June, July & August 2010
French Polynesian to Cook Islands
6/10 Tahiti
MakemoTuomotus -Pape'eteTahiti: sailing away, watching the sun go down and WOW a true Green Flash! We have
seen 1 in 7yrs so this was a big treat and a nice way to start off on a trip! Next day Neil pulled in a 53 in Mahi Mahi
(dolphin) great prize to add to our freezer, after we pick at it for a bit!
Made in to Pape'ete pulled into the docks at the Quay downtown,
hit the store, baguette, wine and cheese fantastic dinner!
Repairs Repairs Repairs!! Found a radar guy dropped our radar off
and explored a bit even found an Ace Hardware and a place to drop
off propane tanks. Papeete is no little island town it is a huge city!
,Parc Bougainville on the water right off Attitude we did our morning
runs (man it has been a long time YIKES) . Papeete is gearing up for
the big Heiva I Tahiti celebration(The Celebration of Life) . Ea morning
you could hear the music and go up and watch 200 plus dancers, of all
ages, practicing in To'ata Square.
Waiting for Mr. (Jarrid grandson) to make it to Tahiti, There was a
strike of gov workers so the airport always had one less fireman which
meant the lg international planes could not land! Luckily my uncle lives
near L.A and went and got him for a few days, oh well just an added
adventure for Jarrid this yr. Finally flew into Faa�a airport the 16th
instead of the 12 not to bad. 1st order of business send mr up the mast!
Puddle Jumpers Tahiti -Moorea sailing Rendez-vous
6-18: Afternoon gathered at the Quay to receive our t-shirts and info for the weekend. At 5pm 100 or so cruisers
followed the band a few blocks to the Mairie (town hall). Really nice party (pic below), dancers, food, drinks, even
wine from the Tuomotus, and a few speeches re: Rendez-vous.
6-19: line em up! 9 am 40 some boats leaving the harbor and lining up(pic above) even outriggers with music,, we hear
�dark hulled vessel you are over the line please come back in� HUMMM we look around and yep we are kind of by
our self.. ok ok its our 1st �rally/race�! Awesome sail 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 in puffs along the way. So this
is a rally NOT a race we were told over and over. So how come NO one reefed and all vessels are healing like
crazy?? We heard later a lot
of s/v said they reached their max speed on this �rally�! Sailing hard poor old Pacifico (our gecko) popped out in the
cockpit, took one look around and disappeared. Well we did not come in 1st but we were not last either so it was all
good
Moorea Opunohu Bay
Most of the Polynesian scenes in the 1984 movie Bounty were shot here. Bar-b �que on shore with slide show,
Sunday 6-20: raining all a.m. but party was on! Picked up Dorothy from True Companions and headed in. Outrigger
canoe race 2 locals and 4 cruisers, Mr., Neil, Dorothy and me what a team. A few of the canoes tipped over, well
again we didn�t win but we didn�t tip over either. Jarrid was up front and he says the other canoe started ahead
soooo maybe we did win! On to the banana race! Its still raining but who cares we are all wet. Large bamboo poles
have many bunches of bananas on ea end. As soon as we got on shore J picked one up and said hey I can do this( he
is 12) .So all day he kept asking. FINALLY it was time but they would not let him enter with the adults. Just as well he
won his race 1st place, nice Tiki necklace and free rental car for a day, not bad.
So gpa (Neil) entered and again we didn't win but Neil did not fall down like some others did .Day went on with
tug of war , food, , talks from local marine guys and ceremonies. Turned out to be a great experience and lots
of fun for out 1st race/rally. Would highly recommend it. Went out to explore we heard there were manta rays, yippee.
Took the dinghy around never found mantas but a VERY touristy spot (stingray world) where Tahitian rays and black
tip reef sharks (pic above) were cruising around. Water was shallow and you could stand and snorkel with them. My
highlight was the turtle in our bay! Also took Dinghy around corner to Papetoa, mailed off tax mess, and postcards
from Jarrid. Oh yea more Baguettes!
6-23 -10 Moorea B-day BACON yum my favorite (not so easy to find) hiking up to Belevedere lookout and to see
some of the Maraes(open air places of worship, births/deaths and family events were celebrated in sm family maraes .
The larger ones were temples for chiefs where important meetings and sacrifices were made.) We passed Marae
Afateaito and Marae Ahu-o-Mahine finally making our way up a steep hill(even the guide book says steep so its not
just me) to Belevedere lookout where you could see Cooks bay and Opunohu bay split by Mt. Rotui
FANTASTIC
Ok we are at the top lets take the trail to 3 firs pass Neil says
This was not really a trail, but beautiful, full of banyan trees, crossing steams, then fields of flowers, & acres of
pineapple fields. Well fields of pineapples cuz we were lost in a pineapple farm. We picked a few pina, just in case so
we didn't starve!
Jarrid said Hey I see people on horses. We caught up to them, asked where they were going and passed the tourists on
horseback to make our way out of there.
All in all it was a 6 hr hike, but views were worth it, ended up with pina and even found some wild passion fruit! Neil
stopped at shrimp farm on way back so we had a fabulous shrimp dinner. Gifts of chocolate liquor and a wonderful
note from mr that made me cry.
Awesome bday!
Cooks Bay: took dinghy around to Cooks bay to buy gasoline, Checked out the �museum� sm store with a few
instruments and shells. Had a nice lunch at the Blue pineapple and stopped to snorkel a bit on reefs in between where
mr found a spider conch Matauvau Pass. Time to leave the heard and explore a bit we head south to Haapiti Snorkled
a bit found some fantastic cone shells but not much fish. Checked out town nice church all closed up with sacrificial
platform in front, well you know we had to put J on it!.
Back to Attitude and started reading Jonathan
Livingston Seagull with mr. Hiking time again! This
time up to 3 Coconut pass, down a rd, through mud
roads & passing homes with BIG dogs. We thought
we came to a dead end sign saying private property
and the other mud trail was to a house with a lg dog
barking. So we turned around found someone to ask
and were told Ahhh just go pass the dog he is fine and
turn left at the house. HUMM ok, 1st N had to run
and get J he was WAY ahead of the old people? We did pass the dog and hiked up up up passed the nature lodge
which believe it or not had a skate park out in the middle of the jungle! We did make it to a beautiful ridge where you
could see both sides of the island but 3 coconut pass was now 1 sm tree! Snatched some papaya on the trail and Mr
got on gpas shoulders with a stick to get a few mangos. French Polynesia ,a place we will never go hungry!
Tahiti-Iti
Back to Papeete for a few days to stock up then headed south to TEAHUPOO 4th of July, Well no celebration here
and we were the only boat so we had to improvise. Mr and I made deviled eggs (gotta have that on the 4th) and
brownies which Mr figured out how to make a flag on it out of some candy we had. Not great but better then nothing.
Norm a guy from Hawaii who is now local (8yrs) gives tours and asked if we wanted to join one he was giving. Ok out
to chopoo , huge waves and site of Billibong surf contest ea yr. and down to Vaipoiri river and the caves. Ok we will
never win an award for navigation, Norm stopped his lancha said just follow the river and you will come to the caves
about 15 min. 15 min plus and in the pouring rain we are hiking should be soon but NOPE the river ends? we never
found the caves but it was an interesting hike to add to our adventures. Norm said 8 yrs we are the 1st NOT to find it..
Well 1st at something!
Matahia bay up a little north still on west side of Tahiti anchored out
near the reef, mr checked the anchor and we all snorkeled. Again not
many fish. Went out to surf station, a tall platform you can climb up on
to watch the surf. Late afternoon J and gpa went out to hunt, no fish but
J did learn to use the new gun.
7-8-10 Temarauvi Pass Awesome way to leave, 20 dolphins in the bay to say goodbye! Anchored near parc , took
dinghy into see the Gauguin Museum. G Museum was a pleasant surprise beautiful grounds and an open house with a
lot of his work. Jarrid wanted to know why his paintings had mostly naked people in it! J enjoyed the dog that followed
him around and cried when we got back in the dinghy more than the Museum I�m pretty sure. Back to Papeete almost
in Anchorage and we hear ZINGGGGGG and see a fantastic about 200 lb marlin jumping!! We did get 4 jumps out of
him before he flew off the line.
1-11�With a bag full of croissants Mr boarded his flight. In the airport we saw all these people with �3 d� glasses
and wondered why everyone had them. DAHHH we walk outside and see people in the rd looking up at the sun. Cool
solar eclipse sky looking really funky so we peek through our hands til we get back to Attitude. So we poked a sm hole
in a piece of paper, then looked at the shadow you get Voila we can see the eclipse Hey old school ways work ya
know.
HUAHINE
7-14-10 Huahine , Fare Yippe the fish are biting.. 52 inch Mahi right before we entered the pass ! Wow are these
people friendly, tons of people on shore music and dancing, for us??NO we totally forgot it is Bastille Day and we are
in the French Polynesian islands.
Fast cleanup ,dinghy down and we head to shore, a few minutes later our friends on Boree join us for a beer. Fun little
beach bar locals really getting into the holiday one older women singing her heart out, pretty good too. The big event in
on the other side of town this eve so Beaujolais,Boree and Attitude decide we should go. HUMMM how to get there.
Hitch of course,, I guess cruisers dont look threatening at least not to the huge Polynesians. Well like most cruisers by 9
we were all tired BUT the party was just beginning..lots of dancing .. Its a 7
mile walk at night so we figure might as well start home. Crap raining.. I know we wont melt but mud dark roads not
my thing. 7 of us standing behind a building
a truck goes by one guy goes out and asks for a ride. Sure the innocent driver says and we all pile in.. poor guy did
come back to look and see who all got in his truck !
HUAHINE ITI
Avea Baylooking for that quiet bay without people.. NOPE not here as we anchor the shore is AGAIN full this time
with kids and really loud music,oh well it is pretty. Hiked with Boree around to Tive pt and Parea Village nice walk
guys picked flowers for us but they thought they looked better in them. Still looking for that special spot we take the
dinghy over to motu Araara looking for shells and snorkeling. Not bad but as soon as we got out and up to motu a local
boat full anchored right next to us..The cool thing was the guide showed us a stone fish(very poisonous) just sitting in
the shallows where we were walking.. puts an entire new meaning to SHUFFELING while you walk! Of course N & I
took 5 pics at least NONE came out well
RAIATEA
Faaroa,Raiatea: Just a few hrs sailing we enter a Faaroa Bay, follow it to the end where the Faaroa River sits in front of
Mt Tefatua .Love palm tress with a beautiful green mt . This seems to be the scenery of the Polynesian islands.
Bright and early we get the kayaks down paddling in while Bert & Ingi (Boree) follow then pass in their dinghy. The
river narrowed and we all want to explore a bit more so we wade through the river bed for a bit longer . No snakes, no
animals no nothing... oh well we got some exercise!
Uturoa ,Raiatea big �town� ferry boats and tourist shops even pizza place. Well its only one night we can buy some
fresh stuff and go. Ok 4 days later, too much wind to even get Attitude off the dock we were still there. I did get a
fabulous green pearl (late b-day present),from a really cute little french women. Neil and I had gone back and forth
trying to decide if I wanted the one in her shop.
It was more $ but so much prettier. When we went in the last time she said ohhhh but you have to LOVE zzzee pearl or
it is not for you to buy this one! Well what a sales lady ha I did love that one!
We had a few good dinners in town , a fun night out and back on Boree ,way to much wine but hey we are at a dock
no dinghy driving involved!
Took the wind gen off again(really you guys dont understand its a pain lots of wires that need to go through the hull and
pipes YUK). Neil got in a nice hike, up to tower while I finished up the polishing of Attitude
TAHAA
Apu Bay Just N of Raiatea is Tahaa our next stop only 2 hrs. Here we grab a �free� mooring ball. Beautiful little bay
with nice restaurant Taravana(crazy). Hanging out N is trying to show Bert how to splice 2 lines and we here HELLO.
Richard the owner of Taravana says hey umm I have an issue here, 2 boats, returning customers are coming in for
dinner and there are no more moorings..pause.... he goes on they are coming in for dinner pause...OHHHHH hey well
we are coming in too 4 of us.. what time is dinner.. That settled now N doesnt have to cook we go in,, Tavana is really
pretty on the point and the food was good.. Plus some guy wanted to do his magic act for us. don't ask �. all I can say
is mr(grandson) is way way better.. it was soooo cheesey Neil had to go up put his finger in the fake guillotine,
wooooowww. Hey this was an adult.. guess not much to do on Tahaa! We talk to Richard (owner) for a bit re our
plans,Malpiti then Suwarrow.. Richard was like no way man.. this time of yr you can not get into Malpiti. Well we kind
of heard that before but you know us.. ok a challenge..NO Richard says and tells us of all the boats lost there and the
few times he has spun around in the pass , he was a charter captain for yrs..
Well maybe not Malpiti
BORA BORA
So we are not going to Bora Bora, don't have a need to see it.. Hum well if we go there 1st anchor for a night the route
to Suwarrow will be a better angle. So we did Bora Bora for a night,anchored behind motu Tapu. The place was
gorgeous from Attitude anyway. Plus we had a beautiful full moon over the island!
Lets just look.. We leave Bora Bora early enough to pass
Malpiti in the day to check it out .WILD is all I can say... huge
breaking waves in front of the pass with at least a mile out of
swirling current.. ok so no Malpiti.. on we go.
MOPELIA or Maupihaa(local Name)
This atoll has a tricky pass to get into , its only 90ft wide
( really looks a lot less !!)and you need good sun plus time
the tides right. From all we were told and checked out noon
was the time. Neil went up once so we could see how the fast
the current was and then we went for it.. Great Job captain
another high five for Neil.. Beautiful 4mi Atoll the water was Bora Bora
so many fantastic colors.
We anchored where we thought the "village" was. But no sight of anything but houses destroyed by typhoons. Naturally
I hunted the beach a bit found a few good shells..
Auto Pilot is not something you want to do w/o so we check the bolt on the arm we replaced on our crossing.. Sure
enough one pin was rusted almost off.
PREVENTON! My favorite word...no worries now
Drift dive: this was another great place to snorkel the pass . Jump out of the dinghy hang on and fly through, only about
2 knots so not 2 fast. 1st time we saw grey reefs,black tip reef and white tip reef sharks awesome!! plus a HUGE
manta ray.. they are way to beautiful and graceful.. Wow lets go again. This time we went to the other side of the pass I
jump over N is already in and
WOA... mr shark is coming right at me.. humm he looks different not like all the nice reef sharks and yikes he is close..
zip he goes and CRAP he is coming back.. Ok remember N says act big hands up and yell.. Well I kind of got one
hand sort of up and my yell was a weak weak ,get! Thank goodness he decided I was not his flavor!! He didn't follow,
believe you me I watched. The rest of the pass was just as cool and the manta ray was still hanging around..
Boobie attack We take a ride to other side of the Atoll with 3 LG boobie birds following awe how cute.. hey they are
close and may land on the dinghy HEY they are looking at our heads.. YIKES neil yells duck as he is laughing HARD
one
Boobie liked my hat and was flying in with his beak open ready to snatch it up.. What the heck shark and boobie attack
in one day!sure enough there are a few homes there BUT we are in our bathing suits and its to late to stop , it would be
dark trying to dinghy thorough the coral heads..
DARN a missed opportunity to meet some locals... next island!
COOK ISLANDS
7-29-10 Underway to Suwarrow
Great sail 20 knots plus sailing 7-8 knots no fish yet but Neil did get a fish eyeball! Neil felt the fish get off the hook but
when he reeled in only an eyeball was on the hook. So be on the look out for a big fish with a pirate patch!
Real Sailing: main and jib are reefed in and wam winds are a blowing, Im at the helm N is cooking breakfast.. I must of
said a little woaaaaa "do you need help neil yells up NOPE ..."We had 42 knots and Attitude held her steady.. nice to
know she can handle it (me too).that was the good news. The bad news is next morning we notice our main has a rip in
in.. so we reef it some more that will
have to do until we get to Suwarrow to check it out
No fish UNTIL we are just about into the pass.. Neil is on again a 42 inch Mahi Mahi but no pics for ya this time we
were in a hurry to clean him before we got in,, youll just have to trust me :)
8-2-10 SUWARROW
Tool around the anchorage and end up in our usual spot, at the back of the crowd. Makes it clothes optional,the only
way to live aboard. The friendly black tip sharks (pic below) were checking Attitude as soon as we anchored , just
curious I guess.
Soon 2 huge guys with lots of tattoos and gigantic smiles pull up. Our friendly rangers (pic above) we have heard so
much about. James with his hair up in a knot and Apii. Ok paper wk done, party on shore tonight in your honor. ahhh
ok. This is one social island, Apii takes cruisers out spearfishing almost daily,if not fishing out for a dive or snorkeling.
We finally dusted off our dive gear and found lots to fix and add to our to buy list. Since there are plenty of safe fish to
eat we all gather at the Suwarrow Yacht Club just about everyday to eat & drink James and Apii even have some
music so later in the eve you can find El Regalo(JoDon & Brian) dancing away to country music,or Natasha(Russian
from Puppy) teaching Apii how to waltz!
We did put a little work in also. A jetty is being built out of rocks so one afternoon we all helped pile them into place.
(pic below) Some of the boys,Brian,Neil and Jack were playing mine is bigger then yours. One big palm was
threatening the radio/book exchange building so Anatole (Puppy) climbed up, tied a rope on and the rest of us pulled as
James chain sawed his way through. JUST made it with a bit of a kiss to the corner of the building .For our efforts we
enjoyed some fresh hearts of palm and a breadfruit to make chips YUM. (pic below)
Time for the hunt.. Apii takes us to turtle island, we walk & walk finally we crawl into the jungle. ok Apii says see this
hole at the roots of the tree.. look in nice.crab in there BUT with claws the size of my fist, Just reach in and grab him..
HA YEA RIGHT, most of us say. This involves laying on your stomach and reaching in where you cant really see.
COOL says N and he is off. I spot he pulls out. We got 2 good size ones but would hear "help Apii" N & I would go
over and N would get down in there, total of 5 he yanked out. Claudia from
Dream Time says she just had to out source her crab(Neil got it too)
Unfortunately my camera did not take any pics that day so no pic of N in the dirt.. Thanks to all who I gathered pics
from. The hunt was on 8-6 which happens to be Neil and Apii's birthday so of course we had a big party!
Took the Kayaks out to a sm motu where some Tropic birds were nesting They were not happy with us walking
around since they lay their eggs on bare ground but oh man are the babies cute! We did have one big Red Tailed
Tropic Bird try to deter us.
Suwarrow also had the best snorkeling we have seen in the Pacific(so far).Huge green moray, lots of porcupine fish(my
fav) box fish, sharks( grey, white tip ,black tip) Balloon fish,rays,6ft humphead wrasse,beautiful yellow sea goddess,2
tone dart fish and all kinds of sweetlips. PLUS the water is so warm you don't really need a wet suit. My kind of place
for sure.
Even lots of shells, I found a few really cool scorpion conch , they look like a spider conch only tiny. BUT I'm trying to
curtail my shelling since in New Zealand they will take them all away BOO HOO!
We really lucked out Onda ( Stu and Lynne) were heading for Suwarrow and Stu is a wiz at sail repair. Stu and Neil
took the main to shore where James made room for them to lay It our for repair! Ready to sail off.
So if you can’t tell I am a huge fan of Suwarrow, Im calling it Paradise!
Rainbows almost every day sometimes double
and we had a green flash one eve.
The Island is beautiful, water is clear and
warm BUT Apii and James MAKE this place!
Heading to American Samoa for a day or 2 of
shopping then off to Samoa where I will fly to
the states to go play mom and grammy for a
bit while N will be left with a LIST of to do's!
Enjoying our New Pacific adventures so far.
Tonga here we come!
French Polynesian to Cook Islands
6/10 Tahiti
MakemoTuomotus -Pape'eteTahiti: sailing away, watching the sun go down and WOW a true Green Flash! We have
seen 1 in 7yrs so this was a big treat and a nice way to start off on a trip! Next day Neil pulled in a 53 in Mahi Mahi
(dolphin) great prize to add to our freezer, after we pick at it for a bit!
Made in to Pape'ete pulled into the docks at the Quay downtown,
hit the store, baguette, wine and cheese fantastic dinner!
Repairs Repairs Repairs!! Found a radar guy dropped our radar off
and explored a bit even found an Ace Hardware and a place to drop
off propane tanks. Papeete is no little island town it is a huge city!
,Parc Bougainville on the water right off Attitude we did our morning
runs (man it has been a long time YIKES) . Papeete is gearing up for
the big Heiva I Tahiti celebration(The Celebration of Life) . Ea morning
you could hear the music and go up and watch 200 plus dancers, of all
ages, practicing in To'ata Square.
Waiting for Mr. (Jarrid grandson) to make it to Tahiti, There was a
strike of gov workers so the airport always had one less fireman which
meant the lg international planes could not land! Luckily my uncle lives
near L.A and went and got him for a few days, oh well just an added
adventure for Jarrid this yr. Finally flew into Faa�a airport the 16th
instead of the 12 not to bad. 1st order of business send mr up the mast!
Puddle Jumpers Tahiti -Moorea sailing Rendez-vous
6-18: Afternoon gathered at the Quay to receive our t-shirts and info for the weekend. At 5pm 100 or so cruisers
followed the band a few blocks to the Mairie (town hall). Really nice party (pic below), dancers, food, drinks, even
wine from the Tuomotus, and a few speeches re: Rendez-vous.
6-19: line em up! 9 am 40 some boats leaving the harbor and lining up(pic above) even outriggers with music,, we hear
�dark hulled vessel you are over the line please come back in� HUMMM we look around and yep we are kind of by
our self.. ok ok its our 1st �rally/race�! Awesome sail 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 in puffs along the way. So this
is a rally NOT a race we were told over and over. So how come NO one reefed and all vessels are healing like
crazy?? We heard later a lot
of s/v said they reached their max speed on this �rally�! Sailing hard poor old Pacifico (our gecko) popped out in the
cockpit, took one look around and disappeared. Well we did not come in 1st but we were not last either so it was all
good
Moorea Opunohu Bay
Most of the Polynesian scenes in the 1984 movie Bounty were shot here. Bar-b �que on shore with slide show,
Sunday 6-20: raining all a.m. but party was on! Picked up Dorothy from True Companions and headed in. Outrigger
canoe race 2 locals and 4 cruisers, Mr., Neil, Dorothy and me what a team. A few of the canoes tipped over, well
again we didn�t win but we didn�t tip over either. Jarrid was up front and he says the other canoe started ahead
soooo maybe we did win! On to the banana race! Its still raining but who cares we are all wet. Large bamboo poles
have many bunches of bananas on ea end. As soon as we got on shore J picked one up and said hey I can do this( he
is 12) .So all day he kept asking. FINALLY it was time but they would not let him enter with the adults. Just as well he
won his race 1st place, nice Tiki necklace and free rental car for a day, not bad.
So gpa (Neil) entered and again we didn't win but Neil did not fall down like some others did .Day went on with
tug of war , food, , talks from local marine guys and ceremonies. Turned out to be a great experience and lots
of fun for out 1st race/rally. Would highly recommend it. Went out to explore we heard there were manta rays, yippee.
Took the dinghy around never found mantas but a VERY touristy spot (stingray world) where Tahitian rays and black
tip reef sharks (pic above) were cruising around. Water was shallow and you could stand and snorkel with them. My
highlight was the turtle in our bay! Also took Dinghy around corner to Papetoa, mailed off tax mess, and postcards
from Jarrid. Oh yea more Baguettes!
6-23 -10 Moorea B-day BACON yum my favorite (not so easy to find) hiking up to Belevedere lookout and to see
some of the Maraes(open air places of worship, births/deaths and family events were celebrated in sm family maraes .
The larger ones were temples for chiefs where important meetings and sacrifices were made.) We passed Marae
Afateaito and Marae Ahu-o-Mahine finally making our way up a steep hill(even the guide book says steep so its not
just me) to Belevedere lookout where you could see Cooks bay and Opunohu bay split by Mt. Rotui
FANTASTIC
Ok we are at the top lets take the trail to 3 firs pass Neil says
This was not really a trail, but beautiful, full of banyan trees, crossing steams, then fields of flowers, & acres of
pineapple fields. Well fields of pineapples cuz we were lost in a pineapple farm. We picked a few pina, just in case so
we didn't starve!
Jarrid said Hey I see people on horses. We caught up to them, asked where they were going and passed the tourists on
horseback to make our way out of there.
All in all it was a 6 hr hike, but views were worth it, ended up with pina and even found some wild passion fruit! Neil
stopped at shrimp farm on way back so we had a fabulous shrimp dinner. Gifts of chocolate liquor and a wonderful
note from mr that made me cry.
Awesome bday!
Cooks Bay: took dinghy around to Cooks bay to buy gasoline, Checked out the �museum� sm store with a few
instruments and shells. Had a nice lunch at the Blue pineapple and stopped to snorkel a bit on reefs in between where
mr found a spider conch Matauvau Pass. Time to leave the heard and explore a bit we head south to Haapiti Snorkled
a bit found some fantastic cone shells but not much fish. Checked out town nice church all closed up with sacrificial
platform in front, well you know we had to put J on it!.
Back to Attitude and started reading Jonathan
Livingston Seagull with mr. Hiking time again! This
time up to 3 Coconut pass, down a rd, through mud
roads & passing homes with BIG dogs. We thought
we came to a dead end sign saying private property
and the other mud trail was to a house with a lg dog
barking. So we turned around found someone to ask
and were told Ahhh just go pass the dog he is fine and
turn left at the house. HUMM ok, 1st N had to run
and get J he was WAY ahead of the old people? We did pass the dog and hiked up up up passed the nature lodge
which believe it or not had a skate park out in the middle of the jungle! We did make it to a beautiful ridge where you
could see both sides of the island but 3 coconut pass was now 1 sm tree! Snatched some papaya on the trail and Mr
got on gpas shoulders with a stick to get a few mangos. French Polynesia ,a place we will never go hungry!
Tahiti-Iti
Back to Papeete for a few days to stock up then headed south to TEAHUPOO 4th of July, Well no celebration here
and we were the only boat so we had to improvise. Mr and I made deviled eggs (gotta have that on the 4th) and
brownies which Mr figured out how to make a flag on it out of some candy we had. Not great but better then nothing.
Norm a guy from Hawaii who is now local (8yrs) gives tours and asked if we wanted to join one he was giving. Ok out
to chopoo , huge waves and site of Billibong surf contest ea yr. and down to Vaipoiri river and the caves. Ok we will
never win an award for navigation, Norm stopped his lancha said just follow the river and you will come to the caves
about 15 min. 15 min plus and in the pouring rain we are hiking should be soon but NOPE the river ends? we never
found the caves but it was an interesting hike to add to our adventures. Norm said 8 yrs we are the 1st NOT to find it..
Well 1st at something!
Matahia bay up a little north still on west side of Tahiti anchored out
near the reef, mr checked the anchor and we all snorkeled. Again not
many fish. Went out to surf station, a tall platform you can climb up on
to watch the surf. Late afternoon J and gpa went out to hunt, no fish but
J did learn to use the new gun.
7-8-10 Temarauvi Pass Awesome way to leave, 20 dolphins in the bay to say goodbye! Anchored near parc , took
dinghy into see the Gauguin Museum. G Museum was a pleasant surprise beautiful grounds and an open house with a
lot of his work. Jarrid wanted to know why his paintings had mostly naked people in it! J enjoyed the dog that followed
him around and cried when we got back in the dinghy more than the Museum I�m pretty sure. Back to Papeete almost
in Anchorage and we hear ZINGGGGGG and see a fantastic about 200 lb marlin jumping!! We did get 4 jumps out of
him before he flew off the line.
1-11�With a bag full of croissants Mr boarded his flight. In the airport we saw all these people with �3 d� glasses
and wondered why everyone had them. DAHHH we walk outside and see people in the rd looking up at the sun. Cool
solar eclipse sky looking really funky so we peek through our hands til we get back to Attitude. So we poked a sm hole
in a piece of paper, then looked at the shadow you get Voila we can see the eclipse Hey old school ways work ya
know.
HUAHINE
7-14-10 Huahine , Fare Yippe the fish are biting.. 52 inch Mahi right before we entered the pass ! Wow are these
people friendly, tons of people on shore music and dancing, for us??NO we totally forgot it is Bastille Day and we are
in the French Polynesian islands.
Fast cleanup ,dinghy down and we head to shore, a few minutes later our friends on Boree join us for a beer. Fun little
beach bar locals really getting into the holiday one older women singing her heart out, pretty good too. The big event in
on the other side of town this eve so Beaujolais,Boree and Attitude decide we should go. HUMMM how to get there.
Hitch of course,, I guess cruisers dont look threatening at least not to the huge Polynesians. Well like most cruisers by 9
we were all tired BUT the party was just beginning..lots of dancing .. Its a 7
mile walk at night so we figure might as well start home. Crap raining.. I know we wont melt but mud dark roads not
my thing. 7 of us standing behind a building
a truck goes by one guy goes out and asks for a ride. Sure the innocent driver says and we all pile in.. poor guy did
come back to look and see who all got in his truck !
HUAHINE ITI
Avea Baylooking for that quiet bay without people.. NOPE not here as we anchor the shore is AGAIN full this time
with kids and really loud music,oh well it is pretty. Hiked with Boree around to Tive pt and Parea Village nice walk
guys picked flowers for us but they thought they looked better in them. Still looking for that special spot we take the
dinghy over to motu Araara looking for shells and snorkeling. Not bad but as soon as we got out and up to motu a local
boat full anchored right next to us..The cool thing was the guide showed us a stone fish(very poisonous) just sitting in
the shallows where we were walking.. puts an entire new meaning to SHUFFELING while you walk! Of course N & I
took 5 pics at least NONE came out well
RAIATEA
Faaroa,Raiatea: Just a few hrs sailing we enter a Faaroa Bay, follow it to the end where the Faaroa River sits in front of
Mt Tefatua .Love palm tress with a beautiful green mt . This seems to be the scenery of the Polynesian islands.
Bright and early we get the kayaks down paddling in while Bert & Ingi (Boree) follow then pass in their dinghy. The
river narrowed and we all want to explore a bit more so we wade through the river bed for a bit longer . No snakes, no
animals no nothing... oh well we got some exercise!
Uturoa ,Raiatea big �town� ferry boats and tourist shops even pizza place. Well its only one night we can buy some
fresh stuff and go. Ok 4 days later, too much wind to even get Attitude off the dock we were still there. I did get a
fabulous green pearl (late b-day present),from a really cute little french women. Neil and I had gone back and forth
trying to decide if I wanted the one in her shop.
It was more $ but so much prettier. When we went in the last time she said ohhhh but you have to LOVE zzzee pearl or
it is not for you to buy this one! Well what a sales lady ha I did love that one!
We had a few good dinners in town , a fun night out and back on Boree ,way to much wine but hey we are at a dock
no dinghy driving involved!
Took the wind gen off again(really you guys dont understand its a pain lots of wires that need to go through the hull and
pipes YUK). Neil got in a nice hike, up to tower while I finished up the polishing of Attitude
TAHAA
Apu Bay Just N of Raiatea is Tahaa our next stop only 2 hrs. Here we grab a �free� mooring ball. Beautiful little bay
with nice restaurant Taravana(crazy). Hanging out N is trying to show Bert how to splice 2 lines and we here HELLO.
Richard the owner of Taravana says hey umm I have an issue here, 2 boats, returning customers are coming in for
dinner and there are no more moorings..pause.... he goes on they are coming in for dinner pause...OHHHHH hey well
we are coming in too 4 of us.. what time is dinner.. That settled now N doesnt have to cook we go in,, Tavana is really
pretty on the point and the food was good.. Plus some guy wanted to do his magic act for us. don't ask �. all I can say
is mr(grandson) is way way better.. it was soooo cheesey Neil had to go up put his finger in the fake guillotine,
wooooowww. Hey this was an adult.. guess not much to do on Tahaa! We talk to Richard (owner) for a bit re our
plans,Malpiti then Suwarrow.. Richard was like no way man.. this time of yr you can not get into Malpiti. Well we kind
of heard that before but you know us.. ok a challenge..NO Richard says and tells us of all the boats lost there and the
few times he has spun around in the pass , he was a charter captain for yrs..
Well maybe not Malpiti
BORA BORA
So we are not going to Bora Bora, don't have a need to see it.. Hum well if we go there 1st anchor for a night the route
to Suwarrow will be a better angle. So we did Bora Bora for a night,anchored behind motu Tapu. The place was
gorgeous from Attitude anyway. Plus we had a beautiful full moon over the island!
Lets just look.. We leave Bora Bora early enough to pass
Malpiti in the day to check it out .WILD is all I can say... huge
breaking waves in front of the pass with at least a mile out of
swirling current.. ok so no Malpiti.. on we go.
MOPELIA or Maupihaa(local Name)
This atoll has a tricky pass to get into , its only 90ft wide
( really looks a lot less !!)and you need good sun plus time
the tides right. From all we were told and checked out noon
was the time. Neil went up once so we could see how the fast
the current was and then we went for it.. Great Job captain
another high five for Neil.. Beautiful 4mi Atoll the water was Bora Bora
so many fantastic colors.
We anchored where we thought the "village" was. But no sight of anything but houses destroyed by typhoons. Naturally
I hunted the beach a bit found a few good shells..
Auto Pilot is not something you want to do w/o so we check the bolt on the arm we replaced on our crossing.. Sure
enough one pin was rusted almost off.
PREVENTON! My favorite word...no worries now
Drift dive: this was another great place to snorkel the pass . Jump out of the dinghy hang on and fly through, only about
2 knots so not 2 fast. 1st time we saw grey reefs,black tip reef and white tip reef sharks awesome!! plus a HUGE
manta ray.. they are way to beautiful and graceful.. Wow lets go again. This time we went to the other side of the pass I
jump over N is already in and
WOA... mr shark is coming right at me.. humm he looks different not like all the nice reef sharks and yikes he is close..
zip he goes and CRAP he is coming back.. Ok remember N says act big hands up and yell.. Well I kind of got one
hand sort of up and my yell was a weak weak ,get! Thank goodness he decided I was not his flavor!! He didn't follow,
believe you me I watched. The rest of the pass was just as cool and the manta ray was still hanging around..
Boobie attack We take a ride to other side of the Atoll with 3 LG boobie birds following awe how cute.. hey they are
close and may land on the dinghy HEY they are looking at our heads.. YIKES neil yells duck as he is laughing HARD
one
Boobie liked my hat and was flying in with his beak open ready to snatch it up.. What the heck shark and boobie attack
in one day!sure enough there are a few homes there BUT we are in our bathing suits and its to late to stop , it would be
dark trying to dinghy thorough the coral heads..
DARN a missed opportunity to meet some locals... next island!
COOK ISLANDS
7-29-10 Underway to Suwarrow
Great sail 20 knots plus sailing 7-8 knots no fish yet but Neil did get a fish eyeball! Neil felt the fish get off the hook but
when he reeled in only an eyeball was on the hook. So be on the look out for a big fish with a pirate patch!
Real Sailing: main and jib are reefed in and wam winds are a blowing, Im at the helm N is cooking breakfast.. I must of
said a little woaaaaa "do you need help neil yells up NOPE ..."We had 42 knots and Attitude held her steady.. nice to
know she can handle it (me too).that was the good news. The bad news is next morning we notice our main has a rip in
in.. so we reef it some more that will
have to do until we get to Suwarrow to check it out
No fish UNTIL we are just about into the pass.. Neil is on again a 42 inch Mahi Mahi but no pics for ya this time we
were in a hurry to clean him before we got in,, youll just have to trust me :)
8-2-10 SUWARROW
Tool around the anchorage and end up in our usual spot, at the back of the crowd. Makes it clothes optional,the only
way to live aboard. The friendly black tip sharks (pic below) were checking Attitude as soon as we anchored , just
curious I guess.
Soon 2 huge guys with lots of tattoos and gigantic smiles pull up. Our friendly rangers (pic above) we have heard so
much about. James with his hair up in a knot and Apii. Ok paper wk done, party on shore tonight in your honor. ahhh
ok. This is one social island, Apii takes cruisers out spearfishing almost daily,if not fishing out for a dive or snorkeling.
We finally dusted off our dive gear and found lots to fix and add to our to buy list. Since there are plenty of safe fish to
eat we all gather at the Suwarrow Yacht Club just about everyday to eat & drink James and Apii even have some
music so later in the eve you can find El Regalo(JoDon & Brian) dancing away to country music,or Natasha(Russian
from Puppy) teaching Apii how to waltz!
We did put a little work in also. A jetty is being built out of rocks so one afternoon we all helped pile them into place.
(pic below) Some of the boys,Brian,Neil and Jack were playing mine is bigger then yours. One big palm was
threatening the radio/book exchange building so Anatole (Puppy) climbed up, tied a rope on and the rest of us pulled as
James chain sawed his way through. JUST made it with a bit of a kiss to the corner of the building .For our efforts we
enjoyed some fresh hearts of palm and a breadfruit to make chips YUM. (pic below)
Time for the hunt.. Apii takes us to turtle island, we walk & walk finally we crawl into the jungle. ok Apii says see this
hole at the roots of the tree.. look in nice.crab in there BUT with claws the size of my fist, Just reach in and grab him..
HA YEA RIGHT, most of us say. This involves laying on your stomach and reaching in where you cant really see.
COOL says N and he is off. I spot he pulls out. We got 2 good size ones but would hear "help Apii" N & I would go
over and N would get down in there, total of 5 he yanked out. Claudia from
Dream Time says she just had to out source her crab(Neil got it too)
Unfortunately my camera did not take any pics that day so no pic of N in the dirt.. Thanks to all who I gathered pics
from. The hunt was on 8-6 which happens to be Neil and Apii's birthday so of course we had a big party!
Took the Kayaks out to a sm motu where some Tropic birds were nesting They were not happy with us walking
around since they lay their eggs on bare ground but oh man are the babies cute! We did have one big Red Tailed
Tropic Bird try to deter us.
Suwarrow also had the best snorkeling we have seen in the Pacific(so far).Huge green moray, lots of porcupine fish(my
fav) box fish, sharks( grey, white tip ,black tip) Balloon fish,rays,6ft humphead wrasse,beautiful yellow sea goddess,2
tone dart fish and all kinds of sweetlips. PLUS the water is so warm you don't really need a wet suit. My kind of place
for sure.
Even lots of shells, I found a few really cool scorpion conch , they look like a spider conch only tiny. BUT I'm trying to
curtail my shelling since in New Zealand they will take them all away BOO HOO!
We really lucked out Onda ( Stu and Lynne) were heading for Suwarrow and Stu is a wiz at sail repair. Stu and Neil
took the main to shore where James made room for them to lay It our for repair! Ready to sail off.
So if you can’t tell I am a huge fan of Suwarrow, Im calling it Paradise!
Rainbows almost every day sometimes double
and we had a green flash one eve.
The Island is beautiful, water is clear and
warm BUT Apii and James MAKE this place!
Heading to American Samoa for a day or 2 of
shopping then off to Samoa where I will fly to
the states to go play mom and grammy for a
bit while N will be left with a LIST of to do's!
Enjoying our New Pacific adventures so far.
Tonga here we come!
June, July & August 2010
French Polynesian to Cook Islands
6/10 Tahiti
MakemoTuomotus -Pape'eteTahiti: sailing away, watching the sun go down and WOW a true Green Flash! We have
seen 1 in 7yrs so this was a big treat and a nice way to start off on a trip! Next day Neil pulled in a 53 in Mahi Mahi
(dolphin) great prize to add to our freezer, after we pick at it for a bit!
Made in to Pape'ete pulled into the docks at the Quay downtown,
hit the store, baguette, wine and cheese fantastic dinner!
Repairs Repairs Repairs!! Found a radar guy dropped our radar off
and explored a bit even found an Ace Hardware and a place to drop
off propane tanks. Papeete is no little island town it is a huge city!
,Parc Bougainville on the water right off Attitude we did our morning
runs (man it has been a long time YIKES) . Papeete is gearing up for
the big Heiva I Tahiti celebration(The Celebration of Life) . Ea morning
you could hear the music and go up and watch 200 plus dancers, of all
ages, practicing in To'ata Square.
Waiting for Mr. (Jarrid grandson) to make it to Tahiti, There was a
strike of gov workers so the airport always had one less fireman which
meant the lg international planes could not land! Luckily my uncle lives
near L.A and went and got him for a few days, oh well just an added
adventure for Jarrid this yr. Finally flew into Faa�a airport the 16th
instead of the 12 not to bad. 1st order of business send mr up the mast!
Puddle Jumpers Tahiti -Moorea sailing Rendez-vous
6-18: Afternoon gathered at the Quay to receive our t-shirts and info for the weekend. At 5pm 100 or so cruisers
followed the band a few blocks to the Mairie (town hall). Really nice party (pic below), dancers, food, drinks, even
wine from the Tuomotus, and a few speeches re: Rendez-vous.
6-19: line em up! 9 am 40 some boats leaving the harbor and lining up(pic above) even outriggers with music,, we hear
�dark hulled vessel you are over the line please come back in� HUMMM we look around and yep we are kind of by
our self.. ok ok its our 1st �rally/race�! Awesome sail 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 in puffs along the way. So this
is a rally NOT a race we were told over and over. So how come NO one reefed and all vessels are healing like
crazy?? We heard later a lot
of s/v said they reached their max speed on this �rally�! Sailing hard poor old Pacifico (our gecko) popped out in the
cockpit, took one look around and disappeared. Well we did not come in 1st but we were not last either so it was all
good
Moorea Opunohu Bay
Most of the Polynesian scenes in the 1984 movie Bounty were shot here. Bar-b �que on shore with slide show,
Sunday 6-20: raining all a.m. but party was on! Picked up Dorothy from True Companions and headed in. Outrigger
canoe race 2 locals and 4 cruisers, Mr., Neil, Dorothy and me what a team. A few of the canoes tipped over, well
again we didn�t win but we didn�t tip over either. Jarrid was up front and he says the other canoe started ahead
soooo maybe we did win! On to the banana race! Its still raining but who cares we are all wet. Large bamboo poles
have many bunches of bananas on ea end. As soon as we got on shore J picked one up and said hey I can do this( he
is 12) .So all day he kept asking. FINALLY it was time but they would not let him enter with the adults. Just as well he
won his race 1st place, nice Tiki necklace and free rental car for a day, not bad.
So gpa (Neil) entered and again we didn't win but Neil did not fall down like some others did .Day went on with
tug of war , food, , talks from local marine guys and ceremonies. Turned out to be a great experience and lots
of fun for out 1st race/rally. Would highly recommend it. Went out to explore we heard there were manta rays, yippee.
Took the dinghy around never found mantas but a VERY touristy spot (stingray world) where Tahitian rays and black
tip reef sharks (pic above) were cruising around. Water was shallow and you could stand and snorkel with them. My
highlight was the turtle in our bay! Also took Dinghy around corner to Papetoa, mailed off tax mess, and postcards
from Jarrid. Oh yea more Baguettes!
6-23 -10 Moorea B-day BACON yum my favorite (not so easy to find) hiking up to Belevedere lookout and to see
some of the Maraes(open air places of worship, births/deaths and family events were celebrated in sm family maraes .
The larger ones were temples for chiefs where important meetings and sacrifices were made.) We passed Marae
Afateaito and Marae Ahu-o-Mahine finally making our way up a steep hill(even the guide book says steep so its not
just me) to Belevedere lookout where you could see Cooks bay and Opunohu bay split by Mt. Rotui
FANTASTIC
Ok we are at the top lets take the trail to 3 firs pass Neil says
This was not really a trail, but beautiful, full of banyan trees, crossing steams, then fields of flowers, & acres of
pineapple fields. Well fields of pineapples cuz we were lost in a pineapple farm. We picked a few pina, just in case so
we didn't starve!
Jarrid said Hey I see people on horses. We caught up to them, asked where they were going and passed the tourists on
horseback to make our way out of there.
All in all it was a 6 hr hike, but views were worth it, ended up with pina and even found some wild passion fruit! Neil
stopped at shrimp farm on way back so we had a fabulous shrimp dinner. Gifts of chocolate liquor and a wonderful
note from mr that made me cry.
Awesome bday!
Cooks Bay: took dinghy around to Cooks bay to buy gasoline, Checked out the �museum� sm store with a few
instruments and shells. Had a nice lunch at the Blue pineapple and stopped to snorkel a bit on reefs in between where
mr found a spider conch Matauvau Pass. Time to leave the heard and explore a bit we head south to Haapiti Snorkled
a bit found some fantastic cone shells but not much fish. Checked out town nice church all closed up with sacrificial
platform in front, well you know we had to put J on it!.
Back to Attitude and started reading Jonathan
Livingston Seagull with mr. Hiking time again! This
time up to 3 Coconut pass, down a rd, through mud
roads & passing homes with BIG dogs. We thought
we came to a dead end sign saying private property
and the other mud trail was to a house with a lg dog
barking. So we turned around found someone to ask
and were told Ahhh just go pass the dog he is fine and
turn left at the house. HUMM ok, 1st N had to run
and get J he was WAY ahead of the old people? We did pass the dog and hiked up up up passed the nature lodge
which believe it or not had a skate park out in the middle of the jungle! We did make it to a beautiful ridge where you
could see both sides of the island but 3 coconut pass was now 1 sm tree! Snatched some papaya on the trail and Mr
got on gpas shoulders with a stick to get a few mangos. French Polynesia ,a place we will never go hungry!
Tahiti-Iti
Back to Papeete for a few days to stock up then headed south to TEAHUPOO 4th of July, Well no celebration here
and we were the only boat so we had to improvise. Mr and I made deviled eggs (gotta have that on the 4th) and
brownies which Mr figured out how to make a flag on it out of some candy we had. Not great but better then nothing.
Norm a guy from Hawaii who is now local (8yrs) gives tours and asked if we wanted to join one he was giving. Ok out
to chopoo , huge waves and site of Billibong surf contest ea yr. and down to Vaipoiri river and the caves. Ok we will
never win an award for navigation, Norm stopped his lancha said just follow the river and you will come to the caves
about 15 min. 15 min plus and in the pouring rain we are hiking should be soon but NOPE the river ends? we never
found the caves but it was an interesting hike to add to our adventures. Norm said 8 yrs we are the 1st NOT to find it..
Well 1st at something!
Matahia bay up a little north still on west side of Tahiti anchored out
near the reef, mr checked the anchor and we all snorkeled. Again not
many fish. Went out to surf station, a tall platform you can climb up on
to watch the surf. Late afternoon J and gpa went out to hunt, no fish but
J did learn to use the new gun.
7-8-10 Temarauvi Pass Awesome way to leave, 20 dolphins in the bay to say goodbye! Anchored near parc , took
dinghy into see the Gauguin Museum. G Museum was a pleasant surprise beautiful grounds and an open house with a
lot of his work. Jarrid wanted to know why his paintings had mostly naked people in it! J enjoyed the dog that followed
him around and cried when we got back in the dinghy more than the Museum I�m pretty sure. Back to Papeete almost
in Anchorage and we hear ZINGGGGGG and see a fantastic about 200 lb marlin jumping!! We did get 4 jumps out of
him before he flew off the line.
1-11�With a bag full of croissants Mr boarded his flight. In the airport we saw all these people with �3 d� glasses
and wondered why everyone had them. DAHHH we walk outside and see people in the rd looking up at the sun. Cool
solar eclipse sky looking really funky so we peek through our hands til we get back to Attitude. So we poked a sm hole
in a piece of paper, then looked at the shadow you get Voila we can see the eclipse Hey old school ways work ya
know.
HUAHINE
7-14-10 Huahine , Fare Yippe the fish are biting.. 52 inch Mahi right before we entered the pass ! Wow are these
people friendly, tons of people on shore music and dancing, for us??NO we totally forgot it is Bastille Day and we are
in the French Polynesian islands.
Fast cleanup ,dinghy down and we head to shore, a few minutes later our friends on Boree join us for a beer. Fun little
beach bar locals really getting into the holiday one older women singing her heart out, pretty good too. The big event in
on the other side of town this eve so Beaujolais,Boree and Attitude decide we should go. HUMMM how to get there.
Hitch of course,, I guess cruisers dont look threatening at least not to the huge Polynesians. Well like most cruisers by 9
we were all tired BUT the party was just beginning..lots of dancing .. Its a 7
mile walk at night so we figure might as well start home. Crap raining.. I know we wont melt but mud dark roads not
my thing. 7 of us standing behind a building
a truck goes by one guy goes out and asks for a ride. Sure the innocent driver says and we all pile in.. poor guy did
come back to look and see who all got in his truck !
HUAHINE ITI
Avea Baylooking for that quiet bay without people.. NOPE not here as we anchor the shore is AGAIN full this time
with kids and really loud music,oh well it is pretty. Hiked with Boree around to Tive pt and Parea Village nice walk
guys picked flowers for us but they thought they looked better in them. Still looking for that special spot we take the
dinghy over to motu Araara looking for shells and snorkeling. Not bad but as soon as we got out and up to motu a local
boat full anchored right next to us..The cool thing was the guide showed us a stone fish(very poisonous) just sitting in
the shallows where we were walking.. puts an entire new meaning to SHUFFELING while you walk! Of course N & I
took 5 pics at least NONE came out well
RAIATEA
Faaroa,Raiatea: Just a few hrs sailing we enter a Faaroa Bay, follow it to the end where the Faaroa River sits in front of
Mt Tefatua .Love palm tress with a beautiful green mt . This seems to be the scenery of the Polynesian islands.
Bright and early we get the kayaks down paddling in while Bert & Ingi (Boree) follow then pass in their dinghy. The
river narrowed and we all want to explore a bit more so we wade through the river bed for a bit longer . No snakes, no
animals no nothing... oh well we got some exercise!
Uturoa ,Raiatea big �town� ferry boats and tourist shops even pizza place. Well its only one night we can buy some
fresh stuff and go. Ok 4 days later, too much wind to even get Attitude off the dock we were still there. I did get a
fabulous green pearl (late b-day present),from a really cute little french women. Neil and I had gone back and forth
trying to decide if I wanted the one in her shop.
It was more $ but so much prettier. When we went in the last time she said ohhhh but you have to LOVE zzzee pearl or
it is not for you to buy this one! Well what a sales lady ha I did love that one!
We had a few good dinners in town , a fun night out and back on Boree ,way to much wine but hey we are at a dock
no dinghy driving involved!
Took the wind gen off again(really you guys dont understand its a pain lots of wires that need to go through the hull and
pipes YUK). Neil got in a nice hike, up to tower while I finished up the polishing of Attitude
TAHAA
Apu Bay Just N of Raiatea is Tahaa our next stop only 2 hrs. Here we grab a �free� mooring ball. Beautiful little bay
with nice restaurant Taravana(crazy). Hanging out N is trying to show Bert how to splice 2 lines and we here HELLO.
Richard the owner of Taravana says hey umm I have an issue here, 2 boats, returning customers are coming in for
dinner and there are no more moorings..pause.... he goes on they are coming in for dinner pause...OHHHHH hey well
we are coming in too 4 of us.. what time is dinner.. That settled now N doesnt have to cook we go in,, Tavana is really
pretty on the point and the food was good.. Plus some guy wanted to do his magic act for us. don't ask �. all I can say
is mr(grandson) is way way better.. it was soooo cheesey Neil had to go up put his finger in the fake guillotine,
wooooowww. Hey this was an adult.. guess not much to do on Tahaa! We talk to Richard (owner) for a bit re our
plans,Malpiti then Suwarrow.. Richard was like no way man.. this time of yr you can not get into Malpiti. Well we kind
of heard that before but you know us.. ok a challenge..NO Richard says and tells us of all the boats lost there and the
few times he has spun around in the pass , he was a charter captain for yrs..
Well maybe not Malpiti
BORA BORA
So we are not going to Bora Bora, don't have a need to see it.. Hum well if we go there 1st anchor for a night the route
to Suwarrow will be a better angle. So we did Bora Bora for a night,anchored behind motu Tapu. The place was
gorgeous from Attitude anyway. Plus we had a beautiful full moon over the island!
Lets just look.. We leave Bora Bora early enough to pass
Malpiti in the day to check it out .WILD is all I can say... huge
breaking waves in front of the pass with at least a mile out of
swirling current.. ok so no Malpiti.. on we go.
MOPELIA or Maupihaa(local Name)
This atoll has a tricky pass to get into , its only 90ft wide
( really looks a lot less !!)and you need good sun plus time
the tides right. From all we were told and checked out noon
was the time. Neil went up once so we could see how the fast
the current was and then we went for it.. Great Job captain
another high five for Neil.. Beautiful 4mi Atoll the water was Bora Bora
so many fantastic colors.
We anchored where we thought the "village" was. But no sight of anything but houses destroyed by typhoons. Naturally
I hunted the beach a bit found a few good shells..
Auto Pilot is not something you want to do w/o so we check the bolt on the arm we replaced on our crossing.. Sure
enough one pin was rusted almost off.
PREVENTON! My favorite word...no worries now
Drift dive: this was another great place to snorkel the pass . Jump out of the dinghy hang on and fly through, only about
2 knots so not 2 fast. 1st time we saw grey reefs,black tip reef and white tip reef sharks awesome!! plus a HUGE
manta ray.. they are way to beautiful and graceful.. Wow lets go again. This time we went to the other side of the pass I
jump over N is already in and
WOA... mr shark is coming right at me.. humm he looks different not like all the nice reef sharks and yikes he is close..
zip he goes and CRAP he is coming back.. Ok remember N says act big hands up and yell.. Well I kind of got one
hand sort of up and my yell was a weak weak ,get! Thank goodness he decided I was not his flavor!! He didn't follow,
believe you me I watched. The rest of the pass was just as cool and the manta ray was still hanging around..
Boobie attack We take a ride to other side of the Atoll with 3 LG boobie birds following awe how cute.. hey they are
close and may land on the dinghy HEY they are looking at our heads.. YIKES neil yells duck as he is laughing HARD
one
Boobie liked my hat and was flying in with his beak open ready to snatch it up.. What the heck shark and boobie attack
in one day!sure enough there are a few homes there BUT we are in our bathing suits and its to late to stop , it would be
dark trying to dinghy thorough the coral heads..
DARN a missed opportunity to meet some locals... next island!
COOK ISLANDS
7-29-10 Underway to Suwarrow
Great sail 20 knots plus sailing 7-8 knots no fish yet but Neil did get a fish eyeball! Neil felt the fish get off the hook but
when he reeled in only an eyeball was on the hook. So be on the look out for a big fish with a pirate patch!
Real Sailing: main and jib are reefed in and wam winds are a blowing, Im at the helm N is cooking breakfast.. I must of
said a little woaaaaa "do you need help neil yells up NOPE ..."We had 42 knots and Attitude held her steady.. nice to
know she can handle it (me too).that was the good news. The bad news is next morning we notice our main has a rip in
in.. so we reef it some more that will
have to do until we get to Suwarrow to check it out
No fish UNTIL we are just about into the pass.. Neil is on again a 42 inch Mahi Mahi but no pics for ya this time we
were in a hurry to clean him before we got in,, youll just have to trust me :)
8-2-10 SUWARROW
Tool around the anchorage and end up in our usual spot, at the back of the crowd. Makes it clothes optional,the only
way to live aboard. The friendly black tip sharks (pic below) were checking Attitude as soon as we anchored , just
curious I guess.
Soon 2 huge guys with lots of tattoos and gigantic smiles pull up. Our friendly rangers (pic above) we have heard so
much about. James with his hair up in a knot and Apii. Ok paper wk done, party on shore tonight in your honor. ahhh
ok. This is one social island, Apii takes cruisers out spearfishing almost daily,if not fishing out for a dive or snorkeling.
We finally dusted off our dive gear and found lots to fix and add to our to buy list. Since there are plenty of safe fish to
eat we all gather at the Suwarrow Yacht Club just about everyday to eat & drink James and Apii even have some
music so later in the eve you can find El Regalo(JoDon & Brian) dancing away to country music,or Natasha(Russian
from Puppy) teaching Apii how to waltz!
We did put a little work in also. A jetty is being built out of rocks so one afternoon we all helped pile them into place.
(pic below) Some of the boys,Brian,Neil and Jack were playing mine is bigger then yours. One big palm was
threatening the radio/book exchange building so Anatole (Puppy) climbed up, tied a rope on and the rest of us pulled as
James chain sawed his way through. JUST made it with a bit of a kiss to the corner of the building .For our efforts we
enjoyed some fresh hearts of palm and a breadfruit to make chips YUM. (pic below)
Time for the hunt.. Apii takes us to turtle island, we walk & walk finally we crawl into the jungle. ok Apii says see this
hole at the roots of the tree.. look in nice.crab in there BUT with claws the size of my fist, Just reach in and grab him..
HA YEA RIGHT, most of us say. This involves laying on your stomach and reaching in where you cant really see.
COOL says N and he is off. I spot he pulls out. We got 2 good size ones but would hear "help Apii" N & I would go
over and N would get down in there, total of 5 he yanked out. Claudia from
Dream Time says she just had to out source her crab(Neil got it too)
Unfortunately my camera did not take any pics that day so no pic of N in the dirt.. Thanks to all who I gathered pics
from. The hunt was on 8-6 which happens to be Neil and Apii's birthday so of course we had a big party!
Took the Kayaks out to a sm motu where some Tropic birds were nesting They were not happy with us walking
around since they lay their eggs on bare ground but oh man are the babies cute! We did have one big Red Tailed
Tropic Bird try to deter us.
Suwarrow also had the best snorkeling we have seen in the Pacific(so far).Huge green moray, lots of porcupine fish(my
fav) box fish, sharks( grey, white tip ,black tip) Balloon fish,rays,6ft humphead wrasse,beautiful yellow sea goddess,2
tone dart fish and all kinds of sweetlips. PLUS the water is so warm you don't really need a wet suit. My kind of place
for sure.
Even lots of shells, I found a few really cool scorpion conch , they look like a spider conch only tiny. BUT I'm trying to
curtail my shelling since in New Zealand they will take them all away BOO HOO!
We really lucked out Onda ( Stu and Lynne) were heading for Suwarrow and Stu is a wiz at sail repair. Stu and Neil
took the main to shore where James made room for them to lay It our for repair! Ready to sail off.
So if you can’t tell I am a huge fan of Suwarrow, Im calling it Paradise!
Rainbows almost every day sometimes double
and we had a green flash one eve.
The Island is beautiful, water is clear and
warm BUT Apii and James MAKE this place!
Heading to American Samoa for a day or 2 of
shopping then off to Samoa where I will fly to
the states to go play mom and grammy for a
bit while N will be left with a LIST of to do's!
Enjoying our New Pacific adventures so far.
Tonga here we come!
French Polynesian to Cook Islands
6/10 Tahiti
MakemoTuomotus -Pape'eteTahiti: sailing away, watching the sun go down and WOW a true Green Flash! We have
seen 1 in 7yrs so this was a big treat and a nice way to start off on a trip! Next day Neil pulled in a 53 in Mahi Mahi
(dolphin) great prize to add to our freezer, after we pick at it for a bit!
Made in to Pape'ete pulled into the docks at the Quay downtown,
hit the store, baguette, wine and cheese fantastic dinner!
Repairs Repairs Repairs!! Found a radar guy dropped our radar off
and explored a bit even found an Ace Hardware and a place to drop
off propane tanks. Papeete is no little island town it is a huge city!
,Parc Bougainville on the water right off Attitude we did our morning
runs (man it has been a long time YIKES) . Papeete is gearing up for
the big Heiva I Tahiti celebration(The Celebration of Life) . Ea morning
you could hear the music and go up and watch 200 plus dancers, of all
ages, practicing in To'ata Square.
Waiting for Mr. (Jarrid grandson) to make it to Tahiti, There was a
strike of gov workers so the airport always had one less fireman which
meant the lg international planes could not land! Luckily my uncle lives
near L.A and went and got him for a few days, oh well just an added
adventure for Jarrid this yr. Finally flew into Faa�a airport the 16th
instead of the 12 not to bad. 1st order of business send mr up the mast!
Puddle Jumpers Tahiti -Moorea sailing Rendez-vous
6-18: Afternoon gathered at the Quay to receive our t-shirts and info for the weekend. At 5pm 100 or so cruisers
followed the band a few blocks to the Mairie (town hall). Really nice party (pic below), dancers, food, drinks, even
wine from the Tuomotus, and a few speeches re: Rendez-vous.
6-19: line em up! 9 am 40 some boats leaving the harbor and lining up(pic above) even outriggers with music,, we hear
�dark hulled vessel you are over the line please come back in� HUMMM we look around and yep we are kind of by
our self.. ok ok its our 1st �rally/race�! Awesome sail 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 in puffs along the way. So this
is a rally NOT a race we were told over and over. So how come NO one reefed and all vessels are healing like
crazy?? We heard later a lot
of s/v said they reached their max speed on this �rally�! Sailing hard poor old Pacifico (our gecko) popped out in the
cockpit, took one look around and disappeared. Well we did not come in 1st but we were not last either so it was all
good
Moorea Opunohu Bay
Most of the Polynesian scenes in the 1984 movie Bounty were shot here. Bar-b �que on shore with slide show,
Sunday 6-20: raining all a.m. but party was on! Picked up Dorothy from True Companions and headed in. Outrigger
canoe race 2 locals and 4 cruisers, Mr., Neil, Dorothy and me what a team. A few of the canoes tipped over, well
again we didn�t win but we didn�t tip over either. Jarrid was up front and he says the other canoe started ahead
soooo maybe we did win! On to the banana race! Its still raining but who cares we are all wet. Large bamboo poles
have many bunches of bananas on ea end. As soon as we got on shore J picked one up and said hey I can do this( he
is 12) .So all day he kept asking. FINALLY it was time but they would not let him enter with the adults. Just as well he
won his race 1st place, nice Tiki necklace and free rental car for a day, not bad.
So gpa (Neil) entered and again we didn't win but Neil did not fall down like some others did .Day went on with
tug of war , food, , talks from local marine guys and ceremonies. Turned out to be a great experience and lots
of fun for out 1st race/rally. Would highly recommend it. Went out to explore we heard there were manta rays, yippee.
Took the dinghy around never found mantas but a VERY touristy spot (stingray world) where Tahitian rays and black
tip reef sharks (pic above) were cruising around. Water was shallow and you could stand and snorkel with them. My
highlight was the turtle in our bay! Also took Dinghy around corner to Papetoa, mailed off tax mess, and postcards
from Jarrid. Oh yea more Baguettes!
6-23 -10 Moorea B-day BACON yum my favorite (not so easy to find) hiking up to Belevedere lookout and to see
some of the Maraes(open air places of worship, births/deaths and family events were celebrated in sm family maraes .
The larger ones were temples for chiefs where important meetings and sacrifices were made.) We passed Marae
Afateaito and Marae Ahu-o-Mahine finally making our way up a steep hill(even the guide book says steep so its not
just me) to Belevedere lookout where you could see Cooks bay and Opunohu bay split by Mt. Rotui
FANTASTIC
Ok we are at the top lets take the trail to 3 firs pass Neil says
This was not really a trail, but beautiful, full of banyan trees, crossing steams, then fields of flowers, & acres of
pineapple fields. Well fields of pineapples cuz we were lost in a pineapple farm. We picked a few pina, just in case so
we didn't starve!
Jarrid said Hey I see people on horses. We caught up to them, asked where they were going and passed the tourists on
horseback to make our way out of there.
All in all it was a 6 hr hike, but views were worth it, ended up with pina and even found some wild passion fruit! Neil
stopped at shrimp farm on way back so we had a fabulous shrimp dinner. Gifts of chocolate liquor and a wonderful
note from mr that made me cry.
Awesome bday!
Cooks Bay: took dinghy around to Cooks bay to buy gasoline, Checked out the �museum� sm store with a few
instruments and shells. Had a nice lunch at the Blue pineapple and stopped to snorkel a bit on reefs in between where
mr found a spider conch Matauvau Pass. Time to leave the heard and explore a bit we head south to Haapiti Snorkled
a bit found some fantastic cone shells but not much fish. Checked out town nice church all closed up with sacrificial
platform in front, well you know we had to put J on it!.
Back to Attitude and started reading Jonathan
Livingston Seagull with mr. Hiking time again! This
time up to 3 Coconut pass, down a rd, through mud
roads & passing homes with BIG dogs. We thought
we came to a dead end sign saying private property
and the other mud trail was to a house with a lg dog
barking. So we turned around found someone to ask
and were told Ahhh just go pass the dog he is fine and
turn left at the house. HUMM ok, 1st N had to run
and get J he was WAY ahead of the old people? We did pass the dog and hiked up up up passed the nature lodge
which believe it or not had a skate park out in the middle of the jungle! We did make it to a beautiful ridge where you
could see both sides of the island but 3 coconut pass was now 1 sm tree! Snatched some papaya on the trail and Mr
got on gpas shoulders with a stick to get a few mangos. French Polynesia ,a place we will never go hungry!
Tahiti-Iti
Back to Papeete for a few days to stock up then headed south to TEAHUPOO 4th of July, Well no celebration here
and we were the only boat so we had to improvise. Mr and I made deviled eggs (gotta have that on the 4th) and
brownies which Mr figured out how to make a flag on it out of some candy we had. Not great but better then nothing.
Norm a guy from Hawaii who is now local (8yrs) gives tours and asked if we wanted to join one he was giving. Ok out
to chopoo , huge waves and site of Billibong surf contest ea yr. and down to Vaipoiri river and the caves. Ok we will
never win an award for navigation, Norm stopped his lancha said just follow the river and you will come to the caves
about 15 min. 15 min plus and in the pouring rain we are hiking should be soon but NOPE the river ends? we never
found the caves but it was an interesting hike to add to our adventures. Norm said 8 yrs we are the 1st NOT to find it..
Well 1st at something!
Matahia bay up a little north still on west side of Tahiti anchored out
near the reef, mr checked the anchor and we all snorkeled. Again not
many fish. Went out to surf station, a tall platform you can climb up on
to watch the surf. Late afternoon J and gpa went out to hunt, no fish but
J did learn to use the new gun.
7-8-10 Temarauvi Pass Awesome way to leave, 20 dolphins in the bay to say goodbye! Anchored near parc , took
dinghy into see the Gauguin Museum. G Museum was a pleasant surprise beautiful grounds and an open house with a
lot of his work. Jarrid wanted to know why his paintings had mostly naked people in it! J enjoyed the dog that followed
him around and cried when we got back in the dinghy more than the Museum I�m pretty sure. Back to Papeete almost
in Anchorage and we hear ZINGGGGGG and see a fantastic about 200 lb marlin jumping!! We did get 4 jumps out of
him before he flew off the line.
1-11�With a bag full of croissants Mr boarded his flight. In the airport we saw all these people with �3 d� glasses
and wondered why everyone had them. DAHHH we walk outside and see people in the rd looking up at the sun. Cool
solar eclipse sky looking really funky so we peek through our hands til we get back to Attitude. So we poked a sm hole
in a piece of paper, then looked at the shadow you get Voila we can see the eclipse Hey old school ways work ya
know.
HUAHINE
7-14-10 Huahine , Fare Yippe the fish are biting.. 52 inch Mahi right before we entered the pass ! Wow are these
people friendly, tons of people on shore music and dancing, for us??NO we totally forgot it is Bastille Day and we are
in the French Polynesian islands.
Fast cleanup ,dinghy down and we head to shore, a few minutes later our friends on Boree join us for a beer. Fun little
beach bar locals really getting into the holiday one older women singing her heart out, pretty good too. The big event in
on the other side of town this eve so Beaujolais,Boree and Attitude decide we should go. HUMMM how to get there.
Hitch of course,, I guess cruisers dont look threatening at least not to the huge Polynesians. Well like most cruisers by 9
we were all tired BUT the party was just beginning..lots of dancing .. Its a 7
mile walk at night so we figure might as well start home. Crap raining.. I know we wont melt but mud dark roads not
my thing. 7 of us standing behind a building
a truck goes by one guy goes out and asks for a ride. Sure the innocent driver says and we all pile in.. poor guy did
come back to look and see who all got in his truck !
HUAHINE ITI
Avea Baylooking for that quiet bay without people.. NOPE not here as we anchor the shore is AGAIN full this time
with kids and really loud music,oh well it is pretty. Hiked with Boree around to Tive pt and Parea Village nice walk
guys picked flowers for us but they thought they looked better in them. Still looking for that special spot we take the
dinghy over to motu Araara looking for shells and snorkeling. Not bad but as soon as we got out and up to motu a local
boat full anchored right next to us..The cool thing was the guide showed us a stone fish(very poisonous) just sitting in
the shallows where we were walking.. puts an entire new meaning to SHUFFELING while you walk! Of course N & I
took 5 pics at least NONE came out well
RAIATEA
Faaroa,Raiatea: Just a few hrs sailing we enter a Faaroa Bay, follow it to the end where the Faaroa River sits in front of
Mt Tefatua .Love palm tress with a beautiful green mt . This seems to be the scenery of the Polynesian islands.
Bright and early we get the kayaks down paddling in while Bert & Ingi (Boree) follow then pass in their dinghy. The
river narrowed and we all want to explore a bit more so we wade through the river bed for a bit longer . No snakes, no
animals no nothing... oh well we got some exercise!
Uturoa ,Raiatea big �town� ferry boats and tourist shops even pizza place. Well its only one night we can buy some
fresh stuff and go. Ok 4 days later, too much wind to even get Attitude off the dock we were still there. I did get a
fabulous green pearl (late b-day present),from a really cute little french women. Neil and I had gone back and forth
trying to decide if I wanted the one in her shop.
It was more $ but so much prettier. When we went in the last time she said ohhhh but you have to LOVE zzzee pearl or
it is not for you to buy this one! Well what a sales lady ha I did love that one!
We had a few good dinners in town , a fun night out and back on Boree ,way to much wine but hey we are at a dock
no dinghy driving involved!
Took the wind gen off again(really you guys dont understand its a pain lots of wires that need to go through the hull and
pipes YUK). Neil got in a nice hike, up to tower while I finished up the polishing of Attitude
TAHAA
Apu Bay Just N of Raiatea is Tahaa our next stop only 2 hrs. Here we grab a �free� mooring ball. Beautiful little bay
with nice restaurant Taravana(crazy). Hanging out N is trying to show Bert how to splice 2 lines and we here HELLO.
Richard the owner of Taravana says hey umm I have an issue here, 2 boats, returning customers are coming in for
dinner and there are no more moorings..pause.... he goes on they are coming in for dinner pause...OHHHHH hey well
we are coming in too 4 of us.. what time is dinner.. That settled now N doesnt have to cook we go in,, Tavana is really
pretty on the point and the food was good.. Plus some guy wanted to do his magic act for us. don't ask �. all I can say
is mr(grandson) is way way better.. it was soooo cheesey Neil had to go up put his finger in the fake guillotine,
wooooowww. Hey this was an adult.. guess not much to do on Tahaa! We talk to Richard (owner) for a bit re our
plans,Malpiti then Suwarrow.. Richard was like no way man.. this time of yr you can not get into Malpiti. Well we kind
of heard that before but you know us.. ok a challenge..NO Richard says and tells us of all the boats lost there and the
few times he has spun around in the pass , he was a charter captain for yrs..
Well maybe not Malpiti
BORA BORA
So we are not going to Bora Bora, don't have a need to see it.. Hum well if we go there 1st anchor for a night the route
to Suwarrow will be a better angle. So we did Bora Bora for a night,anchored behind motu Tapu. The place was
gorgeous from Attitude anyway. Plus we had a beautiful full moon over the island!
Lets just look.. We leave Bora Bora early enough to pass
Malpiti in the day to check it out .WILD is all I can say... huge
breaking waves in front of the pass with at least a mile out of
swirling current.. ok so no Malpiti.. on we go.
MOPELIA or Maupihaa(local Name)
This atoll has a tricky pass to get into , its only 90ft wide
( really looks a lot less !!)and you need good sun plus time
the tides right. From all we were told and checked out noon
was the time. Neil went up once so we could see how the fast
the current was and then we went for it.. Great Job captain
another high five for Neil.. Beautiful 4mi Atoll the water was Bora Bora
so many fantastic colors.
We anchored where we thought the "village" was. But no sight of anything but houses destroyed by typhoons. Naturally
I hunted the beach a bit found a few good shells..
Auto Pilot is not something you want to do w/o so we check the bolt on the arm we replaced on our crossing.. Sure
enough one pin was rusted almost off.
PREVENTON! My favorite word...no worries now
Drift dive: this was another great place to snorkel the pass . Jump out of the dinghy hang on and fly through, only about
2 knots so not 2 fast. 1st time we saw grey reefs,black tip reef and white tip reef sharks awesome!! plus a HUGE
manta ray.. they are way to beautiful and graceful.. Wow lets go again. This time we went to the other side of the pass I
jump over N is already in and
WOA... mr shark is coming right at me.. humm he looks different not like all the nice reef sharks and yikes he is close..
zip he goes and CRAP he is coming back.. Ok remember N says act big hands up and yell.. Well I kind of got one
hand sort of up and my yell was a weak weak ,get! Thank goodness he decided I was not his flavor!! He didn't follow,
believe you me I watched. The rest of the pass was just as cool and the manta ray was still hanging around..
Boobie attack We take a ride to other side of the Atoll with 3 LG boobie birds following awe how cute.. hey they are
close and may land on the dinghy HEY they are looking at our heads.. YIKES neil yells duck as he is laughing HARD
one
Boobie liked my hat and was flying in with his beak open ready to snatch it up.. What the heck shark and boobie attack
in one day!sure enough there are a few homes there BUT we are in our bathing suits and its to late to stop , it would be
dark trying to dinghy thorough the coral heads..
DARN a missed opportunity to meet some locals... next island!
COOK ISLANDS
7-29-10 Underway to Suwarrow
Great sail 20 knots plus sailing 7-8 knots no fish yet but Neil did get a fish eyeball! Neil felt the fish get off the hook but
when he reeled in only an eyeball was on the hook. So be on the look out for a big fish with a pirate patch!
Real Sailing: main and jib are reefed in and wam winds are a blowing, Im at the helm N is cooking breakfast.. I must of
said a little woaaaaa "do you need help neil yells up NOPE ..."We had 42 knots and Attitude held her steady.. nice to
know she can handle it (me too).that was the good news. The bad news is next morning we notice our main has a rip in
in.. so we reef it some more that will
have to do until we get to Suwarrow to check it out
No fish UNTIL we are just about into the pass.. Neil is on again a 42 inch Mahi Mahi but no pics for ya this time we
were in a hurry to clean him before we got in,, youll just have to trust me :)
8-2-10 SUWARROW
Tool around the anchorage and end up in our usual spot, at the back of the crowd. Makes it clothes optional,the only
way to live aboard. The friendly black tip sharks (pic below) were checking Attitude as soon as we anchored , just
curious I guess.
Soon 2 huge guys with lots of tattoos and gigantic smiles pull up. Our friendly rangers (pic above) we have heard so
much about. James with his hair up in a knot and Apii. Ok paper wk done, party on shore tonight in your honor. ahhh
ok. This is one social island, Apii takes cruisers out spearfishing almost daily,if not fishing out for a dive or snorkeling.
We finally dusted off our dive gear and found lots to fix and add to our to buy list. Since there are plenty of safe fish to
eat we all gather at the Suwarrow Yacht Club just about everyday to eat & drink James and Apii even have some
music so later in the eve you can find El Regalo(JoDon & Brian) dancing away to country music,or Natasha(Russian
from Puppy) teaching Apii how to waltz!
We did put a little work in also. A jetty is being built out of rocks so one afternoon we all helped pile them into place.
(pic below) Some of the boys,Brian,Neil and Jack were playing mine is bigger then yours. One big palm was
threatening the radio/book exchange building so Anatole (Puppy) climbed up, tied a rope on and the rest of us pulled as
James chain sawed his way through. JUST made it with a bit of a kiss to the corner of the building .For our efforts we
enjoyed some fresh hearts of palm and a breadfruit to make chips YUM. (pic below)
Time for the hunt.. Apii takes us to turtle island, we walk & walk finally we crawl into the jungle. ok Apii says see this
hole at the roots of the tree.. look in nice.crab in there BUT with claws the size of my fist, Just reach in and grab him..
HA YEA RIGHT, most of us say. This involves laying on your stomach and reaching in where you cant really see.
COOL says N and he is off. I spot he pulls out. We got 2 good size ones but would hear "help Apii" N & I would go
over and N would get down in there, total of 5 he yanked out. Claudia from
Dream Time says she just had to out source her crab(Neil got it too)
Unfortunately my camera did not take any pics that day so no pic of N in the dirt.. Thanks to all who I gathered pics
from. The hunt was on 8-6 which happens to be Neil and Apii's birthday so of course we had a big party!
Took the Kayaks out to a sm motu where some Tropic birds were nesting They were not happy with us walking
around since they lay their eggs on bare ground but oh man are the babies cute! We did have one big Red Tailed
Tropic Bird try to deter us.
Suwarrow also had the best snorkeling we have seen in the Pacific(so far).Huge green moray, lots of porcupine fish(my
fav) box fish, sharks( grey, white tip ,black tip) Balloon fish,rays,6ft humphead wrasse,beautiful yellow sea goddess,2
tone dart fish and all kinds of sweetlips. PLUS the water is so warm you don't really need a wet suit. My kind of place
for sure.
Even lots of shells, I found a few really cool scorpion conch , they look like a spider conch only tiny. BUT I'm trying to
curtail my shelling since in New Zealand they will take them all away BOO HOO!
We really lucked out Onda ( Stu and Lynne) were heading for Suwarrow and Stu is a wiz at sail repair. Stu and Neil
took the main to shore where James made room for them to lay It our for repair! Ready to sail off.
So if you can’t tell I am a huge fan of Suwarrow, Im calling it Paradise!
Rainbows almost every day sometimes double
and we had a green flash one eve.
The Island is beautiful, water is clear and
warm BUT Apii and James MAKE this place!
Heading to American Samoa for a day or 2 of
shopping then off to Samoa where I will fly to
the states to go play mom and grammy for a
bit while N will be left with a LIST of to do's!
Enjoying our New Pacific adventures so far.
Tonga here we come!
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| WELCOME TO ATTITUDE Neil & Kathy's Sailing Adventures |