heavy tanks and flop over the side of the dinghy and the three of us start descending fairly quickly. "Drift" diving is exactly what it is, you equalize your bouyancy, and just start drifting with the current- which is anywhere from 1-3 knots usually, and watch the scenery go by- sort of an advanced, immersive version of the yellow submarines ride at Disneyland. The fish are generally small, as the big pelagics are farther out, but they are quite indifferent to us, and we cruise down a sand "highway" which gives way to fields of coral. We stay to the right of the pass and then after the first field of coral, we edge to the middle a bit more and find some dead coral to hang on to, and simply watch the show. There are usually 60-100 sharks- Greys, white and black tips - all just hovering in place, slowly swimming against the current. Occasionally, they will loop around and swim to the back with the current. Its quite a spectacular site to see and quite mesmerizing-the only tinge of concern I get is one one larger one will occasionally stray from the pack and slowly loop around us- even at a distance. By hanging on to the coral, we let our bodies drift horizontally downstream with the current and look somewhat like a flag or pennant fluttering on a flagpole. After a while we let go and continue our drift, stopping at two more shark "walls" and eventually heading back to the right and up a 30 foot coral wall that gets more spectacular as you get to the surface- there are tons of fish and its where Heather and the little girls do their own version of drift snorkeling. I am sure there will be other great snorkeling and diving spots- but this one ranks pretty high.
All the recent arrivals have also helped confirm that this is a pretty special spot, and we've decided to linger a while longer. We will most likely head to the village on the north end over the week end, and hopefully visit a pearl farm, internet and have some baguettes and ice cream early next week, but for now we are quite happy to make do with our dwindling provisions. We are getting caught up on some small boat projects, but are still frustrated by some consistent issues, and some untimely new ones- our dive compressor has failed to cooperate (probably electrical) - but we have thankfully had other cruising boats fill our tanks- the price is one beer per tank. All in all things are holding together well enough, with the generator and watermaker doing well- which guarantees our self sustainability in remote areas.
We're sending a big hello and lots of hugs from ScreenSaver Country- and hope you are all doing well! CHRIS
----------
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Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Fakarava South Pass... We can't seem to depart :@)
Hello Everyone,
We are still here in the south pass of Fakarava, we have been here for about 4 days now and will stay for another few.... it has been amazing here! We are enjoying the down time being in one place for awhile. We have been diving, snorkeling, laundry, cleaning, swimming, beach combing, paddle boarding, kayaking, shark watching, and some boat repair trouble shooting... (mostly our dive compressor is on the brink).
I can't even begin to explain the area we are in except for to have you look it up on the internet and check it out... Our Lattitude is 16.31.112 south and our longitude is 145.28.166W. We are anchored between 2 shallow coral reefs on both sides and an island in front of us. There are patches of white sandy beaches close by that the kids can play on. Not to mention the amazing snorkeling right under our boat since we are anchored in 7 feet of water. The kids can sit on the end of the boat and see the fish without even going in the water. We also are visited by 6 or 7 reef sharks that swim all around the boat all the time. They also bring with them the really pretty pilot fish that hang with them. It feels like you are swimming in the largest swimming pool ever. The kids even enjoyed a game of sharks and minnows (typical Rancho style with a twist..) They really had to swim from the sharks. Hee Hee. Just kidding. Unfortunately when you go in the water the sharks swim away and stay on the perimeter of your boat until the splashing goes away and then they come back in to look.
The south pass of Fakarava is one of the most popular dives world wide to observe the sharks in the pass. The pass is lined with a coral wall and a partly sandy bottom. When you dive down about 20 meters you can grab on to some dead coral and just hang on and watch the sharks swim all around you and especially in the channel in front of you. There are literally hundreds and hundreds swimming through. They call it a wall of sharks and they aren't joking. While Chris, Tristan and Alexia scuba dived the pass, Mykaela, Alina and Amaia and I snorkeled on top... we of course stayed on the side and close to the coral wall. It was really beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. The water was so clear and the fish so vibrant and then of course the occasional shark would swim by you on its way to the others... Okay more than occasional in fact it was a little eerie swimming with the girls in this channel in their floaties and having the sharks swimming by... They really are beautiful but I can't help get a little nervous still when I see them 10 feet away (sometimes closer). There is a dive shop and a small dive resort that is run by a woman named Annabell. She has been here for 25 years and is very welcoming. Her office hangs out over the water along with all the little huts for her guests to stay in. There are docks leading out into the water to her restaurant and of course to catch the boats that take the guests back and forth from the north end. On our drift dive we start at one end of the beach and then swim out into the channel and drift with the current down to Annabells restaurant and swim into the cove and then walk back to the beach and do it again. I love it! In the cove there are also a lot of sharks because the restaurant throws all their scraps out into the water right off the dock, so the sharks all know where to get free food. There is also a large fish called a napoleon that is about 4 feet long, green and blue and he just hangs out there waiting for scraps as well. The girls had a fun time swimming with these guys and trying to touch the napoleon fish..
We have been hanging out with a few boats here and diving with them. Bay Dreamers (which is a boat of 7, 5 swedish and 2 german) girls and guys. They have been a lot of fun to talk to. They are younger and have a different energy that the kids really enjoy plus the dog on the boat that runs around trying to scare away the sharks. Also, Bob the Cat just joined us and the kids had a great time swimming and jumping off the top of the bimini for hours today. They are all completely exhausted... It is always nice to run into the crew on Bob the Cat! I look forward to drift snorkeling with them tomorrow down the pass. I am a little chicken of the sea, but always feel better when I am with them since we are diving with professionals... marine biologists and dive masters... plus this wouldn't be a very popular dive spot if the guests were always eaten, I imagine.
We will be here for a few more days, enjoying the surroundings and trying to get as much snorkeling and diving in as we can... until we are sick of it. Then we will head to North Fakarava for some reprovisioning, wifi and of course baguettes. Bob the Cat brought us some today... and it was so wonderful. I made a French Dip. Believe it or not,,, I actually had the ingredients for it. We haven't had that meal since we left Lafayette and it was devoured, especially with fresh bread. I am getting sick of cooking out of cans. I am not sure what else to make and all of my meals are stews and soups... I would love to bite into something! It gets to the point where you just don't want to cook anymore... but we have to and the kids are being troopers about it. I have 3 tomatoes, a few carrots, one apple and some green peppers left, any suggestions for recipes would be great. You are not able to buy any fresh fruit or veggies here. So I wont have a store until June 4th when we are in Papeete. That means two more weeks of rice, beans, and canned food. UGH !
Hope all of you can enjoy a nice cup of starbucks/petes/seattles best... for me. I would kill for a regular bottle of pickles that taste like pickles, bread that doesn't fall apart when you handle it, some fruit, a salad.. OMG that would be amazing. The last salad I had was in Nuka Hiva... it seems so long ago.
P.S. the sharks don't like mexican tortilla soup (I made it too spicy and we had to dump it).
Hugs and love to all...
Heath
----------
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We are still here in the south pass of Fakarava, we have been here for about 4 days now and will stay for another few.... it has been amazing here! We are enjoying the down time being in one place for awhile. We have been diving, snorkeling, laundry, cleaning, swimming, beach combing, paddle boarding, kayaking, shark watching, and some boat repair trouble shooting... (mostly our dive compressor is on the brink).
I can't even begin to explain the area we are in except for to have you look it up on the internet and check it out... Our Lattitude is 16.31.112 south and our longitude is 145.28.166W. We are anchored between 2 shallow coral reefs on both sides and an island in front of us. There are patches of white sandy beaches close by that the kids can play on. Not to mention the amazing snorkeling right under our boat since we are anchored in 7 feet of water. The kids can sit on the end of the boat and see the fish without even going in the water. We also are visited by 6 or 7 reef sharks that swim all around the boat all the time. They also bring with them the really pretty pilot fish that hang with them. It feels like you are swimming in the largest swimming pool ever. The kids even enjoyed a game of sharks and minnows (typical Rancho style with a twist..) They really had to swim from the sharks. Hee Hee. Just kidding. Unfortunately when you go in the water the sharks swim away and stay on the perimeter of your boat until the splashing goes away and then they come back in to look.
The south pass of Fakarava is one of the most popular dives world wide to observe the sharks in the pass. The pass is lined with a coral wall and a partly sandy bottom. When you dive down about 20 meters you can grab on to some dead coral and just hang on and watch the sharks swim all around you and especially in the channel in front of you. There are literally hundreds and hundreds swimming through. They call it a wall of sharks and they aren't joking. While Chris, Tristan and Alexia scuba dived the pass, Mykaela, Alina and Amaia and I snorkeled on top... we of course stayed on the side and close to the coral wall. It was really beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. The water was so clear and the fish so vibrant and then of course the occasional shark would swim by you on its way to the others... Okay more than occasional in fact it was a little eerie swimming with the girls in this channel in their floaties and having the sharks swimming by... They really are beautiful but I can't help get a little nervous still when I see them 10 feet away (sometimes closer). There is a dive shop and a small dive resort that is run by a woman named Annabell. She has been here for 25 years and is very welcoming. Her office hangs out over the water along with all the little huts for her guests to stay in. There are docks leading out into the water to her restaurant and of course to catch the boats that take the guests back and forth from the north end. On our drift dive we start at one end of the beach and then swim out into the channel and drift with the current down to Annabells restaurant and swim into the cove and then walk back to the beach and do it again. I love it! In the cove there are also a lot of sharks because the restaurant throws all their scraps out into the water right off the dock, so the sharks all know where to get free food. There is also a large fish called a napoleon that is about 4 feet long, green and blue and he just hangs out there waiting for scraps as well. The girls had a fun time swimming with these guys and trying to touch the napoleon fish..
We have been hanging out with a few boats here and diving with them. Bay Dreamers (which is a boat of 7, 5 swedish and 2 german) girls and guys. They have been a lot of fun to talk to. They are younger and have a different energy that the kids really enjoy plus the dog on the boat that runs around trying to scare away the sharks. Also, Bob the Cat just joined us and the kids had a great time swimming and jumping off the top of the bimini for hours today. They are all completely exhausted... It is always nice to run into the crew on Bob the Cat! I look forward to drift snorkeling with them tomorrow down the pass. I am a little chicken of the sea, but always feel better when I am with them since we are diving with professionals... marine biologists and dive masters... plus this wouldn't be a very popular dive spot if the guests were always eaten, I imagine.
We will be here for a few more days, enjoying the surroundings and trying to get as much snorkeling and diving in as we can... until we are sick of it. Then we will head to North Fakarava for some reprovisioning, wifi and of course baguettes. Bob the Cat brought us some today... and it was so wonderful. I made a French Dip. Believe it or not,,, I actually had the ingredients for it. We haven't had that meal since we left Lafayette and it was devoured, especially with fresh bread. I am getting sick of cooking out of cans. I am not sure what else to make and all of my meals are stews and soups... I would love to bite into something! It gets to the point where you just don't want to cook anymore... but we have to and the kids are being troopers about it. I have 3 tomatoes, a few carrots, one apple and some green peppers left, any suggestions for recipes would be great. You are not able to buy any fresh fruit or veggies here. So I wont have a store until June 4th when we are in Papeete. That means two more weeks of rice, beans, and canned food. UGH !
Hope all of you can enjoy a nice cup of starbucks/petes/seattles best... for me. I would kill for a regular bottle of pickles that taste like pickles, bread that doesn't fall apart when you handle it, some fruit, a salad.. OMG that would be amazing. The last salad I had was in Nuka Hiva... it seems so long ago.
P.S. the sharks don't like mexican tortilla soup (I made it too spicy and we had to dump it).
Hugs and love to all...
Heath
----------
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Saturday, May 16, 2015
Drift diving in Fakarava
Oh My Gosh, is what I hear from Mimi when we first get on the dock at Fakarava ( the south pass). There are 33 sharks swimming one foot below the dock. When we are finished staring awe struck at the sharks we finally make our way over to the dive shop. At the dive shop there are two people working there Cyrel and Emily. They were both instructors that have been there for four weeks and taking people on dives everyday. The dive instructor Cyrel is talking to my dad and explaining how the drift dive works. It sounded so cool that I couldn't wait for the dive tomorrow. The next day my dad and I are ready to go and dive the pass. When you drift dive, a boat takes you to the outside of the southern pass and drops you off, and then you drift with the current back to the dive shop. With our guide Emily we roll into the water and start descending. The first thing I see besides the bottom sixty feet down is a shark. Then as we start descending I feel the current. The current is strong but it is in the direction we want to go. As the current is pushing gently we are going through screen savers. There are sharks every where and the brightest and biggest fish I have ever seen. As we are going through the pass we grab onto coral and rocks to watch sharks go over us, and under, and hundreds to the sides. As we are drifting we see a cave, it is really cool because it goes back five feet and then there is a passage way on the side that leads farther back. As we reach the end of the dive we see walls of sharks. There are so many going back and forth through the pass that I can't even count them. At the end we just float up a coral wall and go over and we are back where our dinghy is. Know wonder the dive shop says that if you don't see a shark the dive is free!
That was my new favorite dive and I would really recommend it. Unfortunately it takes a little while to get here.
Tristan
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That was my new favorite dive and I would really recommend it. Unfortunately it takes a little while to get here.
Tristan
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Friday, May 15, 2015
Baby Shark, doo - doo, baby shark, doo - doo, doo - doo, dee doo!
Hello Everyone,
We are currently here in Tahanea and are getting ready to leave tomorrow on Friday 5/15 for Fakarava... We will be entering through the south pass and anchoring outside of it for a few days... It is a really special place and well known for its reef dives. The south pass is suppose to be most mellow and beautiful so we will be making our 50 mile passage over there to hang out with the pelagic species for awhile... The Tuamotus are known for their fish and sharks and they never seem to disappoint. We have seen more marine life here than we have seen since the Sea of Cortez. It is really just amazing and the kids are loving it.
I would have thought that Alina and Amaia would have been more concerned about swimming with the sharks but they don't seem to phase them... if only I could feel that way. It is always a little unsettling for me to sit on the back of the boat steps and look into the water and see the beautiful school of purple and blue fish that Amaia is feeding our old bread and crackers to and then look about 10 feet away and see 5 black tip reef sharks just swimming back and forth, back and forth... I am not just talking about for an hour or so... these sharks are constantly circling our boat like they are just praying we fall in. They were here when we anchored 3 days ago and they are still here... making the same swim patterns around and under our boat. Huh....
We met another boat from Switzerland yesterday and they have been cruising the area from New Zealand to the Marquesas for about 3 years now. They have been to many of the islands that we are hoping to go to and have also made many of the passages that we are planning to take. So we invited them over to pick their brains for a little while. They are a retired couple, and anesthesiologist and a gynecologist from Switzerland. They are a wonderful couple and were able to give us many insights as to where to anchor and things to do on our entire route to new Zealand. Some of their advice may have steered us onto another route but that will be determined after we leave Bora Bora... We are trying to decide whether to go to the Cook Islands or go to a little island called Suwarrow and then Niue and then Tonga and then Figi... I know its a hard decision but someone has to make it... It usually boils down to weather, wind direction and swell direction... what makes the most sense.. and then of course how wonderful the islands are and anchorages... also how hard it is to clear customs... New Zealand has very strict policies... they take everything on the boat that may be able to grow something... all beans, rice, seeds, meats, dairy, any food that basically is not in a can... The cook islands are under New Zealand Government so that means that I would have to get rid of all my supplies prior to entering Tonga and/or Samoa... and I am not sure I am ready to dump my food storage that I have worked so hard at getting... I would prefer to eat my way through it...
The couple from this boat love to do the drift dives so I thought it would be great if Chris was able to go with them and check it out to see how to do it. They both said that these dives are not for children because of the current and the fact that you go down about 30 meters... so with that in mind I sent the biggest kid of all with them. While he was drift diving Tristan, the 2 girls and I went to a little island next to the pass with the kayak and explored this tiny little sand spit that was completely crawling with hermit crabs of all sizes... the girls had a great time with this and we have ended up with a few new little pets... Maybe they will just get relocated to a new island in Fakarava...
After Chris got back we headed out to a coral reef that Tristan and Chris dove 2 days ago. They really enjoyed it and wanted to bring everyone back. We have been trying a number of combinations with the 2 small girls as to how best to keep them somewhat afloat and not drift away... Their masks often leak, or they lose a flipper, or they just need to get the water out of their mask... so we have tried giving them noodles to take with them, didn't work. Today we tried life jackets... they don't work because for one, the life jackets push against their masks and create water leaks. Secondly and most importantly they can't dive under the water. Both girls love to go deep down so they have tossed their snorkels and are just little free divers... they love to try to get as close as possible or pick up shells on the bottom of the floor. It is really cute but they also have a tendency to get tired and then are trying to climb on top of me for a break... NOT working for me...
This little reef was really fun because it was pretty deep on the outside and you could swim all around it. All the kids were having fun swimming around and checking out all the little baby fish, then the bigger fish, then the pretty big fish, and then of course the spotted eagle ray and the black tip reef sharks. The food chain is all right in front of you. It is really amazing how the fish start small at the top of the coral and then the farther out and deeper down you go they just get bigger. The spotted eagle ray was really amazing and fun to watch but Chris had startled it and it took off really fast right at me... I can say that is scared me... I am not as fearless in the water as the little ones... Just not my environment and I am a nervous nelly watching all these giant things swim around me.... I am really glad that the girls are not phased by these things and truly appreciate seeing them. When we got back to the boat I guess the girls weren't done swimming yet... Even after seeing the 5 sharks circling the boat for the last 3 days, and I mean coming in so close you could touch them, the girls all jumped in and starting playing around the boat... Alexia, Amaia and Alina were all swimming around and I guess it goes to show that even the sharks know when they are out numbered and when they should be afraid.. They all scattered and didn't come back until it was getting dark..
We ended the night with a few of the floating lanterns (think of the movie "Tangled") that we had bought at Christmas time. The wind was perfect, lightly blowing away from us and shore. When we had bought the lanterns, we didn't realize how little opportunities we would have to be able to use them... it always seems that the wind is to strong, we are facing toward land, or other combinations that are lets just say not right... Tonight we were able to successfully send off 5 out of 7 and the kids had a really good time with it. They are truly beautiful to watch and it is crazy how they can illuminate the water for so long.
We are looking forward to Fakarava "new favorite word". We are hoping to go to a pearl farm, see the village, find some WIFI... hopefully, more snorkeling and of course the sharks... The dive shops in Fakarava, "If you don't see a shark, the dive is free!" I don't think they have ever given away a free dive. Hee Hee.
Hugs and Love to all,
Heath
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We are currently here in Tahanea and are getting ready to leave tomorrow on Friday 5/15 for Fakarava... We will be entering through the south pass and anchoring outside of it for a few days... It is a really special place and well known for its reef dives. The south pass is suppose to be most mellow and beautiful so we will be making our 50 mile passage over there to hang out with the pelagic species for awhile... The Tuamotus are known for their fish and sharks and they never seem to disappoint. We have seen more marine life here than we have seen since the Sea of Cortez. It is really just amazing and the kids are loving it.
I would have thought that Alina and Amaia would have been more concerned about swimming with the sharks but they don't seem to phase them... if only I could feel that way. It is always a little unsettling for me to sit on the back of the boat steps and look into the water and see the beautiful school of purple and blue fish that Amaia is feeding our old bread and crackers to and then look about 10 feet away and see 5 black tip reef sharks just swimming back and forth, back and forth... I am not just talking about for an hour or so... these sharks are constantly circling our boat like they are just praying we fall in. They were here when we anchored 3 days ago and they are still here... making the same swim patterns around and under our boat. Huh....
We met another boat from Switzerland yesterday and they have been cruising the area from New Zealand to the Marquesas for about 3 years now. They have been to many of the islands that we are hoping to go to and have also made many of the passages that we are planning to take. So we invited them over to pick their brains for a little while. They are a retired couple, and anesthesiologist and a gynecologist from Switzerland. They are a wonderful couple and were able to give us many insights as to where to anchor and things to do on our entire route to new Zealand. Some of their advice may have steered us onto another route but that will be determined after we leave Bora Bora... We are trying to decide whether to go to the Cook Islands or go to a little island called Suwarrow and then Niue and then Tonga and then Figi... I know its a hard decision but someone has to make it... It usually boils down to weather, wind direction and swell direction... what makes the most sense.. and then of course how wonderful the islands are and anchorages... also how hard it is to clear customs... New Zealand has very strict policies... they take everything on the boat that may be able to grow something... all beans, rice, seeds, meats, dairy, any food that basically is not in a can... The cook islands are under New Zealand Government so that means that I would have to get rid of all my supplies prior to entering Tonga and/or Samoa... and I am not sure I am ready to dump my food storage that I have worked so hard at getting... I would prefer to eat my way through it...
The couple from this boat love to do the drift dives so I thought it would be great if Chris was able to go with them and check it out to see how to do it. They both said that these dives are not for children because of the current and the fact that you go down about 30 meters... so with that in mind I sent the biggest kid of all with them. While he was drift diving Tristan, the 2 girls and I went to a little island next to the pass with the kayak and explored this tiny little sand spit that was completely crawling with hermit crabs of all sizes... the girls had a great time with this and we have ended up with a few new little pets... Maybe they will just get relocated to a new island in Fakarava...
After Chris got back we headed out to a coral reef that Tristan and Chris dove 2 days ago. They really enjoyed it and wanted to bring everyone back. We have been trying a number of combinations with the 2 small girls as to how best to keep them somewhat afloat and not drift away... Their masks often leak, or they lose a flipper, or they just need to get the water out of their mask... so we have tried giving them noodles to take with them, didn't work. Today we tried life jackets... they don't work because for one, the life jackets push against their masks and create water leaks. Secondly and most importantly they can't dive under the water. Both girls love to go deep down so they have tossed their snorkels and are just little free divers... they love to try to get as close as possible or pick up shells on the bottom of the floor. It is really cute but they also have a tendency to get tired and then are trying to climb on top of me for a break... NOT working for me...
This little reef was really fun because it was pretty deep on the outside and you could swim all around it. All the kids were having fun swimming around and checking out all the little baby fish, then the bigger fish, then the pretty big fish, and then of course the spotted eagle ray and the black tip reef sharks. The food chain is all right in front of you. It is really amazing how the fish start small at the top of the coral and then the farther out and deeper down you go they just get bigger. The spotted eagle ray was really amazing and fun to watch but Chris had startled it and it took off really fast right at me... I can say that is scared me... I am not as fearless in the water as the little ones... Just not my environment and I am a nervous nelly watching all these giant things swim around me.... I am really glad that the girls are not phased by these things and truly appreciate seeing them. When we got back to the boat I guess the girls weren't done swimming yet... Even after seeing the 5 sharks circling the boat for the last 3 days, and I mean coming in so close you could touch them, the girls all jumped in and starting playing around the boat... Alexia, Amaia and Alina were all swimming around and I guess it goes to show that even the sharks know when they are out numbered and when they should be afraid.. They all scattered and didn't come back until it was getting dark..
We ended the night with a few of the floating lanterns (think of the movie "Tangled") that we had bought at Christmas time. The wind was perfect, lightly blowing away from us and shore. When we had bought the lanterns, we didn't realize how little opportunities we would have to be able to use them... it always seems that the wind is to strong, we are facing toward land, or other combinations that are lets just say not right... Tonight we were able to successfully send off 5 out of 7 and the kids had a really good time with it. They are truly beautiful to watch and it is crazy how they can illuminate the water for so long.
We are looking forward to Fakarava "new favorite word". We are hoping to go to a pearl farm, see the village, find some WIFI... hopefully, more snorkeling and of course the sharks... The dive shops in Fakarava, "If you don't see a shark, the dive is free!" I don't think they have ever given away a free dive. Hee Hee.
Hugs and Love to all,
Heath
----------
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Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Drifiting at sea... heading to Tahanea Atoll in the Tuamotu
Hello everyone,
We had a really wonderful time at Makemo. The last couple of days have been the best snorkeling we have ever done... The kids were so amazed at how much life there was on the reef that we had anchored close to. We were fortunate enough to find 3 octopus, several new species of reef fish, oysters, and lots of curious black tip reef sharks. It has been beautiful weather with little wind and sunny skies... this makes the reef and all its colors so vibrant. It literally is like swimming in an aquarium... I kept thinking I would turn around and see a bunch of faces smooshed up against a large glass wall as if we were in the California Academy of Sciences tropical fish Aquarium exhibit... but the only thing that I would see is more fish. The fish don't seem to be bothered by us either. Often if you just float there they all come out and do their thing and you can watch them forever it seems... It did surprise me how easily we got used to swimming with the black tip reef sharks... This was one of my fears because it just seems unsettling when you think about swimming with sharks that are 4 - 6 feet long... sometimes bigger. The best part of these guys is that they are curious but they really do keep their distance and swim away when you turn to watch them... when they see you looking at them I guess it loses the sport of the sneaking up... I think the one thing that is so amazing down there are the clams...! It is weird to say but they are so beautiful and in so many colors... now I am not talking about their shells but the muscle inside. They are all neon colors of blue, green, purple, orange and such... they look like inviting 70's pillows... When I see them I keep thinking of the movie, "Little Shop of Horrors" and the Plant that comes to life... Feed my Seymour! They look like lips that open and close when you swim by... and some of them are a really good size...and then you can swim up to a coral head and they are all imbedded in it so when you swim by the whole coral head is moving with the vibrant colors... its really amazing!
Right now we are at 16.36.147S and 144.22.078W, heading is 232 degrees going 3.8 knts (with motors) and true wind speed is Zero!. We left Makemo through the pass today at 2:00pm... the wind was blowing 11 knts and it was pretty calm waters... There was cloud cover today so it was pretty hard to see the coral reefs inside the lagoon... I didn't like that, especially when I missed one and saw it on our starboard side right next to the boat... they really are hard to see if the sun is not showing them... or if it is creating a glare on the water... so you really do have to move about the atoll when the sun is high. Going through the pass was uneventful... Chris timed it as good as he could with this silly Pass Guestimater... we still have 2.5 knots of current so it wasn't exactly slack tide... but at least it has been under 4 knts and smooth. When we got out of the lagoon the wind shut down... to 4 knts and the water was pretty flat... We only need to go 40 miles in 17 hours so we are just drifting along until we get to the pass and then we will wait outside of it until it is time to go through. I just woke for my shift tonight and when I came out... it was literally dead calm out here... ZERO wind, the stars were reflecting off the ocean like you were on a lake and the only ripples on the water were from me when I turned the motors on to just get a little air in my face... this is the first time I have experienced this out on the ocean. Last night in the lagoon it was like this, it was so beautiful that we tried over and over again to capture it with a time delay on the camera... the boat felt like it was on dry dock, we could see the bottom of the sea floor when we put our dive lights on.. and that was at about 30 feet... at night! When I first turned them on a giant manta ray had swam under our boat and then away... but after that we realized we aren't in the sea of cortez anymore and unless you are snorkeling a reef... there isn't any thing to watch... so we turned the dive lights off and watched the twinkling in the water from the bio luminescence... or phosphorescence...
We are all doing great... the kids are getting some home school done.. the pace has slowed down so we can get into a somewhat of a routine, breakfast, school, snorkeling/diving, dinner and bed... not much else to do... maybe a movie in there somewhere... for the most part the kids are getting along great... except tonight as we were underway... Amaia and Alina had an argument over what movie to watch on the computer... I am sitting outside talking to Kaela and all I hear from Amaia, in her grumpy sarcastic voice, as she walks by to go downstairs is, "Why do we keep her anyway?"!! Like Alina is a pet or something.... Hee Hee...
We are all a little home sick and often find ourselves sitting around the table after dinner talking of home, the house, funny stories with friends, and all the good things we like back at home... Alina said, "I can't wait to sit by the heater in the morning" which is one of their little routines when I wake them up for school... I can't even remember what it feels like to wear pants let alone sit by a heater... It is fun for us to reminisce about what we miss and what we will look forward to when we get home... It seems like a long time until that happens and we miss everyone so much but we know it is going to go by so fast (already has, 7 months so far) and we are enjoying everything else about the trip, of course there are no regrets from any of us...
Life is good!
Hugs and love to everyone...
Heath
----------
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We had a really wonderful time at Makemo. The last couple of days have been the best snorkeling we have ever done... The kids were so amazed at how much life there was on the reef that we had anchored close to. We were fortunate enough to find 3 octopus, several new species of reef fish, oysters, and lots of curious black tip reef sharks. It has been beautiful weather with little wind and sunny skies... this makes the reef and all its colors so vibrant. It literally is like swimming in an aquarium... I kept thinking I would turn around and see a bunch of faces smooshed up against a large glass wall as if we were in the California Academy of Sciences tropical fish Aquarium exhibit... but the only thing that I would see is more fish. The fish don't seem to be bothered by us either. Often if you just float there they all come out and do their thing and you can watch them forever it seems... It did surprise me how easily we got used to swimming with the black tip reef sharks... This was one of my fears because it just seems unsettling when you think about swimming with sharks that are 4 - 6 feet long... sometimes bigger. The best part of these guys is that they are curious but they really do keep their distance and swim away when you turn to watch them... when they see you looking at them I guess it loses the sport of the sneaking up... I think the one thing that is so amazing down there are the clams...! It is weird to say but they are so beautiful and in so many colors... now I am not talking about their shells but the muscle inside. They are all neon colors of blue, green, purple, orange and such... they look like inviting 70's pillows... When I see them I keep thinking of the movie, "Little Shop of Horrors" and the Plant that comes to life... Feed my Seymour! They look like lips that open and close when you swim by... and some of them are a really good size...and then you can swim up to a coral head and they are all imbedded in it so when you swim by the whole coral head is moving with the vibrant colors... its really amazing!
Right now we are at 16.36.147S and 144.22.078W, heading is 232 degrees going 3.8 knts (with motors) and true wind speed is Zero!. We left Makemo through the pass today at 2:00pm... the wind was blowing 11 knts and it was pretty calm waters... There was cloud cover today so it was pretty hard to see the coral reefs inside the lagoon... I didn't like that, especially when I missed one and saw it on our starboard side right next to the boat... they really are hard to see if the sun is not showing them... or if it is creating a glare on the water... so you really do have to move about the atoll when the sun is high. Going through the pass was uneventful... Chris timed it as good as he could with this silly Pass Guestimater... we still have 2.5 knots of current so it wasn't exactly slack tide... but at least it has been under 4 knts and smooth. When we got out of the lagoon the wind shut down... to 4 knts and the water was pretty flat... We only need to go 40 miles in 17 hours so we are just drifting along until we get to the pass and then we will wait outside of it until it is time to go through. I just woke for my shift tonight and when I came out... it was literally dead calm out here... ZERO wind, the stars were reflecting off the ocean like you were on a lake and the only ripples on the water were from me when I turned the motors on to just get a little air in my face... this is the first time I have experienced this out on the ocean. Last night in the lagoon it was like this, it was so beautiful that we tried over and over again to capture it with a time delay on the camera... the boat felt like it was on dry dock, we could see the bottom of the sea floor when we put our dive lights on.. and that was at about 30 feet... at night! When I first turned them on a giant manta ray had swam under our boat and then away... but after that we realized we aren't in the sea of cortez anymore and unless you are snorkeling a reef... there isn't any thing to watch... so we turned the dive lights off and watched the twinkling in the water from the bio luminescence... or phosphorescence...
We are all doing great... the kids are getting some home school done.. the pace has slowed down so we can get into a somewhat of a routine, breakfast, school, snorkeling/diving, dinner and bed... not much else to do... maybe a movie in there somewhere... for the most part the kids are getting along great... except tonight as we were underway... Amaia and Alina had an argument over what movie to watch on the computer... I am sitting outside talking to Kaela and all I hear from Amaia, in her grumpy sarcastic voice, as she walks by to go downstairs is, "Why do we keep her anyway?"!! Like Alina is a pet or something.... Hee Hee...
We are all a little home sick and often find ourselves sitting around the table after dinner talking of home, the house, funny stories with friends, and all the good things we like back at home... Alina said, "I can't wait to sit by the heater in the morning" which is one of their little routines when I wake them up for school... I can't even remember what it feels like to wear pants let alone sit by a heater... It is fun for us to reminisce about what we miss and what we will look forward to when we get home... It seems like a long time until that happens and we miss everyone so much but we know it is going to go by so fast (already has, 7 months so far) and we are enjoying everything else about the trip, of course there are no regrets from any of us...
Life is good!
Hugs and love to everyone...
Heath
----------
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Monday, May 11, 2015
Essence or Gasoil??? Parlez vous le Franglais?
We've been enjoying a totally different experience here in the Tuamotus, in Makemo atoll. We have flat water anchorages, with clear water, and no land higher than 6 feet above water level. The speed is slower, much of it influenced by the lack of people, and the total lack of other cruising sailboats. We shared the Makemo village anchorage with two other boats, and for the last two nights we have been the only boat we can see for the horizon, all while anchored in turquoise water in front of white sand beaches dotted with palm trees. Its nice to slow it down and have new experiences.
A new experience for me was getting gas and diesel from a source other that a fuel station. We actually have enough diesel to make an Arab Sheik jealous, (thats a story for another time), but we havent been able to get gasoline recently for our outboard engines, and I knew we'd be using the dinghy a lot in these islands as we do diving explorations. We had been told you couldn't get fuel in many places in the Tuamotus, so I was pleasantly surprised when, with my limited french, the young store clerk in Makemo said they could supply us Gasoil! I happily got our jerry cans and returned to a shed behind the small store, hoping to score 60 liters of gas. The shed itself was a sight to see, built with corrugated tin roofing material and housing two rows of 55 gallon drums of fuel- and in the open drum stood a manual siphon hose pump. I asked to make sure we were getting the right fuel, as I had read some cruising article about this- and she showed me a recent model Dodge truck that supposedly used the fuel- so I felt pretty good about what we were getting. Filling the jerry cans took a while, tipping the drum to get the fuel out of the bottom corner, and after looking at her inventory, she said she could only sell us 40 liters- which was a good enough start for us. These islands seem even more remote than the Marquesas, and they have to make fuel last a long time, and make every rain drop count in to their water catchment systems - it isnt an easy life.
I happily returned to the boat, and added some oil to our new dinghy fuel, and set up for a diving exploration with Tristan- we scooted out to a site, dove around the reef a bit and reloaded to head back and get the other snorkelers. Our trouble started almost immediately, as the engine bogged down dramatically and started smoking and belching unburnt fuel - it eventually sputtered to a halt, and no coaxing would get it started again. I immediately suspected the new fuel, and sadly wondered whether we had unfortunately been sold diesel, and now had diesel in our 3 month old two stroke gasoline outboard. We thankfully had brought a radio, and Heather brought us our small backup outboard on the kayak, so that we could get back to our boat and assess.
Bummed on many levels - language issues, brand new outboard harmed? what resolution? I knew I needed to use the last bit of our good gas, and to clean out the fuel system and carb- but would it need a rebuild? I puttered over to Yara, a 40 foot catamaran from Germany we had met the day before, and whom we shared the anchorage with. Ursula and Robert were welcoming and Robert helped me diagnose the issue by both of us sniffing different fuels from different sources- and then talking about how to rehab the new outboard. He assured me that Diesel in a gas engine was Much better than gas in a diesel engine- which can be terminal. Heather encouraged me to go back to the store before they closed on a late Saturday afternoon, and when I got there, I found another person with a bit more English, and together with a local fisherman who looked at my outboard belly up in the dinghy, we determined that Gasoil is indeed Diesel..... and that what we were after was "Essence". The store clerk was very apologetic and embarassed, and I let me return our uncontaminated fuel, and pick up 60 liters of "Essence", and a free Hinano beer. I drank the beer first, and with a headlamp that evening I went about draining the carburetor and fuel system and getting the outboard to finally start up again and begin spewing out its remnants of diesel in bursts of oily clouds. Now that its run about a gallon more through it, it seems like we avoided major harm, and I gained more "experience" to draw from. Its also a great reminder that I need to keep working on my languages for future cruises!
Makemo has otherwise been a very pleasant surprise with wonderful locals, crystal clear water, and even pay-for slow wifi in the anchorage! We'll update you more on our latest adventures of fires, octopuses and sharks!
CHRIS
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A new experience for me was getting gas and diesel from a source other that a fuel station. We actually have enough diesel to make an Arab Sheik jealous, (thats a story for another time), but we havent been able to get gasoline recently for our outboard engines, and I knew we'd be using the dinghy a lot in these islands as we do diving explorations. We had been told you couldn't get fuel in many places in the Tuamotus, so I was pleasantly surprised when, with my limited french, the young store clerk in Makemo said they could supply us Gasoil! I happily got our jerry cans and returned to a shed behind the small store, hoping to score 60 liters of gas. The shed itself was a sight to see, built with corrugated tin roofing material and housing two rows of 55 gallon drums of fuel- and in the open drum stood a manual siphon hose pump. I asked to make sure we were getting the right fuel, as I had read some cruising article about this- and she showed me a recent model Dodge truck that supposedly used the fuel- so I felt pretty good about what we were getting. Filling the jerry cans took a while, tipping the drum to get the fuel out of the bottom corner, and after looking at her inventory, she said she could only sell us 40 liters- which was a good enough start for us. These islands seem even more remote than the Marquesas, and they have to make fuel last a long time, and make every rain drop count in to their water catchment systems - it isnt an easy life.
I happily returned to the boat, and added some oil to our new dinghy fuel, and set up for a diving exploration with Tristan- we scooted out to a site, dove around the reef a bit and reloaded to head back and get the other snorkelers. Our trouble started almost immediately, as the engine bogged down dramatically and started smoking and belching unburnt fuel - it eventually sputtered to a halt, and no coaxing would get it started again. I immediately suspected the new fuel, and sadly wondered whether we had unfortunately been sold diesel, and now had diesel in our 3 month old two stroke gasoline outboard. We thankfully had brought a radio, and Heather brought us our small backup outboard on the kayak, so that we could get back to our boat and assess.
Bummed on many levels - language issues, brand new outboard harmed? what resolution? I knew I needed to use the last bit of our good gas, and to clean out the fuel system and carb- but would it need a rebuild? I puttered over to Yara, a 40 foot catamaran from Germany we had met the day before, and whom we shared the anchorage with. Ursula and Robert were welcoming and Robert helped me diagnose the issue by both of us sniffing different fuels from different sources- and then talking about how to rehab the new outboard. He assured me that Diesel in a gas engine was Much better than gas in a diesel engine- which can be terminal. Heather encouraged me to go back to the store before they closed on a late Saturday afternoon, and when I got there, I found another person with a bit more English, and together with a local fisherman who looked at my outboard belly up in the dinghy, we determined that Gasoil is indeed Diesel..... and that what we were after was "Essence". The store clerk was very apologetic and embarassed, and I let me return our uncontaminated fuel, and pick up 60 liters of "Essence", and a free Hinano beer. I drank the beer first, and with a headlamp that evening I went about draining the carburetor and fuel system and getting the outboard to finally start up again and begin spewing out its remnants of diesel in bursts of oily clouds. Now that its run about a gallon more through it, it seems like we avoided major harm, and I gained more "experience" to draw from. Its also a great reminder that I need to keep working on my languages for future cruises!
Makemo has otherwise been a very pleasant surprise with wonderful locals, crystal clear water, and even pay-for slow wifi in the anchorage! We'll update you more on our latest adventures of fires, octopuses and sharks!
CHRIS
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Sunday, May 10, 2015
Happy Mothers Day! Late.. SSB wasn't working Sunday.. sorry!
Hello Everyone,
A Special Happy Mother's day to my mom, Oma, Kristi, Julia, Veronica, Morgan, Shannon, Heidi and all my best friends at home..
I hope all of you mothers out there had a very fantastic Mother's Day. This is the first year in 7 years that I haven't gone with all my besties down to Solvang California to run the Mother's Day Half Marathon. We usually go down the night before and have a nice dinner and then run that morning, go to Santa Barbara for a wonderful stay on the beach and another nice dinner and then leave early in the morning to come home and spend the rest of the day with the family.... So I woke up this morning thinking... I should go running... just kidding... I don't think I could run 20 yards let alone 13 miles right now. But I did spend a lot of time thinking about all the fun I always had this weekend and how spoiled I felt being able to spend it with my sisters and friends and my family... I miss you guys tons and it was an emotional morning for me. I realized on these special days when we are usually with family that is it hard to be so isolated. Sometimes you really do feel like you are stranded on an island... and I just want to go home and give everyone a big hug. I am really really looking forward to seeing everyone.
Today was very special though... the kids and Chris spoiled me rotten by letting me be pirate queen for the day.... Chris started by making breakfast for everyone and then each of the kids gave me really special cards they had made. I love their little drawings and sayings, like your the bestest mom I could ever ask for.. I am thankful for all the cooking you do for me... Really cute.
We decided to start moving the boat up shore so when you sail in the Tuamotus you need to move between the hours of 10 and 2 when the sun is at its highest so you can see all the coral reefs that pop out of nowhere... and they aren't joking when they say to make sure to be on the look out... so I was again Pirate queen for the day and got to have the look out post in the main sail bag with a bean bag chair. These coral reefs are amazing and they are scattered throughout the lagoon... we got really close to a couple and almost hit a sneaker one that we didn't see until it was already beside the boat. We anchored and spent the day on the beach catching baseball size hermit crabs, knocking coconuts out of the trees and eating and drinking the water out of them... and then Mykaela decided to climb a coconut tree... pretty funny watching her do this in her tiny bathing suit... lets just say that next time she will wear more clothing so that she doesn't get so scratched up.... lesson learned but had fun climbing up there. As we were watching her climb Tristan looked over at the water and saw a small black tip reef shark.... what we realized was that that was the baby because a minute longer and this 5 foot shark swam by us about 6 feet from the shore... Um okay... that was our first shark seeing it swim by in the water we are snorkeling in... kind of exciting until I look up and see that it is swimming toward Chris, Amaia and Alina who are out playing around snorkeling around the reefs about 20 feet from shore... it was uneventful and the shark must have just left but still a little unnerving.
We got back to the boat and we hear Amaia saying, "Look it is a sea lion. Wait, no that is another shark... She is getting really good at identifying them now and it was fun to watch it swim around the boat and check things out for awhile... We are excited about a beach bonfire for tomorrow but for tonight Tristan is making his special Pizza Dinner from scratch for me. He has become quite good at making the dough, sauce and then putting everything together that we are proud to say it is our favorite pizza since we left the states... Yum.
We will be staying here for another night or so and then heading over to our next Atoll called Tahanea. This Atoll is now a natural reserve park, and completely deserted.... should be fun and it is suppose to be absolutely beautiful. Getting in and out of the atolls are quite challenging and you always seem to relax once you have made it through... they need to be done again between the hours of 10 - 2 so that you can see the reefs. So eventhough the next destination is only 50 miles we will need to time it so that we leave here at noon and enter the next atoll around the same time... we also have to go through them when it is slack tide. Some of the atolls have a passage that have a 10knt current to either fight against or go with... either way you don't want to be in that river with your boat... so there is a lot of waiting.. Wish us luck :@)
Hugs and love to everyone...
Heather
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A Special Happy Mother's day to my mom, Oma, Kristi, Julia, Veronica, Morgan, Shannon, Heidi and all my best friends at home..
I hope all of you mothers out there had a very fantastic Mother's Day. This is the first year in 7 years that I haven't gone with all my besties down to Solvang California to run the Mother's Day Half Marathon. We usually go down the night before and have a nice dinner and then run that morning, go to Santa Barbara for a wonderful stay on the beach and another nice dinner and then leave early in the morning to come home and spend the rest of the day with the family.... So I woke up this morning thinking... I should go running... just kidding... I don't think I could run 20 yards let alone 13 miles right now. But I did spend a lot of time thinking about all the fun I always had this weekend and how spoiled I felt being able to spend it with my sisters and friends and my family... I miss you guys tons and it was an emotional morning for me. I realized on these special days when we are usually with family that is it hard to be so isolated. Sometimes you really do feel like you are stranded on an island... and I just want to go home and give everyone a big hug. I am really really looking forward to seeing everyone.
Today was very special though... the kids and Chris spoiled me rotten by letting me be pirate queen for the day.... Chris started by making breakfast for everyone and then each of the kids gave me really special cards they had made. I love their little drawings and sayings, like your the bestest mom I could ever ask for.. I am thankful for all the cooking you do for me... Really cute.
We decided to start moving the boat up shore so when you sail in the Tuamotus you need to move between the hours of 10 and 2 when the sun is at its highest so you can see all the coral reefs that pop out of nowhere... and they aren't joking when they say to make sure to be on the look out... so I was again Pirate queen for the day and got to have the look out post in the main sail bag with a bean bag chair. These coral reefs are amazing and they are scattered throughout the lagoon... we got really close to a couple and almost hit a sneaker one that we didn't see until it was already beside the boat. We anchored and spent the day on the beach catching baseball size hermit crabs, knocking coconuts out of the trees and eating and drinking the water out of them... and then Mykaela decided to climb a coconut tree... pretty funny watching her do this in her tiny bathing suit... lets just say that next time she will wear more clothing so that she doesn't get so scratched up.... lesson learned but had fun climbing up there. As we were watching her climb Tristan looked over at the water and saw a small black tip reef shark.... what we realized was that that was the baby because a minute longer and this 5 foot shark swam by us about 6 feet from the shore... Um okay... that was our first shark seeing it swim by in the water we are snorkeling in... kind of exciting until I look up and see that it is swimming toward Chris, Amaia and Alina who are out playing around snorkeling around the reefs about 20 feet from shore... it was uneventful and the shark must have just left but still a little unnerving.
We got back to the boat and we hear Amaia saying, "Look it is a sea lion. Wait, no that is another shark... She is getting really good at identifying them now and it was fun to watch it swim around the boat and check things out for awhile... We are excited about a beach bonfire for tomorrow but for tonight Tristan is making his special Pizza Dinner from scratch for me. He has become quite good at making the dough, sauce and then putting everything together that we are proud to say it is our favorite pizza since we left the states... Yum.
We will be staying here for another night or so and then heading over to our next Atoll called Tahanea. This Atoll is now a natural reserve park, and completely deserted.... should be fun and it is suppose to be absolutely beautiful. Getting in and out of the atolls are quite challenging and you always seem to relax once you have made it through... they need to be done again between the hours of 10 - 2 so that you can see the reefs. So eventhough the next destination is only 50 miles we will need to time it so that we leave here at noon and enter the next atoll around the same time... we also have to go through them when it is slack tide. Some of the atolls have a passage that have a 10knt current to either fight against or go with... either way you don't want to be in that river with your boat... so there is a lot of waiting.. Wish us luck :@)
Hugs and love to everyone...
Heather
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Friday, May 8, 2015
Tuamotu: Makemo Atoll
Hello Everyone,
We are now anchored off the village in the Atoll of Makemo, it is sunset and I am having a nice little sunset drink. Amaia and Alina are playing their new favorite game... chess on the computer. Chris, Tristan and Alexia are scub diving around the boat... Life is all GOOD!
It is really nice here with a great anchorage in mostly sandy bottom and water visibility for about 60 feet.. We were so excited to get back into the crystal clear waters again. The Marquesas Islands are amazing in their own way but crystal clear water and white sandy beaches are hard to find... in fact we only found two that worked for us. One on Hiva Oa and one on Tuahata... So you can imagine the kids amazement when we came into the atoll and we could see all the coral heads and sandy spots below us.
As soon as we dropped anchor Chris, Tristan and Alexia jumped into the water to see what was below the boat. Chris always goes to double check the anchor but the other 2 kids couldn't stay out of the water... they were so excited to go swimming and looking for fish... then we needed to get into town to check things out before the stores closed... we finally all got it together (for some reason this is always a feet on its own... about 30 minute process) and into the "car" (dinghy) and headed into shore with Amaia and Alina half hanging over the boat looking at all the fish swimming out of our way. We walked around town and found 2 stores open... we didn't know it was a french holiday and most of the village was closed for business. As we were walking around town we noticed that all the kids were out playing, fishing, swimming, riding bikes and most of the adults were hanging out laying in hammocks and relaxing... it should have been our first clue since it was noon on Friday... Never the less we found a store that was provisioned with a lot of the stuff we would normally buy and in addition they had the Hawaiian Icees that Pifa gave us on Hiva oa.. the grandma that ran the store made them and sold them out of the freezer.. The kids were ecstatic and I found chicken and rice that she had made... my new favorite plate lunch... so good.. so we all sat on the curb outside the store and shared the chicken and rice before we went to discover more... There isn't much to this village but from what we could see they are impressively modern with their houses, rain catching systems, gardens and satellite dishes... The roads are all paved and cement fences line the streets for all the homes... The town is having organized sports game in the arena right next to the dock in front of us... they have a pretty good turn out with all ages, music playing, barbequeing, and games. I am hoping that tomorrow we can find some wifi in order to upload some pictures... I never imagined how hard it would be to find wifi, and when you do to have the wifi strong enough to handle uploading a picture or two. This has been a really big disappointment and I feel so spoiled in saying that but I am so excited in everything that we are seeing I really want to share all the pictures so that you can see what I am talking about... for now you will have to do your best in imagining off of my feeble attempt of describing things.
After walking through town we came back to the boat and we all went swimming again... the bigger kids did school work so that they could go scuba diving with Chris, but the little girls and Kaela and I jumped into the water... Alina has taken a liking to swimming in the buff so it is really cute when she has her little pink mask on and goes bottoms up to see the fish below... she is so not shy and loving the freedom... Okay I am a little jealous.. Both Amaia and Alina have taken a real liking to using the mask and going on a search to find fish... they are loving being in the water (especially the clear water) and are often in there for hours... The water temp is 84.2 degrees so it is easy to stay in there and play for awhile. I think they are both turning into H2O Mermaids...
We just had our first visitors from the village... 3 boys came up to the boat ages 13 (George), 16 (Sedrick) and 17 (An Island name I didn't quite catch... He was the shy one that stayed in his boat and chased down Kaela and Chris), they were all brothers and had 2 younger brothers at home.... they were just hanging out trying to talk to Kaela and I... With my lack of French and their little English we didn't get very far until Chris surfaced from below with the scuba gear.... they were really cute... they spoke just a little English and finally we figured out that they were asking if we wanted to try to use their single man outrigger canoes ... so Mykaela and Chris jumped in and had a blast with them while the 3rd boy chased them around and helped them to right the canoe when they tipped it over. These canoes as they discovered are very light, fast and very tippy.. thankfully they are easy to right when upside down.. The boys were so cute hanging out on the boat and laughing when Mykaela and Chris tipped over... the first time Mykaela tipped over the 2 boys dove off the boat and swam after her... After Chris was done Tristan got to have a turn... He loved it and was a proven pro just like Chris and Kaela... It was so fun to watch them racing in the sunset.... what a great way to end an evening... I gave them a big bag of candy to share... One boy wouldn't take it but the other brother said... Yes! I love chocolate... Merci!
They may come back tomorrow and if they do I would love to try one myself.... It was too cold for me tonight. I think we will stay here one more night and then move along the coast up to the exit passage in the next few days and off to the another Atoll.... I am still in search for my Black Pearl... I am hoping that Chris will find one in one of the abandoned Pearl Farms... We will see...
Hugs and Love to everyone...
Heath
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We are now anchored off the village in the Atoll of Makemo, it is sunset and I am having a nice little sunset drink. Amaia and Alina are playing their new favorite game... chess on the computer. Chris, Tristan and Alexia are scub diving around the boat... Life is all GOOD!
It is really nice here with a great anchorage in mostly sandy bottom and water visibility for about 60 feet.. We were so excited to get back into the crystal clear waters again. The Marquesas Islands are amazing in their own way but crystal clear water and white sandy beaches are hard to find... in fact we only found two that worked for us. One on Hiva Oa and one on Tuahata... So you can imagine the kids amazement when we came into the atoll and we could see all the coral heads and sandy spots below us.
As soon as we dropped anchor Chris, Tristan and Alexia jumped into the water to see what was below the boat. Chris always goes to double check the anchor but the other 2 kids couldn't stay out of the water... they were so excited to go swimming and looking for fish... then we needed to get into town to check things out before the stores closed... we finally all got it together (for some reason this is always a feet on its own... about 30 minute process) and into the "car" (dinghy) and headed into shore with Amaia and Alina half hanging over the boat looking at all the fish swimming out of our way. We walked around town and found 2 stores open... we didn't know it was a french holiday and most of the village was closed for business. As we were walking around town we noticed that all the kids were out playing, fishing, swimming, riding bikes and most of the adults were hanging out laying in hammocks and relaxing... it should have been our first clue since it was noon on Friday... Never the less we found a store that was provisioned with a lot of the stuff we would normally buy and in addition they had the Hawaiian Icees that Pifa gave us on Hiva oa.. the grandma that ran the store made them and sold them out of the freezer.. The kids were ecstatic and I found chicken and rice that she had made... my new favorite plate lunch... so good.. so we all sat on the curb outside the store and shared the chicken and rice before we went to discover more... There isn't much to this village but from what we could see they are impressively modern with their houses, rain catching systems, gardens and satellite dishes... The roads are all paved and cement fences line the streets for all the homes... The town is having organized sports game in the arena right next to the dock in front of us... they have a pretty good turn out with all ages, music playing, barbequeing, and games. I am hoping that tomorrow we can find some wifi in order to upload some pictures... I never imagined how hard it would be to find wifi, and when you do to have the wifi strong enough to handle uploading a picture or two. This has been a really big disappointment and I feel so spoiled in saying that but I am so excited in everything that we are seeing I really want to share all the pictures so that you can see what I am talking about... for now you will have to do your best in imagining off of my feeble attempt of describing things.
After walking through town we came back to the boat and we all went swimming again... the bigger kids did school work so that they could go scuba diving with Chris, but the little girls and Kaela and I jumped into the water... Alina has taken a liking to swimming in the buff so it is really cute when she has her little pink mask on and goes bottoms up to see the fish below... she is so not shy and loving the freedom... Okay I am a little jealous.. Both Amaia and Alina have taken a real liking to using the mask and going on a search to find fish... they are loving being in the water (especially the clear water) and are often in there for hours... The water temp is 84.2 degrees so it is easy to stay in there and play for awhile. I think they are both turning into H2O Mermaids...
We just had our first visitors from the village... 3 boys came up to the boat ages 13 (George), 16 (Sedrick) and 17 (An Island name I didn't quite catch... He was the shy one that stayed in his boat and chased down Kaela and Chris), they were all brothers and had 2 younger brothers at home.... they were just hanging out trying to talk to Kaela and I... With my lack of French and their little English we didn't get very far until Chris surfaced from below with the scuba gear.... they were really cute... they spoke just a little English and finally we figured out that they were asking if we wanted to try to use their single man outrigger canoes ... so Mykaela and Chris jumped in and had a blast with them while the 3rd boy chased them around and helped them to right the canoe when they tipped it over. These canoes as they discovered are very light, fast and very tippy.. thankfully they are easy to right when upside down.. The boys were so cute hanging out on the boat and laughing when Mykaela and Chris tipped over... the first time Mykaela tipped over the 2 boys dove off the boat and swam after her... After Chris was done Tristan got to have a turn... He loved it and was a proven pro just like Chris and Kaela... It was so fun to watch them racing in the sunset.... what a great way to end an evening... I gave them a big bag of candy to share... One boy wouldn't take it but the other brother said... Yes! I love chocolate... Merci!
They may come back tomorrow and if they do I would love to try one myself.... It was too cold for me tonight. I think we will stay here one more night and then move along the coast up to the exit passage in the next few days and off to the another Atoll.... I am still in search for my Black Pearl... I am hoping that Chris will find one in one of the abandoned Pearl Farms... We will see...
Hugs and Love to everyone...
Heath
----------
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Land Ho!
Well for the second time in about a month we are making new landfall. After a nice and easy three day crossing, we have sighted the very low atoll of Makemo. Unlike the Marquesas, with their large majestic volcanic island height, the Tuoamotus are 77 coral atolls strewn across a very large swath of the Pacific Ocean, and they have barely any height to them. We could spot Hiva Oa on the Marquesas from 26 miles out, but at 11 miles out today, I still couldnt see anything, and was really hoping that this "electronic chart and GPS thing" wasnt just a fad and that we were headed in the right direction. Makemo finally showed up at 10 miles as a very low ripple in the horizon, and now at 8 miles out all I can see are rows of palm trees that seem to dot the ocean in the middle of nowhere. We passed Rairoa earlier in the night, which, for you history buffs, is the island where Thor Heyerdahl and crew drifted in to the reef to make their landfall on the balsa raft Kon Tiki, after drifting across the ocean from Peru, proving that early, early natives to these islands actually came from South America, as opposed to Asia and Melanesia which was the prevailing school of thought at the time.
Unlike Kon Tiki, we are sailing and now motorsailing, trying to time our arrival at one of the two atoll passes of Makemo, so that we can make it through the reef and in to the lagoon. You want to enter these passes on slack water, as the currents ripping in and out can exceed 10 knots, which is more than we can motor against. The only dilemma is that the prediction of slack water seems to be more of a black art than any science. The internet has provided lots of ideas, but mostly confirmation that its an educated guess based on many variables, and I have resorted to relying on French tide tables and a NOAA based spreadsheet, called the "Guesstimator", that a cruiser who has done this several times has created, and made available to others.
To help matters, and to interrupt this blog post, a big mother of a rain squall just blackened the horizon and poured down rain and increased the winds to 25 kots with a max gust of 32 knots. The kids helped me shut the hatches, we rolled in the jib and we rode downwind comfortably with a first reef in the main, letting the boat get a nice fresh water wash that it sorely needed. We have now made it to the pass at Makemo and have circled the pass once getting our first good look at what outgoing current does against the incoming wind and swell. We can visibly see a "river" of confused water and large random standing waves, and according to our Guesstimator we are 40 mins away from the right time to go in (it doesnt help that the Tuamotus are 30 mins behind Marquesan time!), and as we sit here bobbing up and down we can see the waves seemingly get smaller, or maybe thats what we are telling ourselves. I am glad we picked a large atoll with a well marked channel as we can see 6 channel markers ahead of us that we need to negotiate, and I am glad we have two big motors to help us do this dance- it should be a fun ride in!
Carlos: current position is Latitude 16 degrees 36.7 mins South and Longitude 143 degrees 33.9 mins West.
Otherwise, the passage has been good, and we have gotten our sea legs in the middle of Day two and have done a little verbal homeschooling, where we help read to the kids and ask them questions about what they heard. We cant get full lessons done, but they are generally high quality discussions and its fun to learn with them about the water cycle, the post Civil War Gilded Age and progressive reforms! On the fishing front, in our long worn battle with Wahoos, we are now (.5+.5): 2 in favor of the Wahoos- we have hooked two really big ones and brought them next to the boat, only to lose them at the last second, and then finally last night we got a doublestrike and Tristan and I successfully landed two small (two foot long) wahoos at the same time, that are filleted in our fridge for tonights dinner. We did land another large Pacific Bonito, which is a much nicer name than Skipjack, but threw it back looking for better eating fish.
We'll give you a later update after we ride through the atoll pass and get anchored! CHRIS
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Unlike Kon Tiki, we are sailing and now motorsailing, trying to time our arrival at one of the two atoll passes of Makemo, so that we can make it through the reef and in to the lagoon. You want to enter these passes on slack water, as the currents ripping in and out can exceed 10 knots, which is more than we can motor against. The only dilemma is that the prediction of slack water seems to be more of a black art than any science. The internet has provided lots of ideas, but mostly confirmation that its an educated guess based on many variables, and I have resorted to relying on French tide tables and a NOAA based spreadsheet, called the "Guesstimator", that a cruiser who has done this several times has created, and made available to others.
To help matters, and to interrupt this blog post, a big mother of a rain squall just blackened the horizon and poured down rain and increased the winds to 25 kots with a max gust of 32 knots. The kids helped me shut the hatches, we rolled in the jib and we rode downwind comfortably with a first reef in the main, letting the boat get a nice fresh water wash that it sorely needed. We have now made it to the pass at Makemo and have circled the pass once getting our first good look at what outgoing current does against the incoming wind and swell. We can visibly see a "river" of confused water and large random standing waves, and according to our Guesstimator we are 40 mins away from the right time to go in (it doesnt help that the Tuamotus are 30 mins behind Marquesan time!), and as we sit here bobbing up and down we can see the waves seemingly get smaller, or maybe thats what we are telling ourselves. I am glad we picked a large atoll with a well marked channel as we can see 6 channel markers ahead of us that we need to negotiate, and I am glad we have two big motors to help us do this dance- it should be a fun ride in!
Carlos: current position is Latitude 16 degrees 36.7 mins South and Longitude 143 degrees 33.9 mins West.
Otherwise, the passage has been good, and we have gotten our sea legs in the middle of Day two and have done a little verbal homeschooling, where we help read to the kids and ask them questions about what they heard. We cant get full lessons done, but they are generally high quality discussions and its fun to learn with them about the water cycle, the post Civil War Gilded Age and progressive reforms! On the fishing front, in our long worn battle with Wahoos, we are now (.5+.5): 2 in favor of the Wahoos- we have hooked two really big ones and brought them next to the boat, only to lose them at the last second, and then finally last night we got a doublestrike and Tristan and I successfully landed two small (two foot long) wahoos at the same time, that are filleted in our fridge for tonights dinner. We did land another large Pacific Bonito, which is a much nicer name than Skipjack, but threw it back looking for better eating fish.
We'll give you a later update after we ride through the atoll pass and get anchored! CHRIS
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Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Left Marquesas... Tuamotus here we come...!
Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since we have updated you all... We are currently on our way to the Tuamotus.. we are at 12.05.723S and 141.33.844W on a heading of 201 and trying to land at the atoll of Makemo on Friday 5/8. The warm trade winds are with us at about 15knts, we are traveling at about 8.5 knts and the swells are about 2 - 3 meters and are rolling through primarily from behind us... no complaints except yesterday I think I got wind burned... forgot how that feels.. the kids are doing well watching movies and getting a school subject done one at a time with lots of breaks in between so they don't get sick.. we have been reflecting on our favorites for the Marquesas..
We have been traveling around Nuka Hiva and enjoying great company with other boaters in awesome anchorages. The last time we updated I think was the waterfall in Daniels Bay which is a must do if you are a cruiser... a very memorable hike and swim if you're lucky.. and then of course on the way back through town meeting some of the villagers and buying fruit from them... it is wonderful to chat with them and find out the history of the island through their stories passed down to them from generations. After the last time we updated about the waterfall we ended up going back to the anchorage in town to so that we could get a good provisioning done... it is nice to do it there because the stores will drive you back to your boat and with all the heavy milks, canned good, juice boxes, and stuff it makes it so much easier and manageable. We met back up with Bob the Cat... the people we had met on Fatu Hiva and the kids were able to have a play date. It is always nice to reconnect with fun people. We decided to buddy boat over to the other side of the island and share an anchorage in Anaho Bay. We had heard it is quite lovely with the white sand beaches and snorkeling that we couldn't pass it up. Bob the cat left before us by an hour. As we were getting ready to leave we looked up and saw that they were still hanging out at the exit of the bay.. we were worried that something may have happened to their boat so we called them on the radio. They told us that they had stopped because there were giant manta rays swimming in this little alcove of the bay and they were swimming with them... of course this is once in a life time thing so we pulled up anchor and raced over to find them, hoping they were still there. As we got closer to the area they had told us to go we could see their giant fins gracefully coming in and out of the water. There were about 8 of them and they were swimming all around the boat feeding on the plankton in the water. It was so amazing to watch these graceful creatures gliding below the surface... Chris, Mykaela, Tristan and Alexia all jumped in after them while I stayed on the boat and kept it close by them. I also had to point out to them where the mantas were because the visibility in the water was only about 15 feet... the plankton was so thick. They had a blast swimming with the mantas.. they were probably 12 feet across and would just swim in circles around you... at times you look up and they are coming at you with their mouths wide open... after about 30 minutes everyone came back on board so that I could go out... of course I wouldn't go by myself, so kaela jumped in with me... she was hooked... She loved swimming with them and was actually able to touch the fin of one twice. I am not a huge fan of swimming in deep water, especially after we saw the video of the shark feeding the morning before at the docks in the bay with the fisherman and their fish scraps, another story.... Once I was done seeing them I came back on the boat and then chris took Amaia, Alina and of course Kaela went back out with them... All I could hear from the girls is shrieking through their snorkel. They were so blown away... Alina got a little scared so we brought her back on board... I felt bad once I found out why... she thought they were sting rays and they were going to get her... a little more information before we through her in the water with 12 foot marine animals will be beneficial next time.
Quick note on the shark feeding story... Bob the Cat crew went to shore early one morning when the fisherman were their cleaning the fish... the sharks had come in and it was a feeding frenzy over the scraps... They said the sharks are there every morning waiting to be fed and it literally is complete chaos above and below the water with the sharks fighting over the meat.... We had gone to dinner with them that night at our favorite house/restaurant for chow mein, curry chicken and hamburgers and fries... and they showed us the video of it... of course after dinner we went to leave and our stern dinghy anchor had got stuck under something on the bottom and chris had to dive in the dark water to free up the anchor... oh man.. I would have cut the line.. there was no way I would go diving in that water after seeing the video we just saw that was in the same location hours earlier... Yikes.! He came back up, with all limbs and the anchor... double bonus.
When we were done we headed on over to Anaho Bay which was nothing less than amazing... a huge bay with coral reef all around it, white sand beaches, and even a smaller beach that had great boogie boarding waves. We had a great time playing with Bob the Cat and their 2 kids on the beach. We ended up having curry night over on their boat which was really nice. The kids loved the food and watched a movie together and we were able to gain a bunch of ideas about traveling around New Zealand and Australia since they are from their. We are hoping to reconnect with them in New Zealand around Christmas time. We had to say good bye since they were leaving the next day for the Tuamotus and we just weren't ready yet to leave Nuka Hiva. We headed back over to Daniels Bay for another rendevous with a boat called Lorien and to go back to Paul and buy some more fruit from him... and see the puppies of course. We hadn't seen Lorien since La Cruz so it was really nice to reconnect with them and share our stories of travels. Mykaela and Tristan walked to the waterfall with them and then that night we had them over for a glass of wine. Paul was amazing and had cooked Banana Fritters and Bread fruit chips for us for when we came to get the fruit. The kids loved them and of course we are now trying to duplicate the recipe... which is a cup of this, 2 cups of that and then deep fry... of course they are good. we got a ton of pamplemousse, a bag of limes, star fruit, cocunuts, bananas and tried his homemade jams of papaya and pistachio... which isn't the nut but a purple fruit that is the size of a big grape and you through the seed away... It was nice to see him again, he always has the biggest smile on his face and is so welcoming.
Our last stop for the Marquesas was the Island of Ua-Pou... we were only able to go to the main bay with the main town but as it turned out is was quite a lovely anchorage with a white sand beach and a bakery with baguettes for in the morning... we were able to tuck in behind the breakwater wall for a very peaceful night sleep. The town is set up with more advance architecture than we have seen... they actually had 2 story business buildings and paved streets all through town. The houses all had great gardens and the stone work when you walked by the church or the elementary school was amazing.. they all had inlaid rock designs into the wall... there was even a huge soccer field with stadium seating made out of the large rocks and the cement was filled with tiki designs and marquesan symbols.. We were told that the provisioning was even better over here on Ua-pou so we had split up our list to do some on Nuka Hiva and them some right before we left. It was a really great stop and restful night sleep before we had to head out for our 3 day passage... There was one funny story here at Ua-Pou... We were pulling up anchor and I hear Tristan yelling Shark... there is a shark on our anchor.. It was really funny and he was laughing... so I went running up there to see what on earth he is talking about... and there it was a baby black tip reef shark about 2 feet was attached to our anchor by a fishing line... The locals go fishing off the water break and I guess it got wrapped around our anchor chain... Once we got it free (it was dead) I tried to bring up the anchor and there was another one hanging off the anchor chain that was about 4 feet... ugh this one was a little bigger and thank god he fell off before I had to reach over and get him off... we of course saved the baby one to show the girls and right after I showed them Alina took her clothes off and ran and jumped in the water and was playing off the steps of our boat... I guess that answers my question if they have any fear... I have been told by a number of people, locals and marine biologists combined) that is isn't the black tips you need to worry about... I am still looking forward to water I can see in and see what I am swimming with..!
Some of the favorites in the Marquesas: Of course meeting Pifa and his family on Hiva Oa, if you are a cruiser and you are headed this way.. make sure to look him up.. I believe one of the other boats had given him a VHF and he is monitoring 16... if not ask Sandra, with the tahiti tourism company or Robert, the guy at the gas station... they all know who he is and can reach him for you... Another favorite was the waterfall at Daniels Bay and the waterfall at Fatu Hiva.. Both amazing and very different from each other in all ways. I loved the anchorage at Tuohata with stephen who had given us the wild pig... also the anchorage in Fatu Hiva and Daniels Bay... striking for their mountains and the view... Anaho Bay was great for the kids along with the anchorage at Ua-Pou... We loved the family on Nuka Hiva that had the restaurant out of their house just up from the bank.. Great food and lots of it. There are probably so many great sites that we just weren't able to get to because of the weather.. it changes rapidly and a great anchorage for you may not be for another boater that is 2 days behind you... so it is all luck of the draw.
We are looking forward to the Tuamotus and the change of scenery... while I will miss the mountains jetting up from the water... I will not miss the dark water below the boat... I am always a little nervous swimming in it... you just never know who or what is swimming with you... We are looking forward to the crystal clear waters of the atolls with 60ft visiblity... fantastic diving and snorkeling, and really white sand beaches... hopefully there will be a few where we end up... I know that they can also be sparse and it is mainly coral but I will keep my fingers crossed... for the little girls.
Hugs and love to all
Heather
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Sorry it has been so long since we have updated you all... We are currently on our way to the Tuamotus.. we are at 12.05.723S and 141.33.844W on a heading of 201 and trying to land at the atoll of Makemo on Friday 5/8. The warm trade winds are with us at about 15knts, we are traveling at about 8.5 knts and the swells are about 2 - 3 meters and are rolling through primarily from behind us... no complaints except yesterday I think I got wind burned... forgot how that feels.. the kids are doing well watching movies and getting a school subject done one at a time with lots of breaks in between so they don't get sick.. we have been reflecting on our favorites for the Marquesas..
We have been traveling around Nuka Hiva and enjoying great company with other boaters in awesome anchorages. The last time we updated I think was the waterfall in Daniels Bay which is a must do if you are a cruiser... a very memorable hike and swim if you're lucky.. and then of course on the way back through town meeting some of the villagers and buying fruit from them... it is wonderful to chat with them and find out the history of the island through their stories passed down to them from generations. After the last time we updated about the waterfall we ended up going back to the anchorage in town to so that we could get a good provisioning done... it is nice to do it there because the stores will drive you back to your boat and with all the heavy milks, canned good, juice boxes, and stuff it makes it so much easier and manageable. We met back up with Bob the Cat... the people we had met on Fatu Hiva and the kids were able to have a play date. It is always nice to reconnect with fun people. We decided to buddy boat over to the other side of the island and share an anchorage in Anaho Bay. We had heard it is quite lovely with the white sand beaches and snorkeling that we couldn't pass it up. Bob the cat left before us by an hour. As we were getting ready to leave we looked up and saw that they were still hanging out at the exit of the bay.. we were worried that something may have happened to their boat so we called them on the radio. They told us that they had stopped because there were giant manta rays swimming in this little alcove of the bay and they were swimming with them... of course this is once in a life time thing so we pulled up anchor and raced over to find them, hoping they were still there. As we got closer to the area they had told us to go we could see their giant fins gracefully coming in and out of the water. There were about 8 of them and they were swimming all around the boat feeding on the plankton in the water. It was so amazing to watch these graceful creatures gliding below the surface... Chris, Mykaela, Tristan and Alexia all jumped in after them while I stayed on the boat and kept it close by them. I also had to point out to them where the mantas were because the visibility in the water was only about 15 feet... the plankton was so thick. They had a blast swimming with the mantas.. they were probably 12 feet across and would just swim in circles around you... at times you look up and they are coming at you with their mouths wide open... after about 30 minutes everyone came back on board so that I could go out... of course I wouldn't go by myself, so kaela jumped in with me... she was hooked... She loved swimming with them and was actually able to touch the fin of one twice. I am not a huge fan of swimming in deep water, especially after we saw the video of the shark feeding the morning before at the docks in the bay with the fisherman and their fish scraps, another story.... Once I was done seeing them I came back on the boat and then chris took Amaia, Alina and of course Kaela went back out with them... All I could hear from the girls is shrieking through their snorkel. They were so blown away... Alina got a little scared so we brought her back on board... I felt bad once I found out why... she thought they were sting rays and they were going to get her... a little more information before we through her in the water with 12 foot marine animals will be beneficial next time.
Quick note on the shark feeding story... Bob the Cat crew went to shore early one morning when the fisherman were their cleaning the fish... the sharks had come in and it was a feeding frenzy over the scraps... They said the sharks are there every morning waiting to be fed and it literally is complete chaos above and below the water with the sharks fighting over the meat.... We had gone to dinner with them that night at our favorite house/restaurant for chow mein, curry chicken and hamburgers and fries... and they showed us the video of it... of course after dinner we went to leave and our stern dinghy anchor had got stuck under something on the bottom and chris had to dive in the dark water to free up the anchor... oh man.. I would have cut the line.. there was no way I would go diving in that water after seeing the video we just saw that was in the same location hours earlier... Yikes.! He came back up, with all limbs and the anchor... double bonus.
When we were done we headed on over to Anaho Bay which was nothing less than amazing... a huge bay with coral reef all around it, white sand beaches, and even a smaller beach that had great boogie boarding waves. We had a great time playing with Bob the Cat and their 2 kids on the beach. We ended up having curry night over on their boat which was really nice. The kids loved the food and watched a movie together and we were able to gain a bunch of ideas about traveling around New Zealand and Australia since they are from their. We are hoping to reconnect with them in New Zealand around Christmas time. We had to say good bye since they were leaving the next day for the Tuamotus and we just weren't ready yet to leave Nuka Hiva. We headed back over to Daniels Bay for another rendevous with a boat called Lorien and to go back to Paul and buy some more fruit from him... and see the puppies of course. We hadn't seen Lorien since La Cruz so it was really nice to reconnect with them and share our stories of travels. Mykaela and Tristan walked to the waterfall with them and then that night we had them over for a glass of wine. Paul was amazing and had cooked Banana Fritters and Bread fruit chips for us for when we came to get the fruit. The kids loved them and of course we are now trying to duplicate the recipe... which is a cup of this, 2 cups of that and then deep fry... of course they are good. we got a ton of pamplemousse, a bag of limes, star fruit, cocunuts, bananas and tried his homemade jams of papaya and pistachio... which isn't the nut but a purple fruit that is the size of a big grape and you through the seed away... It was nice to see him again, he always has the biggest smile on his face and is so welcoming.
Our last stop for the Marquesas was the Island of Ua-Pou... we were only able to go to the main bay with the main town but as it turned out is was quite a lovely anchorage with a white sand beach and a bakery with baguettes for in the morning... we were able to tuck in behind the breakwater wall for a very peaceful night sleep. The town is set up with more advance architecture than we have seen... they actually had 2 story business buildings and paved streets all through town. The houses all had great gardens and the stone work when you walked by the church or the elementary school was amazing.. they all had inlaid rock designs into the wall... there was even a huge soccer field with stadium seating made out of the large rocks and the cement was filled with tiki designs and marquesan symbols.. We were told that the provisioning was even better over here on Ua-pou so we had split up our list to do some on Nuka Hiva and them some right before we left. It was a really great stop and restful night sleep before we had to head out for our 3 day passage... There was one funny story here at Ua-Pou... We were pulling up anchor and I hear Tristan yelling Shark... there is a shark on our anchor.. It was really funny and he was laughing... so I went running up there to see what on earth he is talking about... and there it was a baby black tip reef shark about 2 feet was attached to our anchor by a fishing line... The locals go fishing off the water break and I guess it got wrapped around our anchor chain... Once we got it free (it was dead) I tried to bring up the anchor and there was another one hanging off the anchor chain that was about 4 feet... ugh this one was a little bigger and thank god he fell off before I had to reach over and get him off... we of course saved the baby one to show the girls and right after I showed them Alina took her clothes off and ran and jumped in the water and was playing off the steps of our boat... I guess that answers my question if they have any fear... I have been told by a number of people, locals and marine biologists combined) that is isn't the black tips you need to worry about... I am still looking forward to water I can see in and see what I am swimming with..!
Some of the favorites in the Marquesas: Of course meeting Pifa and his family on Hiva Oa, if you are a cruiser and you are headed this way.. make sure to look him up.. I believe one of the other boats had given him a VHF and he is monitoring 16... if not ask Sandra, with the tahiti tourism company or Robert, the guy at the gas station... they all know who he is and can reach him for you... Another favorite was the waterfall at Daniels Bay and the waterfall at Fatu Hiva.. Both amazing and very different from each other in all ways. I loved the anchorage at Tuohata with stephen who had given us the wild pig... also the anchorage in Fatu Hiva and Daniels Bay... striking for their mountains and the view... Anaho Bay was great for the kids along with the anchorage at Ua-Pou... We loved the family on Nuka Hiva that had the restaurant out of their house just up from the bank.. Great food and lots of it. There are probably so many great sites that we just weren't able to get to because of the weather.. it changes rapidly and a great anchorage for you may not be for another boater that is 2 days behind you... so it is all luck of the draw.
We are looking forward to the Tuamotus and the change of scenery... while I will miss the mountains jetting up from the water... I will not miss the dark water below the boat... I am always a little nervous swimming in it... you just never know who or what is swimming with you... We are looking forward to the crystal clear waters of the atolls with 60ft visiblity... fantastic diving and snorkeling, and really white sand beaches... hopefully there will be a few where we end up... I know that they can also be sparse and it is mainly coral but I will keep my fingers crossed... for the little girls.
Hugs and love to all
Heather
----------
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