Ya gotta take the GOOD with the BAD !

I used to work with a guy named Tony who would always say "you gotta take the good with the bad". Although he usually used the phrase when talking about subjects that are not meant for this "G-rated" blog it does seem to apply to almost everything about life.

For example, an ice cream sundae can be good (really good with caramel and whipped cream) but you have to take the bad with it (can make you fat and give you an ice cream headache). So, as you might expect, sailing across the south Pacific through it's beautiful islands is like an ice cream sundae -

you gotta take the good with the bad.

Tahiti

May 22-27
Like I said in the last post - we were back where we started 3 weeks ago, anchored just below the apartment we had rented which was also just in front of what has to be coolest, most beautiful McDonalds on the planet.

The sun sets behind Moorea as we sit in Tahiti

MMM...McDonalds

We decided we had to go for lunch and an ice cream sundae (good) but the prices like everything in Tahiti are VERY high (bad). The building is not what made it the most beautiful McDonalds, it was the location, location, location! The shaded outdoor dining tables were right on the shore of the lagoon complete with an incredible view of the island of Moorea and a protected swimming area as a playground for the kids! It gave a whole new meaning to the happy meal!!

Polynesians love to paddle

Since this was the biggest place Dragonfly had been since Panama City almost 3 months ago there was lots of business, repairs and provisions that needed attention. We needed to fill propane bottles (for the stove/oven) which somehow takes 3 days from the time you drop them off until you pick them up and costs 5 times what it does in the USA. The starter motor for Dragonfly's diesel generator quit and needed replaced which is necessary for electricity on board but more importantly, to run the watermaker that turns seawater into drinking water. It so happened there was the model we needed right at the marina (good) but it cost Al over $800 (bad). We also needed to check out of French Polynesia even though we would still be visiting more of the islands in the coming weeks. We also lost a crew member, Jacque had to fly home for personal reasons leaving just the 4 of us for the trip to Tonga.

Cook's Bay in Moorea

Moorea

May 27-29 

After a nice half day sail we were entering the lagoon to the island of Moorea which many people say is the most beautiful in French Polynesia. It definately will always have a special place in my heart as it is where Lori and I went on our honeymoon some forever years ago and the first place we ever did scuba diving together (what did you think I was gonna say?...it's a G-rated blog remember). We anchored next to another catamaran with a couple that Al & Jill met in Panama at the puddle jump party and we quickly organized a happy hour on board their boat. They are quite the couple, he's Italian, a former commercial diver (on oil rigs in the north sea) and a great joke teller. She is Irish, they have lived in Australia for 30 years and have been cruising the world now for 5 years on their cat named "Novae".

The next morning we all took a dinghy snorkeling trip, first to a spot where lots of stingrays hang out hoping to be fed so that when I jumped in the water, they all came over bumping into me looking for a handout. After that bit of fun, we checked out a spot near where we anchored that had some tiki statues carved in stone laying on the sandy bottom in about 10' of water. There were about a dozen of them scattered about, roughly 6' tall and wide with different faces and poses. They were said to have been gathered from the island by the missionaries and tossed into the sea to rid the natives of their pagan idols some hundred years ago (when Lori & I were on our honeymoon I think).

Huahine
May 29-31
We set sail about 4 pm for an overnight sail to the island of Huahine to time our entrance into the lagoon for about noon when the light is best for anchoring. We need to be able to see the different water colors in the anchorage to find sandy patches (good) for the anchor to dig in and avoid the coral bommies and rocks (bad) so the chain doesn't foul around them. As soon as we were anchored we hit the town. It was market day for the locals and the main road was lined with people selling and buying. The next day Lori and I rented a scooter and set out to explore the island "Wild Hog" style (you Harley people can relate).

The first place we stopped was an historical site called a "marae" which was a gathering place used around 1200 BC for ceremonies including sharing in the roasting and eating (good) of the "long pig" (bad) which is was usually a captured or killed enemy warrior. What we found were some stone foundations, alters and 4 local kids who were blowing their horn made of a conch shell. They offered to show us how and then laughed at the horrible sounds that were made when Lori & I took turns trying. We thanked them with pencils, balloons and smarties that we had with us in our pack packs, brought from home for just such an encounter. Then it was back to the wind (and rain) in our helmets as we circled the island on the only road, which makes it very hard to get lost. We found the Faie river next where the sacred blue-eyed eels were said to live. Not sure why they are sacred but they are most assuredly blue-eyed and very big and ugly.

When we parked the scooter there was a family selling some fruit, cake like bread and cans of tuna that pointed us the way to the river (more of a creek) where we found the eels in 6" of water. There were also a couple of empty tuna cans lying nearby at which point the sales stand made sense. We went back, bought some cake for us and tuna for the sacrifice at which point mom yelled for the kids to come over and show us how to feed the eels. These kids were wading in the creek dumping tuna and when the eels came to eat swimming between their feet they would pick up these 6" diameter, 4' long eels, let them slime through their hands and laugh at the faces we made while watching this frenzy. They seemed to have as much fun showing off as we did watching them. We again thanked them like we did the conch horn blowers and rode off into the sunset. Soon we were meeting Al & Jill for happy hour beers at the Huahine "Yacht club" and wathing the sun disapear with our toes in the sand.

Riatea
May 31-June 1
We left around 11 am for the short 5 hour sail to Riatea in compny with our friends on Novae. There were not many good places to anchor as the lagoon was either too shallow and rocky or it dropped off quickly to water too deep. After 3 tries we got the hook set on a sandy edge just as the sun was setting (good), a set too shakey to leave the boat unattended (bad) to go to shore where they would be having a night of traditional Tahitian dancing with drums and fire in the middle of town. All we could do was have happy hour with our friends and listen to the drums. Tomorrow we would leave early for a full day sail to Bora Bora.

Bora Bora

June 1-3

Almost as far back as I can remember I always wanted to go to Bora Bora. There are so many stories going back to it's early days of exploration by Capt. Cook in the 18th century through WWII and even world travelers today. Cook told of having trouble keeping his ship in one piece because sailors would pull the metal spikes holding it together in order to buy favors (remember...G rated) from the beautiful, uninhibitated and near naked native women. Many deserted and never returned to their former homes. World War II servicemen also seemed to fall under the island's spell as described in many classic books and Hollywood movies. They all seemd to describe a south seas paradise of beautiful lagoons, jungle covered steep mountains and beautiful women which epitomize the South Sea Adventure and now, I was finally there!  

At least one thing has changed since Cook visited the island, I'm very happily married and had no temptation to steal iron from Dragonfly and desert with a Polynesian babe, but the rest seems to be as true today as back then.We anchored late in the evening so we didn't go ashore until morning. Despite it's reputation for being a tourist hot spot, the main village seemed to be built more for working locals than catering to tourists.

Lori and I were on a mission - find a dive shop who could take us diving to a site reported to be a hangout for large Manta Rays. We found a shop that would pick us up at our anchorage and soon enough we were in 30-40 feet of water with GIANT mantas with 15' wingspans gracefully flying quite near us in squadron formations 5 strong (good) but with the poor 30' visibility (bad) they seemed to appear and disappear all too quickly.

Our other dive was outside the lagoon on the reef wall in some of the clearest water we have ever dove in (good) but with coral that has been devastated (bad) by the "Crown of Thorns" starfish that eat the coral. They have no natural enemies except divers, are very hard to kill (in fact, if you just try to cut one up, the pieces will survive and grow into separate animals) and can wipe out an entire reef. The next day we spent snorrkeling and chilling on a deserted motu that we had all to ourselves. With a deadline to keep, we had to leave this small piece of paradise and French Polynesia all too soon and head west for our final leg to Tonga.

The passage

June 3-15

Our plan was to sail the 700 miles to one of the Cook Islands in 4 days where we would take a break for a couple of days. Well, turns out Mother Nature and Murphy's law would demand we alter that plan. Day one went according to our plan, sailing along nicely at 8-10 knots with a comfortable sea. Day 2 and 3 found us with NO wind, total glass for ocean and barely able to do 3 knots which is like walking speed. It was so calm that Al could be hoisted up to the top of the mast (good) to our windspeed/direction indicator which had decided to quit working (bad) to see if it could be fixed (no).

400 miles from land and barely a ripple...now.

Lori saying "I love you" after the storm

By day 4 the wind had decided to blow into a near gale with 15-18' seas which according to the Beaufort scale description rated it at a 7 out of 10. It was also about this time that one of the brand new hydraulic steering cylinders we had brought for Dragonfly blew a seal leaving us with only one rudder. For the next 36 hours we fought sea sickness and prayed (well, Lori cussed me between prayers) and tried unsucessfully to sleep between our watches every 4 hours.

Our watches were midnight to 4am, 8am to noon and 4pm to 8pm. These events forced us to alter the plans and skip the stop in the Cook Islands.

It was during one of those midnight watches when I realized that ocean sailing is like flying with water all around you instead of air. You can't just stop and get off whenever you feel like it, you have limited space to move around, its hard to sleep and sometimes there is a lot of turbulance. The big difference is speed. Flying is usually between 300-500 miles per hour and the 1400 miles would have taken 5 hours. Sailing is like bicycle riding speed at best and it took us 11 days (10 nights). But, we did catch some tuna and wahoo which you can't do while flying.

Lori really DOES "love me" - We made it to Tonga !!