Mooring B10, Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti

Moorea from Tahiti at sunset

Tortuguita's home for a month

Leaving Moorea, the winds were right in our face at 15 knots.  Motoring was slow going so we put up the sails and punched through some big uncomfortable seas for an hour until we could tack and head for the west side of Tahiti.  As expected, the wind died once we got close to the island.  The plan was to go in the west side pass by Tahina but when we got close, we could see big waves breaking across the entire coast.  With discretion being the better part of valor, and not wanting to risk the remnants of the swells that had been setting up for days prior, we headed to the main entrance of Papeete Harbor and took the tour inside the reef, past the airport, to the west side.

We are moored in front of the marina, doing some deferred maintenance, and preparing Tortuguita to stay while we go home for a few weeks.

We really like Tahiti.  The prices are expensive but better than we have seen so far in French Polynesia.  There are restaurants, bars, stores, and civilization.  We are looking forward to doing a lot more exploring when we get back. 

Moorea

We could have stayed in Toau for months but we needed to keep moving since we need to fly back to New Jersey for a few weeks to get the houses ready for the summer rentals.

7 1/2 kts in 12 1/2 kts of wind

The Tuamotos have been in a type of Convergence Zone ever since we arrived there with light wind and alot of rain.
Our friend, Peter, who has been helping with weather forecasting sent us an email warning about 5 meter swells that were going to hit the west side of Tahiti in a few days.  So, we decided to head out early and go to Moorea before Tahiti.  There was not supposed to be any wind but we had a good sail the 1st day and it looked like we would arrive before sunset the next day if everything kept up.  Well, it never does.  The wind died and we motored for 18 hours and arrived the morning after.  Just 2 nights at sea.

Moorea is a beautiful little island.  We anchored in Cook's Bay the first day, moved out to the reef for some wind to charge batteries, and then were chased back in to the Bay by high winds.  While anchored out on the reef, we did some good snorkeling and dinghy exploring but the waters didn't compare to the Tuamotos.

The 'Band'

We took the bus to Le Petite Village to see how the bus system worked.

"BANANA TOTAL" Pizza, Sinful

We weren't quite hula dancers

We went to a Polynesian dance at the Bali Hai Hotel and then went out for Pizza. 

For dessert we got the BANANA TOTAL.  A pizza with bananas, brown sugar, chocolate, and ice cream.

Anse Amyot on Toau Atoll, Tuamotos

Remoras cleaning the bottom

We had a nice 30 mile sail to Toau.  The winds were 15-20 with rain showers every half hour.
Anse Amyot is a blind pass with a deep anchorage with 14 mooring balls protected behind the coral inside the atoll.  A few families live there making a living harvesting coconuts and providing hospitality to the cruisers.  There was 1 other boat moored while we were there.  They were a french couple, Claude and Michelle.

Gaston taking us to the Mantas

Gaston and Valentine live right on the beach were the main organizers of our fun.  Gaston took us to a secret spot in the atoll lagoon where Manta Rays feed on plankton. We swam with them for about a half hour.

Manta Ray mouth.  I was close!!!!

Bottom side of the Manta

\

Sharks that came to investigate us

The 3 of us took the dinghy exploring.  There was a neat little coral rubble island that we poked around and we took the dinghy out to the pass and drifted out while holding on to it.  There were an incredible amount of fish and sharks.  We got back in the dinghy when the sharks decided they wanted to touch us like we were touching the Mantas that morning. We weren't really cared, it was just creepy having them come up from the depths to investigate us.

A little coconut water while exploring the island

Fakarava, Tuamotos

Monument on the way in to Fakarava

After a week in Kauehi, we headed over to Fakarava to pick up Booker's nephew, Lewis.
We did well on the pass out of Kauehi with 1 kt of current pushing us out.  We figured that 6 hours later the curent would be ingoing at the Fakarava pass.  The wind had picked up and that may have changed the dynamics of the atoll because we has 4 kts against us with 5ft standing waves.  It was kind of fun surfing a standing wave doing 1 kt.  It was a nice long ride but we didn't get anywhere.

The anchorage was windy, not good holding, had a small mooring ball that kept hitting us when the wind shifted, and had a lee shore on a coral island. Not my favorite place

Fakarava has 2 expensive grocery stores, and not much as far as restaurants are concerned.  We did some walking and headed out to Toau.

 The Fakarava Church was similar to Hauehi but bigger.  Notice the shell strung ceiling fixtures

 The only hotel that had a possibility of Happy Hour didn't start until 6PM.  Dinner had to be ordered in the morning.  Not very conducive to cruisers, but beautiful surroundings.

Anchored at Kauehi, Tuamotos

We just arrived at the atoll of Kauehi.
We made 570 miles from the Marquesas in 3 days 22 hours. It was a real nice "wind"ow to take.
The town is small and looks cute. Maybe 30 houses total.
The water is turquoise, the sand is white white, and the sky bright blue. Lots of coral. A nice snorkel reef is 50 yards from our stern.
We arrived at the pass when the NOAA chart showed low slack tide. Instead, we had 4 kts of current against us. We were doing 1kt at one point. Need to figure out the tides. We could have anchored up close to the beach with 1 ft below the keel but then the tide may still be going out and we would be aground, so we are in 20ft and I still have to dive and check the anchor while Booker looks for sharks.

The little church really has personality.  Everything up in the ceiling made of shells.

We'll stay here for a few days and then it's 30 miles over to Fatuhiva which should be a perfect distance to allow for slack tide at both inlet. If we can ever figure out the tide.







Note: Found it:  The only correct source for tides is www.shom.fr

This is Jimmy.
 We were walking down the street and this guy driving down the street in a beatup pickup truck loaded with bags of something stops and says, "Welcome to my island".  He must be the only guy that speaks English which was nice.  As he was driving away he says "That is my house up there, do you want to come see it?"  So, we walk 50 yards and he has already sent his cousin out to pull down 2 coconuts for us to drink while we sat at the table and talked.

 This is Jimmy's Boathouse.

This is Jimmy's Mom, Josephine.  She is stringing little shells together to make a necklace.












IDENT: WDD5204
TIME: 2013/04/28 20:45
LATITUDE: 15-49.00S
LONGITUDE: 145-07.00W
COMMENT: www.sailtortuguita.com - Arrived Kauehi - 570nm in 3 days 22 hrs

Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas

We motor sailed overnight to Nuku Hiva from Tahuata in very light wind. 85 miles and made water the whole time. We arrived at noon and started to explore but it was Sunday and election day so everything was closed.

The dinghy dock is located at a kind of public pier with open air restaurants, vendors, and fruit and vegetable vendors.

 This is the crepe girl.  She has a little truck parked by the dinghy dock and makes a killer crepe

 The anchorage in Taiohae Bay with mountains that meet the clouds.  (actually hilltop rain)

 This is a model of the double hull sailboat that the Polynesians used to explore the Pacific.  According to Linguistic researchers, the Polynesian exploration originated in China and worked it's way east out to the Marquesas and finally Hawaii from 5000 BC until 1500AD when European explorers discovered these islands.

 This is a map of the Polynesian exploration route.

They must have been amazing seamen to have done this with no modern technology.



We hit the ATM hard here because we will end up soon in places without a bank.
The US dollar doesn't buy much here though. 2 bags of laundry - $70. Pizza dinner - $60. Diesel - $6./gal
We topped off all hydrocarbons. Diesel, gas for the dinghy and generator, and filled the propane tank by making a transfer hose and gravity feeding the liquid butane from the French "GAZ" tank into our US propane bottle.

MUKTUK arrived after we were there 2 days. It was nice to see them again, even after such a short time.  Here is a picture of Karl, Jan, Ali, Noah, and Booker aboard MUKTUK.








The best thing was that we got wifi and were able to order parts and do some skypeing.

I thought the winds around here were pretty much tradewinds and wouldn't change much. Wrong! I pulled up the weather and the winds are forecast to be good 15-20kt for 4 days and then die down with no real improvement until after Lewis comes to Fakarava. So, even though we had planned to go anchor at Daniels Bay, the site of the 2002 Survivor Marquesas TV show, and hike up to the waterfall, we said our so-longs and took off for the Tuamotos at 11AM.

Nuku Hiva was a nice anchorage. The town was easily accessible unlike Hiva Oa. There are 2 relatively decent food stores and a nice hardware store. The island is very lush, green, and mountainous. Fruit trees of all kinds growing everywhere. The sweet smell of gardenias and other tropical flowers filled the air. Very Polynesian in culture. We could have stayed much longer.

Hiva Oa & Tahuata

MUKTUK and LIGHTSPEED

We spent 3 days in Fatu Hiva and had a nice 40 mile sail to Hiva Oa. We had good timing and arrived to a crowded anchorage (12 boats) but not as crowded as it was about to become. We cleared in with the Gendarme the next morning and left the day after that when there were 22 boats in this tiny anchorage.
We headed to the north shore of Hiva Oa to the bay of Hanamenu where there is a fresh water pool that sounded inviting.

The MUKTUKers watching their friends on Whooshie leave

When we arrived, I checked email and we had received a message from our Austrian friends from the Guaymas boatyard on MUKTUK. They were anchored in a nice bay on Tahuata that we passed 2 hours prior. So we headed back to see them and had a wonderful 4 days in the best anchorage so far.
We could see the sand and coral 15 feet below the boat, there were Manta Rays swimming, coral reefs, and a white sand beach where we had a beach fire one night.


 Karl, Ali, Jan, and Noah from MUKTUK came over for my birthday party. Booker made a rum cake. We also hooked up with Dave and Kathy on the catamaran LIGHTSPEED. We met them 4 years ago in Belize and again in La Cruz, Mexico last year. They have been in the South Pacific since last year.






The prior owners of Tortuguita's sister ship, AMARYLLIS, had been doing charters on her in the BVI's for 5 years. We met them in Grenada when we were in the Spice Island Boatyard. They sold her and bought a monohull, PACIFIC HWY. They sailed down from Mexico when we did. We had nice sundowners one afternoon with them and exchanged boat stories. Small world.

MUKTUK left for Hanamenu during the day and we left at sunset for the 80 mile sail to Nuka Hiva where we hope to get laundry done and provision for the Tuamotos.  On the way there, we were greeted by the usual suspects except all of them had white noses. (play video)