MOZAMBIQUE

We left Madagascar heading towards South Africa and once again had to alter course for weather. There are a lot of revolving tropical storms in this part of the world (not sure why they are called that as we are officially out of the tropics, but they are), and the Agulhas Current, which can be up to 5kts, makes wind against current situations suicidal as one South African weather router likes to say.

This time we went to Mozambique for shelter. On Thanksgiving evening we dropped anchor at Portuguese Island and the next morning we sailed up the channel to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. We anchored right outside the city, (top pic) the only boat of any kind at anchor outside Maputo. The second pic is the marina where we brought the dinghy when we went ashore. It was pure mud half the tide cycle-12 hours a day, so timing to go ashore was key. We brought the dinghy in for provisioning and had to wait for the tide to come in to go back to the boat. You can see Painkiller in the pic out in the channel.

After a couple of nights anchored outside Maputo we left in the rain for Inhaca Island, about 25nm from Maputo, where we waited for a weather window to sail down the coast to South Africa.

MADAGASCAR

Madagascar was an unintended stop, made to avoid severe weather, that turned out to be a highlite. We spent a few days in a remote anchorage protected by an uninhabited island. There was one local boat in the area when we arrived and they sailed up to us looking for alcohol. The next morning at 5AM there appeared to be 100 local fisherman in the anchorage, all on hand made outriggers with sails made from stitched together rice sacks. We took the dinghy over to the island we anchored off and got this pic of Painkiller in the anchorage.

After we dropped anchor this boat sailed up to us.

There was a language issue but eventually we realized they wanted alcohol, and when they realized we didn’t have any they sailed off, the helmsman trimming with his teeth.

We bought sardines from this fisherman who came right up to our swim steps.

This fisherman showed us a fish in the first seconds of the video, we motioned that we wanted it, so he wrapped up his sail and came to our boat, but something went wrong in the translation, and he sailed away before we could buy the fish.

REUNION ISLAND TO MADAGASCAR

We left Reunion Island intending to sail to Richard’s Bay, South Africa but there were depressions along the way that had us altering course and making additional stops. Our first leg ended up being Reunion to Madagascar. Although we altered course to avoid the worst of the weather, there was still a lot of weather we couldn’t escape. We had up to 40kts and the biggest seas I think we’ve seen so far. We tore the main sail the first time we raised it after sailing with only a reefed jib. The mainsail repair took a few hours of prep one day-taking it off the cars, cutting material etc., and then most of the day the second day. Everyone helped with the repair, the pic above showing Ken sewing with Cedric’s help.

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA TO REUNION ISLAND

The Indian Ocean crossing from Darwin, Australia to Reunion Island took 31 days. We had every kind of temperature, wind speed and sea state. There were brutally hot days and cold days where we stayed inside. There was not enough and too much wind; flying the gennaker when wind was lite, or the jib with a barber hauler, and at other times we had 3 reefs in the main sail and a tiny jib. There were big seas but no matter how hard it’s just not possible to catch the height of the seas in a photo. There were also boat projects and Ken sat in the anchor locker working on the junction box at the mast trying to get us wind data. Jules watched the sea and sky from the helm, Cedric took bucket showers when it was too hot to do anything else, and Helen watched the gennaker and looked for dolphins. Landfall was welcome after 31 days, but brief as we plan to depart after only 3 nights in Reunion.

FIJI TO AUSTRALIA

The passage from Fiji to Australia had us on our toes for weather and navigation as we headed north for a couple of gales in our vicinity, into a harbor for a night to avoid another gale, and we were a few days ahead of a late season cyclone that developed right behind our track. We stopped at Mellish Reef, an uninhabited sand bar in the Coral Sea, for a snorkel and swim, Ken turned 74 on May 11, and Jules bailed out the dinghy underway after squalls, including one that caught us off guard with full sail at 42kts.

FIJI

The Garden of the Sleeping Giant and Sabeto Hot Springs were highlights of Fiji. The Garden was lush with about an hour long circle hike through all sorts of flowers, trees, a fish pod and a swing. After the hike we were served juice in comfy chairs overlooking the grounds. Then a short drive down the dirt road to the Sabeto Hot Springs where we spent the day with Anny who guided us through the mud pool and 3 other hot springs, massages, and a meal with her family. We sat on a palm fond mat on the floor while eating and Ken ended up buying the mat Anny had in her house. In the pic of Anny & Ken above he is asking her how they take care of the elders in her village and she is telling him about her mom who is also sitting on the mat with us. We didn’t have enough time in Fiji, we were trying to make it to Australia by a certain date, and we spent a lot of our time on boat projects and entry procedures for Australia, but the time with Anny and her family was really special and made the stop in Fiji particularly memorable.

NUKU HIVA, MARQUESAS TO PAPEETE, TAHITI 2022

Ken wrestles a sea serpent, aka the anchor bridle, as we prepare to leave Nuku Hiva after being on the hook for nearly a month.

While we were waiting in Nuku Hiva, Australia opened for the first time since closing for covid, so we did a 180, and headed west to Papeete to continue the circumnavigation.

And another Yellow Fin Tuna caught on our way to Papeete-59”.

APATAKI TO NUKU HIVA

Ken, Eric and Kirby arrived in Apataki to relaunch Painkiller in late February. Sitting on the hard in the tropics for 16 months took a toll on Painkiller and they had a massive clean up and some repairs to sort out before setting sail for Nuku Hiva. There are many stories from the clean up that involve copious amounts of bugs, but we can skip the details.

On the sail to Nuku Hiva they caught a 100+lb 55” Yellow Fin Tuna pictured here with Eric. They also got the freezer up and running and now it.’s stocked with tuna which should last for awhile.

While Ken & crew were sailing from Apataki to Nuku Hiva, Jules was sailing on Kismet from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to meet Ken and Painkiller in Nuku Hiva.

RETURNING TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC

We are giving up winter views for the turquoise waters of the South Pacific!

Ken, Kirby & Eric are flying to French Polynesia, splashing Painkiller in Apataki, and sailing back to Nuku Hiva, Marquesas in late February.

Jules is sailing from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Nuku Hiva on Kismet with Kevin, Sean & Saadiah and should be arriving in Nuku Hiva in late March. Once we meet up in Nuku Hiva we will explore the Marquesas for a couple of weeks and then set sail back to Connecticut.

You can track Julie’s sail from Mexico to the Marquesas beginning February 28 HERE.

APATAKI TO ARUTUA TO AHE TO MANIHI TO PAPE'ETE

To get from Apataki Carenage, where Painkiller was hauled, to Pape’ete, Tahiti was an epic journey that involved a 2.5-hour boat ride across open ocean in a small fishing boat to a small plane that made 3 stops. The captain of this open fishing boat pictured below did not show up on the dock when scheduled nor was the boat anywhere to be seen. Through pantomime (language barrier) we found someone who told us he was asleep and went to wake him. His son showed up with the boat then went to get his dad and more than 45 minutes after our planned departure for the airport we departed Apataki for Arutua. Apataki does not have flight service to Tahiti so we needed to take this open fishing boat with no seats or nothing to hold onto for 2.5 hours across open ocean to the nearest airport for the weekly flight out of Arutua-but first the captain needed to make a stop in the village on Arutua for some fried chicken breakfast and soda, which he generously shared with us. The Arutau Airport does not have any road access, only water access, so by the time we got to the airport the boats were rafted up to the dock 4 abreast and we lugged our luggage across 4 boats tied together to get to the dock then into the airport where we were the last people to check-in for our flight and our luggage was overweight. The plane made stops in Ahe and Manihi before arriving in Tahiti. The final video below shows us landing in Pae’ete Tahiti as we fly over the Airport Anchorage or Hotel California as it became known while we were anchored there during the confinement.

Our ride to the Arutua Airport 2.5 hours away. You can see Painkiller at anchor in the distance and her sailing dinghy with sail hoisted behind her.

The Arutua Airport parking lot and our captain (above), and the view from the airport (below).

APATAKI HAUL OUT

Apataki Carenage guiding us in through the coral and tying us onto coral to hold Painkiller in place.

Painkiller was hauled out at Apataki Carenage October 15 for the South Pacific Cyclone Season and a chance for us to go home and visit friends and family. We plan to return in late February if other countries begin to open their borders and we can move westward. Otherwise we will need a plan B.

APATAKI RETURN

We returned to Apataki for the final 12 days of the 2020 season in the South Pacific. The top three pictures are taken in the pass entering Apataki. You can see the tide ripping and get a feel for the passes that allow entrance to most of the atolls. A few of the atolls have no pass or a pass so shallow a sailboat can’t enter. The rest of the pictures were taken in the anchorage outside Apataki Carenage where Painkiller will get hauled. You can see the masts from the boats in the yard towering above the trees in the picture above this text. Onshore there are the homes of the family that own the carenage and a covered place with a table for sailors to access very iffy wifi. Ken is sitting there looking at his phone-probably looking up Patriots news.

RANGIROA RETURN

Rangiroa has always been about snorkeling and we were not disappointed on our return trip. We just turned the GoPro on and put it in the water under the boat to get this footage and images, We did encourage fish to live under the boat by feeding them every morning. We also sailed the dinghy in Rangiroa and loaned it out for a sail to another boat in the anchorage who took the picture of us sailing.