Farewell to Kylie & Happy Birthday Liz, Shelby , Charli and Peter

Our final week with Kylie was spent in two picturesque anchorages in Southern Tahiti. Our favourite was outside of the community of Puunui through the Havae Pass. This pass is world renowned for surfing, and since we were there over a weekend, we got to witness these wild and crazy guys and gals firsthand. We also discovered that it is a popular spot for visiting tiger sharks! The beachside park was alive with multi-generational families out for a picnic, with bocce ball tournaments going in full swing. While strolling through the village we enjoyed seeing most of the locals out and about having an old-fashioned Sunday visiting with family and friends and the kids playing pick up soccer games.

Kylie had a major essay to finish from her Philippine’s field study course, so she spent the better part of four days working hard on it. Peter & I went off kayaking, and exploring on land to give her the peace and quiet to concentrate, which is no easy task while in the middle of the South Pacific!

The night before Kylie left, we returned to the marina in Tahiti where we were docked on “super-yacht” alley. There were approximately ten of these yachts ranging from the most humble 82 footer to 210 feet. It was really quite something to see that many sailing vessels, with only one mega power boat in the line up.

To celebrate Kylie’s finished masterpiece and to say farewell, we made reservations at the self-proclaimed “world-famous” Le Belvedere restaurant, which is the highest restaurant in South Polynesia, boasting the most magnificent sunset over Moorea. The only way to get there is by their van shuttle service and the hour long ride itself was almost worth the price of admission. We climbed further and further up a one-lane road that twisted and turned, with steep drop-offs on either side and a panoramic view overlooking Tahiti. We all needed a drink when we miraculously arrived safely! The set meal was overpriced and overrated at $73.00 per person, which at least included transportation. We ordered their house speciality, which was a beef fondue that simply consisted of raw cut-up meat and seven different bottled sauces, followed by ice cream for desert. Kylie joked that she was going to open a restaurant that didn’t need a chef! The view was magnificent though and the company couldn’t have been better. We are still shaking our head over the price of one of the worst dinners we have had (yes, Danny including some of my own home cooked ones), but it does make for a good story.

We saw Kylie off at the dock at 4:00 a.m. for her return flight. She arrived safe and sound in Canada at midnight, but her bags did not. No great surprise since she transited through the notorious L.A. airport. Hopefully they will be found and returned to her shortly.

After three months with company, QuickStar felt almost like a super-yacht herself with all that extra space. We spent the last two days, cleaning, re-organizing, provisioning, doing laundry, filling propane bottles and getting a transformer installed for the 220 voltage that they use here. Good news – we found our stash of flags, so we now have the French Polynesian flag flying proudly along with the French flag. (sorry, Halldo, no luck finding your recorder)

Provisioning over here is a bit of a chore. The prices are at least double what we would pay at home; it is about a mile walk to get to the major grocery store and then a mile back with a cart that steers as if possessed. Kylie explained that these are the carts in Australia as well, where they have four wheels all going in different directions. On my walk over, I almost jumped in to two lanes of traffic when one of the many roosters surprised me when he dropped out a tree over my head. As he strutted along crowing in front of me, I understood the saying “the cock of the walk”. On the return trip, I got a full body workout as I fought with the cart the whole way to prevent it from getting both of us run over.

While we were extremely fortunate and grateful that we had the best possible crew starting with Don and Martha for the initial crossing and the Galapagos, followed by Doug and Shelby for two months, and Kylie for two weeks, it is still a treat to be on our own, with no one else to think about and to simply be able to dance in the galley whenever we feel so inclined!

Where to next? We are heading over to Moorea again to celebrate Peter's birthday tomorrow and to do some hiking, relaxing and a return to our daily routine of Spanish lessons, Yoga, workouts, snorkelling and alternate alcohol-free days!

Until next Friday – sorry we couldn’t reach you Liz (my step-Mom) by phone on your birthday and just had to leave a message. Hope you had a good one. Glad that Danny’s 25th birthday weekend on a houseboat was a great success and that no one ended up in jail.

Doug and Shelby homeward bound

We enjoyed the shark and ray swimming so much that we went back again for another day on Sunday. This time Kylie and I kayaked the approximate 2 kilometres to the site, stopping enroute for a ringside view of the dolphin show. As we were entering the channel, the outgoing tide formed little standing waves and made it impossible for me to battle the current and make any headway in my smaller inflatable kayak, so Peter, Shelby and Doug towed me the rest of the way by dinghy. We topped off that day with a picnic on a secluded island, Doug kayaking for the return trip and once back at QuickStar Ky, Shelby and I went out snorkelling to view the rock tiki’s that are an interesting tourist attraction. (Peter had to work on the water maker again, but has it fixed now).

The wind shifted and intensified so we moved into a more protected anchorage on the other side of Opunohu Bay where we spent the next two nights, allowing us a full day to explore. Kylie was working on her essay with a deadline of August 25th, Doug went for a kayak ride, Peter went to the beach to read, Shelby stayed on the boat with Kylie (but was instructed to leave Kylie alone to get her work done) and I went for a 20 kilometre hike which included having stand-offs with a few of the many feral dogs and also getting hit by a car. They drive like maniacs here, and I was lucky that as a car passed a line of ATV tourists and sped onto my side of the road, (facing traffic) it only “glazed” me and didn’t run me down. A little too close for comfort!

On Tuesday we needed to return to Tahiti for Doug and Shelby’s upcoming flight home, allowing an extra day as cushioning in the event of bad weather. It was a rough motorboat slog; with Shelby feeling a little seasick and Kylie none too thrilled with the 10-foot swells. We dropped anchor again in the action-packed anchorage just off the Marina, which allows us to use their facilities. Wednesday we spent with Peter doing three loads of laundry (cost about $60.00 for coin operated) and Kylie and I doing grocery shopping. Interesting walking back with the grocery cart along the busy roadside the kilometre to the marina as Kylie was hooted at hollered at the whole time. The next day when Peter was with us he said, “how come no one is whistling now?” Duh!

The final day for Doug and Shelby in Tahiti they spent with packing up and going to town. Peter, Kylie and I had headed in to the city for the day to buy some more boat parts and to show her around. As it is Shelby’s 12th birthday coming up soon, we made a special “spaghetti dinner”, which is one of her favourites, baked her a cake, sang happy birthday and played our final games of Kings Cribbage and Double Solitaire together. They had to get up before 4:00 a.m. yesterday, have Peter take them over to the dock in the dinghy in the pitch black, and sprinkling rain to meet up with their taxi driver. I’m sure they are anxious to be home after two months away, as a 46 foot boat with four people aboard 24/7 doesn’t allow for much privacy or quiet time and they were also very much looking forward to seeing their family and friends.

After Kylie moved in to the newly vacated cabin, we motor-sailed in 25-30 knots winds against us, to make our way down the 20 kilometres to southern Tahiti. It was another rough ride, with agitated seas, but was worth it as we entered the pass to flat calm water and not another sailboat in sight. Oddly enough since Kylie has been aboard, we tend to attract outrigger canoeists who show off in our wake as they try to outdo one another, and we had this experience yet again as two young men escorted us for about 3 miles until we dropped anchor. This morning we are curious to see how long it will take for the first one to casually paddle by!

The past week was unique, since we spent it all in Moorea, with us staying 3 nights in each anchorage, the longest duration at one place since jumping off from the Galapagos. We also closed on our house, which was bittersweet, as we loved that house and neighbourhood and loved raising the kids there. It is the end of a chapter, but we are thrilled that another young family has moved in to enjoy the magic of Charlie Spruce Place. We said goodbye to our great crew and just the three of us moved on to spend this next week sailing in the remote areas of Tahiti before Kylie flies back to Canada on August 26th. I will upload pictures then as we will only be available via ham radio email contact until we return for Kylie’s flight.

Until next time…wishing Danny a fantastic 25th birthday this Saturday. Danny is the best man at an upcoming wedding for his buddies Dan and Emily, so he has organized the stag to be on a houseboat this weekend. As his brother Ryan, who is also going, told me – with both the wedding and the birthday to celebrate “it is going to be a gong-show”. You guys have fun – but stay safe. We love you.

Swimming with sharks and sting rays

Well, I hadn't planned on doing another update until next Friday, but we had such an incredible day yesterday, I had to share it. We motored out of Cook's Bay after breakfast and went to the next bay called Opunohu Bay, reputed to be the most photographed bay anywhere in the world. We anchored close to the outer reef, and after a lunch of home-made macaroni (one of Kylie's favourites) we took the dinghy to a small motu about a mile away.

This is where tour boats come to feed the sharks and rays, but we had the bonus of being on our own private "dinghy tour". It was incredible as we motored towards the area that the rays literally converged on us. Doug and Peter got in the water first, as we were a little leary of all the sting rays and there was noone else around us. It was clear, once they got in, that they were a friendly bunch, much accustomed to humans in the water with them.

We swam with them for about an hour. As if it couldn't get any better, we were then joined by about 10 black tipped sharks who swam around us and amongst the dozens of rays that were still there. At this point everyone was back in the dinghy but I couldn't seem to drag myself away. Reluctantly, after being water-logged, we went and checked out the old Club Med hotel site and the public beach.

We came back to the boat, had a gin and tonic and looked through our photos (unfortunately Kylie's camera has bit the dust and so has Doug's waterproof one).
We ended our "dinghy tour" with a great hamburger barbeque on QuickStar and we joked that we didn't even have to pay $70.00 a person (the retail price of the tour) plus our private excursion was even better. We will be going back out for another day with the sharks and rays this morning....Shelby was up to watch the sunrise with me and is bursting at the seams with excitement!

Until next time.....Have a great Sunday.

Kylie has joined us!

Our first two days in Tahiti we spoiled ourselves and stayed at the marina, so that it would be easy for Doug and Shelby to get on and off at leisure. Peter & I spent most of the time doing repairs, re-provisioning and generally getting organized for Kylie’s much anticipated arrival. We took advantage of the facilities with Doug and Shelby giving the boat a much-needed wash down, since we haven’t been in a marina for over two months.

The highlight of the week has been Kylie’s arrival. It is so wonderful to have her here.
The first morning the two of us went for a coffee to catch up on her last five months of adventures, which has included a few months in Australia, followed by a field study course in the Philippines. It seems she has brought some of the unsettled weather with her (she was flooded out and evacuated in Australia, and had two typhoons while in the Philippines). It has rained almost every night so she is unable to sleep on the deck and instead has been sleeping on the settee inside.

We motor-sailed over to Moorea (10 miles away) and got all geared up for a threatening squall, but our “QuickStar weather bubble” once again avoided it. Instead, we had a great entry as we were treated to two whales in a display of jumping, breeching and all kinds of activity. There was a tour boat that rushed out to the scene and we took great delight in being able to view it all from the comfort of QuickStar. We anchored for lunch just inside the lagoon and did some snorkelling before heading into Cook’s Bay for a couple of overnights.

Yesterday it rained off and on, so we bundled up for the dinghy ride to shore in gusts of up to 35 knots to explore the area. Peter, Kylie and I went back out in the dark, rainy, windy night to go out for dinner (Doug and Shelby were tired out from touring through the town all day). We had a great time, being welcomed by a gregarious gay owner and served by an entertaining Polynesian transvestite. The main attraction was a local singer who did covers on songs that everyone knew. The food was great and the three of us shared lots of laughs. So very great to have Kylie here!

The reason that this Friday blog is being posted later than normal is that we had a full day today with all of us renting scooters to circumnavigate the 62 miles around the island. It was a typical “Clampit Family” outing with Kylie managing to dump her bike while manoeuvring a corner enroute to the mountain lookout. The good news is that she wasn’t hurt, just a scuffed knee (luckily not the one she just dislocated) and some scrapes on her hand. The scooter was a little banged up but all in all it makes for a good story. Kylie’s not looking forward to her brother Danny teasing her about it when he finds out though!

We will move to another gorgeous bay tomorrow and then we will spend a few nights at a serene anchorage outside of the old Club Med location. The highlight here is the best snorkelling on the island and the added bonus of “dinghy crashing” the local boat tours that bring guests to feed the sharks and the giant mantra rays. We’ll also be close to the hotel that has the Dolphin Centre. We spent an hour there today with front row seats watching bottle-nosed dolphins perform and entertain the people in the water with them.

By next weeks’ blog, Doug and Shelby will already be on their way home. These two months have flown by. We are looking forward to cramming in as much as we can before they head off.

Until next time……Read 10,000 books – travel 10,000 miles – Japanese proverb
P.S. I'll upload some photos from this week over coffee tomorrow morning. Life is good.

WE MADE IT!

With all hands on deck to witness the sunset, we made a dramatic entrance through the narrow pass to the anchorage/marina in Tahiti. We were escorted by one whale and a small pod of dolphins. We are now securely anchored for the next two nights. As I write this Doug and Peter are putting up the Sunshade and then we’ll be all set. For our stay here. We have all day today and tomorrow to do errands, while Doug and Shelby will go off exploring. Shelby is leafing through the tourist brochures right here beside me.

Peter & I are so excited to see Kylie tomorrow night when her plane arrives at 9:15 p.m. We will spend the night at the marina and then the following morning will set sail for Moorea and the anchorages on that island. I will update the blog again next Friday, August 14th.

Until then…..Happy, happy birthday to Shorry tomorrow. We’ll have a few gin and tonics and will be thinking of you.

Tahiti Bound

Bonjour. We are currently underway from the Tuamotu Islands to Tahiti. Total travel time - 2 nights. Seems like a piece of cake now. This is our final crossing with Doug and Shelby as our able crew. It's also the least exciting, since we have motor sailed for almost 24 hours. We have virtually zero wind, flat calm seas with just a hint of a gentle and soothing two foot swell.

The moon is just beginning to wane, so it is still almost full to bursting and provided lots of brightness on the night crossing. After dinner in the cockpit last night, which we ate during sunset, we were treated to a brilliant moonrise less than a half an hour later. I've always said that I could live outside, and now I'm so immensely grateful that I do!

We expect to motorsail the rest of the way, using our autopilot to get us to Tahiti. The good thing about it though is that it is nice and calm, so we've managed to get some of our boat chores out of the way rather than having to wait until we make landfall. We also turned off the engine to go for a mid-ocean swim in this beautiful 85 degree weather.

We will be arriving at the marina just after sunrise tomorrow and will spend two nights there - only two more sleeps till Kylie flies in. We can't wait!

I'll do a blog update tomorrow once we are settled in so that you know we arrived safe and sound. If all goes well, I'll also be able to hook in to the internet and upload some photos from the past 10 days or so.

Until next time...have a joyful weekend.

Happy Birthday Glenda

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLENDA..we are all thinking of you (especially your fiancé) and will celebrate South Pacific style!

We have now been in the Tuomotus for almost a week, and each day just keeps getting better. These remote atolls have crystal clear blue water, with the best snorkeling we've ever had!

On our first day, after making phone calls and picking up some more supplies, we did boat chores following the crossing while Doug and Shelby went snorkeling and were excited to be joined by five black tip reefed sharks. Shelby was bubbling over with enthusiasm when she was telling us of their adventure.

On Monday after finding the last four baguettes that the island had left, we set sail for a famous snorkeling location that we learned about from the dive shop. It was so incredible here, that we swam for longer than we had planned to so couldn't reach our original destination, but since cruising is all about flexibility we simply sailed about 20 miles to the next atoll called Tuao. This was quite exciting, as each atoll requires access by going through a narrow pass. During slack tide, it is usually a non-event, but we caught it as it was ebbing and we didn't have much choice as it was almost dark. We entered during huge standing waves and we felt like we were in a washing machine in the midst of it all. Our motoring speed was 7.5 knots but with the current fighting us we were only moving forward at just under 3 knots. Shelby hunkered down below as we were inched our way through the pass, with waves breaking over the stern. Quite the excitement, but no danger (honest, honest!!!)

We spent a night in this idyllic anchorage and the following morning after swimming we moved on to enter the only other pass on Tuao (a walk in the park). We met up with some fellow cruisers onboard their 66-foot Oyster "Elvis the Gecko". (yes, Halldo, Shorry, Murray, John and David, I know you can are salivating) The family consists of the mom/dad and three kids, including one girl named Ruby who is Shelby's age. They also have two full time crew members. They are from England and it was nice to meet them. Doug went out kayaking and Peter and I went exploring with the dinghy so we went over to their boat and brought Ruby back for a private visit with Shelby. They got on well and enjoyed some time without adults. We look forward to meeting up with them along the way for the girls to get together again.

Peter & I met up with David (the father) and Gloria (6) and Bruce (8) at the dock, while the only family that lived there was sorting through their fish catch. They were throwing back into the sea the smaller fish that they wouldn't be able to sell, so we were treated to a shark frenzy as five sharks fought over the bounty. As an added bonus, we saw two huge stingrays, gliding back and forth as we watched them from just a foot off the water on the dock. Tres cool, as my Kylie would say!

The day before yesterday we motorsailed to another atoll called Apataki. We entered the southern pass, which was wide and deep and during slack tide. The lagoon within the atoll is like a different world. We anchored off a motu (little island off the reef) and promptly went for another snorkel - this time we got a shot of a shark that came to check us out. In the evening we taught Shelby how to play euchre and she loved it, so the four of us have played each night.

Yesterday, Peter and I got up at 5:00a.m., and although it was still dark, the full moon was shining like a beacon on this piece of paradise. We hopped in the kayaks and paddled in and out of smaller lagoons, where we had a front row seat to watch the sun rise. Even grumpy old Peter was moved by it.

This morning, on Glenda's birthday, we will be making our way along the atoll, stopping to snorkel and then heading out the pass just before sunset to begin our final 2-night crossing to Tahiti. If possible, I'll update the blog tomorrow during the transit and also Sunday once we arrive.

We are looking forward to seeing Kylie on Monday.
P.S. We were sorry to hear about the violent storm at Doug's parents farm. Can't believe you were without power for 36 hours and had hail - plus losing your gazebo and having a barbeque fly off the deck!!! Glad it has subsided now.

Until next time...have yourselves a fabulous weekend and Happy Birthday again Glenda.

Bonjour from the Tuomotus

comment-ca va? We made landfall again, in an amazing atoll exactly 3 days 10 hours from anchor to anchor. We did need to motor sail on the final day to arrive in the daylight. As we were heading in to the pass, we were greeted and escorted by about 10 very large bottle-nosed dolphins. They danced in our bow wake and even managed to splash Shelby. Quite the welcome to the Tuomotus.

We came in at pretty close to slack tide, but still had 4 knots of current going against us, amidst standing waves of about 2 feet. Very impressive entry and even prettier than we would have thought. After a swim in the crystal blue water, we had a celebratory gin and tonic, an early dinner and an early night. Odd to walk on the boat without it being heeled over and we all slept like a baby in this very serene anchorage.

Today is Sunday and after a few clean up chores we headed over to shore at 8:00a.m. and Peter & I went to the local church service while Shelby and Doug meandered the one and only street. The service was excellent, as everyone puts on their Sunday best and greets each and every person. Why I enjoy going is to see the locals all together and experience their culture. I definitely have been to church more often during these past few cruising years than I ever have in my entire life. It's so interesting to see the different traditions and to feel a part of the islands.

We are having a bit of an issue with our watermaker, so Peter is holed up in our work room to try to fix it. I managed to get in two loads of laundry before it went kaput. Doug and Shelby have gone off on a dinghy/snorkel trip while we do some work around here - including this blog update (tough life I know!).

We will spend the week here exploring a few atolls and then we have one final crossing (only 2 nights) to Tahiti where we will plan to arrive on Sunday, August 9th. I will do the next update on my regular Friday routine, which is Friday, August 6th if I'm able to get a connection. No luck today with the internet, so it all depends on whether we can hook up through the ham radio.

Anyway, we are safe and happy with another memorable crossing under our belt.

Have a great week. Aurevoir.

Until next time.......take time to smell the roses.

Two squalls before breakfast

Day 3, Friday, July 31, 2009

We had another postcard perfect day yesterday, covering about 160 miles since we yesterday morning. Shelby beat me for the first time at Kings Cribbage, so she is on a roll. We are also out of the Easy and Medium crossword puzzles (thanks again Don for bringing them) so we are being humbled by the hard ones. We caught four fish - three we released back and the other one chomped off half the lure and swam away. Perhaps we'll have better luck today.

Doug and Shelby are working diligently on celestial navigation - shooting the sun at high noon and stars/moon in the evening. Since most of us cruisers have a number of different GPS's, and paper charts, celestial navigation is really a hobby as opposed to the old days, when it was the only means of determining where you were in the ocean and where you should be heading. Both Doug and Peter have had courses in this, so they are very knowledgeable - so if we should lose all our navigational software and our charts flew overboard - we'd still be good to go!

We have had some disturbing news about the amount of cases of dengue fever this year. This is caused by mosquitos that are carrying it. We already know of three of our personal cruising buddies that have been struck with this since arriving in French Polynesia this year. (one as recently as a week ago in the Tuamotus, where we are headed). There is really nothing to be done if you get it. It basically takes you out of commission for two weeks with severe muscle aches/pains and apparently you sleep all the time. We have found Vitamin B to be a great natural mosquito repellent, so Peter and I take this regularly and don't seem to be bothered by bugs of any kind - although who knows? Poor Shelby can't choke down a Vitamin B if her life depended on it. She is also more susceptible to bug bites, so Doug will make sure she is covered with repellent whenever we are ashore or away from sea breezes.

We have had two squalls this morning before breakfast, requiring all hands on deck (with Shelby comfortably and safely hunkered down below). The good thing about it (yes, Krys I said that for your benefit) is that it happened after daybreak and also the boat needed a good fresh water dousing. As I write this, we are expecting another one to hit in about 6 miles (according to our visual evaluation of the sky and the big blurp on radar). It's nice and warm, so a little rain will be dried from the cockpit in no time.

If all goes according to plan we should arrive tomorrow evening just before sunset.

Will check in again tomorrow morning. Until then.....enjoy the magic and the miracle of the new day.