August 30 , 2008
Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Part 2 - Part 1

This part of the Journal is about my time in French Polynesia after our passage.

May 6

After a good night's sleep and our first meal ashore, we began doing what all cruisers do...boat maintenance in exotic places, but took time out to visit Rose Corser’s Museum and Boutique.  The museum was very interesting as there were displays of archeological artifacts from the early Polynesian inhabitation of Nuku Hiva.  She also had a variety of jewelry made by local artisans.  It was nice talking with her as she was in the process of writing a book about the flora and fauna of the islands.  Rose was doing her own photography and using a layout program to format the book.  We also enjoyed talking about other computer-related topics.
 
May 7

Got up early.  Had oatmeal for breakfast.
Bill – into town for fresh bread
Me - transfer reserve fuel from deck jugs to fuel tanks

We were going to motor from Koueva around the point to Anaho and didn’t put up any sails as we departed.  I would have, as on Wand’rin Star we usually put up the main, even if motoring, to cut down on the rolling from swells.  We got out into some really nasty water and started rolling.  After we rounded Point Tikapo, Geoff decided to put up the main and also to test the new 2nd reef modification.  I suggested that we do that later in calmer conditions.  He said, “No, this is just like what we sail in.”  We put the main up OK and tried the 2nd reef, but something was wrong.  The boom was flailing back and forth and slammed into the gallows several times!  It took some time to get it under control and the sail reefed.  “That wasn’t too bad!” was his reaction.

May 8
In the evening we enjoyed the company of Dennis and Janet aboard SV Shilling of Hamble.  They'd brought the boat from the UK across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
 
May 9

New directive from the captain, “No laundry to be done on the boat using boat water,  We must conserve!”  We moved the boat around the point to Hatiheu.

May 10-11

We moved back to South Bay after the dinghy anchor, which had become entangled in coral, was retrieved.

There are only 20 days left until Bill & I fly out of Papeete, Tahiti.  We would like to leave Nuku Hiva as quickly as possible, but are still waiting for our fuel permit.  We needed the permit because without it fuel was $12.00/gallon and with it, only $9.00/gallon and the tanks had to be filled before we left.

May 13

Today we rented a car in Taiohae and took a tour of the island.  Bill was chauffeur so I got to pay more attention to the scenery.  We took the road out of town that headed north over the mountains; it had lots of switchbacks and each new view was more spectacular than the previous one.  We could have spent the day stopping at each curve.  Once over themountain, we took the road east to Taipivai.  It was a beautiful little village nestled in a lush, lush valley with a river flowing through it.  You can sure see why it’s everyone’s idea of “paradise”! The river empties into Baie de Controleur (Controller Bay).  From there we headed back into the mountains and down to Hatiheu, where we had anchored a few days earlier.  Coming over the mountain, the road changed to an unpaved one and was quite bumpy making us glad that we had rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle if we needed the umph.  On the way to town we passed a number of archeological sites and found them to be quite interesting.  The early Polynesians had a complex society and in their heyday it must have been quite a sight to see how this area was occupied.  We ate lunch in a local restaurant where my taste buds were treated to a delightful goat curry, a welcomed change after boat food.  Following lunch, we drove back to the main junction and turned west this time. 

Surprisingly, we viewed even more spectacular sights just a few miles west of the junction as we could see the entire Baie de Taiohae, including where S/V Grace was anchored.  We traveled farther west across the top of the island toward the airport.  We were taken aback to discover cattle operations on the plateau with large ranches.  There were also large forestry plantations with 100,000’s of planted trees.  One of my thoughts when I saw this was “What will it look like when they come in to harvest the trees.  What a clear cutting operation that will be!”  It was obvious that the French government had spent much money building and maintaining most of the road system, particularly the road to the airport.  The road west of the mountain Tekao (elevation 1224 m) was over some very impressive terrain.  At one point the road followed the crest of a ridgeline and was only wide enough for one vehicle with turnoffs for opposing traffic to pull aside.  It’s not a road I’d want to drive in the dark or rain!  From there we headed back to town.  It was interesting too, that the people just let their cattle and horses graze along the side of the road….there were some really big bulls out there!  We were glad that we had rented the car and really enjoyed seeing the area from a land-perspective.
 
May 14

Bill was sick last night and today with runs, chills, and a temperature.  He & I both had the same thing for dinner last evening, so it doesn’t sound like it was food-induced.  He went to the hospital this morning, no word yet.
 
Last night went out to dinner with a group of cruisers.  I had pizza & salad; it was OK for Polynesian pizza.  The servers in the restaurant were transvestites and it is supposedly a Marquesan custom to raise the 3rd son as a girl, so that there would always be someone to care for the parents as they aged. The two waitresses were very nice to me, but I was uncomfortable hearing some of the comments from others at the table who might have been raised in a less-tolerant setting. 

Getting ready for next hop to the Tuamotos.  The boat’s a mess as no one picks up after themselves but me.  Things are just dropped it anywhere; I’m tired of picking stuff up, so I just leave it where it is.

May 15

Depart 08:45 for the Tuamotos, as we’d refueled yesterday.  There was some wind at the start but it dropped off during the day.  Dolphins swam at the bow.  There were very light winds all night and I had early watch.  Winds only 3-5kts and the boat speed was 0-2kts, thus not making way at times. A three quarter moon hung in clear skies and the seas were flat…it was a beautiful watch as dolphins entertained. 

May 16 - Dolly Day

Opened gift, it was a candy bar, what a pleasant surprise!  I miss my dearest Dolly.  Bill is eating all the time, guess he’s making up for being sick.  He complained about the boat going so slowly, thinks we should be motoring.  We made 40 +/- nm in last 24 hours and it does not look any better for the next few days.

May 17

Midnight Watch.  We’re motoring at 1800 rpm, 5.6 nm/h.  Skipper pops up and says that I need to cut the rpms in case we have to motor all the way to Tahiti. Rpm’s down to 1300, speed to 4.2, at this rate it’s going to take forever.

In the morning - no wind, 20% cloud cover, hot, slow…going bonkers!  This is the first day I’ve had where I do not want to be on the boat.  I’m tired, hot, dirty, no shower, dirty t-shirt and shorts, no auto pilot and hand steering.  I need to jump up and down, scream and shout, kill someone. 

As I sit on the cabin top becoming more and more frustrated, I started writing the following fantasy in my journal and begin chuckling to myself.  My mates think I’m a little crazy, as it appears I’m having great fun.

….. It’s that damn captain’s fault; he got us into this.  The crew quietly huddles in twos and threes.  Are there any guns we can get our hands on?  Swords or knives?  I’ve got a knife, but the mate made me snap the point off when I came aboard.  Clubs?  That would work.  Oh, Oh.  There’s the mate looking, he knows something is up, turns quickly and ducks below.

There’s a yell from above, it’s Ben on the main topsail taking a dive off the yardarm, 80 feet in the air that might be a way to end the misery…..

May 18

The story continues….Cook finds food hidden in the captain’s secret stores.  The captain was hoping to make money on the food in the next port, thinking he could sell it for a profit, but decides to let the cook use it to placate the crew since it’s been discovered.  

Another day of little to no wind, therefore we motored and hand-steered!

May 19

The wind had come up at 15-20 kts and builds to 25-29 kts.  We attempted to put the #2 reef in and again had problems with the reefing line modification, therefore taking us a while to figure it out before getting the reef set.  As night approached, we dropped the main, slowed down and had a nice sail with jib and staysail.

May 20

Landfall at Manihi in the Tuamotos in scattered showers.  This was an atoll, a ring of coral islands and reefs around a central sheltered lagoon and we had to pass through the harbor entrance.  Sometimes this can be quite tricky because of tide, as all the tidal water in the lagoon has to move through one or two narrow openings.  The entrance channel was between 20-30’ in depth; the lagoon itself was as deep as 130-150’. Our entrance was a piece of cake.  We dropped the anchor at 13:40 with no other boats in sight.  It was farther from town that we had hoped and there were coral heads in the anchorage area.  We were concerned about entangling the anchor chain in these, which as it turned out, is exactly what we did.  Normally this would not have been a problem if we’d had dive tanks aboard, which many boats carry; but we didn’t have any on Grace.  We were anchored in water that was too deep for the crew to swim to the bottom.  The lagoon was an interesting spot.  The French government had recently spent money putting navigation markers around it and we noted that Charlie’s Chart for this atoll was out of date due to the new markers. 

May 21

There was a Sail Mail station at Manihi, as well as several pearl farms.  We met Fernando who invited us to take a tour of his farm.  The tour cost $20 and this included an oyster, which we each got to open and keep the pearl from.  My pearl was a very nice round 12mm medium blue pearl.  Fernando also invited us to dinner with his family the next evening.

Paeva was the closest settlement on Manihi and we walked through it.  There were a couple stores and a bakery (run by Fernando’s son who is also a professional snorkeler and participates in deep diving competitions.)  France subsidized the area and it has a very French feeling.
 
May 22

As we were finishing breakfast, a panga came along side with a couple of young ladies in it selling pearls. Luanna and Cindy had several small Ziploc bags with an assortment of pearls in them, as well as individual pearls that they were selling.  Both Geoff & Bill bought some, but I didn’t see anything I liked.  As it turned out, they were charging quite a bit more for the pearls than what the rate would be in Tahiti from a pearl dealer….beware of a “good” deal!

After the “Pearl Girls” left, another vessel, SV Mandrake entered the anchorage.  We later discovered that the folks were from Australia, had purchased the boat in California and were in the process of sailing her home.  One of the things that we learned from Mandrake was that there is a very good market in Australia for American boats.  One can buy a boat in California, sail it to Australia, sell it, and make a tidy profit – which is exactly what these folks were doing (and had done several times!)

Dinner was enjoyed at Fernando’s and we got to meet one of his friends and son, who were visiting from Papeete, Tahiti.  Sixteen people dined on food that was excellent and abundant – seafood, meat, fresh baked baguettes (courtesy of the baker son), chop suey, fruit and taro.  All had a fine time.  The conversation touched on the topic of French Polynesian independence, as within the next few years, the inhabitants will be given the opportunity to decide if they wish to sever ties with France and become an independent country. The locals had mixed feelings, as they liked the idea of independence, but also realized that France greatly subsidizes the country and the loss of this would drastically affect their lifestyles.  

May 23

”It’s beauty is like part of a dream
with other parts intruding.” 
Gary Engelman 5/23/08 Tuamotos, French Polynesia

Tomorrow is our departure day and we began to get stuff ready; while doing this we noticed that SV Mandrake was attempting to pull her anchor in preparation for departure.  However, their anchor rode is caught on the same kind of coral head “bombs” as ours was.  We suggested that they give Fernando a call; he graciously came out and spent an hour untangling the rode from the coral heads.  He was free diving (without tanks) so it took him a number of dives to accomplish this.  At long last, Mandrake got her rode clear and departed the anchorage. 

Geoff realized that Grace was in the same situation, asked Fernando to return the next day and do the same thing for us.

May 24

Fernando returned to assist with our departure and Grace was out of the bombs; we departed on a flood tide (the tide was coming in and we were going out AGAINST the tide) with standing waves to plow through in the channel.  Unfortunately, the boat’s ports & hatches were open; first it was just spray coming in and then we took a wave over the foredeck which washed through the ports and hatches.  There is a lesson to be learned here:  just because it’s calm inside the atoll, doesn’t mean it’s calm outside the atoll…be prepared for rough seas – close the ports & hatches!

Our trip to Papeete began with good wind and seas – only 145 miles to go!  We headed southwest to take a passage between the islands of Rangiroa and Arutua.  By the time we arrived at the passage it was dark. Even in this age of GPS, an electronic chart plotter can still be several nm off, especially in this area of the world, as the charts were made before GPS was used to locate landmasses or obstacles.  Our charts were pre-GPS and therefore not accurate for the EXACT locations. If one has radar, it’s good to use it to verify the land’s actual location.  The radar was turned on, for the first time in the voyage, by Bill to verify our location through the pass.

May 25

The day starts at well, but the wind died forcing us back to motoring and hand steering.

May 26- June 1


Within sight of Tahiti, the alternator belt broke and we were dead in the water only 15 nm from our destination as the seas were glassy calm and there was no wind!  We quickly replaced the belt and continued on, dropping anchor at the Yacht Club de Tahiti at 2:17 p.m. (local time) to check on slip availability.  Shortly we were tied up to the dock and on French soil.

The total trip’s distance was 3,863 nm and we were underway for 22 days for Leg 1 to Nuku Hiva, 5 days for Leg 2 to Manihi, and 2 days for Leg 3 to Papeete – for a total of 29 days at sea. The entire voyage to Tahiti took 46 days. Our average distance per day was 133 nm and average speed was 5.5 kts.

Within hours of tying up, I reveled in a hot shower at the Yacht Club.  Just taking a shower was wonderful as I hadn’t had one since leaving Mexico due to restrictions on water use aboard Grace.  It was nice just being able to relax, catch the bus into town, and not having to think about weather, watches, and sailing.  I became a tourist.  Papeete is a charming mix of Polynesian and French cultures.  It was like going back to France but with palm trees and sunshine all the time. 

One of our first stops downtown was the Marche Municipal, the public market.  It was the place you could find almost everything in Papeete - fresh fish, vegetables, fruit, ready to eat food, PASTRIES, t-shirts, pearls, REAL BREAD, and handcrafts.  It seemed to be the place where people did their daily shopping. 

Luckily it was the off-season so there were NO cruise ships or throngs of tourists to deal with!  Each of us seemed to go on a “shopping spree” to buy things for loved ones at home, some more than others.  Bill was the champ (Sue should be happy!)  There was also an Art Fair with local artisans selling custom-made jewelry, some of it quite spectacular.  We had fun eating at the Marche Municipal as well as at the numerous street roulettes or food vans.  Each one seemed to have a regular location and its own loyal clienteles.  These were the least expensive places to eat in Papeete, which is VERY EXPENSIVE for everything!  My favorite one was La Pitchounvette, which meant “the little girl.”  The folks who owned this roulette had been in business for over twenty years and they had a brick oven on the van for baking pizza and other things.  At one time, it was wood fired but was converted to gas about 10 years ago. The owners were a charming couple who specialized in pizza, drop-dead delicious lasagna, and a number of other tantalizing dishes.   Fortunately (or unfortunately) this roulette was located right outside the Yacht Club.  It would be a dangerous place for me to live, as I’d be there every night, both for the food and the ambiance.  The first night I ate here I had the lasagna and the portion was huge.  I ate that evening and then finished it off for breakfast the following two mornings.  Bill thought I was crazy eating lasagna in the morning.

The S/V The Maltese Falcon was in port during our stay and we were enthralled with its size and design.   It is VERY LARGE, square-rigged sailing YACHT!  Papeete was charming with its street side cafes where one could just sit, have a cold beer and watch the girls go by.  It was such an unusual mix of both cultures and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I was already envisioning a return trip; the few days I was here were not nearly enough time to do it justice.  I could spend years here exploring, unfortunately the French government is pretty strict with its visitation and immigration policies, not to mention the cost of living there

The next day, Bill & I took the high-speed ferry that runs from Papeete to Moorea, the neighboring island.  Upon our arrival in Moorea, we rented a car to explore the island and take pictures.  Bill drove again, so I got to be the rubbernecking tourist.  The east coast by the Ferry Terminal was quite touristy, but the remainder of the island, especially the west side is still very “local”.  I would have liked to spent time there watching the spectacular sunsets.

Finally, it was time for Bill and me to pack our bags and head home.  I was feeling very happy to get back to see Dorothy, Murray and the boat; but was also feeling like I was going to miss Tahiti.  There was so much to see and do, I could have spent a long time there and never run out of the things….maybe Dorothy & I can come here in the future. 

We caught the red eye to Honolulu at 12:15 a.m. June 1, and arrived there about 6:00 a.m.  It felt strange flying over the ocean and looking down after having spent weeks crossing; I’d occasionally see the track of a ship in the water and it was easy to put myself in its place.

As we didn’t fly out of Hawaii until 8:15 p.m., I had contacted our friends, Tom & Sue Stark on SV Three Bags Full who were there. They graciously picked me up at the airport and took me back to their boat.  We enjoyed catching up on what had happened since I’d seen them last in Poulsbo, WA.  Tom & Sue had recently arrived in Honolulu after sailing from San Diego and were on their way to Alaska.  They drove me back to the airport in time to catch my next red eye to LA with a connecting flight to Puerto Vallarta.  All went well and a little after noon on June 2nd, Dorothy greeted me with a huge hug at the Puerto Vallarta airport, fifty-four days after leaving her.  It was so good to be “home”!

Three Best Things:

Being underway in the open ocean
The roulette “La Pitchounvette” in Papeete
Blue skies, white sand, warm clear water, & palm trees

Final Thoughts….”This wasn’t the passage I’d hoped for, but it was the one I got.”

Creating this log has been somewhat difficult because I’m a person who tends to speak my mind and that’s not always polite or acceptable.  Folks reading this log may detect an undercurrent of negativity and the reality was that there were negative aspects to the voyage. 

Part of the problem was myself in that when the invitation to crew was extended to me, I instantly “fell in love” with the idea of voyaging to Tahiti.  I was enthralled by the idea and, as a consequence, didn’t ask the right questions or make myself aware of circumstances. 

Questions I should have asked:

1. Are we going to take the boat out as a crew and practice sailing as a team before the voyage?

2. Is the boat well maintained?

3. Is the boat orderly and has everything been stowed appropriately for an ocean voyage?

4. Is there an autopilot and/or a wind vane?  Do they work? What are the back-up systems?

5. What types of electricity-generating systems are on board?  Are they used and will the crew be affected by power-usage restrictions?
 
6. Is there a water maker and is there enough water for drinking, bathing and laundry?

7. What is the fuel capacity and the range of the vessel with the fuel aboard?

8. What types of communications are available?  SSB/sat phone/Email?  Will the crew be able to utilize email to communicate with family on a regular basis?

9. How is weather information gathered and utilized?

10. Where are the berths and is there any degree of privacy?  Where will I stow my belongings?

11. How will the watch schedule be determined and maintained?  How will time zone changes be handled.

12. Will food preparation be shared or is there a “cook”?  Is there a list of food and where it’s located?

13. Knowing that the captain of a boat is the ultimate decision-maker, will the crew have any opportunity to discuss options or provide input?

14. What is the point of the voyage?  Is it just to get the boat to a destination or is the voyage, itself, also important?  Is it the journey or the destination?

15. What’s the captain’s sailing style?  Is he/she a racer? Is the voyage a race or a cruise?

A big thing when you’re on a boat for an extended period of time as Geoff, Bill & I were is personalities.  We were three very different people, which is not necessarily bad, as it can bring interest to conversations; however I do think it’s important that there be a basic commonality of interests (beyond just boats) and personal styles/tolerances. 

I’m a very neat & organized person who has difficulty tolerating disorder, (I can deal with it a little better on someone else’s boat than on my own…just ask my wife!) but at times on this trip it was beyond my tolerance level.  This was especially an issue in rough seas when items not properly stowed were flying about the cabin.  Additionally, on Wand’rin Star, we have a policy that a hatch/port is either open or dogged down so one can tell at a glance if it’s closed; this was not true during this trip.

The last and most important consideration is “sailing style”; it’s important for the entire crew to be aware of and agree on a “sailing style”.  The thing that I found most distressing in the voyage was the difference in style between the skipper and myself.  He had lots of sailing experience, but the vast majority of it was racing and not cruising or voyaging.  When racing in a bay and something breaks, it’s an easy tow/motor back to the slip for repairs; if a person is injured during a race, the hospital is usually only a few minutes/hours away. However, when passage-making, if something breaks, the nearest replacement part may be days or weeks away and if someone is injured, the nearest hospital may be 1500 miles away!  On a passage the most important thing is getting there safely and not breaking the boat.  Unfortunately this was not the skipper’s philosophy.  After we were underway, he conveyed to us on numerous occasions that he was interested in putting in a good showing, time-wise on his crossing from Puerto Vallarta to the Marquesas.  He often commented that skippers of other boats were under sailing their vessels.  This led to the mindset that speed was the most important thing.  Many times as wind speed increased the sails were not shortened soon enough, causing the vessel to be overpowered; this led to numerous equipment breakages.  At least one was potentially life threatening when the whisker pole broke and the parts were flaying around.  Bill & I had to go to the foredeck to remedy the situation.  This was a situation in which we could have been seriously injured or killed.  I was extremely distressed and angered when I heard the captain say, on multiple occasions, that he knew the whisker pole was under-sized and that he knew it would break!  During the three-week trip we had four serious breakages and two instances where major pieces of equipment were fouled due to poor placement.  When discussing this issue with a fellow sailor who had much cruising experience, he was appalled at this mindset.  When I mentioned that I should have asked about sailing style, he replied, “Do you ever really know until it’s too late?”

All this said, I did enjoy my time in French Polynesia and look forward to returning someday with Dorothy.

Part 2 - Part 1

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Last updated on September 2, 2008