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by steve, on June 29th, 2010 ( A Cappella, Bristol Rose, Callisto, Imagine, InnForAPennyII, Inspiration Lady, Leu Cat, Lilith, Sea Mist, Society Islands, Song Line, Whoosh)
Before the morning SSB net was over John and I headed ashore. I had a date with our agent, Laurent, as he had received a letter containing my bank card. Our old one had expired and we really needed this one. Once we had this we headed off to the Carrefour to pick up some beer for the evening. The local beers had an offer going where the price for 20 was reduced. We picked up 40 bottles only to find the offer was over. I figured what the hell and bought them all anyway. John picked up some Magnum ice cream for a birthday present.
Back on the boat we go into the business of stuffing the beers away into all corners of the fridge and freezer. Later in the morning Helen cooked up an artery busting fry up for brunch which we followed up with the intensely chocolaty magnums.
We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat up and then reanchoring (four times) as we were a little too close to one of the other boats. The anchor seemed to have a lot of trouble setting. We were in 60 feet of water so we weren’t lifting it up off the bottom each time. At one point I asked Helen to raise the anchor out of the water just to make sure we still had one.
At 6pm the evening’s festivities began. We had invited the folks from A Cappella, Bristol Rose, Callisto, Imagine, Inn for Penny II, Inspiration Lady, Leu Cat, Lilith, Sea Mist, Song Line & Whoosh for a combined birthday (for me)/farewell (for John) party. Helen had been concerned about the boat being too crowded but in the end we comfortably held 27 people aboard without people having to spill forward. The weather remained perfect for the evening. With that many people it was impossible to chat to everyone but everyone seemed to have a good time.
About half way through Helen called for quiet so the ladies could enact a scheme they’d come up with (inspired I understand by Sheilah from Imagine). They had put on fresh lipstick and in turn they each sang to me then kissed me somewhere on the face. I ended up, of course, with lots of marks on my face.
The evening went very well. It was good for John to meet up again with a few of the folks he’s got to know. For us, it may be almost the last time we see a few of these folks. Out of Tahiti everyone is heading towards Bora Bora but from there they’ll head off in different directions and on different timetables. While we wait here in Tahiti for the next two weeks, many will move on and we may never catch up. Those going to New Zealand we’ll see but those on their way, like Whiskers, to Australia will be too far ahead of us. However, we’ll meet some new people who are on the trail behind us which will be good.
Helen and I are looking at the various anchorages around Tahiti so we have an idea of what to do over the next couple of weeks. Things are going a bit crappy with some of our internet orders. If we can sort these out we can get out of here the day after John leaves.
Tahiti at this time of year is very much a geographical and temporal convergence for cruising sailors. Geographically, Tahiti is a stopover for almost every boat crossing the Pacific as there is nothing for thousands of miles north or south. Timewise there is the Puddle Jump rendezvous which is attracting a lot of boats. As a result, we’re seeing many of our friends that we’ve met along the way. Most boats are at the free anchorage (100 boats we hear) past the airport. We’ve opted to pay for the town quay where there are currently 20-30 boats. Amongst them are Imagine, Curious, Inspiration Lady, Callisto, Anthem, Whoosh. Last night InnForAPenny II arrived.
Our first chore ashore was to walk to the Port Captain’s office and pay for our berth. We had tied up to a vacant slot in the finger quays. It turned out this slot was reserved for a day charter cat and we had to move to a semi-circular area nearby next to a park. We were charged the same despite reduced facilities and no security. As a result we did at least get a guard overnight. Later John and I went out to visit the tourist office and pick up ice creams. Not had a Mr Whippy in months (behave yourselves).
Next our Code Zero arrived delivered by Laurent from Pacific Yacht Services. He had to dash but he did leave us with a map showing us where we could get propane. We obtained instructions on how to dinghy to the propane station so John and I dinghied across the harbour, tied to a fishing dock, crawled through a hole in a fence and went over to the propane place. It was closed. We had to return in the morning.
After some more internetting we went out. First stop was the supermarket where we picked up some beer and cheese as well as researching prices. We dropped the supplies off back on the boat and headed down the road to where we heard we could pick up cheap Chinese food served from outdoor vendors in the park. There we bumped into Mike and Anne from Callisto with their daughter. Anne and the daughter had just arrived that day to join the boat for the trip to NZ. We ended up eating together and agreeing to drinks tonight.
By the end of the dinner we were pooped so it was back to Dignity for a cool beer and rest.
This morning was more parts ordering and chasing a misdelivered package as well as Skyping family. I’ve been back to the propane place and had two tanks filled. That’s a relief. A new problem is that a cash card from the Uk seems lost in the post or delayed. This is fixable but could cause a problem soon.
Anyway. Today we’ll be exploring the town some more probably looking into a lot of hardware stores to look for things we may need for the journey ahead.
Helen and I decided to go for another walk. John preferred to stay aboard so we headed off to the beach together. Having just the two of us to haul the dinghy up the beach makes such a difference as we can only lug it inches at a time rather than drag it up in one go. Fortunately Stuart from Imagine was there and gave a hand.
We walked along the beach with Stuart & Sheila for a while chatting about plans, etc. We’ve agreed to run a controlled net from here to the Tuamotus and possibly on to Tahiti. This will start up next week. We parted company when they headed off to the town in the next bay while we carried on along the coast. Our destination was the leeward beach to the east which required following the coast of this bay for a while before climbing a low saddle and out to the other side. I think I sound like a stuck record when I say the scenery and views were stunning. But they were. Unfortunately the leeward beach with it’s crashing waves also had it’s collection of trash. It was not as bad as elsewhere but even here, thousands of miles out into the Pacific, plastic bottles, old rope and other items had washed ashore.
We walked to one end of the beach before resting in the shade of a tree, taking water then turning back. On the way we found what we think was the skeleton of a horse.
After returning to the boat I popped over to Jackster to borrow some tools so I could open up our old water maker feeder pump. While in the middle of opening the pump Gary from Inspiration Lady called about some problems he had with his email software. It turned out he needed a file so I invite him over to collect the file and see how to apply it. Dave from Jackster popped by then too and hung around for a while during which time he invited us out to dive round the corner later in the afternoon which we accepted, particularly considering he was offering to fill our tanks afterwards.
Having pulled the pump apart some of the bits inside were flying around. They could have been lose as a result of my dismantling but I figured out how to put it all together. Maybe it works now but I have a suspicion some of the metal is worn and output pressure will be poor.
After lunch we got our dive gear together and around 2pm John and I were out in the dinghy – Helen preferring to read. Our first port of call was to stop by the nearby boat “Secret agent Man” which had tangled it’s chain under a coral head. I’d free dived down to take a look and realized it would take some moving of the chain and some hard pulling to remove from under the coral head under which the chain was tightly wedged.
Dave and I donned our scuba gear and we went down. We shifted the chain and anchor to create some slack on the chain one side of the coral head. I kept this up while Dave pulled the chain out from under the coral head. Then we gave the signal to Eric on Secret Agent Man to up anchor and move. They were off. We waved goodbye, got back into our dinghies and headed off to our selected dive site.
The dive was murky but we did get to see a lot of fish. At one point we found a lion fish and while we were looking at that a manta ray snuck up behind us so we had two good sightings in one. I also spotted an octopus which is always fun and I managed to spot a second, larger manta which was in view for just a few seconds.
Once we were back on the boat we received a call from Eric on Secret Agent Man inviting us over for dinner. He was thankful for our rescuing him from the reef. He’d tried for ages the previous day to free himself to no avail. While he offered us the few beers he had we declined suggesting instead he ‘pass it on’ to the next person he found that he could help. They’d cooked us a chili dinner with rice which was nice. We’d brought chocolate cake for dessert which went with their banana cake.
I was quite exhausted by the end of the evening and was quite glad to lie down and sleep.
Today we’re heading round the island anti-clockwise to Daniels Bay which has received praise from other cruisers as well has having a great hike to what some have said is the third highest waterfall in the world despite it having no water. We’ll see. We’ll do the hike regardless as it’s supposed to be quite good.
The boat needed a bit of a clean up so we spent the first part of the morning washing the decks and cleaning the interior. Once this was completed we set off for our walk to Hatiheu in the next bay.
The beach is accessible by dinghy through one small channel as the rest of the area is all shallow coral. We landed on the beach and secured the dinghy to a tree before walking along the beach looking for the path that would take us over the hill. There is a small village here if you can call it that – just a few small buildings and a church. We found the path up and began the climb. According to my charts the climb is about 250 feet but in the heat of mid morning with the sun on us it felt much higher.
As we climbed the view of Baie d’Anaho and it’s surrounds became progressively more impressive and stunning. Reaching the saddle where the trail peaked was a relief as it was now downhill to Hatiheu and, even better, it was shaded.
The view of the surrounding geography was even more stunning from Hatiheu. Volcanic rock formations towered over green hills and a sleepy little village. Typically there were a couple of small shops and an impressively built church.
After exploring the village we started climbing again up the track out of town towards where there were some ancient Polynesian ruins. We expected just a few rocks but found the base of a what must have been a town for several hundred if not thousands of people. It was a haunting reminder of the culture on these islands that was decimated by the arrival of Europeans, their diseases and their ideas. Contact was inevitable and cultures are inevitably impacted but it is still sad to see the result. While wondering the ruins we met Frank and Margo from Silver Lining and ended up chatting for a while.
Back in town we looked around for somewhere to eat. The only place open was a large dining area with meals for around $25-$40. We passed on this deciding to have a curry back aboard the boat.
We struggled back up to the saddle again now in the midday heat. On the way back down we came upon a French lady who had lost contact with her party. She looked exhausted so we offered her some of her water. It turned out she had no water as it was the rest of her party who were carrying it. We ended up giving her our bottle as we were on our way down and there was abundant free fresh water from taps by the beach. She was very grateful for this. Once we’d left her behind we realized we’d not seen anyone else on the trail so if she was behind her party it was a long way behind. Still, with a bottle to carry water she would make it.
Just before reaching the beach I managed to stub my little toe tearing the nail off and causing a bit of a mess on my flip flop. There was a shower on the beach of which we availed ourselves rinsing off all the grime (and dried blood in my case) and taking our fill drinking straight from the flow.
We’d bought some empty bottles and cans to fill. Despite now having a working water maker we still can’t pass the opportunity to carry more – particularly water so fresh and clean.
Back on the boat we had dinner. The wind had picked up earlier in the day and John found the snorkeling to be a little murky. We rested the afternoon before entertaining the Jacksters, Inspiration Ladys, the Bristol Roses and Jack from Anthem celebrating Dave from Jackster’s birthday. Another good time was had by all.
This morning we’re a little hung over so today is set to be a day of rest.
by KC2RIY, on May 21st, 2010 ( Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Marquesas)
We left Taiohae fairly early and once outside of the bay found ourselves in northeasterly winds. This enabled us to sail eastwards a little more efficiently but didn’t bode too well for heading up the east side of the island. Around 8am we joined an informal net on the SSB where we talked to Whiskers on their way to the Tuamotus. They were experiencing much lighter winds than hoped for too.
Near the south east corner we came close to Sea Mist who were motoring along the south side. We exchanged greetings on the radio – perhaps we’re soon to meet finally.
We made a long tack off the south east corner hoping to find the right line to sail up the east coast. While doing so we saw a lot of sea bird activity around a patch in the water. This means they were chasing a ball of small fish which in turn suggested there were larger fish feeding too. Our hopes were up as we sailed through the area with two lines out. We thought we’d sailed on through with our usual luck when suddenly we had a fish on. I started winding it in then suddenly we had a second fish so John started winding that one in. The fish I had was a skipjack tuna of a fairly decent size, perhaps around 4lb to 5lb. I put the clip we have through it’s chin and sliced it’s gills and chucked it in the water before too much blood went on the boat. It bled out fairly quickly so I hauled it aboard and took the line / clip over to John. His was a skipjack tuna too but it turned out it had died already so the cutting didn’t release any blood.
We performed our usual roles. I removed bowels and heads then John filleted the fish. A lot of their inner core where the blood had remained was tossed but we still ended up with a lot of good meat.
During all this we made our turn to head up the east side of the island. It was apparent we didn’t have a good angle and would have to continue tacking to keep away from the land. We decided to close the angle a little by giving a push with the electric motors. We were briefly surrounded by a pod of the small dolphins that are abundant around here but they departed quickly. We were then joined by a pod of larger darker dolphins. There were around 40 of them and they behaved a little differently. They were bumping the boat from time to time and where they swam and played at the bows they were densely packed. They surfaced less often and had rounder shaped heads. We used our guide and identified them as melon headed whales. This begs the question as to what the difference between whales and dolphins is as it’s not obvious to us.
This pod stayed with us for at least two hours during which the genset overheated and shut down as a result of a broken impeller. I replaced the part resulting in a bit of a mystery. The removed impeller had one vane missing with a broken vane wedged in the gap. The vane, however, didn’t match the stump. Seems I must have missed clearing a vane last time and the lost vane is still in the tubes somewhere. Having little enjoyment in working on a hot engine the first time I declined opening it up again to search for the missing vane and left this chore to another day. Chances are it’s sitting in the heat exchanger. The gasket for this is falling apart and if I go in there I’ll need to make another.
The whales left us eventually as we rounded the north east tip of the island. We hailed Inspiration Lady as we thought they may be in the anchorage we were heading to as we were now able to return the water jugs they had leant us. We discovered Jackster were there too which is usual as they sail together. They let us know there was a gap in the anchorage right next to them and there we anchored when we arrived in Anaho Bay.
The bay is stunning. Half mile high volcanic rock formations with a mixture of red stone, sand and vegetation. We were keen to get out into the water so we whizzed over to Jackster to learn where best we can go. We ended up staying aboard for a beer and ended up agreeing to host David’s birthday aboard Dignity the following day. They gave us good info and we showed off our tattoos which happens every time we meet anyone these days. We then picked up our snorkeling gear and headed over to Inspiration Lady to drop off the water jugs as they were right by one of the snorkeling reefs. After usual greetings and chat we ended up leaving the dinghy tied to their boat while we swam out to the reef. The sun was getting low so the visibility was declining. However the reef was shallow and there were plenty of fish to see.
After our swim we dinghied back to Dignity and dropped the gear off along with Helen and John. I wanted to say a brief hello to Sea Mist who were in the anchorage. I ended up staying for a couple of beers before having to be called back as the BBQ was cooked. While there a few dinghies passed by with friends from other boats that we’d got to know while in the Galapagos and Marquesas. This is a popular anchorage and one of the last ones before folks head off to the Tuamotus.
John had cooked up chicken, burgers and some of the fish. It was all very tasty. We finished the evening watching an episode of The Wire. The combination of our USB reader/player and TV decided not to work so we had to watch it on John’s laptop. Another thing to try and fix some time.
Today we plan to make the hike to the village Hatiheu in the next bay as well as cleaning up the boat for the party this evening.
Longer term our thinking is now being influenced by the thought that we’d really like to get to Tahiti by June 18th for the 3 day Pacific Puddle Jump party. This is just four weeks and nearly 800nm away. The more time we spend here, the less we’ll get in the Tuamotus. We want to make the best of this anchorage as well as visiting Hakaui on the south coast. So it looks like 3 nights here followed by a slog round to Hakaui via Taiehoe on the same day to reprovision, internet and grab fuel. 2-3 nights there and then we’ll be off to the Tuoamotus.
As planned, John and I went exploring / snorkeling in the morning. We took Tim from Kamaya with us and dinghied around the corner searching for interesting places. Practically everywhere, the steep cliffs continued straight down into the water where even our 100ft dinghy chain would not touch bottom. We did find a rocky ledge around 8-10 feet down where we could anchor and go off swimming with the fish. It was quite a cool spot, the highlight being finding a couple of lion fish. We then moved further into the bay we were now in for a second swim hoping to find lobster for lunch. No luck there but we did see a white tipped reef shark.
When we returned to the boat we found that Gary and Jackie aboard Inspiration Lady had just arrived. We gave our welcome and congrats and invited them over for nibbles and drinks after dinner. We learned from them that Jackster and Bristol Rose were also due in that day. They duly arrived late in the day and were also invited aboard for a get together.
In the afternoon we all snorkeled near the boat. We found our old octopus and giant moray eel. When I free dove down to 45ft I found two octopus marching across the sand which was cool although I stayed a little too long and the trip to the surface seemed to take forever.
At 6pm all arrived although we picked up Trish, Rob, Elliot and Owen from Bristol Rose as they’d only just arrived and prepping their dinghy was not top on their list – understandably.
It was great meeting up with old friends. We’d not seen the Jacksters and Inspiration Ladies since Bonaire, six months ago, and the Bristol Roses further back still. I was surprised they all lasted three hours but by nine everyone was pooped. After all, they’d all just crossed an ocean.
We hadn’t drunk too much so we stuck to our original plan and overnight sailed to Hiva Oa. We did not know the anticipated delivery date of our part so we wanted to get our paperwork done in Hiva Oa before the weekend. We also wanted to see more of the festival here so this all worked out. As I type we’ve been here at the anchorage for about an hour. I’ve learned we all need to go in to check in so I’ll be waking Helen and John up fairly soon.
I’ve already met Richard from Lileth who is here for a while waiting for parts. There is internet here in the harbour but it is $5 per hour which is a bit steep. We’ll look for something in town a little less pricey. It’s a bit of a hike but the exercise is good.
by steve, on November 8th, 2009 ( Bonaire, Inspiration Lady, Jackster)
Saturday morning saw us heading back to Klein Bonaire to dive on a location called “Bonaventure” along with the Jacksters. They first joined us aboard Dignity so we could discuss and agree location before we headed off in our separate dinghies.
 This time I took my camera and we were able to capture pictures of the fantastic reef at that site. The photos simply don’t do the place justice.  Below the dinghies at around 20ft was a sandy bottom out of which corals grew looking as if they’d been planted there. Next to this patch was the obligatory (for Bonaire) drop off, this time being almost vertical.
The dive profile was similar to before – down to 90-100ft before slowly making our way back up the reef. We spent the final 15 minutes searching for seahorses (again none found) in the corals beneath the dinghies.
We had a lazy afternoon reading ending up grilling some fine pork ribs we’d picked up on the island. After dinner it was over to the Jacksters to play a game of Mexican Train Dominoes along with the Inspiration Ladies. Congrats to Jackie (Inspiration Lady) for winning the evening’s play.
by steve, on November 7th, 2009 ( Bonaire, Inspiration Lady, Jackster)
Would you believe it I finally obtained the dive map from Budget Marine yesterday. I dropped off the four used tanks at Dive Friends letting them know one had lost about 1,000 PSI before we used it and pointed out where the leak was. Even though we’d managed a decent dive on it the manager gave us a free fill. Very nice of them. Our tanks still hadn’t arrived yet so I took another two.
Helen and I then packed our gear into the dinghy and went to a spot just north of Harbour Village Marina called “Front Porch”. It wasn’t clear where the spot was from the sea as my guess is is that the dive marker was on land. We asked someone in the water who gave us guidance to the spot – at least where he thought it was. One of the attractions to this spot was a wreck of a fishing boat sitting on the bottom at 80ft.
We donned our gear, always a little more awkward in the dinghy, and back flipped into the water. After making sure we were both ok we descended to find the wreck. We hit bottom at 102ft and saw no wreck. To conserve air we ascended to about 70ft and headed south, this being my guess as to the direction of the wreck. After about 5 minutes the wreck appeared out of the shadows. It was on it’s side in about 90ft with the open section away from us. We swum over it then peered under.
The dive then progressed as with the previous ones, running parallels along the sloping reef ascending 10-20ft each time. We spotted a sinister looking and very large barracuda lurking in the depths and Helen caught sight of a green moray hiding in the reef. Nearer the top of the reef we came upon what we both initially thought was murky water. It turned out to be a few of the corals spawing. Out of their tubular vents poured a fine mist like underwater volcanoes. That was a great surprise as we thought all the spawning had occurred during September and October.
Back on Dignity we rested for an hour before heading off for a walk. We wanted some leg exercise as we’d had none for a while. We walked along the seafront for a while before heading into the commercial district. We wanted to check out the supermarkets over that way before making any broader effort to buy any supplies. As suspected the prices reflected the geographic/political isolation of the island so we only bought opportunistically – ie, things we don’t normally see. In this case it was a couple of small packets of nan bread. We bumped into the Jacksters, Inspiration Ladies and their friends on Going South who were provisioning up having hired a vehicle they could share.
We walked further out of town before looping back and coming back in from a different direction. We picked up some fresh milk on the way. We again bumped into the Jacksters, et al, at the dinghy dock as they were loading up their supplies.
That was about it. Back on the boat we had our evening meal and I wrestled with the internet for a while. Something’s changed recently and it’s hard to get a decent connection. Hopefully I can get this blog out.
by steve, on November 6th, 2009 ( Alofa, Bonaire, Inspiration Lady, Jackster)
Thursday morning: another trip to Budget Marine to pick up my map. Another wipe out. Took their number this time so I’ll call before going again. We then motored Dignity around Klein Bonaire to a dive site called “Mi Dushi”. I had made a note of this site while in Budget Marine as the guide suggested this was the site to spot sea horses. Leaving our mooring we were hailed by Alofa who wondered if we were leaving just as they were arriving. We reassured them we weren’t and would be around for a few days yet.
The waters at the Mi Dushi were crystal clear and the colours out of this world. No seahorses spotted though but the dive was excellent all the same.
Arriving back at the mainland we discovered someone else had taken the mooring we had been on (you’re not allowed to reserve them) so we took another a little further north. We found the internet connection to be poor there so after dinghying around and checking some of the others we ended up tying up to the mooring next to our previous which looked as though it had an issue but was fine.
Throughout the day we had exchanges with Jackster and Inspiration Lady sharing notes and materials we’d collected for our passage west.
We had a quiet evening to ourselves. We were a little worn out and needed it after the two previous evenings.
by steve, on November 5th, 2009 ( Bonaire, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Sea Otter)
We had a fairly slow morning rising due to the night before. The coconut telegraph at 8am was the final reason for getting up. To our delight we heard that Inspiration Lady and Jackster had both arrived in Bonaire. They had bypassed the Aves on the strength of a forecast of little or no wind the following day. As it was they had had to motor a lot of the way from Los Roques. We soon had contact on the VHF and agreed to meet up for sundowners in the evening – the second in a row for us.
Next we had a trip into town for some provisioning. We also swung by the Budget Marine to see if the dive map had arrived. It hadn’t. They suggested coming back today. We’ll see.
 Then it was down to some serious hammock lying and reading until lunch. After lunch, Teri from Sea Otter came over to give Helen a water colour painting lesson. Teri spent 2½ hours with Helen showing her the basics and some different techniques for achieving different effects. The result, we all thought,  was pretty good. A combination of good teaching and talented student perhaps.
Sea Otter are heading out today. They will make their way to St Thomas where Teri will paint some more and sell her paintings to the tourists. She makes enough money this way to feed them for the following year. Teri kindly left Helen some of her old paints to keep going.
By the time all was packed up it was time to have the Jacksters (Jackie and Dave) and the Inspiration Ladies (Jackie and Gary) aboard for a fine evening of conversation, nibbles and the odd beverage. We all have rough plans of making it to NZ by the end of next year. It was good to catch up with them and learn of their travels and recent experiences.
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