May 20-29, 2014
Makemo was a true highlight of our journey. Not for the beauty, not for the diving, but for the interaction we had with some of the people who live there. We don’t speak French, and I’ve never regretted it more, but we still had a rich experience. I hope to go back there some day.
Logbook – May 20, 2014 (Raroia to Makemo)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1539 Engines on
- 1554 Depart
- 1622 Engines off main (1 reef) + genoa – TWS 10.3 kts SE
Logbook – May 21, 2014 (Raroia to Makemo)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0618 Main (1 reef) + genoa (2 reefs)
- 0636 Engines on
- 0802 Arrival – tied to wharf
Daily Notes
- Pass – easy. Incoming tide – 3 kt of current. Tying to wharf challenging, Exodus has so much windage!
- Walk to town – 8 baguettes! Met lots of children – invited them to dock. Lots of playing, swimming, football, paddle boards. Kids all go play soccer
- B – sea urchin sting on finger
- Invited to go watch dancing – practice for festival (I think)
Email to family and friends dated May 21, 2014
Subject: Makemo Arrival
We just arrived at our second atoll in The Tuamotus, Makemo. It is larger and has a more substantial village than Raroia, so we are looking forward to getting ashore and doing some exploring. Exiting the pass at Raroia was easy, the overnight passage was easy, entering the pass here at Makemo was easy (incoming tide, max 3 kt current), but tying up at the wharf was a bit challenging. This was our first time with this maneuver… we dropped the bow anchor and then backed into the wharf and tossed dock lines ashore to some guys who came to help us. The problem is that Exodus is so big and fat and has so much windage we were getting pushed sideways pretty good. With Alex’s help, we got everything secure and now I’m going to download weather to see if we want to stay here tonight or move to a protected anchorage. We are going to try to get some school work done before going in search of baguettes.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 5/21/2014 6:14 PM (utc) our position was 16°37.59’S 143°34.15’W
Logbook – May 22, 2014 (Makemo Wharf)
Daily Notes
- Kid on the dock w/ flowers when we got up. Wanted to “change” for chocolate. Boys finished school early and played w/ kids all day
- T – visit to the pearl artist
- Dinner at the restaurant with s/v The Beguine and LC
Email to family and friends dated May 22, 2014
Subject: Local Kids
We had a great first day here in Makemo, but the highlight had to be that Exodus and the dock around Exodus have become the hangout for all the local kids. They swam, played with our American football (Tim would throw it and they would try to catch it as they jumped off the dock), played with our surf boards and paddle boards, and we all tried our very best to communicate with what very little French we know. They even took the boys to play a game of soccer, and when they got back Brenden commented on how good they all were. Alex and Kyle are getting a lot of attention from the girls, of course, but they act like they don’t even notice. When we got up this morning there were a group of younger kids on the dock with flowers wanting to “change” them for chocolate. We will probably stay tied up here a couple more days so we can enjoy the baguettes and the kids, and then we will go explore more of the atoll.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 5/21/2014 6:14 PM (utc) our position was 16°37.59’S 143°34.15’W
Logbook – May 23, 2014 (Makemo Wharf)
Daily Notes
- Squall after squall after squall. Tons of rain. Max 35 kts.
- T – bartered for engraved pearls.
- Boys – more soccer w/ local kids
- French Navy boat arrived
- T – spearfished off pier (No fish) w/ Victor and Jack (Mayor)
Logbook – May 24, 2014 (Makemo Wharf)
Daily Notes
- No bread. Twice.
- T/boys – Wedding
- Rope swing day!
Logbook – May 25, 2014 (Makemo Wharf)
Daily Notes
- D – first run since La Cruz. Found the cemetery. Lots of tiny graves.
- More rope swinging
- 3 hours of internet & lots of wine
- T/Steve/Paul – Dorado harpooning with Victor. AMAZING. Go Pro Videos
- Potluck on Exodus
Logbook – May 26, 2014 (Makemo Wharf)
Daily Notes
- Last day in Makemo Village
- Girls take the boys’ shirts and clean Brenden’s room
- Watched the dancing in the evening again
Email to friends and family dated May 26, 2014
Subject: Time to move on
Our stay tied to the wharf here at the village in Makemo is coming to an end. This has been our favorite village that we have visited, by far. We spent another day yesterday with all the local kids playing on Exodus and Lady Carolina, and amazingly nothing got broken or lost. Well, except for Lady Carolina’s pulpit, which got a bit bent when a large kid used it as a spring board. A couple times we had to remind them to not stand on the lifelines and not jump on the net, but overall they are a good group of kids, and I spent some time yesterday with some of the older ones reading the French for Cruisers book together. They would pick a phrase and ask me something in English and I would try to answer in French. They seem to speak French more often here than in the Marquesas, even when interacting with each other. In the Marquesas, we heard a lot of Marquesan. I’m not exactly sure what the native language here is called. They speak Tahitian, and a couple words they taught us they would say, “in Makemo” indicating it’s a local language, but I’m really not sure. Tim, Steve (Lady Carolina), and Paul (The Beguine) got a treat yesterday and went fishing with a local guy named Victor. They went spear fishing with him the other day, but yesterday they went out in his boat, which unlike the Mexican Pangas, is driven from the front of the boat. He didn’t bother with any rods and reels. What he does is follow the birds until he finds a Mahi Mahi (Dorado) and then he chases it until it gets tired. Then when he’s close enough he throws a harpoon at it. His success rate was amazing, and they came back with 4 huge Dorado. We have a few errands to run before casting off today including picking up some engraved pearls that the guys traded a bunch of stuff for, and of course stocking up on baguettes. I paid for about 5 hours of internet yesterday and got some photos and a couple movies uploaded, hopefully you’ve had a chance to see them.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 5/21/2014 6:14 PM (utc) our position was 16°37.59’S 143°34.15’W
Logbook – May 27, 2014 (Makemo Wharf to Makemo Anchorage)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1040 Engines on
- Depart wharf
- 1125 P engine off
- 1405 P engine on
- 1428 Arrive Makemo anchorage
Daily Notes
- Anchor windlass blown fuses
- Potluck w/ Lady Carolina – late night talking politics and US bashing
Logbook – May 28, 2014 (Makemo Anchorage)
Daily Notes
- B – cough & sore throat
- T/D/A – explore the beach
- Quiet night – French bread pizza & a movie
Logbook – May 29, 2014 (Makemo Anchorage to Makemo NW Pass)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0842 Engines on
- 0853 Depart
- 0903 P engine off
- 1208 P engine on
- 1253 Arrive anchor near NW pass
- 1600 Engines on
- 1620 Re-anchor complete
Daily Notes
- Waited for a squall to pass before anchoring
- First anchored in the small lagoon
- T/A/Steve/Kyle – snorkel in the pass. B still sick.
- Decided to stay the night, moved anchor locations
Email to friends and family dated May 29, 2014
Subject: Still at Makemo
So, we ended up staying one more day tied to the wharf at the village, and I’m so glad we did. When I told the local kids we were staying “a demain” (until tomorrow) they were so excited they hugged me, especially the girls who are “in love” with Alex, Brenden, Kyle, and Joel. It’s funny, they communicate this by making a heart shape with their hands. They wrote notes with lots of hearts on them and gave the boys silly band bracelets. They spent the day with me on Exodus helping me chop vegetables and teaching me French. One of the girls would say a phrase in French and then tell me, “repetez.” They told me, in French, that they wanted souvenirs from us because they don’t want to forget us. I told them OK I understood thinking I would think of some things and give them later. Apparently what I actually did was give them permission to go to Alex and Brenden’s rooms and pick out what they want. They each came out with two shirts, dirty and smelly I might add, but they didn’t seem to care. I felt so bad I had to stop them because since they’ve been growing the boys don’t actually have that many clothes, especially Alex. Oh, they pleaded with me to let them have shirts, so I dug around in Brenden’s cubby and found some (clean) older, smaller shirts and gave them each one. Another funny thing is when Brenden came back he asked if I cleaned his room. I guess the girls thought the legos needed to be tidied up a bit! The next day Carolina was able to dig out a shirt of Kyle’s and gave that to one of the girls too, they were so ecstatic.
When leaving the dock we had a little bit of drama… we had bow anchor down and were stern tied to the wharf and good fortune had it such that the wind was blowing dead astern, so theoretically it would be an easy departure. Throw off the dock lines (we had help on the dock for that) and then just get pushed by the wind over the anchor as we raise it. No problem, right? Well, Alex wasn’t being quite as careful as he should have been and he jammed the anchor bridal hook up against the bow roller and the windlass fuse blew. I’m at the helm, and Tim tells me we have to raise the anchor manually, so “just hold us right here.” Well, some might think that with two engines holding Exodus in precisely one spot would be easy. And it is, in very light wind conditions. But with huge windage and very little keel, once the wind is over about 8 kts we get pushed around pretty good. And this day it was blowing 15-20. So, I try my best but we do end up getting blown sideways a bit, so my great idea is to just turn, drive back to line we were on, and then face the anchor again. In the process of doing that, I wrapped the chain around a coral head. What a fiasco, Tim had to jump in the water to free the chain, and at this point I just turned us around to face the wind so once free of the coral head we just floated back bow to the wind and raised the anchor manually (with help from Steve who had jumped in the water and boarded Exodus) in a more normal wind orientation for anchor raising. So, I was ready for my rum right there, but we still had 3 hours of navigating through the coral heads to the next anchorage. I dipped into the Zaya for that safe arrival cocktail! It’s a nice spot, but not as nice as where we anchored in Raroia as we are much further from the beach without as much wind protection.
We are heading to the NW pass later this morning to dive the pass and may even leave for Tahanea as early as this afternoon.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 