Tag: French Polynesia

  • Passage Making:Maupihaa to ?

    Day 1:  Due to our last-minute decision of leaving today (rather than tomorrow), there was suddenly much to get accomplished.  Calder and Chris scrubbed the hull, attached our Code Zero sail, and secured the dinghy.  Cora and I prepped passage food, prepared schoolwork that could be done underway, and cleaned the boat.  For this passage,…

  • Maupihaa Part 2: Waiting for a Weather Window

    About 1200 nm to Tonga.  Here we sit at anchor, listening to the wind howl across our boat, waiting for a weather window.  Our weather consultant (Sailing Totem) had warned us that our initial 3,000nm across the Pacific would prove less challenging than finding the right weather window in these squirrelly parts of the ocean. …

  • Maupihaa: Adventures in Atoll Living

    How did we end up on a 100nm overnight voyage from Maupiti to Maupihaa with a local grandmother and a pile of supplies and food for the locals?  While we were in Maupiti, another cruising boat reached out to us from Maupihaa, providing us contacts to organize the passage of a woman named Norma back…

  • Society Islands Part 3: Mantas in Maupiti

    Underway at sunrise, the seas were calm and the winds light, allowing for a “productive passage” of bread-baking, laundry, and water-making.  The entry into the Maupiti lagoon via its one pass, Onoiau, can be tricky and was somewhat exciting.  One cannot enter the pass unless there is less than a 2 meter swell; we had…

  • Society Islands Part 2:  Huahine, Ra’iatea, and Taha’a

    Blessed by a mellow and uneventful overnight passage, as our crew got the necessary sleep to feel better from COVID; we pulled into lovely Huahine, dolphins greeting us at our bow.  Huahine, with only 6,400 people, is lush and scarcely developed.  Unfortunately, we also had some fishing line wrapped on our hull, but were thankful…

  • Society Islands Part 1: Tahiti Tours & Magical Moorea

    The Society Islands Archipelago… home to famous Tahiti and Bora Bora, where Captain Cook made port, and the most populated islands of French Polynesia.  We arrived from the Tuamotus to witness sunrise over Tahiti, as we radioed on Channel 12 to enter Pape’ete, as well as gain clearance to transit the water immediately off the…

  • Fakarava Part 2: Life in the Squash Zone

    Hirifa anchorage is the perfect place to weather a storm, which is why we moved and, ultimately, stayed put here for 10 days, much longer than anticipated.  First, the SPCZ (South Pacific Convergence Zone) was coming much too close, with it gusts of unpredictable winds and squalls.  Second, there was a major high and low…

  • Tahanea Treasure

    We continue to learn so much…we thought a slower overnight sail would be better than a rushed daytime sail.  However, the winds and seas built all night long above predicted and we couldn’t slow down; even with just a whiff of genoa out, it was challenging to get our speed under 4 knots (we needed…

  • Makemo: Adventures in Anchoring & Camping Out

    As much as my pictures may show lovely scenes; cruising is not all sandy beaches, palm trees, and unicorns (though it is at times).  Before we left, we noted fresh water on Cora’s shelf where fresh water ought not to be – we have a leak somewhere to sleuth.  Bringing up the anchor in Raroia,…

  • Raroia: Our first Tuamotu Atoll & the Kon Tiki

    What a wonderful night of much-needed sleep in this protected anchorage, the boat barely moving.  Our time zone changed another 30 minutes, so we are now two hours behind Alaska.  Expected clouds and winds moved in, thankful to be in this safe lagoon with excellent holding.  I have been able to use my doctor skills,…