Scuba Bear

Next Tuesday is Bear's birthday and yesterday he got his present from Mom and Dad early. We got him a junior size scuba outfit, including a tank and BC (the back pack type rig that holds the tank and equipment). He is too young to officially train and become scuba certified, but he is a natural. We are using a formal training manual and following their training program, but we have to do it ourselves. Yesterday, we did his training dive with his own equipment. We take diving safety very seriously and even though he can not be "legal" until he is 10 yrs old, he can still begin learning and dive with us in shallow safe conditions.

There are two dive master instructors on boats the we frequently see and they are helping and keeping an eye on our progress. Bear is very focused on his diving and is really doing a good job studying the training and technical materials. This week, he has changed his future career from pilot to dive master. What's next?

E

Huahine

 

16* 48.7 S  150* 59.6 W

 

We left the marina on Tahiti at 1600 on Wednesday afternoon headed for the Leeward Islands of French Polynesia.   The primary islands here include Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora.   We had great motoring conditions for the 100 nm over night passage with light winds and relatiely smooth seas.

 

Thursday morning the sunrise showed us nearing the island of Huahine and we could see the other mountainous islands, including Bora Bora in the distance.

 

Our friends on Mystery Ship, the identical Nordhavn 64 that we crossed the Pacific with, were already here and anchored in beautiful sheltered bay.   We spent Thursday scuba diving with them and then went to a local restaurant, where we settled our bet with them that we made on the Olympic Gold medal hockey game.   We had not seen them for nearly two months since we arrived in the Marquesas and it was good to catch up.  Today, we moved down the island and rejoined our friends on Mulan. 

 

  These islands are high volcanic mountains surrounded by barrier reefs.   Each island / reef system has one or more passages through the reef where we can get into the inner lagoons around the mountains.   It is the best of both worlds that we have experienced here in French Polynesia.   The Marquesas are high volcanic mountains with little or no reef around them to give protection from the wind and seas while at anchor.   The Tuamotus are lagoons surrounded by barier reefs, but with no terrain or inner islands.

 

Once inside the passages, we are in perfectly smooth waters and find anchorages surrounded by lush tropical jungles and high mountains.   In our current location, if we look to the east we are right next to the mountains.   To the west, we are looking across 20 miles of open ocean at the next islands.   There are huge breaking waves crashing on the reef not far from us, but by the time the seas cross the reef system and get to us, they are only a ripple.   The waters are crystal clear and we can easily see our anchor on the bottom in 40' of water.   Nearby are many coral heads and smaller reef structures with wonderful tropical fish.  

 

For the last 2 months the air and sea temps have rarely strayed from 80 - 85.   Sitting here, watching the sunset, and listening to the power of the wind and seas crashing so close by, while the boat sit motionless at anchor, is surreal.

 

E

Looking ahead ....

Today we are crossing back from Moorea to Papeete, Tahiti where we will do some provisioning and add fuel.   We hope to leave there tomorrow eveining (Wednesday) and do a 90 nm overnight passage to the Leeward Society Islands, which include Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora.

 

Our 90 day visas for all of French Polynesia expire July 18, so we must leave Bora Bora and continue west at that time.   Bastille Day (July 14) is a major event in Bora Bora with a week long festival.   It is nice of them to throw a party for my 60th.

 

After leaving French Polynesia, we will have approximately 3 weeks to travel the 1400 nm to Tonga, where we will hook up with Millars in mid August.   We will make stops in the Cook Islands - named after Capt. Cook and now a commonwealth of N.Z. as well as in Niue, one of the smallest independent nations in the world.

 

The Cook Islands and Niue are very small dots in a great big ocean, but good stopping places as we cross to Tonga.   It is hard to believe that we are nearly 1/2 through our Pacific adventure for this season.   We need to get out of the cyclone season and be in New Zealand by early November.    Current plan is to tour NZ during November and December and fly back to Minnesota around Christmas.   We expect to be in the states through the end of March to get caught up with family and friends and get a couple months skiing in Utah.

 

Eric

 

 

Located ten miles away from Tahiti is its smaller, less populated sister island, Moorea, where we've been for almost a week. We've enjoyed both the land and ocean life here. One day we toured the island via rental car, going inland to hike through ancient ruins and up to overlooks where Eric took this glorious photo. Non-stop, one could drive the island's circumference in an hour. However, we stopped along the way to see the sights and have lunch.

The following day we toured the lagoon, the area inside the barrier reef. There we stopped to swim with stingrays who are used to tourists and guides who lure them with the smell of fish. The stingrays are friendly and rub against people. At first this is a litte disconcerting but then becomes fun. Bear loved it and we could barely get him out of the water.

One unfortuntate thing here is that most of the coral has died in recent years. We've heard two reasons: a recent hurricane and the introduction of a foreign starfish. We are not sure of the correct cause but the result is sad.

Bad Karma in Tahiti

We’ve been in Tahiti almost a week and we struggle to find its good points. The only thing that comes to mind is access to more products: fresh fruits and vegetables, boat parts, etc. Other than that, we would skip Tahiti altogether.
At first blush, Marina Taina seemed a good find. Three notable restaurants are on the grounds and the large convenience store is within walking distance. Several wifi services were listed as available and the staff spoke English. Sounded perfect.
Wanting to take a break from cooking, we dined out the first two nights in port at two restaurants within steps of our boat. The meals were, well, terrible. We left unsatisfied and Eric was up all night on the toilet. Back to cooking….
Fortunately, fresh food was available locally. I scored some tuna and made sushi. Yummy. Most items could be found at the Carrefour, which is like an American Walmart but not at Walmart prices. A whole, small watermelon cost about $25! The only inexpensive item was baguettes – still about 50 cents each. But those can really take their toll on the ol’ waistline. (Grumble, grumble.)
We were told the best place to buy produce is the downtown market. One morning we ventured there by bus which pick up every ten minutes at the marina entrance. It’s a twenty minute, ten kilometer ride – which takes about five minutes in a taxi. Later in the week, a taxi would charge $17 one way, and $35 return if after 8pm. We found neither the bus nor taxi easy to find and were frustrated by the inconvenience and expense of it all. The market itself was fine but not worth the trip.
But we took it all in stride as it was only a couple of days until my sister, Cathy, and her husband, Tom, would be arriving and we would be off to Morea and beautiful anchorages. Then the strike hit. The French government employees chose Thursday, June 10th, to walk off their jobs to put pressure on the French government to meet their demands. This meant no firemen or air traffic control workers at the airport which meant no flights in or out. The result left Cathy and Tom in Los Angeles for three days waiting for news of a settlement which has yet to come. We are all so sad.
Hoping to uplift our spirits, we proceeded with a preplanned tour of the island and had some friends replace Cathy and Tom. Our grouchy Boston tour guide was so cynical it would have been comical in the right mood. Alan, a 63 year old American married for 40 years to a native Tahitian, had nothing good to say about Tahiti. In fact, he wished he’d never moved to this godforsaken place with its fat, lazy, drunks and homosexuals. According to Alan, the traffic is atrocious; they keep building more stupid round-abouts in the roads; more apartments keep going up but whose going to live in them? We learned more about how things “used to be twenty years ago when I first came here” than life on Tahiti today. It was an abysmal excuse for a six hour, $250 tour. The bright side is that we got out and saw the island with its waterfalls, surf beaches, and reef protected coasts.
The wifi has been spotty and unfortunately not good for skype calls. The med-mooring in the marina is difficult and time-consuming making it inconvenient to come and go easily. Tomorrow we’re bailing out to Morea in search of improved juju. C’est la vie!

Little Oso and Mega Parties

To give some perspective to the company we're currently keeping at Marina Taina in Papeete, I overheard a neighboring mega-yacht crew refer to Oso as "that cute little boat".

We are med-moored to a pier alongside 100'+ mega sailboats and yachts. The owners of these multi-million dollar vessels are scarce but the fun-loving crews abound and have welcomed us to their dock functions, including an 80's night (see photo at left - that's our agent, Larent, in the middle!) and a jazz/beer night. Eric's Wonder Woman fantasy took shape with the birthday girl but he failed to get in on the game of Twister with her. These people are ultra-friendly and really know how to party with style.

Bummer of the Year

We have been waiting for the arrival of Tom and Cathy in Tahiti for a 10 day visit and to celebrate their 10th anniversary.   Unfortunately, 12 hrs before their arrival, the local government employees in Papeete decided to go on strike, shutting down the airport and all international flights.   Our guests had already reached Los Angeles and were getting ready for their continuing flight when news reached the airlines and all flights to Tahiti were cancelled.  Tom and Cathy waited patiently in LA for 3 days before giving up and returning to Minneapolis.  

 

There has been no encouraging news from the local authorities here in Papeete other than "we are in negotiations".   They say it could last a few more days or a few months.   No one is more disappointed than Bear.

 

E

The Mother Ship

The Pacific Ocean continues to amaze us in it's vastness and variety.  Since leaving Puerto Vallarta on April 1, we have traveled 3938 nautical miles and we are just over 1/2 way to New Zealand.   Oso Blanco has become so much more than our home as we have crossed great distances and visited wonderful islands.

 

The distances we have traveled and the extended periods of self suffiency away from nearly all services and conveniences magnify the quality, comfort and safety of our Nordhavn.   At times, it is a wierd feeling to think that we are 1000s of miles from land with over 10,000' of water below us, and we are being powered by one diesel engine that just keeps humming along.   It is one thing to make coastal ocean trips hopping from one port to the next.   It is a very different thing to be far away from a fuel station, boat mechanic, and parts store for  weeks and months at a time.    A boat is often compared to a house, but it is really more like a floating city.    In addition to our propulsion system, we have a sewage system, power plant to meet all of our electrical needs, water treatment plant to provide nearly unlimited fresh water from sea water, and 'transportation' system to be able to reach shore or explore.   All of this is contained in a floating structure that must take what ever the sea throws at it.

 

There are many ways to cross oceans and most of our friends and the other folks out here are traveling in much simpler sailboats.    The difference in mode of propulsion is obvious, but it is not the biggest difference.   Most of the other boats have relatively small capacities for refridgeration, fuel, and producing fresh water.   In recent weeks, as we have all spent increasing amounts of time away from it all, we have provided fresh water, fuel, and cold beer to those "in need".    Most of the time, this is more of a luxury to a boat that has had few (or no) freshwater hot showers in a while, but in a couple cases, where their watermakers have had problems, we have been able to provide more than subsistence quantities.  Many of the more remote islands have little or no fresh water to provide to traveling boats and you must stretch your water capacity as you would when backpacking or camping.  It has become a common sight to see water jugs being hauled over to us and in two cases, we had other boats tie up along side us, passed them a hose, and filled their water tanks. To give an idea of scale, some of the smaller boats have a total freshwater storage capacity of less than 50 gallons.  Our water makers can produce 60 gallons per HOUR!

 

A frequent criticism of a boat like ours is that the more systems (and conveniences) you have the more problems you have.   The KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach to cruising has a lot to be said for it, however, if you only have basic systems, with no redundancy, when you do have a problem, you may have a big problem.    Continuous 24 hr/day use for months at a time of all our systems has shown the quality of design and build of our little ship.    We have had no issues or problems beyond normal maintenance and we are truely "at home" in the most remote anchorages.  

 

Last Sunday night, with 27 people aboard for a slide presentation and dinner, we had a fleet of dinghys tied up behind Oso.   Instead of a mother ship, perhaps we looked more like a 7 - Eleven of the Pacific.

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

Fakarava to Tahiti

More boats in the anchorage means a bigger party!   On Sunday evening, we hosted an event that included a slide presentation and sea life "lecture" by Dr. Mike, a PhD marine biologist, off the boat 'I/O', dinner for 27 people, and the first southern hemisphere meeting of the Strawberry Monkey Yacht Club (www.strawberrymonkeyyc.com).   We initiated new Y.C. members and had a crazy evening.

 

Monday morning, we departed Fakarava and the Tuamotus for the 250 nm crossing to the Society Islands and Tahiti.   The weather cooperated and we had an easy 29 hour passage.    It was a beautiful sunrise with the 7000' mountain peaks in the distance.   Oso has not been near a dock or marina since we left Mexico on April 1.   It was a culture shock to arrive in Papeete, Tahiti at a marina with 500 boats and mega yachts from all over the world.   

Tahiti is the population, government, and boating center for all of French Polynesia.   It is a major tourist destination with a population of 130,000 and many resorts, hotels, restaurants, and shops.   It is VERY French.

 

We have not yet explored far from the marina, but will venture out today to reprovision, get some boat maintenance stuff, and see what is here.

 

E

More Fakarava!

 

After beng anchored at the south pass of Fakarava with our friends on Mulan, strong gusty winds and a rough anchorage chased us to the SE corner of the atol.   Here we had great protection from the wind and waves for 3 nights and played on the beach and in the tidal pools.   4 other kid boats arrived and the anchorage is jumping!    With calming winds, we returned to the south pass where we have had such wonderful diving and snorkeling.  Today, there are 20 boats anchored here - 10 of them with kids.  

 

This afternoon, Ann and I along with friends from "Bamboozle" and MIke from "I.O." did a scuba dive through the pass with the incoming curent.   There is no way to describe the variety and beauty of the coral, fish, and yes, the sharks.   Whether it was dozens or hundreds of black tip, white tip, and grey reef sharks, it doesn't really matter.   While under water at 60 - 80' they just drift along with you and are not very interested.   We also have mostly gotten used to them, but once the dive is over and we think back on what we just did, the thrill remains!

 

Tonight there is a planned 'pot-luck' beach party with all the kids.   Who said cruising is a lonely life?

 

E