BORA BORA

We spent nine nights at three different anchorages in Bora Bora waiting out the Maraamu before we could start heading back in an easterly direction. Our favorite was the anchorage near the dinghy dock for Bloody Mary’s-the world famous bar/restaurant on Bora Bora. Happy Hour was from 6PM-7PM every night and we made good use of the one hour window to get two drinks for the price of one. After several nights of Happy Hour it started to feel like Cheers and the manager gave us four free drinks one night and Bloody Mary’s swag another night-a hat for Ken and t-shirt for Jules. Bora Bora was gorgeous with spectacular views and colors. Snorkeling was good, but so far nothing has topped the snorkeling on Rangiroa. Our window to head east still had us beating directly into 20kt winds but the seas had calmed from 10ft to 6-7ft making the trip back to Taha’a not too bad of a bash.

RAIATEA

The second largest of the Society Islands, Raiatea sits south of Taha’a encircled in the same lagoon. Bora Bora can be seen to the west, Huahine to the east, and Taha’a to the north. We did some boat projects while anchored here-including repositioning a battery closer to the windlass as the windlass has been working extra hard pulling up the anchor when wrapped around bommies in the lagoons, despite floating the chain with pearl farm buoys.

TAHA'A

Another beautiful island in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Gorgeous anchorages, great snorkeling, colorful local culture, beauty all around-running out of things to say about French Polynesia!

HUAHINE

Huahine is considered the “Wild One” in French Polynesia, and we fell in love with this island. Jules had been here 10 years ago and it was her favorite of the Society Islands then and remains so now. We rented a car and drove around the island stopping for lunch at the same place Jules stayed 10 years ago. We hope to stop here again in a month or so on the return sail to Papeete.

MO'OREA

We spent more than a week in Mo’orea, the first three days as participants in the Mo’orea Tahiti Rendevoux Regatta. Once again our friend Jason was with us, he sailed in the regatta on Painkiller and then he returned to Tahiti on the IMOCA 60 SOMEWHERE LONDON, seen here at anchor. The island is lush, anchorages spectacular, and the local people are lovely.

The Regatta included traditional foods, sports, outrigger canoe races, and dances. There were Fire Dances at night as well as daytime dances. There were only 14 boats in the Regatta so we had front row seats for all of the events.

FAKARAVA

Fakarava was like having a coffee shop for sailors who all need laundry and wifi so congregate on the porch of Fakarava Yacht Services and talk sailing, weather, destinations, plans and back up plans etc. It’s a very popular atoll and many boats were anchored in the north part of the lagoon when we arrived. As the next Maraamu was predicted the boats started moving to more protected anchorages and the north anchorage began to thin out. Besides needing to find protection for the next round of howling winds ourselves, we had visa paperwork and other reasons to head back to Tahiti so we only spent 2 days in Fakarava.

APATAKI

We waited out yet another Maraamu in Apataki but this time we were able to move around to 3 different anchorages and enjoy some time with moderate winds. We put the sailing dinghy in the water and had 2 days of perfect dinghy sailing conditions. One night we held a hot dog roasting campfire on the beach watching the sunset across the lagoon with our sailing buddy Jason and another boat we met in Apataki. The full moon eclipse occurred while we were in Apataki.

AHE

We sailed to the atoll Ahe and anchored in a lagoon within the lagoon for 8 days of rain and Maraamu (the howling winter winds of French Polynesia). We hunkered down in the boat playing backgammon and working on boat projects. Our friend Jason who we met in Panama and has been sailing with us for awhile was the only other boat at Ahe. The sun shone on our final day and we spent the afternoon in the village on the atoll which has fewer than 200 people.

AIAI (RANGIROA)

Aiai offered protection from a lee shore for 4 days of stormy weather where the wind backed a full 360 degrees before subsiding. It was so windy and rocky during our time there it was possible to get sea sick at anchor. On the way back to our original anchorage we had 2 dolphins swim with the bow of the boat for a long stretch. We have spent a month at Rangiroa so plan to sail to Ahe tomorrow.

RANGIROA

We sailed to Rangiroa for our first atoll in the Tuamotus. Entering the atolls requires timing your entrance through the pass with the slack tide. Depending on the wind and wave conditions there can be multiple days of no incoming tide, with the tide always rushing out of the atoll through the narrow passes. There was a storm while we were anchored in Rangiroa and several boats ended up on the reef and were a total loss in a neighboring atoll. Other boats had holes in the hulls from being hit, and still others lost all of their anchor and rode. We were not as hard hit by the storm and our anchor held well. A boat anchored behind us had their instruments on and said it was blowing 40kts at the time. It’s stunningly gorgeous here, the snorkling is amazing, and we look forward to timing our exit through the pass and exploring more of the Tuamotus.

We took an excursion to the Blue Lagoon with 4 other sailors and our guide Marty not only drove the boat 22nm across the lagoon and back, he also prepared us a delicious feast over an open fire-including a chocolate cake, played guitar while we ate, and provided the required beach fire. The red boat Marty brought us out on can be seen anchored here in the distance as well as the sharks we need to walk by in the water to get back to the boat for the return trip. Ken has been very relaxed in his retirement and took a rest while Marty was cooking.

CONFINEMENT LIFTED!

The confinement has been lifted and beginning tomorrow we have been granted permission to travel to the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia! We will be leaving this lovely view of Mo’orea and sailing to the Tuamotus where we will probably spend a month or so traveling around the atolls, snorkeling and swimming. Later in June we will return to Tahiti and Mo’orea as all of the other countries in the South Pacific remain closed.

Scott Cartwright from Tempor Magazine recorded a podcast with Julie last week-take a listen!

TAHITI

The view of Moorea from our anchorage in Tahiti and some rays swimming under the boat. The first week in Tahiti was a continuation of the lockdown rules in Nuku Hiva, but one week after our arrival there was an easing of some of the rules and we can now go to shore and go shopping without a permission form-and—best of all-we can go swimming. It’s pretty much impossible to look at this water and not want to jump in so what a relief that rule change was.

NUKA HIVA TO TAHITI

Nuka Hiva to Tahiti was a 797nm 6-day sail with a whole lot of squalls and middle of the night reefing, as well as sailing past the beautiful mountainous islands of the Marquesas, and the atolls of the Tuamotus -which are barely visible and don't show up from a distance in images. We arrived in Tahiti on April 22, 2020, 2+ months earlier than planned as all sailing vessels were required to go immediatley to Tahiti without stopping.

NUKU HIVA, MARQUESAS

We were given permission to stop in Nuku Hiva for 4 days, which was extended to 7 days as there was no wind after 4 days, and being a sailboat we couldn’t really leave without wind. While in Nuku Hiva there was a lockdown which necessitated getting a police permission form to provision, only one person from the boat was allowed to go for provisions, no swimming or boat maintenance that required getting in the water, no visiting other boats, a curfew, etc., a pretty serious lockdown all around. On the quarter-mile walk to the grocery store there were 3 police checkpoints. The grocery store allowed only 3 clients at a time and squirted hand sanitizer in your palms before being allowed inside. After a 27 day passage it was difficult to arrive to a lockdown that didn’t even allow us to swim in the gorgeous harbor. There were other boats in the same situation and the active community of sailors on the VHF radio kept us informed of the lockdown rules and helped ease the sense of isolation. The beauty of Nuku Hiva was stunning and it was a great disappointment that we were not allowed to walk around, or sail around and explore the island.

PANAMA TO NUKU HIVA, MARQUESAS

We departed Panama March 15, 2020 and arrived in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas April 10, 2020 sailing over 4104nm in 27 days. As we passed the Galapagos, boobies joined the boat and spent a few nights sleeping on the bow. Once we got into the trade winds and equatorial current it truly was a magic carpet ride. Ken caught Mahi Mahi, Tuna and a Sailfish which we released. Dennis joined us for the passage and is pictured here preparing to cross the equator and enter the Southern Hemisphere. The euphoria we expected to experience as we made landfall in Nuku Hiva was tempered by how much the world changed in the 27 days since we left Panama, including the closing of all borders in the South Pacific. We were granted special permission to arrive in Nuku Hiva for 4 days. ‘Ua Huka (below) was the first land we saw in 27 days.

ARCHIPELAGO DE LAS PERLAS

Archipelago De Las Perlas was wild, beautiful, remote and desolate. We took the dinghy into a village and Angel gave us a tour-including a walk to the village generator which went on at 10:00PM each night. Most remote place we have been so far. Gorgeous!

PANAMA CITY

The view of Panama City from our anchorage after transiting the Panama Canal was stunning, as was the day lite view from outside the city. There was a lot of beautiful architecture in Panama City and the European influence was evident. We visited the Museo Del Canal which was amazing. Ken in particular wanted to capture a picture of the Presidential Palace Police who had quite a stylish presence.

PANAMA CANAL TRANSIT

Pics and videos from the Panama Canal transit: Lots and lots of traffic-super close; Jorge our pilot arriving on day 2; our line handler Niqui showing us his skills; gates to the Pacific; gates opening; entering the canal; being tied to the only other sailboat transiting the canal the same day as us; line handlers on shore walking the lines as we prepare to drop down into the Pacific; 106 year old gates; Bruce tying us up to a tug boat in the lock; crew taking a breather; Ken & Jules in the lock behind a shipping container; and the beauty of Gatun Lake.