'Sea'-nile

Perry with our Dreamsicle-colored spinnaker.
Photo courtesy of Marie-Claude Osterrath.

The other day, one of the 'kid' boats that we hang around with celebrated their son's birthday on the wrong day (they thought Saturday was Sunday) . Although that's an extreme example, we are often forgetting the day of the week. It's one of the things about cruising that makes it seem like we mostly sit around drinking cocktails in exotic locations, watching the sunset. We do a lot of that, along with diving/snorkeling with hundreds of sharks, having beach bonfires, and exploring remote islands.

Flotilla for birthday relay races.

Of course, we have lots of inconveniences that 'normal' people don't. During one relatively calm crossing when we should have gotten a lot of rest, the freezer decided to stop working in the middle of the night, requiring Matt to replace yet another black box controller. On the same night, the generator stopped working and Matt had to troubleshoot it and replace the impeller.

A pearl farm in Raroia (Tuamotos).

And we can have very limited fresh vegetables for long stretches. The kids got really excited about the broccoli and cauliflower (weirdos!) that Matt brought back to the boat after arriving to Moorea, which is near Tahiti. 

That's Mark in the yellow circle. Baie Hatiheu (Marquesas).

We'll hang out in Tahiti for a bit to see if we can get our mainsail restitched and restock on some boat parts. Then we'll head through the rest of French Polynesia until we have to leave by the end of July.

Our anchorage in Baie D'Anaho (Marquesas).

Mark adding a memento to the Thor Heyerdahl memorial (Tuamotos).

A lot of the towns are energy independent with solar panels
and rainwater collection systems.

Giant clams

Copra collection hut on Taotaona (Tuamotos)

Mark with a black tip reef shark in Fakarava (Tuamotos)

Baiting sharks. Anyone for a swim?

A Napolean fish so big that it has 2 remoras. Not that they're picky.
One tried to attach itself repeatedly to Matt's leg while diving.

Incidental costs

Beach barbecue with Steven on (Tahuata)

I could use the lack of internet as an excuse for not updating the blog but the truth is that there is internet for a fee in many places. In the two and a half weeks since our Pacific crossing, I have felt very unmotivated to post anything. We have been spending our days enjoying the towering volcanic spires, struggling with French, and savoring the flavorful fruit that bursts from every other tree. We also met some new kid boats (Miss Behaving and Seabbatical, who hung out with Amelie in the Galapagos) that Mark and Conrad (and we) have enjoyed hanging with.

Coming into Oa Pou

We made landfall in Fatu Hiva, which is not an official port of entry, but we took a chance because we would have had to beat into the wind and waves to get there from Hiva Oa (which is an official port of entry). Not only is it a must-see island, it is a calm anchorage, unlike the rolly Hiva Oa. We rolled the dice (as did many other boats) and unfortunately lost. Customs showed up near the end of our visit and boarded all the boats in the anchorage. They were very charming as they fined us for not properly checking in before going to Fatu Hiva. The fine is $200 but we only had $70 and 15 Euros, so they took that as payment in full (after politely searching our boat to make sure we didn't have any more squirreled away). Some of our friends had good excuses (real and not so real) and escaped the fine.

Boat kids are crazy. Hiva Oa.

We considered ourselves lucky and were okay with spending that much to have a calm anchorage after our weeks at sea, as well as a more pleasant trip to Fatu Hiva. We happened to be there at the right time for the monthly traditional dance show. In addition to the unplanned expenditure to customs, we had a line and almost-new pair of Chaco sandals (Matt's) taken from the dinghy in Fatu Hiva. On the plus side, we were able to trade some unneeded clothing and household items for fresh fruit.

Mark and Meg on a wave-shaped rock. Oa Pou

 

Pregnant tiki. Hiva Oa.

Puamau tikis. Hiva Oa.

The Smiling Tiki, the patron of fishermen. Or a minion
from Despicable Me.

Crossing the Pacific--We'll Take Boring

This excerpt from Conrad's schoolwork sums up our trip pretty well:

Write three sentences about what you did last weekend. Then underline all the past-tense verbs.

We sailed and sailed some more. We got really bored. We kept sailing.

Look around the room. Write three sentences about everything that's happening now. Underline all the present-tense verbs.

We are sailing. We are bored. We are doing school.

Conrad measuring and dissecting a few
 of the many flying fish that would show up on deck
every morning.

Other than a few whale and dolphin sightings and catching a tuna and a 50-lb blue marlin, our 20-day crossing from the Galapagos to the Marquesas was pretty uneventful. Nothing major broke (our only issues were a sink drainpipe coming loose and the same intermittent problem we have been having with our desalinater/generator) and no one became ill (we gave Conrad some antibiotics for a possible ear infection after consulting with our doctor friend Pete via satellite email). We only saw one sailboat and one fishing boat during our crossing but were in VHF radio-contact for a bit with our friends on Amelie IV, who passed us in the final week. 

Unfortunately, a few other boats weren't quite as lucky.  We know of quite a few boats that had major mechanical issues (broken halyards, non-functional autopilots, engine failures).  Health issues caused worries on some boats.  And one boat had to be abandoned due to structural failure 1500 miles away from the closest land. So boring was just fine for us.

Anchorage at Fatu Hiva

Here is the list of produce and fresh food we brought with us: apples (20), giant bunch of bananas (more than 100), broccoli (2 heads), cabbages (5), carrots (20), eggs (180--6 dozen left), green beans (1 bunch), limes (20), mangoes (25), melons (3), onions (20), oranges (20), passion fruit (60), pineapples (4), plantains (6), potatoes (more than 50), sweet potatoes (5), tomatoes (15),  and watermelons (3). It was just about right, with a good amount leftover. We were pretty sick of bananas in the first couple of weeks after the entire stalk ripened pretty much all at once. We still have banana mush for baking left in the freezer.

When we arrived in Fatu Hiva, our friends on Amelie IV, Kazaio and Zorba greeted us with shouts and air horns, and Kazaio brought over a basket of fresh produce, including the local giant grapefruits (pamplemousse in French) that are so sweet that they don't need sugar. We have never seen terrain like this before and the people are warm and friendly. Unfortunately, we can't get any local money here but most of the residents are willing to take items in trade for things like fruit and handicrafts.

A 300-foot Polynesian waterfall

Manta rays frequent the anchorage.

Final scenes from The Galapagos

Fool's gold in Cueva Sucre, a lava tunnel.

Swimming penguins

Conrad catching some waves.

Guabo (not to be confused with guava, which is called guayaba
here) has the texture of cotton candy and has a hint of cinnamon.

Swimming with a sea lion.

Even the crabs in the Galapagos are more interesting.

Bella Isabela (The Galapagos, Part 2)

Holy penguins Batman!

Conrad and Mark met some new boat friends in Santa Cruz (Matias and Lucas from Bob the Cat). They had great fun playing in the big waves at Tortuga beach in Santa Cruz and dodging the baby blacktip sharks getting washed onto shore. They were sad to leave but excited to see their friends from Mandala, Amelie IV, Kazaio, and Zorba on Isabela.

No touching the tortoises! El Rancho Manzanillo
on Isla Santa Cruz.

We got to spend a few days with our friends, until they either went to Santa Cruz or across the Pacific. We'll be starting our trek across the Pacific towards the Marquesas sometime next week when we get some wind. In the meantime, we'll snorkel with penguins, sea lions, and marine iguanas, and play in the great surf. Conrad is going to take a surf lesson.

Matt determined that our water maker is fine and that our generator was not producing a charge, which would cause the water maker to shut down. Researching the issue, he found that the issue almost never occurs. He took apart the generator, cleaned some pieces, put it back to together and it seems to work. Except when it doesn't. It still stops producing a charge intermittently but we're able to make water. We'll fill our tanks, which should last us about six weeks (the Marquesas should take between 22-25 days unless we get really horrible wind).

Wall of Tears

Horses to Vocan Sierra Negra

Volcan Sierra Negra is a caldera with a 10 km diameter

Volcan Cerro Chico

 

Isla San Cristobol and Isla Santa Cruz (Galapagos, Ecuador)

San Cristobol is home to a huge colony of sea lions.

We paid a lot of money to come to the Galapagos. When you consider that many of the islands in the Caribbean were completely free to cruise or at the most under $100 US, the $1600 we paid for our autografo (a permit that allows us to cruise to three islands; 1-island permits are cheaper) is expensive. Granted, it's cheaper than the $4000 or so that it costs to fly from Chicago but is still pretty rich for our blood.

Tijeretas on San Cristobol

Las Grietas on Santa Cruz--we loved this brackish-water-filled crevice.

So we can understand why some cruisers decide not to visit. But we're glad we didn't skip it. The rugged volcanic terrain, unique wildlife and their sheer numbers has distinguished the Galapagos from the many countries we have visited.

The elusive red-footed booby.

Our naturalist couldn't help giggling every time he said the word 'booby'.

Punta Pitt

We spent about a week in San Cristobol, where we picked up our friends Peter, Hilary, and Maria. We had fun touring Kicker Rock, Punta Pitt, and a few highlights of Cristobol. They got to experience the joys of Navy showers and a swell-y anchorage and were troopers about the whole experience. We took them over to Santa Cruz towards the end of their visit on what was supposed to be a day sail with light winds. Instead we had 20-30 knot winds on the nose, which was one of our more uncomfortable sails, especially for non-sailors. After a couple days in Santa Cruz, our friends headed home to Iowa.

 

Punta Pitt

We'll stick around Santa Cruz for a few days while we figure out why our water maker keeps overheating. Then we'll head over to Isabela to see penguins and volcanoes.