July 7-15, 2014
Mopelia was our last stop in French Polynesia. It is a small atoll with a population of about 20 people. We stayed over a week, and we loved it.
Logbook – July 7, 2014 (Maupiti to Mopelia)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1540 Engines on
- 1550 Depart
- 1625 Engines off
- SB battery low voltage warning
- 1707 Genoa + genniker – TWS 8.8 kts E
Daily Notes
- Battery charger inverter acting up. At 12.1 V, gen on, and charger goes up to 13.2V then quickly up to 13.5 to _____ then goes right into absorption mode (I know there is no way the bat bank is up to 80% yet…) AT 14V w/in 30 min
- Solar charger seems to be fine, but need to watch it closely
Email to family and friends dated July 7, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Preparing to depart Maupiti
Good morning! We are currently anchored near the pass at Maupiti preparing for an afternoon departure. Yesterday, we did some snorkeling, but it certainly wasn’t Tuamotus quality. Perhaps I am ruined for life in this respect.
We are going to make a run back over to town in the dinghy today to pick up some supplies and mail to take to Mopelia. Our timing was just a little bad in that yesterday was Sunday, so we couldn’t take care of that while we were still anchored near the town. I have really enjoyed this little island, especially the running and hiking. Mopelia is about 100 miles away, so we expect to arrive about mid morning tomorrow.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – July 8, 2014 (Maupiti to Mopelia)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0518 Genniker only
- 1048 P engine on, Main (3 reefs) + genniker
- 1328 SB engine on
- 1409 Arrive
- 1430 Engines on to reanchor
- 1436 Reanchor complete
Daily Notes
- Lazy afternoon
Email to family and friends dated July 8, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Arrived in Mopelia
We arrived yesterday about 2:30 in the afternoon, luckily the sun was still high enough to give us good lighting to enter the pass and navigate inside the lagoon. Tim drove while entering the pass, so I can only give you my perspective from up on the bow, and wow, was it ever narrow. There were coral shelves on either side, according to the guidebook it is 60 ft across at the narrowest point, and from where I stood, that felt generous. Tim was calling out current and depth as we went, and the max current we saw was 4 kts against us, but Exodus pushed through no problem. We are anchored in a pleasant spot that should provide a little protection as the winds clock around to the north. There really isn’t a weather window for heading to Surarrow any time in the forseeable forecast, so we may be here awhile. Too bad.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – July 9, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- D – paddle to shore & run. Met Harry.
- T/B snorkel
Logbook – July 10, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- Snorkel on bombie near pass. Excellent visibility. Boys gathered many scallops. Tasty snack. No pearls.
- Dinner on shore with local family & 2 other boats. Faimano & Hio – brother/sister – spoke very good eEnglish
Logbook – July 11, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- D – motu trail run
- T/A – on shore to help Hio w/ truck
- D/B – rescue surfboards
Email to family and friends dated July 11, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Mopelia Adventures
We are having a wonderful time here in Mopelia. Yesterday morning we went for a snorkel on some coral heads near the pass and the visibility was excellent. Lots of reef fish and more than a few sharks as well. Then we drifted in the current towards the pass, the boys said there was an amazing number of fish. I finally got uncomfortable with how quickly we were moving to the rapids at the pass exit, so I was the party pooper that ruined the fun. The boys all collected several scallops which Alex wrestled open back at Exodus. They made a tasty afternoon snack lightly sauteed in some butter, garlic, and wine, but sadly, there were no pearls to be found. The guidebook says they used to farm pearls here, and all the buoys scattered about here seems to validate that. However, Tim talked to one of the other cruisers that said they only used to farm the scallops here. They never seeded them for pearls. They just grew the scallops and then sold them to the pearl farms in the Tuamotus. Who knew.
Shortly after we finished our scallop snack, a local boat approached with a young couple in it, and they invited us to their house for dinner. Turns out they are brother and sister, and we also met their other sister, mother, and father. They invited all 3 boats in the anchorage, so they prepared quite a feast of lobster, coconut crabs, scallops, rice, and hearts of palm salad. Brenden was crazy about everything, Alex not so much. We brought them some banana bread and popcorn and we also brought 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of juice to share. It was a very nice evening, but have I mentioned how I wish we spoke French!? Last night had to be the most I’ve wished this, because although family from Mopelia spoke quite a bit of English, all the other cruisers spoke French, so naturally, that is the language most of the conversation took place in. One of the girls was very sweet and she would translate for me now and then, especially when something was funny. One of the other boats brought a bottle of wine too, and I was disappointed that the cruisers all seemed to be drinking more wine than our hosts. Then, would you believe it, when our wine was gone they brought out a bottle of theirs to share and asked if we wanted to open it. Wine in French Polynesia is very expensive, and I can’t imagine they have a huge stock pile here on Mopelia, so my reaction was, no, no, no, that’s very kind, but no thank you. I was absolutely appalled that the other cruisers accepted and then proceeded to drink their wine!
Anyway, I think Tim will go lobster diving tonight with Hio, the young man who spoke quite a bit of English. We will likely stay a couple more days and will hopefully get to spend some more time with this family.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Email to family and friends dated July 11, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Front
A low pressure system passing south of us spawned a cold front extending to the northwest, and that front passed over us today. It brought strong winds that clocked to the west and a lot of rain. I managed to get in a motu trail run before the rain started, and Tim and Alex went to shore to help Hio repair the bed of his pick up truck. I guess lobster diving is off the agenda for tonight, given the weather.
While Brenden and I were “just relaxing on the boat” the shift from NW to W winds brought a strong gust of 30+ knots and the two surfboards blew off the top of Exodus into the water. We both jumped up, but Brenden once again proved he was a man of action. The paddle board was down, so he yelled at me to get him a paddle, but I was taking too long, and then I said it might be too hard to paddle in this wind, so he promptly stripped down naked and just jumped in. I told him to go for the board that was furthest away, and I would get on the paddle board to get the other one. In hindsight, I should have just jumped in too, because once I retrieved the board I was having trouble paddling, so Brenden had to take his board back to Exodus and the swim to me to get the other board. All this time we are getting pelted by strong rain. Tim and Alex showed up with the dinghy about 5 min later. I let Brenden take a much deserved warm shower.
I wrote a bit this morning about our dinner last night on shore, and I was so focused on the French conversation and the wine situation, I neglected to mention some really positive details:
-There was a young coconut at each place setting, and just before we sat down to eat Hio opened the very tip of each one with a machete. We drank the coconut water out of bendy straws. Nice touch.
-When Brenden FINALLY finished stuffing his face with all the tasty crustaceans, he noticed a small hermit crab at his feet, and he delightfully pointed it out. Then he looked outside and saw about 25 HUGE hermit crabs crawling about in the sand. Of course, he had to excuse himself from the table to go play with them.
-There is was a spectacular moonlit view of the beach and lagoon from their bathroom, which doesn’t have a door.
Good night from Mopelia. Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – July 12, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- Isabela net – new net starting Mon 14 July 1900Z (9am Tahiti) on 8122 khz. “Good by Bora Bora” Isabela net will persist.
- Radio traffic w/ Field Trip in Moorea
- T/A – dive & spearfish w/ Hio outside pass
- 20-25 kts wind + swells at night
Email to family and friends dated July 12, 2014
Subject: Exodus – wet weather and shark encounters
We are still enjoying Mopelia, but the weather is still wet and gray, so it’s putting a bit of a damper on things. Tim and Alex went diving this morning with Hio, the young guy who lives here and speaks a fair amount of English, and the crew of s/v Refola, from Italy. Below is from an email Tim sent to his bro, but I got the OK to copy/paste here for everyone’s enjoyment. Except moms. Any moms reading this should stop reading now. Thank you.
Tim wrote:
Alex and I went with a local guy here outside the pass to snorkel on a WWI Navy shipwreck. Most of the ship is gone but you can still see some cannons, the anchor, and many big gun shells (brass shells last longer under water than the rest of the steel hull) embedded in the coral. Pretty cool. Heo, the local guy, said we shouldn’t spearfish near the pass since there are so many sharks there. I said, well, we can just take our spears along anyway, even if we don’t use them. (yea, sure…) We were only in the water 3-4 seconds before Heo says, “Give me my gun!” I look over and see a huge school of yellowtail-like fish. Heo shoots into the school, but misses. Within seconds, several sharks appear out of nowhere and start looking around… Good thing he missed. Later, he shot a small Jack and carried it back to the dinghy holding it above water so the sharks could not “hear” it struggling (vibrations, more than anything, of a struggling fish attract the sharks in a hurry). One fish in the dinghy, Heo saw a huge school of parrot fish, swam over and after looking around and seeing no sharks nearby, shot one. Hit in the belly, the parrot fish went nuts, swimming in circles on the spear. Within 2 seconds, three sharks appeared from behind the ridge of the reef and attacked the parrotfish. The first shark took half the fish, the second took the rest – no prize for third place. Within five seconds, 10 more sharks appeared in a frenzy. Heo had already let go of his spear gun and was swimming backwards but with no fish left to eat, the new sharks looked eagerly at anything moving in the water. I forced myself to relax and slowly removed my dive knife (I had just put my gun back in the dinghy, thinking we were done). As he kicked at a couple of small, curious sharks, I couldn’t help but smile in my snorkel, thinking that he should have listened to his own advice. Once back in the dinghy, his big smile made me laugh and he suggested that we go inside the reef to fish some more.
OK, moms can start reading again. And for your information, when you are simultaneously cooking dinner and listening to your husband tell a story about diving and sharks, and you accidentally pour 2 T. of paprika in the chili instead of 2 T. of chili powder, it’s all good. It’s still edible.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – July 13, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- Rainy, lazy day. T-read about Tonga, D-worked on movies. A/B – who knows!!
Logbook – July 14, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- Snorkel on WWII wreck on the reef
- Tim fixed SB macerator & cleaned out port bilgs
- About 8 sharks + remoras hang out by Exodus
Logbook – July 15, 2014 (Mopelia)
Daily Notes
- D – run on coral
- T/A – lobster gathering w/ Hio
Email to family and friends dated July 15, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Dive on a wreck in Mopelia
We had a great day here in Mopelia yesterday. The weather finally broke, and we had a light breeze and sunshine, so we donned our dive gear and went out to the shallows to the east side of the pass to snorkle around a WWII Japanese Navy boat wreck. It is in very shallow water, about 10 ft at most, and the clarity and marine life was some of the best we’ve seen. We are not sure when we will leave, but likely not today, since Tim was invited to go lobster diving with Hio tonight.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 