17º 30.044s 149º 29.794w
Sat Aug 24 2019
It’s
always a bit of a guess. We write our coarse timing plans in the sand at low
tide because ultimately weather patterns dictate the timing of our gross
movements between individual islands and island groups. If you sail or are a
pilot perhaps you understand; most other folks don’t get it. We can’t point
into big wind and seas without a lot of difficulty which might include boat
damage or personal injury. We can’t even go downwind or on a reach when the
Southern Ocean sends big seas our way, or when a big blow comes through, and
those can last for days or even a couple of weeks. We already rode one out
while anchored at Hirifa, the Southeast corner of Fakarava atoll. The upside of
that was a couple weeks of kite boarding and free diving lessons, and the
motivation to get some canvas work done here in Tahiti so that the cockpit
wouldn’t be rendered “miserably wet” during big windy rainy events.
We
arrived Tahiti nearly a month ago and spent about 3 weeks getting boat repairs
and upgrades done. Moorea is just 12 miles or so distant, it’s the only island
close enough to visit now as Bora Bora is about 100 miles downrange and getting
back this way would likely mean a difficult beat. Our pal Shawnee to arrive on
September 18th. This week we’ll sort out US Passport renewals with the local
consular official, purchase some kite boarding gear, do a bit of provisioning,
and find help for some remaining boat projects. Isabel has elected to attend a
19 day yoga instructor’s training retreat on Moorea so I’ll be delivering her
this Friday and collecting her on September 17th. Guess I’ll be enjoying my own
cooking for a spell. An opportunity for Isabel to regroup and reset, and for me
to focus on some boat projects that mean tearing the place apart for a few
days, easier when I’m alone. Hopefully when we reunite everything will be
“lookin’ good” and we’ll be ready to rock.
French
Bee will get Shawnee from San Francisco to Tahiti for a ridiculously low price,
and we’ll collect her at the airport here around 0700. She’ll likely get that
day for looking around Papeete, and if conditions allow we’ll quickly relocate
to Cook’s Bay or similar over on Moorea, a short enough sail to help her get
her sea legs. That’ll be a whistle stop tour as we’ll be looking for the first
weather window to begin working our way East through the Tuamotus, stopping at
and hopping along the atolls as we try to improve our sailing angle up to the
Marquesas. We’ll be looking for light Easterly conditions to move that way, and
then when we get a good swing of the wind to the South we’ll lay a course for
the Marquesas. One way or the other we’ve got to be there around October 12th,
so Shawnee is going to be seeing some serious sailing, hopefully not much of it
beating into wind and seas. Hope she doesn’t regret her decision to join us on
this little voyage of around 800 miles as we do the two legs of the triangle
rather than push directly into the predominate winds.
We’ll
secure JollyDogs on anchor with a caretaker at Nuku Hiva’s Taiohae Bay and all
leap on a little airplane October 16th to head back to the US. The latest we
could get an inter-island flight back was December 5th, and we do intend to
enjoy a major Marquesan cultural festival on Oa Puo December 13th – 16th, so
back we’ll come after about 2 weeks in the US and 4 weeks in the UK. You
wouldn’t believe how much $$$ I just spent on plane tickets. Even using
frequent flyer points to fly British Airways round trip from the US to
Heathrow, the taxes and fees were over $1000 for the both of us. French Bee
Tahiti/San Francisco round trip was only $547 each. Our Nuku Hiva to Tahiti
round trip cost more than getting from here to San Francisco!
Anyway,
upon our return we’ll explore the Marquesas for a couple of months, say
December through early February, then we’ll be looking for a good weather
window to sail for the Gambiers where we reckon we’ll spend about 6 weeks. Pat
and Celine, our pals from SV Voila called last night and they want to join us for
some of that action, so we’re looking forward to seeing them later in January.
We’ll
likely depart the Gambiers in early April and wander West through the atolls of
the Tuamotus with the objective of passing back through Tahiti in early to
mid-June. There’s a huge cultural festival called Heiva that we’re going to
experience, but reports are that it might be more fun in the Leeward Society
Islands, so we might aim for Huahine for that festival which is in early July.
Today’s
plan is to mosey on West after Heiva, exploring various islands along the way
to Tonga where we’ll spend month or two, then around late October we’ll make
the passage down to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand – near the North tip of
the North island. It’ll be about time to haul JollyDogs out for bottom paint
and some other heavy maintenance, and time for us to be dirt dwellers for a
bit. Probably get on a plane and go visit family in the US and UK, then pass
back through Singapore or Hong Kong or other for some land exploration. The best
way to explore New Zealand is by RV and there are plenty of old ones for sale,
so we may become RV owners for a spell.
There’s
this route called “endless Summer” where you do 6-month round trips from New
Zealand Northwards to New Caledonia, Vanauatu, Tonga, Fiji, etc. so 2021 – 2023
might see us doing that, but eventually our visas for New Zealand will expire
and we’ll likely head on to Australia for further exploration. JollyDogs was
built not too far from Sydney, so she might like to visit her birthplace.
Isabel and I met there in 1996 so we might enjoy a bit of reminiscing
ourselves.
That’s
today’s plan. We’re hoping to enjoy some guests along the way, but many folks
can’t get their heads around the loose schedule we maintain. Most of the places
we’ll visit will have some sort of land-based resort featuring amazing SCUBA
diving and other activities, with airline service to Tahiti. Hopefully some
folks will take a risk, and if we don’t manage to connect during their visit
they’ll still have an amazing adventure. There are cruise ships and supply
vessels that ply these waters for the less or more adventurous, and this is an
absolutely beautiful part of the world.
So
that’s the best we can offer right now for anyone who is seriously interested.
Anybody? Anybody? Oh well, hopefully we’ll see you during a visit to the US or
UK someday. In any case, we’re having a great time with our tribe of cruisers,
and looking forward to reuniting with several close friends from out time in
Mexico who will cross in the Spring. Woohoo!
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