Category: Photo Log

Aug 12-13, 2014

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Logbook – August 12, 2014 (Neiafu to Port Maurelle)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1535 Engines on
• 1539 Depart Neiafu
• 1704 Arrive Port Maurelle

Daily Notes

• Y & J here! Lunch @ Aquarium Cafe, walk to market
• Motor sail to Port Maurelle
• Safe arrival cocktails on shore, chase back by mosquitos
• Ui here

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Email to family and friends dated August 12, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Visit from Friends

Our friends from home, Yi and Johnny (who used to do the Catalina charters with us), are here to visit. They arrived yesterday, and after a nice long lunch at The Aquarium Cafe and a quick walk into town for beer and fruit/veg, we motor sailed around the corner about 6 miles to an anchorage called Port Mourelle. There are 4 other boats here, 5 if you count the fact that one is a mega yacht and their “tender” is a full on fishing boat. Our German friends with the two girls that we met in Suwarrow are here, and we did a shore excursion in the evening and brought the girls along with us, so Brenden had some dig in the sand buddies. However, these girls did not just dig, they decorated. In what seemed like just a few minutes they had made a beautiful little shell garden. After we got chased off the beach by the mosquitoes, we seared up the last of our yellow fin for a huge tuna feast, and today we are going to do some cave snorkeling. The sun looks like it might come out for us today, so keep your fingers crossed.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – August 13, 2014 (Port Maurelle)

Daily Notes

• Whales in the channel! Chastised by tour boat when Yi tries to swim with them
• Mariners Cove & Swallows Cave
• Fishing – T/S/Y/J – swim w/ whales. J get’s “bitch slapped”
• Rum tasting

August 5-11, 2014

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Logbook – August 5, 2014 (Pago Pago to Neiafu)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0751 Engines on
• 0808 Depart Pago Pago
• 0859 Engines off. Main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef). TWS 18.9 kts ESE
• Fish on- Dorado
• 1733 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs). TWS 23.7 kts E

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Logbook – August 6, 2014 (Pago Pago to Neiafu)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0000 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs). TWS 18.8 kts SE

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Logbook – August 7-8, 2014 (Pago Pago to Neiafu)

Passage Log Hightlights

• 0625 Land Ho!
• 0810 SB engine on sails down
• 1310 engines off @ mooring ball

Daily Notes

• Clearing in + walk to Immigration. Piggie crossing!
• Beers @ Mango cafe
• Time change, rather day change – jump ahead 24 hours

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Email to family and friends dated August 8, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Arrived in Vava’u

After our worst passage yet, we arrived today in Vava’u, Tonga, safe and sound on a mooring ball. The passages just keep getting worse, and I wonder how it was ever possible that I spent 22 days at sea without (too much) complaining. We crossed the international dateline on the way here, so we completely missed August 7 (sorry Danna, no birthday for you!) We were the third boat in the queue to clear in this morning, and they tried to tell us to tie up to the container ship dock that had these huge rubber tire fenders that would have hit just above our deck, so we passed on that and waited until we could tie up along side a fishing boat with a very kind and helpful crew. The officials from customs, health, and quarantine came to our boat and after a sufficient amount of snacks, fees, and other things they asked for we were free to go and then we tied up to mooring ball and walked to the immigration office. The immigration official did not ask for anything, and he was very pleasant. Then Tim and I enjoyed our “safe arrival cocktails” onshore, and the local brew is not half bad. Tomorrow there is an “agricultural fair” that is all the buzz. I don’t know what an “agricultural fair” means in Tonga, but the King of Tonga is supposed to be there, so we won’t miss it.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – August 9, 2014 (Neiafu)

Daily Notes

• D – run in the light rain
• Family outing to agricultural fair – saw the King
• D/T – stop for drinks @ Marina Wine Bar then Mango Cafe
• LC over for drinks after dinner

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Logbook – August 10, 2014 (Neiafu)

Daily Notes

• Boat day. T/Steve fixed SB exit macerator. School & cleaning

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Email to family and friends dated August 10, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Still in Neiafu

The weather is still wet and gray, and it seems like forever since we’ve had a nice sunny day. But the wind isn’t bad and the anchorage is very flat, so it’s pleasant, all the same. We went to the agricultural fair on Saturday, and note to self… when someone tells you the fair is at the high school it would be good to see if there is more than one high school in town. Yes, we walked all over trying to find it, but at least we got to see more of the town. The fair itself was like any street fair in Hermosa Beach, for example. Vendors selling all sorts of food, handicrafts, jewelry, clothing, artwork, everything. Including whole raw octopuses (or is it octopi?) and sharks, so maybe not quite like Hermosa Beach. By the time we got there, though, they had shut down all the shopping for the ceremony which included speeches/prayers (in Tongan) by all sorts of important looking stately officials, including the King himself. Afterwards, the King and his entourage walked around the shopping stalls and greeted all of his minions. We crossed the security lines a little before we were supposed to since the King was still touring around, but the security guards just watched us and didn’t stop us. Not exactly the secret service. We enjoyed some tasty cinnamon rolls and vanilla ice cream, and then made our way back to town. Yesterday, it rained all day, and we didn’t leave the boat. The boys and I did school and cleaned while Tim and Steve (Lady Carolina) fixed one of our macerator pumps, so we are back to a two hole boat, yay! We have friends arriving tomorrow from the U.S. so today will be more cleaning and shopping.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – August 11, 2014 (Neiafu)

Daily Notes

• D – another run in the light rain
• T – fixed B’s macerator, yay 3 hole boat
• Duty free still expensive

July 26 – August 4, 2014

We came to Pago Pago mostly to provision, and it’s been raining pretty much non-stop, but we are still enjoying ourselves.

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Logbook – July 26, 2014 (Suwarrow to Pago Pago)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1004 Engines on
• 1012 Depart Suwarrow
• 1039 P engine off
• 1158 SB engine off. Main + genoa
• 1842 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef). TWS 21.1 kts SE

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Logbook – July 27, 2014 (Suwarrow to Pago Pago)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0502 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs). TWS 26.1 kts SE
• 1819 Genoa only. TWS 17.1 kts NE
• 1900 Genoa and Genniker
• 2053 P engine on

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Logbook – July 28, 2014 (Suwarrow to Pago Pago)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0000 Genoa (1 reef) + P engine. TWS 16.3 kts SE.
• 0021 P engine off. Squalls everywhere.
• 0336 SB engine on
• 0540 SB engine off
• 0550 Genniker only. TWS 10.5 kts E
• 0649 P engine on, no sails
• 1012 P engine off, SB engine on

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Email to family and friends dated July 28, 2014

Subject: Exodus – En Route

We had way more wind yesterday and through the night than forecast, so we made some excellent time, but now it’s tailed off a bit and clocked around to our stern so we have slowed down considerable, but still doing over 5 kts. At this pace we would arrive at Pago Pago just after midnight tomorrow night, but we expect the wind to continue to die, so it might all work out OK for a Tuesday morning arrival. If the winds persist or even pick up we will likely keep going to Apia, Western Samoa.
The passage has been good, even if lumpy and bumpy. On the radio net last evening all of our monohull friends were really complaining about how uncomfortable it was, so either they are just bigger whiners or catamarans ARE more comfortable. At least in these conditions.
Even though the seas have been bigger this time, Brenden and I aren’t feeling nearly as bad as on our passage to Suwarrow. It’s not always about the size of the seas, but the direction and frequency. Random, high freqency, beam on swells are very uncomfortable in Exodus.
Our thoughts go out to Fluenta who is also on passage right now (to Papeete).
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 29, 2014 (Suwarrow to Pago Pago)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0712 SB engine + genoa. TWS 7.1 kts SE
• 0804 SB engine off. P engine on.
• 0828 P engine off
• Time zone change – 1 hr (UTC – 11)
• 1250 Engines on – genoa & genniker torn
• 1507 VHF call to Port Control – received permission to enter harbor & anchor
• 1615 Engines off Pago Pago

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Logbook – July 30, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• D – cleared into Pago Pago – left B’s passport @ Immigration
• Potluck & late night on Novae

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Email to family and friends dated July 30, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Pago Pago

We arrived in Pago Pago yesterday afternoon, but we haven’t seen much of it yet. It was rainy and foggy when we arrived, so we just spent the afternoon/evening hanging out on the boat. After motoring for over a day, we finally got some wind yesterday, and, well, sometimes you just have to be careful what you wish for. By the time we passed by the east tip of the island we had 25-30 kts of wind, 4-5 meter seas (the biggest we’ve seen since our San Felipe passage), pouring down rain, and fog. And to top it off we had a 2+ kt current pushing us north making it hard to round the island. But the harbor is well protected, so once inside you hardly knew the conditions were so bad out there. Our anchor dug in on the first try, which I guess is pretty rare. The bottom of this harbor is very fouled up with junk as a result of a devastating tsunami in 2009 (I think, but you people with your instant access to internet can just google it if you like.) A boat that arrived just after us dropped their anchor and brought it back up and had a Christmas tree on it. Today we will clear in to the country and see what this place is all about.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 31, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• Rented car. Cost U Less & groceries. Pouring rain.
• Anchor dragged @ 4am

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Logbook – August 1, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• Reanchored

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Email to family and friends dated August 1, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Anchor dragging

I’m up early this morning, which is nothing new. I’m often up early. But this morning I’m up because our anchor alarm went off at about 4am. Seconds after Tim got up to check I heard the engines fire up, so I new it wasn’t good, and I jumped up myself. Yes, we were, in fact, dragging. Pago Pago harbor is notorious for this, but after being set pretty well for a few days we had relaxed a bit, and this just reminds us that we can never fully let our guard down. Tim and I even left the boys for several hours today to rent a car and hit a couple grocery stores, including a large warehouse costco type store. I shudder to think about the boys having to deal with that alone. Although, our instructions to them were if you start dragging, turn the engines on, hold position, and call Lady Carolina. Of course, after those instructions the boys proceeded to leave the boat and go play on another boat (we met another kid boat here called Wildlife). So, if Exodus had dragged yesterday afternoon instead of in the middle of the night she would have been totally unattended. Yikes!
It’s still very rainy and gloomy here, and the forecast indicates it will continue for at least a couple days. We’ve got a few more things to accomplish here including laundry, sail repair (we tore both genoa and genniker on the last passage), and searching for decent rum. We have the rental car until 4pm today, so it will be a busy day. Weather doesn’t look good for heading to Tonga yet anyway, so we will likely not leave until at least Monday, possibly Tuesday or Wednesday.
We have internet here, so feel free to shoot an email back, no character limit or anything. 🙂
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – August 2, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• D – 10 loads of laundry $30
• 4pm – huge winds – more dragging. LC & Exodus.
• Calls for help on VHF. Port Captain no response.

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Logbook – August 3, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• Alex bday party w/ LC, Wildlife, and Cameron from Moonjoos

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Logbook – August 4, 2014 (Pago Pago)

Daily Notes

• Alex Bday! Lunch at McD’s, bus ride to Costco

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Email to family and friends dated August 4, 2014

Subject: Exodus – More anchor dragging + Alex’s 13th

Night before last, there was a lot of drama in this anchorage. I guess that’s what the combination of 40+ knot winds and terrible holding will provide. In the afternoon, I was at the laundromat happily doing 10 loads of laundry for $3 each (a nice change from French Polynesia where laundry was between $20-$30 per load). Steve and Carolina joined me, and this was the first time they’d been off the boat together in 9 days. Their anchor had held firm during the recent blow, so they felt confident leaving Kyle and Joel to manage the shop. They weren’t on shore 10 min when they got the radio call from Kyle that they were dragging, so of course, Steve was off in a flash. I had my handheld VHF so I passively monitored what was going on… they couldn’t reanchor where they were because the boat in front of them had dragged back, so there wasn’t room to either pull forward again or let out more chain. So, they tried to find another spot to anchor, and in the end, they tied up to this huge mooring drum, and Tim and Alex were over helping them get everything secured. Then, I can hear a one sided conversation
Steve: “Brenden, can you start the engines and idle forward?”
Steve: “OK, Brenden, Alex is on his way over to help.”
OF COURSE! Exodus started dragging while Tim and Alex were helping Lady Carolina and Brenden was home alone. About 10 min later I hear Steve say, “Tim, how are things going over there?” So, I knew Tim was back at the boat.
By the time I was back on the boat it was regularly blowing over 35 kts, and Exodus and Lady Carolina were not the only boats dragging. Another Lagoon called for help on the radio because they were dragging and they couldn’t get their anchor up. Tim went over and helped them and they ended up tieing up to a tug boat at the dock. In the back of the anchorage an unattended boat dragged passed another boat and started dragging them along by their rudder. They got that untangled but the unattended boat kept going towards the rocks. There were calls to the harbor master to get help with the unattended boat, but they never answered. It blew hard all night along with torrential rain, so no one got much sleep.
Last evening couldn’t have been more different. The wind stopped, the rain stopped, and the sun even came out a bit. We had a BBQ on Exodus to celebrate Alex’s 13th birthday with Lady Carolina, Wildlife, and Novae.
Today is Alex’s birthday, so we now have a teenager on board.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Email to family and friends dated August 4, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Happy Birthday Alex

So, Alex is 13 today. Help us all! Pago Pago has been fun for the kids, even if it’s been a little stressful for the adults due to the weather and the anchor dragging and all. In addition to Lady Carolina there are 3 other kid boats here with kids in the same age range, so they’ve been having a lot of fun together. Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for Tonga, and we are really looking forward to it.
-D.

July 16-25, 2014

This was our only stop in The Cook Islands. It is a national park, and there are no permanent residents, but a park ranger watches after the place during the cruising season. We were there with a fun group of boats and enjoyed many beach social gatherings

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Logbook – July 16, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0900 Bora Bora Net – 8122 – S/V Novae en route to Mopelia
• 1305 Engines on
• 1318 Depart Mopelia
• VHF call to S/V Novae – Saw them on AIS approaching. Called to give them pass info. Talked to Stephano.
• VHF call from S/V Novae – They changed their minds and will travel with us. Also a cat. 49′ in length.
• 1425 Engines off. Main + Genniker
• 1456 VHH all – Dances with Dragons broadcast “no wind.” I responded back, he is NW of us and headed to Fiji.
• 1600 mini-net 6212 – Net control = Lady Carolina in Suwarrow. Light Copy. Wiped out wind transducer – had to reboot.
• 1800 Underway net 8122
• 1818 Port engine on to charge batteries
• 1848 Port engine + Main
• VHF broadcast from Dances with Dragons – nice moonrise
• 2308 VHF call to Novae – wanted to make sure they saw the small fishing vessel in front of them. Tim spoke with Helen. Novae is 3 nmi off our Port stern

Daily Notes

• Swapped propane tank
• Boys caught a wahoo while I was off watch

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Email to family and friends dated July 16, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Au Revoir French Polynesia

We departed Mopelia this afternoon and, therefore, have departed French Polynesia. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Mopelia, it really had everything to offer… good snorkling, friendly people, running trail, beautiful remote surroundings, and lobster. Last night Alex and Tim went with Hio to gather lobster. This was a very different lobster operation than they are used to. They basically walked FOREVER on the reef in knee to thigh high water and grabbed lobsters when they saw them. But there weren’t that many, so it was a lot of looking and not a lot of grabbing. I think Tim got two, but Hio gave us four for our family. Both Tim and Alex said it really was not fun at all, but hey, at least we have lobster. We have very little wind right now, so we are creeping along at about 3 kts. We are not sure if we are going to go all the way to Pago Pago or if we will stop in Suwarrow. It will depend on weather and if we can make it to Pago Pago before the next front approaches. Right now that looks unlikely, but we will keep watching. We have two other boats out here with us that we have talked to on VHF. There are also a whole slew of boats on passage from Bora Bora to Suwarrow that we talk to on SSB morning and evening. So, we are far from alone out here.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 17, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0028 VHF call from Dances with Dragons – having engine trouble (low oil pressure) – may divert to Pago Pago instead of Fiji
• 0035 VHF call from Dances with Dragons – restarted engine. pressure looks good. suspects it’s the gauge. will likely still go to Fiji.
• 0126 – fish on, wahoo. threw back.
• 0625 P engine off. Genniker only.
• 0730 Mini-net 6212 kHz. TBV checked in from Suwarrow.
• 0756 VHF call to Dances with Dragons. No response.
• 0800 Isabela net. Lochmaren from Papeete. Checked in and requested traffic with Code Blue. Talked w/ Judy. Bad propagation. Got relay help from S/V Sequoia.
• 1157 VHF call from Novae. They didn’t copy our replay.

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Email to family and friends dated July 17, 2014

Subject: Exouds – Creeping along

The forecast was for very little wind, and it has been spot on. We motor sailed most of the night, but now that the batteries are charged we decided it was time to give it a rest. So, no we are moving along at a not unrespectable 3.3 kts, under headsail alone.
The highlight is the guys caught 2 wahoo. Well, the second one hooked on my watch, and I had to wake Tim up when the line started paying out. So, fresh washoo for dinner tonight!
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 18, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0730 Mini-net. Net controller = Me
• 0815 Genniker + genoa. Squalls all around.
• Max TWS 19.5 kts E

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Email to family and friends dated July 18, 2014

Subject: Exoudus – Fishes

Not much to report here, other than the Wahoo we caught night before last turned out not to be a wahoo but a barracuda. So, last night the guys caught a “yellow fin tuna” but since I haven’t inspected the meat myself yet I am reluctant to report that with any sort of certainty. And for the record, Brenden says he never thought it was a Wahoo, he said the eyes were too big, the teeth too big, the tail too small, and the stripes not quite right. So, when he says he actually thinks it was a Barracuda, I’m gonna go with that. We ate it, and it was pretty tasty, more juicy like Dorado than Wahoo. If it really is a Yellow Fin, we will be dining on Sashimi for lunch. It has been such a long time, since the Marquesas, since we’ve had tuna. Everything else is well on board.
Love and miss you all.
-D.

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Logbook – July 19, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0730 Mini-net – Net Control = Lady Carolina. Chara just off the tip of Huahine.
• 0910 VHF call from Estrellita. They did not copy our resonse.

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Email to family and friends dated July 19, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Headed for Suwarrow

Well, the weather has determined that we are headed for Suwarrow. We will never make it to Pago Pago before the wind dies again in advance of the next front blowing through. So, that also means we may be stuck in Suwarrow longer than we want, but I suppose there are worse places to be stuck. We are about 105 miles out, and at our current speed we will arrive in the middle of the night tonight, so we will have to start thinking about slowing down soon. But the wind is supposed to die off a bit, so we don’t want to slow down TOO soon. Anyway, this has been a particularly uncomfortable passage. Certainly not your lovely downwind run with following seas. No, the seas are a confused mess and we get hit on the beam at random intervals which sets us rocking pretty good, so Brenden and I have been down for the count most of the time, not sick, just not right. This morning is the closest I’ve felt to my normal self since the winds picked up about a day and a half in. It WAS a yellow fin tuna, by the way, and we have still enjoyed sashimi and tuna steaks, and if I’m up for it today I will make poke.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 20, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0002 Genniker only
• 1400 Genoa only
• 2356 Genoa only (2 reefs) TWS 13.3 kts E

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Logbook – July 21, 2014 (Mopelia to Suwarrow)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0659 Land ho! Genoa (3 reefs) TWS 18.8 kts E
• 0854 Engines on
• 1014 A/B log – no sails
• 1054 Engines off Suwarrow

Daily Notes

• Potluck on beach w/ Tulu, The Southern Cross, Kiyf (?), Novae, Sundancer II, Jacfar, Shakti, Ui (kid boat from Germany with 2 girls), Mahi Mahi

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Email to family and friends dated July 21, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Approaching Suwarrow

We are about 3 miles out from the pass entrance, so we should have anchor down soon. (I’ll make a post to facebook via the inReach when we have anchor down.) We are really looking forward to arriving.
It was a little sad this morning, because we realized that our PPJ convoy of buddy boats is totally dispersed right now. Chara is still back in the Societies (they have a 1 year visa for French Poly), Lady Carolina is in Pago Pago (American Samoa) and True Blue V is in Apia (Western Somoa). We will still keep in touch daily via SSB and we hope to reconverge eventually in Tonga. Hopefully Fluenta will catch us there as well. We are making new friends while out on our own, but sadly, no kid boats. Luckily Alex and Brenden keep each other entertained pretty well. Extremely well, actually.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Email to family and friends dated July 21, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Anchor down in Suwarrow

Like Mopelia and the Tuamotus, Suwarrow is an atoll, but the pass is about as straightforward as they come, with the exception of not being marked at all. So, we rely on our charts, the reports of other cruisers, and most importantly, our eyes to find the coral shelves that lie on each side. We had a bit of a false start though, because we got just about to the pass entrance when we realized our depth sensor wasn’t working. Abort, Abort! We turned around, power cycled all of the nav electronics, because sometimes when we transmit on certain frequencies with the SSB it wipes out our wind transducer, so we thought maybe that happened to the depth one. No, that wasn’t it. We figured out by slowly approaching that we just weren’t picking up depths greater than about 45 ft. So, we went through the pass, and when Tim was in the water checking our anchor, he also cleaned the depth sensor. I’m not sure if he tested it though… maybe I should do that today.
All is well in Suwarrow, it’s very pretty here, just like everywhere else. It’s a lot more crowded than Mopelia, though, as we are here with 9 other boats. We had a potluck on the beach last night and it was fun meeting everyone I’ve been talking to on the radio over the past few days. Tim and I were pretty tired though after the passage, so we turned in early.
There is another kid boat here from Germany, and they have two young girls, and so yesterday after we got here Tim bribed the boys to go take the girls dinghy surfing. It’s too bad that we still have to bribe them to do stuff like that.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 22, 2014 (Suwarrow)

Daily Notes

• Happy hour on Novae with The Southern Cross, Sundancer II, Shakti, and True Blue
• Boys play on shore with girls from Uui

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Logbook – July 23, 2014 (Suwarrow)

Daily Notes

• T – snorkel w/ Stephano (Novae) & True Blue to manta cleaning station and off southern reef
• D – run around the motu
• B-day celebration for Mike on Shakti. B and the Ui girls built habitats for hermit crabs. Brenden calls his a “sanctuary”

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Email to family and friends dated July 23, 2014

Subject: Exodus – More Suwarrow Fun

Suwarrow has turned out to be a lot of fun. We had a happy hour yesterday evening on Novae, which is a 49 ft catamaran and makes Exodus look like a tiny shack. They are an Italian and a Scot who immigrated to Australia 27 years ago, so their allegiance lies with the Aussies. Tim went snorkeling with Stephano (from Novae) and some other folks today while I went “running” and the boys did their school work. He said it was really nice, so we’ll probably go out as a family tomorrow morning. I put “running” in quotes because while I did circumnavigate the main motu here 1.5 times, it was more like run/hiking since half the way around running was pretty much impossible due to the coral terrain. We just got back to the boat after a birthday celebration for one of the other cruisers, and we are getting ready to prepare our lobsters from Mopelia for dinner…. mmm…. (Sorry, LC. We only have four lobsters, I’m sure if we got more we would save them and share…)
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 24, 2014 (Suwarrow)

Daily Notes

• Family snorkel – 1 manta ray ~ 10 ft. Beautiful
• Another potluck – new boats True Blue, Upon the Wind, Pamela, Moonjoos (w/ 15-year-old Cameron), La Rochelle

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Logbook – July 25, 2014 (Suwarrow)

Daily Notes

• T – snorkel w/ Stephano. Amazing clarity.
• D – passage preps, crazy run in the heat. Swig of rum from the guys on Moonjoos
• A/B – crabitats on shore

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Email to family and friends dated July 25, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Heading out tomorrow, probably

The wind is supposed to pick up late in the day tomorrow, so we think we will make our exit from Suwarrow. We had another potluck on the beach last night and a lot of new boats have come in, including one from South Africa with a 15 yr old boy on it. Alex is hanging out with him on shore right now, but I think Brenden is building “crabitats.” Crab habitats, duh. There is an abundance of hermit crabs here. Our next stop will likely be Pago Pago, American Samoa, but we might play it by ear and make the final decision en route. If it ends up we would arrive at Pago pago at night, then rather than slow down or wait, maybe we’ll just keep going to Apia, Western Samoa. We hear the provisioning and everything there is quite good too, and it has a better anchorage.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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.

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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

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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.

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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

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Email to family and friends dated July 9, 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.

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Logbook – July 9, 2014 (Mopelia)

Daily Notes

• D – paddle to shore & run. Met Harry.
• T/B snorkel

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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

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Logbook – July 11, 2014 (Mopelia)

Daily Notes

• D – motu trail run
• T/A – on shore to help Hio w/ truck
• D/B – rescue surfboards

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Logbook – July 13, 2014 (Mopelia)

Daily Notes

• Rainy, lazy day. T-read about Tonga, D-worked on movies. A/B – who knows!!

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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

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Logbook – July 15, 2014 (Mopelia)

Daily Notes

• D – run on coral
• T/A – lobster gathering w/ Hio

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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.

July 3-6, 2014

Maupiti is one of the few Society Islands west of Bora Bora. It is much more remote, so it is far less crowded and noisy.

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Logbook – July 3, 2014 (Bora Bora to Maupiti)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0528 Engines on
• 0537 Depart
• 0601 P engine off
• 0633 SB engine off. Genoa (port) + Genniker (SB)
• 1132 Engines onn
• 1230 Arrive Maupiti

Daily Notes

• SB head exit macerator bolt broken. Boo. >:-(
• Pass not too bad – max 2.5-3 kts current out. Narrow channel to town, but well-marked. 2 other boats here including another Lagoon 400.

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Email to family and friends dated July 3, 2014

Subject: Maupiti

We dropped anchor near the village in Maupiti yesterday just after noon. It’s a refreshingly quiet place after the noise of Bora Bora. Noticeably absent are the numerous power boats speeding past you jostling you with their wakes. There are only 2 other sailboats here at anchor with them, and one of them is another Lagoon 400. So, yesterday afternoon as Alex and I were finishing up school, Tim and Brenden went over to say hi. They are a couple from France and this is their second time cruising the South Pacific and their second time at Maupiti, so they were able to give us the lay of the land. We think we are going to go for a hike today, but Tim seems to be getting sick (sore throat) so we’ll have to see how he feels when he gets up. The pass to get in was pretty easy after all the hype about how tricky it could be. There were probably 1.5 meter breaking waves against the reef, but nothing breaking at the pass entrance. A panga (they don’t call them those here, but Mexico is hard to shake…) came out of the pass and we were able to observe that the waves just inside the entrance were pretty small, and when they came out they waved us in and gave us the thumbs up. We had about 2.5 knots of current against us going in, but nothing Exodus can’t handle. The channel inside the lagoon leading to the town was pretty narrow, but very well marked, so it was no problem either.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 4, 2014 (Maupiti)

Daily Notes

• Amazing hike up to the top of the mountain
• Met Carol & Livia from SV Estrelita. Friends w/ Fluenta.
• Met David & Dajero SV Ka____ (?) – Lagoon 400 2012

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Logbook – July 5, 2014 (Maupiti)

Daily Notes

• Nothing recorded

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Email to family and friends dated July 5, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Amazing hike

Yesterday, we celebrated American Independence Day with a hike up to the top of the island of Maupiti. It was about the hardest hike we’ve done so far, but it was well worth it because the views were spectacular, especially the view over the smaller peak out towards the pass into the lagoon. The 2 other boats in the anchorage with us both came by to wish us “Happy American Day” and imagine our surprise when one of them tells us, “Fluenta says hi!” Such a small world. So, to all you Americans, Happy Belated American Day!
There’s one picture of the view from the top up on my blog (www.cruisingrunner.wordpress.com), but I’m still getting organized to get all the remaining Bora Bora and Maupiti pics up on facebook. I’ll need to get that done before we leave here, because I think after that we’ll be out of internet for awhile.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – July 6, 2014 (Maupiti – move near the pass)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1205 Engines on
• 1210 Depart
• 1238 Arrive near pass

Daily Notes

• D – run to the other side of the island. Internet morning.
• Move anchorages. Mediocre snorkel.
• Fishy Dorado for dinner

June 24 – July 2, 20214

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Logbook – June 24, 2014 (Huahine to Bora Bora)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1756 Engines on
• 1800 Depart Huahine
• 1823 Engines off
• 2305 T –> D Main (2 reefs) + genoa (3 reefs) TWS 13 kts NE

Daily Notes

• Kyle’s last exam
• Alex test lesson 40

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Email to family and friends dated June 24, 2014

Subject: Bora Bora

Hey all, just a quick note to let you know we are headed to Bora Bora tonight. It’s only 50 miles, so we’ll be heavily reefed so we don’t arrive before daybreak.
Love and miss you all.
-D

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Logbook – June 25, 2014 (Huahine to Bora Bora)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0551 Genoa (3 reefs) – waiting for daylight
• 0624 Engines on
• 0808 Engines off, arrive bora Bora

Daily Notes

• Kicked out of the Hilton
• Boys to dinner on LC. D/T quiet evening
• T put gas in dinghy tank & generator

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Logbook – June 26, 2014 (Bora Bora Toopua)

Daily Notes

• D – paddle between the motus
• T – 1 mile (each way!) paddle to next reef. Lots of cool fish and coral heads. Note to self: Never do that again.
• Ceasars and Apples to Apples w/ LC

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Logbook – June 27, 2014 (Bora Bora Toopua)

Daily Notes

• Lazy rainy day

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Email to family and friends dated June 27, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Bora Bora…

… as exclusive as you would expect. Our anchorage is beautiful, but no more so than Huahine. And as for dramatic, volcanic landscape, Moorea was much prettier. But if you want an exclusive vacation where they don’t let vagabond crusiers wander around the resort, then this is your place.
We’ll visit the town on the main island early next week where there’s a public dock where the little people can go.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 28, 2014 (Toopua to E. Corner)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0935 Engines on
• 0945 Depart
• 1015 Arrive near pass
• Depart
• 1625 Arrive E. Corner

Daily Notes

• Boys dove pass and reef

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Logbook – June 29, 2014 (E. Corner to South)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1230 Engines On
• 1236 Depart – floated and waited for LC
• 1357 Arrive Bora Bora South

Daily Notes

• Tim & Alex – snorkel south reef w/ LC (Steve, Carolina, Joel) – tow A & J behind dinghy, beautify clear water
• Filled generator gas

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Email to family and friends dated June 29, 2014

Subject: Exodus – getting ready to leave Bora Bora

Our French Polynesia visas expire in 2 days, so we are heading to the main town here in Bora Bora to clear out and take care of all the usual chores (laundry, provisions, fuel…) We’ve moved around quite a bit within the lagoon here, and we currently find ourselves at the SW tip. It’s a wonderfully calm morning, the water is like glass, and the sun is coming up. Another front is supposed to pass today, so I’m not sure if there will be wind and rain later today, but for now, it is very serene.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 30, 2014 (Bora Bora South to Vaitape)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0820 Depart
• 1045 Arrive Vaitape

Daily Notes

• Mooring balls full

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Logbook – July 1, 2014 (Vaitape)

Daily Notes

• Nothing recorded

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Logbook – July 2, 2014 (Vaitape)

Daily Notes

• Final preps to leave
• Steve’s b-day part

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Email to family and friends dated July 2, 2014

Subject: Exodus – Underway tomorrow

Just wanted to send a quick note to let you know we plan to leave Bora Bora for Maupiti early tomorrow morning. It is only about 25 miles, but the pass is quite tricky, so if we decide not to go through, or we go through and decide not to stay, we’ll be heading another 100 miles to Mopelia. Both islands are still in French Polynesia, so technically we’ll be illegally staying past our visa. Shhhh….
Love and miss you all,
-D.

June 18-23, 2014

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Logbook – June 18, 2014 (Moorea to Huahine)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1840 Engines on
• 1845 Depart
• 2018 Engines off
• 2310 Genoa only
• Min TWS – 4.4 kts S
• Max TWS – 15.4 kts E

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Logbook – June 19, 2014 (Moorea to Huahine)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0200 D–>T Genoa only
• 0722 Heading change & jybe for sun
• 0900 Fish on! Tuna
• 1120 SB engine on
• 1146 Pt engine on
• 1227 Arrive Huahine Fare
• Min TWS 16.2 kts NE
• Max TWS 20.1 kts E

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Email to family and friends dated June 19, 2014

Subject: Exouds – Headed to Huahine

We pulled up anchor just after dark yesterday to head from Moorea to Huahine. We used our GPS track when we entered the pass to help us get out, but it was about as easy as a night departure can be. We are currently about 10 miles from the island but then we are going to head around to the West side to anchorages over there. I just changed course and jibed so that we would have sun on the solar panel, so we are now going to head around the south end of Huahine rather than the north. Of course, now there’s a big fat cloud sitting over the sun, so it’s mostly for naught. I had a little excitement on my watch last night in that we were sandwiched between two large cargo ships going in opposite directions. They each passed within 2-2.5 miles of us, so I was really enjoying the AIS receiver right about then.
Will check in in a day or two and let you know how Huahine is.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 20, 2014 (Huahine Fare)

Daily Notes

• Alex/Mom – same height!
• Rented bikes – rode around the island. Saw the ruins & the blue eyed sacred eels in Faie
• Happy hour with LC

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Logbook – June 21, 2014 (Huahine Fare to Huahine Avea)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1113 Engines on, depart Fare
• 1133 SB engine off
• 1309 SB engine on
• 1335 Arrive Avea

Daily Notes

• Move to Avea – D paddle board, T paddle & take depth soundings. Some cats anchored in 5.3 ft!
• Potluck on Exodus w/ LC & TBV

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Logbook – June 22, 2014 (Huahine Avea)

Daily Notes

• Running blog
• T/Steve – dive around the pass
• “Happy Hour” not so happy

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Email to family and friends dated June 22, 2014

Subject: Huahine

We’ve had a great time here in Huahine so far. It’s far less touristy than Papeete or Moorea, but not quite as strikingly beautiful and Moorea. We anchored first off the town of Fare and rented bicycles for a day in order to bike around the island. I thought it was great fun, but we were all pretty pooped at the end of the day. Yesterday we moved anchorages down to the south of the island and it is gorgeous here. We now have less than 2 weeks before our French Polynesia visas expire, and we are having trouble deciding what to do. Stay tuned, I guess…
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 23, 2014 (Huahine Avea to Huahine Fare)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1324 Engines on
• 1337 Depart
• 1352 P Engine off
• 1451 P Engine on
• 1507 Arrive Fare

Daily Notes

• Another happy hour in Fare

June 11-17, 2014

Tahiti gets all the airplay, but its little sister Moorea, just 15 Nmi, away was much more of a highlight for us. OK, to be fair, the only place we went in Tahiti was Papeete, so I suppose that’s like judging California based solely on Los Angeles. We wanted to show Andrew a little more of what cruising is like, so we chose Moorea instead of staying in Papeete. We snorkeled, crashed hotel pools, swam with sting rays, hiked up to a lookout, and rented a car a drove around the island. OK, maybe we didn’t really show Andrew what cruising is like, since we weren’t doing any boat projects, but hopefully we gave him a good vacation. 

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Logbook – June 11, 2014 (Papeete to Moorea)

Passage Log Highlights

• 1021 Engines on
• 1030 Depart
• 1430 Arrive Baie d’Opunohu

Daily Notes

• Swapped propane (not quite empty)
• “Navigated” the dinghy through the coral to the Hilton in search of The Kings game. No luck, but we got good internet.

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Logbook – June 12, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Crappy snorkeling
• Football & soccer on the beach
• French bread pizza

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Logbook – June 13, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Rays & sharks
• Intercontinental pool
• KINGS WIN!!

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Logbook – June 14, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Moved anchor locations – inside the bay
• Soft mud – dragged before digging in
• Hike (walk along a road) up to the “Belvedere” view of both bays
• Stop for juice & sorbet along the way
• LC arrived – lobster potluck

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Email to family and friends dated June 14, 2014

Subject: Sting Rays and Sharks!

Yesterday the boys swam with sting rays and sharks. Photos are uploading to facebook even as I type this. Oh yeah, and some small insignificant thing happened yesterday too, like… KINGS WON THE STANLEY CUP!!!! We actually found a place to watch it, but then when it went into overtime we had to leave, because it gets dark here pretty early and we had to drive back in the dinghy along a narrow unlit channel (no fun in the dark). Luckily, when we got back to the boat the internet actually worked for once, and we were able to listen to the audio feed live. I think the entire anchorage must have heard us screaming when Martinez scored!
Anyway, we are having a blast with Andrew here and wish he could stay longer.
Love and miss you all.
-D.

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Logbook – June 15, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Rented a car – drive around the island
• Paddle boarding, craps

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Logbook – June 16, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Bye Andrew 😦
• Back to school 1/2 day
• Drinks w/ Ele & LC on Exodus – impromptu move to Ele for “The World’s Best Bloody Marys” and hot dogs

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Email to family and friends dated June 16, 2014

Subject: Still in Moorea

Andrew left this morning, so this is one sad momma. It was supposed to be back to school today, but Lady Carolina went to swim with the sting rays, so OF COURSE Alex and Brenden had to do it again to. We will likely leave Moorea tomorrow to head to Huahine, but we’ll see how today unfolds.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 17, 2014 (Moorea)

Daily Notes

• Rain, rain, rain!
• Moved back up by the Hilton

June 4 – 10, 2014

Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, and as such it is a one of those necessary evils for a cruiser. It’s crowded and noisy, but it also has large grocery stores, fuel, internet (theoretically), propane, laundry (theoretically), etc. Our highlights, in no particular order, were the beer, roulettes (food trucks, seriously), and ANDREW’S VISIT.

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Logbook – June 4, 2014 (Tahanea to Papeete)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0850 Depart
• 0920 Engines off, main (1 reef) + genoa – TWS 21.9 kts E
• 1606 Main (1 reef) + genoa (1 reef) – TWS 28 kts E
• 2307 T–> D main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs) – TWS 23.1 kts NE

Daily Notes

• Heading and COG is in deg True from now on

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Email to family and friends dated June 4, 2014

Subject: Passage to Tahiti

We have spent our last night in The Tuamotus, because this morning we are heading for Tahiti. It will be about a 2 day passage and should mostly be following seas unlike our other multi-day passages around here. Andrew will be flying in to visit us on the 10th, so we want to get there a few days early to finish all the chores that always come with arriving in a major port (provisioning, laundry, etc.) We will raise anchor a little later this morning, after the SSB net, so now I’ll just enjoy my coffee and start getting ready to go.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Logbook – June 5, 2014 (Tahanea to Papeete)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0912 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef) – wing & wing – TWS 24.1 kts E
• 1520 Main (2 reefs) + genoa – TWS 17 kts E
• 1733 Main (2 reefs) + genoa + genniker – TWS 15 kts E
• 2120 P engine on (charge batteries)
• 2320 P engine off – drop main
• 2341 Genoa + genniker – TWS 11.2 kts NE

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Logbook – June 6, 2014 (Tahanea to Papeete)

Passage Log Highlights

• 0035 SB engine on
• 0247 SB engine + genoa – TWS 6.7 kts NE
• 1028 P engine on genoa furled
• 1134 Arrival at fuel dock
• 1158 Engines on & depart fuel dock
• 1231 Arrive anchorage

Daily Notes

• Andy – skipper of mega yacht we met at fuel dock

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Logbook – June 7, 2014 (Papeete)

Daily Notes

• Spirit of Ponta Preta (Lagoon 450) – Mom (Marina), Dad (??), two daughters 15 & 16 yrs
• Len & Erin s/v Maestro stopped by
• Happy hour @ Dinghy Bar w/ LC, TBV, Eleutheria, The Beguine, Maestro

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Email to family and friends dated June 7, 2014

Subject: Papeete

We made it to Papeete, the capital of Tahiti and French Polynesia, and holy wow big city with noise and traffic. There are so many boats on mooring balls and at anchor it reminds us of La Cruz or better yet, La Paz, because everyone is packed in along both sides of the channel. We haven’t really seen Papeete yet, just the marina area which is about 5 miles south of downtown. And unfortunately today will be taken up by more shopping and laundry, but maybe tomorrow we’ll get up early and go to the downtown market. Yesterday was Kyle’s birthday, so they made dinner brought steak and grilled it on Exodus to share. Brenden and Alex were dying for them to get over here to give Kyle his little birthday care package we put together for him. Then they had a minecraft night.
The passage from Tahanea was one of extremes in that the first night we had squall after squall and we were heavily reefed, and the second night the wind died and we had to motor. Transit and passage into the harbor and down the channel was easy. We just have to keep remembering green and red buoys are reversed here (green right return just doesn’t have the same ring to it.)
Love and miss you all,
-D.
P.S. Go Kings!

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Logbook – June 8, 2014 (Papeete)

Daily Notes

• T/Boys – McD’s for lunch, tour of Mondango, hang out w/ Maestro & Breeze
• D – Laundry & stow provisions

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Logbook – June 9, 2014 (Papeete)

Daily Notes

• Cold front passed today. Pouring rain – 25-35 kts. Eased up in the evening.
• Went to Roulette w/ Maestro & Breeze

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Logbook – June 10, 2014 (Papeete)

Daily Notes

• Andrew’s here! Dinghy to downtown Papeete. Gran Marche, Brew Pub, Roulette