Saturday we sailed the 20 mile passage to Raiatea Island. This is the second largest and most populated, next to Tahiti, in French Polynesia. There are two haulout facilities and this seems to be the main center of boat maintenance in the S Pacific. But we have decided to postpone our haulout and hope to make it to NZ and do a major refit there.
We had a 15 knot tail wind and sloppy seas but managed to get in behind the reef and motor down another 5 miles to Baie Faaroa, a deep bay with a river at the end and lots of houses along the shores. Moorings and/or Sunsail have mooring balls in the bay as well where they park their charter boats, mostly catamarans from what we can see. It is a large bay though and we anchored off the mouth of the river in brown silty mud. The holding is good and just as well because the wind came up overnight
and funnelled through the bay at 30 knots or more. We swayed around and listened to the hum of the rigging but held fine. Today was cloudy with showers and the wind continued till mid afternoon when it stopped completely.
So we did boat chores and read books and relaxed. Tomorrow we go in search of propane!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Huahine
Moorea was nice but Huahine is very nice! Maybe it was the head cold or the strong winds that kept us boatbound but we were ready to leave Moorea. We skipped the next bay over where you can swim with the rays and sharks because it was too crowded.
So we hauled the anchor around noon and planned an overnighter for the 90 miles to Huahine. We had nice sailing for the first half, interspersed with heavy showers and gusty squalls, but then the wind went very light and we motor sailed the rest of the way to arrive at the S end of Huahine at daybreak. Tried three times to anchor on the shelf inside the reef, in about 15' of water, but we gave up and dropped the hook in front of the village in deeper water but with something on the bottom the anchor
could dig into! On the reef shelf, there was only a very fine layer of sand so unless the anchor hooked on coral, it just dragged. With the winds we had just experienced on Moorea, we would not get any sleep unless we knew the anchor was set.
It is quite nice off the village. The boat streams to the W due to the current that constantly runs out of the pass behind us. This is because the swell coming up from the SE breaks over the reef and fills the lagoon to overflowing. There is just enough breeze to make the hot sun bearable and the water is clear for swimming.
We have met up with Brian & Cathy on 'Tarun' again and Barry & Ann on 'Cat's Paw IV' are here as well. So we had our traditional celebratory beer before noon and settled in to relax for a while.
We are beginning to realize that we are drawing to the end of our French Polynesian experience. They gave us 3 months and that will be up July 21st. We are also hearing rumours now of boats who landed illegally in Fatu Hiva (like we did), being fined $200US for not clearing in properly first! Guess it pays to be the first ones in! There are only two, maybe three, islands left to visit before we clear out of the country. The next, Raiatea which we can see in the distance, has haulout facilities
and services for fixing broken gear. We seem to be in fairly good shape (touch wood), so will skip the bottom painting here and hope to make it to NZ for a major refit. After that is the jewel of the S Pacific, Bora Bora, and we are looking forward to seeing it. This is where we do our final clearance out of the country and retrieve the bond they made us post on entry. This amounted to about $3200US and guaranteed to them that we had the means to leave the country if necessary. I guess they
don't like foreign hippies becoming a burden on them! After Bora Bora, there are two small islands we were told we could stop at on our way by. We may visit one of them, Ile Maupiti, if conditions are favourable.
Our destination after French Polynesia is the Cook Islands but which island is still under discussion. We are leaning to Rarotonga but Aitutaki is on a more direct line to Niue which would be our next stop after the Cooks. I doubt we will do any exploring in the Cooks as the islands are small and do not seem to offer much. From Bora Bora to the Cook Islands is about 500 miles and from there to Niue looks like about another 400 miles so the legs are getting longer. After Niue comes Tonga and then
a decision whether to go directly down to NZ, a 1000 mile passage that requires careful weather routing to avoid the depressions that move constantly from the Tasman Sea going E to NZ, or continue further W to Fiji or even New Caledonia, where you get a better angle on the long leg S to NZ. Time and weather will influence those decisions.
But for now, we relax in Huahine! Yesterday we went into the village and found a stage set up in a covered area where bands were playing in a music festival. Sipping on a cold fresh coconut and enjoying the music, which was a mix of French and Polynesian songs with guitars, electric keyboards and voice. People were sporting their best straw hats with lots of flowers wound around them and the tattoos were much in evidence. Then walking back to the dinghy we came across the weighing in of a fishing
competition which saw giant mahi-mahi and swordfish hoisted up on block & tackles to see who got the prize!
Sunday today and maybe we'll drop the dinghy anchor on the reef shelf and see what kind of coloured fishies are out there!
So we hauled the anchor around noon and planned an overnighter for the 90 miles to Huahine. We had nice sailing for the first half, interspersed with heavy showers and gusty squalls, but then the wind went very light and we motor sailed the rest of the way to arrive at the S end of Huahine at daybreak. Tried three times to anchor on the shelf inside the reef, in about 15' of water, but we gave up and dropped the hook in front of the village in deeper water but with something on the bottom the anchor
could dig into! On the reef shelf, there was only a very fine layer of sand so unless the anchor hooked on coral, it just dragged. With the winds we had just experienced on Moorea, we would not get any sleep unless we knew the anchor was set.
It is quite nice off the village. The boat streams to the W due to the current that constantly runs out of the pass behind us. This is because the swell coming up from the SE breaks over the reef and fills the lagoon to overflowing. There is just enough breeze to make the hot sun bearable and the water is clear for swimming.
We have met up with Brian & Cathy on 'Tarun' again and Barry & Ann on 'Cat's Paw IV' are here as well. So we had our traditional celebratory beer before noon and settled in to relax for a while.
We are beginning to realize that we are drawing to the end of our French Polynesian experience. They gave us 3 months and that will be up July 21st. We are also hearing rumours now of boats who landed illegally in Fatu Hiva (like we did), being fined $200US for not clearing in properly first! Guess it pays to be the first ones in! There are only two, maybe three, islands left to visit before we clear out of the country. The next, Raiatea which we can see in the distance, has haulout facilities
and services for fixing broken gear. We seem to be in fairly good shape (touch wood), so will skip the bottom painting here and hope to make it to NZ for a major refit. After that is the jewel of the S Pacific, Bora Bora, and we are looking forward to seeing it. This is where we do our final clearance out of the country and retrieve the bond they made us post on entry. This amounted to about $3200US and guaranteed to them that we had the means to leave the country if necessary. I guess they
don't like foreign hippies becoming a burden on them! After Bora Bora, there are two small islands we were told we could stop at on our way by. We may visit one of them, Ile Maupiti, if conditions are favourable.
Our destination after French Polynesia is the Cook Islands but which island is still under discussion. We are leaning to Rarotonga but Aitutaki is on a more direct line to Niue which would be our next stop after the Cooks. I doubt we will do any exploring in the Cooks as the islands are small and do not seem to offer much. From Bora Bora to the Cook Islands is about 500 miles and from there to Niue looks like about another 400 miles so the legs are getting longer. After Niue comes Tonga and then
a decision whether to go directly down to NZ, a 1000 mile passage that requires careful weather routing to avoid the depressions that move constantly from the Tasman Sea going E to NZ, or continue further W to Fiji or even New Caledonia, where you get a better angle on the long leg S to NZ. Time and weather will influence those decisions.
But for now, we relax in Huahine! Yesterday we went into the village and found a stage set up in a covered area where bands were playing in a music festival. Sipping on a cold fresh coconut and enjoying the music, which was a mix of French and Polynesian songs with guitars, electric keyboards and voice. People were sporting their best straw hats with lots of flowers wound around them and the tattoos were much in evidence. Then walking back to the dinghy we came across the weighing in of a fishing
competition which saw giant mahi-mahi and swordfish hoisted up on block & tackles to see who got the prize!
Sunday today and maybe we'll drop the dinghy anchor on the reef shelf and see what kind of coloured fishies are out there!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
On the reef!
No, not literally....well not quite anyway! Today we moved out of Cooks Bay to a spot just inside the pass through the reef; just off to the side as you enter the bay. Unlike the end of the bay where we have been anchored for a week now, the water here is crystal clear and has that beautiful turquoise colour you expect in these kinds of places.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, yesterday we rented a car and drove around Moorea and this morning after coffee; we hiked up the road and around the point to visit the 'juice factory'! They have a large production processing plant where they make pineapple, coconut, papaya, orange, banana and various blends of juices. They also make some with booze in them and have a sampling bar.....so we hiked up to check it out. It was very touristy and in fact as we tried to get near the bar to have a sample,
we would be overwhelmed by a truckload of folks fresh off the cruise ship anchored in the next bay! But we had a nice walk and when we returned to Toketie, it felt like time for a change so we dragged the anchor out of the mud...with great resistance...must have been those 40+ knot gusts....and moved to the head of the bay.
Completely different world out here! After setting the hook in the deep part, we backed down onto the sandy surface inside the reef. Here it is only about 10-12 feet deep but our anchor is over the hill into the deep part so we should hold ok...as long as the wind keeps blowing from the bay! The winds seem to have settled down finally and the forecast is for light wind tomorrow. We are hoping for a quiet night!
On arriving at the new anchorage on the reef shelf, we immediately donned snorkelling gear and jumped into the water! The plan was to scrub the waterline, which we accomplished, but with many distractions as we swam off to view the stingrays and other sea creatures around us!
Much more relaxing out here!
But I'm getting ahead of myself, yesterday we rented a car and drove around Moorea and this morning after coffee; we hiked up the road and around the point to visit the 'juice factory'! They have a large production processing plant where they make pineapple, coconut, papaya, orange, banana and various blends of juices. They also make some with booze in them and have a sampling bar.....so we hiked up to check it out. It was very touristy and in fact as we tried to get near the bar to have a sample,
we would be overwhelmed by a truckload of folks fresh off the cruise ship anchored in the next bay! But we had a nice walk and when we returned to Toketie, it felt like time for a change so we dragged the anchor out of the mud...with great resistance...must have been those 40+ knot gusts....and moved to the head of the bay.
Completely different world out here! After setting the hook in the deep part, we backed down onto the sandy surface inside the reef. Here it is only about 10-12 feet deep but our anchor is over the hill into the deep part so we should hold ok...as long as the wind keeps blowing from the bay! The winds seem to have settled down finally and the forecast is for light wind tomorrow. We are hoping for a quiet night!
On arriving at the new anchorage on the reef shelf, we immediately donned snorkelling gear and jumped into the water! The plan was to scrub the waterline, which we accomplished, but with many distractions as we swam off to view the stingrays and other sea creatures around us!
Much more relaxing out here!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Prisoners of the wind!
Other than the couple of hours when we went ashore to see the Tahitian dancers, we have been boat-bound due to the wind! A fairly steady 30 knots with gusts over 40 knots is keeping everyone watching their anchors. It funnels through the valley between two mountains and is concentrated in Cooks Bay, where we are anchored. The bottom is sticky mud and seems to be fairly good holding and although a couple of boats have re-anchored due to dragging or not being set properly but we seem to be holding
fine so far! We have 260 feet of chain out and about a 30 # kellet keeping the scope on that low!
They are forecasting this system from the S to affect us through the weekend so we may not be doing any exploring in the next couple of days.
But it is a beautiful place and we can always find chores to do on board. Having recently acquired the new weather fax schedule, I have been downloading various weather files to understand the patterns locally.
fine so far! We have 260 feet of chain out and about a 30 # kellet keeping the scope on that low!
They are forecasting this system from the S to affect us through the weekend so we may not be doing any exploring in the next couple of days.
But it is a beautiful place and we can always find chores to do on board. Having recently acquired the new weather fax schedule, I have been downloading various weather files to understand the patterns locally.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Surf's Up!
There is an area on the SW side of the big Island of Tahiti that is said to be where the world champion surfing competitions are held! It is also supposedly a very dangerous place to surf because of the reefs. Needless to say, the surfers are converging on it!
We are safely tucked into Cooks Bay on the NW side of Moorea and with a large swell forecast from the SW, we are glad to be here. Boats were clearing out of the anchorage in Papeete behind the reef where we were. The swell was already coming over the reef and we felt it the day before we left. Boats are reporting today that they could not sleep last night and there were standing waves in the W pass. This is part of a weather convergence zone south of us that is expected to bring a change in weather.
The sky is overcast and we have had several small showers so we can see the change coming!
Today we stayed on board, mostly because the Captain was nursing a head cold! Although now that I've finished the Sudoku book (thnx Y) and have no crosswords to do.....it will be only a matter of time before we go exploring. Fortunately we ran into a pile of trashy novels recently that helps keep the boredom down!
We are safely tucked into Cooks Bay on the NW side of Moorea and with a large swell forecast from the SW, we are glad to be here. Boats were clearing out of the anchorage in Papeete behind the reef where we were. The swell was already coming over the reef and we felt it the day before we left. Boats are reporting today that they could not sleep last night and there were standing waves in the W pass. This is part of a weather convergence zone south of us that is expected to bring a change in weather.
The sky is overcast and we have had several small showers so we can see the change coming!
Today we stayed on board, mostly because the Captain was nursing a head cold! Although now that I've finished the Sudoku book (thnx Y) and have no crosswords to do.....it will be only a matter of time before we go exploring. Fortunately we ran into a pile of trashy novels recently that helps keep the boredom down!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Moorea
Anchored in Cooks Bay after a short but 'spirited' sail from Tahiti, hitting 8.5 knots at times! This is a very peaceful and beautiful place, especially after a week in the city! Tonight we dinghied into the local bar/resort to see the Tahitian dancers. They showed a lot of energy and enthusiasm! No swell here so should be a restful night!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Papeete, Tahiti
Anchored around the NE side of the Island, past the airport and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Looking out to the sunset, huge rollers break on the reef only a few hundred meters away. In the distance, Moorea looms! It is a beautiful setting. A short dinghy ride to a marina gives us access to 'le truck' which takes us downtown. A ten minute walk to the 'Carrefoure' which is the French equivalent of Walmart.
The sun is shining and the breeze makes the heat and humidity almost bearable. Tahiti seems like a crossroads for ocean travelers. From here boats are bound N to Hawaii or E to the Panama Canal or W to Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. French boats, Dutch boats, English boats, Canadian boats, American boats, Polish boats etc... And everyone of them has tales to tell, the common bond being the oceans we've crossed and the ones we gaze ahead at. From the largest sailing yacht in the world, the 'Maltese
Falcon' moored downtown to the grubbiest little derelict still afloat, you see them all here.
And among them, Toketie bobs gently, pulling on her anchor chain...almost to say...'where to next?'....and we ask ourselves the same question. This feels like a halfway point and we take a deep breath before taking the next step across a very big ocean.
The sun is shining and the breeze makes the heat and humidity almost bearable. Tahiti seems like a crossroads for ocean travelers. From here boats are bound N to Hawaii or E to the Panama Canal or W to Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. French boats, Dutch boats, English boats, Canadian boats, American boats, Polish boats etc... And everyone of them has tales to tell, the common bond being the oceans we've crossed and the ones we gaze ahead at. From the largest sailing yacht in the world, the 'Maltese
Falcon' moored downtown to the grubbiest little derelict still afloat, you see them all here.
And among them, Toketie bobs gently, pulling on her anchor chain...almost to say...'where to next?'....and we ask ourselves the same question. This feels like a halfway point and we take a deep breath before taking the next step across a very big ocean.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Tradewinds
This is what it is supposed to be like! A steady 15-20 knot breeze from the same direction, in this case ESE, with occasional gusts to 25 that drive us off course, clear blue skies with big fluffy white clouds! As forecast, we have had probably some of the best sailing so far since we left Fakarava atoll. In keeping with the old sailing superstition, having mentioned how great the wind is, I am 'touching wood' that it will hold to Tahiti!
Tahiti! Just the name conjures up romantic images of the South Seas! The largest island of the Society Islands, with high, spectacular, sharp peaks, is surrounded by a coral barrier reef from half to two miles off the coast with many passes allowing entry through the reef. With luck we will spot it at first light tomorrow! The main port and administrative center is Papeete, with all the hustle and bustle of the largest city in French Polynesia. The change should be interesting. But we have
provisioning to do, fuel and water to take on and a few maintenance issues to address.
Meanwhile, 'Merlin', the monitor wind vane, steers us round the clock as the large ocean swells from the SE roll under us and Toketie logs the miles under her keel!
Tahiti! Just the name conjures up romantic images of the South Seas! The largest island of the Society Islands, with high, spectacular, sharp peaks, is surrounded by a coral barrier reef from half to two miles off the coast with many passes allowing entry through the reef. With luck we will spot it at first light tomorrow! The main port and administrative center is Papeete, with all the hustle and bustle of the largest city in French Polynesia. The change should be interesting. But we have
provisioning to do, fuel and water to take on and a few maintenance issues to address.
Meanwhile, 'Merlin', the monitor wind vane, steers us round the clock as the large ocean swells from the SE roll under us and Toketie logs the miles under her keel!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Goodbye 'Tomatoes', Hello Societies!
In spite of the painfully slow passage getting to the Tuomotus and the bumpy ride entering our first one, we are sure glad we took the time to visit them. The two we stopped at, Kauehi and Fakarava, had very different characters but both were charming.
Early this morning (Sunday), we cleared the pass at the N end of Fakarava and set a course for Tahiti! The weather reports, both grib files and French Polyniesian report were favourable indicating 15-20 knots of wind from the East for the next 3 days. It is almost sunset and so far it has been glorious sailing all day. Let's hope it continues!
Early this morning (Sunday), we cleared the pass at the N end of Fakarava and set a course for Tahiti! The weather reports, both grib files and French Polyniesian report were favourable indicating 15-20 knots of wind from the East for the next 3 days. It is almost sunset and so far it has been glorious sailing all day. Let's hope it continues!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Anchoring in coral
We lifted the anchor today, after watching several boats that have been here over a week unwind their anchor chains from the coral heads on the sandy bottom! It was stuck but with a little gentle persuasion it popped off whatever it was hooked on. We moved into slightly deeper water for an early morning departure. The weather reports indicate 15-20 knots of wind from the East and that would suit us fine for the 250 mile run to Tahiti and the big city of Papeete. We have loaded up on fresh baguettes,
had our final swim and loaded the dinghy on deck so hopefully the weather gods will be kind and we can get through the pass early in the morning.
Fakarava atoll has been a very seductive place to hang around but it is time to move on!
had our final swim and loaded the dinghy on deck so hopefully the weather gods will be kind and we can get through the pass early in the morning.
Fakarava atoll has been a very seductive place to hang around but it is time to move on!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Fakarava
We are glad we stopped! Each atoll has its own charms. This one, being second in size only to Rangiroa, is quite large, 32 miles long by 15 miles wide, and has several villages along the East side. It is obviously wealthier with a greater population. The bay we are anchored in at the edge of Rotoava village is gorgeous! Today, after a walk in town, including a visit to the bakery for fresh baguettes and a few carrots and some local beer at the store, we blew up the kayaks for the first time.
We paddled along the shore, sandy with palm trees, among coral heads for about 2 miles to the point. Sting rays darting ahead of us along the sandy bottom and small black tipped reef sharks doing whatever little sharks do! The sun was baking us so badly we had to go for a swim!
Still not enough wind to convince us to move on to Papeete and the big city lights! Just as well....the gentle breeze is enough to make the heat bearable!
We paddled along the shore, sandy with palm trees, among coral heads for about 2 miles to the point. Sting rays darting ahead of us along the sandy bottom and small black tipped reef sharks doing whatever little sharks do! The sun was baking us so badly we had to go for a swim!
Still not enough wind to convince us to move on to Papeete and the big city lights! Just as well....the gentle breeze is enough to make the heat bearable!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pearl farming!
Turns out the owner of the only operational pearl farm left on Kauehi, also the owner of the local 'magazin', and the town's newly elected mayor gave us the tour personally! A 20 minute ride in the back of his pickup with stops at the new airport (plane coming in this PM apparently), where he also has the concession stand, and another stop where a local entrepreneur was in the final stages of building a 'pensione' or bungalow to rent to tourists. Quite a nice place on the water! The pearl farm
was very interesting. Our timing could not have been better as he had two young Chinese girls employed for two months to seed the oysters. We were taken through the entire process from growing the 'naissan' or young oysters, harvesting them to implant the synthetically produced bio-chemical nucleus with a dab of irritant taken from another oyster to cause the pearl to form. Some are rejected by the oysters but most become pearls and are harvested after twelve months hanging in the sea. He then
brought out his big 'treasure' case and spread out two piles of black pearls on a white cloth. He was charging 1500f (about $20) for the larger ones and 1000f for the smaller. The other three boats bought quite a few but we only picked out a half dozen. Then he gave everyone a handful for free and had everyone close their eyes and pick one at random from a pile.
Back in town, his wife asked if we would be interested in a dinner! Talk about your pizza deprived yuppies....and she only wanted 700f per person (about $10) so we agreed to return at 7 to their house. Getting in to shore in the dark, navigating around the coral heads, was interesting but we managed, along with three other boats and were treated to two kinds of very nice fish, chicken, a salad of sorts, rice, juice and pears for dessert! It was fun and a nice change from cooking and cleaning on
board!
Met our fisherman friend, RiriFatu on the road in town and the grandmother had woven hats for both of us out of palm leaves! This man was a pleasure to meet and we will miss him but tomorrow we have decided it is definitely time to move on!
We had planned on a direct route to Papeete but after raising the anchor at first light and motoring out the pass (no trauma this time).....we found no wind at all. We motored 30 miles to the next atoll, Fakarava, and pulled in for the night, determined to wait for wind to sail the 200 miles to Tahiti.
was very interesting. Our timing could not have been better as he had two young Chinese girls employed for two months to seed the oysters. We were taken through the entire process from growing the 'naissan' or young oysters, harvesting them to implant the synthetically produced bio-chemical nucleus with a dab of irritant taken from another oyster to cause the pearl to form. Some are rejected by the oysters but most become pearls and are harvested after twelve months hanging in the sea. He then
brought out his big 'treasure' case and spread out two piles of black pearls on a white cloth. He was charging 1500f (about $20) for the larger ones and 1000f for the smaller. The other three boats bought quite a few but we only picked out a half dozen. Then he gave everyone a handful for free and had everyone close their eyes and pick one at random from a pile.
Back in town, his wife asked if we would be interested in a dinner! Talk about your pizza deprived yuppies....and she only wanted 700f per person (about $10) so we agreed to return at 7 to their house. Getting in to shore in the dark, navigating around the coral heads, was interesting but we managed, along with three other boats and were treated to two kinds of very nice fish, chicken, a salad of sorts, rice, juice and pears for dessert! It was fun and a nice change from cooking and cleaning on
board!
Met our fisherman friend, RiriFatu on the road in town and the grandmother had woven hats for both of us out of palm leaves! This man was a pleasure to meet and we will miss him but tomorrow we have decided it is definitely time to move on!
We had planned on a direct route to Papeete but after raising the anchor at first light and motoring out the pass (no trauma this time).....we found no wind at all. We motored 30 miles to the next atoll, Fakarava, and pulled in for the night, determined to wait for wind to sail the 200 miles to Tahiti.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Fun in the sun
We had a day of snorkelling! First around the bay we were anchored in. Found some live coral and lots of little fish but not much else. So we dinghied out about a mile to a big reef in the center of the atoll and threw the small anchor out there. Bigger fish and lots of live coral but did not see any sharks! Maybe just as well!
The following day we were being lazy on board. The two small boys paddled out on their surfboard and we let them on board. They were about 10 years old and fairly well behaved, curious about everything on the boat. In the distance I saw someone working in the water on a reef near shore...turned out to be our friend RiriFatu who paddled over in his outrigger and offered us the fruits of his labours! Seems he was shucking these giant clam shells and had a bucket full of the meat. He put a pile
of it into a bowl for us and was invited on board. We sat and talked about lots of things...the community, their religion...it happened to be May and every Saturday in May was special to the Catholics. He explained how the town was divided into four sections representing the four Evangelists...Mathew, Mark, Luke and John! I thought there was a Ringo but did not mention it. We gave him lunch and shared our last two Mexican beers before he paddled back to shore. That night we pressure cooked the
shellfish and curried it in coconut milk. It was interesting! Later we walked into town and picked up some fresh baguettes. An airplane had landed this morning but we missed it while re-anchoring...did I mention the chain wrapped around the coral so tight the bow was dipping? Came off fairly easily but with a little coaxing and lots of turning around!
Today was Mother's Day and the service at the church in town was a spectacle! The children sang and everyone had flowers hung on them. The locals were sporting their Sunday best and more jewellery than you would see in Harlem on any night!
Every day we plan to leave but today 'Tin Soldier' arrived and we have not toured the pearl farm yet. We went on board the Dorothy Marie, had drinks with Sally and Glen as well as Dennis and Janet from 'Shilling'. Not long before the guitars and piano and saxophone came out and music was wafting across the pond!
Reading a hilarious book they lent us called "Sex Lives of the Cannibals" by J. Maarten Troost.....if you can get your hands on it....you might enjoy it!
Anyway my job is to get up early and try to set up the pearl farm tour tomorrow for the whole gang....so stay tuned!
The following day we were being lazy on board. The two small boys paddled out on their surfboard and we let them on board. They were about 10 years old and fairly well behaved, curious about everything on the boat. In the distance I saw someone working in the water on a reef near shore...turned out to be our friend RiriFatu who paddled over in his outrigger and offered us the fruits of his labours! Seems he was shucking these giant clam shells and had a bucket full of the meat. He put a pile
of it into a bowl for us and was invited on board. We sat and talked about lots of things...the community, their religion...it happened to be May and every Saturday in May was special to the Catholics. He explained how the town was divided into four sections representing the four Evangelists...Mathew, Mark, Luke and John! I thought there was a Ringo but did not mention it. We gave him lunch and shared our last two Mexican beers before he paddled back to shore. That night we pressure cooked the
shellfish and curried it in coconut milk. It was interesting! Later we walked into town and picked up some fresh baguettes. An airplane had landed this morning but we missed it while re-anchoring...did I mention the chain wrapped around the coral so tight the bow was dipping? Came off fairly easily but with a little coaxing and lots of turning around!
Today was Mother's Day and the service at the church in town was a spectacle! The children sang and everyone had flowers hung on them. The locals were sporting their Sunday best and more jewellery than you would see in Harlem on any night!
Every day we plan to leave but today 'Tin Soldier' arrived and we have not toured the pearl farm yet. We went on board the Dorothy Marie, had drinks with Sally and Glen as well as Dennis and Janet from 'Shilling'. Not long before the guitars and piano and saxophone came out and music was wafting across the pond!
Reading a hilarious book they lent us called "Sex Lives of the Cannibals" by J. Maarten Troost.....if you can get your hands on it....you might enjoy it!
Anyway my job is to get up early and try to set up the pearl farm tour tomorrow for the whole gang....so stay tuned!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
RiriFatu!
RiriFatu is the name of the fisherman we met yesterday. Today we returned to visit him and I gave him my grinding wheel from my disc grinder and a spare blade I had. In return he called his wife over and we walked across the sand spit among the palm trees and the crabs scuttling into their holes to the other side of the lagoon where he had a small outrigger pulled up on the beach. He picked up a net and he and his wife climbed into the outrigger. While a cousin held one end of it on the beach,
they circled a small house on stilts with the net and slowly and silently closed the gap on the fish that were hiding in the shade. Then an older woman came out with a bucket and sharp knife and they proceeded to pull fish out of the net and cut them up on the spot. I was offered one raw that had been gutted and sliced on the outside in a crisscross pattern. Why not? It was the freshest sashimi you could imagine! They watched me as I ate bits of it. We joked and the older lady said to dip
it in the ocean. The salt improved the taste. After a while it was pretty good actually. I consumed a whole small fish.
Back at their house, he presented Linda with a necklace made from mother of pearl and dropped two fresh young coconuts from a tree for us to drink. He gave us a pile of the smaller fish to take home and marinate (make poisson cru) and one of the larger ones for dinner. He removed the dangerous barb from the tail for me!! We plan to filet it and fry it in butter momentarily!
These are very kind people and although they are becoming accustomed to the 'tourists' that come through on the yachts...they are still welcoming and shades of the older Polynesian hospitality remains. Truly another day in paradise!
they circled a small house on stilts with the net and slowly and silently closed the gap on the fish that were hiding in the shade. Then an older woman came out with a bucket and sharp knife and they proceeded to pull fish out of the net and cut them up on the spot. I was offered one raw that had been gutted and sliced on the outside in a crisscross pattern. Why not? It was the freshest sashimi you could imagine! They watched me as I ate bits of it. We joked and the older lady said to dip
it in the ocean. The salt improved the taste. After a while it was pretty good actually. I consumed a whole small fish.
Back at their house, he presented Linda with a necklace made from mother of pearl and dropped two fresh young coconuts from a tree for us to drink. He gave us a pile of the smaller fish to take home and marinate (make poisson cru) and one of the larger ones for dinner. He removed the dangerous barb from the tail for me!! We plan to filet it and fry it in butter momentarily!
These are very kind people and although they are becoming accustomed to the 'tourists' that come through on the yachts...they are still welcoming and shades of the older Polynesian hospitality remains. Truly another day in paradise!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Finally arrived!
That is what it feels like anyway....we have finally arrived at the kind of place you read about and imagine when you set out on a journey like this. We paid some dues getting here but that is part of the process!
We went into the small village yesterday and met the local constabulary. He was very nice and apologetic about the news that a local islands council had decided to institute fees for anchoring in the atolls. It was the horrendous sum of 40ff per person per day. That is less than .50 in our currency. For that they take your garbage....not a small problem on a strip of sand and palm trees in the middle of the ocean. They burn a lot and maybe send some back on the supply ship but I doubt it. They
are planning to put in moorings for the visitors as well. We went back to his office where his 'secretary' took the boat info and gave us a receipt for our three days! We entered our names and 'Toketie' into the guest book, which they were very proud of! The building was over 100 years old! I spoke to him some more and learned that the other half dozen boats had not understood French and he could not communicate to them that they needed to make this small contribution to their economy so I offered
to spread the word. Today we have a notice posted at the end of the dock, in English, that explains it!
The kids are a riot. Once they realize you are friendly they are all over you. We have lots of pictures as they hammed it up pretty good. Two little girls begged us to go back to the boat and have popcorn and juice! Maybe tomorrow as the sun was setting. Met a very nice man working in his yard, a fisherman who seemed to be carving something. We greeted him and were invited into the yard. He had a small grinder and was trying to shape what looked like mother of pearl into small sailboats and
other things. His grinding wheel was worn down to the end so I will look through my tool box to see if I can find him another. His name was 'Riribatou'....my spelling!
Had Rose and Robert on 'Tillicum' over for dinner and scrabble last night. They have been living this cruising lifestyle for 20 years and deliver boats when the opportunity arises. We enjoyed the evening and the company and went way beyond our usual bedtimes!
Heard JD twice now on the HF radio, quite clearly, but he could not hear us.
Spent this morning in the water, not playing, but scrubbing the water line which was foul with marine growth. Then I went down below with a chisel and removed the barnacles from the propeller and rudder stock area. A quick scrub of the zincs and I think we are set for another week in this climate!
We are finally feeling relaxed and are enjoying it here so plan to stay a while longer!
We went into the small village yesterday and met the local constabulary. He was very nice and apologetic about the news that a local islands council had decided to institute fees for anchoring in the atolls. It was the horrendous sum of 40ff per person per day. That is less than .50 in our currency. For that they take your garbage....not a small problem on a strip of sand and palm trees in the middle of the ocean. They burn a lot and maybe send some back on the supply ship but I doubt it. They
are planning to put in moorings for the visitors as well. We went back to his office where his 'secretary' took the boat info and gave us a receipt for our three days! We entered our names and 'Toketie' into the guest book, which they were very proud of! The building was over 100 years old! I spoke to him some more and learned that the other half dozen boats had not understood French and he could not communicate to them that they needed to make this small contribution to their economy so I offered
to spread the word. Today we have a notice posted at the end of the dock, in English, that explains it!
The kids are a riot. Once they realize you are friendly they are all over you. We have lots of pictures as they hammed it up pretty good. Two little girls begged us to go back to the boat and have popcorn and juice! Maybe tomorrow as the sun was setting. Met a very nice man working in his yard, a fisherman who seemed to be carving something. We greeted him and were invited into the yard. He had a small grinder and was trying to shape what looked like mother of pearl into small sailboats and
other things. His grinding wheel was worn down to the end so I will look through my tool box to see if I can find him another. His name was 'Riribatou'....my spelling!
Had Rose and Robert on 'Tillicum' over for dinner and scrabble last night. They have been living this cruising lifestyle for 20 years and deliver boats when the opportunity arises. We enjoyed the evening and the company and went way beyond our usual bedtimes!
Heard JD twice now on the HF radio, quite clearly, but he could not hear us.
Spent this morning in the water, not playing, but scrubbing the water line which was foul with marine growth. Then I went down below with a chisel and removed the barnacles from the propeller and rudder stock area. A quick scrub of the zincs and I think we are set for another week in this climate!
We are finally feeling relaxed and are enjoying it here so plan to stay a while longer!
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