Well that first night was unpleasant to say the least. After such a chill first half to Day 1, the second half decided to throw us a curve ball. We were hit by two squalls, the first of which we were very much unprepared for as there is no moon beyond 10pm right now so we had no light to work with to see what the sky is doing other than to see that the stars have disappeared. Our experience up to yesterday had been that squalls in the Pacific were pretty low key, perhaps you see some rain and a 5-10 knot increase in wind speed. But that is all, generally passing quite quickly. Given that for the first 14 hours we were only seeing 6-10 knots of apparent wind, we kept the sails full with no reefs, which is not typical of us at night. Well that first squall decided to give us a cruel reminder on why we prefer to be cautious on night sailing.
It was only 11:00pm but the moon, for the tiny crescent it is worth, had already long set. D was nearing the end of his shift and as usual I am lying awake in bed listening to every noise. Suddenly I could hear the boat start to race down much longer and steeper waves than we had been experiencing and the water just sounded LOUD. I raced upstairs to find D hand steering desperately trying to keep Maple heading downwind with the full sails still in a wing on wing formation without accidentally gybing (letting the wind come onto the other side of the main sail). Unfortunately this is very hard to do when skidding down waves with full sails and in 25 to 30 knots of apparent wind. All it took was a moment for the wind to sneak behind us and with one loud boom of a sound, the main sail tore straight across just below the first reefing point. Sigh. We had really hoped that sail would hang on until Thailand as we knew she was starting to show her age. The good news is we can still use the main sail, it just needs to be always reefed at the first reefing point and Maple has a very resourceful Captain who is already exploring how he is going to stitch her up when we arrive in Tahiti. Needless to say we were better prepared for the second squall that hit us last night without further incident.
I will say I am hoping that the rest of the passage does not continue to replicate our first night otherwise this is going to be one painfully long 7 days. On the upside, we have collected ourselves a bunch of rain water to keep our water tanks topped up, which is helpful since the watermaker stopped working a few weeks ago. Always something isn't there?!
Thursday, 30 January 2020
Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Moments of Zen
There are two wolves battling inside all of us. One is joy and hope. The other is sadness and despair. Which one wins? ....
So the last 48 hours or so has seen me having to dig deep on not letting the miserable conditions get the better of me. On one hand we have had phenomenal sailing wind, but with good winds comes big seas and boy have we been seeing that in spades. Generally there is a rhythm to the swell but every so often we just get nailed by a big wave. Maple has taken more waves over her bow this passage than I think she ever saw on two ocean crossings combined.
Generally when we sail the conditions allow us to have at least the main salon hatches open slightly or the bathroom portholes open that allow some air flow through the boat. In fact I believe we never had to close the salon hatches during either ocean crossing. But with the conditions we are seeing on this passage all the hatches have to be locked tight. The main sliding door is left open but when sailing upwind that doesn't allow the wind to come inside the boat. This means that Maple is outrageously stuffy and warm. This translates into me feeling nauseous the second I cross the threshold. It means cooking needs to be done strategically to allow me to get a breath of fresh air every so often. Meanwhile, the girls will sit inside watching movies the entire day!! I don't know how they pull it off. However, every so often Iris will come join me on the helm seat, snuggle her entirely too warm body against mine and hold me for a minute or two while she cools down before returning to the hot box that is Maple.
This morning Ella said to me, "There are two wolves inside all of us. One is joy and hope. The other is sadness and despair. Which one wins?... Depends which one you feed." My wise 13 year old was reminding me to feed the joy.
So instead of feeding the wolf of despair, I am feeling grateful for the strength Maple continues to demonstrate in difficult conditions. Overwhelming gratitude for a partner who keeps my spirits lifted with his eternal optimism even when my despair wolf is taking the lead. Laughing with Ella when twice this morning she received an unintended salt water shower when she decided to sit on the windward side of the cockpit. Feeling my heart brim over with love when Iris gives me a giant, toothy grin and the dive symbol for "Ok?" every time she sees me. And of course remembering how fortunate I am to be on this remarkable journey with my family.
I hope everyone today has found a moment to feed their wolf of joy and hope!!!
So the last 48 hours or so has seen me having to dig deep on not letting the miserable conditions get the better of me. On one hand we have had phenomenal sailing wind, but with good winds comes big seas and boy have we been seeing that in spades. Generally there is a rhythm to the swell but every so often we just get nailed by a big wave. Maple has taken more waves over her bow this passage than I think she ever saw on two ocean crossings combined.
Generally when we sail the conditions allow us to have at least the main salon hatches open slightly or the bathroom portholes open that allow some air flow through the boat. In fact I believe we never had to close the salon hatches during either ocean crossing. But with the conditions we are seeing on this passage all the hatches have to be locked tight. The main sliding door is left open but when sailing upwind that doesn't allow the wind to come inside the boat. This means that Maple is outrageously stuffy and warm. This translates into me feeling nauseous the second I cross the threshold. It means cooking needs to be done strategically to allow me to get a breath of fresh air every so often. Meanwhile, the girls will sit inside watching movies the entire day!! I don't know how they pull it off. However, every so often Iris will come join me on the helm seat, snuggle her entirely too warm body against mine and hold me for a minute or two while she cools down before returning to the hot box that is Maple.
This morning Ella said to me, "There are two wolves inside all of us. One is joy and hope. The other is sadness and despair. Which one wins?... Depends which one you feed." My wise 13 year old was reminding me to feed the joy.
So instead of feeding the wolf of despair, I am feeling grateful for the strength Maple continues to demonstrate in difficult conditions. Overwhelming gratitude for a partner who keeps my spirits lifted with his eternal optimism even when my despair wolf is taking the lead. Laughing with Ella when twice this morning she received an unintended salt water shower when she decided to sit on the windward side of the cockpit. Feeling my heart brim over with love when Iris gives me a giant, toothy grin and the dive symbol for "Ok?" every time she sees me. And of course remembering how fortunate I am to be on this remarkable journey with my family.
I hope everyone today has found a moment to feed their wolf of joy and hope!!!
Monday, 4 November 2019
Rough Start
So we have been bound for Marquesas for about 36 hours now. We had a terrifying start to our passage yesterday when leaving the pass in Makemo. The reason we were leaving for the Marquesas at that time is because there is an unusual north west wind that has been blowing due to some systems far south of us. This was helpful because it allowed us to sail east the first 24 hours, which is typically the direction of the prevailing winds. The one problem with this north wind though is that the pass we needed to exit faces north. This means that the wind driven swell was being pushed hard into the pass regardless of whether the tide was ebbing or flooding. We wanted to time our exit for slack tide, the very brief period between where the tide is transitioning, but a squall hit us at the time we wanted to lift anchor. So we sat out the squall which delayed our exit, we had no idea what the 30 minute delay would mean for the pass. By the time we headed for the pass, slack tide had ended and the tide was ebbing. The result was that the water inside the lagoon was being pushed outside at the same time a 20 knot wind was pushing water into the lagoon. This created very steep, short duration, confused seas in a tight pass with reefs on both sides. In other words, SCARY!!!
Our friends on Sugar Shack went through the pass ahead of us. I don't think it helped watching them get tossed around ahead of us considering they are 10 feet longer and likely 6 feet wider than Maple with much higher freeboard (the space between the water line and the top of the deck). But we didn't want to miss the weather window and the seas would only continue to build as the ebb current continued to strengthen. We had all windows closed tight, the girls were safely inside watching a movie, typically means they are oblivious to what we might be dealing with outside. D was hand steering, doing a stellar job of keeping calm, while my only job is to stop my nervous chatter that drives him crazy. I really can't put into words how scary it was as we started to get tossed around in these steep waves like a toy boat. Just as we were hit broad side on the port side by a huge wave, a huge bottlenose dolphin jumped right off our starboard side, distracting me to the wave that was coming. Fortunatley D did see the wave approach and did his best to steer into the wave but at this point our port hull was lifted far out of the water as the wave raced beneath us. Sugar Shack later told us that it literally looked like we flew a hull, which I can assure you our model of catamaran is not designed to do.
At the moment that Maple tipped precariously onto her starboard side, Iris and Ella both let out ear splitting screams from inside. I figured for sure all of our computers and other electronics had spilled to the floor. But the girls were reacting to what they realized was not a natural tilt for Maple, the first time in 4 years that they really even noticed something out of sorts. In the end the only casualty was a small picture frame that smashed to the floor. Thankfully we had done a decent job of stowing before we left knowing that it could be a touch bouncy. We also lost a wake board that was clearly not well secured and blew away. As you can appreciate the conditions were not really conducive for attempting a man overboard drill to recover the board.
Once safely out of the pass, the conditions were still unpleasant to say the least. Didn't take long before Ella was looking green, but the crew were all rock stars! Conditions now have smoothed out beautifully, the girls even managed an hour of school this morning. We have now turned north on almost a direct line to the Marquesas. We hope to arrive the morning of November 8th if all continues to go as forecasted. Can't say I will entirely miss the Tuamotus in spite of their beauty. Looking forward the ease of approaching the Marquesas islands without their barrier reefs or coral bottoms to foul our anchor.
Our friends on Sugar Shack went through the pass ahead of us. I don't think it helped watching them get tossed around ahead of us considering they are 10 feet longer and likely 6 feet wider than Maple with much higher freeboard (the space between the water line and the top of the deck). But we didn't want to miss the weather window and the seas would only continue to build as the ebb current continued to strengthen. We had all windows closed tight, the girls were safely inside watching a movie, typically means they are oblivious to what we might be dealing with outside. D was hand steering, doing a stellar job of keeping calm, while my only job is to stop my nervous chatter that drives him crazy. I really can't put into words how scary it was as we started to get tossed around in these steep waves like a toy boat. Just as we were hit broad side on the port side by a huge wave, a huge bottlenose dolphin jumped right off our starboard side, distracting me to the wave that was coming. Fortunatley D did see the wave approach and did his best to steer into the wave but at this point our port hull was lifted far out of the water as the wave raced beneath us. Sugar Shack later told us that it literally looked like we flew a hull, which I can assure you our model of catamaran is not designed to do.
At the moment that Maple tipped precariously onto her starboard side, Iris and Ella both let out ear splitting screams from inside. I figured for sure all of our computers and other electronics had spilled to the floor. But the girls were reacting to what they realized was not a natural tilt for Maple, the first time in 4 years that they really even noticed something out of sorts. In the end the only casualty was a small picture frame that smashed to the floor. Thankfully we had done a decent job of stowing before we left knowing that it could be a touch bouncy. We also lost a wake board that was clearly not well secured and blew away. As you can appreciate the conditions were not really conducive for attempting a man overboard drill to recover the board.
Once safely out of the pass, the conditions were still unpleasant to say the least. Didn't take long before Ella was looking green, but the crew were all rock stars! Conditions now have smoothed out beautifully, the girls even managed an hour of school this morning. We have now turned north on almost a direct line to the Marquesas. We hope to arrive the morning of November 8th if all continues to go as forecasted. Can't say I will entirely miss the Tuamotus in spite of their beauty. Looking forward the ease of approaching the Marquesas islands without their barrier reefs or coral bottoms to foul our anchor.
Friday, 1 November 2019
Halloween Take 5
Our first two Halloweens were very low key, which is bound to happen when in countries like Greece and Morocco that don't celebrate it and you have no kid boats around you. But we always manage to pull something off one way or the other. The last two Halloweens in Bonaire and Guatemala we were with loads of kid boats and in a cruiser community that assisted to make it days the girls will never forget.
This year we were well and truly on our own. By 10:30am on Halloween the four boats we had been sharing this beautiful anchorage in Makemo with all weighed anchor and left. But before our friends on Sugar Shack headed off, they left us with the brilliant idea of doing a treasure hunt with the girls.
Unlike Thanksgiving this year, we actually were prepared with necessary treats for Halloween. Fakarava actually had a good selection of candy so we were set in the most important aspect for this "holiday". And the huge bonus was Darryl was able to buy a pumpkin!!! Like turkeys, pumpkins are a rare commodity in our travels. D was on hand as the weekly supply ship was being off loaded and when three pumpkins rolled into the grocery store, I think he knocked a few people out of the way to snap one up. Mind you, the pumpkin cost us $30 USD, but hey I guess it was worth it for the smiles it put on the girls' faces.
Our attempt to use shells and coral to make our pumpkin look like a hermit crab didn't fully pan out. If you squint your eyes in dim light, you might be able to tell that is what we were trying to pull off. Oh well, the hermit crab pumpkin was short lived anyway. We were determined to get as much value out of our $30 spent. While the girls ended the day with watching Ghostbusters, D cut up the pumpkin and I am already in the process of baking my first two pumpkin chocolate chip loafs for breakfast.
Costume options are often limited on Maple although a few key pieces came with us when we moved aboard like a Greek Goddess outfit and a mermaid tail, which came in handy a number of years running. This year the girls wanted to go for local flavour inspired costumes. The girls organized their costumes well in advance and were prepared for the day. They looked beautiful wrapped in pareos, with flowers in their hair, shell necklaces around their necks, donning tattoos. Speaking of limited costume options, D opted for Naked Chef this year...I am sure you are relieved internet is not an option to include a picture.
The treasure hunt went off perfectly with clues leading them to candy hiding in the dinghy, sailbag, snorkel gear, my favourite was hanging off the bow under the trampoline, among other spots. The girls had a blast running around in the dark, using a flashlight to find their loot!!! Thank you, Sugar Shack, based on the girls enthusiasm I think we have a new tradition on Maple!!
This year we were well and truly on our own. By 10:30am on Halloween the four boats we had been sharing this beautiful anchorage in Makemo with all weighed anchor and left. But before our friends on Sugar Shack headed off, they left us with the brilliant idea of doing a treasure hunt with the girls.
Unlike Thanksgiving this year, we actually were prepared with necessary treats for Halloween. Fakarava actually had a good selection of candy so we were set in the most important aspect for this "holiday". And the huge bonus was Darryl was able to buy a pumpkin!!! Like turkeys, pumpkins are a rare commodity in our travels. D was on hand as the weekly supply ship was being off loaded and when three pumpkins rolled into the grocery store, I think he knocked a few people out of the way to snap one up. Mind you, the pumpkin cost us $30 USD, but hey I guess it was worth it for the smiles it put on the girls' faces.
Our attempt to use shells and coral to make our pumpkin look like a hermit crab didn't fully pan out. If you squint your eyes in dim light, you might be able to tell that is what we were trying to pull off. Oh well, the hermit crab pumpkin was short lived anyway. We were determined to get as much value out of our $30 spent. While the girls ended the day with watching Ghostbusters, D cut up the pumpkin and I am already in the process of baking my first two pumpkin chocolate chip loafs for breakfast.
Costume options are often limited on Maple although a few key pieces came with us when we moved aboard like a Greek Goddess outfit and a mermaid tail, which came in handy a number of years running. This year the girls wanted to go for local flavour inspired costumes. The girls organized their costumes well in advance and were prepared for the day. They looked beautiful wrapped in pareos, with flowers in their hair, shell necklaces around their necks, donning tattoos. Speaking of limited costume options, D opted for Naked Chef this year...I am sure you are relieved internet is not an option to include a picture.
The treasure hunt went off perfectly with clues leading them to candy hiding in the dinghy, sailbag, snorkel gear, my favourite was hanging off the bow under the trampoline, among other spots. The girls had a blast running around in the dark, using a flashlight to find their loot!!! Thank you, Sugar Shack, based on the girls enthusiasm I think we have a new tradition on Maple!!
Sunday, 13 October 2019
Happy Thanksgiving!
So here we sit in paradise at the atoll of Toau in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Blue sky, puffy white clouds on the horizon, palm trees gently swaying, coral covered beaches and various shades of blue ocean surrounds us. It is exactly what I imagined when we were still dreaming of sailing off to horizons unknown. This is where we will spend our fifth Thanksgiving on board Maple. Certainly much to be thankful for.
The girls like to reflect on our first Thanksgiving on Maple. We had just arrived in the marina in Lefkada, Greece after a long, rough day sail. The same place where D and I first stepped foot on Maple the previous February when we did the survey on her. Upon getting settled in the marina, one of us finally remembered that it was in fact Thanksgiving. It had completely escaped us that we were about to miss celebrating our first Thanksgiving since we moved on Maple. What are we going to do?! There was no finding a turkey and whipping up a full turkey dinner as the sun was already starting to set on the day. Well thankfully we were in Greece where the food is amazing!!! (Oh how we often reminisce about Greece and especially the food!) The highlight for the girls was when it started to absolutely pour rain in monsoon quantities and so we had to quickly run from where we were sitting outside to inside the restaurant. Thankfully no food was harmed during the dash across the torrents of water rushing down the street.
The three Thanksgivings following our Greek feast went off much more smoothly. Where the holiday was remembered in advance and the typical fare was prepared. Although turkeys have been hard to find so generally a whole chicken has to suffice. Plus we have been beyond fortunate to be able to share these meals with amazing friends we have met along this journey of ours. We have enjoyed Thanksgivings in Almerimar, Spain with Sandra and Jeff from Nawii; in Bonaire with fellow Canadians Sherrie, Shaun, Paige and Jordan from Element; and in Guatemala with Kaiwen, Erik, Kyle and Max from Ad Astra.
Despite that run of good planning, that came to a crashing end here in French Polynesia. Literally as we were just leaving the pass of Rangiroa where at least there is a small shop to buy groceries, I had the revelation that Thanksgiving was just a week away. And we were now en route to an atoll that has a population of 3. I had a sneaking suspicion that we were going to have to be creative with our Thanksgiving dinner plans. So today we are having a Thanksgiving meal of butter chicken curry and naan!! However, have no fear, we managed to find a rusting can of pumpkin in the back of the food locker and even have some UHT whipping cream on board, so we are all set for dessert with the pumpkin pie already cooling. And despite our isolation we are able to share our meal with another cruiser, Mike from Easy. So we are all set for our fifth memorable Thanksgiving on board Maple!!
Sending all our love to our family and friends back in Canada who we miss tremendously and wish they could all be here with us to celebrate together. Wishing everyone a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!!
The girls like to reflect on our first Thanksgiving on Maple. We had just arrived in the marina in Lefkada, Greece after a long, rough day sail. The same place where D and I first stepped foot on Maple the previous February when we did the survey on her. Upon getting settled in the marina, one of us finally remembered that it was in fact Thanksgiving. It had completely escaped us that we were about to miss celebrating our first Thanksgiving since we moved on Maple. What are we going to do?! There was no finding a turkey and whipping up a full turkey dinner as the sun was already starting to set on the day. Well thankfully we were in Greece where the food is amazing!!! (Oh how we often reminisce about Greece and especially the food!) The highlight for the girls was when it started to absolutely pour rain in monsoon quantities and so we had to quickly run from where we were sitting outside to inside the restaurant. Thankfully no food was harmed during the dash across the torrents of water rushing down the street.
The three Thanksgivings following our Greek feast went off much more smoothly. Where the holiday was remembered in advance and the typical fare was prepared. Although turkeys have been hard to find so generally a whole chicken has to suffice. Plus we have been beyond fortunate to be able to share these meals with amazing friends we have met along this journey of ours. We have enjoyed Thanksgivings in Almerimar, Spain with Sandra and Jeff from Nawii; in Bonaire with fellow Canadians Sherrie, Shaun, Paige and Jordan from Element; and in Guatemala with Kaiwen, Erik, Kyle and Max from Ad Astra.
Despite that run of good planning, that came to a crashing end here in French Polynesia. Literally as we were just leaving the pass of Rangiroa where at least there is a small shop to buy groceries, I had the revelation that Thanksgiving was just a week away. And we were now en route to an atoll that has a population of 3. I had a sneaking suspicion that we were going to have to be creative with our Thanksgiving dinner plans. So today we are having a Thanksgiving meal of butter chicken curry and naan!! However, have no fear, we managed to find a rusting can of pumpkin in the back of the food locker and even have some UHT whipping cream on board, so we are all set for dessert with the pumpkin pie already cooling. And despite our isolation we are able to share our meal with another cruiser, Mike from Easy. So we are all set for our fifth memorable Thanksgiving on board Maple!!
Sending all our love to our family and friends back in Canada who we miss tremendously and wish they could all be here with us to celebrate together. Wishing everyone a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!!
Saturday, 15 June 2019
Whew we made it
We have safely arrived in Kauehi, one of 76 atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. It was a four day/night passage. The first three days were fantastic sailing, perfect conditions. We were struggling to keep the boat slow enough to time our arrival for Saturday at 3pm with the slack tide. In the end we decided to aim for the 8:30am slack tide. As the sun was setting on the start of our fourth and last night of the passage, we could see plenty of unsettled looking clouds on the horizon. Since we had three reefs in the main and two reefs in the head sail, we were more than prepared for any weather.
Okay, so sure, our sail configuration was set well for the conditions, but this particular crew member was not pleased when at the start of her 6pm watch the wind started to increase upwards of 30 knots with waves hitting us hard on the port side causing spray to cover the boat, even up over the bimini (the hard top that covers the cockpit). After changing course to run a little more downwind, I woke up the captain to get his advice. After two interruptions to his sleep by me, he finally decided to just stay up. There was no sleeping to be had with the sounds of the water slamming the side and between the hulls, along with the howling wind. It was just one squall after another, relentless. We saw a top wind speed of 40 knots and a top boat speed of 8.4 knots (that is with three reefs in the main and barely a small triangle of head sail). The waves were ridiculous. I can't tell you how large they were because I am a poor judge, but Maple and her crew have never been coated by so much salt water in our four years together.
After a sleepless night, we approached the pass at 8:30am. Our friends on Ubi were just ahead of us and I think just as tired. As we approached the pass, which is known to be one of the easier passes, we could see tremendous turbulence within the pass. We got slammed by one more giant wave as we entered the passage, just one more kick from Poseidon. We got to see Ubi just ahead of us doing a fabulous job navigating the pass. D also did a fabulous job getting us through safely, but once through it, to quote D: "Clearly slack had not started yet." It was a white knuckled experience for the two of us that is for sure when the boat was not even managing 2 knots of boat speed with both engines on full tilt with the water churning around us. And this is one of the easier passes?! Oh dear, will this end up being our only Tuamotu stop? However, now that we are anchored in the most gorgeous blue water you can imagine, looking upon beaches that are barely above sea level and palm trees, I think we have might need to explore the Tuamotus further. It is not a hard place to be! And now this tired crew is enjoying the stillness of the anchorage and heading to bed soon.
At 2019-06-16 01:55 (utc) our position was 15°56.94'S 145°03.81'W
Okay, so sure, our sail configuration was set well for the conditions, but this particular crew member was not pleased when at the start of her 6pm watch the wind started to increase upwards of 30 knots with waves hitting us hard on the port side causing spray to cover the boat, even up over the bimini (the hard top that covers the cockpit). After changing course to run a little more downwind, I woke up the captain to get his advice. After two interruptions to his sleep by me, he finally decided to just stay up. There was no sleeping to be had with the sounds of the water slamming the side and between the hulls, along with the howling wind. It was just one squall after another, relentless. We saw a top wind speed of 40 knots and a top boat speed of 8.4 knots (that is with three reefs in the main and barely a small triangle of head sail). The waves were ridiculous. I can't tell you how large they were because I am a poor judge, but Maple and her crew have never been coated by so much salt water in our four years together.
After a sleepless night, we approached the pass at 8:30am. Our friends on Ubi were just ahead of us and I think just as tired. As we approached the pass, which is known to be one of the easier passes, we could see tremendous turbulence within the pass. We got slammed by one more giant wave as we entered the passage, just one more kick from Poseidon. We got to see Ubi just ahead of us doing a fabulous job navigating the pass. D also did a fabulous job getting us through safely, but once through it, to quote D: "Clearly slack had not started yet." It was a white knuckled experience for the two of us that is for sure when the boat was not even managing 2 knots of boat speed with both engines on full tilt with the water churning around us. And this is one of the easier passes?! Oh dear, will this end up being our only Tuamotu stop? However, now that we are anchored in the most gorgeous blue water you can imagine, looking upon beaches that are barely above sea level and palm trees, I think we have might need to explore the Tuamotus further. It is not a hard place to be! And now this tired crew is enjoying the stillness of the anchorage and heading to bed soon.
At 2019-06-16 01:55 (utc) our position was 15°56.94'S 145°03.81'W
Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Next stop Kauehi in Tuamotus
Three weeks ago we arrived at stunning Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas after a 3 week Pacific crossing. We spent that time sailing around the island, meeting new kid boats and finishing school. (I am in denial that I will have a high school kid as of September.)
We are now on the move again, sailing 500nm to the Tuamotu Islands. This should take us around 4 days to get there so hoping for an arrival on Saturday afternoon, which is supposedly a good time to enter the pass into Kauehi. We have been told that the pass at Kauehi is not too scary, unlike some of the other islands in the archipelago. So why we thought we would start off easy. We haven't had to think about currents since basically we took sailing lessons in Vancouver in 2014. I suppose I should do some reading up on ebbs and flows and how not to get caught going the wrong way with the current. Here's hoping for the best because everyone knows I am not going to do that reading that is why I brought D along.
We have been fortunate to meet some lovely families and have been spending time with Vega (who we first met back in Guatemala), Ubi and Knot Home. We are all generally heading in the same direction so hope to spend a bit more time together in the Tuamotus before everyone starts heading in different directions.
I will keep this short as it has been three weeks since trying to connect to the SSB, so fingers crossed we can get a decent connection.
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At 2019-06-11 01:30 (utc) our position was 09°23.09'S 140°21.81'W
We are now on the move again, sailing 500nm to the Tuamotu Islands. This should take us around 4 days to get there so hoping for an arrival on Saturday afternoon, which is supposedly a good time to enter the pass into Kauehi. We have been told that the pass at Kauehi is not too scary, unlike some of the other islands in the archipelago. So why we thought we would start off easy. We haven't had to think about currents since basically we took sailing lessons in Vancouver in 2014. I suppose I should do some reading up on ebbs and flows and how not to get caught going the wrong way with the current. Here's hoping for the best because everyone knows I am not going to do that reading that is why I brought D along.
We have been fortunate to meet some lovely families and have been spending time with Vega (who we first met back in Guatemala), Ubi and Knot Home. We are all generally heading in the same direction so hope to spend a bit more time together in the Tuamotus before everyone starts heading in different directions.
I will keep this short as it has been three weeks since trying to connect to the SSB, so fingers crossed we can get a decent connection.
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At 2019-06-11 01:30 (utc) our position was 09°23.09'S 140°21.81'W
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