After one unsuccessful attempt at crossing the Gulf Stream, we are waiting for a GREAT weather window. So, here we sit at a nice marina. It is pretty isolated, but there`s a small West Marine store about two blocks away along with a grocery store, so we have all we need!
The story of our last attempt to get out of here is "interesting" as in the Cinese curse - may you lead an "interesting" life. We were anxious to get underway, and get out of this cold weather! So we left on Oct 30th, with the "go ahead" from Chris Parker. But that afternoon Herb told us he thought we should turn back. Being big, brave sailors with a great boat, we convinced him we could make it across the Gulf Stream, but we were wrong. The next morning even Chris told us to get back out of the Gulf Stream, head northwest, and wait for the nasty storm to pass to the east of us before starting to cross it again. Well, at this point we agreed. Tom had been dodging thunderstorms and lightening all night, and it was obvious that we were not making it across the Gulf Stream. Tom was exhausted, he had been up all night, and on watch since we left Norfolk the morning before. I was still suffering from my cold, so I wasn`t much help.
Well, we agreed to go northwest, out of the stream, and Tom went to bed. But, he hadn`t fallen asleep before I got him up again. I was motor sailing at about 6 knots towards the northwest, but the GPS showed I was travelling east at about 3 knots. This didn`t make sense to me. But finally I realized that we were in a strong current. I tried to adjust the boat to steer more north, but still I was going east. Tom got up and helped out by "putting the pedal to the metal". In other words, he put us under almost full throttle, and finally we were going north at about 2 knots. But I could not go northwest. I settled for the north track for a while, but after about an hour I decided to try to get back to the west. It was slow - at times I was going less than 1 knot to the west although the boat was going 9 knots through the water. I was greatly discouraged as I realized how long it was taking to go the "10 miles" that Chris said we had to go to get back out of the stream. Well, by 2:30 that afternoon although we were travelling at almost 6 knots, we were still in the grips of the stream, and didn`t finally exit it until 7PM that evening. What a nightmare. We ran the engine very hard all day, and by 8:30PM it was making some awful noises. The seas had been rough all afternoon and evening, with the boat coming out of the water on the crest of a wave, then crashing down with a thud. Twice it sounded like the propeller came out of the water, which gave the engine quite a strain. So, we stopped the engine that evening, unfurled the staysail, and sailed through the night. We were warned that the winds would build through the night, and they did. At time the gusts were over 45 knots, but mostly there were steady 35 to 40 knot winds (gale force). We were heading west, but more southerly than we hoped. I took my turns at the watch, and willed the "distance to waypoint" miles to tick off. We had gotten about 200 nautical miles offshore before we turned back. Now we still had 80 miles to go to get back to Norfolk.
Several times during our trip we were "shadowed" by Navy vessels, and it made us feel secure. But, this night there was an announcement on the VHF radio that there would be Navy exercises using live ammo near us. So, I was relieved to find that we were already west of the stated location.
During this passage, we encountered a few leaks that we had never had before. Our boat was often underwater, the decks constantly trying to clear the last wave before the next one hit. The lazarettes (outside built in storage lockers) have drains, but they didn`t appear to be keeping up, and the water seemed to seep in - including a bit into our bed, which really was the last straw! But the water also came through life line bases which were not well caulked. Tom made a joke that we had a crack in the hull - ha ha. And, when I told him that the toilet bowl was filling up he said that was normal - water seeks its own level and we were heeled over. But an hour later when I checked again, the bath mat was floating in two inches of water. Yuck.
When we finally got back to Norfolk it was dark and cold. We found our way into the anchorage we had left 60 hours earlier, dropped anchor again and celebrated. We had a glass of wine, dinner, and fell asleep very early. I hate to admit this, but we were so tired that we forgot to lower the mainsail when we anchored, and at 2AM Tom woke up and remembered it! He lowered it and we went back to sleep thankful that the wind wasn`t strong enough to make us sail off our anchor!
So, now we wait, and wait for the right weather window. It looks like we`ll be stuck here a week. But, we`ve learned that patience is a virtue!
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I awoke the first morning because the barbeque was banging against the railing - hanging by the line that is used to hold the cover on. The mount had been broken overnight, and we figured we`d lose it rather than go out and try to retrieve it in these conditions.
We are anchored in St. Georges harbour, Bermuda, after a bumpy upwind sail from Norfolk. We left Norfolk on Thursday, November 9th, and arrived here on Tuesday, November 14th. We were only going to stop for 3 or 4 days, but the weather has kept us here much longer than planned. We now hope to leave on November 25th. Good thing this is a friendly country with good grocery stores, restaurants, and lots of other sailors. Next leg will be about a week - St. Martin is 850 nautical miles from here. We have decided not to try to get to Columbia this year. We are already very behind schedule. But, that`s what sailing is all about - no schedules!
Well, the forecast was for fairyly strong winds, and that`s what we got! And then some.... Herb didn`t mention the huge seas, but I guess that`s what you get when you have high winds. We did motor for the first day, but then the wind came up and we sailed. As the wind continued to build over the next few days, we continued to shorten sail, until we had a triple reefed main and a partially furled staysail. We were still flying! The seas were the big story. On the second and third day they were very uncomfortable because the swell was from the NE and the wind driven waves were from ENE. So, they mostly came up from behind us, but every third or fourth one hit us broadside. As they grew, the sound of the impact on the hull grew louder, and the amount of water that flew over the boat and sometimes into the cabin increased. Finally we learned to keep the cabin door almost completely closed. Tom spent an entire day helping the autopilot keep a course that would protect us from these huge seas. I took some photos which I will add to the site, but it doesn`t do justice to the seas. Some were 20 feet tall, and most were breaking. We had a hard time getting any rest, especially Tom. One night he laid down on the floor in the galley walkway and was finally able to get some sleep. The motion of the boat was rather severe, in that it tried to throw you out of the bed. One wave actually did send me flying at least partially out of the bed. I decided to sleep on the settee in the main cabin, with pillows all around me to limit my movement. It took us almost 6 days to get to St. Martin, and the voyage was 991 nautical miles long due to the easterly route we took. I am so happy we went east early, otherwise we would have taken the seas more on the beam. Well, when we arrived, we kissed the ground, had a few drinks with our new friends Jan and Alan from Coral Moon (our buddy boat in our voyage to St. Martin), and had a nice 11 hour sleep!
We have now been here 2 weeks, will we ever leave? The only shortcoming is the unavailability of water. Other than that we probably could stay forever. But we will leave on Monday. We have a restaurant recommendation for St. Barths. Then we`ll proceed on to Antigua where we will spend Christmas and Tom`s birthday. After that it`s on to Guadaloupe, then Isla Margarita (Venezuela). It is surprising how many other boats we have met that are also headed for the canal. The most recent is a young couple from Denver on a 50` catamaran, who are home schooling their 2 children, and setting off on an adventure which will take them to Australia at least.
There is an adventure out there waiting for us, but I am reluctant to leave the internet, good grocery stores, and fine restaurants of St. Martin!
Suzie
We finally made it to Antigua yesterday. I hope it is our last upwind sail. It was a very painful and long trip, with an unscheduled overnight stop in Montserrat to sleep. We re anchored in Falmouth Harbor, and tomorrow we go to a champagne party at 11AM then a potluck party of the beach. I thought we were moving on to Guadaloupe for New Years but Tom decided that we are going to stay here. We`ll see. There`s not much as far as grocery stores or for that matter anything else. But there are lots of megayachts. Most of the large boats are sailboats. And our little 50 foot boat does indeed look small.
New years eve was great in Antigua. We went to Trappas restaurant (the tuna sashimi is to die for) and then to the party on the dockyard. There were many bottles of champagne, a band and fireworks. Being old, we went home right after the fireworks. It is great commuting in a dinghy - no traffic jams. Today (jan 1) we did another hike and we leave Antigua tomorrow morning. Next stop Guadaloupe.
Well, the Christmas party on the dockyard was amazing! It is a fund raiser with bottles of champagne for sale and a great band. Tom bought 5 bottles, but we didn`t drink them all ourselves! We then went to a potluck on the beach with some new friends. It was a great birthday for Tom. Then on boxing day we went to the local beach, did a snorkle, and I made Tom`s favorite dinner (thanks Mary Long!)
We are getting to know Antigua, and like it more every day. We are even doing a hash run on Saturday. We moved the boat over to English harbor which makes me nervous. There are a lot of boats anchored too close together. But the New Years Eve celebration is there, including fireworks. So we are looking forward to a fun New Years - I hope we can stay up that late.
I have added some photos and a movie of Tom on his birthday.
We love Guadaloupe, mostly because it is part of France and thus has good cheese, bread, pastry, wine, and other essentials. We spent 2 nights in the small town of Deshaies. We walked up the local hill one day, continuing uphill randomly at each intersection. Finally we arrived at the top, where we found a restaurant called the red fish. The decor was amazing, and it seemed like it would be a marvelous spot for dinner. Unfortunately, it is only open a couple of nights a week, and we must leave. So, next time.... We spent then 2 nights at Bourg, Les Saintes. It is one of my favorite towns. They get a lot of tourists by ferry from the mainland, and there are a few very small sailing cruise ships which visit for one night. So, the town is set up for tourists, but not like St. Thomas. It is small and quaint, with only foot traffic in the main part of town. We went to another interesting restaurant named L`Auberge de Petite Saintes. It is run by 2 gays, so it has very tasteful decor and great food. It is also situated on a hill, but not very far from town. The following day we climbed to La Chameau, an historic lookout. It was quite a climb - 1000 feet, but it was paved all the way to the top. Amazing views from the top. I`ll add some photos to show you the view.
We are in Bequia, after spending 4 days in Guadaloupe, having some good french food. Our next stop in Grenada by way of Carriacou. Bequia is a really neat little island in the Grenadines. It is not commercialized so it gives one the feeling of really being in the islands but it does have services, restaurants, and it is fairly clean. The people are all very nice, but I have to say that we really haven`t run into any unfriendly "natives" in any island. In the morning, a nice man comes by in his small boat selling fresh baked bread and ice. Yum.
We spent a night in Carriacou on our way to Grenada. We had lobster pizza at a local spot, and then returned to the boat. We had planned to go check out the rest of the town the following morning, but at 4:30 I woke up when something didn`t feel right. Well, our anchor had snagged some line, and we were slowly drifting out to sea. Luckily we had "parked" behind all the other boats, so we would have just slowly moved west until morning - unless a passing ship happened upon us. But there`s not much traffic out there. So, once we got up and tried to reset the anchor we decided we might as well get an early start. So we arrived in Grenada by lunchtime. It is nice to be back here. There have been some improvements in the last 8 months, but there are still buildings without roofs from hurricane Ivan.
We anchored in St. Georges lagoon even though we heard from friends that it is now privately owned and boats are not permitted to anchor here. A developer is building a megayacht facility - seems they are popping up all over the place! I love anchoring here because it is close to town, and there is free wifi I can get from my boat. So far no one has told us to move, so ignorance is bliss.
Today we went to the market where the ladies sell spices and fresh fruits and vegetables. One of the more charming ladies (actually she is quite a character) came up to us and said she remembered us from last spring. She wants to be Tom`s girlfriend.
Tomorrow we will do a hash here on Grenada. It will be our second one this year. We did a short run yesterday to try to get in shape for it, but I think we`ll end up walking. The trail in Antigua was very long and steep, and I assume it will be the same story here.
Tom is getting anxious to leave. We have been warned of the horrible seas and winds that we`ll encounter on our way to Panama. Everyone is recommending that we wait May, but we really want to get to Panama by the end of February. And after all, we`ve seen big seas before. I am not looking forward to seeing them again, but at least I know that our boat can take them - even if the crew can`t.
Venezuela
We left Grenada in the middle of the night so that we would arrive at our first stop during daylight hours. We pulled into Los Testigos in the late afternoon, and found an anchorage that didn`t roll too much. We decided not to bother checking with the local Coast Guard because it was already late in the day and we planned to leave a daybreak. Tom didn`t catch any fish, so he was tempted to take the dinghy over to a local fishing boat and see if we could buy some fish. But, getting the dinghy down when it is prepared for sea is a pain, and also we had no local currency. But, in hind sight, I am sure they would have accepted beer or rum. Anyway, we are not that impressed with the scenery here. What was interesting was the loud generator that started up at dusk and ran for a few hours. It obviously powered the lights in the fishing huts, and perhaps some appliances.
We got an early start the following morning, and headed for Isla Margarita. Once again we motored a lot because of lack of wind (and we ripped the preventer`s attachment point from the boom) and the following seas which made the sails sag and fill with a "slap". As we approached Margarita we saw many large fancy buildings on the shore and hills which look like vacation condos. I was a bit surprised by the amount of development. We haven`t seen buildings like these since St. Martin. The first thing we did after anchoring was take everything that we normally store outside and move it to our forward cabin. The amount of theft in Venezuela is unprecidented in the Caribbean.
When we went to shore to see about checking into Venezuela, we met Juan of Juan`s Marina. He looked like a caricature of a south american gentleman mariner. He explained to us the procedures of checking in, offered to change dollars for us, described the amenities of his marina, and the use of taxis for trips to town. He also told us about the free bus to the local "costo" mall. So, we happily returned to the boat after downing a few local beers from his convenience store. Beers were about 35 cents.
Juan took care of our immigration and customs, which cost us $100. That`s pretty steep for country clearance, but when averaged with the price of fuel it is very reasonable. We had fuel delivered to the boat for about 38 cents a gallon. We bought all we could hold! The delivery boat was a sight! It is powered by a single stroke diesel without a muffler, and it billows black smoke and emits a slimy trail in the water.
Our trip to Sigo was another surprise. We haven`t seen stores like this since we left the US. We were delighted to find a Radio Shack, where we purchased a second "burgler alarm". We used the motion detectors that stores use to announce the arrival of a customer to guard our dinghy and our companionway. Then we spent the next two hours shopping in the "costco". Tom spent the first hour in the liquor department, then he spent the next hour trying to make me shop faster. I had looked through a boating cookbook, and made a list of staples that I would need for the next month or so. We had a mountain of stuff, which the store happily packages and delivers back to the marina. It is surprising the things you can find (like Taco shells) and the things you can`t (like canned potatos or spinach). We bought some beef, thinking that Venezuela is known for its beef, but none of it looked very good. That night when we grilled some of the steaks, we confirmed that it was indeed tough and strange tasting. It makes a much better stir fry.
After a couple of days, we shoved off for Isla Tortuga, which was a very long sail. We broke it into two days, by finding an anchorage on the south coast of Isla Margarita. When we finally arrived on Tortuga, we were both astounded by the beauty of the anchorage behind the small barrier island. After dropping anchor we took the dinghy ashore to explore. There was one group on the beach, obviously from the large power boat. They had a sun tent erected, and a bar set up inside. We took a walk to the end of the little island, where the surf comes together from the east and west, making an unusually lumpy sea. It is a shame to see all the garbage, especially plastic bottles, that wash up on the shore. It not only ruins the looks of paradise but I think of all the sea creatures that are harmed by this trash.
Another early start - 2AM - for Los Roques. It is a small group of islands that is a national park, so we cannot stay more than 24 hours. We arrived in another idealic anchorage, but this time we just enjoyed it from our boat. And once again we got were on our way - next stop was only about 30 miles away so we could set a leasurely pace. We arrived in Islas de Aves around 2PM and worked our way through what the charts showed as an awful maze of coral heads. Well, it turned out to really be an easy entrance to the anchorage. There are four other sailboats and one fishing vessel in the anchorage. There are two small islands protected by a very large horseshoe reef. It is home to a huge bird population, the majority of which are red footed boobies. They squack loudly and seem to have standing room only in the mangroves.
We had quite a good time there, and met some new friends. We snorkeled the reefs and floated through the mangroves in our dinghy. It was so relaxing that it was hard to leave. We did move on, and spent one night in the Solavente Aves, but we were not in a mangrove area. But we did find an abandoned fishing village and a few mountains of dead conch shells. I think they must have overfished this area.
Our trip to Bonaire was uneventful, other than the sail up the west coast on our arrival. We needed to go fast to reach the marina before it closed, and the wind certainly helped us out. We were doing almost 10 knots!
Back in Bonaire, but by boat this time! We have been here about a dozen times by air/land, but only once by sea. We have used our bikes here, and they are a great mode of transportation, except for the wind. It`s a flat island, and it doesn`t seem like people want to run you over.
Tim arrived on Feb 1, we picked him up at the airport in a pickup truck. He had almost 100 pounds of food for us (the favorite things we can`t get in the islands). We had a great time during his 8 day visit. We did some diving, including one dive on the Hilma Hooker wreck. We saw an octapus, several turtles, and my favorite fish - the spotted drum. We also did a bit of snorkeling and I was really impressed with the underwater scenery that`s just 15 feet below the surface. The water here is very clear and nice and warm.
We`ve found that the restaurants have improved quite a bit since our last visit. Tom and Tim went fishing daily, but caught nothing. That was fine with me!
We awoke one morning to the sounds of fluttering, and found a pidgeon walking around in the galley. He was looking for a handout, I guess. He`s the only pidgeon we`ve seen on the island, and he has a numbered tag on his leg. Maybe he`s from NYC? Well, we fed him and kept him on board for about 2 hours, then Tom carried him outside. Of course he immediately flew away, but he returned around lunchtime. We have been feeding him ever since - but on the back deck so he doesn`t come inside again. When he runs out of food and water, he comes to the companionway and looks in to see what we`ve got! Every evening he flies "home" to sleep, but he`s back here for breakfast every morning.
Now that Tim is back in Va, we are looking for a "weather window" to head for Panama.
Today (Sunday Feb 11th) was the children`s carnival here in Bonaire. They were so cute, dressed in their feathers and sparkles. Tom went back to the boat to get the camera, but the parade was over before he returned. He got a few photos of kids hanging around town after the parade, which I will add to the site soon. Anyway, we checked out of the country today and we will leave in the morning. It should be a five day trip to Panama. It will probably be 2 weeks until I`m back on the internet. Until then, enjoy the snow!
We left Bonaire on Feb 12th with a great weather forecast. It took us about 5 days to get to the San Blas, and it was one of our best passages to date. We were buzzed by a helicopter and a 4 prop plane.
We anchored in Porvenir right next to the airport. This is a very interesting place. The people here have proactively avoided the 20th and 21st century. They live a very simple life, and are quite content. There are no restaurants, grocery stores, roads, cars, etc. There are a couple of hotels, but I don`t know anyone who would actually stay in them. Not that all my friends are snobs, but these defy the imagination. They do have running water. I doubt they have electicity. What an "interesting" place.
We moved on to the out islands after one night. The islands are absolutely beautiful! Imagine tiny islands with white beaches and palm trees. When we snorkeled around the islands, the water was actually almost too warm!
The locals paddle up to our boat in their dug out canoes, and try to sell us fish and molas. We usually buy from them, but we always give candy to the kids. They really love that.
We will move to Colon in a few days and I`ll post an update from there.
We arrived in Colon/Christobal on March 1, and with the help of my brother, we got a slip in the Shelter Bay Marina. Wally called Lena, the office manager at the marina, and used his charm to get us a slip - thanks! The marina is still under construction, but we don`t care. It has great showers, internet, and water to wash the boat! It is amazing the things you crave out here on the high seas.
Shortly after we arrived, we took the dinghy across Limon Bay (not advisable as it turns out - it was a bit rough, and there are lots of ships in the bay) to the Panama Canal Yacht Club to start the canal transit paperwork. We hired Roberto, and by the next day we had our completed paperwork. The "admeasurer" showed up the following day to measure our boat. Below 50 feet, you pay $600 to transit the canal, above 50 feet (up to 65) you pay $850. We just squeezed in under the wire. We made an appointment for the transit - March 29th. We then flew back to DC for a short visit to get Tom`s Ham Radio license, and pay our dues to the dermatologist. It was great to be home. We saw most of our family and a lot of friends. Even the weather cooperated for the first week - then it snowed! Yuck.
While we were home we bought some new systems for the boat to improve our safety at sea. We also bought our favorite snacks. In fact, when we flew back to Panama we had close to 200 pounds of luggage.
The Shelter Bay Marina is located in the former Fort Sherman, a US military base that guarded the entrance to the Panama Canal. It also adjoins San Lorenzo, a national park. We can walk, run and ride our bikes in this pristine nature preserve. There are interesting birds, howler monkeys and other creatures. I`ll add some photos of the Oropendalos` nests. Tom even brought one home, which we will eventually display in our home.
We did a practice run through the Panama Canal on another boat, and had a great time going through the first time. It gave us a lot of confidence for our own transit, which we did on March 29th. Bobby and Babs Vanyo flew down to help us, thanks! We recruited another fellow from the marina, and went out into Limon Bay an hour earlier than necessary. We were anxious to start, and sometimes the pilots arrive early. Well, we sat there floating around the bay for three hours waiting for the pilots. Finally we got underway, and entered the first set of locks tied up to Souls Calling (a boat we`ve met off and on since St. Martin). We went through the locks behind a large cargo vessel. The turbulence wasn`t too bad, and although it was nighttime, the flood lights provided plenty of light. The locks raised us about 85 feet up into the man made lake. Our recruited line handler Dick got the hard job pulling in the bow line as we raised rather rapidly in the locks. We arrived at the mooring ball in Lake Gatun very late, and had a quick dinner and a few glasses of wine then went to bed. Our pilot reboarded at 7AM and thankfully the rest of the crew was lively because I was exhausted!
We spent three or four hours motoring across Lake Gatun, which is a bit like the Intracoastal Water Way in the U.S. We observed the men working on widening the canal. It looks like it will take them forever to dig out a wider cut through the mountain. There is solid rock that must be blasted out with dynamite. We got to the lock and found our companion boat tied up to a dock. We tied alongside and our pilots left to wait in the air conditioned office. We were waiting for an LPG tanker to come out of the lock. It made us quite nervous as the tanker motored past the dynamite barge.
We finally got into the last set of locks, and Bobby offered to take the bow line and give Dick a break by letting him tend the stern line. Smart guy - all the work is on the stern lines on the way down! But, we rewarded Dick with several cold beers and he didn`t seem to mind having the tough assignments. As we entered the second lock our pilot pointed out the webcam, and it turns out that we were actually on the web site. Babs called her daughter and she was able to watch us sink out of sight into the lock! The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we arrived in the marina in plenty of time to relax a bit before dinner. We were disappointed in the marina, it was almost 4 times the cost of our last marina, and not nearly as nice. But one advantage is that it is near town, and there are several restaurants within walking distance.
Babs and Bobby went to Harvard MBA school with a local man, and we met him for lunch and spent a great day with him, meeting some of his family, seeing his gorgeous penthouse, visiting his yacht club and finally going to a local island on his large fishing boat. We really had a great time seeing how the locals live. He also taught Tom a great deal about fishing. I sure hope it sticks!
As I write this we are making our final preparations for beginning the trip across the Pacific. We bought another solar panel today, and Tom is trying to install it without dropping too many pieces of hardware into the water. It is very rocky where we are anchored so he has to balance as he works. We also spent the day dealing with the bureaucracy. Luckily a fellow cruiser gave us the name of a taxi driver who worked miracles for us this morning. It is hard to believe that one has to check into Panama in every port! This was our third "entry" into Panama. Oh well, it is finally done and we are free to leave as soon as we finish shopping. The grocery stores are wonderful here, and these are the last we`ll see until November so we are really stocking up.
After much procrastination, we finally left Panama on Saturday, April 7th, 2007, with a 7 to 10 day voyage ahead of us. As we pulled out of Balboa, we talked to our friends on a Norhaven trawler named Special Blend. They were going to spend the night in some offshore islands, and asked if we wanted to join them. Tom wanted to go near the islands anyway because he heard the fishing was great there, and we also thought we should clean our bottom for the long passage, so we decided to stop for the evening. Although we chatted with Martha and Jim when they paddled over in their kayak, we declined their dinner invitation. Tom was so tired when we got to the anchorage that he didn`t even go in the water. I think he may be coming down with something. So we cooked the fish he caught that afternoon, watched a movie and turned in early. The following morning we took off at 6:30AM, and headed for the Galapagos. We took the southerly route, in order to get south of the ITCZ as quickly as possible. It is an area near the equator that has no wind, but numerous thunderstorms. I am a bit paranoid about lightening, knowing that a strike can ruin all the electronics, and even sink the boat by melting the metal thru hull fittings. We do have lightening protection, but I`d just as soon not test it. As a back up we keep a GPS, a computer, and a VHF radio in a Faraday Box (often we use our oven for that purpose).
The first two or three nights we had a lot of storms that showed up on our radar, and we could see lots of lightening in the distance, but we managed to avoid all of them. The third day we didn`t make much progress towards our destination because we tacked back and forth trying to avoid storms. Then, when we finally thought we were doing well, sailing along with our spinnaker in about 12 knots of wind, the halyard broke and the sail went into the sea. We spent an hour wrestling it back on board. Then we are finally relaxing, motoring along when I hear some voices over the VHF, which is strange because we should be out of range. It turns out it was coming from a little island called Malpelo, which is about 80 miles off the coast of Columbia. Well, Tom thought he`d be friendly and he gave them a call. What a mistake, they wanted to know what we were doing in Columbian waters without permission. After a 10 minute conversation in broken spanish and broken english we gave them our boat information and agreed that we would immediately leave their waters.
In general the Pacific was as expected for this part of the voyage. It is notoriously windless, and we spent a lot of time runnig the engine. However we had a couple of good sailing days. In fact one day was way too good. It reminded me of the Atlantic! We were being tossed around by nasty waves, and we were getting waves breaking over the boat. A bit of deja vu. And we had left the dorade vents on because after all this was the Pacific and there was no way we would be taking water over the bow. Ha! We were sitting below when I heard water rush into the boat. Tom confirmed that it was the dorade vent, scooping water into his tool closet. So he had to go out on the bow as it was pitching in the seas and turn the vents around. Murphy`s Law definitely rules at sea!
Tom was disappointed in the fishing. After catching 4 fish in one hour as we left Balboa, he didn`t have another nibble. He did lose at least one lure, so I guess someone was out there. Of course it was a brand new lure. He spent a lot of money on more fishing gear in Balboa. I think we should just go to the fish market.....
This trip has been much more relaxing than our Atlantic voyages. In general, there is very little traffic, and except for that one day we have had either no wind or at most 15 knots. Some days we actually had some good sailing. The trip took a bit over 7 days, and although it wasn`t stressful we were happy to arrive. We were in contact daily with 3 other boats, two of which beat us there, and the other arrived about the same time. We also checked in daily with the Pan Pacific Net, a Single Side Band Radio Net that provides assistance as needed to boats in transit. It is also useful because boats underway give their position and current weather. We have not been able to get many weather forecasts. The NOAA ones are pretty general, they just tell you where there is really bad weather. No news is good news.
We arrived in the Galapagos on Sunday, April 15th. We were happy to be at anchor, and get a good night`s rest!
Wonderful islands, with great wildlife. We have done some touring on our own, and seen giant turtles, marine iguana, and lots of birds. Tom had a bit of travelers revenge here so we haven`t done anything too strenuous. We will move to another island tomorrow.
Looking back on the crossing from Galapagos to the Marqueses, it was "a piece of cake". But at the time is was a different story. It is 3000 miles across the Pacific, with nothing but water and the possibility of running into ships. We set off with the expectation that it would take about 3 weeks. The first few days we had no wind, so we motored day and night. We used the genoa to help us along, but the wind was so light that it didn`t do much good. On the third morning, I awoke to find that the head sail halyard had failed overnight, but Tom was able to furl the genoa before it fell very far. So, he had to go up the mast to fix it. Luckily it isn`t really rough, but we do have about 8 foot seas that are coming from the southeast. I try to keep the boat steady, but every few minutes a large wave hits us and swings the stern around. Then the boat rocks and poor Tom has to hold on for dear life as the top of the mast swung 10 feet to the right, then 10 feet to the left. Ok it was probably only 6 feet, but he was scared and I was scared. I could tell he had to hold on with all his strength. It turns out that the shackle had opened, so that was good news I guess. At least we didn`t have more chaffing problems up there.
Our routine is an early dinner (around 5:30 or so), then I try to go to sleep with the help of a sleeping pill. I am usually asleep by 7, and set the alarm for midnight. Then Tom goes to sleep and I try to let him sleep until he naturally wakes up, which is usually around 5:30. At around 3AM I am really exhausted and I get into the routine of setting the radar alarm (which will sound if anything comes within 15 miles of us) and setting a kitchen timer for anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, and try to take a nap. Eventually I get into a real routine, and I am sleeping most of the time between 3:30 and 5:30AM.
We learned from some fellow sailors who had left a week before us that the weather reports showed more wind south of 5 degrees south, so we altered course and headed for the wind! We weren`t disappointed. By the third day we had enough wind to put up the spinnaker. It moved us along quite nicely, but I was nervous the whole time. Spinnakers have such power that they scare me! Oh, and the sheet broke because we had it led incorrectly and it chaffed through in a few minutes. Anyway, by day four the winds had really started to pick up but it was not from astern, it was a close reach and the seas were close together and gave us a very uncomfortable ride. It was a lot like the Atlantic, and I wasn`t happy! Luckily those conditions only lasted a couple of days. Still it was pretty bad - couldn`t cook, take a shower without sitting down, or sleep without wedging yourself sideways to keep the motion from throwing you out of bed. And I was seasick. Yuck. This was not how it was portrayed in the brochure - the Pacific is calm with slow rolling swells. Ha!
By the 6th day, we were flying! We had about 1.5 knots of current, and great wind on the beam. We had several days in a row where we made over 200 nautical miles a day, and one day we did 236. That was huge. I think previously our record had been around 190. We ran the generator once a day to keep the autopilot, radar, lights and refrigerator running. Our solar panels do OK, but the radar really sucks down the batteries. But I wouldn`t be without it (even though we hadn`t seen another ship in a week). We use it at night, but sometimes we probably should check it during the day because we tend to be a bit lax in our look outs.
We learned of a Single Sideband Cruisers Net comprised of about 20 boats heading for the Marqueses. Every morning each boat reports its position, miles to go, and wind conditions. Also, we have a little personal net with four other boats who are sailing to the Marqueses. So every day we talk on the radio 2 or 3 times. It sure makes one feel less alone to know others will worry about you if you don`t "check in".
On the seventh day we learned that a boat about 350 miles behind us had dismasted, had a hole in its bow, and was sinking. The couple had put out a May Day a call and had activated their EPIRB. We listened to the ham station (Maritime Mobile Net) that had contact with the sinking boat and was relaying information to the Coast Guard. That morning one of the other sailboats that was only 95 miles away from "Sailabout" (the sinking boat) turned around to rescue the couple. However, even under the best of circumstances it would take them until midnight to reach the boat. And of course, they had horrible weather, 14 foot seas and high winds to fight going back to the east. Eventually another boat that was only 50 miles away learned of the situation and they turned around as well. Two commercial ships were diverted to the sinking ship, but they were also 24 hours from reaching the sinking boat. Luckily the water was not coming in very fast, and they were able to stay on board their boat overnight. About 26 hours after their May Day call, they were evacuated by a ship, and left their boat with the lights on and the engine running, knowing it would sink soon. (As it turned out, another sailboat came upon it two nights later, and luckily the lights were still on so that saw it before they hit it).
We followed the "rescue" on the SSB radio like it was CNN covering a major crisis. It sure made us all a bit nervous, and we all wished we could help in some way. So, with that crisis behind us, we continuted happily along, making great time. On our 10th night out, I awoke to take my shift at 1AM, and I noticed Tom was anxiously studying the radar. There were two ships, one which was very close. He had been altering course and the ship seemed to be altering its course as well so that we remained on a collision course! He tried calling the ship on the VHF radio, and finally got a response when we were within a mile of colliding. We sure wish our SeaCas system was working, it would have told us the name of the boat and its speed and direction. We could have called it by name, and we could have figured how better to avoid it. Anyway, Tom finally reached the captain, who was Japanese and spoke very little english. This huge tuna canning factory was bearing down on us, and the captain didn`t seem to understand. We were sailing, and had limited ability to maneuver. He changed course, and stopped his engines, and we passed in front of him - but much too close for comfort! After that experience we work harder at diagnosing the SeaCas problem. Luckily the company`s customer service is excellent, and we had frequent communications. Finally they decided we needed a new "box" and they shipped it to a friend who is flying into the Marqueses in late May.
Around this time, the exhaustion was getting to me. One night I took a half a sleeping pill and was sitting talking to Tom when I noticed that the watermaker was talking. He couldn`t hear it, but it was definitely saying "I got the pump, but not the milk, iI got the cup, the cup of milk, etc, etc. Tom thinks I am losing my mind. (Later when we met Colleen of Mokesha she said her watermaker talks to her as well). Anyway, We are both getting fed up with this life at sea. He is getting short with me - he is angry because the SeaCas is broken. I am sea sick and tired. At sea we spend about 14 hours a day either sleeping or trying to sleep. We read books, and I cook 3 meals a day. Tom makes himself an extra meal around 11PM, and most nights he makes jello or chocolate pudding. He sure gains weight at sea.
Every morning I calculate how many miles to go. We try to exercise a bit each day. Tom has been doing several hundred sit ups, and I do sit ups and use our dive weights to do arm exercises. We take two showers a day, one when we wake up (because it is often hot overnight) and one in the afternoon. Often we have to keep the hatches closed because otherwise waves find their way inside. We spend much of the day either reading or napping. I am rarely in the cockpit, but when I am it surprises me to see birds out here so far from land. I even saw a few birds when we were halfway across - 1500 miles from the nearest land!
As we approached the Marqueses, we were both very excited about arriving, but also savoring our last nights at sea. We still have plenty of fuel left, even though we have had to motor the last few days. We have 220 gallons on board, and Tom has run the engine at very low RPMs to make it last. But that means we go slowly, and now we find that we would arrive just at dusk on day 18, so we have to slow down, and go on a circuitous route so that we arrive after day break. There are two other boats who have the same plan, and I worry we will run into them on this moonless night as we meander around the Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva. It is a beautiful sight, not just because it is an anchorage, but it is truly one of the world`s loveliest bays. When the anchor is finally down (it took three attempts before it held), we took a nap. Then we went into town to go for a hike, and to touch land!
The Marquises Islands are a group of ten islands, plus a few rocks and islets. We stopped first at the southern end of the chain and worked our way to the northwest. These islands are high, volcanically formed and have steep, black, cliff-edged coasts indented by many valleys. They have sharp outlines and are clearly visible from many miles away. In fact, we saw our landfall as the sun was setting on day 18 of our voyage. Fatu Hiva has very lush vegetation and has mountains that are over 3000 feet high. The Bay of Virgins must be one of the prettiest bays in the world. It is surrounded by lush vegetation, and rocky pillars. Often we had short rain showers that produced beautiful rainbows.
This is an island which is unspoiled by civilization because there is no airstrip and thus no easy way to visit it unless by yacht. The people are very friendly to us sailors, and want to exchange their fruit (bananas, limes, pomplemouse, etc) for rum or perfume. The children all ask for candy. But everyone is very welcoming. There is only one tiny store and no restaurants. But local women set up informal restaurants in their homes. We went to Desire and Jacques` house for dinner one night, it was a real treat! They spoke no english, and I speak very, very little french. But she happily chatted on about who knows what. We had several dishes - poisson cru (a polynesian ceviche), curried chicken and a goat stew.
We made two attempts to find the local waterfall, and were successful the second time. We just didn`t see the markers the first time, but after we figured it out it was a piece of cake. Well, actually it was a scary hike. It was a narrow, slippery path through a jungle with a sheer drop on one side. I made it, but I sure was afraid. The waterfall was spectacular. It falls 200 feet into a still pool, where we stood and took photos. On our way back to town we were met by a woman and her daughter, who "exchanged" rum and fishing hooks for a stalk of bananas. We had to follow her into the jungle where she hacked down a couple of banana trees, then asked us to help her haul the stalks out to her wheel barrow. When we left them, we realized this was not such a great move. We had to carry the stalk, which weighed about 35 pounds, back to the village, about a 25 minute walk. We had bananas coming out our ears for weeks.
We spent 5 days enjoying the island, hiking and socializing with the other boats in the anchorage. Then we travelled a short distance to the next island, Tahuata. We chose a bay that one guide book said was one of the three most beautiful anchorages in Polynesia. What a disappointment! It was nothing compared to the Bay of Virgins. The big excitement that day was the 2 yellow fin tuna that Tom caught as we approached the island. The second one was 25 pounds, and it took him 45 minutes to bring him in. He was afraid of losing it if we tried to net it from the deck, so he lowered the dinghy until it almost touched the water, then reached out over it with his net. That`s when the dinghy flipped and Tom went into the sea! Luckily we were motoring at 2 knots and I immediately put the boat in neutral, then reversed it to let him catch up. He was swimming his heart out! When he reached the dinghy and climbed in, his first words were "do we still have the fish on the line". We did, and he flopped him in the dinghy. We had great tuna for weeks!
We only stayed two nights in Tuhuata, then went on to the main island of HIva Oa to deal with the authorities. We had an awful trip motoring into strong winds and big blocking seas. We sure were happy to arrive in the anchorage, even though it is foul and crowded. We finally met our new friends on "Mokisha", a couple from California. Colleen is so lively on the radio, it was always a joy to talk to her on our passage. She showed us the way to town, and gave us information on paying the bond and checking in with the police. We accomplished most of that the first day, but because they only check boats in between 9 and 11. We were thrilled to find tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce! We also got fresh french bread and pastries. We were in heaven! But, the walk to town was long and hot. The anchorage was crowded, dirty and noisy. It is a working port, and it is being dredged. Still, we stayed a few nights. We were reluctant to leave because our next destination was probably an over night sail. Finally we left, one morning, with no clear destination. We talked about going to the north side of Hiva Oa, but after we got underway, we decided to go all the way to Nuka Hiva, the largest and most developed island. We arrived at 2AM, to a well marked and wide open harbor, with a bright almost full moon (which set about 30 minutes before we entered the harbor). We were able to find our way in,and we anchored near a couple of sailboats and fell happily into bed. The bay is the open remains of a volcanic crater. First thing the next morning, the police boarded our boat. They asked to see our papers, and the five of them searched the boat for undeclared items, drugs and guns. They were very friendly, but a bit intimidating. They wanted to see our wine and liquor, and they questioned the origin of my herb plants. Finally they were satisfied, and they called their tender and bit us adieu. They may "see us again" in the Tuamotus (our next destination after the Marqueses).
We arrived in Nuka Hiva on Saturday, the beginning of a three day holiday. No stores are open, and only one restaurant is open. We were able to visit the local artisan store. The islanders are very talented craftsmen. They carve wood (mahogany and other fine hard woods), they weave baskets, string shells and beads into jewelry, paint tatoo-like designs on sheets of bark (tapa cloth), and make stone pestles. We purchase a couple of items, and return to the boat. We should have gone to another bay on this island, but we were uninspired. We did take a hike up the road, trying to reach the top of the mountain, but the road just kept going up and up. It looked like a fairy tale! We were offered a ride, and gladly accepted after we had hiked for 45 minutes, but quickly realized that this mountain was much higher than we thought, so we got out and started the trek back to town.
We inquired about getting fuel but were told that it would be unavailable until at least Wednesday. We were able to get 20 gallons, which will probably get us to our next set of islands, where we may be able to purchase a 55 gallon drum of diesel. In general we were not impressed with this island, and after a couple of days, moved on to Ua Pou. Now that is one gorgeous island!
When we left Nuka Hiva, we barely had enough daylight left to reach Oa Pou, and thought about spending the night in another bay on Nuka Hiva. But, we decided to press on. Of course Tom caught a fish at 3PM, and fought it until 4PM! The sun goes down by 5:30, so once he landed the fish, we motored at a high RPM to reach the bay before dark. It was another large yellow fin tuna. Tom was a happy camper!
This island is beyond beautiful, with unusual rock outcroppings. The local police are like tour guides, very friendly to cruisers. We find the local stores and bakery, and we decide to purchase another 10 gallons of fuel.
After the lush greenery and soaring peaks of the Marquises, the Tuamotus are quite a contrast. They are sunken volcanos, and the land that is left looks like the moon. There is no soil, just volcanic rock and coral. It is amazing that anything grows. That explains why you can`t buy any fresh produce on these islands, other than bananas and limes. However, there are several islands that have weekly deliveries of fresh produce. We were lucky to be in Fakarava when "the ship came in." I went to the store and bought broccoli and apples! The apples were the best I`ve ever eaten, never mind that they were $2 each. Our diet lately has been fish that either Tom caught or we got from other sailors, and food out of cans. Tom has a great idea - a cookbook consisting of recipes that only require cans or other "long shelf life" food. I have only one good recipe - Tuscan Chicken Stew - made with canned chicken. Of course it is a lot better with fresh chicken and fresh spinach. We spent our days in the Tuamotus snorkeling, diving, beachcombing, and socializing with other cruisers. We have made friends with a couple who are on a Nordhaven 43 foot power boat. There are actually two identical Nordhavens here with us, hull number 17 and hull number 18. One couple is "our age" and the other couple is in their mid-thirties. Their boats hold 1200 gallons of fuel and have a range of about 3500 nautical miles!
Entering the lagoons is a bit scary. One is told to calculate the tides (low is better than high) and enter or leave the lagoon one hour after the tide (or maybe 2 hours before?). The point is that there are many theories, and none really seem to work. The passes into the lagoon always seem to have an outgoing current, because the sea flushes in over and between the islets. Some passes have currents that can reach 9 knots! So, it is important to time it right. But then again, it is really unclear how to do that. We entered (and left) 5 passes, and only one didn`t make us extremely nervous! The worst one was when we entered Katiu. The guide book said it was a bit tricky, but just follow the coral reef along the southern shore. Well, we sat outside the entrance for hours, waiting for "one hour past low tide", and then went for it. The guide book says that many boats just anchor in the pass, instead of trying to negotiate the inner coral heads, but the idea of trying to keep our anchor in place in a narrow pass with strong current gave us the courage to try to get inside the lagoon. Well, we were wearing our headsets (aka marriage savers) so that one of us could be up on the rat lines looking for the coral heads, and be able to communicate easily with the helmsman. Well, we took a pause in the entrance and Tom went up the rat lines and said "yep, I see the pass", and he took the wheel and sent me up to direct him in. Meanwhile a group of locals was standing on the pier shouting and waving. We thought it was the welcoming committee. As soon as I got up the rat lines, I told Tom I didn`t see a way through the coral, but he insisted so we went halfway through. By then I was pretty sure there was no pass, but the current was so strong and the entrance so narrow there was no way to turn around. Then we ran aground. Tom was able to back off the coral head, and he asked me for directions on a deeper route. I really didn`t see any, but I steered him so that the side of our hull was inches from the sharp edge of a coral wall, and still we bumped along on the coral head. But, we did make it inside. Then we went to the suggested anchorage, with Tom on the rat lines trying to see the coral heads. But, it was late in the day and the sun was low and in his eyes. All of a sudden he started yelling to turn left and go full reverse. We almost hit a huge coral head that was about 6 inches below the surface. Finally we made our way to a spot that didn`t have big coral heads, and we dropped the anchor. We were both shaking. The next day when we went into town we discovered that the welcoming committee was trying to tell us that we were on the wrong side of the marker (markers are almost always missing their important information - the shape and color that tell you whether to stay to the starboard or port side.) We spent the next 3 days figuring out how the heck we were going to get out of this lagoon. We talked to the locals and took the dinghy through the pass about 30 times. We learned that the best time to leave is the early morning - pretty much 2 hours before high tide. So much for the wisdom of the guide books (one hour after low tide). And in the light of day, we saw so many huge coral heads in the lagoon that it is really a miracle we made it to the anchorage without running into one.
We befriended a pearl farmer whose "farm" was close to our anchorage. He invited us to his "factory" so that he could show us how he grows pearls. It was a fascinating experience. He and his Russian wife have been living on Katiu and farming for 20 years. It is a very lucrative business. Although they live a simple life, the island has no restaurants and only one small grocery store, they appear to be well off. Every house has a satelite dish, and the roads are cement. Only about 200 people live on the island, and the pearl farmers sell their pearls to Tahiti wholesalers. We talked one woman into selling us two pearls which I had made into earrings. We wanted pearls from that island to remind us of the three days we spent figuring out how to leave!
The snorkeling and scuba diving in the lagoons is wonderful. There are coral heads that look like gardens. There are many colorful fish, and beautiful large clams that have wide velvet lips in colors ranging from purple to turquoise to black. Almost every coral head has at least one black tip shark. After a while I got used to that. Mostly they were more afraid of us than we were of them. And one of the big attractions in these atolls is diving with the sharks - people pay to do that! We got all I wanted for free.
This is really our idea of the Pacific paradise. It is pretty amazing to be sitting in the middle of the Pacific with a fringe reef between you and the ocean, and be sitting in perfectly calm, clear water. We did a lot of snorkeling and some scuba diving in the lagoons. We met some wonderful people, including the mayor who had a dinner party for a few of us cruisers. These are my favorite islands, and it is sad to think we will never return. But who knows?
There are more photos on the other web site - www.tomandsuzie.com
We arrived in Tahiti around midnight on Saturday night. We are having culture shock! We are in a marina, with wifi and water (a hose), a grocery store, and restaurants! We are having a great time, eating out every night. We have been having unusual weather, high winds, rough seas inside the harbor, and cool weather. I even wore a sweater last night! The islands are celebrating their independence day with a three week festival and dance contest. We plan to attend some of the festival. Right now we are working on getting our watermaker fixed. We have often heard that the definition of cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations. Tom would sure agree with that. So far he`s fixed our anchor winch, our air conditioner, and he`s working on the watermaker. But we do spend some time ashore having fun. We enjoy the Papeete Market, where vendors sell fruits, vegetables, fish, and souvenirs. Tom bought a ukulele this week, and he`s learning to play it. I am not sure that was such a good idea..... But it looks cool hanging on our wall. He went to the market early yesterday and came home with 6 pineapples, a strange fruit I`ve never seen before, (kind of like large red hairy grapes), lettuce, green beans, something white that`s shaped like a carrot, and a bag of limes.
We did a race from Tahiti to Moorea, and have stayed here ever since. It is beautiful!
Tahiti - well at least the city of Papeete - certainly isn`t paradise. After months at sea, the noise and pollution were hard on our systems! As one book says, without the waterfront the city would be charmless. The high spot is the Papeete market which is full of local vendors selling fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, sandwiches, bread and baked goods, as well as lots of pearl trinkets, pareos (colorful cloth), shirts, woven baskets and hats, and fresh flowers. It is a feast for the eyes and stomach. We spent many hours there, eating great sandwiches, and talking to the vendors. (Tom bought a Ukulele.) The people are some of the friendliest and nicest we`ve met so far. They are always willing to help, and rarely if ever have we felt they were trying to take advantage of us or looking for a handout. Of course, this is a rich country compared to many places we`ve visited. I think you have to be rich to live here, the prices of food and drink are astronomical! A case of beer costs $60 and up. Eggs are about $4.50 a dozen, a McDonald`s burger is around $7, and a small milkshake is almost $3. But, the bread is only 50 cents a loaf, and it is wonderful!
We were lucky to be here during their almost month long independence celebration. There is a large craft show, with lovely woven hats, etc. as well as pearl jewelry. There are nightly dance and song contests. We attended one night, and it was quite a spectacle. Many evenings we ate at the local "roulettes", what Americans affectionately call "roach coaches". The roulettes arrive around 6PM and set up in a parking lot downtown near the water front. The meals are quite good, and reasonably priced. We rode the local transportation, known as "the truck". It is a flatbed truck with a wooden enclosure that has two benches running along each side. It costs $1.50 to ride into town on the truck.
At the local supermarket (which really was huge!), we marvelled at the availability of many things we`ve been craving, but we are also amazed at the things you can`t find - like crackers! I guess the french eat their cheese on bread. Also, there is nothing resembling "Crystal Light" which we drink like it`s coming out our ears. On hot days we will go through a gallon. I also miss cottage cheese, but the yogurt is excellent.
The city is full of Pearl Stores. The pearls are beautiful, but the selection is overwhelming. And, I think they are cheaper at Tyson`s Corner, Va. But, we decided to help support one of the local stores that sponsored the Tahiti Tourism Cup. Also, it didn`t hurt that they plied us with champagne!
We are now in Moorea, a beautiful island only 10 miles west of Tahiti. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful places we have been. It is lush with striking mountains and deep bays. We walked to Belvedere lookout, from which you can see Cooks Bay and O`punohu Bay. It was a tough hot 2 hour climb, but well worth it. Besides, we needed the exercise after months of just sitting around. We also participated in the Tahiti Tourism Cup "race". It was a rally from Tahiti to Moorea. It was a lot of fun to see the participants all pass us, with their beautiful spinnakers. One boat was 140 feet, another was 30 feet. After the sail, we participated in an outrigger canoe race. I learned how to play boule, and we had a great Tahitian feast for lunch.
Soon we will sail on to the less well known of the Society Islands. Next stop is Huahine, then Raiatea & Tahaa.
Another beautiful island! We spent a few days on the south side in a beautiful lagoon. The fringing reef is almost a mile offshore and it is fascinating to sit and watch the waves crash just beyond the beautiful light blue shallow reef. We met some nice cruisers here and were invited to a party on a boat. One of the best things about this life is meeting all sorts of different folks, from all walks of life, and all age groups (well mid 30s to 70) who are also crossing the Pacific. I really love Polynesia but the law says I have to leave after 90 days (nothing personal). So, we will head out for the Cook Islands in mid-August. But first we will check out Riataia, Tahaa and Bora Bora. Bora Bora claims to be the most beautiful island in the South Pacific - we`ll see.
Bora Bora
Wow! Spectacular volcanic peaks surrounded by a large lagoon with various shades of aqua blue, Bora Bora did not disappoint us. We arrived on August 5th, and met a few fellow boaters when we anchored in front of Bloody Mary`s, a famous restaurant. We talked some of our friends into hiking to the top of the mountain with us, but when the time came, only Erin showed up. Her husband fell off the pier and cut his foot on coral the night before (after too much fun at Bloody Mary`s), so the three of us set out at 9:30 for the hike to the top of the peak (about 720 meters). We had a hand drawn map for locating the trail, and after a bit of searching we found it. The trail led through the jungle, up trecherous slopes (3 of which had ropes for climbing) and about 3 hours later we arrived at the summit. I am deathly afraid of heights, so the last 10 feet were very hard for me. But with a little coaching, I made it. The views from the top were spectacular! (I will try to add a movie Tom took from the top.) But after a quick lunch, I made the mistake of looking back down the trail. I don`t know how I got up the nerve to do the descent. It was blistering hot on top, but once in the jungle it was shady and cool. We did not bring nearly enough water! The trail was not well marked, and we got lost several times on the way back down. At one point Tom was very concerned that we would not get out before nightfall. We had brought a VHF radio and we called Erin`s husband and told him to be ready to come to the trail head with a flashlight if we weren`t out by 5PM. But, we only made a few more wrong turns, and we exited the trail around 4:30 - 7 hours after we began this hike! On the way up a loose rock started tumbling down the path, and although Tom told me to watch out, it hit me on the head! Lots of blood and sympathy!
As soon as we got back to town we went to the supermarket and bought lots of cold drinks, which we quickly downed. Then we spent the rest of the night partying on Erin`s boat (Barefeet). We felt we deserved a celebration for making it to the top. We had a great time, but celebrated a bit too much. Today we had lunch at Bloody Mary`s and we each had one of their signature drinks. I also had a cheeseburger - my first in 4 months! It is not common to see that on the menus in the Pacific, and I had a real craving. Tom had great tuna sashimi.
We finally caught up with my brother Wally and his family (Bonne, Susie and Frannie), who arrived on Monday, August 6th. We had gotten back from the mountain hike too late to greet them on their arrival. So, Tuesday afternoon we went to the Hotel Bora Bora and found them snorkeling in front of their bungalow. The resort is great, small and elegant. The beauty of the lagoon colors in beyond description and the water is crystal clear and full of colorful fish. We stayed for the manager`s cocktail party (very nice drinks and hors d`oeurves) on the beach. We picked them up on Thursday morning, and we sailed to Tahaa. It was a wonderful sailing day, although the last part of the trip we had to motor into the wind. We had planned on dinner at the Taravana Yacht Club, but discovered it was closed on Thursdays so I cooked dinner. The next day we went to the capital of Raiatea and Tom filled the water and fuel tanks while the rest of us went grocery shopping and had lunch at a roulette. We spent the night in a deep bay on the eastern side of Tahaa, and had a nice dinner in a local french restaurant. We had planned to snorkel the eastern barrier reef but the following day the wind was howling so we just circumnavigated the island of Tahaa. It was a beautiful sail! We stopped for lunch at a gorgeous resort (Le Tahaa), but they would not serve us lunch. Nothing personal, but they are full and only serve "outsiders" who call ahead. We walked to the lobby to get their phone number but really we just wanted to see the resort. Check it out at www.letahaa.com. Could be the nicest resort I have ever seen.
We ended up back at the Taravana Yacht Club, and we had a great dinner there. Wally and Bonne appreciated being able to see the remote parts of the Society Islands. They spent every morning running the local roads, and they were pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the locals. There was virtually no traffic on the roads, and the residents went out of their way to say hello or to strike up a conversation.
Our sail back to Bora Bora was one of the best sails we have had in the last year. The boat was flying along at 9 knots, hitting 10 knots when we surfed down the waves. It was exhilerating! We made it back to Bora Bora in three hours, and found a spot in front of the Bora Bora Yacht Club. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed on Sundays so we walked to "Top Dive" which is a beautiful and highly rated restaurant. It was a disappointing, expensive meal. The most interesting part was our "waitress" who had formerly (or maybe still was?) a male. We dropped the family off at the Hotel Bora Bora the following morning. We had a great time, and I think they did as well.
We had reservations at the Villa Mahana, the best restaurant on Bora Bora. It is a very small restaurant (only six tables), and the chef personally takes your order. It was breathtakingly beautiful, romantic, delicious, and expensive. We started dinner by accepting the offer of a glass of champagne, delicious but $25 per glass. But if you plan to visit Bora Bora, I recommend that you plan ahead and get a reservation. It is always booked at least three weeks in advance (www.villamahana.com).
So, now we are planning the next leg of our journey. I am not anxious to leave, but we are making preparations and watching the weather. I don`t know when I`ll find wifi again after we leave Bora Bora. We think the next stop will be Samoa.
We leave today for Suwarrow. I am reluctant to leave Bora Bora, is it because I love French Polynesia or because I am not looking forward to another ocean passage? Our destination is Tonga. We will also stop in Samoa on our way to Tonga. We had our Last Supper at the Hotel Bora Bora tonight. It is a lovely small resort. I will miss the wifi service that I have enjoyed for the last two months. We probably won`t have good wifi again until we reach Australia in November. So, if you don`t see updates, you`ll know why!
Never leave on a Friday. I don`t like to believe in superstitions, but now we have two that have been proven. First, Cindy said she is a jinx on boats and you can ask her about her day sail on our 30 foot boat. And we left Suwarrow on a Friday and within a couple of hours our spinnaker pole broke in half and our autopilot failed. And that was just the beginning.
Our trip from Bora Bora to Suwarrow took 6 days and 5 nights. We arrived early in the morning in horrible weather, but we were able to enter the lagoon with the help of some fellow sailors who had arrived a few days earlier. These kind souls came out in their dinghy and gave us advice and led us through the pass. Once we were inside we were once again amazed at the serenty of these atolls. Outside the seas were huge and the wind was howling. Inside it was still windy, but the circling reef kept the seas to under a foot. We anchored and settled in to "party central". There were barbeques on the beach every night. One night there was a concert of all the cruising musicians, some professional, and others who could have been. One woman even had a harp!
Suwarrow is a national park, and part of the Northern Cook Islands. The population of Suwarrow is 6 - the caretaker and his family. John is very serious about his job, and he is also an excellent host to the cruising community. During our five day stay, there were 17 boats in the anchorage. The caretaker took us on a tour of two other small islands, including bird island. That was truly amazing. Bird island is about 1/2 square mile and it is home to thousands of birds. There were baby frigate birds everywhere! We also saw baby tropic birds and tern and boobie babies. Then we went to another small island, and walked around the whole island collecting trash that had washed up on shore (mostly plastic water bottles). The following day we went snorkeling, and were not bothered by the sharks although we have seen plenty of them. Tom went fishing every morning with his friend Jim and he caught several grouper. The park ranger asks cruisers to not throw fish scraps overboard and we could see why. Tom did not throw anything overboard, but as he cleaned the fish a small amount of blood went down our drain. For the rest of the day, there were five sharks circling our boat.
We left Suwarrow on Friday, August 31st. And like I said, never leave port on a Friday. So our trip to American Samoa took 3 1/2 days. We spent most of the time motoring and miserable. Without a pole, we could not keep the headsail full as the boat rocked with the following seas. We arrived late in the day, but with plenty of daylight remainging, on Monday, Labor Day, and after having a bit of trouble getting the anchor to hold, we opened a small bottle of champagne. Ocean voyages are becoming very tiresome. I think the sleep deprivation really gets to us. So, after a couple of glasses of champagne and some pasta we went to sleep - for almost 12 hours! On Tuesday we checked into the country and I went shopping. You can`t believe how thrilled I was to see cheerios and triscuts. Pretty pathetic. I went with my friend Martha, and we were like kids in a candy store. We bought more than our small rental car could hold. And now I have found a wifi cafe and I have been spending an unhealthy amount of time on line trying to catch up on messages, researching Australia and New Zealand, and goofing off.
The local men wear skirts, long wrap skirts with pockets. Even the police officers wear them. Of course Tom bought two, one formal and the other casual. Also he bought a grass skirt. He can`t wait to show it off at the hash. The local transportation system consists of privately owned pickup trucks that are converted into "buses" by adding flat bed boxes with bench seats. The samoans are pretty large people, but they squeeze into these vehicles. They are brightly painted and decorated, and the drivers play loud music.
We leave tonight, Monday, Sept 10th for Tonga. We will arrive on Wed, but it will be Thursday there. It is hard enough keeping track of the time changes, and now I have to deal with the day and date! Good thing I got a battery for my timex!
Tonga, the place that motivated me to sail the Pacific. I read an article about Tonga in a Seven Seas Cruising Association bulletin about 4 years ago, and that was what inspired me to do this crazy voyage. When we arrived we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate crossing the date line. We spent almost a week in Niuatapotapu (or new potatoes), and arrived in Vava`u today after a wonderful 27 hour sail. Tonga is the only Kingdom in the south pacific. I have not met the king yet. The people are very nice and the children are very excited to see the yachties (we give them candy, so as soon as anyone lands on the dock, they come running, saying "my lolly, my lolly.") The women do very nice weavings. We had a nice time in New Potatoes, although there is really nothing to do other than relax. We bought lobsters from the locals - traded for cigarettes, fishing line and hooks. The supply ship only comes once a month and the whole island was out of cigarettes. You could have bought almost anything for a pack of cigarettes. We had a great time, socializing with the other "yachties" after a tough day of beachcombing or snorkeling .
We did an island tour on dune buggies. Pretty rough riding but the views were spectacular. We even saw a mother and baby whale from one of the look outs. We visited plantations and saw vanilla vines and pineapple plants. The local market is full of great fruits and vegetables - a real treat for us. The local craftsmen make beautiful carvings, weavings, and tapas cloth. I am trying not to buy more than I can carry. On Sunday we went to church and the singing was even more beautiful than we had heard. On Monday we went for a "swim with the whales". What an incredible experience! I hope to load a video of the whales jumping. We were all thrilled to see the mother and baby as well as another whale (the father?). Then we went to anchor in one of the outer islands. The snorkeling there was incredible, like looking in an aquarium. We saw the most exotic star fish, sea urchins, fish, and some things that I could not identify. It was a beautiful little anchorage which we really enjoyed even though our anchor dragged in the 40 knot squall that came through one night.
There are two boats in the harbor with interesting names - "Comfortably Numb" and "Mostly Harmless."
We have to skip Fif and go straight to New Caledonia, unfortunately time is slipping away!
We finally left Tonga on Oct 3rd, after one more beach party. We hated to say goodbye to all our good friends, most of whom are going to New Zealand.
We had an almost perfect passage from Tonga to New Caledonia. It was about 1150 nautical miles, and took a bit over 7 days. We sailed the first 6 days, then motored in calm flat seas the last day. The weather cleared up about halfway through the trip, and we had beautiful blue skies.
We arrived in New Caledonia on a beautiful morning. What a gorgeous island, of course any land looks good after 7 days. We are all impressed with the sophisication of the capital Noumea. And the french bakeries are wonderful. We are in a marina, with free water. What a thrill for us. I will never take water for granted again after this year.
We visited the zoo, which was really mostly an aviary. There were lots of interesting birds, including several dozen Peacocks. One even ate out of my hand at the snack bar. We saw two ostriches (one fell in love with Tom - check out the videos). The zoo had and incredible collection of bats (flying foxes). We watched one guy chase a female around the cage, showing off by opening his wings. She was not impressed. These are large, beautiful, furry faced critters.
We also rented a car, and toured the eastern side of the island. There`s one spot where the road is one way, and alternates north/south every hour. That stretch is 13km and it cut through some pretty rugged steep territory.
We left New Caledonia on Wednesday, October 24, hoping to arrive in Bundaberg, Au by Monday evening. The forecast called for one day of wind, then relatively windless conditions so we filled the fuel tanks, and the gerry cans (we can carry 30 extra gallons on deck). All together we have 200 gallons of fuel which will take us about 800 miles. The trip to Bundaberg was about 800 miles, so we wanted to make sure we could motor all the way if necessary. We ended up having wind for several days, but we were surprised by the countercurrent. At times it was 2 1/2 knots! That is a lot, when you are trying to motor or sail at 6 knots. So, we violated Tom`s rule of keeping the rpms down (to save fuel and pamper the engine), and we still were making only 5 knots over the ground. I was sort of upset that we were goinjg so slowly that we would spend one more night at sea. Although it was beautiful at sea, the moon was full and the seas were calm, I still don`t relish another night out there. We were one of 55 boats heading for Bundaberg in the Port2Port rally. We checked in twice daily with the rally organizers, giving our position and miles to go. We had several boats within a few miles of us, which is unusual in the Pacific. We arrived late on Monday, after 5PM so we had to anchor in the quarantine area overnight. Early on Tuesday we finished the inward clearance procedures (which are quite extensive here), and moved to our slip. There are activities, social hours, and dinners every day. It is a nice way to meet more yachties. A lot of the boats who arrived here on this rally crossed the pacific last year (or even earlier) and spent last cyclone season in New Zealand. Bundaberg Port Marina is 18 km outside of Bundaberg proper, but there`s a courtesty bus to town. We`ve been to town twice, and I have activated my cell phone. The town reminds me of a large western town, with lots of 3 story buildings that have various retail businesses on the first floor. Even though there is a Target, K-Mart and a Coles in town, the small businesses still seem to thrive or at least survive. The exchange rate is not very favorable now, and some things seem awfully expensive, but others are a bargain. For example, I bought 2 small limes yesterday and it was $3.30. Beer, wine and liquor are expensive - there must be a large sin tax here. I can buy Australian wine cheaper in Total Wine in Va, than I can here. The weather here is wonderful, it is late spring and the days are warm with a bit of humidity. I hear that the summertime is much like Washtington, DC - hazy, hot and humid with afternoon thundershowers. We will move south to Brisbane next week. It is about 400 km south, so I hope the weather is less hot. I will add more info here as I get more experience in the Aussie ways, no worries!
We arrived in Bundaberg late in the day on Monday, October 29. We spent the next week partying with the folks from the Port2port Rally. There were over 50 boats that participated, and they represented 10 different countries, so it was quite an interesting mix of people. Tom won a prize for his photo (it is on www.tomandsuzie.com - the one that`s on the front page, top right hand side. It is clouds reflected in the water.). We did not win the overall contest of arriving at the exact time that we predicted, although we could have easily won by just waiting 11 minutes before we entered the river. I didn`t think that was very sporting, but the other yachties said they would have done that!
Tomorrow morning we leave for Brisbane. We`ll take almost a week to go 150 miles! It is a passage that is a bit like the intracoastal waterway, lots of motoring in shallow narrow channels. But the scenery is supposed to be wonderful. Frasier Island is the largest sand island in the world, and it is a national park so it is pretty pristine. Tomorrow night we`ll anchor at a nice resort (at least I hope it is nice).
Update! I forgot that the weather gods run my life! Two mornings in a row we`ve gotten up early, and left for Brisbane, only to turn back when we saw how awful the conditions were in Hervey Bay. The forecast calls for these same conditions for the next several days so I guess we`ll get to explore more of Bundaberg. We talked to our friend Peter Koltay today, and he encouraged me to write more in the diary. For example, we complained about the rain we`ve been having off and on for the last 2 months. That has put a real damper on our activities.
The good news is there`s a hash here in Bundaberg that runs every Monday evening, so tomorrow we`ll run (actually Tom`s pacemaker is out of juice so he`ll sit or walk). The group sounds quite interesting, as hashers often are. The only catch is that the town is a long way from the marina and there are no rental cars available. We are on a waiting list, so hopefully we`ll get one in the morning.
Today we took the courtesy van to the market, which is held every Sunday morning at the Shalom Catholic Co-ed College. It is a combination produce market and flea market. Mostly they sell junk, but the fruits and vegetables are great! Also, they sell a lot of birds, cockatiels, conures, and parakeets mostly.
Monday, hash day, we spent the entire day at the cardiologist`s office then at the hospital making arrangements for a pacemaker replacement. The health care here seems to be very good, and the facilities and staff are noteworthy. The woman at the Dr`s office actually apologized to us for taking a while to get us some information on the cost of the procedure, and we just barged in today without an appointment! The hospital is called the "Friendly Society Private Hospital". But the bad news is we missed the hash. We could not get a rental car, and I read my emails too late to see that the local hashers had offerd to pick us up! I just love hashpitality
Tom`s pacemaker battery is completely dead. No wonder he`s been feeling so weak and dizzy. Luckily this doctor could replace the unit this week in a local private hospital. So, although the weather has eased up, and a lot of boats left for Brisbane, we stayed to get the surgery done. We rented a car and saw some local sights. The botanical garden here is really nice, and we also visited an aviary which was very cool. I can`t get over how many types of parrots live in this country.
Tom checked into the hospital on Thursday morning, and I went to town for a cappucino (delicious) and did a bit of shopping. Then I went back and checked on him, and he was still in surgery, but was soon moved to a private room for recovery. He felt better already, but his incision was bleeding badly. They gave him ice packs and he had lunch then went to sleep. He was released at 4PM but it took an hour to pay the bill. I guess I should have called the credit card company to tell them that we`d be charging a large amount that day. Finally the charge went through and we went for a nice dinner at a lovely waterfront restaurant. Tom was feeling fine except for the pain. He feels better every day, and tomorrow (Sunday) we plan to leave again for the Great Sandy Strait.
We stopped in here because it is a convenient place to pull in when you are doing daysails along the coast. And what a surprise it turned out to be. We are in a marina, that is across the street from a gorgeous beach, there`s a beautiful jogging path through the trees and vegetation along the sand dunes, which leads to the esplanade, which has high end condos, shops and restaurants. We love it so much that we are tempted to blow off our reservation in Scarborough. Today we went to the australia zoo, which is owned by Steve Irwin`s family. It was quite an experience. You should check out their web site, www.australiazoo.com.au. We petted koalas, kangaroos and wallabies. I fed an elephant. The bird show was unreal, don`t know how they train these beautiful birds to soar around the crocoseum, then return to their home base cage. We also saw part of the croc show, and we`ll certainly be careful if we go up north.
Well, the pole finally came and we thought we would be out of here late last week. But we found problems with our roller furling which Tom fixed. Then the weather forecast looked pretty bad - big winds and huge seas - so we decided to stay the weekend. Now we are waiting for another "weather window". It is just as well, because today we finally got around to seriously procuring things to take to Vanuatu. We have heard that the natives need clothes, sugar, powdered milk, etc. So we bought a bunch of stuff today, and Tom even stopped by the Red Cross. They were delighted to donate some crutches and walkers which they will deliver to the marina on Wednesday. So we`ll be here there is a good forecast. We are really, really ready to get out of here!
As of June 9th we are still waiting for the whisker pole. DHL does not have very rapid service - the pole has been in Sydney for 4 days. Oh well. Today is the Queen`s Birthday and most things are closed - including the restaurant that we walked to for a late lunch. We got back to the boat just before a big rain shower so at least one thing went our way today!
Some thoughts on Australia and how nice the people are.... have you ever started talking to a bus driver, and when you got close to your destination he went off route to take you closer? Another time we got on a bus without the appropriate change and the driver took us to a convenience store where we could get change. The bus driver gets up and helps the elderly get on and off the bus. People stand up and offer their seats to others. What a country!
Last week we spent one day visiting customs in Brisbane and determining how to get our new whisker pole through customs. Unfortunately, our whisker pole is taking the scenic route from California, and it looks like it won`t arrive in Brisbane until the weekend, so I guess we`ll be here until after the Queen`s Birthday on Monday (June 10th). Travel by sailboat is great, but there is no way to stick to a schedule!
We are back on the boat after 3 1/2 months as USA land lubbers. It was nice to get back home, but we already miss our families and friends! When we arrived we could tell that the weather is changing and winter is fast approaching. The evenings are cool and it is not quite so hot during the day. Today we had our first really cold snap - it is only 65 degrees, brrrr! Last night we discussed our 2008 plans with a local delivery captain so once again we are changing our minds. Now it looks like we`ll be back in OZ by November.
We will be in this marina funtil the end of May. We spent most of January in New Zealand. We had a great time, and highly recommend it as a vacation spot. The scenery is breathtaking and the wine is delicious! We travel back to Virginia on Feb 1 and we`ll be home until mid-May. Where to then? We`ll sail the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef in June and July. After that our plans are like jello!
Scarborough is a suburb of Brisbane, a far away suburb, but we`ve been to the city several times. We attended the Red Dress Run last week, and the also a veteran`s christmas party. It is fun going downtown, but a bit of a pain to use the public transporation system. Around town here in Scarborough we have been riding our bikes. I am so happy we bought the West Marine folding bikes. They have been so useful here, we use them almost daily. The closest grocery store is about 3 miles away, so it would be quite a hike without the bikes.
Being in this marina is a real change of pace for us. First of all we are used to being at anchor, and having to use the dinghy to get to shore. But the biggest difference is the lack of cruiser friends. We always found people we knew whenever we pulled into a port, but here in Scarborough there are only a handful of cruisers and most of them have flown back to the states for the holidays. So we are more or less on our own.
We are flying to Sydney on Christmas eve, then renting a car to drive back to Brisbane. We`ll stop in the Blue Mountains and along the beach on the way back. Then we fly to New Zealand to do some touring. Soon we`ll be back in the states for a few months. Time is flying now.
We spent Christmas in Syndey, and we love the city! It is cosmopolitan yet has wonderful parks and a gorgeous botanical garden. We saw the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailboat race, and explored the city. We hope to go back someday, maybe we`ll take the boat there in 2008. We then drove to the Blue Mountains and did a few short hikes. The views are spectacular. We had lunch with some friend we met on the crossing who live in the Blue Mountains and keep their boat near Sydney. They invited us to watch the NYE fireworks from their boat but we declined. Probably very foolishly because it would be a great experience. We are now driving north, back "home". We spent the night in "wine country". We should have stayed longer, it was a wonderful place. Our hotel was fabulous as was the dinner in the "Wineglass" restaurant. But we decided to drive home, going the inland way on the New England Highway. It was a two lane road through beautiful countryside, reminiscent of Virgina wine country, except there were exotic birds and very few buildings. We saw lots of flocks of wild cockatoos. And the traffic was great - we saw a car maybe every 10 minutes.
After a wonderful 3 week trip to New Zealand, we flew back to the states on February 1. We`ll be home for 3 months!
We finally left Australia on June 26th with an OK if not perfect weather forecast. We were advised to stay on an easterly course and turn north when either the wind died or changed direction. The forecast said that we`d have good wind for 4 days, then it would die out. And it was pretty accurate, at least at the beginning. We motored in calm seas for the first 20 hours (good for settling the stomach), then the wind picked up. We had a great sail for the next 3 days, working our way east. Then the forecast showed that the winds would die out so we started to head northeast, directly for Noumea (capital of New Caledonia). We figured there was no need to go any extra miles when we`d end up motoring in the end. But that turned out to be a mistake, because by day 5 we had to turn east and the wind was coming out of the east. So we motored, but it wasn`t pretty. The seas were kind of rough and got worse on the 6th day. The current was against us, and caused even more rocking and pitching. We haven`t had a ride that rough in well over a year. The last night neither of us could sleep with all the rocking and pitching. It was like trying to sleep inside a washing machine. But then finally we got about 30 miles from New Caledonia and the seas calmed down. We arrived at the marina late in the afternoon, and cleared in with authorities by sunset. Then we went to bed!
This morning we were up early, and we immediately went to our favorite bakery. What a treat! Then we walked around town, and realized it is not as thrilling as it was last year. At that time we hadn`t seen any civilization to speak of since Tahiti, and this city is more sophisticated than that, but after Australia and the US it is not much. We are really looking forward to getting out to the anchorages around the island. I read that this is the largest enclosed lagoon in the South Pacific. Tomorrow we will sail/motor to the Isle of Pines where the sand is so fine it squeaks when you walk on it.
Well, once again the weather rules and we are still in the marina in Noumea (as of July 7), the capital of New Caledonia. We ran yesterday and did a hike today. The produce market is adjacent to the marina and is always an interesting place, especially on weekends.
Finally we left Noumea, and fought our way south through some pretty nasty seas (inside the reef!). We made it to Prony Bay, which is about half way to our destination. The Isle of Pines was still 40 miles to our south. We anchored on the eastern side of the bay, in a sheltered little cove. We were all alone in there, and it was a spectacular night. The soil in New Caledonia is especially rich in minerals and the hills are red (soil) and green (lush trees and bushes). We got up early the next morning and headed south, but by 9:30 it was clear that we would not make our landfall before dark. The lagoon is full of reefs and night time navigation is strongly discouraged. We were bashing into waves, making little progress so we turned around and headed back to Prony Bay. This time we anchored up at the head of the bay, where there are trails and hot springs. We ended up staying there a couple of days, and doing a few hikes and some interesting exploring. Tom jumped into the hot springs fed beautiful hot tub. It was a bit cold out for me, the weather has been overcast and drizzly. We were still anxious to get to the Isle of Pines. After all, that is the main reason I wanted to return to New Caledonia. I had heard so many wonderful things about the beaches and the lagoon. Anyway, as usual, the weather did not cooperate and we began to think that we would never be able to get farther south! We spent our days hiking to the light house, and mucking around on the beaches, which were a combination of black sand and red mud.
Finally, the weather forecast showed some promise and we left at dawn - a week later! We had an uneventful trip to Kuto Bay, and when we arrived we were shocked to see a cruise ship anchored in that serene bit of paradise! But it left at 4PM, and the bay was as gorgeous as advertised. We both agreed that it is probably the best beach we`ve ever seen. The sand is pure white and micro fine. It is great for building sandcastles. It is free of shells and rocks, and walking on it is like getting a gentle foot massage. The beach is about a mile long, with various pines and palm trees along the edge. There is only one small hotel, and one small beach shack restaurant, and at most we saw 20 people on the beach. The water was clear and light blue. We were in heaven! Except there were no grocery stores, only a small convenince store up the road, and it had no fresh vegetables or lettuce. But the beach restaurant was great. And a New Zealand power boat gave us some dog tooth tuna they had caught. The flesh was pure white, and the flavor was incredible! So, we were in heaven. Unfortunately, the weather forecast showed a nasty low coming over the island by the end of the week and there is really no safe harbor in the Isle of Pines, so we sailed back to Noumea. The good news is that we are back near our favorite bakery!
This area is famous for whale watching. After spending the summer feeding in Antarctica, several hundred whales head north, and often spend time in the lagoon of New Caledonia. Here they breed and give birth to calves. We have not seen any yet, but all the other boats have. I guess we`ll just have to keep a better look out!
New Caledonia`s lagoon and reefs were recently added to the UNESCO list of worlk hertitage sites. We may just have to come back here in October for another visit.
On July 24th we got the edge of a bad low pressure system that was heading for New Zealand. We were lucky to get a spot in the marina. Six boats were washed up on the rocks. Sure is nice to be tied up when something like that blows through! Just when we thought it was safe, another low blew threw on the 29th, and it was worse than the first one. I saw gusts of 51 knots. I have added a video or two to show the action in the marina and the bay. We were lucky in that our boat was tucked far inside the breakwater. I got seasick standing on the pier taking videos!
Vanuatu is supposed to have the happiest people on earth, and so far I believe it. Their culture is based on giving, and they never ask for handouts. In fact, it is an insult to give them anything, so we "trade". We gave them clothes, toys, medical supplies, school supplies, books, etc, and they gave us food. The fruits and vegetables have been wonderful, and we have even received eggs and pieces of pork. The villagers in Port Resolution (on the island of Tanna) were especially welcoming. And they started treating us like royalty after Tom fixed their generator. They use the generator to charge their cell phones. Other than that, I did not see any modern conveniences at all. They do not have refrigeration, and they cook on fires, either built inside the hut that serves as the kitchen, or in a stove under the ground. The children mostly walk around without clothes.
The volcano on Tanna is amazing. We went on an evening tour, and it was very scary. The truck ride was the first scary part. The volcano itself was quite active the night of our visit. I have uploaded a video of the eruptions. We watched for about 30 minutes, but being a chicken I was anxious to leave! The guides told us not to run if lava rocks were spewed in our direction, but to look at the rocks and try to avoid being hit by them. Right! But none came towards us. Two nights later a French tourist wasn`t so lucky. I believe he survived, but the story on the front page of the Port Vila newspaper mostly described the lack of resources at the hospital in Lenaken. The hospital is about a 2 hour drive over rutted dirt roads from the volcano. The tourist was taken there to receive stitches, but he had to find alternative transportation because the ambulence did not have any gas!
Our next interesting stop was Banam Bay on the island of Malakula. The villagers arranged a dance show for us, and it was quite a shock for those of us who expected them to wear clothes! But the men were very talented and enthusiastic about their show - real professionals. The 83 year old chief was the lead musician, he is the guy with the gray hair in the photo. The women seemed like they were "required" to put on a show for the tourists, and did so begrudgingly. All in all, it was another once in a lifetime experience. When we first arrived on Banam Bay we met a fellow walking down the beach who invited us to his brother`s wedding, which was to be held in two days. We were honored to be invited, and we baked cakes for the occasion. All the villagers from the area were invited, and they all wore their Sunday best. It was a double wedding, and we didn`t see one smile from any of the four participants. We asked if they were arranged marriages, but they were not. After the church ceremony, the grooms(and many attendees) were sprinkled very liberally with baby powder - guess that means happiness here. Then the women of the village came up to each groom and wrapped a length of cloth around his neck (these were the wedding gifts). As honored guests we were given a seat on a bench near the brides and grooms, and we were among the first to be served wedding cake. Finally all the participants filed down to another building where the feast would be served. I saw the cow head and body hanging from a tree, and voted to have lunch on the boat instead! We gracefully (I hope) declined the feast, and returned to the boat.
We have done quite a bit of snorkeling here. The waters are crystal clear, and in many places the coral in sea life are dazzling. I have now seen my first clown fish, and I am in love with them!
We are on the major island of Espiritu Santo now, and although we are in a remote bay, we found a resort with internet service! This place never ceases to amaze me. For a week we have been unsuccessfully trying to buy or trade for lettuce and tomatoes. They don`t eat tomatoes, so they don`t grow them. We have also been unable to buy eggs, although the villages are overrun with baby chicks. The locals don`t eat eggs, so none are available for sale. We did manage to buy a loaf of bread three days ago. But tonight we will have a restaurant meal!
On the main island of Efate, we spent a few nights in Port Havannah, a bay on the northwest side. The navy had a base here and they did airplane maintenance here as well. There are many remains, including the American "swimming pool" which was a fresh water catchment system. We saw the wing of an american plane, and a trench full of American rubbish - coke and beer bottles mostly. The locals sell old coke bottles to the tourists. We were approached by a young man who wanted to show us "memories". He had three dog tags from US service men. I took photos of them, and will try to figure out if these were MIAs from WWII.
We are back in the capital, Port Vila, after an amazing month of visitng the northern islands. The waters are crystal clear and the diving and snorkeling were exceptional! We did see several sharks - the last one I got on "film" as I was quickly turning around to get back in our boat!
We arrived back in Noumea after a nice passage from Port Vila, Vanuatu. The only disappointment was the lack of whale sightings in the lagoon. We arrived too late on Thursday to check in with the authorities so we anchored and had a good sleep. After visiting customs and immigrations, we were pleased to find that the marina had a berth available, so we settled in for the weekend. On Monday we moved to another marina that is farther from the bakeries. It is a nicer marina, and it doesn`t hurt that we have to walk over a big hill to get those pastries!
We have done quite a bit of walking here, climbing to the various outlooks, and even walking up to the zoo. We got up to about 10 miles a day, which is a good start to getting back into shape. We had some great dinners, and some good times with our friends. Unfortunately, Martha and Jim left today (Oct 26th). We sure will miss them, after spending every day with them for the last three months. They are headed to Brisbane to catch a flight back to Florida, and we are headed to Coffs Harbour, Australia. We plan to leave tomorrow, unless the forecast changes.
After a 6 day passage, four of which were great, we arrived in Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. We arrived on a Sunday, and were given permission to tie up in the marina before clearing customs. We were exhausted because the last 2 nights were very rough, so we did not care that customs did not come to clear us into the country until Monday morning. The customs official could not have been nicer, in spite of the awful reputation they have in this country.
Once we were legal, we jumped off the boat and started to explore the town. We were pleased to find a nice grocery store a few blocks away, where we could restock the items that were taken by quarrantine (like cheese, butter, eggs, meat and produce). We also happily noted a string of restaurants within easy walking distance of the marina. After we dropped off our groceries, we walked the path to the sea on muttonbird island. It is part of the Solitary Islands Marine Park, and is right here at the marina. There are nesting birds and great views of the sea, including lots of whales. This place sure beats Scarborough!
We have sampled several local restaurants and found a fabulous Italian place just a couple of blocks away. There`s also a really good thai restaurant a bit further up the road. Coffs Harbour has an amazing botanical garden, where we walked and jogged yesterday. Today we took a rental car up into the rainforest, which is only about an hour away. Life is good!
We returned to Bellingen (an artist community up near the rain forest) to do a hash run, and we stayed in the resort near town. We met some really nice people from Coffs Harbour at the run, so now we`ll have more of a social life here.
We really enjoyed the town, and our new friends, but have decided to fly back to the states so we sailed back to Scarborough (a suburb of Brisbane) to store the boat. We are flying home soon!
We were in a hurry to get back to the boat this spring, because we planned to join Sail Indonesia and leave Darwin in mid-July. However, plans are made to be changed. I was ill, and we could not leave the marina in early May. Around the middle of the month we decided it was just too late to even attempt the trip this year, so we canceled our registration. We now plan to go to New Caledonia and Vanuatu, perhaps even the Solomons this year. We leave (again) Monday, June 8th, weather permitting. We tried to get out on May 29th, but after two days we turned back. The weather was worse than predicted, and we would have had a long uncomfortable trip, so we just returned to Scarborough.
I finally got around to checking the message board, and hello to all you guys! I promise to update the sites more regularly, and add some photos. My laptop died and I now have a new one up and running - so there goes my excuse!
We finally left Australia on June 8th, and had a pleasant 6 day passage. The weather was very good, but unfortunately we had a few hardware failures. The worst was the autopilot - gosh it is hard to hand steer in the ocean. Tom was able to fix the autopilot quickly after each failure. Luckily we have spares for most parts, but not all.....
New Caledonia is probably the most sophisticated island in the South Pacific, other than New Zealand. But, it was once again shocking to see the litter and filth on the streets. Australia has a lot of broken beer bottles, but Noumea has even more! Also, there is a lot of graffiti. But still, there are wonderful bakeries, french restaurants, and blue skies so we overlook the shortcomings. We have been trying to get in shape again now that I am feeling better. Tom is being good and staying away from the pastries. I can't say the same.....
I will try to put some photos on line, but once again I am unpleasantly surprised by the poor internet service. The one I purchased isn't working at all, so I am sitting in a McDonalds using theirs!
We are back in wifi business on the boat, so I will get some photos loaded soon. We hope to leave Noumea in a few days, after we get our fill of butter and sugar (pastries) and butter and potatoes (Au P'tit Cafe). We have eaten lunch at our favorite restaurant twice and it is even better than we remembered. I will have to take a camera next time, because the presentation is also amazing. Their food is so good, that the restaurant is only open Tuesday through Friday.
Our buddies went to Tanna to see the volcano again, but since we survived that once we decided not to tempt fate. We have heard that the volcano is not quite as active this year. We arrived in Vila on July 1, exhausted from the 48 hour sail from New Caledonia. Often a 2 day passage is the most exhausting because you never get into the rhythm. Neither of us slept much the last night, and as we arrived at daybreak, there was a huge cruise ship waiting to enter the bay. We decided not to play chicken with it. The big boat wins!We are anxious to get out of the city, so today after we pick up our whole fillet mignon from the butcher, we will go out to a remote anchorage. I can't wait to get into the water, it is awfully hot and sunny today. I'll take some photos and add them when I get back to the internet next week.By the way, I have been trying to update tomandsuzie, and. I will continue to try. In the meantime, we leave tomorrow for the more remote islands.So, we spent almost a week on the northern end of Efate in Havannah Harbour. Then we made our way to Malakula, which has many separate villages and almost 30 local languages. We spent four days in Southwest Bay, not because it was a very interesting place, but because the weather was awful and it is a good protected anchorage. The highlight of Southwest Bay is the egg farm and the baker whose name is Raytheon. We ordered bread on our first day there, and picked up our first order the following morning at 9AM. I have not had bread this good since "Moonie" used to bake for us when I was a child. The villagers were very friendly and so interested in us. We asked if we could climb to the cell tower that we could see on the ridge. They had a long discussion in their local language and said we could go but they would send two escorts with us. We tried to decline but soon found that we really needed these guides to find the path, even though we had been told that the road to the tower was "very good". It was extremely steep and slippery, and I wanted to turn back but didn't. It was only a 40 minute climb. On the way, our guides told us we were the first white people to ask to go to the tower. Also, one of the guides asked my age, and said his mother used to climb to the tower, but now she was in her 50's...... I'm sure she's younger than I am, even though I am also in my 50's!So, back in the village we met "Tim", a turtle that was rescued by a local woman after a storm 3 years ago. Tim has lived in a wash basin since then, and they plan to release him when he's old enough. They feed Tim shells and fish entrails.Soon we met up with our friends Jim & Martha in Dixon Reef. We spent a week there last year, enjoying the wonderful snorkeling. But soon we were off for the former capital "city" on Lugenville. We needed some supplies (they have small grocery stores) and we also found a cafe with internet service! The country celebrated the 29th anniversary of its independence on July 30, and we went to town to watch the festivities. There were hundredes and hundreds of villagers and probably a hundred stands serving local food. None of us were brave enough to try the food. Tom ate some last year and suffered for months. We are now at Oyster Bay Resort (www.oysterisland.com). We had a wonderful brunch here today. It is by far the best restaurant since Vila. Of course we haven't seen more than one or two restaurants since Vila.
We went to the Banks Islands, and really had a wonderful time. We were on our way to the Solomons Islands but we changed our minds - again! The weather was not good for going north, and the more we heard about the Solomons (crocodiles!) the less inclined we were to go. Now that I am back at the Oyster Bay Resort I added some photos. This is the first internet connection I've had in almost a month. We knew the Banks were a bit less developed and we really enjoyed meeting the villagers, who are less often visited by yachts. We stopped in Lakona Bay, where we had a wonderful tour of the village, a kastam house (where they teach the children to carve, etc), and we also saw the "water music". Seven ladies wade into water up to their hips and slap and grab the water, making the most amazing music. We met William who was quite a character. He showed us around his village, and he proudly showed us inside his home (which was so dark that I needed a camera flash just to see in the middle of the day). Tom became quite friendly with the chief of that village, and gave him many things for the village. Tom gave him three rolls of peppermint lifesavers, and the following morning the chief paddled out to give us a watermelon and a squash. Then he thanked Tom and said he reallly appreciated all he had done for the village. Then with a serious look, he pulled out the lifesavers and asked "Tom, is this medicine?"
We then went to Waterfall Bay, aptly named for the huge waterfall. We traded shirts, batteries, infant clothes, pencils, etc for lobster! We ate lobster fore several days, until we were sick of it. We moved on to the most northern of the Banks Islands, Ureparapara. It is a small island that consists of a sunken volcano. The bay is well protected by the remaining rim and only seas from the northeast can enter the bay. In this village, Tom gave the local school some soccer uniforms that he found in the trash in Australia. One man's trash is another man's treasure. We have found that they villages in the Banks are so isolated that they are rarely visited by supply ships and they are often lacking very basic goods. Another problem is money - they have none! Their only source of income is tourists (not very many), visiting yachts, and copra (dried coconut). So, they are delighted to see the yachts arrive, and often swarm around us as we set the anchor. The first order of business after the anchor is set is a trip to shore to meet the chief and ask permission to anchor and swim in his bay.
We found a slice of paradise in the Banks - the Reef Islands. This place was knock down gorgeous. We only spent one night because the anchorage is literally in the middle of the ocean, and is only protected by a reef. The weather turned pretty back so we had to leave.
We then spent almost a week in the capital of the Banks - Sola. Tom met the government "electrician" who is in charge of electrifying the island with power from the waterfalls. His first project is to install a refrigerator so that the fishermen can preserve their fish and subsequently sell them. He plans to use solar panels to power the refrigerator and he wanted to know how to determine the number of panels he'd need to run the refrigerator. Well, Tom ended up studying some books we have on board, copying some pages for "George", then spending about 3 hours helping George understand electricity. Tom convinced him to use a DC vs and AC system, and he gave him some basic electrical bits and pieces (wire cutters, tape, connectors). George was very thankful, and gave us a bag of yams, grapefruit, and scallions.
It was about this time that we decided not to go to the Solomons. We started to work our way back south. Tom decided he wanted a pig's tusk so he negotiated with some villagers and now he has about 3 of them. He has gotten very good at speaking bislama so when he asked for "tut blong pig" they knew exactly what he wanted. The best tusk he got was very expensive - we had to give up one rain jacket, one pair of men's pants, 2 shirts, sunglasses and an ironman watch.
Well, we are back in civilization, so I will be keeping this up to date.
We are back in Vila, and I will do some updating this weekend. So, after I update it we will be on our way to New Caledonia. We are going to visit the Loyalty Islands on our way.
We joined the Island Cruising Association Rally in Vanuatu so that we could stop in the Loyalty Islands on our way to mainland New Caledonia. We spent a week in the Ouvea atoll, quite a lovely spot! We rode our bikes, looking for a store, but finally gave up and had a nice lunch at a little beach shack. Lunch was about $50, guess we aren't in Vanuatu anymore! The island has a couple of nice resorts and nothing else.
From Ouvea we sailed to the Isle of Pines where we spent about 10 days hiking, biking and snorkeling. It is probably our favorite place. There are a couple of resorts with great food, a bakery for bread, and great hikes. After getting our fill of that gorgeous place we headed to Noumea, only to find that most of the sailors we've met over the past 2 years are here, and they are leaving for Australia today!
So, we rushed around yesterday, buying food for the passage, checking out with the authorities, refueling the boat, and most importantly we ate at my favorite restaurant in the whole world (except of course for the Old Brogue in Great Falls). The chef at Au P'tit Cafe is a miracle worker. So, after a very satisfying dinner, we slept like logs last night and this morning we are starting our passage to Australia.
We arrived on Thursday, Oct 22nd, and after clearing customs we motored up the Brisbane River and anchored beside the Botanical Garden. We are busy soaking up city life! We ride our bikes along the river on the pedestrian/bike trails, we spend time at the library using the wifi, we sample the restaurants & bakeries - life is good! In late November, we moved the boat to Scarborough Marina and went touring with our friend Rich. After spending a few days seeing the sites around Brisbane, which we all agreed were pretty great, we set out to see as much of OZ as possible in 2 weeks. We visited Tasmania, then drove from Melbourne to Sydney. We loved Tassy, especially Hobart which has lots of pubs and the amazing Salamanca Market. From Melbourne we drove west along the Great Ocean Road. It was a gorgeous as the guidebooks promised. After only one night in Melbourne we headed out to the Yarra Valley where we stayed at a vineyard where we spoiled ourselves for a couple of days. It had a great restaurant, lovely accommodations, and a fitness center. We visited lots of wineries, and ate some great food at the Innocent Bystander. We decided to drive to Wilsons Promontory to give our livers a rest. It was very scenic, and here the beach really did squeak under our shoes, very strange. But is was sad to see the damage that was done by the horrendous brush fires earlier this year. The Victoria and New South Wales coast have some great beaches and awesome headlands. We spent the night in Kiama, which is famous for its blow hole, but I thought the natural/man made pool was pretty interesting. Along the coast road north, we stopped at Bald Mt , about an hour south of Sydney, where hang gliders soar off the cliff face. I would have done it, but it was a bit chilly (and I was afraid). We stopped in some historic whaling towns, and spent the night in a few little (population 300) towns. We had some great accommodations in wilderness settings with amazing wildlife right outside our door. We saw the amazing echinda, a hedgehog type of monotreme, that is just the cutest little thing! We watched them waddle across the grass, and got some good close up photos. We saw lots of kangaroos, including a mother with a child in the pouch, and some wallabies. We did not see any Tasmanian devils, however. Now we are back on the boat, and gave up on getting to Sydney by New Year's Eve. Weather and boat issues made that trip impossible, so we moved back to downtown Brisbane. We are having a great time, and using the bike/walking paths along the river to improve our fitness.
St. Patrick's Day is a big event in Australia - about 50% of the population claims to be of Irish descent. Of course Tom and I are Irish, so we went to the parade in the morning and met some friends at an Irish pub in the afternoon (Gilhooley's). There were bands, Irish dancers, free hats, funny guys dresses in green - everything you need to celebrate St. Pat's Day in style. Of course it was only March 13th, and they will do it again on March 17th. We will try to rest up and do it again, but I don't know..... A few Guinness beers is all we need these days. We are back downtown after spending a couple of weeks in the suburbs having work done on the boat. We have a new solar panel arch, and our teak toe rail is sanded, and awaiting a few coats of varnish. Katie comes to visit in a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to seeing her! Then we will start moving north. We must be in Darwin by July to join the Sail Indonesia Rally.
We finally started our trip north to Darwin on March 31st.ïÿý We got an early start from the fuel dock in Scarborough, and motored all the way to Mooloolaba which is about 40 nautical miles to the north.ïÿý The motion of the boat made me drowsy so I took a long nap while Tom fished.ïÿý He caught a nice tuna on his new Alvey deep sea reel.ïÿý He had to get it on board by himself because I was asleep, but he managed even though it was pretty big (25 pounds).ïÿý We are in a marina in Mooloolaba, awaiting the arrival of Tom's daughter Katie.ïÿý We have several friends in the area, so we met up with some for a barbeque in theïÿý park last night - grilled fish was on the menu.Our visit with Katie was lots of fun and very relaxing.ïÿý We spent time on the beach, with Tom building sand castles while we just relaxed.ïÿý The surf was strong so we didn't go in the water, but the weather was perfect for just sitting on the beach.ïÿý Unfortunately Katie didn't stay very long, but it was good to see her even for a short time.The day after Katie left we hauled the boat and redid the bottom paint.ïÿý Tom worked really hard, and we were able to get back in the water within three days.ïÿý Then we said goodbye to Mooloolaba and started heading north.ïÿý Of course the weather wasn't so great, but the forecast was for more of the same or worse for the next week so we decided to just "do it" and did the overnight sail to Bundaberg.ïÿý It was pretty awful, although mostly because we hadn't gone sailing in 5 months.ïÿý And things broke and the seas were rough and I was sick.ïÿý But ohter than that..... we arrived safely in Bundaberg at 8PM on one of the darkest nights ever.ïÿý Our friends Paul & Ute were in the marina and directed us to a vacant berth.ïÿý It sure was good to tie up and get some rest.ïÿý But that was 2 days ago, and now we are anxious to move on.ïÿý The wind is really strong, or as the Aussies say "it is blowing the crabs out ot the water", but we will leave tomorrow anyway.Instead of a 2 day trip to Keppel Bay Marina, it took 5 days to reach Keppel Bay.ïÿý We had to hide out in Pancake Creek until the wind and seas calmed down.ïÿý It was a beautiful place, but there's nothing there - no stores, no phone service, no nothing....ïÿý But Tom caught a beautiful Spanish Mackerel on the way, which we shared with our friends Paul & Ute.ïÿý We finally got out of Pancake Creek and made a one night stop at Great Keppel Island (gorgeous beach), before arriving at the marina.ïÿý Tom caught a second mackerel on our way so we have had lots of fresh fish.ïÿý Marina life is so wonderful.ïÿý We have electricity, running water, phone service and internet service.ïÿý Hmmmm, seems like we used to take all that for granted!After a few quick stops at some islands we arrived at MacKay, which has a very nice marina. The only drawback is that it's far from town. Luckily there is a bus that runs from the marina to town. There's a huge shopping center in town, where we could buy the supplies we needed. The downtown area was cute, very "old Australia" with nicely renovated buildings and a green feel to downtown. After MacKay we did a few island hops on our way to Airlie Beach, which is the tourist center for the Whitsundays. There are tons of young people in town, but so few on the beach it made me wonder. Then we found the lagoon, a man made swimming pool/beach where the tourists can swim without fear of the deadly jelly fish. I do mean deadly. Thesting of theàBox Jelly fishàor the Irigangi (I'll have to check the spelling of this one) can cause your heart to stop. There's a big sign at the beach, that says if you get stung put vinegar on the sting and call 000 (911) for an ambulance. There's a bottle of vinegar in a holder attached to the sign. Guess we won't go in the water here!We spent only a few days in the Whitsundays, which is a shame because the islands are very nice and different from anything we've seen before.àThey were originally mountain ranges on the mainland, but were separated from the coast when the sea rose and isolated them.àThey are rocky and forested with a few lovely beaches and magnificent coral.àIn one of our favorite anchorages I was sitting in the cockpit when I heardàa cockatoo (they have a very distinctive call).àI had seen a few earlier in the day, but was shocked when one came and landed on our spreaders.àWhile I checked him out and took photos, he checked me out and after walking all around the boat finally came back to me and wanted a treat.àI hand fed him cashews and macadamia nuts until he was satisfied and left to find out what the next boat was handing out.àWe spent a few more days doing short hikes in the forests and a bit of snorkeling before heading north again.àWe are back along the coast, stopping in anchorages each night.àNext stopàwas Townsville, the largest town in Northern Queensland.àTownsville was probably the best place we've visited this year. The town itself is lovely, and the strand beachfront is beautifully developed. There's a wide strip of grass, trees and bushes next to the beach, with a jogging path and public facilities. "Our tax dollars at work", and in a very good way. And, on our first night in town as we were walking to a restaurant, we saw hash marks and found the Monday night hash! It was a really fun group of almost grown ups. We had dinner with the hash, and met some very nice people. We spent our second day walking the streets of downtown, which is undergoing a renovation. There is a river that runs through downtown and there are trendy restaurants on the south side, along with another marina. We walked across the railroad tracks and found the perfect brushes for our anchor windlass, which thrilled Tom. He's been looking for those brushes for 4 years! And on our way home we noticed a special on oysters -à$6 a dozen! We obviously came back later to have a dozen each. The following day we rented a car and drove to an old gold mining town. We have now officially been in the outback. Along the way we crossed a river that was pretty dry, but the flood water markers showed that last year it was 20 meters higher! We reluctantly left Townsville, but were delighted by the beauty of the Hinchinbrook Channel. It is unlike any coastal area we've passed, very green with lush mountains on the island side and the land side. It was a bit like portions of the ICW.Our next major stop was Cairns (pronounced cans). We stayed in the marina and got our fill of water and electricity. There were many restaurants within a few blocks of the marina - probably 30 - so we ate out every night. What a treat! The marina is in the middle of town, and thus very close to shopping. We purchased a few more essentials because this is our last major port until Darwin, which is at least 1000 miles away. We also ran, rode our bikes, and did some boat maintenance. Then we left for the reef! Because the conditions were so calm, we felt it was safe to anchor in the lee of a sand spit that is only there at high tide. The snorkeling was exceptionally good. I saw live giant clams for the first time - amazing things! And the water was crystal clear. This particular reef was not deep enough for diving so we had to be satisfied with the snorkeling. I saw many stink rays, lots of fish and coral, and no sharks. But I know they are there because our friends saw one last week. And I saw one box jellyfish.àLuckily I was on the boat at the time. Today we had to return to Cairns to order a part for the engine. We got the part and left again, this time we picked up a park service mooring behind Michealmas Cay. It is a bird santuary and lots(20,000) of sea birds call it home. The odor and noise from the birds was kind of overwhelming, but we really enjoyed going ashore (in the roped off zone for humans). The birds, even the small babies are not at all intimidated by humans. It is their island, after all. We also had a selection of fish swimming around our boat waiting for a handout. The tour boats must have them trained. We did a bit of snorkeling and I must say that I am very impressed with the Great Barrier Reef. The water is super clear and the giant clams (this time almost 4 feet across) are just amazing to watch. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we moved on to Port Douglas to complete our provisioning for the next month or so. We'll be living off our "stores" and what Tom can catch until we reach Darwin.àPort Douglas is a smaller, low key tourist town.àIt is lovely, so we decided to stay in the marina for two nights.àThen we are off to the best of the Great Barrier Reef.
Well, the Great Barrier Reef was a bit of a disappointment. We did enjoy a few anchorages along the way, but the ones close to the mainland always had "no swimming - crocodiles" signs posted. But by the time we reached Lizard Island we were far enough offshore so that the crocs were not a problem. We were about 10 miles from the ribbon reefs and I was very excited about snorkeling or diving on the reefs, but the weather would not cooperate. Lizard Island has a fancy resort and a reef research station. The resort would not permit us to use their facilities including their dining room and their dive boat. The research facility was welcoming and we watched a great video on the reef, talked to the scientists and looked at the various experiments as well as a nice "living reef" that has been growing for years and years in a tank on site. We climbed to Captain Cook's lookout, and signed the guest book at the top. This island was our favorite spot on the trip north. But we could not get out to the ribbon reefs. The wind was just too strong. It was a real disappointment, but we have heard that the snorkeling and diving are not as great as the advertisements.
After leaving Lizard Island we had some long and hard sailing days, but we made great time. The wind and current were with us, and the seas on our stern, so the sailing was quite good. We stopped at some reef islands, and learned that there are definitely crocs out here. We also stopped in some bays along the coast. We did not see any development, and had no cell service. We enjoyed our trip "over the top", and rounded Cape York on a fine day. We went on to Siesia, a surprisingly pleasant stop on the Cape York peninsula. It is a destination for camper vans, and has good fishing and is probably just a challenge to reach over land. But the facilities were excellent! There was a very nice grocery store (well, any grocery store after almost a month is great), and a laundry facility. Tom gets paranoid about our water supply and complains if I do laundry with our on-board machine. There was also a bakery in the neighboring town, with chocolate croissants! We were in heaven, and it was a good thing because the weather kicked up and kept us there for a week. We met lots of nice people, other OZ sailors who are going to Indonesia.
Our arrival in Darwin was spectacular. As well pulled into the anchorage just before sunset we were greeted by dozens of fireworks displays. At 7:30 there was a main display, which rivaled the 4th of July in DC. We couldn't believe this was all celebrating our arrival, but luckily our arrival coincided with Northern Territories Day. The fireworks went on until well after we turned in. They sure know how to celebrate!
We spent 3 weeks exploring Darwin and just plain enjoying civilization. We were exposed to more aboriginal people, and found many to be pleasant but many seem to have a severe alcohol problem. We met a little girl who taught us the alphabet in sign language. Tom is very good with children. We do love the aboriginal art, and I bought 2 paintings and a digeridoo that has nice artwork. Tom bought a musical instrument quality digeridoo. He plans to sit on a street corner in DC with his hat on the ground..... He even made me buy a set of clap sticks so that I can accompany him.
In a few days we leave for Indonesia. We had our technical briefing the other day, and I came away with two messages - first, don't wear a watch because time is unimportant in Indonesia. And the second message was that we will often hear "that is impossible ..... but it can be arranged." It should be interesting.....
We left Darwin on July 24th at 6AM, 5 hours before the official start of the Sail Indonesia Rally. We had no desire to get involved with over 100 boats trying to get across a "start line". It was a three day trip to our first stop, and it was one of the roughest passages we've had to date. I was very seasick, and we were taking lots of water over the bow. But the worst part of the trip was when we were almost t-boned by the Indonesian Navy vessel that was acting as our "escort". I saw it coming from the south on radar when it was about 5 miles away, and used the AIS system to get the name of the boat. Then I called on VHF channel 16, but got no response. I tried the ship channel (12) but had no luck. Our AIS shows the closest point of approach and time to closest point of approach. The ship was going to come within about 1/8 of a mile, which was too close for comfort, so after a dozen attempts to raise the ship on the radio, I awoke Tom and told him we had to do something. We were sailing fast, and had limited ability to change course or speed. Tom finally got up and when he got to the cockpit he could see I wasn't kidding. The Navy ship was changing course, but it was coming closer instead of turning away. The last "CPA" I saw was .03 nautical miles! I heard Tom start the engine, gun it, and turn the boat 180 degrees. The ship passed not more than 50 feet behind us! That was a heart stopping experience. The next day I complained to the Sail Indonesia representative during our daily radio check-ins. I guess the whole crew was asleep! So much for rules of the road or keeping a good look out. Anyway, we arrived (alive) in Banda and were greeted by the local officials. The government had flown in customs and quarantine officers from Ambon. One official told us he was staying in the local hotel - which was very expensive but very, very nice. He told us that it has air conditioning and television - and cost about $25 US. I can't say enough about the friendliness of the locals. We seem to be a curiosity. Many people just wanted to take photos of us - and have photos taken of us with them. Everyone has a cell phone which is also a camera. The welcome ceremony the following day honored the 10 captains who were the first to arrive in Banda. We were the fourth boat in. and would have been among the top 10 even if we had left 5 hours later. The ceremony was "over the top". There were a few short speeches, and one short prayer, but mostly it was music and dance. We were then served a lovely lunch, which was mostly fish. I did ask the English speaking guide if there was any "dog" in the dishes. We were assured that it was all fish or vegetables. (I had read the menu translator in a guide book and it had several unusual entries including dog and rat!) After lunch we witnessed the end of a race around the island by 10 local dragon boats. It had taken the men about one hour to circumnavigate the island. Finally, we had enough of the celebration and went back the boat. As we left the compound, we noticed that the commoners were now allowed into the ceremony grounds.The following day we took a snorkeling trip, and the coral and fish were the best we've seen on our travels. We also hiked to the top of a local island, then we toured a nutmeg plantation. The plantation was the last of the dutch owned businesses in Banda, and 5 of the family members had been murdered in 1999 during the civil unrest. We had a full day with a local guide, boat and driver. The next day we decided to leave for Ambon.Going to Ambon was probably a mistake, but we felt guilty because the President of Indonesia was flying in to view the Sail Indonesia fleet, and many boats wanted to skip Ambon. We had to motor for 130 miles (overnight), using more than a few gallons of our precious diesel. We will be able to purchase diesel in Indonesia but have been warned that the fuel is very dirty. The city could be described as "urban squalor" but the people are still very friendly. The welcoming ceremony was once again a wonderful affair with excellent entertainment, including a famous rock band from Jakarta. We were mildly amused by the country and western band, and the local line dancers. Tom and several other men stayed with the boats because we had trouble with the anchorage, and it was a good thing. Two boats broke loose, and one was missing over night! By the following morning we were exhausted from dealing with dragging anchors so we left for Wakatobi.The passage lasted 2 days, and was pretty awful. The rain was torrential and the seas were fairly rough. But on arrival in Wangi Wangi we were greeted by Gino, who instructed us on the entrance to the lagoon. The anchorage was calm with good holding, so we were very happy! We got some much needed rest, and set off the following morning to explore the town.In Wangi Wangi we are offered "escort" service. That is, when we arrive on shore, there is a contingent of teenage girls and boys who want to accompany us. They ask "where you going missus?" And although we know the way to the Telcom office by now, they try to insist on coming along. Perhaps we are their English tutors? And if I manage to sneak away without an escort, I am repeatedly stopped by young men on motor cycles who ask if they can give me a lift. One time I was sitting at the Telcom internet "cafe" and one of the escorts wandered up and asked why I was there alone. Everyone here has a cell phone (or hand phone) and they are constantly keeping track of the whereabouts of the foreigners on shore. I doubt it has anything to do with our safely, but rather ensuring that we all have a positive experience in Wakatobi. The government is trying to promote tourism and they want us to have nothing bad to say about our visit. After leaving Wangi Wangi, we spent a couple of days snorkeling at Hoga Island. We saw a huge humphead wrasse on the reef, which is the largest fish we've seen in Indonesia. In fact, we don't think there are any fish at all, except on the reefs. At least that's Tom's excuse for not catching any this year. Our trip to Flores required an overnight to a small island where we rested (a lovely spot with great snorkeling). Along this route we passed many floating rafts. At first we thought they had washed away during a storm, but eventually we realized that they were anchored in very deep water (almost a mile!). We aren't sure of their purpose, but they could almost have been route markers, as they were on the rhumb line from Wakatobi to Bone Rate. We have spent many, many hours motoring on flat calm seas. When we arrived in Labuan Bajo, Flores we purchased diesel from a local supply boat. We used a portable filter to remove the water and dirt, but it is still downright filthy compared to Australian diesel. Labuan Bajo is a filthy, unattractive town, which the Lonely Planet describes as the next big tourist destination in Indonesia. It has a long way to go! When walking through town you must be careful because one false step and you would fall 15 feet into someone's paved backyard. And, I almost tripped over a dead rat on the sidewalk. As you can tell, it was not my favorite place.From there we went to Rinca to see the famous Komodo Dragons. They live on only 2 islands - Rinca and Komodo. We did a walking tour in Rinca and saw about a dozen dragons, most of which were lounging outside the Park Service kitchen. The guide warned us that they are very quick and this time of year the females are guarding their nests so you don't want to get too close to them. Actually, you never want to get too close to them, because they are quick and deadly. They have eaten tourists.Our next stop was the northern side of Komodo Island, where we found fabulous snorkeling. The water is so warm that I don't even wear a dive skin, about 86 degrees. This area is uninhabited and the water is very clear, clean, and full of colorful fish and live coral. It is like jumping into an aquarium. I saw some unusual fish, like the unicorn fish and the false clown fish. Also, there were snow white sea anenome which had a blue or purple film enclosure that was usually open but sometimes the film enclosed the entire anenome. We had planned on stopping a night or two on our way to Lombok, but ended up spending more than a week. Our route to Lombok involved several stops along the north side of Sumbawa. We stopped in Bimo, which is a small city that seems to be very prosperous by local standards due to copper mining. I had no desire to stop here, and didn't even want to leave the boat but our friends convinced us to go to the produce market with a local guide they had hired. Panjo was a nice young man who spoke very good english, and he had a motorcyle taxi that could accommodate 6 passengers. The next morning the dock was busy with many boats unloading their cargo. I was surprised to see pony drawn carts being loaded with coconuts, and other goods. Panjo met us, and four of us climbed into the cart, which was not very clean. I ended up with a dirt and diesel stain on my pants, but that is part of the fun. The market was chock full of produce and other bits and pieces. Sue and I shopped for produce while Tom wandered around and took photos. As usual people were delighted to have their photo taken. After our trip to the market we had to meet with the port captain and get our paperwork in order. Because this is an official port we had to check in and check out, which involved a lot of paperwork and about $10. Later that day Panjo took us to a restaurant where we ate an early dinner, finishing just before sunset when the muslim population flooded in to break their Ramadan fast. The food was delicious, and as usual cost about $3 per person.We made our way to Lombok over the next few days. We tied up to a mooring ball at the Medana Bay Marina, which is actually only a dinghy dock with a small outdoor restaurant, but it is nice. We have dinner there most nights. We were talked into spending a night at a resort that is only 3/4 mile from the marina, the Oberoi Lombok, which is rated as the number 6 resort in Asia. And it is a splendid resort! We now spend time in their bar and restaurant, even though we sleep on the boat. Soon we'll move on to Bali. We have been jogging to the local market to try to get some exercise, but we are stopped quite often by children who want to say hello.
Ah Bali, it's pure bliss! Well, except for the traffic and the awful sidewalks. You must keep your eyes on the road ahead, in order to keep from stepping into huge holes in the sidewalk. We've spent a week in the marina, and although it is far from town and in pretty bad shape, at least it is a marina! In fact, it is the only marina in Indonesia. We hired a guy to polish the boat - yeah! Taxi rides are cheap, so we've been exploring. We even spent a night in Ubud, which is the home of many artists. We are particularly fascinated by the Hindu offerings which are on the sidewalk in front of every doorway. The small woven baskets are refreshed several times a day, and contain various things like rice, crackers, incense and even cigarettes! We are reluctant to leave here, but we are now behind schedule so tomorrow we'll move on. Next stop is Lovina on the north shore of Bali.
We motored about 20 hours to Lovina, because as usual there was no wind. We had one or two thunderstorms, which have occurred regularly over the past 2 weeks. It is the beginning of the rainy season. At least the boat is nice and clean! Lovina is OK, but not nearly as charming as other parts of Bali. For the first time in 2 months we are once again with a large crowd of Sail Indonesia boats. Most of the fleet had to stop here to get their visas renewed, so it is a bit crowded. Luckily the anchorage is large, so we have plenty of room to swing. We are once again anchored in deep water - 85 feet! Right now Tom is refurbishing the windlass motor, which has been acting up for the past few months. I hope it lasts until we get to Singapore, where hopefully we can have it rebuilt.
Tomorrow morning, around 5AM we will leave for Borneo. Next stop is Kumai and the Orangutans!
So, you may have noticed that we regularly change our plans. We had the anchor up and we were on our way to Borneo. I was putting a waypoint into the GPS when I started looking more closely at the nasty river we would have to enter in Kumai. I asked Tom if he wanted to go to Karimanjawa instead and he said OK, so here we are! It is a conservation area and supposedly has good diving and snorkeling. We haven't been snorkeling since Komodo and it is awfully hot here. So, we may end up skipping the orangutans. Oh well.
We thoroughly enjoyed Karimnjawa. We didn't get to do much snorkeling because it got a bit blustery while we were there - go figure. No wind when we want to sail, big winds when we want the anchor to hold. The island group is lovely, and there are several dive resorts but they close on Oct 1 because that is the beginning of the rainy season. We have not had too much rain yet, but I suppose it will start soon. We were looking for good weather to get up to Kumai so we could do the Orangutan trip but there are lots of squalls in the forecast. We even started out one morning for Kumai but turned back when we got hit by a nasty thunderstorm. The forecast was for more intense storms along the way, and it just wasn't pleasant!
We are now at anchor in Belitung, which is a surprisingly gorgeous island. The bay where we are anchored must have a couple of miles of white sand beach, large bolders scattered about the edges of the bay, which remind me of the Boulders resort in Arizona. Sail Indonesia has gone all out here as this is the last stop. There are activities, tours, music, etc every day. We went on a 5 hour tour on Monday, which turned into a 10 hour tour. But other than that..... it was great. We had lunch in the East Belitung Regent's house (ruler of the eastern half of Belitung). They are trying hard to make this a tourist destination, and they certainly have the natural beauty. I hope they are successful.
Tomorrow we leave for Singapore. We will miss Indonesia, and we are seriously considering coming back for a couple of months next year.
We made it across the straits, which was a white knuckle experience for me. Tom was at the wheel while I was looking at the computer which showed all the ships that are in the area through the AIS system. There were so many ships displayed on our charts that I really appreciated the Nobeltec system which prioritized the ships, showing which one was going to run us over first, then second, etc.
Arriving in Singapore was quite a culture shock, and a good one! The marina (Raffles Marina) is very nice, and we were greeted by three dock boys who helped us get in the slip. Checking into the country was easy - the official came to the marina office. There's a pool, fitness center, bowling alley, three restaurants, a hotel and a courtesy bus. We have been busy getting parts for the boat, and having repairs done. We also have explored some of the more interesting parts of the city, like Little India and Chinatown. We ran the Red Dress Run with the Singapore Hash House Harriers. We have eaten a huge number of meals at the local hawker stands. The food is fabulous. And we have gawked at the upscale shopping that is the main activity in this town. We planned to stay one week, but now we'll be here two or so...... We had planned to go to Danga Bay Marina across the strait in Malaysia, but the report of rats on the docks there has changed our minds - quickly!!!!
Today we went to the Bird Park, which was thrilling. Not only are the grounds beautiful, but there are many walk-through aviaries. The shows are amazing, including a parrot that really, really could talk - count to 10 in English and Chinese, and sing in three languages. He can sing Happy Birthday better than most of us.
On November 2, we motored 2 hours up to Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It is connected to Singapore by a bridge, so it is a short trip but time consuming because you go through 2 sets of immigration officials. Malaysia is a bit of a culture shock after Singapore. It is not as clean (no where is as clean as Singapore), but it is quite developed compared to the places we visited in Indonesia. Everyone is friendly, but not as curious about us as the Indonesians. And it is not as muslim, which means I feel comfortable wearing shorts and sleeveless tops. Since it is so hot, that is a real treat. We are in a marina, and we can use our air conditioning so I am pretty happy. But, there have been reports of rats here, and that makes me very nervous. We do not need any extra crew! We had planned to stay only a night or two, but it has already been almost a week. It is difficult to leave marinas! We ended up going to Singapore by bus/rail, which is a time consuming process even though it is just across the strait. We spent 3 days in Singapore, two days were eaten up by visiting the Vietnam Embassy to get our visitor visas, and then we spent my birthday going to the Singapore Zoo. It was pretty nice, but I liked the bird park a whole lot more.
We decided to take the bus to Melaka (Malacca), which was quite a pleasant experience. The intercity buses have huge seats that are even larger than most first class airline seats, with leg rests, etc. The air conditioning was great - too great. We traveled on a four lane road similar to the PA turnpike. Melaka is a quaint city with lots of history, and they've done a nice job making it tourist friendly. We stayed in Chinatown in a wonderful small boutique hotel. We attended our first Sail Malaysia function, which was a seafood dinner. Most yachties left their boats in Danga Bay because the Melaka marina is untenable, and there is no real anchorage.
After 11 days in the "rat" marina, we finally moved on - without a rat! Our friends got one on board and had a heck of a time killing it. It lived on their boat for a couple of weeks, and took one bite out of every package of food - and ate through 2 boxes of wine. They were very upset about the wine because it is hard to come by in Malaysia.
We started up the coast with plans to stop each night in an anchorage because the thought of sailing at night in the Malacca Strait with all its ship and barge traffic was a bit daunting. But the anchorages are not sheltered and after taking a look at the first one we ended up going overnight and through the following day. We learned of a new marina in Port Klang, so that's where we headed. About 15 Sail Malaysia boats descended on this brand new marina. It is government owned and has security guards but no staff. The officials were called and the following day we all checked in and paid for the berths - about $10 per day. Electricity is iffy at best, but we stand on our heads to keep power to the boat so we can run one a/c unit at night.
The marina is only about 30 miles from Kuala Lumpur so we took the local commuter train to the "big smoke" to check it out. And we decided to stay in a hotel and soak up a bit of a/c and other worldly delights. Kuala Lumpur has very upmarket hotels and shopping. The shopping malls were extravagantly decorated for Christmas! It was quite a sight seeing all the Muslims in their head scarves and burkas posing in front of the Christmas decorations. And it is quite Muslim here which we realized when we stopped by Tony Roma's for ribs, but discovered that they don't sell pork ribs! It was just as well because we had some amazing local cuisine instead. We hired a taxi to bring us back to the marina, and on the way stopped by Putrajawa, the government center. There is a huge mosque which we visited (everyone had to wear a pink gown with hoods, but only the ladies had to keep the hood on). We could walk up to the door and peer inside but only Muslims are permitted to enter. The architecture of the "city" is overwhelming. The country has spent an enormous amount of money building this ultra modern purpose-built city. Check it out on the internet! We had lunch at a great seafood restaurant overlooking a lake.
We left the marina in Klang without any uninvited guests (rats) so we were happy. Our exit was thrilling as the current runs very rapidly through the marina. We motored several hours to a recommended anchorage near a light house. It isn't protected but as long as the weather is settled it is an ok place to spend the night. All afternoon we watched the thunderheads build over the land, and hoped they would hold off or move south or anything but blow us out of our anchorage. We went to bed early anticipating being awakened in the middle of the night with a blow. And sure enough, at 4:30AM the boat started to rock and the wind started to howl. When wind is against current in an anchorage, the boat sits into the current. That meant the winds were hitting us on the beam. And then the seas built and soon we were rocking and rolling. The boat motion was about as bad as it gets on a bad day at sea. Daybreak isn't until almost 7 AM here but at 5:30 we decided we just could not stay. As Tom pulled up the anchor, I tried to keep the boat into the waves - something you don't say very often.... He said it was an awful ride up there on the bow, but we got the anchor up and were underway in the dark. We motored all day (no wind here except in the thunderstorms) to Pangkor Island Marina. The staff here is very welcoming and we they are trying to run a first class operation. The marina is under development, and if they ever finish the marina it will be nice. We did a tour of a local marine university, then spent our second day touring Pangkor Island (including a fabulous seafood lunch). Then on Thanksgiving evening, we attended the Sail Malaysia Rally dinner hosted by the marina. The food was delicious, the speeches were short, and the music was good. The hosts even supplied beer! Tomorrow we will go to Penang and check into a hotel. There's been a lot of angst about the marina in Penang and after hearing some of the stories we just don't feel that it is a safe place. The Rally boats are going to an anchorage, but with the nightly thunderstorms we feel better leaving our boat in this marina.
Our bus trip to Penang was OK, but a lot longer than we expected. It took 4 hours to get to Butterworth, then we took the short ferry trip over to Penang. We enjoyed our visit to this old town, which is still a mix of colonial and old Chinese, and Indian, and on and on. There's quite a cultural mix here. We had drinks and a light dinner at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, a famous old relic on the water. We toured the Blue Mansion which was built by a Chinese man, who was known as the Rockefeller of Asia. He was very, very wealthy, and built this house for 3 of his 7 wives - the others lived in Singapore, China, and Indonesia. But mostly we just walked around and savored the exotic city and tasted the delicious street food. After 4 days we took the long, long bus trip back to our boat, but having learned that we really should have gotten our Thai visas while in Penang we reluctantly decided to sail there. So, we ended up spending two nights in the dreaded marina. It was fine, but I can see why it can be big trouble in a blow.
Having gotten our visas, we finally set off for Langkawi. We encountered some pretty horrible weather so we did a non-scheduled stop behind a little island, then continued our trip the following morning.
Langkawi is a duty free port, and the streets are lined with shops that sell alcohol, alcohol, alcohol, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and china. We caught up with some old friends in the anchorage (it was their 39 wedding anniversary!), then we moved to Rebak Marina. The marina is very nice, and is associated with the Rebak Island Resort. We are allowed to use all their facilities, and we even get a discount in the restaurants. How good is that? It will be tough to pull ourselves away in a month. But before we leave here we are flying to Vietnam. That should be very interesting.
We left Malaysia on January 4th, with a passenger! A friend sailed to Thailand with us - what a brave lady. We did the 150 mile trip in three days, and had great sailing for most of the time. We anchored in the Au Chalong harbor and completed our check in with immigration, customs and the port captain early Monday morning. Our friend took a motorcycle tour while Tom and I checked out the town on foot. We found a great restaurant for dinner, but staying in town until dusk was not such a great idea. There was an exceptionally low tide that evening, and we had to walk out to the dinghy in shoe sucking goo. I really thought I was going to lose my shoes!
After spending a few days in a marina we left for the beautiful limestone islands east of Phuket. They are breathtakingly beautiful, what a site. But the boat loads of tourists who are dropped off to kayak through the caves and crannies are a bit much. Today we are moving to a more remote island.
The more remote islands were gorgeous! We spent a few days enjoying the peace and quiet, but then we returned to a marina. We are having cosmetic work done to the boat - fixing up the nicks and scars of a few thousand miles. The workers are talented here, and prices are reasonable. The marina is nice and the pool is huge! I am swimming laps, going to the gym, and generally staying out of the workmen's way. However, I recently got involved in sanding the exterior teak. The workmen we hired did not do an adequate job, so I volunteered and worked my fingers to the bone. I did a great job preparing the teak for new varnish. We must leave here soon, as we have a flight home in early March.
We arrived back in Langkawi in late February and prepared the boat for our long absence. We flew home in early March and spent a few months visiting family, friends, and attending to the normal chores of life. In mid-July we returned to Priscilla and our "normal" life. We have been sitting in the marina, enjoying the resort and doing projects. We will leave for Phuket, Thailand in a few weeks, but we hope to have some quality time at anchor in the beautiful islands before we leave Malaysia. Most of our time is spent talking with other sailors about next year's plans. No one is planning to sail to the Red Sea. It has gotten far too dangerous. So that leaves two options - shipping the boat or sailing around South Africa. Most choose the sailing option. But then there is the other choice - the northern route or the southern route. We spend hours hashing out the pros and cons and there is no clear answer.
So, here we are back in Thailand. Before we left Malaysia we put the sails back on the boat, just in case we had wind, but we had to motor the whole way. We stopped at 2 anchorges on our way here, neither of which was particularly picturesque but they were good places to spend the night. After we checked in with the authorities we spent a couple of days getting Thai SIM cards for the phone and iPad, and buying exotic American foods like Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.After we checked into the marina this morning, we walked to an upholstery shop to request an estimate on replacing the headliner in our boat. The shop was across the main street, which is a 6 lane divided road. When Tom saw a break in the traffic, he ran across and yelled at me to follow. Looking at the oncoming traffic there was not a car in sight for at least a block so I ran out to follow him. Unfortunately, I forgot that there are often motorcycles going in the wrong direction on the streets of SE Asia. So, I got bumped by the bike. He was almost at a complete stop by the time he hit me, so all I got was a minor bruise and a reminder to look the right way and the wrong way for traffic. I guess I was back in the USA for too long.....Today (Sept. 23), we moved into a hotel room at the marina. We will live there for about three months while Priscilla is undergoing work. The work includes painting the entire boat, replacing the teak decking, revising the navigation station layout, replacing the headliner, etc. For the first time since 2005, we will sleep on land for more than half the year!The work began on October 1st, but no one showed up that day. It rained all day, buckets and buckets of rain. But on Tuesday at least a dozen workers showed up, even though it was raining. They built a huge tent over the boat, and then took off all the deck hardware. Then they taped the parts that will not be painted, and began sanding the hull. It is a bit disconcerting to see pieces of the boat taken off and put somewhere..... The parts that Tom and I had disassembled in anticipation were carefully labeled and stored. The pieces that the workers removed just seemed to disappear. Later we learned that Nai, who is the proprietor of the shop which is refitting our boat, had the hardware and other bits stored above her workshop. That was a relief. Now we are just wondering how they will ever get it all back together. Everyday while the workers do the hard parts, Tom and I work on our jobs. Mostly I am polishing the parts of the deck stainless that is inaccessible when the boat is put together. And Tom is currently rebuilding the winches. Earlier this week we took all the hardware off the mast. That was an interesting job. I could not believe how many screws there are in a mast. I unscrewed them all, and I have to say it seemed like 1000. Everyday we work until noon, then we go to "Eat Street", which is a row of shacks. The local restaurants there serve excellent food, although the cleanliness standards are a bit disconcerting. Lunch for two costs about $3. Then we go back to work until about 5 or so. I am beginning to prefer the rainy days, because working in the direct sun is awfully hot and hard on the skin. Nai set up a work bench for Tom and I next to the boat, and today the workmen offered to move it under the tent for us but we declined because when they are sanding it is pretty toxic under the tent.Work is progressing well on the paint job. The amount of labor involved in preparing the boat for painting is quite daunting, but they are now almost finished and will begin painting in a few days. Tom has completed his work on the rudder post and he has installed new packing as well as a new mascerator pump for the aft head. Soon he will be finished with his work in the aft cabin. His working conditions have been inhumane. He has to contort his body to get under my dresser, and the temperature in the cabin is well over 100 degrees. I don't know how he does it. I wouldn't last 5 minutes! He regularly complains about the inaccessability of equipment. Thank goodness he is thin, because a larger man could not fit in these spots. Recently we learned that Thailand is not very friendly to foreigners. It turns out that if any car accident involves a foreigner, it is automatically the foreigner's fault. The logic is that if the foreigner were not here, the accident would not have happened. So, a local can hit your car when it is parked, and you will be responsible for repairing his car. I also heard of an instance where a foreigner was pushing a dock cart in the driveway at the marina and was hit by a local. The foreigner had to pay for repairs to the car. The judge apologized but said that's the way it is..... It makes us reluctant to rent a car.Next week we are flying to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wot.
Angkor Wat was very interesting as was the little bit of Cambodia that we saw. We returned to the "salt mine", and have been going at boat projects pretty much non-stop. We did take a 3 day break to go to Kuala Lumpir to renew our visas. We had a great time doing Christmas shopping there. As usual the decorations were amazing. This year there is a display of unity bears. Each country is represented by a bear that is painted by a national artist to depict that country. Our favorite was Cuba, which had a cigar ring as a belt and was smoking a big cigar.
The boat will be put back in the water on Boxing Day. We can't wait!
We finally launched as scheduled, and had to be towed to a berth! However, it was a simple problem with the cooling water and was easily fixed. We had every intention of leaving the marina but a few weeks passed before we finally left to see the islands. We were pleasantly suprised by the clear water of the islands in the southern part of Phanga Nga Bay. However, there are so many tourists in Phuket that it is not enjoyable. We did spend the night in the famous Phi Phi Le where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. I rarely watch movies so I was unaware of the film, but obviously there are a lot of tourists who want to see this beach. It is indeed a beautiful spot. There are no resorts on this small island, so we were hoping for a serene evening, as the tourist boats usually leave by 4:30. However, many boats stayed until 6:30 PM. We decided to walk the beach in the morning instead, as the boats usually don't arrive until 9 or so. To our horror, the first mass of beer drinking Russian tourists arrived at 7:30 AM. Paradise spoiled!
Our next destination was the islands off the west coast of Thailand. These are too far from Phuket for most day boats, so the only tourists are on overnight dive trips or in the eco-camping resorts run by the park service. These camping resorts consist of small tents erected in a rows about 10 feet from each other. Not my idea of a resort. The Similan and Surin Islands are famous for diving, but in the last few years the coral has been badly bleached. We did not dive, but did a few short snorkel trips to check out the water. The visibility was good, but indeed the coral was dead. I did spot a few of my favorites - the clown fish.
We had to hurry back to Phuket in advance of strong easterly winds, so we had to cut our trip short. We arrived back at the famous Patong Bay just as a big rain storm hit. We ended up staying there five days, due to the extremely strong winds. Patong is either heaven or hell, depending on your taste. If you like tacky, bawdy, bar scenes and cheap souvenirs then you are in heaven. We prefer a more low key and tasteful beach, which was only a few miles away at Nai Harn, but we were unsure of the conditions there so with the anchor well set we tolerated the jet skis and loud music. We anchored as far away as we could from the rest of the boats, but unfortunately there were still a few immature tourists who enjoyed zooming up to our boat on their jet skiis and turning away at the last minute. We stayed below because we knew that any reaction on our part would only encourage this behavior. One guy made several passes to see how much water he could spray into our dinghy.
Finally the weather broke and we were on our way. Almost every beach in Phuket is lined with beach chairs, several rows deep. There are a few unspoiled beaches but they are few and far between. After extending our visas one last time, we returned to the marina for some last minute canvas repairs and some quality time with our new bird friend Nellie. Then in mid-February we said goodbye to our new friends and headed south to Langkawi. Along the way we stopped in two lovely spots. One is Rok Nok, where the park service has laid mooring balls in 15 feet of water. We tied on to one late in the day, and had a good sound sleep. In the morning I was surprised to see a wreck almost directly below our boat. It was clearly visible in about 10 feet of water. It was a fairly large catamarin that must have sunk due to a fire. The mast was lying beside the boat, and one of the pontoons had broken free and was partially floating. We decided that perhaps we should leave the mooring before we swung over the sunken vessel, and anyway we had a long trip ahead of us. Our next stop was Koh Lipe in the Batang Group. These are the southern most island and are noted for their diving. It is much less crowded than the islands farther north, and is mostly accessed by ferry from Langkawi, Malaysia. There are small beach restaurants and a few hotels. Unfortunately we had turned in all our baht, so we had no local currency. We did learn that they would accept US dollars, but in the end we cooked on the boat. The next morning we left for Langkawi to say goodbye to our friends Anne and Don on Harmonie who are leaving for Sri Lanka on their way to South Africa.
We had a great time catching up with old friends in Langkawi. John and Sue of Storyteller were there along with Don and Anne of Harmonie. We had drinks on Storyteller then dinner at a Tapas restaurant at the marina complex. Dinner was ruined by a huge storm, as we had been sitting outside and the restaurant could not really accommodate all the customers inside when the rain started. But it worked out OK, as we split up into two groups. We sadly said goodbye to our friends, hoping to see them again some day. They left the following day, and we moved over to the other marina after filling up with duty free fuel. Once again we were happy to be at the Taj resort with its beautiful pool, fitness center and lovely gardens. We stayed longer than planned, but started our trip to Singapore. Our first stop along the way was the new marina in Penang called Straits Quay. It is a lovely spot, just north of Georgetown. This is our third trip to Penang, which is a very interesting former colonial city. The food is excellent and the town is full of temples and old colonial buildings.
After Penang it is a long, boring and terrifying trip down the Malacca Straits. Usually there is no wind so it involves motoring all day at top speed (burnng lots of diesel) to get to an anchorage before dark. The ships stay in their traffic lanes except around the ports. The fishing boats lay nets across the channel and put small white floats on them to warn you. You can almost see the floats before you are on top of the net. However, the net minders are usually around to warn you off. But, we just ran over one that was unattended. It did not catch in our prop but it took Tom's fishing lure. We left Penang last Tuesday and should arrive in Singapore on Monday afternoon. It is always thrilling to pass through that traffic nightmare.
One thing I have been meaning to mention is the TV sets in government offices. In the post office in Thailand, and in the customs and immigration offices in Malaysia there is often a TV set tuned to a daytime show and the employees seem to be free to watch it. But I must say that they do attend to customers promptly.
Well, after another exciting trip down the straits we arrived in Singapore and went to the only marina that had space available. And it was obvious why the marina was so empty. It is next to a ferry dock that services the freighters and the wakes are relentless and mind boggling. We have rarely been in an anchorage that has been as rough, and they can only put one boat in each berth because the rocking is so severe it would tear the boats apart. We even used our rocker stopper, which is designed to help dampen the roll in a poor anchorage. We broke a few dock lines while tied up there, and had we not needed to get our life raft serviced we likely would have move on to Malaysia immediately. But, we sucked it up, and cursed the ferry boat drivers who were racing in full tilt in the no wake zone. We got to the bird park again, which was a lot of fun. And we caught up with Mei and Kevin who are sending their boat to Europe on a freighter.
By mid- March we were back in Malaysia at Puteri Harbour, a beautiful new marina just a few miles from Singapore. Puteri is a new city that is being built as the capital of a Malaysian state, and so far the marina is about the only thing that is completed and open for business. There is a small cafe, but it closes at 5 each night, so we had to cook our own dinners. We did a few boat chores, and prepared the boat for our trip back to the USA. We will have three months to accomplish the repairs on our house, and find new renters. Then we can get back to the boat in time to continue on to South Africa this year.
After returning from the states, we had only a few days to adjust before we left for a tour of Myanmar. With all the stress of repairing the house, we had little time to think about this trip. We used an excellent agent who was recommended by our friends, and thus we did little research or planning on our own. I bought the Loney Planet, but barely looked at it. So we arrived in Yangon with little enthusiasm. Having spent three months in the US, which was not in the plans, put us behind schedule for our preparations to sail to South Africa, and we were both jet lagged and stressed when we arrived in Yangon. We were met at the airport by a very enthusiastic young man from Exotissimo Travel. Our visas were ready and all the officials were very friendly and quite efficient.
We were immediately thrilled by the culture and the friendliness of the locals. We arrived late in the day, and after dropping our things in the room we took to the streets. It was exhilarating. We walked around the crowded city streets, and took photos of the children. That is Tom's favorite activity along with shopping. He hD to have a longyi, and he immediately started wearing it. Then we found a great local restaurant and had an excellent dinner of shrimp tempura for about $2 each. The sun set and we found our way home without a flashlight although we had been warned that the street lights are dim and it can be quite dark. We had a 4 AM wake up call for our flight to Bagan, so we turned in early. The hotel was well located, and the bed was very comfortable.
The Exotissimo guide was waiting in the lobby and the front desk handed us breakfast in a bag. The airport ws much less crowded this morning, and we were happy for find a great cafe inside security. We had a cappuccino and french pastry on top of the packed breakfast. We each had a colored sticker from Bagan Air on our shirts, like kids at a camp. I suppose it helps them make sure we get on the correct plane. The flight was good, with yet another breakfast and good coffee.
We had been disappointed to learn that the balloon ride over Bagan is not offered in the summer months, but our approach to the airport gave us a similar view. Our jaws dropped at the sight of the temples and stupas - over 3000! And many are covered in gold. Our excellent guide took us to a few famous temples in the morning. We were suprised by the blue sky and dry fields as we had believed this to be the rainy season. However, it usually does not rain here until September. By late morning we arrived at The Hotel @Tharabar Gate. It is an oasis of gardens, flowimg streams, and gorgous rooms. We relaxed in the room and beside the pool until late afternoon when we began touring again. After more temples!!!! we went in a horse cart ride through a local village, on to yet another temple, and finally to the sunset temple. We were templed out. The countryside is so beautiful and so adorned with temples that it must be seen to be believed.
Our second day in Bagan began with a trip to a local market. The local markets are always enjoyable and Tom has a great time bargaining with the sales girls and taking photos of their babies. It was hard to tear him away, but after about an hour we were on our way to..... more temples! We learned a lot about Buddhism and life in Myanmar from our guide. We also learned a few words, so now we can say hello, thank you, and no thank you.
Today we saw the longest teak bridge in the world which is 1.2 kilometers long. We we supposed to have a peaceful walk along it, but we each picked up a sales woman who stayed with us the entire way trying to sell us cheap jewelry. Even giving them a "donation" did not stop the sales pitch. The girl with Tom could speak many languages and was quite entertaining. Mine was not. After that we visited one temple before going to the monastery in Amarapura to see the monks collecting their daily meal. The monastery is very large, with about 1200 resident monks who study there. It is the best source of education for local children. We met many families who were visiting the monastery from the nearby towns. We take photos of the children with our iPads and they love to see their pictures. I also showed the families the map feature on the iPad and they were amazed to see their home town in relation to the monastery.
Later we went to the stone carving street where they carve buddhas and other figures out of blocks of marble. They use chisels, grinders and sand paper. It was very dusty! The next stop was the gold pounding street where they take small pieces of gold, heat it, cut it into small pieces, then beat it with a large hammer for a total of 6 hours. At regular intervals then slice it into smaller pieces, then put it between thin sheets of bamboo and continue the pounding. At the end the gold is cut into one inch swuares and used to rub on the buddha images. They put a sample on our faces.
We checked into the Hotel at the Red Canal for a mid day rest and swim. It is supposed to be the most charming and best hotel in Mandalay. It is indeed nice and the staff really try to please. Every time we leave the room, they tidy it up and leave more drinking water. The wifi is excellent. In fact, I think I can use facetime here. Tom has been loading photos on to facebook.
This afternoon we went to the holiest place in Mandalay, which is called the biggest book. In 1862 the King gathererd 2400 monks who were tasked with cleansing the story of Buddha and writing a pure version of his story. Then the story was inscribed on 729 marble slabs, each contained in a small temple. It is quite an amazing sight. In this complex some of the buddha images have a halo around the head which is made up of flashing colored LED lights. We found that to be a bit odd, a kind of Las Vegas effect.
Our next stop was the Golden Palace teak monestery. It is the only building which survived the Japanese bombing in 1942. It survived because it had been dismantled and moved outside the walled palace grounds. It was originally covered in gold but the outside is no longer gold. However, the teak has survived well, and most of the carvings are still beautiful. While visiting the monestery we spent some time watching three children playing a form of jump rope, using a very thin elastic cord tied into a circle and stretched between two of the children. The third child jumped onto each string and then swung their leg over the string. After successfully completing the routine, the string was moved ever higher until it was at shoulder hieght.
Our final trip of the day was to Mandalay Hill, another holy place. We drove to the top, but one could walk to the top. The view was amazng and you could see the immense size of the palace grounds. The walls are 1.2 kilometers long, and there is a wide moat encirling the walls. Then we were delivered back to the hotel where there is a free happy hour.
On Saturday we visited the former British hill town called May City or Pyin Oo Lwin. It is only 65 miles from Mandalay but it is 3540 feet high so it is much cooler. We took the Silk Road over the mountains. We stopped halfway where there is a place to run a hose into car radiators to cool the engine. There were many places along the road where hoses were available to cool the engine on the way up, and cool the brakes on the way down. The drives takes about two hours, and includes some scary hairpin turns, but is well worth it. The market in May City is probably the nicest and most colorful we have seen. We took lots of photos, and as usual most people want to have us take their photo then show it to them. It would be great to be able to print the photos for them. Tom bought a few CDs of the local music, and a cake of the yellow stuff they put on their faces as sun screen.
After the market we went to the local waterfall which is a recreational area for the locals. Our last stop was the botanical gardens, a 240 acre park established in 1924. It was well kept and in full bloom. Then we buckled in for the big downhill ride back to Mandalay.
The next morning we flew to Heho, where we spent an hour at the traveling market before heading down to Inle Lake. At the market we saw a couple of different tribes in very different dress from the people we have seen to date. They were so photogenic; that it was difficult to get Tom to leave. We purchased some palm sugar and tea, which is grown locally. On our drive to Inle we were both immediately impressed by the lovely countryside. We had heard that this area was special, but we were unprepared for the truly gorgeous scenery of lush mountains surrounding the lake. We stopped for lunch in the jetty town and had our first Shan Noodles, which was delicious. They are sticky rice noodles in a great chicken based broth. Lunch for three was almost $5. Then we got into the Myanmar version of the Thai longtail boat, a long narrow wooden affair with three wooden lawn chairs in a row front to back. Tom got the front seat this time, but I claimed it on all subsequent rides. As we approached our hotel we were both hoping that this was ours. Every room was a stilt cottage on the water, and ours ended up having the best view of both the sunset and the mountains behind. Tom declared that it was his favorite hotel room to date. It is a bit rustic with wooden walls, but it has a frilly lace mosquito net over the bed. The bathroom was huge, and there were two showers, one indoors and one outdoors. There was also a porch, but usually it was a too bit chilly to sit out there, maybe 75? It was a welcome relief from the heat of Mandalay. The next day we went on a boat tour of the lake, visiting the floating gardens (lots of great looking cherry tomatoes), we cruised by a monestary and temple but we were templed out so we continued on to the silk and cotton weaving village. It was a fascinating tour of a small "factory" where they weave beautiful cloth. We even saw them pulling the lotus fibers out of the stems of the plant. They weave them into the silk garments. We were a bit overwhelmed in the store, and in the end we each bought a cotton blouse/shirt. The silk items are lovely but far too warm to wear in this climate. I will probably be sorry that I did not buy a few of the lovely scarves. Then we toured a jewelry making village and a cigar rolling village but bought nothing else.
The next day we took a break from touring and just relaxed in the hotel, except for a short walk to town. Ha, it turns out we expected that the town would be a lot bigger so we walked through town looking for a town. We walked over an hour and a half in the heat then hoped we would find a taxi back. We ran into a nice couple from Madrid on bikes who told us here was indeed a town about another half hour down the road, but they doubted we could find a taxi so we turned back. By the time we got back to the room I was toast. I had been fighting something and had a sore throat. We were glad to have such a nice room for relaxing. Dinner at the hotel was surprising, in that they had an extensive western menu. Tom even tried the fillet mignon which I recommended against. He said it wasn't the worst he has ever had.
Our final stop was Yangon, where we spent the first day exploring the famous Scott Market. Tom decided we shouod buy some jade, but I comvinced him that it is difficult to tell real from fake, and that we know nothing about quality. So we trudged home empty handed. The hotel is very, very nice so we didn't mind having an early night. The next morning we met the guide and went to the famous huge temple, Shwedagon. It is a huge complex of innumerable temples, and by that point in our trip it took something quite amazing to wow us. And it did! There is so much gold in the temple area, but the thing that is amazing is the gems. The very upper "umbrella" structure was redone in 1999 and includes a 76 carat diamond. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are photos of all the other gems and jewelry that are installed on the umbrella. It was overwhelming. It is the Buddhist way.
We then saw one of the larger reclining Buddhas, which at 21 meters is small compared to the one that is 90 meters long. We are easily overdosed with culture but we both admitted that everything we saw in Myanmar was impressive! After a wonderful local lunch at "Feel" restaurant near the French Embassy, we went back to Scott Market and purchased a bit of jade. We had done a some of research on the internet, and we ran into a stall where an experienced buyer was looking at jade with an intense flashlight. At first I thought he was buying for his wife, but then realized he was buying for a store back in his home country. I bought a bracelt that he declared was good, but he advised me not to do housework. No problem!
So, that was Myanmar. Go soon before it is spoiled with ATMs, chain fast food, etc. And go off season. Even though it is the rainy season it was really dry up north. It never rains there until September. We both can only say, wow!
After a few coin tosses we hve decided to cross the Indian Ocean this year. We left Puteri, Malaysia for Singapore to get new batteries for the boat and exotic foods (western) for our passage. Shops in Malaysia do not stock some common items or have limited selection of things like cheese, crackers, canned vegetables, fruit jiuces, etc. So although we bought an entire overflowing shopping cart full of stuff in Malaysia, we made many trips to the grocery stores in Singapore during our week in Keppel Bay Marina. We also finally visited the Asian Civilizations Museum and it was as fabulous as we had been told.
Our first leg was across the Singapore Strsits to Nongsa Point Marina, whcih although it is in Indonesia is run by Singaporeans. Their prices are posted in Singapore dollars, and it is quite a lovely resort. But we were not in the resort mood and just wanted to get on our way. So, after refueling, doing some laundry, buying SIM cards for the phone and iPads, and getting a few more groceries we left the marina. We have one buddy boat, but the other three boats making the trip will be at least a week behind us and like I said we are anxious to get underway. The trip to Belitung, which is only 300 miles to the south was one of the worst on record. It was an uncomfortable bash into the seas and wind. We motored the entire way, burning twice our normal amount of fuel and making half the normal speed. By the time we reached Belitung I was pretty fed up and almost considering turning back, as crazy as that sounds. Well, to my surprise the boat that was one day behind us arrived on Monday and announced that they are turning back! So maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea. That leaves us on our own for the rest of the trip through Indonesia and on to Cocos-Keeling, which is about 600 miles away once we exit Indonesia. We know about a half dozen boats that are sitting at anchor there waiting for the wind to abate before crossing to Mauritius. We would like to think that they will still be there when we arrive about 10 days from now, but that is wishful thinking. So, I suppose we will wait there for the group that's behind us. We have had great reports about Cocoa. It has excellent snorkeling and lovely beaches, but no internet, no cell phone service, very limited groceries and fuel is $10 a gallon. What's not to love? Our friends went to one of the few pubs and had fish and chips for lunch, they split a coke, and the bill was $50. Quite a shocker after SE Asia prices.
When we reached Belitung we were met by Harun who is the nicest man I have met since we started sailing. He has gone out of his way to welcome us. He provided fuel, took us to the markets, and even took us to lunch. He can arrange for repairs and parts. Tonight he hosted a barbeque at his uncles's beautiful beachside plantation. His contact details are on noonsite, and he is highly recommended if you come this way. And for those following in our wake, Dave and Jan put a lot of useful information on their web site, www.svbaraka.com
After leaving Beliuing we took our time going south. We have no buddy boat with us now, although there are three boats that are a week or two behind us. We were sick of getting beaten up motoring into the wind, so we headed for the southwest corner of Belitung and spent the night at anchor. That gave us a much better angle on the wind and seas. We left at 6:30 AM for a 150 miles overnight sail to the Thousand Islands. We could not go slow enough, as the sailing conditions were great, and we arrived befo dark and had to float around until the sun came up. Tom did almost the entire night watch. He said he did not see one offshore oil rig but maybe he was napping? We did choose a route to the east of the Thousand Islands that would avoid the worst of the obstacles and traffic.
We had planned to stop for the night in the Thousand Islands, but our charts were not accurate so we had to nose around. We could only find very shallow places and very deep places, but no good spot to anchor. Our next destination was only 40 miles down the road so we decided to keep going to Palau Panjang (5.55.934S; 106.07.978E). Not a pretty place but the holding was great and the 3G worked well. In the morning we motored to Carita Bay in the Sundra Staits. We left about 90 minutes before high tide and we had very little current. For the first part of the trip we had about 1/2 knot with us, then 1/2 knot against us. Carita Bay (6.18.559S; 105.50.204) is alive with festivities at the end of Ramadan. The beach is packed with tourists and many banana boats come by to wave and take photos. One gentleman even came out on a jet ski and invited us to his condo for lunch. It is fun to walk around and say hello to everyone, but we really must get going. Tomorrow we will sail to Krakatoa, the volcano in the middle of the Sundra Straits. It is supposed to be very beautiful, and interesting! This morning I sent an updated small boat arrival notification to Australian Customs. One boat ahead of us forgot to do that and they were fined $6000. They have written a letter of apology and are hoping that they will not have to pay the fine before they leave Cocos-Keeling.
Well, you never know what will happen when you are on a sailboat. We set sail for Cocos-Keeling on Frdiay, August 24th. Yes, I know the old saying, "never leave port on a Friday.". Well, first we awoke at 6AM to the sound of our keel scraping across rock. Tom easily pulled us off with the anchor chain. We had coffee and breakfast, and prepared to leave. It was very windy, and once we got beyond the island the seas were a bit big and not very comfortable, but not too bad. When we shut down the engine, we had trouble getting the transmission into neutral and the shaft continued to turn. Tom thought it was the linkage and he said he'd take care of it. A bit later I noticed a knocking noise on the hull and we went in search of the culprit. Any small knock transmits through the boat and is annoyingly loud when you try to sleep. But, we discovered that it was coming from under the boat, near the propeller. It seems that we must have picked up a fishing net with small lead weights. At that point Tom realized that our transmission problem was caused by a net that was wrapped around the shaft and maybe partially lodged in the propeller, because it would not properly feather. He partially resolved the problem by putting a strap on the shaft to keep it from turning. But, now I was concerned that we may have problems using the motor until he had a chance to dive on the prop and cut the net away.
A few hours later we left the Sundra Straits and entered the Indian Ocean. The waves were much larger than forecasted, and steep. We spent a few hours on an uncomfortable course for Cocos, when Tom finally said we had to alter course because we were pounding into the seas. After our chourse change, I looked at the charts and we were headed for Rodrigues, our destination after Cocos. At that point we decided that if the seas did not abate, we would skip Cocos. The seas did not abate, and if fact continued to grow over the next several days. We were in daily contact with some friends who had left Cocos the previous Sunday, so even though they were a thousand miles ahead of us, we did not feel iike we were totally alone.
Fifteen days and 17 hours later we arrived in Rodrigues at midnight. It was a horrible passage with big, scary seas, high winds, and unhappy crew. The boat was officially put on the market at least once a day. Some days were not horrible, just rolly, but other days there were cross waves that slammed the boat on the side so hard that it moved the 45,000 pound boat, and its contents and crew sideways. I was more seasick than I have ever been. In summary, it was a miserable trip, but we made good time. We covered a bit over 2600 nautical miles.
Rodrigues is a wonderful little island that is part of Mauritius. The bakeries and restaurants are great, and the people are very friendly. Mostly we just wanted to sleep, on a bed that was not lurching beneath us. Our friends have been here for over a week and they are leaving for Mauritius today, so we are leaving with them. The forecast looks good.
It was not a bad passage and we are tied up in a marina in Port Louis. The only disappointment is the lack of a bakery! We will stay here at least a week to fix the things that broke during our passage.
Well, two weeks later we are still here. It is hard to leave again, but we plan to leave tomorrow. We have enjoyed our time here. It has the best produce market we have seen to date. And a short bus ride takes us to a grocery store that is similar to Whole Foods, on a much smaller scale. The weather is pleasant and the people are very nice. Today we went to the horse races. The race track here is 200 years old! It was an exciting day, and we even won a few bets. Tonight we had cocktails on our friend's boat and we discussed our next leg. But heavy on our minds is the passage after that, from Reunion to South Africa.
We arrived in Reunion on October 1, finding one of the last spots available in the marina. In fact, it is not a great place as boats are tied to each other along a wall. We are the inside boat, which is both good and bad. Yesterday we rented a car and have been exploring the island, which has some jaw dropping scenery. This weekend we will hike around the volcano. However, we are anxious to leave and get the next passage behind us.
Reunion is indeed a gorgeous island, and it has wonderful french food, but it is rather expensive in comparison to its neighbor Mauritius. Blame it on the euro. We spent a long day hiking the volcano, and were rewaRded with a wonderful view but was it worth it? It was a six hour hike over volcanic rock, and we were hot, thirsty and hungry when we finished. It must be a sign of our age that it now takes us 6 hours to do a hike that is posted as a six hour hike! Or maybe it is because we just don't get much exercise on the boat. After the volcano our next trip was to Celious whcih is a town in one of the cauldrons of an ancient volcano. The road up to the town is the most exciting winding road I have ever seen, and I have seen some bad ones. But the most shocking thing was the one way tunnels with no clear view of the entrance/exit. They were carved out of the rock, and were just wide enough for the city buses to squeeze through, with an inch to spare on each side. The buses have to stop and back up once or even twice to make the turns at several places on the road.
We finally left Reunion with two other boats on Friday, October 12 for the ten day sail to South Africa (9 days if the wind was good). The weather off the coast of South Africa is notoriously bad, but by October it is getting better, and by November it is usually very good. But, cyclone season begins on November 1, so we wanted to be in port by then. Of course the day after we left Reunion a cyclone formed to the northeast of us. It was far enough away that it did not threaten us. In fact, we had viturally no wind for the first three days and had to motor. On the evening of the fourth day as we approached Madagascar, we ran into a small weather system with gusts over 50 knots, large confused seas and strong currents. It was so rough that it broke our autopilot. Luckily we carrry a spare so I only had to hand steer for a short time while Tom installed it. But it was very difficult to control the boat in the seas and wind. It was completely dark and we were going downwind. I jibed the main twice in the first few minutes and had a heck of a time getting the boat on course and under control. I really respect the autopilot, and its ability to hold a course. Now we had no spare, because the gears had been stripped so it cannot be repaired, at least at sea. I was doing a lot of praying for the health of our remaining linear drive unit!
While underway we talk twice a day to a weather service in South Africa. Once we cleared the squally area they advised us to remain close to the south coast of Madagascar, taking the short cut which is only possible in very calm conditions. We spent the day slowly sailing and watching hundreds of whales playing in the shallow water. It was a great day. But that evening the weather advisors suggested that we stop in an anchorage in Madagascar for a day or two because there were some strong systems moving up the African coast. So, we pulled into a very isolated bay on the southwest corner. It had a bit of shelter from the southwest, and had excellent holding. It was nice to get a break, and we got together with the other two baots for drinks that evening and celebrated. The local villagers came out to visit on their homemade sail and paddle boats. They were polite and gave us gifts of heavy rocks. We still don't know what they are, but they must have some sort of metal in them. They asked for things, cloths, lotion, etc. the list became endless. Tom took one girl for a ride in the dinghy and it so thrilled them that everyone wanted a ride. The villagers only have rocks and lobsters to trade with us, so we gladly accepted lobsters. Life was good! Tom gathered three large bags of clothes, food, tools, etc and we went to the village to donate these items. We met the chief, who was ancient! He was sitting under a tree with the women and children. The men were out fishing.
I have been to some pretty poor villages but this one topped them all. The people were wearing rags, but they seemed healthy. When Tom began dispensing the gifts, first to the chief and then to the women, it was like a feeding frenzy of sharks. But first I must tell you about the tools that Tom gave the chief. He had vice grips, ratchet wrenches, etc, and as I looked around the village I realized that the most sophisticated peice of hardware they had was the nails that were used in their small fishing boats. Oh well. It reminded me of the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy". As Tom tried to make the women stand in line and choose one item each, it became clear that they did not understand and they were just desparate to get what was in the bags. You would be amazed at the joy that was caused by a bag of sugar. One boy danced around holding aloft a can of chicken. It was a wonderful experience. As we left, the women were still begging for clothes. Tom took off his shirt and gave it to them, and I followed suit. Then they wanted my bra! I told them I would bring one back for them.
Well, two days turned into nine and by then we were stir crazy, low on food, and getting tired of the villagers who did not seem to appreciate what we had given them. They just wanted more. However, they did bring lobsters to trade almost every day. They loved getting fish hooks and fishing line in exchange. On one occasion they brought us eggs. Once they brought a live turtle, about 18 inches in diameter! They wanted to see it to us, I suppose to eat, but we were shocked! We bought it for one t-shirt (cheaper than a lobster), then asked them to set it free. They couldn't believe it, and asked i f we really meant that they should just release it. When we nodded yes, they put it in the water. Whew! I hope that turtle learned a lesson, and will stay far away from humans in the future. The anchorage turned treacherous as the winds built. We sat through three days of very scary conditions, at anchor! The boats bucked in the small seas that built up, and the wind gusted to 45 knots. One boat broke 5 anchor snubbers. We only broke two. Snubbers are made of rope and they attach to the anchor chain and take the shock as the boat bucks in the waves. The weather was deteriorating and the winds would shift to the west in a few days. This anchorage had no protection from the west so we were forced to leave. We had four days to make it to the African coast before the really big storm hit, so we headed for Mozambique. There were other boats in an anchorage there, and they gave us instructions for entering over the bar and getting up the creek to a relatively sheltered spot. Once again we were in a desolate spot, with a small fishing village. However, these fishermen had larger and faster boats. No one came to us asking anything. On shore there is a new resort which is opening in December. One of the yachties went ashore and told the owners of our situation, and they agreed to make lunch for us on Friday. The wind was so strong we all worried that we would not be able to get off the boats but by Friday it was calm enough to go ashore. The resort was beautiful, and the lunch was fabulous. We were all thrilled to see a salad and vegetables! By this time, we had been away from land (stores) for three weeks and had nothing left to eat but canned food. The South African owners made a big pot of ox tail stew and we devoured it.
Finally the next day the weather was good enough for us to leave for South Africa. We had already crossed the feared Agulhas current, but now we would have to travel south in it. In fact we actually looked for it because it would give us a 2 knot boost. But unfortunately it must have been far offshore. We suffered through a day of 2 knot countercurrent, and gave up hope of reaching Richard's Bay on Monday. It looked like we would have one more night at sea. But then, the winds built and the current kicked in and we were doing 10 and 11 knots! But there was a forecast for south winds the following day and one does not want to be caught in the current when the wind is against it. So we headed close to shore. But even four miles out we still had current with us. The wind shifted and we were motoring into the wind all day Monday. The seas were only a few feel but they were still awful. We pounded into them, with the engine at high revs, and made only 4 knots but we had 2 or even three knots of current! So we were making good time and ended up arriving just before dark on Monday, day 25 of a planned 10 day passage. By now it should be clear to our friends that we cannot promise to meet them somewhere on a specific date. This trip was a gross example of why sailors cannot have schedules. Those who do suffer the consequences. They say the bggest danger to a sailor is not the big storms but a friend with an airline ticket because the captain will feel pressured and will set sail when he should really stay at anchor. We arrived in South Africa three weeks after the latest date I ever imagined. But at least we are safe. And now we will rest up for our trip to Cape Town, which unfortunately may be the scariest part of our voyage. But there are anchorages every few hundred miles so we only need two or three day weather windows. Now, I am going to enjoy the benefits of being at a marina. We rented a car today and will travel off and on for the next few weeks. The best game reserves in South Africa are within driving distance of Richard's Bay.
We are finally here! Nothing to report yet, as we are still getting our bearings. We have a rental car and sim cards for our phone and iPads, so that is a start.
We have done quite a bit of touring already. We must have been anxious to get off the boat! Firstt, we spent a weekend in the Drakensburg Mountains at a beautiful lodge, the Montusi Mountain Lodge. It was a long drive, but a very pretty spot and in the end worth the miles. Then we did a longer trip, beginning with the St. Lucia Wetlands where we saw hippos and crocs, as well as some interesting birds. Most people see hippos walking down the streets of town at night but we got back to the room by 7:30 and they don't come out until 8 so we missed that show. Our next stop was the Rissington Inn in Hazyview. It was highly recommended and did not disappoint. From there we drove the Panorama Drive through the Blyde River canyon which is the third largest canyon in the world. We were blessed with a clear couple of days and had some amazing views. Our final stop on our way to the game reserve was at the Blyde River Canyon Lodge. Once again I was impressed by the beauty and serenity of the resort. And they have a half dozen resident zebras to entertain the guests. It is a small resort with only 8 or so rooms, so the zebras almost outnumberred the guests.
On Sunday afternoon we met our friends from America at the Thronybush Game Reserve. It was their choice, and was part of their extensive tour of southern Africa. We stayed for theee days, and they are some of the most memorable of my life. The resort was gorgeous, and the staff was so attentive and firendly. Our game ranger was charming and so knowledgable and he found everything we had hoped to see and more. I could have done without the lion eating the wildebeast. The cheetahs and leopards were sleek and beautiful. And the game was often so close that I couod have reached out and touched them. The animals are used to the land rovers and do not recognize them as a threat or a meal so they just ignored us. I could go on and on about Thronybush. It made our next stop, Kruger, look like a poor cousin. But that is unfair, and Kruger is wonderful. We saw more birds on a morning drive than we saw in three days in Thornybush. And of course the baboons! They were all over the road and would not move. We had to inch our way through the families. We are back on the boat and I am comtemplating our next trip. I was planning a luxury trip to Tanzania but now I am afriad it would be a big letdown. I am also considering Botswana, but in the end we may not do any more traveling from here. Perhaps when we get to Cape Town I will be in the mood to get on a plane. Tomorrow we are going to Durban, and will spend the night in a B&B. Soon we will be anxious to get back on the high seas. But today it is cold and rainy. It reminds me how lucky we were with the weather on our trips.
Our next trip was to the Phinda Forest Lodge, at a private game reserve near St Lucia. It is the most beautiful accommodation I have ever had. Each room is a separate building set back into the sand forest and most of the walls are glass. The bathrrom was simply amazing and it was even more beautiful when we returned from dinner on our second night to find the bath full of bubbles, a couple dozen tea candles lighting the room, and a bottle of champagne on ice. The &Beyond collection of hotels is fabulous! Our game drives were all very interesting, with some very scary close encounters with lions, and one angry elephant. We also saw some amazing birds, as well as all the usual big five and other game. One evening we stopped for our usual sundowner drink to find that the resort had set up a table with hot hors d'oeuvres and champagne. I will say it again, it is hard to beat the &Beyond group!
So now it was time to begin our journey around the bottom of South Africa. This is the tricky part, because gales and freak waves are a regular occurance in this area. We were extremely lucky in our timing. With the advice of the Peri Peri net we left Richard's Bay on December 15, and only had to duck into one port (East London) on our way to Simon's Town. We had very mild conditions, and in fact we motored akong most of the south shore. However, we arrived at Simon's Town at 2 AM on Dec 20 in the middle of a gale. And it was a really bad one, with gusts close to 60 knots. We had planned to try to enter the marina, but that was out of the question so we went to the anchoring area and with hardly any drama had the anchor down securely after only one failed attempt. It was cold! This was a completely new experience for us. Priscilla has not been in water this cold for years! The Indian Ocean is over 80 degress and False Bay is in the high 60's. I was very glad to find a knit hat to wear while I was setting the anchor!
The False Bay Yacht Club was getting ready for the start of the Governor's Cup, which is a race of 1700 miles to St, Helena. That is the island in the South Atlantic where Napoleon spent his final years.
I have so much to add to this entry but we are leaving Cape Town tomorrow so I will update this when we have internet again. Our next stop is St Helena.
Having read all of the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency books, I felt I had to visit Botswana. Tom obliged, so here we are in the Okavango Delta at the & beyond Xaranna Lodge. Botswana lives up to its reputation of friendly people and arid countryside, except here in the Delta where we are enjoying the wonderful lagoons and waterways. Last evening we took a ride in mokoro canoes, which were poled by our guide and tracker. I will write more later. We are about to leave on a game drive.
After two weeks at sea, we were anxious to get to a port, any port! We arrived at St. Helena on a Saturday. It is a pretty impressive looking island from the sea. You wonder why anyone ever decided to land there, as it appears to mostly be big jagged mountains plunging right into the sea. But there is a bit of a low spot where a port was built and that's where we tied up to a mooring ball. The only way to get to land from your boat is to use their ferry service, which is a small boat that runs every two hours. It pulls up to a cement dock and you have to time it right and just jump off as the surge pushes the boat up and down. Sometimes it can be very exciting! We were anxious to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables, but the island only gets a supply from Cape Town by ship every two weeks and unfortunately we missed the boat so to speak. The ship came in last week so there's not much left in the stores. There are a few things that are grown locally, so we bought some bananas, and a summer squash. We visited the museum, walked through the lovely old town, and climbed Jacob's Ladder which is 699 steep steps up to a ridge where there are some military installations. It was quite a climb!
We only stayed a few days, as we are anxious to get back to the Western Hemisphere. We would dearly like to get back to the states before hurricane season.
We had an extremely slow trip from St Helena to Brazil. Where were the trade winds? We never found them, and so we moved very slowly. But at least it was not scary or rough! After 16 mostly boring, but sometimes terrifying days (the spinnaker halyard broke and Tom went up the mast on a day when the seas were making the boat roll quite a bit), we arrived in Brazil. We have not done much exploring yet, so there's not much to report. Communication is a problem for us. Not many people speak English and we know only one word in Portuguese, which is thank you. That said, I was able to get a sim card for my modem today, and thus I am able to update this web site.
Grenada is where we crossed our outbound route and finished our circumnavigation. We are planning to celebrate with champagne, or should I say bubbly, from South Africa. Somehow we just haven't been in a celebrating mood yet. We are in a very nice marina in St. Georges. Tom worked all day on fixing the autopilot and stopping the thru hull leak. It was a good day, but we are still very tired from our passage. But having wifi is wonderful, so it's not all that bad! And the rum punches at happy hour are pretty good.
Our return to Trinidad was a bit of a disappointment. We had great expectations about finding Bernice the seamstress and having cushion covers and clothes made, but she is no longer doing work, or at least not around the marina. I had planned to get our teak varnished, and had gotten lazy about keeping it up because the man who did our varnish there 7 years ago was an artist and the price was very reasonable. We had a big list of work that we wanted to have done, but we quickly learned that prices have gone up, sometimes quadrupled in 7 years, and the quality of workmanship has declined. We had our sails repaired because that couldn't be put off, but we realized too late that we should have had the work done in South Africa. The marina is still nice, but isolated and not very picturesque. We had the boat out of the water for five days while we had the bottom painted and Tom repaired the broken thru hull fitting. We were very happy to launch after five days and return to the marina. Then we mentally prepared for our next leg. We went to the produce market and the supermarket, got fuel, and sadly said goodbye to some good friends who are continuing on to Panama. That's the hard part of sailing the world, saying goodbye to the wonderful people you meet along the way.
We did a day trip to the Asa Wright Nature Preserve, which was beautiful, but the road to the Preserve was unreal. It was carved out of the side of a mountain, and was supposedly two way but it was often only wide enough for one vehicle, and had many blind turns.
We left Trinidad mid-day on Saturday, both of us a bit reluctant to leave. It is only 500 miles to the BVIs, a short trip for us!
We arrived just after dark on Tuesday, a bit less than 3 1/2 days after leaving Trini. Had we gotten an earlier start we could have made it to Spanish Town. But we did not want to navigate in the dark, so we anchored in South Bay on Peter Island. It was well sheltered from the seas and we slept well! Tom got 11 hours of sleep. Passages are exhausting, even short ones.
We checked in with the authorities in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda and now we are anchored in Little Dix Bay, which still may be our favorite resort. We won't stay long, we need to get north before hurricane season. But it is beautiful and the water temperature and clarity are great. It has been a long time since I've been snorkeling.
After a year or so on the hard in Maryland, we moved Priscilla to Melbourne, Florida in November 2014. We took a short shake down cruise to the Bahamas in April 2015, and then began to plan our next voyage. We moved Priscilla to the Yacht Club in September while we were on a trial membership. We love the club and will likely join when we finish our travels but it doesn't make sense to join at this time. At the end of November we will have to shove off. Our first stop will be an anchorage at the end of Allan Lane, Melbourne Beach. From there we can dinghy to the dock and walk to our house. We hope that stop is short and that we will be ready to leave there after a few days.
We have made so many upgrades on the boat over the past couple of years that it would be quicker to say what has remained the same. We are very happy with the condition of the boat and we now have a lot more experience than we did the last time we left for distant harbors. We already have made and revised our first plan, which many of you will not find surprising. We had planned to sail to the Society Islands this winter, which would mean a quick trip to Panama. However, after talking to a few fellow sailors and reading a book on cruising the western Caribbean, we have decided to spend this season there. We still plan to transit the canal and revisit the Pacific but that will wait until 2017. Watch this space for updated plans, ha ha!
The boat was ready to go at the end of November, and it was waiting at anchor at the end of Allan Lane. Our destination is Cuba. Tom lived there as a child when his father was stationed in Guantanamo Bay. But before the weather improved, Tom developed an infection follwing his recent minor surgery. That led to a several month delay, but now we are in Fort Lauderdale and the weather looks good for sailing to Cuba this week.
We almost made it to Cuba, we were almost halfway there with an excellent weather window, BUT we developed a leak in our engine exhaust so we turned around. Fort Lauderdale is the best place for boat repairs.
Tonight, Wednesday March 16th, we are heading across the Gulf Stream. We should arrive in Havana on Friday. We'll miss St Pat's Day, but you can't have it all!
I still can't upload photos yet, but will keep trying! We went to the Rolling Stones concert, which was an interesting experience. Marnie is here now so we are going traveling with them this week.
We finally arrived in Cuba! We are in Marina Hemmingway, about 10 miles west of Havana proper. We explored old town on Saturday but have stayed in the suburbs the last couple of days. Obsma is in town so it is probably very crowded in Havana Viega. Also, we have had extremely strong north winds the past two days. We have been staying close to the boat to keep an eye on it because the dock is rough cement. Good fenders are essential. We plan to travel a bit by land before we leave the marina. I will update the blog and load photos when possible.
We have spent hours wandering the streets of Old Havana, stopping in cafes to have a bite, a mojito and listen to music. The musicians are all very good, and every group seems to sell a CD. The weather has turned quite hot and we search for a seat in the shade. At night we are happy to be in a marina where we have electricity to run our air conditioner. It's hard to believe that a week ago we slept under a blanket and wore jackets! It must have been the polar vortex which brought a cool strong north wind.
Yesterday we hired a taxi for the day and went to Vinales, which is about 2 hours west of Havana. It is an agricultural area but it is best known for the unusual limestone hillocks which were formed 160 million years ago. Over the years rainfall dissolved the limestone and created this unusual landscape in this beautiful valley.
We stopped at a tobacco farm and wandered around marveling at the ancient farm equipment and the birds, rabbits and pigs. We walked through the tobacco drying barn, which smelled great! The male peacock felt we were threatening his flock, so he showed us his full and glorious plumage and pranced around.
Tom used to smoke the occasional cigar with friends, but he hasn't had one in years. However since we've been in Cuba he has developed a keen interest in them. We tried to find the Cohiba factory but learned that it is only open to visitors by appointment. There are other factories around town that are open to tourists, but in the meanwhile we went to the Tobacco Museum and he bought cigars from the official store. Supposedly they are genuine. The street hawkers sell cheap versions of the good brands.
To make a long story short, Tom bought cigars at the farm and said they were better than the cigars he bought at the official store. The cost was $40 for 20 cigars, less than half the price at the Museum Store, but Tom traded a baseball glove and ball for them. The farmer thought he got a very good deal! Tom has also sampled the local ones which cost 4¢ each and they are also very good.
The best food we've found is in a local restaurant that most people would be afraid to enter, let alone eat the food there. But it is quite good and we have not gotten sick. The prices range from 75¢ to $1.50 per meal, sodas and beer are extra. The are many flies in the restaurant, but not as many as I've seen in expensive bakeries in Zermat, Switzerland! Yesterday we had a nice lunch overlooking the Vinales valley, soup, salad, rice and beans and a main dish. Tom had grilled chicken and I had ropa vieja, shredded beef in a vinegar sauce. That meal cost about $16 per person, and it was the second best. The Italian food we had at the yacht club tasted like bland canned spaghetti.
We brought some Cuban money with us and some Euro's, but we should have brought more Euro's. The Cuban government seems to punish Americans by reducing the exchange rate on dollars by about 13%, so instead of getting one Convertible Peso for a dollar, we get 87¢ for a dollar.
Anyone traveling to Cuba should ask their local bank to get Euro's or Canadian dollars. We used PNC and there was no cost and the exchange rate was as quoted on line.
We finally left Havana after an eventful few weeks. It was time to move on if we wanted to get to Panama by June 1. We had already given up on Cartagena, with time slipping by and the weather forecasts precluding any easy passages. Shortly after leaving the marina I decided to send some emails and was horrified to discover that our ship's computer had died. It could not get past the start up page, and the keyboard and mouse would not function so we couldn't do a recovery. No problem because I had set up Tom's laptop with sailmail and had checked to make sure it worked. However, I only checked it out with internet service, not with the SSB radio. Where are the cables to hook it up to the radio? We don't know, but they are not on the boat. This situation was very disturbing, because my means of communication was lost, and so was my access to weather forecasts. Luckily we were able to talk to Chris Parker the weather router each morning on the SSB radio. Also, I had purchased a Delorme, which came in very handy for any emergency messages.
Because the weather was so bad - no wind or huge winds - we motored for a couple of days, then ducked into a bay and spent two nights at anchor waiting for a break in the wind. Finally a few days later we pulled into Nueva Gerona, a quaint little town on the Isla de Juventud. We docked at the Ferry Dock and checked in with the local authorities. It was an interesting experience because the young Guarda Frontera lady who came on the boat did not speak English and our Spanish is severely lacking. She kept asking for our permits, and finally we figured out that the cruising permit that we supposedly had received when we checked out of Havana was not issued. All we had was a receipt to show that we paid for it. Luckily for $5 we could have it issued locally.
Nueva Gerona was a beautiful small town, with a wonderful pedestrian street filled with statues and art. We spent days walking around, eating soft ice cream (15 cent cones that were delicious!) and looking for the fruit and vegetable markets to restock our pantry. We also spent many hours trying to download the drivers we needed to get the laptop working with the SSB radio, but to no avail. Luckily I had my sat phone and my brother kindly activated the service. Now we finally had communication capability and could move on towards Panama. We set off for Cayo Largo, an island along the south coast where we would check out of the country and head for Grand Cayman. We stopped at two islands along the way where we had hoped to snorkel but the wind was very strong, which ruins visibility. Also, I had an infection which kept me out of the water. About this time I was getting very concerned that antibiotics didn't seem to be working, and I hoped that Cayo Largo would have a medical facility. Tom realized how worried I was and asked if I wanted to go back to Florida - the answer was YES! So we backtracked around the west end of Cuba and headed for the USA.