From the Marquesas Islands

to Tuamotus

April 18, 2004

South 10 degrees 19.3 minutes, West 141 degrees 41.4 minutes

We raised anchor and set sail for the Tuamotus at 1145.  This was a leisurely start and we took the time to clean the worst of the scum out of the dinghy and off the dog.  One then got folded up and stored in the stern locker and the other smells a whole lot better.  The winds were light but we have been managing around 5 - 6 knots over the ground on a beam reach.  During the night we had a line of squalls around 0130 hours and a freighter passed about 4 miles away at 0400 hours.  A beautiful sunrise followed by a banana breakfast found us at S 10 deg 19.3' W 141 deg 41.4' at 0830 hours.  When you get a huge bunch of bananas and tie them up in the cockpit they look really cool.  Then you realize how fast bananas ripen and that they do it all together.  We have been on a banana diet for the past couple of days.  Even Attila helps to get rid of them.  It's not often you see a standard poodle hanging by it's tail in the rigging.

April 19, 2004

We are about 1/3 rd of the way to Tuamotus.  Blue skies, sunshine etc.  Annette wants lemon cake with icing but doesn't want to have to bake it herself........  Poor Baby.

April 20, 2004

South 11 degrees 53.9 minutes, West 143 degrees 28.9 minutes at 0800 hours

We are currently about 229 miles from "Ahe" in the Tuamotus.  This is an atoll.  We will have to wait for low slack water in order to enter the atoll because of the strong currents that typically exist in it's "pass."  The pass is around 85 feet wide at it's narrowest and is literally a gap in the coral ring of the atoll.  Once inside the atoll, we will carefully thread our way around coral heads to an anchorage at the village.  We expect this to be Thursday afternoon so we may have to hang around for several hours for the "right" sea conditions.

April 20, 2004

South 13 degrees 51.0 minutes, West 145 degrees 42.5 minutes at 1720 hours

Yesterday the wind died in the evening so we began to motor.  We kept hoping for the wind to pick up during the night but it never did.  This morning we had about 6 knots of wind from behind so we rigged out our "light wind" sails.  That is, we poled the Genoa out to port and poled out our Ballooner (Spinnaker) to starboard.  The combination provided 1500 square feet of sail area and 2.5 knots of sailing speed - about 3 knots slower than we economically motor.  We have begun to compute our arrival time off the entry pass of the atoll "Ahe" in the Tuamotus.  If I understand my atoll geology correctly, the "pass" or gap in the ring of coral that makes up an atoll, is formed and kept open by a fresh water stream within the salt, that kills off the coral.  The seas that break over  the coral (Ahe is 13 miles long by 5 miles wide) provide an influx of sea-water.  The only outflow is the single "pass" that narrows to 85 feet.  The combination of this outflow plus the effect of tides means that the current in the pass is extremely strong and will produce standing waves and "overfalls" in certain conditions. 

We are trying to time our arrival with low tide which will be around noon tomorrow in local time.  If we kept motoring we would arrive tonight (Wednesday) around 8:00 p.m. and have to bob around all night trying to avoid hitting any of the several reefs in the area.  Thus we are currently sailing along at less than 2 knots of speed and about 50 miles away.  We fired up the A/C and spent the afternoon watching a movie - "The Right Stuff" - with popcorn and assorted beverages.  Just like Captain Cook.

April 21, 2004

South 14 degrees 20.2 minutes, West 146 degrees 16.1 minutes at 0830 hours

We are "hanging" around sailing at 2 knots towards the Ahe atoll pass which is less than 10 miles away.  We can see the atoll as a low line of coconut trees along the horizon.  Slack low tide is about 4 hours from now and we will attempt our "first" atoll pass entry.  This has been carefully planned to be just after noon, with the sun behind and overhead with an entry towards the east providing optimum visibility of the sea bottom.  I have made some rope steps, so that Annette can climb up the rigging 10 feet or so.  By having her stand above the deck, she should be able to spot the deep break in the bar that blocks the east end of the pass and is 85 feet wide.  The catch is it is cloudy right now and she would be able to see squat.  So much for planning!
 

April 22, 2004

South 14 degrees 32.2 minutes, West 146 degrees 21.4 minutes at 1430 hours

We dropped anchor at Tenukupara Village on Ahe, Tuamotus.  The passage through the pass was high adrenalin and not helped particularly by one of the landmarks to confirm your position being, "wreck of yacht."  We arrived at the unbelievably beautiful and pristine anchorage.  Went ashore and explored the village - this took about 20 minutes as there are only 200 residents of the atoll.  We bought two beers from the sole store and asked about a restaurant.  The store keeper told us, "The Catholic Church has food on Saturday."  Maybe it was a mistake to have gone ashore unshaven and then to have drunk the beer from a brown paper sack.

April 23, 2004

South 14 degrees 32.2 minutes, West 146 degrees 21.4 minutes at 1430 hours

Last night was the first night in months that we spent on a surface that wasn't in continuous motion.  The anchorage here is an atoll within an atoll and is very calm.  It is about 30 foot deep but has many coral heads that come to within a few feet of the surface - bad for fiberglass hulls!

We started the day by snorkeling in the anchorage and inspecting the underside of the boat.  The water is amazingly clear for being so close to human habitation.  We saw some fisherman standing in shallow water working on something, so we swam over to say "hi."  They were cleaning fish and gave us a couple.  We in turn gave them packs of duty free Marlborough cigarettes we had bought in Panama as "trade goods."  I think we paid $5.50 per carton in Panama and they sell for $10 per pack here.  We chatted to them and in response to our questions about pearls, they began yelling at some other men working nearby.  These turned out to be pearl farmers.  They said their operation was closed down for the week-end but invited us back early on Monday.  While we were talking to them, three large dogs were playing nearby - we are all standing in about a foot of water BTW.  Two of the dogs were chasing each other but the third was standing on one spot, it's tail was wagging, it was staring into the water and making a sort of warbling sound.  "What is the matter with it?", Annette asked.  "Oh, him - he's just fishing."  And he was.

Naturally we had fresh fish for lunch and in the afternoon went exploring and beachcombing with our dinghy.  The "land" that forms the atoll is only a couple of hundred yards across and usually covered in coconut trees.  We wandered around in and amongst the trees and had picked up a green (newly fallen) coconut, when a man with a sack over his shoulder, began to call us through the  trees.  He invited us to use his "big cutter" over by the beach.  When we went over to where he indicated, a second man was using a sharpened stake driven diagonally into the ground to husk the nuts.  They had several dozen already husked and they opened two and gave them to us.  We asked what they intended to do with them.  They said that they had collected them for the refreshments at the village movie "St. Joseph" to be shown on Saturday.  Our two coconuts had a fresh, slightly fermented taste.  Probably a healthier drink than coco-cola.

April 24, 2004

Annette says, of all the places we have been, "Ahe" seems most like her vision of a South Sea island. (I then invariably point out that this is an atoll, not an "island").  We have been the only vessel in the anchorage since we arrived.  The water is clear and unpolluted, the beaches are white coral sand with coconut palms and the natives are friendly.  We had a visit from a "native" yesterday who turned out to be a pearl farmer.  We invited him on board for a beer and chatted about the "hows" and "wherefores" of pearling.  He is originally from California and has married a local girl.  He invited us to visit his operation on Monday when his wife and he will be "harvesting" a batch of pearl bearing oysters.
 

In the morning I donned scuba gear and replaced the anodes under the boat.  These are discs of sacrificial metal that are used to prevent corrosion by electrolysis of the metal parts of the boat that come in contact with sea water.  I then inspected the anchor on the sea bed.  The chain rode had managed to wrap itself in interesting little patterns around the coral heads on the sea bed.  I had read that this anchorage is famous for eating anchor systems. 

The afternoon saw us snorkeling from the boat.  The anchorage is an atoll within an atoll, so we just had to fin about 40 yards or so, to the reef that surrounds us and then spent the afternoon exploring the undersea world - all within close view of our floating home.  Annette has been fascinated with the sea cucumbers and found a greenish gray one, the size of a medium sized water-melon.  They are thick on the sea bed here.  The locals don't eat them but the Japanese supposedly do.  Annette asked daughter Marian if she could find a recipe for her.  I have threatened Marian with slow death if she does.

April 25, 2004

Sunday was a slow day for us.  It began to rain and was soon blowing 30 knots through the anchorage.  A good day to just hang, read books etc.  Another boat arrived in the anchorage flying a New Zealand flag.  This was the "New Millennium Spirit" and the owner, John rowed over to say "Hi" and brought his two boys Sam (7) and Jimmy (5) to play with Attila.  The adults drank beer and chatted, while John's wife, Claire and crew member Anna went swimming.  Later the ladies swam over and we all visited.  A third boat "Ocean Song" flying a British flag with two couples aboard arrived later that afternoon.

April 26, 2004

It was still blowing hard and after an initial attempt to visit the pearl farmer by dinghy, we decided the waves were a bit much for our little boat and we turned back, wet and pearlless.  We could hear our anchor chain grinding over the coral and I was concerned that DoodleBug might break free and drag anchor, so we set out a 2nd anchor from the dinghy.

Jim and Sammy asked if they might come over to watch some DVD's to which we agreed.  They watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" followed by "Secret of Nimh."  For lunch they ate Spaghetti-Oh's plus bread and butter with Marmite (their request).  They were as good as gold and Annette beamed at them fondly and dreamed of future grandchildren.

We had invited the crews of "New Millennium Spirit" and "Ocean Song" for a pot-luck supper on board "DoodleBug" for the evening, so everyone convened just after dark.  We had a record number of 9 adults and 2 children sitting around our dining table.  Crowded but a fun evening.

April 27, 2004

"Ocean Song" left for Rangiroa today.  We braved the waves in our dinghy to track down the pearl farmer.  Amazingly we found him and enjoyed watching him and his wife opening oysters to extract the pearls.  Annette got to open an oyster, extract the pearl and play with all the slimy stuff.

April 28, 2004

Some more friends of "New Millennium Spirit" came into the anchorage.  They had a rough passage from the Marquises with winds gusting to 50 knots, "green" water coming into their center cockpit and most of their crew sea-sick.  They then added to their misery by bouncing off a coral head just as they turned into the anchorage.

We are getting DoodleBug ready for a Thursday afternoon departure for Rangiroa.  The weather forecast is not ideal and we may slide a little on leaving. 

We are still on Ahe.  We have been resting and visiting with other cruisers - I'll write up some log entries later.  We will probably sail to Rangiroa atoll tomorrow afternoon.  It will be an over-nighter and we should arrive Friday morning for another "pass" entry.
 

April 29, 2004

This morning we took a dinghy ride back to visit our friendly pearl farmer.  The wind was still blowing fairly hard and there was a short steep sea so it was a wet ride.  The pearl farmer and his wife were still cleaning and polishing their most recent pearl crop.  The pearls are polished in a tumbler - rather like a rock tumbler for polishing semi-precious stones - except that the polishing medium used is cornmeal.  Annette helped sort the pearls while I drank beer and chatted with the farmer, since I knew from long experience that the selection process for purchase was going to be long, meticulous, and exciting from one point of view and decidedly tedious from another.  The pearl farmer's house was interesting as it was situated just a matter of feet from the lagoon.  The power they had was from solar panels and they seemed to have plenty of electrical appliances.  The home was neat and tidy.  The only really unusual thing was a live chicken standing in the middle of their bed.  It defied capture but when we finally left, followed us dutifully outside.

By the time we had finished our pearl purchasing expedition, it was early afternoon and we had missed the slack water time to exit the reef pass, so we now plan on leaving tomorrow.  We plan on a late afternoon departure from Ahe since it is around 80 miles to Rangiroa and if we make an overnight run, we should arrive off Rangiroa's reef pass at dawn.

April 30, 2004

We spent the morning getting ready for our departure.  The wind was still blowing hard and we expected a "rough" passage through the reef pass, so we tried to do a super good job of stashing all the loose stuff.  I put on a scuba tank and dived on the two anchors we had deployed in about 35 feet of water.  Both anchor rodes were tangled around and jammed under deep coral outcrops and it took a while to work it all loose.  I then added a "tripping line" to the second anchor that we had deployed when the weather got bad last week.  This is simply a light line attached to the crown of the anchor with a buoy at the other end.  To release the anchor you "simply" pull up on the line to break the anchor free.  After close to an hour of blood, sweat and tears, we had successfully recovered this anchor and stowed it.  I had calculated "slack high water" at the reef pass for around 1510 hours.  Because I was still concerned about recovering the main anchor, we began our departure just after noon.  Sure enough, it jammed solid and wouldn't budge.  Back on with the scuba gear and back into the water.  The chain had become jammed again under the coral and had to be worked free.  Back on board, try again.  Jammed again but it felt like a different place.  We bounced around the anchorage for 30 minutes or so, when suddenly the chain went slack and we were able to hoist the anchor and get out of there.  We raced across the atoll for nearly an hour and shot through the reef pass.  It was exciting and also very high adrenalin with hissing, boiling tide races in an 80 foot wide gap.  I commented to Annette as we emerged in the open ocean, "What are we going to do when we retire?"

The sail to Rangiroa was uncomfortable as it was a dead run (wind blows from directly astern) with a large short steep swell cutting across the stern at an angle.  This produces a strong corkscrew motion and makes you spill your chilled Chardonnay.

May 1, 2004

South 14 degrees 58.01 minutes, West 147 degrees 38.2 minutes

We "heaved to" about 8 miles from the Rangiroa reef pass to wait for dawn and then lined up for our run.  The large swell was heading

 directly at the pass, so we expected another exciting run and were not disappointed.  The reef pass here is wider than Ahe but Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world, so the volume of water that pours through the pass now made Ahe look sort of trivial.  There were huge breakers on the right side of the pass, so we hugged left of centerline.  As we got into the narrows, the waves were massive, boiling and appeared "stationary."  We had the engine on full throttle plus the mainsail and mizzen sail both drawing full.  According to the GPS we were making 2 knots over the ground, indicating a contrary current of 6 knots.  We shot up one side of the waves and surfed down the other side.  Very exciting, especially if you then glanced sideways at the shore and realized it was barely moving relative to you.  Eventually the GPS admitted that we were in fact making slow progress and we finally shot into the atoll lagoon and are currently anchored behind a fancy hotel that has the rooms built on stilts over the water.   Now we need to go ashore and check out the sights.  Rumor has it that there is an ice cream store here......

later that day...

We anchored off the beach in the lagoon, drank a beer, had lunch, drank another beer, then went to bed.  Sometime in mid-afternoon we emerged in to a state of semi-lucidity and examined the shore.  Rangiroa is 40 miles by 17 miles at it's widest, with a circumference of around 100 miles.  The lagoon is crystal clear and the aerial photographs we have seen, show it as an impossible blue.  We cleaned ourselves up to look more like tourists and less like boat people and then dinghied ashore.  There were several small gift shops, dive shops, and an ice-cream booth near the hotel.  The gift shops were selling tee-shirts, swim suits, and pearls etc.  We checked out the pearls of course and noted that the prices are more than 10 times higher than the pearl farm at Ahe.  The ice-cream store was out of rum-raisin and I had to settle for pistachio.
 

We wandered around the hotel and it looked fabulous.  Several of the rooms are built out on stilts over the water.  The bar was similarly built out over the lagoon and had a glass floor under the tables.  In the evening, they lit up the sea bed and the light attracted hundreds of brightly colored reef fish.   We grabbed a hotel brochure for future reference but you can look it up at www.hotelkiaora.com.  The diving here is wonderful because of the great visibility and there are several dive operators.  We will probably go with the commercial operators in a day or so.
 

Monday we will head for the village that has a bank, post office, and a gas station.  Annette cleaned us out of French money, buying pearls and we need to "echange" some more cash.  The stores do take credit cards here but not US dollars.  Barbarians!

May 3, 2004

We left DoodleBug at anchor and rode with "New Millennium Spirit" about 8 miles over to the next village, where there was an alleged bank, gas station etc.  While everyone shot over to the bank, I filled up our gas can and New Millennium's with fuel for our dinghy outboards.  I then went over to the bank and both crews were sitting on benches in front of the bank.  They only allow one customer at a time in the bank building.  After a while, New Millennium's crew went into the bank and emerged shortly, looking disgruntled.  The bank employee would not allow them to use their Visa card to withdraw cash without showing a picture ID.  Our turn was next and we went into the bank to cash travelers checks with our passports in hand.  We wanted $1,000 for us and $400 to loan New Millennium.  The bank employee examined our traveler's checks individually and very carefully.  He counted them three times.  He carefully checked Annette's passport and recorded all of the details.  He made up an invoice and had her sign it.  Took out a rubber stamp and carefully stamped each copy of the multi-copy form.  He then announced he didn't have enough cash to cash $1,400 dollars.  We then had to repeat the process for a $1,000 transaction.

Outside the bank we met another boat with their gas cans in hand.  I kidded them that the gas station had already closed right after I refueled.  We met them later that day and they told me that what I had said in jest, was actually true.  The gas station had closed at 1130 hours and they had to wait there until 1400 hours for it to reopen. 

Later, we swam from the boat in crystal water.  You could clearly see the anchor and chain on the bottom, 35 feet below.  We also took Attila swimming around the boat but even though she had her life jacket on, she did not seem to enjoy the experience and retired on board to sulk.  We continued to snorkel and swam over to visit friends on the beach.  By now the sun was setting and when one of our "so called friends," mentioned that they had just seen a shark in the lagoon and dusk was shark feeding time, it took little persuasion for us to ride back to DoodleBug in their dinghy.

May 4, 2004

We have enjoyed using the hotel facilities such as restaurant and bar etc.  Today we took a "free" hotel tour of a nearby pearl farm.  This was a much larger and more sophisticated operation than the farm we visited on Ahe.  We had lunch at a restaurant located at the atoll pass and got to watch "Tiki," the schooner that transited the Panama canal with us, making their entry to the atoll lagoon.  They heard us yelling and saw us waving but did not recognize us, even though we were holding identifying bottles of beer.

May 5, 2004 

The internet cafe we have used is also a jewelry store, so Annette has been having them make up some of her loose pearls into necklaces etc.  This has worked out reasonably well, since I can check the various e-mails, while she selects and makes her designs.  I have cleared all but 30 e-mails from my account but Annette's account has yet to be touched.

In the afternoon we went scuba diving under and around our boat in 35 feet.  There were two Remora's directly under the boat which looked like they were thinking of attaching themselves to DoodleBug, plus a school of what looked like baby swordfish - about 12 to 18 inches long.  We were later told they were "needle-fish."

The hotel had a buffet with a native dance performance in the evening.  We had made reservations the previous day and hoped to get a table with a good view.  Annette oohed and aahed the performance and was visibly excited with the dancing.  At one point the performers grabbed 5 men and one lady from the audience to dance with them.  Which lady do you suppose was chosen?  Annette has been waiting 40 years to participate in a Tahitian dance.  She looked really good and had a huge amount of fun.  There was an Italian couple sitting at a nearby table and the husband said he had never seen a woman dance like that who was not Polynesian.  We retired to the bar to visit with them and the bar waitress put a flower crown around Annette's head.
 

May 6, 2004

Today we rented a small car to ride to the village about 8 miles away.  Just as we were leaving we met the Italian lady, Anna-Marie from last night.  Her husband Alfredo had been scratched by coral a week earlier.  The wound was now red and puffy and he had a slight fever.  The hotel was useless of course, so we dug into our medical kit on DoodleBug and offered all kinds of drugs.  We then ran into John from "Tiki" who is a retired pharmacist and between all of us, decided Alfredo needed some antibiotics from the village pharmacy, as he was allergic to what we had on board.  We drove into town, hit the bank (closed of course), post office (successfully mailed CD #3 with photographs), fresh fish store (closed) and then on to find a grocery store to buy vital supplies of beer.  The stores here all conveniently close around 1130 and sometimes re-open at 1400 hours.  Discouraged, we found a restaurant that served lunch and afterwards returned beerless to the hotel to complete our drug run and return the car ($65 rental for 2 hours).

By late afternoon the wind had shifted to the east and it began blowing with rain.  The wind shift has caused a swell within the lagoon, which is uncomfortable but tolerable for now.  The weather forecast indicates a stronger wind in a more unfavorable direction within the next 48 hours, so we will begin departure preparations.

May 7, 2004

Raining and blowing today with an uncomfortable swell in the lagoon. Annette had some jewelry being made at the "Internet shop" - it is also a jewelers - so we had to maakkke a run ashore to collect it.  We ran into the crew of "Tiki" at the hotel dock and they invited us on board "Tiki" for drinks that evening.  We visited the various dive shops and polled sundry knowledgeable people about the time for slack low water at the atoll pass for tomorrow.  Slack water exists for about 30 minutes and we were told, "before noon", 1400 hours, 1500 hours and 1600 hours.  I applied a weighted median error correcting filter to the values I had been given and decided 1430 hours was the correct time.  Therefore, slack high water would be at 0830 hours - 6 hours earlier and our departure time.  We did a super good job of stowing everything, including our dinghy, as we were expecting a rough passage.  "Caliburn" kindly picked us up in their dinghy for the ride to and from "Tiki."  "Tiki" is an interesting boat.  She was originally an inter-island copra trading schooner and weighs 80 tons.  She draws a draught of 11 feet and is relatively underpowered.  This is why she had such problems transiting the Panama canal.

The crew of "Caliburn" and also "La Scala" were aboard "Tiki" so it was a lively group.  We left early, since there are some hard drinkers in that crowd and we were planning an early morning departure.
 

May 8, 2004

South 17 degrees 35.1 minutes, West 149 degrees 37.2 minutes

0830 we headed through the pass with 30 knots of wind blowing but only 1 knot of current in the pass.  Got it right!  We passed this news to "Tiki" and "Caliburn" who were planning on leaving today and we then headed out into big and confused seas.  We sailed "around" Rangiroa since we left heading north, turned west parallel to the northern coast of the atoll, turned south to pass between Rangiroa and the atoll of Tikehau to the west, finally turned southwest for the run to Tahiti.  I had hoped that we would have some shelter from the swell along the north coast of Rangiroa and certainly as we passed between the atolls - but we didn't.  The seas remained in the 10 feet range with winds around 25 knots, gusting to 30 knots.
 

The straight run to Tahiti was about 170 miles of close reach to beam reach, with the swells coming directly from the beam.  This is disconcerting to say the least, as you see this mountain of water coming directly broadside to the boat.  The boat slides effortlessly over it and then you get the crap knocked out of you by the "little" wave behind it.  Attila was not happy about this.  She finally worked out which corner of the cockpit was protected from the occasional "splooshy."  Her potty mats were on the windward side of the deck and if she was quick, she could do the job unscathed but if she dawdled, a distracting event would occur - at which point she lost all interest in the potty process.
 

Because of the "uncomfortable" sailing conditions, we kept a good press of sail on the boat - reefed genoa, reefed main and mizzen.  The boat doesn't seem to roll as much when you have plenty of sail and the broadside swells at night are less worrisome, when sailing at 8 plus knots.  We ran 193 miles in the 24 hour period and covered the 210 miles to Papeete harbor in 26 hours.  The crew had been sea-sick on the passage but visibly brightened when we entered sheltered waters for the last 3 or 4 miles.  However, there were no bare breasted young girls standing waist deep at the beach, singing and holding flower leis for us.  Disappointing!
 

We are currently anchored on the west side of Tahiti with a direct view of the island of Moorea across Tahiti's reef, with just a line of breakers to break the blue of the sky and the sea.
 

May 9, 2004

South 17 degrees 35.1 minutes, West 149 degrees 37.3 minutes

Hi Peoples, We just anchored 1130 hours  at Papeete, Tahiti after a 210 mile run in 26 hours.  The winds were high - 25 to 30 knots, most of the time and the seas were correspondingly "big."  I am now going to bed.  Will write more later.