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Fiji Time

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We have been at the dock in Savusavu, Fiji since the end of November and I have thoughts about it.   It was so nice to pull into the dock, plug in (we have had so many power issues!), have potable water on tap and not have to worry about anchoring, etc.   For a few weeks it was great!   Granted the holding tank pump out was not working when we arrived, so I have to make the very long trek (1/4 mile each way) up to the washrooms several times a day (and always a trip up at 11pm – Owen loves that I drag him up with me on those ones).   The marina we are in, Nawi Island Marina, is situated on a small island just across from Savusavu – there is a ferry that runs back once an hour at least (every ½ hour for a couple hours a day).   It is great – until you finish your shopping, errands, etc. and realize the ferry has just been there and you need to stand around in the sun waiting an hour for the next ferry).  Yes, we could put our dinghy in the water and take it over, but there is quite limited space at the dock for dinghies and the weather is unpredictable at best so we choose to stick to the ferry.

sunset on the way to Fiji

There have been a few growing pains at this marina – the pool was not operational for the first couple of months that we were here, and once they got it going, they were running private events, keeping marina tenants from using the pool.   Even now, the pool is open, but it is somewhat less than clean and inviting – they are still working out the kinks there.   There is a laundry service on the island, but it is insanely expensive (a recent fairly good-sized load of laundry cost us $81 fijian) so I end up doing our laundry by bucket, trying to time it between rain showers so that clothes have a chance to dry.   There are two restaurants here at the marina – one opened with the pool and serves an approximation of Mexican food – it is not terrible but sure not a Mexican taco!   The other has gone through a management change and the food can be hit or miss.  There is supposed to be a little coffee shop and bakery (when it was open we did enjoy a few good rustic baguettes and Turkish loafs) – when we got here they were opened at least part of the day most days – we haven’t seen them in weeks.   There was a small grocery store on island – it closed.  The saving grace is the staff – who are without fail spectacular!  The docks are incredibly well built and the washrooms are spotless.  I have no doubt that once they get all the kinks worked out, the marina will be entirely spectacular – unfortunately it will be priced accordingly – we were very lucky to get some introductory pricing for our extended stay.

The bathrooms are unique!
pooltime

Savusavu is the essence of Fiji time – it is a small town (the entire “commercial” section is less than a mile long) with a big heart!   There are several grocery stores – a couple that were built since the start of construction of the marina, clearly geared more to a western buyer – definitely a bit more selection in these stores – but the price reflects that.    There is a fantastic little meat market where we can thankfully get very reasonably priced chicken, ground beef, etc.   The public market is in a temporary space that is crowded and dark and oh so hot – they have been constructing a new market that was to open in December – we are still waiting!    They do have a lot of fresh veggies but not a great selection – everything is of course seasonal – mango season was way too short, I haven’t seen tomatoes in weeks and so far I have never found any herbs (oh to have some fresh basil and rosemary!)  You can always get bananas – $3 fijian will get you a bundle of bananas that you could never get through before they are ready for banana bread.  I always have to look around to find someone who has slightly smaller bundles – it is too hot on board to be making bread!!!   You can also usually get eggplant, long beans, potatoes and spinach.   I have been lucky enough to buy avocados that are bigger than my head and passion fruit (I had no idea what it was but wow is it amazing – sadly now it seems to be out of season).  The grocery stores will occasionally have some imported fruits (apples and pears usually) and better potatoes, onions and garlic than I have found at the market.   I was amazed and delighted to find a container of spring mix lettuce at one of the stores yesterday and I have heard rumors of real mushrooms arriving but have not yet seen them.  There are a fair number of small, local restaurants – most of which have a nearly identical menu – if you are looking for curry or chow mein they have you covered!   You can usually also find a burger or a chicken burger on the menu and a few places have pizza – it is not fantastic but certainly not terrible!   The star in town is a small social club, the Planter’s Club – we go there for dinner with a group of cruisers every Friday evening.   The menu is not much different from everywhere else, but the prices are crazy!   I order a chili chicken type of stir fry for $10 or $11 most weeks and struggle to finish it.   A couple of times the serving has been so extremely large that we have taken the leftovers home and they have fed both of us for lunch the next day.  

ferry ride
view to town

The people of Savusavu (and Fiji in general) are the real reason to come to Fiji – you will be greeted with a smiling “Bula!” everywhere you go, and by nearly every person you pass on the street.   The people have the most beautiful big smiles and always make you feel so welcome.   Truly, Fiji is known as the friendly islands and the people live up to that tagline.   We have been blessed to have some lovely conversations with locals visiting Nawi Island or just hanging out near the ferry dock or at the restaurants.  

We had every intention of trying to get out for short sailing trips between weather events, but realized quite quickly after we arrived that our heat exchanger was kaput – after several weeks of trying to fix the existing one, Owen gave up on that and then moved along to trying to source a new one.   We ended up having to order it from a company in New Zealand – that process took some time.   Without a heat exchanger, we cannot fire up the engine and are stuck at the dock.   We finally received the new heat exchanger this week so hope to be able to finally get off the dock in the next week or two (the replacement of the heat exchanger has of course led to some job creep – Owen is working his way through the engine room, ensuring all lines, hose clamps, etc. are in good shape.   Additionally, he replaced the water pump which had also been leaking.  

Our time here has been marked by incredible heat, oh so much rain and tons of humidity.   I have quickly learned that I am not cut out for a tropical lifestyle!   We have made some wonderful friends at the marina – pool time and dinners and domino nights have been abundant!   We have attended a couple of local rugby matches – we are quickly becoming fans of the game!  We attended a cultural day at a local village – which happens to be the home of one of the staff here at the marina.   He had said his brother was going to come and meet us when we arrived – we didn’t meet him initially so asked someone if they could point out where we might find him – turned out we asked Jeremiah’s uncle so he took the whole lot of us (8 gringos trailing behind him) to the family house to meet Jeremiah’s brother.   We all sat on the floor in the living room, chatting about life in general – it was a wonderful and welcoming afternoon.   We have been trying to arrange for a tour around the local part of the island with Jeremiah but have so far been stymied by weather and Jeremiah’s work schedule.   That is still the plan though.   There are also a couple of “touristy” things we want to do here before we head out – a local chocolate plantation, a trip to Labasa, and cooking in the hot springs here in Savusavu.

just a bit muddy!

We are of course here in cyclone season and, technically, we have had 2 cyclones during our time here.   The first was not actually even named a cyclone by Fiji, but NOAA did classify it as a category one.   The reality was that we had about ½ an hour of 30 – 35 knot winds.   The second was a bit more dramatic – if only for the anticipation of it.    The cyclone was forecast for over a week – daily weather showed it creeping closer and building as it came.   The forecasts were pretty in agreement that we would not see the worst of it in Savusavu, but we were definitely going to get the edge of it – we could only hope that it did not do what other cyclones have done in this area, veering abruptly at the last minute and making all forecasting relatively useless!!   We spent that week getting everything tucked away, the headsail down, kayak and dinghy lashed down and finally, at the last possible moment we took down the tarp that keeps some of the rain and sun out of our cockpit.   As the system approached it did form into a cyclone – Rae.   Rae rolled over us during the day – moving slowly but maxing out at about 35 knots again.    We had the wind instruments running and mirrored to our tv below deck so we could keep an eye on it.   The eye of the storm of course made for some eerie calm conditions – a good opportunity to run up to the washrooms!  And then we were hit by the backside – unexpectedly, the back of the cyclone was much more intense than the front – we saw winds into the low 40’s for a fair length of time and then were hit with a few bigger gusts – our highest recorded gust was 53.4 knots.    Even through the highest winds, the protected conditions at the marina meant we had calm water – we were of course heeling in the wind, but no big wave action.   A few of the boats that were anchored or on mooring balls outside of the marina ran into a bit of trouble – a big cat ran up on the beach (and is still there), a ketch dragged but was quickly reanchored (on the other side of the channel) and we spoke to a couple who were anchored at the far end of the channel, as it turned out just slightly too close to the corral – when the big gusts hit, they drug just a small amount but that was far enough to land their rudder on the coral for a couple of minutes- they managed to get themselves pulled forward and didn’t experience any damage but it was a long night for them!  When all was said and done here, there was almost no damage at the marina or in town, a fact we are so thankful for.   Unfortunately, Rae parked itself on top of the Lau group for over a day, gusting up to 80 knots, and a few villages saw some pretty devastating damage – a boat from the marina just recently returned from sailing down to one of the affected villages with some supplies to help them in rebuilding the roofs and buildings that were destroyed, accompanied by another boat that was loaded with food (the village lost all their crops in the flooding). 

boat on the beach – oops
just an average afternoon weather system

We also had one slight medical incident.   We were returning from a night out with friends for dinner – I went to get into the cockpit – somehow in ducking under the tarp, and lifting my feet over the cushion that was turned up to dry, I got my feet tangled somewhere (note to self – always take off your flip flops before getting on board) and in some probably comical pratfall, I quite literally flew forward, stopping only when my forehead crashed into the steel corner at the edge of our companionway – as the rest of me fell I sprained and/or bruised my ankle, banged up my shins and slammed my jaw into the hatch.   It was completely dark but I knew immediately that I was bleeding – a lot.  Owen got onboard, got a light on and immediately told me we were going to the hospital.   I went below and tried to see the cut – honestly there was too much blood to really see it but I was convinced that it could just be butterfly bandaged up and we could go to bed.  Owen was having nothing to do with that so, with a wad of paper towel held to my head, we headed up to the security office – the ferries had stopped for the night but they ran us right over to town, giving us a radio to call for a pick up on our return.   We arrived at the taxi lot to find one taxi left, with people getting into it – Owen shouted out that we had to go to the hospital and, seeing me sort of staggering toward them with a big bloody wad of towel at my head, they immediately got out of the cab and gave it over to us.   The hospital was not what I would call the cleanest place but they had me in, stitched up and given a tetanus shot (ouch!) almost immediately.   The security guards at the hospital called for a return cab for us and we were back on the island within 2 hours.    The bruises took a couple of weeks to heal (I had some impressive bruising on my jaw, a black eye and my legs were just bruises on top of bruises!) and I will have a pretty good scar but it could have been so much worse!  I hit just above my eye – I could have taken my eye out – or cracked my skull open, or knocked out teeth or broken something – I consider having a scar to be a very minor inconvenience where we could have had a major problem!

We recently decided that we needed a break from heat and humidity – our visas were expiring and so, instead of extending them, we opted for a brief trip to New Zealand to reset them.   We only spent 6 days in Auckland but it was a wonderful trip (worthy of its own post) and most importantly, for those 6 days, we didn’t sweat!!  We also had the opportunity to stop off in Nadi on the south island on our way out and in – we didn’t see much of it but did have the opportunity to do a bit of walking around and – Owen would probably say this was quite important – we managed to find a giant container of iced tea mix – pushed our luggage almost to the max weight but Owen is excited!

Fiji by air

What is next?   Well hopefully we can actually do some cruising once we get the heat exchanger in – we would love to be able to explore some of the Lau group and even some of the anchorages very near to us that we have heard are incredibly beautiful.   We do have the couple of touristy things to do here as well before we leave the Savusavu area.   And then?   And then we will begin making our way home – we will head north to Tuvalu, possibly the Marshall Islands and then we will head north, hoping to catch the high that traditionally sits in the north pacific.   Hopefully it will slingshot us around, landing us on the north end of Vancouver Island – we have heard of people who have been sent straight to Alaska on this course, but we will of course be making every effort not to end up anywhere in the states.    It is going to be an incredibly long trip – 40, 50, 60 days? – I am already starting to panic a bit about provisioning for such a long trip but we will figure that out.   Thankfully we can find most of what we need for provisioning here and we will definitely make a trip to Labasa before we go – where we know there are some bigger stores with a bigger selection.   The last time we did a big crossing I had Costco and some really sizeable grocery stores to assist me – this time will require a bit more creativity!

We have a fair bit of planning before that trip but are fully intent on getting to enjoy more of Fiji before we leave this beautiful place.

2024 in Review

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As I sit here tucked into a marina on the other side of the world, ready to celebrate New Years Eve almost a full day ahead of our friends and family, I can’t help but think what an amazing year 2024 has been.   We have been to so many amazing places, while facing big challenges.  In 2024, we sailed roughly 9000 miles, starting with some further exploration of Mexico before crossing the Pacific Ocean to explore French Polynesia, Tonga and now Fiji.

When we started making this big plan to go sailing years ago, we had a direct plan as far as Mexico – the rest – an ocean crossing and exploring distant islands – really seemed so far out of reach it didn’t seem real.    Somehow, we did make it real.

The following is a brief recap of the highlights of 2024.

1.            Cruising the Baja – we started this year by cruising down the Baja peninsula, after nearly 3 months in the boat yard in Puerto Penasco.   Truly, being free of the yard was a gift in of itself, but our favorite stops on the way down the peninsula this time were probably Santa Rosalia, Isla Coronado and Isla San Francisco.   Having already explored Santa Rosalia on our way up the peninsula last year, we still managed to find lots of new spots to explore and enjoyed our time getting back into the cruising mentality.   Isla San Francisco gave us the opportunity for some hiking and some visiting and Isla Coronado gave us some excellent anchorages and the chance to explore an abandoned salt mine.     While it wasn’t always warm in winter on the Baja, the ever-changing beauty makes it some of our favorite cruising.

2.            Seeing the Blue Footed Boobies at Isla Isabella –  seeing the blue footed boobies has always been such a dream for me and in all of our bouncing  back and forth across the sea, we were not able to stop in at Isla Isabella until this last crossing.   We were so grateful to be able to stop in for the day and see not only the boobies but also frigates by the thousands.   Our stop was brief (the anchorage was frankly a bit scary so I was not sad to not spend a night there) but we made the most of our time and I finally got to see the characters that are the blue footed boobies.   My only regret was that we were too early for any fledglings to have hatched – there were lots of ornery mamas sitting on nests (many of them square in the middle of the path!) but no babies.   This was truly a bucket list moment for me and I was so happy to be able to tick it off!

3.            La Cruz cruisers gatherings – La Cruz has an amazing cruisers community and the local sailmaker makes it even better by holding weekly meetings for people getting ready to depart across the ocean.   During these Friday meetings, we had presentations put on by representatives from Fiji and New Zealand as well as information sessions on weather, the coast guard, passage planning and all other manner of topics.   It was a great opportunity to discuss weather windows as they started to approach.   The sail loft has a library of charts and they arranged for copies to be made for all who needed them.   In addition to the weekly meetings, La Cruz has some great restaurants which allowed for some fun nights out with fellow cruisers – both those headed out at the same time as us and with those we would be leaving in our wake.   I believe that being with this group of likeminded and supportive sailors gave us a bit more motivation and confidence to ready for the crossing.

4.            Crossing the Pacific – what an epic feat that was.   Our first big jump across the Pacific was challenging in so many ways but also gave us so many moments of beauty and wonder.   Realizing we had only made it 1/3 of the way across the Pacific when we arrived in French Polynesia was a good reminder of how truly vast the Pacific is.   We crossed the equator for the first time on this trip – turning us from Pollywogs to Shellbacks – to be safe we made a tribute to Neptune and then reveled in our new status! The idea of crossing the ocean had been so daunting – I am not sure we really understood what we were taking on – but we felt such a great sense of accomplishment in achieving that goal!

5.            Landfall in Hiva Oa – that first sighting of the lush and magical land of Hiva Ova was so breathtaking.   As we approached land, we could smell the earth – an incredible thing after more than 30 days at sea – and we could see the everchanging colors of green towering over us.  It was such a truly breathtaking moment.   Sadly, the anchorage at Hiva Oa was a true nightmare but that first glimpse of land was still such a treasure!

6.            Fatu Hiva – if you google the Marquesas, you are likely to see a picture of The Bay of Virgins at Fatu Hiva – the magical, mystical beauty of this bay is unparalleled.  This was one of our bucket list items for the Marquesas – it was gloomy and drizzly and the anchorage is so deep that someone dragging was a daily event – and even so, it was pure magic!

7.            South Pass Snorkel – Fakarava – Fakarava was our only atoll and on its own it was amazing.  The water was crystal clear, the community was lovely and the fact of being anchored inside of a reef was just simply cool.   But for Owen, being able to do a drift snorkel through the south pass was a dream come true – he saw multitudes of fish and sharks as he drifted through on the current – truly another bucket list item!

8.            Moorea  – Moorea was far and away our favorite spot in the Society Islands.   Combining the imposing beauty of the Marquesas with the flat, calm waters of an atoll, Moorea was truly the best of both worlds.   We anchored in Cook’s Bay, giving us easy access to town and stunning beauty.  Our tour of the Island, made even better by doing so with friends, gave us a look at all of the beauty of the Island.  Everywhere we went we were greeted with a smile.   It was heartbreaking to sail away from Moorea – given more time, we would definitely have stayed longer!

9.            Maupihaa – this was a totally unplanned stop that gave us one of our best experiences.   It is stunningly beautiful and the locals that we met (just a couple of the very few people who live there) were lovely.   We had the experience of being “trapped” with a number of other boats and that gave us the chance to meet many more fellow cruisers.   With a potluck, a sing along, a walk of the atoll and simply stunning scenery in all directions, it was truly a stop to be remembered!

10.         Tonga – Tonga stole our hearts and was our favorite stop of all.   We so enjoyed our two months in the magical Kingdom and would have stayed longer if the seasonal weather had not pushed us along.   The people of Neiafu, both locals and expats alike were wonderful and the anchorages were calm, peaceful and beautiful – as close to sailing at home as we experienced anywhere!   Even with a full blog post on Tonga, I don’t think we managed to explain how much or why we loved Tonga but suffice to say we have left a piece of ourselves there and hope to be able to return.

We are in Fiji now and loving it as well – though we have only seen the marina and Savusavu so far!   I look forward to much more exploring here next year, before we have to start the long trek home – 2025 should have some pretty epic moments as well!!

Wishing everyone the happiest of New Years and reminding you to chase your dreams – it is so worth it!!

Treasuring our time in Tonga

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We arrived in Tonga after a long day’s beating to wind – as we headed down the channel to Neiafu, we were unsure that we would make it in time to check in on that day and expected we would have to anchor out for the night before completing the clear in process.  As it was, we arrived at the “fishing pier” – the designated docking point for customs – at about 3:30 – but docking was not an easy prospect.   The fishing pier is a high concrete dock with a wreck on one end and a sand bar on the other.   When we arrived, there were 2 fishing boats tied to the dock with a frighteningly small space left to dock.  I made one aborted attempt and then finally headed in – thankfully the fishermen who had been milling around on the dock jumped up to take lines and to hold the boat off the dock while we repositioned our fenders higher than our deck – in an effort to keep the boat from sliding right under the very high dock!!!  

In very short order, the first official arrived at the boat, letting us know that clearance would have to happen quickly, failing which we would have to pay an overtime fee.   After settling himself down below, the very lovely customs agent requested cookies and pop before beginning the paperwork.  In quick order, we were also joined by a biosecurity officer and the immigration officer – the boat was bursting at the seams!!!   Thankfully, everyone finished up their paperwork quickly – Owen printed out our boat name and registration number more times than he could count.   We had some fees to pay and mentioned that we could not do so until such time as we were able to obtain some Tongan cash – the biosecurity officer kindly walked us out of the dock area, directing us to the nearest bank machine.   The officials let us know that they would wait for us to come back for payment so that we would not need to come in the next day.   We quickly found the ATM and then grabbed quick ice-cream cones (we needed to break up the big bills provided by the machine so that we could pay the fees), and then returned to settle up.   Within an hour of arriving, we were departing the customs dock and headed to the mooring field – a quick pass through showed that all mooring balls seemed to be occupied.   We considered anchoring but realized that we were in 80 feet of water over a bottom that the reviews indicated did not provide good holding.   We decided to make a last pass through the mooring fields and spotted a mooring ball that we hoped was available.  We asked the nearest boat and they indicated that they thought it was available so we tied up and settled in.

The first night was such a delight – flat calm water after 12 days at sea.   We sat in the cockpit watching fruit bats come and go from the trees on shore and thanking our lucky stars for bringing us to this amazing place!   The next morning, we were sorting the boat when we were approached by the dive captain who owns the mooring balls – unfortunately, the one we were on was actually for one of his dive boats.   He was giving us suggestions as to where we could anchor in shallower water, when, just as we started to get untied, the boat in front of us left their mooring!!   We quickly grabbed it up – we were so thankful we did as it would be weeks before one was available again!   We headed into town to do a bit of exploring and to grab some groceries and dinner.   The town is shabby, but the people were the friendliest we have encountered anywhere!  While we were out, we saw posters advertising the Vava’u Sailing Festival – which was set to begin that weekend (this might explain the packed mooring balls!).   After realizing that the entry fee included several meals and a “cultural” day, we decided it was something not to be missed and we quickly bought tickets.

As a result, our first full week in Tonga was a whirlwind.   We began with the “Sausage Sizzle” – a barbq hosted by the boat yard on the Saturday.   We ran into people we hadn’t seen since Mexico, met up with some of our fellow “Trapped in Paradise” boaters, and met some new people.   Monday was a dinner with a presentation by one of the New Zealand marinas, Tuesday was a breakfast with another New Zealand presentation, Wednesday was a race day (we didn’t race), followed by a barbq, Thursday was the Cultural Day and Friday was a wrap up dinner.    Thursday was our favorite day of the week – we were bussed over to the other side of the Island where we were able to see umus in action (pit ovens) and try the yams being cooked in the ground, wrapped in banana leaves.  We saw a weaving demonstration and had dancers perform for us.   Lunch was a monstrous buffet with roasted pig, yams, salads, rice, corned beef cooked in banana leaves and stewed papaya.   There was so much food, I literally had a heaping plate in one hand and was holding the papaya (which was served in an underripe papaya shell) in the other hand.   The afternoon was finished with a Kava ceremony. We all had the opportunity to try this traditional drink that forms such a strong part of the Polynesian culture. Kava looks like mud water and the taste was somewhat similar to Buckley’s – they serve a fairly large bowl of it and you are expected to drink it all – we managed, but I don’t think I felt my tongue until hours later!!! We had a wonderful day and so thoroughly enjoyed our very small glimpse into the Tongan culture.

There were several good restaurants in town, which made for great nights out.  Our favorite perhaps was the floating pub – the Hideaway.   The Hideaway is owned by a Canadian couple and serves margaritas made from lime juice that is squeezed from the limes in their own tree.   As for food, you can have anything you want so long as it is fish and chips (or fish or chips!).   We had so many great afternoons visiting with the owners, Bear and Char, and with other cruisers.  On one particularly fun afternoon, a group of guys off an Irish boat came over with their instruments and we had an enjoyable afternoon listening to them jam.   Perhaps the most fun part of that afternoon was that a group of locals had swam over for a drink and they were probably the most entertained by the music!   Bear and Char also own a deli in town and it was there that we were able to find the first good steaks we had had since leaving Canada, along with chicken breast, roasted sliced ham and other foods we hadn’t seen in forever!!!   But to make me an even bigger fan, Bear broke out the Pierogi maker one weekend – what a treat those were!!

While we were so enjoying our time in town, we were also eager to get out to explore the anchorages around the Vava’u group.   We were so pleasantly happy to realize that many of them were very protected and flat calm – so much like cruising at home.    Once the sailing festival wrapped up, we loaded up on groceries and headed just a few miles around the corner to a beautiful anchorage with crystal clear water.   There were several boats in the anchorage but even so it didn’t feel too crowded.   I inflated my paddle board and Owen launched his kayak and for the first time in a very long time we felt like we were casually cruising – it was delightful!!!  Our big adventure from our first anchorage was to take our dinghy and motor around to Swallow’s Cave – it was creepy cool to dinghy in through the entrance and arrive at a cave that was sadly covered in graffiti left by past visitors.   We opted not to get in the water there (we had both read that sea snakes like the cave!) but we drifted around in the dinghy – the only boat in there for a bit – we were just heading out of the cave when a tour boat came barreling in – good timing on our part!

After a few days in our first anchorage, we were itching to get out and explore some more.   We initially intended to head out to an anchorage that was very near to a reef we hoped to be able to snorkel.  Unfortunately, the winds were blowing right into the anchorage and having a reef right behind us suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea – we did a little donut in the anchorage and then headed about 6 miles away to another flat calm anchorage.   We were midway on our passage to this anchorage when we heard a mayday call on the radio.   Oddly – no one else answered it so we got on the radio with the caller – he was solo sailing and had just taken the boom to his face.   He was just a couple of miles out of the harbour but his call was not getting through.  We reached out to the operator of the Hideaway to find out if there was a local contact for emergencies – turned out it was him.   We still seemed to be the only boat that was able to consistently communicate with the other sailor so we kept communicating with him while Bear mustered a local boat, a nurse and a couple of sailors (one of which was Canadian Coast Guard) to head out to help.   Within a couple of hours, the sailor was on board the local boat, being brought in for medical attention and the cruisers were bringing his boat into the dock.  It was a tense afternoon but before we knew it, everything was fine on the emergency front and we were approaching the new anchorage.  

The difference with this anchorage was that there was not really a beach – we knew that people were walking from this spot into town but we couldn’t exactly figure out how they were doing it.   As it turned out, we were soon joined in the anchorage by a couple of other boats that we knew and it was decided that we should do a trek out to Veimumuni Cave – a natural spring pool in a cave just above the high tide line and about a half hour walk from the anchorage.   The day we were to go we joined the other boaters on a very shallow beach that we hadn’t even been able to see from where we were anchored.   We put out stern anchors and tied to shore, hoping that we would not be high and dry when we got back.   From there we climbed a short hill, walked through a pasture (we had to wait for a couple of cows to get up off the path to let us through – thankfully the bull was tied up), down a road through one small village and then through another village to the cave.   We did have a short detour though – we were headed through the first village when we discovered a small puppy lying on the side of the road – he couldn’t stand up and we were worried that he had been hit by a car.   We debated how we should handle it – there didn’t appear to be anyone home at the house where the dog was (though we didn’t know for sure if he was from that house).     It was so hot and he was obviously in distress.   There are no vets on Vava’u and we worried that he was not going to be able to receive care.   We reached out to a volunteer group that coordinated some animal care – bringing in a vet once a year.   We were not getting a response from them on Whatsapp – we were about ready to walk into town and try to radio them when we remembered that there was a restaurant near to where we were that joined in on the morning net – so we knew they had a radio.   One of the couples stayed with the puppy while the rest of us headed to the Humpback Lodge to see if we could get some help.   They immediately offered us the radio and then suggested that they should go pick up Dave, Denise and the puppy.   In the meantime, Denise had finally reached the volunteer group and it was finally decided that the puppy would come to the restaurant and then they would do a video call with a vet.   We were so appreciative of knowing that the puppy would be well taken care of.   We left him behind at the restaurant and headed off to the cave.   It was again a bit creepy but we did go swimming this time!  After a short swim, we backtracked and decided that, as we were going to pass by the restaurant again, it was a good idea to stop for lunch and to check in on the puppy!   We had a lovely lunch and then traced our steps back to the beach.  Unfortunately, we had not left the boats anchored out far enough and found our dinghies high and dry!!   Luckily, a big group makes quick work on getting the boats walked out to the water and we were soon floating again and headed back to our boats.

We finally realized we were running out of food and fuel (as we were still running the boat for hours every day to keep the batteries charged) and decided to return to town – it felt like coming home!!  Thankfully there was more room on the mooring balls and we were able to grab one.  

And so our time in Tonga went – a week or so in town, followed by a period of time out at anchor, returning when we finally needed supplies.  We snorkeled on bommies in the anchorages and tried to explore on the paddle board and kayak.   Sadly, I went to put my paddle board in the water one morning only to find that it was deflating.   An inspection showed that one of the seams was opening up.  I dug out the pvc glue and got to work patching it.   Unfortunately, as soon as I inflated it again, it opened up a seam next to the original patch.   After a couple of attempts at fixing it, I finally had to admit that years of being out on the back deck in only a mesh bag had allowed the glue to start to deteriorate – my board had to be given last rites and retired.  

We joined a garbage clean up during one of our times in town – one of the local dive-masters arranges a pick up nearly every week – it was a bit disheartening to realize how much garbage was around – especially as there are garbage cans everywhere – we spent two hours and picked up about 40 bags of trash between the group – we were hot and sweaty by the time we were done but were happy to have helped out.    

We were able to meet up with several other cruisers during our time in town, meeting for drinks at the Hideaway, dinner at several restaurants and a return visit to the Humpback Lodge to check on the pup.   We were so happy to find out that the owner of the dog had not wanted it back and the owner of the restaurant, having fallen in love with him, decided to keep him – she had renamed him Survivor!  He was thriving – we were there on a particularly busy night and he just made laps of the restaurant and kitchen, being scooped up by patrons for quick cuddles as he scurried by!

As the season latened the weather did become a bit more unpredictable with more showers and some stronger wind.   We had a few systems come through –  during most of these we just battened down the hatches and hid out below – which of course made for a steamy hot boat!!   One of the storms however, we were hanging out below when we heard a radio call from a 10 year old boy advising that his Dad was in town and his boat – a 70 foot catamaran – was dragging.  In short order we had four dinghies tied to the back of the boat and Bear, who ran the deli and the Hideaway, was hunting around town to find the Dad.   Thankfully the kiddo on board was able to find the battery switches so we could get the engine fired up and he knew how to work the windless (it had a few quirks) so we were able to get the boat safely away from the rocks.  Dad showed up in due course and the boat was soon secured to a mooring ball.  The entire time we were working to secure the boat it absolutely monsooned – we were drenched to the skin and actually pretty cold by the time we made it back to the boat!

We were saddened to realize that we were going to quickly be left behind in Tonga as most boats were making their way to New Zealand for cyclone season.   There were a few false starts, boats were all set to go only to have the weather take a turn for the worse.   As much as we felt bad that people had done all their prep for nothing, we were happy to be able to get out for one more visit, one more trivia night at the pub.   Unfortunately for some of our friends, some of the false starts turned out to be due to damage – one boat returned because they blew up 4 sails in 3 days.   Another returned when they felt some bad play in their rudder – they decided to haul out and leave the boat in Tonga to be repaired.   We were also horrified to hear that a boat lost their mast midway between Tonga and New Zealand – they had actually re-rigged in the Marquesas after discovering broken strands on their rigging on their Pacific crossing (on rigging that had been done new in Panama).   Thankfully, they were near several other boats and there was no other damage to their boat.   Three of the boats transferred fuel to the boat and one of them transferred another crew member.   They had a long, slow motor to New Zealand but made it safely.

Finally, after watching our friends head out north and south, and knowing that the friends who had put their boat on the hard were going to be flying out soon, we had to admit that it was time to move along.   We struggled with leaving – we were loving Tonga so much.   We did have a reservation in Fiji and we knew that, in the event of a cyclone, we would be much safer on the dock than at anchor or on a mooring ball, and so, sadly and with some regret, we finally did our last provisioning and cleared out of Tonga for what we hoped would be a 4 or 5 day trip to Fiji – as it turned out, we ended up taking a detour that added nearly a 100 miles to our trip – but kept us clear of the lightning and squalls from the South Pacific Convergence Zone, which had settled in just to the north of Fiji.   It ended up being a 6 day trip but, other than quite a lot of rain showers, it was a relatively easy passage.

It is so hard to put our finger on what we loved so much about Tonga – it may be that it was the first time in a long time that we had the opportunity to slow down, or that we were finally able to connect with some other cruisers.   Perhaps it was that the people were unfailingly lovely or that the anchorages were the most serene we have had since leaving Canada.  Whatever the reason, we have both left a piece of our hearts in the beautiful paradise that is Tonga.

Trying to Leave French Polynesia

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When we left Raiatea, our weather forecast called for a possible wind hole a few days out – we were prepared to drift our way through.   We had set our sites for Samoa, knowing that it might be possible to stop at Suwarrow if the weather disintegrated.  We were having a good trip, running downwind and making good time though conditions were a tad rolly.    We woke up on day two and, after an hour or two were finally able to get Starlink to connect and give us a weather forecast.   The news was not good – the wind hole that we had been anticipating seemed to have been filled in by a nasty system moving up from the South.  We were likely heading into 40 knot winds and 8 meter seas – not something that we even wanted to consider!  

In looking at the charts, we realized that we were almost due north of the last of the French Polynesian Islands, Maupihaa – a very small atoll in the middle of the Pacific.   We altered course for the 70 mile trip down to Maupihaa.   We were a bit nervous with this plan – if we didn’t make it to Maupihaa before the wind filled it would be nearly impossible to get in through the very narrow, shallow pass.   In that case, we would be hundreds of miles from the nearest safe harbour and would likely just have to batten down and suffer through the system.   As it was, we arrived mid-afternoon and in good weather – we lined up the pass on the chart and started to approach – it was so hard to see where we were to go in – it seemed that waves were crashing directly across the pass.   We were slowly approaching where the pass should be when I noticed something in the water – at first, I thought it was a small fishing boat – then suddenly, it became apparent that it was a whale – just drifting around near the entrance.   We had seen a humpy breaching just a few minutes earlier but this one, and as it turned out, a smaller one, were just swimming around, enjoying the choppy conditions.   They both dove and we thought they were going to head right across the front of the pass – so we did a quick turn around and then slowed right down – waiting for them to surface to confirm that we weren’t going to run into them as we made our way to the pass.   We waited a few minutes with no sign of them and finally had to just hope they weren’t lingering in our path.  We were looking at each other saying that we didn’t even want to try entering this pass – but the alternative, riding out the storm outside, was even worse.  We finally noted that we had to enter on a bit of an angle and, taking a deep breath, we picked up our skirts and headed in through the pass.    The pass felt insanely narrow (I actually wondered how catamarans were actually making it in!) and so shallow!  We finally made it through the pass, making a sharp turn just as we entered to avoid a bommie and them slowly followed the path through the bommies, that was thankfully well charted on Navionics, to make our way to the North anchorage.   We knew we would likely want to be in the South anchorage to reduce fetch but there were several other boats in the north and daylight was slowly ebbing so we dropped the hook for the night.    We had a brief visit from one of the other boats, confirming that everyone was going to be moving the next morning.

We spent the last of daylight sitting out in the cockpit in awe of the paradise that we had arrived at – green water, white sand and palm trees.  There were a couple of houses on shore at the north end but it was too late in the day to go explore.   We would learn from other cruisers that the residents of the north end were wonderfully welcoming and had hosted a pot luck on their beach, building a bonfire and providing Coconut crabs and rice as part of the feast.

We were up early the next day, with the wind already howling up the reef.   We pulled anchor and joined the other boats to move to the South anchorage.   It was a long slog moving slowly against wind and waves but we finally joined the other boats and again sat back to admire the beauty that is Maupihaa.   The atoll is populated by about 9 members of one family – many of whom have not been off the island in years.    Almost as soon as we had dropped the hook, one of the other boats dinghied over to let us know that there would be a potluck on the beach the next night, near the home of one of the locals.

Of course, the anticipated weather system started to roll over and it was soon rainy and grey.   We wondered if the potluck would still be a go but soon saw other boats headed into shore so we loaded up our offerings and headed in to join them.   There were seven other boats in the anchorage and we soon dubbed ourselves the “Trapped in Paradise” group.   When we got to the beach, we discovered that, because of the rain, Hina – one of the locals – had invited us into her home.   Everyone poured into her house, bringing in benches from outside and being sure to not fall through the floor!!!   It was in a bit of disrepair but with the warmth of the gathered group, it was a wonderful gathering place.   We all shared in dinner and then the instruments came out – a full-fledged sing along followed.

The next day, a call went out on the Whatsapp group that a few of the boaters were going to go in and see what they could do about reinforcing some of the weak points in the floor – they were looking for long screws to assist in the mission.   There was also a message that there would be another dinner on shore that night, to cook up the coconut crab that had been caught by a few of the cruisers under the direction of Hina the night we arrived.   We unfortunately didn’t have the screws to help with the floor and decided to have a night on board instead of going in for crab.  The next few days passed with us constantly checking weather and discussing the options with the other boats.   On one of our last days, we headed in to go for a walk, landing at the same time as one of the other crews, so we all headed along the path towards the north end of the island.   There were a few signs that there was probably more of a population on the island at some time – some abandoned buildings and vehicles.   Apparently, there had previously been a pearl farm and a copra farm but we don’t know if either were operational any longer.  We were nearing our turn around point when we met one of the other Island residents.  Pierre had not been off the Island in nearly a decade.  He was happy to walk along with us, showing us the traps he was setting for the coconut crabs.  He also showed us a number of the local plants and explained their medicinal qualities – I guess when you are on a remote Island with no medical care you learn to make use of what is available to you.  Pierre let us know that all of the information that he was passing onto us had been given to him by his grandmother.  It was such a wonderful experience to chat with Pierre and learn from him!

The weather windows finally started to open up – a few of the bigger faster boats left first, followed by a couple of the monohulls and then finally, we made our way out, again weaving our way out of the pass.  We were so delighted to realize that Maupihaa had in fact been our favorite stop in all of French Polynesia – we would have missed it if not for the change in forecast!

Our plan now was to following a nearly directly west path – leaving Atutaki and Nuie to the south and Suwarrow to the North.   This would give us some plausible stop in points if the weather changed. 

As it turned out we had a nearly idyllic passage from Maupihaa to Tonga.   We were running nearly downwind, making over 100 miles a day.   Our 10th day out was finally a bit slower, with the winds dying down and then our last day, the twelfth at sea we woke up to the wind having turned on our noses – it was a bit of an upwind slog the last 30 or 40 miles before we finally turned into the lee of the Vava’a group of Islands in Tonga.   

finally approaching Tonga

And so it was that we finally escaped the grip of French Polynesia and arrived at a new country – a month later than intended perhaps but we were so excited to explore this new land.

The Society Islands – Love them, hate them

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We departed Fakarava headed for Tahiti with both a sense of anticipation and trepidation.   For the last few years, there has been a constant stream of information coming out of French Polynesia, the Society Islands in particular, reminding cruisers that in fact, the residents of the Society Islands were just quite tired of us.   There have been continually expanding restrictions on where you can anchor – some places have time limits and some are just prohibited.  We have read story after story of people being chased away from anchorages because the residents on shore are tired of the visual pollution of a fleet of boats off of their beach.   We arrived in Tahiti hoping it was not as bad as we had heard – sadly, it was.

Our arrival in Tahiti was later in the afternoon, after a two night passage.   We knew we would not make it through the channel, past the airport and to either of the approved anchorages on the west side of Tahiti before dark so we opted to pull into Point Venus.  In reading the Navionics notes we knew that anchoring in this spot was limited to 3 days but we only intended a one or two night stop to get ourselves settled.   We anchored late afternoon, after a very slow trip through a small reef and directly into 25 knots of wind.   The anchorage is beautiful, with a community park on one end and a few houses.   We tucked the boat away for the evening, spent a few minutes out in the cockpit enjoying the surroundings and then headed to bed.   The next morning we woke up square in the middle of a paddling regatta.   There were small fleets of boats paddling different courses and nearly every one of those small crafts had a support boat – those boats continually buzzed our boat, moving directly under our bow, rocking us every few minutes and letting us know in no uncertain terms that we were in the way.    We finally decided that it would be best to pull up anchor and head around through the channel, past the airport and to a hopefully more welcoming spot.   There are two “anchorages” on the west side, one called the Airport Anchorage – nestled into a reef and notorious for dragging boats.   The other is off of Marina Taina and we hoped to find a spot in that area.  As it happened, a boat that was anchored in Point Venus would drag onto the beach a few days later, even making the local papers.   The mayor of the town adjacent to the anchorage was quoted as saying that he already called for a ban of anchoring in the area and this was just another example of why. We were quite happy at that point that we had not stayed longer!

After a bit of a rolly trip to cover the few miles to the Papeete entrance, we made the turn towards the anchorage area.  We called for permission to enter the airport channel when the signage indicated that we should and then motored through the shallow, narrow channel headed for the other end of the airport.   The wind was howling and it was raining in buckets.   Wind surfers and kite surfers were cutting back and forth across the channel adding an extra layer of distraction.   We passed the Airport Anchorage thankful we had decided against staying there – the boats were bucking and pulling in the wind and each was nearly bow to stern – they were anchored that close together!!   We were making our way towards the other end of the runway, desperately looking for the signage to indicate where we were to ask for permission to cross the runway again – when suddenly we realized that we were in fact right at the end of the runway and there was a plane approaching!   With hearts in our throats, I slammed the boat in reverse, trying to keep us going directly backwards as, not only were we in the path of a landing aircraft, we were in the middle of two reefs with only a small distance between them.   I was thankfully able to get us turned around in that area and then we motored back against the 25 knots of wind and pouring rain, holding station a bit off the runway until we could get permission to pass.   While we were doing that, we could see the sign instructing you to call for permission to proceed – well after the runway!!!   We were finally given the go ahead and started the proceed through, only to have yet another plane come down right in front of us!!   Yikes – that was a scary few minutes!!!   We finally made it through, past the airport and into the vicinity of the other “anchorage”.   

There was some space to anchor nestled directly against a reef – given our proclivity for getting snagged on bommies, this did not seem like an ideal spot.   The other side was pretty crowded and we milled about – thankfully the rain had stopped.    We attempted anchoring in one spot only to realize we would swing out into the marked channel – we pulled anchor and moved a bit further in, anchoring between another cruising boat and one of the many derelict boats that littered the anchorage.   It is no wonder that the locals are becoming disillusioned with cruising boats – there were many derelict boats (the one we were by was stripped of all hardware and had no mast – clearly not going anywhere soon!).   Additionally, there was a very clearly defined no anchorage area (we worried we might be in it at first but on closer inspection confirmed it was closer to shore).   It was in a bay that locals would swim in and would launch their boats for paddling practice – and though there were buoys marking it and it was clearly marked on the chart, there were several boats anchored within that area – a couple clearly derelict and a couple that were occupied by cruisers.   

View from our Tahiti anchorage with Moorea in the distance

We settled in as best we could – we would actually end up moving to the other side of the derelict boat the next day because the wind has us pulling back quite hard towards another cruising boat and we knew we were making her nervous.   The dinghy ride into the Taina marina was thankfully fairly short and there we found a free dinghy dock, a place to dispose of garbage and recycling and close access to a couple of grocery stores.   After the limited access to grocery stores throughout all of French Polynesia, having a couple of large, very well stocked stores close by was a delight.   There was a small restaurant at the marina that had happy hour – half price pina coladas and half price select pizzas each day – yes please!!!!

We were a little way away from Papeete but Owen knew he wanted to head in there to see if our alternator, which had not been performing as expected could be fixed.   Given that the weather was calling for 30 knot winds, I opted to stay on board while Owen took a very wet dinghy ride to the marina and then grabbed a cab to Papeete.   He spent the afternoon walking around between numerous shops – dropping the alternator off at one spot and then spending most of the afternoon trying to track down a spare belt for our spare alternator.   I spent the afternoon nervously checking and rechecking our anchor line and anxiously watching as the derelict boat danced closer and closer to us – always seeming to be moving in a different direction from us.   Owen finally arrived back at the boat, drenched and exhausted – the alternator had been left to be serviced so we knew we would need to go back into Papeete to pick that up.

The next couple days saw us stranded on the boat in high winds, teeming rainstorms and bucking waves.   We booked doctors appointments for a couple days later and so headed back to Papeete on a thankfully sunnier day.   We caught the bus this time which, because the Olympics were on, with the surfing competition happening off the south end of the island, was free.   We got off just a block away from the doctor’s office thanks to some other cruisers who knew exactly where we were going and when to tell us to get off.   After quick check ups and prescription refills, we headed to do a bit more exploring.   Papeete itself is rather uninspiring – concrete block buildings, many of which were quite run down.  It looked somewhat like there had been a big building boom in the late 60’s or 70’s and then nothing since.    The saving grace however was a gorgeous, miles long, waterfront park with walking paths and spots to sit and rest.    They had a viewing area set up to watch the surf competition and many booths set up in support of Tahiti tourism and local initiatives.   We explored this area and then had a wonderful lunch – the best burgers we had had since leaving Mexico – the first burgers we had had that were not frozen patties done in a fry pan so we enjoyed every bite!!!    We finally headed to the alternator shop only to learn that our alternator had in fact “half failed” – it would only put out a maximum of 30 amps and they did not have the parts to be able to fix it.    We ended spending way too much to buy a new alternator – one which would put out less power than our current one.   We finally decided that we were ready to head back to our boat and discovered that as easy as it had been to get to Papeete by bus – it was not going to be so easy to get back.   We headed to a bus stop where we waited and waited, all the while the crowds were getting bigger.   When a bus finally arrived, it was immediately swarmed by the group waiting, and was full in seconds.   We didn’t know how long it would be before another bus was going to arrive and given it was now about 5pm, we figured it too would be swamped.   We finally gave up and opted to walk to a taxi stand and take a rather expensive ride back to the marina.   Thankfully we arrived in time to catch the end of happy hour so we were able to solace ourselves with pina coladas.

One of the nicer buildings in Papeete – the City Hall.

We spent the next day shopping at the Carrefour – a french grocery store on par with almost any store in North America.   We spent way too much money but were able to stock up on cereal, nuts, iced tea mix – so many of the items that we had not been able to find to date.   Sadly, our search for sour cream was again unrequited and the only cheese on offer was very expensive brie or Emmental – let me tell you, if I never have to have Emmental cheese again it will be too soon!!!   I had discovered another shop a bit further out that seemed to carry a large number of Kirkland products so we again grabbed the bus and headed to that store – once again we were able to find mixed nuts, good quality paper towel and – most importantly! – my coffee beans.    We were once again stymied by the busses though – busses were just driving right past the bus stop without stopping for us and eventually we just gave up and walked back the 2km to the marina with all our bags in tow.  

We spent another afternoon on the boat during which Owen intended to install the new alternator – unfortunately, he first dropped it and then did something that caused a hell of a zap and smoke – though I could have already told you it was not going to work, he finished installing the new alternator, fired it up and …. Nothing.   The brand new, very expensive alternator was at that point a very heavy paperweight!!   Owen swapped back to the backup alternator and left the new one to be a problem for another day.

After a couple more days in Tahiti, having hit nearly every grocery store possible, obtained our refills for our prescriptions (ouch – not as cheap as Mexico, that is for sure!), enjoyed a couple of happy hours, and inexpicably having gone to  McDonalds for lunch one day, it was time to move along.   Our next destination was a day sail away – the stunning island of Moorea – and I was soooo excited to get there!!!

We headed out from our anchorage, thankfully through the west pass, which did not require us to make the return past the airport and motor sailed across the narrow expanse between Tahiti and Moorea – we headed in through the north pass and were soon anchor down in Cook’s Bay – a beautifully calm anchorage in the shadow of the towering mountains.   It was the rich lushness of the Marquesas with the calm waters of the atolls and we were immediately smitten!

Cook’s Bay – so stunning!

Our time in Moorea was spent exploring the Island.  We took our dinghy around to the north end of the bay one afternoon and walked to a juice/ rum factory.   They offered a self-guided tour of the facility and then a small tasting of one of their products.   We treated ourself to a caramel rum liqueur (kind of like Bailey’s).   Our friends on Exit had arrived in the bay and we decided to split a car rental.   We made a loop of the Island, stopping at viewpoints and beaches, stopped for lunch and then drove up a terrifying road that wound its way up to a mountain side lookout – from the top we were looking out through the misty prehistoric greenery to Cook’s Bay.  One of our stops was an eco-museum.   None of us even knew the museum existed but the building was so interesting we were compelled to stop to see what it was.   When we realized it was a museum we went in for a look around – we had actually arrived a few minutes after they normally let people in but they were kind enough to let us in, and we were given a personal tour by a woman who was the granddaughter of one of the last Island chiefs.  It was such an informative afternoon – learning not only about the museum and their efforts to protect the coral environment, but also learning so many cultural tidbits about our guide’s family and life.   We finished our day with dinner out near a small marina and then a trip to the Polynesian Village for their nightly show – it was a spectacular night of dancing, fire dancing and beautiful music.    It was a spectacular day!   We did a couple of other trips out around the bay, going twice to a bagel shop – real New York style bagels that were spectacular, a pizza place, creperie and a barbq place.   There was certainly no shortage of wonderful eateries.   The people here were spectacularly friendly and, so long as you were careful to mind the marked set off from shore for anchoring, we didn’t have anyone trying to chase us out of the bay.    Our only challenge here was garbage – there was not a single garbage can on the streets or near the dinghy dock.   Some people had been putting garbage into the dumpsters behind the grocery store so they had responded by locking the bin.   Apparently, you could go to the town office and pay to dispose of garbage – this did not do us any good when we were trying to get rid of garbage on a Saturday (when the office was closed) before heading out the next morning on our next passage.   This again was where the people were so kind – we went to the gas station to ask if they had a dumpster we could put the garbage in (we were happy to pay if necessary) – the clerk offered to take our stinky bag of garbage home with her to dispose of it at her house!!   We just couldn’t ask her to do so but finally agreed to paying a fee to put it into the gas station’s dumpster.   While we understood that it was costly to dispose of garbage, it seems silly to not give people somewhere to put their garbage – even someone local who has grabbed a drink or bag of chips – there are simply no garbage cans anywhere.   The result of not having any bins anywhere in town was that there was a ton of garbage on the streets, in ditches and very notably in the water. 

 

Juice Factory
Eco Museum

Though we were so sad to leave, the reality was that our 90 days was nearly expired and we still wanted to be able to explore at least one more Island.   We headed out from Moorea, literally gloomily waving goodbye to paradise, making an overnight passage to Raiatea.    It was a pretty rough passage with strong rain and high winds but the sun was shining when we came through the pass in Raiatea early the next afternoon.   We headed around to the west side of the Island, near the boatyard.   The anchoring was again difficult – either nestling in near a reef (no thank you), anchoring near a small Motu where you were limited to a 3 night stay, or dropping in 80 feet near the boat yard.   There was a lot of small boat traffic, roaring by all day, so there were pretty constant wakes.    We went ashore on arriving and had a taxi called to take us into town – it was a long walk otherwise – or a 2 mile dinghy ride.   We went first to the Gendarmerie to begin the process of checking out from French Polynesia and then explored the small town a little bit.   Though it is small, they do receive cruise ships quite often so there was a surprising number of small restaurants and stores.    This is also a big base for charter catamarans so there were also 2 good grocery stores.   We headed back to the boat and started to look at the weather for our departure.   A couple of days later, we again needed to head into town to pick up our clearance paperwork.   This time we took our dinghy in – and got monsooned on about half way around!   We arrived in town dripping wet and went to get our clearance paper work.  We also picked up some fuel and groceries before making the long trip back to the boat.    Again, we started to check out the weather situation – it was not good.   There was a system roaring in and it was certainly not the time to be leaving.   The problem was that our visa was expiring and our clearance had been done – we were supposed to leave French Polynesia on August 18.   August 18 came and went with us trapped on the boat in 30 knot winds and big seas – even inside the reef!   Thankfully we didn’t see any sign of officials chasing people out of the anchorage we were in.  Our friends were on a neighboring island and had been moved along from their anchorage at least twice before they just decided to pick up a mooring ball.   I would have been so nervous being overdue on our visa if there had been officials rousting people in the anchorages there!  After a week of sitting on the boat we started to have hopes for a new weather window in a few days.   We again headed around from the anchorage to town in our dinghy to get fuel.   We decided to have a quick lunch first and then pick up our fuel – unfortunately we didn’t realize that the harbour side gas station closed at noon on Saturday and would not open again until Monday – we were hoping to be able to leave on Monday so this was a problem.  One of the locals told us that if we went around north of the harbour, we could walk to another fuel station – the reality was that meant we were tied to a concrete wall – with the waves crashing us against the wall and had to walk a couple of blocks through a field and around a fence to get to the station.   I sat in the dinghy trying to keep us from ending up on the wall, and Owen made two trips to the gas station to get everything topped up.  

Rainy passage to Raiatea
The closest we got to Bora Bora
Raiatea Anchorage

Our Monday departure was again not possible – the miserable weather just continued to pin us in the anchorage.  Tuesday we again opted to head around for one more dinghy run for fuel and lunch – this time the gas station thankfully was still open when we went to fill up.    Finally, on Wednesday, August 28 – 10 days after our Visa had expired, we had what we hoped would be a good weather window.   Our plan was to head north west to Samoa – hoping to keep the next system to the south of us.   We went through the west pass mid-afternoon – sadly sailing past Bora Bora.   Owen had really wanted to go to Bora Bora but there is almost no anchoring allowed in Bora Bora (the one place you can anchor is very deep and you can only stay 2 nights) and the cost to stay there is insane – a mooring ball is about $75 Canadian and then they charge another $20 for the privilege of using the dinghy dock!!   This was definitely somewhere that boaters are clearly not wanted and we just weren’t willing to spend that kind of money just to feel shunned!  

And so it was that we concluded our time in French Polynesia – headed out for a 10 – 12 day passage to Samoa – or so we thought!!!

Exploring Fakarava

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After spending 5 weeks in the Marquesas, it was becoming evident that we could not linger too long in the Tuomotos – we only had 90 days in French Polynesia and had big jumps to make between the Marquesas, the Tuomotos and the Society Islands.    We debated whether to try to see more than one of the atolls but realized that we just didn’t have the time – every time you enter an atoll you run the risk of getting essentially stuck there – if the weather turns it may make the pass unpassable and you will be sitting there until the weather improves.  We knew of many boats that found themselves stuck in one atoll or another for a week or more, preventing them from moving onto their next destination. This seemed especially taxing when in an atoll that did not have a settlement – no access to fuel or supplies and no ability to move on would be far too stressful!  Taking that into account, we opted for Fakarava – we knew it had a small village to explore, there is a pass at both the south and north ends, the northern one being quite wide and deep and passable in most conditions and it was supposed to be beautiful.  

We had a five day passage to Fakarava and landed at the northern end of the atoll, near the village of Rotoava.   We were so happy to see Viva anchored nearby – we had met Pierre and Marie in the boatyard and had been chasing behind them all through French Polynesia.   We reached out to them immediately and made plans to go to their boat for drinks and pizza that night.    We had a fabulous night on board Viva, visiting with Pierre and Marie as well as Kevin and Stacey from SV Flying Free.   The pizza was a treat and the company was fabulous!!

The next day we headed into shore to explore.   Rotoava has a great little enclosed “harbour” for the dinghy dock which was such a treat after some of the sketchy dinghy docks we had encountered in the Marquesas!!   We set out to wander down the atoll, through the tiny village – there were a few restaurants, a gas station with a fairly well stocked grocery store, the vegetable market (which was really only a vegetable market for about 2 hours after the supply ship came in!), another little grocery store, pizza shop and a few little clothing stores and of course pearl shops.   As we wandered down the road, we had to keep stopping just to stare out at the water – it was so incredibly clear and calm!!   We found nurse sharks swimming in close to shore at one stop and little fishies swimming in amongst the coral at a couple of others.   We wandered down until we came to a small resort, a gorgeous complex that included a little restaurant that had tables in the shallow water and milkshakes on the menu – what a treat those were!!!!    We tried to head back in for dinner that night only to find that the only restaurant that was open required reservations – so back to the boat it was!

The next day we spent a bit more time exploring and then headed to one of the restaurants for dinner – while we were waiting for them to open, the Flying Free crew arrived so we ended up having a lovely dinner visiting with them.  

We had a bit of a surprise the next night when, out of nowhere, the wind shifted hard to the south – within hours the fetch had built and we were hobby horsing on our anchor in 25 knots of wind – it was a pretty uncomfortable night until the winds switched around a bit to the east, reducing the size of the waves.   We had not necessarily intended to head to the south of the atoll as we for some reason had figured it to be a 60 mile run – that makes for a pretty long travel day for us and we really only intended to spend 4 or 5 days in Fakarava.   As it turned out, it is about a 30 mile run – taking that, and the fact that the winds were again to switch to the south, with 30 knot gusts expected, we decided to go check it out!!!   We motored out mid-morning, following the well-marked path through the bommies (they were huge!) – about half way down the wind started to build and the sea state was definitely starting to be “not fun”!   We had thought we would head directly to the South Pass anchorage but when we arrived at Harifa, nestled in the South East corner, we decided to drop anchor there.    Being so much closer to the south shore, the waves were minimal though the wind did blow pretty good all the rest of that day and the next.  

We finally headed over to the south pass the next day – the anchorage is a bit of a nightmare with giant coral bommies everywhere!!   We milled around trying to find a clear patch of sand to drop the anchor, that was not too close to other boats.   We finally settled on a spot and Owen deployed the anchor, floating our chain with fenders every 50 feet or so, as we had been doing in other anchorages in the atoll.   We let the boat back down and realized all to quickly that we were closer to the boat behind us than we wanted to be.   We decided to reset and started to bring up the anchor, only to discover that we had somehow already wrapped ourselves around a bommie!!   We tried to drive around to clear it but I think we guessed the wrong direction and wrapped it even worse!!   Owen finally had to get into the water with a mask and snorkel to see where the chain was wrapped – as we would unwrap from one bommie, the slack chain was wrapping on another – we tried for nearly an hour to unwrap us with Owen in the water and finally ended up with him at the helm and me on the bow shouting directions for where to turn while keeping up enough speed that wouldn’t let the chain go too slack – nearly two hours later we were off – finally!!   We moved a bit further east and set in a good patch of sand – but when we backed down we were too close to the reef and so we again pulled up anchor and tried again – finally, nearly 3 hours after starting the process, we were anchored (though it felt like we were so far east we may as well have stayed at Harifa!!).

After all of that, we decided we needed a dinghy toodle and as Kris and Steve from Exit had also arrived that day, we asked them to come along.   We headed into the dive shop – one of the only businesses on the south end and had beers at their small bar.   Kris and Steve had already made arrangements to go diving the next day.    The south pass of Fakarava is famous for its “wall of sharks” drift dive and they were excited to experience that.   Owen was really wanting to do a drift snorkel through the pass and wondered if he could tag along with their dive boat – Kris sent a message to the divemaster inquiring and he was told to come along.

The next morning, I dropped Owen off with Kris and Steve and they headed in early for their dive/ snorkel.   As it turned out, Owen was not permitted to go with the dive group – the snorkel was set for after the dive finished.  He hung out, doing some snorkeling around the dive shop and then all three of them joined a small group for a wonderful snorkel, seeing all sorts of fish and sharks.   I, being the chicken that I can sometimes be and having very limited experience snorkeling (like only 3 times previously), decided that the idea of a drift snorkel through a pass populated by sharks was not my idea of fun.

The weather was set to change to a more northerly direction and the supply ship was due into Rotoava so we decided to leave the next morning and head back to the north end.   We were up at the crack of dawn, planning to make it to Rotoava around the time the stores reopened for the afternoon, hopefully freshly stocked with veggies.   We started to pull up the anchor and, of course, found ourselves wrapped on a bommie!   Once again, Owen was in the water directing me as I drove in circles trying to free us – all the while, Steve was in the water giving Kris directions to get them unwrapped from their bommie!!!   Another hour of trying had us finally free and headed north.   We didn’t quite make it back in the time we had hoped but we were able to score a few freshies at the store.    We ended up grabbing pizzas for dinner that night and dining aboard Exit for another great night of visiting.

The north winds never did really arrive but they were once again set to blow from the South so it was that we once again made our way to Harifa – us and most of the boats from the North end!!!    By mid-afternoon the next day, the anchorage was packed.   The winds did in fact blow quite hard from the south for several days – we spent a couple of days just hanging out on board and then, when the winds finally started to ease a little, we were able to get out and explore a bit more.   We went into the beach one night for sundowners with Kris, Steve and Pierre and managed to get a snorkel in the next day.     We snorkeled around some small bommies in the corner of the anchorage and were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few fish of all different types and sizes.

Though we had only intended to be in Fakarava for a few days, we were nearing the two week mark there – honestly we could have stayed indefinitely – it is so beautiful there!   Sadly, we knew we had to get moving along – a window weather was opening and we needed to head west to the Society Islands.   We did one more run up the atoll to Rotoava to restock diesel and grab a few more groceries (but not before getting wrapped on one more bommie – quite literally the only bommie in that part of the anchorage!) and then finally headed out for Tahiti.

We were so sad to be leaving Fakarava behind and truly wish that we had been able to explore some more of the Tuomotos but time was not on our side!

Waiting!

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It feels like we have been in La Cruz forever!!!   Once we crossed over to La Cruz in February, we had a couple of weeks to get ourselves and the boat sorted.   We did a big grocery shop – it had been quite a bit since we had been in a place that had really good grocery stores and we took advantage.   We had just finished stowing all that away when one of our fellow boat friends suggested a trip to Costco – though it was early to be getting our full provisioning started, it seemed like a good opportunity to just do a run around the store to start to finalize my provisioning list – five hundred dollars later, we left the store with just the start of the list done – non-perishable items like vacuum sealer bags, garbage bags, paper towel, cheese, bacon, etc – not exactly just a look around shop but it did get some of the big items out of the way!  

The first round of provisioning begins

Once we had that done, we headed down to Barra for a quick visit with Owen’s Mom, Brother and Sister-in-Law, all of whom had been enjoying themselves in Melaque for the month of February.   We had an exciting trip down – the winds just south of Cabo Corrientes built to about 25 knots, gusting higher and we were clearly in some pretty good positive current – that has to be the only explanation for the boat hitting 10.2 knots – she just isn’t capable of going that fast!!!!    It was a pretty wild few hours as we helped the Hydrovane to stay on course and marveled at the continuous 8+ speeds!!!     

So fast!!! lol

We realized that we were going to arrive at Barra in the very early hours of the morning and decided instead to head into Tenacatita to drop the hook for the night –  it was quite dark when we arrived but with the assistance of radar and AIS we were able to approach the anchored fleet and land ourselves just on the outer edge.   We were not there to stay however and had the hook up early the next morning for the short trip around the corner and into the Barra lagoon.   After a few attempts to find a spot that felt deep enough (I swear the lagoon is shallower this year!!) we were able to get the hook set and finally catch our breath.   We ended up holding off on going into Melaque until the next day and instead had a quiet afternoon on the boat.   The next day started with the delightful arrival of the French Baker boat.  Once we had devoured our treats, we, along with our friend Rob, headed into Melaque.   We arrived just in time for the local market and as it happened, we needed to travel right through it to get to the condo that Owen’s family was staying at.   After grabbing some lovely fresh fruit and eggs, we all had a nice visit at the condo before the three of us, along with Owen’s brother and SIL, wandered into the town for lunch.    

The next few days followed a similar pattern with family visits, some dinners out and lots of time sitting in the shade of the almond trees at the condo.    Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to head north earlier than we had perhaps intended – meaning we had to cut our family visit short and miss out on an actual visit to Tenacatita.   There was a weather window that would allow us to get back up around Cabo Corrientes (motoring for 27 hours unfortunately – but not taking 30 knots on the nose!) and we didn’t want to miss it. 

Once we were back in La Cruz, we jumped into attending all of the seminars and meetings geared to people heading across the South Pacific.   A doctor attended to give us an idea of what should be in our medical kit, and again later to do a short CPR seminar.   Fellow cruisers on Totem joined with Mike at PV Sails to put on Safety at Sea seminars, even inflating an old life raft (which proved to be infested with ants!!).   Totem hosted a seminar on what to expect once we get to the South Pacific, discussing possible routes once we have finally made that first big jump.   The Vallarta Yacht Club hosted a Pacific Puddle Jump seminar with info on Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.  Mike at PV Sails had people zoom in from those locations as well, at our Friday meetings, giving everyone the ability to ask questions of the reps.   There have been weather seminars and provisioning seminars (which I unfortunately missed but got good notes from a friend!)   We have also been knocking jobs off our list – probably more slowly that we would like but every job done is satisfying!

The pizza dough got a little away from me!
Where mattresses and furniture are sold out of the back of a truck!

We did need to take a day out of working to head to the airport – we had ordered items to be delivered to the condo and of course they arrived after we had been there so we made the trip to the airport where we were able to receive our packages from Owen’s family before they headed back to Canada.  It was good to get in one more visit and get good last hugs before we head out on the next leg of our adventure.

We have had a few nights off – a night out with about 17 other cruisers for ribs, a couple of dinners out after the Friday meetings and dinner on a friend’s boat.   We ended up doing a short sight-seeing trip to Bucerias when a trip to pick up a package at the DHL outlet ended with the location closed for Semana Santa – figured as we were there we might as well do a little look around!   Owen snuck in a few days of racing – unfortunately the boat he was on was damaged and they had to cut their regatta short!

Some of the Rib Night Entertainment!

Last night was the “Last Chance to Dance” party – an event put on by PV Sails and Mexico Marine as a send off to everyone heading out – whether across to French Polynesia, north to Hawaii and/or back to Canada or west coast of the US.  It was a fantastic night of good tacos, great music, a big bonfire and wonderful visits with other cruisers. 

Kid Boat Ingenuity – a metal rake used to roast marshmallows!

And so here we are, still in La Cruz!   We still have a few jobs to do on the boat and do need to get our big provisioning done but we are eyeing early next week to begin the check out process and keeping an eye out for that next weather window – it appears it will likely be mid-month and at that time we will make the jump to French Polynesia!

Ojo de Dios to decorate the streets