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We thought that the business of Tahiti would be a bit of a shock after cruising remotely after several months. What we found was a gorgeous island populated with friendly people, with bigger stores/ports/restaurants. Tahiti Yacht Club (TYC) provided us with a comfortable slip and we were able to take warm showers and do laundry…
Fakarava is the second largest atoll in the Tuamotus with a rectangular shape that has a length of about 30 miles (50 km) and width of about 15 miles (25 km). For perspective, the San Francisco Bay Area is about 3-12 miles wide and 48-60 miles long, depending on what is included. We entered through…
One of the inhabited Tuamotus atolls, Makemo has a history of copra (coconut products) production. The pass into the atoll is clearly visible with a lighthouse surrounded by a school campus. On land, a paved road runs lengthwise near the shore with a few roads crossing perpendicular to it. Most of the traffic is on…
Charles Darwin’s theory is that the Tuamotus (and other atolls/motus around the world) form when volcanic islands collapse until only the surrounding coral reefs remain. Somehow nothing in our preparations readied us for the sheer size of Raroia, which is one larger of 78 atolls in the Tuamotus. We envisioned something about the size of…
Taiohae, Nuku Hiva is the state capital of the Marquesas Islands, and its four blocks are reputed to have some of the best supplies in the area. Our first day, we walked into town to pay the boater’s garbage fee and accidentally ended up at the prison, which looked somewhat similar to the state government…
Oh my gosh, this is a gorgeous place and we’re loving it! After a week in the harbor at Hiva Oa, we headed 7 miles south to Tahuata. Here’s a banner day… We were sipping our morning coffee when a school of flying fish started traversing behind the boat. Soon a few birds started following…
After 23 days at sea, we arrived in Hiva Oa Friday morning. What a trip! The Psychology of a Crossing In some ways, our recent crossing was one of the more difficult things I’ve done. My daughter Kader reprimanded me because she learned of our arrival via someone else’s social media post and I didn’t…
Today we crossed the equator and became official shellbacks!!! We are fifteen days into our journey and probably have six or seven days and fewer than 1,000 miles left to go. Thus far we’ve been lucky with the weather and winds. We’d saved a bottle of Mellisoni Bollicine sparkling wine, which was a delightful way…
Some might ask, why did they go due west from Mexico, rather than just making a beeline for French Polynesia (FP)? The answer my friends, is weather. Our strategy was developed with help from our coaches Jamie & Behan Gifford from Sailing Totem, Mike at PV Sailing, and many other FP crossers. It is broken…
What a lovely time we had in LaCruz de Huanacaxtle. The LaCruz Marina was built in 2001 and has developed quite the expatriate community. LaCruz itself maintains its Mexican character with a town square, mostly cobblestone or dirt streets, lovely roadside restaurants, street vendors, and a few small grocery stores. Most days live music is…
Sailing Tieton 