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The Halldo's summer camp week

2011-09-16T08:56:00.000+12:00

Our first week with the Halldos has been reported on where we explored remote anchorages and ended with our scary reef adventure. This second week has been at Musket Cove where the famous regatta takes place with about 80 sailboats participating. The week is like summer camp for adults and has been jam packed with lots of activity and way too much debauchery and fun!!!

Don and Martha guiding us out the reef at Mano Island enroute to Musket Cove

Don gets ready to grab the mooring ball

After we got settled in we joined in the opening night at the Island Bar. Di and Martha ready to party.

The Canadian contingent singing O’Canada at the opening ceremonies

Diana was able to talk Martha in to taking scuba lessons (with very little persuasion needed). Here in Fiji you can become completely certified in only 2 ½ days at about half the cost of doing it in Canada – plus it is one on one instruction.

Martha doing her bookwork in the classroom

Martha’s first pool lesson

The guys cheering on Martha in the pool

Diana joined Martha on all of her five dives. This is Martha’s virgin scuba dive

Getting back in to the boat with a huge smile.

Yeah! I did it!!!!

While Di and Martha went diving to see turtles, sharks, thousands of fish and an abundance of hard and soft corals – the guys participated in two different types of sailboat races. The first sailboat race was in four matching 22 foot Merlins. They got neon green t-shirts to prove it, but they are most pleased with their 2nd place win – out of 8. The next race was in the hobie cats with a running start.

Rounding the first mark

The boys celebrating their 2nd place finish (out of 2 boats!)

Every night there has been a party. Before she left Fiji, Kylie had talked me in to signing up for a 3-minute speech in the “Why I Hate Sailing” contest. I spoke about the first time Peter and I went on a night crossing just the two of us. Mister Sensitivity said of course he would take it extra easy, but when I woke to a fully heeled boat in the pounding waves and heavy winds I freaked out. This was followed comments such as “why didn’t we just buy an f***ing power boat – and just go back to bed. After my attempts to reason with him (especially hard since I was hysterical), I resorted to punching him in the head when he wouldn’t reduce sail (not a really proud moment for either of us). Now, whenever we do a lone crossing he just wears a hockey helmet! With this sad, but true story, I won first prize. No pictures of course because I tend to be the photographer.

Bra dress up contest – lots of nonsense

Don and Martha kept saying all week “We are in fricking Fiji”!!!!

Beginning the limbo competition (alcohol and limbo do not mix)

Di and Anja - the dancing fools

Peter and I enjoying a dance together

We had a big lunch party on the sand bar which is in the middle of the ocean. It dries at low tide and so the Regatta organizers threw a huge barbeque with goofy games.

Hairy Chest contest

They also had a wet t-shirt contest, which I was crazy enough to participate in. I got a free t-shirt, what can I say? We have shamed Martha though because Peter was a chosen as a judge (his lucky day) and his job was to recruit women and give them a t-shirt to change in to. He gave Martha a t-shirt but she didn’t enter. Peter took his job very seriously and loved being a judge.

Lots of eye candy for the guys

I will not be posting pictures of me in this event on the blog, although when I got a hold of my camera there were certainly lots taken. Funny how that works! Anyway, it was a definite stepping out of my comfort zone and somewhat fueled by liquid courage. It’s fun to be wild and crazy at times.

Peter and Don on the sandbar

With all the parties and nonsense, we decided to have a quiet night on QuickStar. We played a little bridge and then cracked the overproof rum (57%) and our quiet night deteriorated into another night of laughing and dancing. Within no time Don and Peter had the Allman Brothers cranked and were giving us an air guitar concert.

Martha non-stop laughing

Halldo initiates our swim platform as a new dance floor

Hang on you dancing fool!

Cockpit air guitar

Cranking in up

Di and Halldo shaking it up

One evening just as we were having a cocktail Peter noticed that Ataris, the large 100 foot sailboat was drifting back. Sure enough she had dragged her anchor and the entire fleet was watching with binoculars as the sailboat hit the reef. What made this situation even worse is that the owner was not on board. The boat was meant to be waiting at Port Denerau for him, but since the regatta was going on the crew sailed her over to enjoy the week. It doesn’t seem that major damage was sustained. We are quite sure that the Captain will be brought to task over this. The crew is laying quite low.

Martha with the sunset in the background

The major event of the regatta week is a round- the- island sailboat race. There were 20 of us that participated in this. We got a slower start than we would have liked as we started on a windward course and didn’t have the timing quite down. It was blowing between 15 – 20 knots with the waves gaining momentum over the course of the 4-hour race.

Ready, set, go….

Peter kindly reefed both the main and the genny. He claims this was done to make me more comfortable, but truthfully it was because we were missing 15 inches of our rudder and didn’t want to have a serious situation, especially since our insurance becomes nul and void during a race.

Over the water bungalows on the side of the Island

In spite of our caution we managed to have a few exciting moments. We almost got hit by a boat as we turned around the first corner of the island. Close call! Then near the end of the race, the gennaker, which was in readiness on the bow, started coming out of the bag and going in the sea. It was clipped on the low side of the boat so Peter had to crawl up to it and grab it out of the water – while all the time being soaked by the breaking waves.

Just before we were about to cross the line and bring in the sails, Peter noticed that the furling line had caught on the genny drum (which means we couldn’t bring it in). Once again he was back on the bow and worked quickly to fix it.

It was an exhilarating race and lots of fun (which also means we didn’t place very well or else I’d be telling you about that).

Last night was the wrap up of the regatta where Peter and Don got their 2nd place Merlin award. We were treated to a traditional pig roast and an evening of Fijian entertainment.

Heading over in the dinghy to the wrap up evening

Di and Martha already “zooed” (as Martha would say) after Don was pouring the overproof rum drinks. Notice he is pretending he doesn’t even know us.

Great memories from this week together – to good friends!

Visiting with our friends David and Suzie from Sidewinder. Suzie came with us on our last dive. David was injured from the coconut throwing contest (truly) so he couldn’t come. Suzie was over at 6:30 this morning to say goodbye to us. Martha says that is her earliest visitor ever!

The evening getting underway. Let’s get this party started.

Don and Peter getting their 2nd place medals and a bottle of Bounty rum (just what we needed!)

Not so humbly celebrating their accomplishment

Di and Martha under the full moon

Shortly we will be heading back to Denereau for two days before Don and Martha catch their flight home. They have been fabulous guests - we’ve laughed all week and spent hours snorkeling in between races, dives and frivolity.

Originally the plan was for Don to stay an extra week to sail with us to Vanautu. Unfortunately, Peter’s Dad is not getting better and we have decided to end our cruising season two months early so that we can go to Burlington to help Peter’s Mom and spend some special time with Erich. We feel so very lucky to be able to do this.

Don has been wonderfully understanding about it and we hope he (and Martha) will join us for a crossing next year. We also had to cancel out on Dave, who was flying from New Zealand to New Caledonia to make the 9 day crossing to Australia. He too has been really understanding.

We managed to cancel all our Australian plans and have scrambled to make arrangements for QuickStar to get her rudder fixed and then stay in Fiji over the winter season at Vuda Point Marina. The good news about this is that we will see the kids and grandmunchken Addy in B.C. before flying out a day later to Toronto. We will also be able to see lots of family and friends in Ontario as we expect to be there for about 2 months (until Danny’s wedding in Mexico). Also can’t wait to see the fall colours.

So, this will be the last blog of the season. Thanks for dropping in to visit the blog from time to time. We sure loved getting emails and hearing from our friends and family back in Canada while we have been out here in the wild blue yonder. Keep in touch and treasure every sunrise – every sunset - and every day!

Sunset over Musket Cove

Until next season……live your adventure!

Sunrise Yoga

P.S. I will be escorting two women’s Ignite groups next spring before heading back to QuickStar. Early May will be a 3-night golf clinic and spa extravaganza at Sparkling Hills Resort and Predator Ridge Golf Course in Vernon, B.C. In mid-May I will be escorting a 10-day deluxe bike, hike and rafting trip through the Canyonlands and Moab. If you are interested in either or both, drop me an email at svquickstar@shaw.ca and I will email you the e-brochure as soon as it is completed in a couple of weeks.

The second printing of my book Financial Fitness for beginners is now available. www.financialfitnessbooks.com. Thanks to all of you who have ordered copies and for the rave reviews. Much appreciated.

The Halldo's are here!

2011-09-09T11:34:00.000+12:00

QuickStar at anchorage

Our very good friends Don and Martha Hall from Ottawa have arrived for their Fiji adventure. Their plane landed at 5:30 a.m. and as soon as they made it to QuickStar, we took a quick look around super-yacht alley and then we cast off to the Yasawa Island group. It was about a 7 hour sail, so we threw out the fishing line, as Don is a big trout fisherman at home.

He had quite the successful day – within a couple of hours he caught his first tuna. Peter said “too small – not the right kind” so we threw it back. Don joked that he has NEVER caught a fish that big before.

First fish Don caught

An hour later, he had his second tuna (while Martha was napping, so he was able to say it was a much bigger fish!). The third catch of the day was a yellow fin tuna, so we had a great dinner!

Yellow fin

On the first morning at anchorage we had a typical fruit breakfast

We spent two nights at Manta Ray Island. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to snorkel with the manta rays as the wind was howling and the seas were high, which discourages the rays from coming to the pass, and makes snorkeling a little too dangerous.

We did some beach walking

and also an island hike, where we overlooked QuickStar at anchor

We had checked the weather reports before leaving, which so far this year have been far from accurate. We headed towards Narcula Island which is a picture perfect anchorage. The weather though was unusually brisk. We had up to 36 knot winds and 6 foot seas.

Di and Martha holding on while the sea water came in to the cockpit

Halldo at the helm

What kind of great friend would I be if I didn’t take a picture of Martha almost getting sea sick!

Now we had both gale force winds and rain

When we neared our anchorage we maintained bow watch as these islands aren’t charted properly (very limited info on the Fiji islands. If anyone wrote a great guidebook they’d make a fortune).

Halldo on lookout

Anyway, long story short, we miscalculated the entrance and hit a reef. It was a very serious situation as the waves were banging us around; however, it was thanks to the waves that Peter managed to maneuver us out of there. Very scary few minutes, as the tide was going out and the situation would only have gotten worse. We were basically trapped by coral. There were also no boats within miles of us. Once we got in a deeper spot, we threw out the hook and lifted the dinghy up on deck as it was being bashed around.

We then all calmed down, as we were very grateful that only the boat sustained damage and no one was hurt. We sailed for another two hours to Mana Island, which is a protected anchorage and where we are now. Yesterday morning Don and Martha went out for a 3 hour snorkel, where they saw sting rays and Don’s first ever shark sighting.

A snorkeling we will go…

Peter & I stayed behind to discuss our situation. In addition to our rudder problem – we took 15 inches off the rudder (yikes), which will require us to put QuickStar back on the hard for about a week to get it fixed, we have to figure out how and when we will do this, as we were planning on sailing to Vanuatu with Don next Saturday after Martha goes home.

Peter & I were also discussing the situation at home. We are feeling useless being so far away. Peter’s Dad was discharged from the hospital and is getting settled at home with his mechanical bed, stair chair, wheel chair, etc. It is going to be a tough transition for Erich as he has always been active. It will also be hard on Lisa, although she is one strong, brave lady. My brother-in-law Joe in Ontario remains in hospital and my sister and niece are coping with that. These things are all part of cruising and you have to be flexible and make changes every day. We will make a decision this weekend as to what Plan B will look like.

The weather has been very unsettled and overcast so we were unable to go to Musket Cove yesterday. We made the most of it though and went on a walk through the village.

Kids coming home from school

The kids loved to take pictures with our cameras and then look at themselves.

Kids helping with dinner

Natural beauty and unusual flora

Flying Fox (bats are everywhere)

Village Elder

We met up with our cruising friends Marios and Ara from Bubas. We were planning on just having some drinks with them, but we were having so much fun we stayed for dinner and a show.

Floor Show

As soon as the floor show ladies started moving through the audience, Peter was like a bat out of hell and disappeared. He knows that he is not getting up on stage, but Marios and Don were good sports and participated in the event.

A great day had by all. Martha and Don love Fiji!

Until next week….be wild and crazy

Peter's special birthday celebration

2011-09-02T09:56:00.000+12:00

Sugar cane season –trucks loaded by hand – we saw many on our bus trip

As mentioned last week, we were unable to sail QuickStar over to Pacific Harbour due to the high winds that were against us. For Peter’s birthday, we took a cab (2 ½ hours) to our hotel, where we stayed for two nights. We rendezvoused with Anja and Scott from Beachhouse who met us from the other direction. The highlight of our stay was the world-famous shark dive.

Dive Shop

On the dive boat - Scott to the right of Peter

The first dive was pretty exciting as we saw nurse sharks, which we were able to pet, one at a time, as they were being fed. Next came the requim sharks (the aggressive ones): white tipped reef sharks, gray reef, silver tip, bull sharks and black tipped sharks. We also saw huge schools of large fish, including an 8 feet grouper that was almost 6 feet wide and what looked like massive dinosaur fish called Travalies. I actually thought they were sharks as they were that big. The big sharks attract the big fish, which attract the small fish, etc., so we were able to see the whole underwater food chain in action.

Peter and Anja during the surface interval between dives

Unfortunately, just after going to the feeding station and petting the nurse shark, my equipment mal-functioned. My regulator (where the air comes from) stopped working and I starting sucking in pure saltwater instead of air. After taking a few big gulps, I thought I was drowning. Very scary stuff! Peter and one of the excellent dive masters figured out my panicked signaling, so Peter thrust the dive master’s spare regulator in to my mouth (after purging it). The dive master and I then had to go slowly up together to the surface, with a safety stop for decompression, as this little incident happened at about 85 feet deep. The good thing is I didn’t totally freak out and bolt for the surface, but when I got to the boat, I was coughing up seawater and was really shaken up. I decided to sit out the second dive, however, as everyone was getting ready, I changed my mind, as they did have extra equipment to swap out and I needed to “get back on the horse”.

Tiger Shark (photo courtesy of Scott Stolnitz- Beachhouse)

I am so thrilled that I "cowboyed up" and went because not only did we see all the above-mentioned sharks again, but we were treated with a visit by the elusive tiger shark. These are amongst the most aggressive sharks in the world, and it is rare to see one (and live to tell the story). This shark swam right over top of us as we were sitting on the bottom. You could reach out and touch it (but that isn’t a wise idea!) By the time we got back to the boat, we were all talking a mile a minute and totally pumped about our adventure. Just fantastic.

Joyce on the dive boat

What was also amazing to me is that one of the divers was a lady named Joyce who was 83 years old! She only learned to dive when she was 65 and has since logged over 751 dives. She had to have help to get on and off the boat, but in the water she was the first one down and raring to go. What an inspiration!

Joyce and I getting our log books signed (751 for her – 52 for me)

Di and the guys goofing around

Scott and Anja heading back to Beachhouse to get ready for the celebrations!

After the dive, we spent a wonderful birthday afternoon in the garden of our hotel. Anja made Peter some authentic German potato salad and a birthday cheesecake and then we topped off this magical day with a birthday dinner. Peter is still talking about his awesome birthday!

Birthday celebration in the garden

Cutting the cake

Di helping Anja learn how to “cast off” her knitting. I know my friends will be killing themselves laughing to think of me teaching knitting!

During the dive, Anja brushed up against fire coral with the only inch of bare skin she had. Her entire right ankle is full of hard bumps (similar to chicken pox) and her foot is swollen. This is very serious, not only because it itches beyond belief, but because it is very hard to heal and is painful to walk on. She may take the advice of some of the old salts here and have Scott freeze her foot (he was a Dentist) and then Anja will debride the sores. I told her I’d hold her hand (and film it for posterity!).

Anja with an ice-pack on her swollen, painful ankle

We took the bus back to Port Denereau, where we are getting ready and now awaiting the arrival of Don and Martha from Ottawa on Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. On another happy note, Peter’s Dad is doing remarkably better and is likely to get out of the hospital soon.

Peter swabbing the deck

Celebrating a great week and Peter’s Dad’s major improvements!

Until next week….Happy Birthday to Peter’s sister Caroline
P.S. For some reason, I’m unable to post new photos on the sidebar, hence the reason for more photos within this copy. Hopefully, I’ll get it figured out by next week.

We're wet again.

2011-08-26T12:35:00.000+12:00

As hoped, we did manage to get QuickStar back in the water last Friday, with about 15 minutes to spare. We threw a pizza and beer party for all the guys that worked so hard on our boat for the past two weeks.

Peter stepping back as they dove in to the beer and pizza

It was nice to get back in the water and have running water, so we could cook onboard, and have our heads working. We went to the market and did the provisioning for what we hoped would be a 12 day trip to Pacific Harbour and back.

Di shopping in Nadi market

We were going to Pacific Harbour because it is Peter’s birthday this Monday and I had planned something really special. It was going to be hard to top swimming with the humpbacks in Tonga last year. My plans included meeting up with Scott and Anja from Beachhouse and then going together to do the world-renowned shark dive. This dive is listed as one of the top 10 in the world, because you see 7 different species of large sharks including bulls and tigers. The divemaster does a shark feeding while we are underwater holding on to a rope. This attracts lots of large fish, which of course, attracts the big sharks. I can’t wait – and afterwards the four of us will have dinner out to celebrate.

Beautiful scenery everywhere you look

We headed out for our 4 day trip to Pacific Harbour, with anchorages to stop at each night. Our first anchorage was very private and lovely. Captain Peter was choked though that they were burning sugar cane on land, so when we woke up our freshly waxed and polished boat was covered in ash! From here, we went out of the reef and in to the open ocean, which was necessary to head towards Pacific Harbour. This turned out not to be a great decision, as the winds were up to 30 knots – right on the nose. This caused swells of 10 – 15 feet with 3 foot waves on top of them. We were pounding straight in to these large and angry waves. At times we felt like we were on a teeter-tooter as we would hover on the apex of the wave and then have a spine-jarring drop in to the trough. It was uncomfortable and nerve-wracking, with waves crashing over the dodger and soaking us in the cockpit. To make matters worse, we lost a pin from our bimini (with the pounding) and then when I was releasing the traveler down I got the line jammed in our electric winch. Not a great situation, but Peter was able to fix it and we jury-rigged the bimini.

At the end of four hours of this, we had to enter a narrow unmarked reef. This is difficult to do with the waves so high – it is hard to truly distinguish the reef from the rest of the surf. Finally we could spot the crashing waves on either side of the pass. It was not a good time to be remembering the sailor from last year who lost his life when his sailboat crashed in to the reef here in Fiji. Anyway, we made it in safe and sound, with only minor damage below – Peter’s computer had gone flying so it had a crack in it (but didn’t crash it), and the coffeepot had fallen over on the gimbled stove and soaked the burners, so they aren’t working very well. Even though we had stowed most things away, there were books and stuff all over the galley. We anchored in 30 knot winds and I can’t remember the last time I was so happy being in an anchorage that had white caps and was so rolly. It was just nice to be out of the violent sea.

Peter checking on the anchor and holding on for dear life in the wind

The anchorage we were in was post-card perfect, surrounded as far as the eye could see with pristine beaches. As the forecast was calling for more of the same high winds and swells for the next few days, we changed our plans and decided to stay an extra night at this anchorage and then to turn tail and head back to Denerau. This is the key to safe sailing – you have to be flexible and respect the weather. If you insist on sticking to a hard and fast schedule, that is when you get in real trouble. We will still be doing the shark dive on Monday, but we have gone to Plan B and we will take a 2-hour bus to Pacific Harbour, spend two nights in a hotel, so we can get up for the dive at 0800, have dinner out that evening and stay over again before heading back on the bus. Hopefully we won’t get eaten and I can tell you about the dive next Friday in the blog.

Beautiful beaches in this anchorage (and yes, we are missing our granddaughter Addy, A LOT)

We made the most of our change in plans by exploring the island. Four years ago the Inter-Continental built a 5-star resort here, which is magnificent. As soon as we landed the dinghy near the village we were met by a local, named John, who said of course he could take us horse-back riding and then to his village. So we spent the day walking the endless beach and going horse-back riding into the hills and on the beach, and then ended up in the village.

Di walking the beach

On horse-back. It certainly isn’t SunDance Guest Ranch. The horses were “nags”, but it will still fun.

Peter trotted his horse up to the top of the hill, where Peter thinks he is “The Lone Ranger” looking back at me.

The highlight for me, and my favourite part of cruising, is going in to the villages and meeting the locals. John’s son Jo took us on the horse-back ride and afterwards we took him out to our boat as he had never seen the inside of one before. He then took us to meet with his Dad and to meet the Chief so that we could present the sevu-sevu, which as I’ve mentioned before is the formal presentation of Kava to receive permission to be in their land. The Chief was unfortunately out, but we made the presentation to John who accepted on the chiefs’ behalf and he will give it to Chief when he comes back. We also bought some local handicrafts because it is the polite thing to do while accepting their hospitality.

Peter presenting the sevu-sevu

We admire how hard this village works to make an honest living through horse-back riding, crafts, etc. Many of the people have jobs at the hotel, so they are happy with their neighbour hotel and have a very good relationship. The villagers get up at 4:00 every morning and sing in the church (which we could hear all the way to the boat). At the end of every workday, they meet again and sing in the church before having dinner and Kava. Lights out for them right after dinner. Makes me look like a night owl.

So, although, we did have to change our plans, we had a wonderful day, ending with another fabulous sunset.

We are almost back at Port Denerau where we have to take a bus for an hour to check back in – since we had already checked out to go to Pacific harbor. This check in and checkout procedure is the only downside to cruising in Fiji, as it means we always have to arrive on a weekday in enough time to make it to customs. However, small price to pay, and no, I’m not complaining…I know how very lucky we are!

P.S. Peter just called me on deck to help with bringing the main sail down, getting the lines ready and the bumpers on. I was driving and all of a sudden we hit something and stopped dead in the water (now I know truly what that saying means). It turned out okay, as it was only a sandbar because it is low, low tide and we just motored through it. Minutes afterward, we were ready to tie-up on the dock, however, the wind continued to howl, so two guys from the super-yacht came to assist us with docking. The wind was blowing us right off the dock and we almost hit the solid, 2-level dive boat beside us. Peter and I were holding QuickStar off of it, while the two guys on the dock wrestled with tying the lines. Quite a gong-show! Anyway, always fun to end with a little excitement. We are now snug as a bug here at the dock.

We celebrated our son, Danny’s 27th birthday this week and also our Step-Mom Liz’s 70th. Hope you both had a great time.

On a sadder note, Peter’s father is now in the hospital, as is Joe, my brother-in-law. We have kept close to our email to get daily updates, but we feel useless being this far away. On Sunday, we will be missing the memorial for our dear friend Barry who recently passed away. Kylie will be there to represent the Bruckmann gang and we will be there in spirit. We miss you every day Barry. Friday nights at SunDance will never be the same without you!
Until next week….

On the Hard in Fiji – Week Two

2011-08-19T10:57:00.001+12:00

Yahoo...we are getting closer to being finished with all the boat projects and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had a few setbacks, which is to be expected, including a few rainy days and having to order new keel boats from New Zealand. We were excited when they finally arrived, only to realize that they weren’t galvanized, so another two day delay waiting for this to be done locally.

Installing the new keel bolts so the keel doesn’t fall off!

At the risk of jinxing things, we are hoping to be put back in the water tomorrow. We had the bottom painted yesterday, today the new gel coat is being put on and sprayed and all the final bits and pieces done. It will be nice to have running water again, to eat on board and to be out of the crowded yard. Peter has organized a “thank you” party with the guys at the end of the day, since it is Friday and they all worked so hard these past two weeks. Fingers crossed it will all get done.

Our newly painted prop (in my favourite colour) with a new product previously unknown to us called Prop Speed. It never has to be cleaned so this saves Peter from having to scrap off the prop every few weeks. Will be interesting to see how well it works.

Living on a boat while on the hard is difficult to do, but the good thing is we are here at Port Denerau, which is full of restaurants and shops, so we have a place to stretch our legs and go for dinner.

The Port Denerau complex

There is a grocery store, spa, chandlery and lots of shops. There are specific stores that allow you to claim back the equivalent of our HST. We got a kick out of how they call it a “scheme”.

This complex has about 9 restaurants, so we’ve gone to each one at least once. We only went to the Hard Rock to watch the rugby game – otherwise, we avoid restaurants that you can go to at home. All the restaurants feature great outdoor space right on the ocean, with live music every night. Our favourites have been the Fiji restaurant and the Chinese Restaurant.

The square where dance shows are featured every Friday and Saturday night.

I’m going to go on a rant here, though. We have had to go out for dinner every night and I’m absolutely shocked watching people, who are all here on holidays. Almost every other table has a computer on it, or a mobile device, where the person is playing a game, surfing the web, checking email, etc. all while in the company of their significant other or family. Sadly, the other night there looked to be a honeymoon couple where the husband spent the entire meal on his iPad. His beautiful, possible new bride, sat sipping her wine while being totally ignored.
Whole families are on their various techno gadgets and not even being present with each other while here in paradise, supposedly trying to cram in quality time.

One of the greatest gifts about being able to sail around the world is seeing other cultures and their love of life and family. The pace of life is sane and the measure of personal happiness high. It seems that in North America we scurry around so quickly, chasing things, relentlessly multi-tasking and we can’t even turn off while on holidays, that it just seems that life is one big race, with no one coming out the winner. It is a sad reflection on family life when you see kids watching movies on their computers, while eating out on holidays in Fiji with their parents who are occupied on their cell phones! Enough ranting!

Peter & Di enjoying a dinner together with just each other - no gadgets!

We got more bad news again this week. An old friend of mine who used to work with us has been re-diagnosed with breast cancer and goes for surgery in September. Peter’s Dad went downhill very quickly from last week and is now confined to bed. He will be having an in-house assessment at the beginning of next week, so that he can get the necessary equipment to improve his quality of life such as a mechanical bed, wheelchair, scooter, etc. It will be hard for him to adjust to this lack of mobility, but he remains in good spirits. The circle of life continues though, with our grandmunchkin Addy now sitting up, crawling and almost standing.

Since I had a bit of extra time this week stuck in the cabin I added a function to this blog, which is called Blog Follower on the right hand side. If you click on it, it lets me know that you are reading this. I thank all our loyal family and friends for keeping track of us. We think of you all often and love to hear from you...so please send emails to svquickstar@shaw.ca.

Until next week….unplug for a day and enjoy being with those you love.

Peter loves being back in a boatyard and getting his hands dirty

2011-08-12T08:07:00.000+12:00

Being lifted out of the water

We have put QuickStar up on the hard (which means taking her out of the water) to get some routine maintenance work done, as well as some boat projects that we’ve added to the list. She is now secured on the hard, where we will be living aboard. While Peter supervises all the workers, I take off to the internet café each day to get my work done. While we are here, we don’t have any facilities…i.e. running water, washroom, etc. So it’s more like camping in the midst of a war zone (the boat is torn apart inside) with access to the ground only via a shaky ladder.

Our home for the next couple of weeks – nice ladder entry – and no, I’m not comfortable on it!

Peter decided for safety sake that he should secure the boom over to one side to avoid the workers banging in to it. The only thing is he forgot to mention it to me. When the guys were busy polishing the deck I offered them water. When I took it up to them, I bashed in to the boom so hard with my head that the entire yard stopped work to see where the thud came from. I now have a large goose-egg on my head to add to the large bruise on my foot that I got when I bashed in to the top of the ladder getting on the boat. I think being out at open sea is safer for me.

The guys hard at work polishing the deck

Note the boom far off the centre line…thanks for telling me Captain!

While the boat is out of commission, we have planned a few land excursions. Our first one was a sun-rise hot air balloon ride to celebrate Lori’s birthday. She is my oldest girlfriend (we’ve been friends since we were 10). She is also the bravest person I know having fought breast cancer five times!

Peter & I in the balloon gliding over the countryside

We had a glorious day to do go ballooning. In addition to great scenery the pilot was quite gifted and he took us up and down skimming over treetops and soaring over fields with us touching the tops of the sugar cane. We began running out of real estate to land as we got closer to the sea as the winds weren’t favourable for the chosen landing sites. Instead we had to make an unplanned landing in a home-owners field. The rough landing only added to the fun!

Oops, isn’t the basket supposed to be upright?

Later in the week, we celebrated another friend’s birthday – Shorry from Victoria. We left at 5:30 in the morning and did a day-long white water river rafting trip, getting us back to our boat at 8:30 that night. We had a fabulous day, with much of the excitement coming from hiking in to the site, as well as driving the rough mountain roads in the middle of nowhere. The rafting company has bulldozers and drivers on hand to pull the bus out of the mud and to help get the bus up the hill. Luckily we didn’t need it, although it had been raining for two days and the roads were really slick. It also made the colour of the water brown, but the good thing is the rain made the river fast-moving and quite exciting.

About a 20-minute hike up and down the hills to get to the start.

The scenery was amazing as we paddled through canyons, which they have dubbed the Green Canyon. After each bend there was another waterfall to greet us. At the final waterfall we all got out and enjoyed a “massage”. When we arrived at our take-out site, we unloaded in a village. The rafting company contributes 20% of all revenue to the villages at either end, has built a primary school in each one and also built the roads leading out to connect with larger roads. I was honoured to be introduced to the chief when I gave his village a supply of exercise books for the school children.

A free massage

During the week, while I’ve been kicked off the boat, I have gotten lots of work done, including making slow and steady progress on my Spanish lessons. I have launched my new venture, which is escorting Women’s Adventure groups again. It was one of my favourite things to do when we owned the travel agency. I’m also thrilled to be working with my old friend Rita from Merit Travel. It will be nice to just be doing the “fun” part of traveling and not having to worry about invoicing, collections, ticketing, etc. Also, much as I love being with Peter, it will be a treat to have some time away from living together on a 46 foot boat and to do lots of adventurous trips with like-minded women. This is the link to our “Ignite Casting Call”.

http://tinyurl.com/3kjskvs (if you are unable to click on this to open, just copy and paste it where you put website addresses)

Peter has discovered that the boat is going to be more work than originally planned. We had intended on repairing the rudder (from the reef episode in Tahiti last year), painting the bottom, servicing the engines, replacing worn teak, resewing the canvas bimini, etc. We had a very unpleasant surprise though when Peter was doing his routine checking of the keel bolts (those things that keep the keel attached to the bottom of the boat). He discovered that the heads of the aft obolts had rusted ALL the way through and were no longer securing the keel. That means that our keel is only being held on by a few bolts. As I write this, three guys, including Peter, are currently grinding off the bolts to see if they can be replaced without us having to lift the boat up again and having to remove the keel.

Either way, this is a big job (muchos dineros!) and will keep us in the yard for a lot longer than originally planned. Having said that though, we really feel like we dodged a bullet with finding this out now, because if the worst case happened while on our next open ocean crossing to Vanuatu, we might have lost the keel altogether. That, of course, would mean that there would be a huge hole in the bottom of the boat and without a keel the sailboat would tip over. Assuming that happened hopefully we would have a few minutes to spare to spring the life raft and get in it before QuickStar sank to the bottom! Not a pleasant scenario! Our good buddy Halldo, will be crewing with us on that leg, (around September 18th) and although he has joined the dark side by moving over to the corporate suit and tie world, I don’t think he needs that much excitement in his life.

Living and loving life to the fullest

We did receive great news this week from Peterborough. One of our oldest friends was getting the results of a very serious test and he was given a clean bill of health! Sadly, Peter’s Dad continues to lose his mobility and is now in quite a bit of pain. However, he is one of our biggest fans and is the first to encourage us to do this sailing trip while we can and not to take life for granted.

Our adorable granddaughter Addison cheering on her Dad at the Ashcroft Rodeo – now how did this picture get in here?

Until next week…do something that fuels your passion.

Kylie and Taylor have gone to Canada

2011-08-05T09:43:00.000+12:00

Mano Island - a South Pacific piece of heaven

Our second week with Taylor and Kylie was lots of fun, but seemed to fly by. After spending a few days at Musket Cove, we headed over to Mano Island for a couple of days. We went diving again to a great site called BarrelHead, which had some really healthy live coral. The three minute safety stop on ascending was right at the top of the reef, so we saw lots of fish as we swayed to and fro in the current just skimming the reef. My confidence is increasing with each dive.

Kylie and our future son-in-law Taylor

We had planned on going to church to show the kids the local culture, but the only church on the island was 7th Day Adventist, and with my earlier experience with a type of evangelical church, we decided to take a pass. The kids did lots of kayaking and snorkeling, while Peter and I traversed the island. Kylie’s knee was still bothering her so hiking was not an option for her. Taylor broke his little toe somehow on the boat, but luckily didn’t cause any real problems. Both of them are going home with a few more bruises, just part of living on a boat.

The simple moments in each day that make for a joyful life

We went back to Musket Cove for three nights because it is a great smooth anchorage and provides lots to do on land. Each night Taylor and Kylie would head to the Island bar and party with the locals. Peter and I would have some quiet time to read (we are getting boring aren’t we?).

Local kids playing with our kayaks with Taylor and Kylie enjoying their excitement

I had quite a good sales week with my book. I think it is so cool to be out here sailing in South Pacific and getting daily sales reports. What is most rewarding is that one reader (you know who you are) bought his FIRST house at 42 years old after reading the book and finishing the 12-week program. Another reader lost 15 pounds in 3 months (a nice side benefit since I use financial and physical fitness as analogies) and yet another reader told me that she increased her net worth by 3,200 during the 12-week program. These are the kind of success stories that make me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Biking around the island at Musket Cove

Our dinghy on its last legs - note the duct tape on the pump. So many leaks and the only answer is blowing it up the old-fashioned way. We've ordered a new dinghy due to arrive tomorrow.

We really enjoyed having Taylor and Kylie with us. We had lots of laughs during our many early evening card tournaments (hearts). It was sad to say goodbye to them last night.

Leaving QuickStar to head to Canada

They are heading back to Canada to begin the next chapter of their life. Kylie starts a new job on August 17th as a travel agent for Silver Star Accommodations (and hopes to get some substitute teaching jobs, athough the supply exceeds the demand at the moment). They are spending two nights in Abbotsford with brother Ryan, then heading to the Rodeo to watch brother Danny ride bucking broncos (don’t get me started on that!). Looks like lots of friends will be going to watch and visit with Kylie and Taylor, so should be a good Canada reunion.

A very sad Dad saying goodbye to his baby girl

Our final farewell from the taxi enroute to the airport

We will be staying at Port Denerau for the next week and having the boat lifted out so that we can do some maintenance, get the systems tuned up and just general upkeep. Looking forward to a week of elbow grease and getting lots of projects completed.

Until next week…..Happy Birthday Lori – can’t believe it was 44 years ago that I moved to Oakville with the family and I came knocking on your door selling candles (your entrepreneur at ten) and asked if there was anyone my age that lived there. We’ve been fast friends ever since and have shared lots of joys and sorrow together. You are my hero – 5th-time breast cancer survivor and dear, dear friend. Love ya!

Kylie and Taylor have arrived

2011-07-29T09:10:00.000+12:00

Our final day of sailing before we got to Port Denereau we spent in celebration of Dave and Lindsay’s wedding and also in memory of Barry. The whole gang went to SunDance Guest Ranch, Barry’s favourite place in the world, to share stories and collectively remember a very special man. Danny, Ashley and Addison were able to go visit Lynn and Megan after the wedding weekend and stay there with them on Sunday night and even get a ride in together on Monday morning. We sure wished we could have been there, but we did have everyone in our thoughts.

Another awesome sunset

Port Denereau was a pleasant surprise. It is a wonderful marina surrounded by shops, restaurants and every kind of service you could want. This was really handy as we spent two days getting ready for Taylor and Kylie to arrive – provisioning, fueling up, getting the spare cabin ready, etc. On Monday morning Peter had the cab experience from hell as he took a cab to the Latoka to get checked in (In Fiji you have to check in and check out of each and every domestic area). The cab ran out of fuel and then it got called back for an inspection, so Peter ended up on a couple of public buses, and basically made it back in time for us to turn around and head out to the airport. Of course, the highlight this week has been having them on board. We spent the first night at the marina and went out for dinner. We left around noon the next day and had a great sail over to Musket Cove.

Shopping at the market in Nadi

We have spent the past three nights here, a little longer than planned, but there were high wind warnings and Kylie isn’t the most comfortable sailor. It is an awesome place here though, totally catering to the visiting boats. Of course, in keeping with tradition, Calamity Kylie has an accident on Day Two getting off the dinghy and on to the boat. She sprained her “good” knee and was in quite a bit of pain. Luckily the next day, she felt better and was able to limp along on a walk on land.

Kylie and Taylor on the beach

Last night, at dusk, we went to the island bar where we made our own barbeque dinner. While we were heading over, a snake crawled across Kylie’s foot. She almost lost it in the boat as the only kind of snake that could be in the dinghy was a poisonous sea snake. She freaked out BIG TIME and almost jumped off the dinghy . We managed to get to the dinghy dock (Taylor and Peter were killing themselves laughing). Fortunately we had “tongs” in our bag for our barbeque, so Peter was able to track it down as it slithered underneath the canvas cover and then he threw it back to the sea. Once back on the boat, we had a humungous flying cockroach in the cabin. We have never seen one before and wasn’t able to catch it…so Kylie had a sleepless night between that and her pained leg. Hopefully the rest of the trip for them will be a little less adventurous.

Out for a “limp” with Kylie

Yesterday, I went for my 50th scuba dive with Peter and Taylor. How cool is that to be able to dive with my future son-in-law. We did a pinnacle dive which meant diving down 75 feet and then swimming through the bottom of the pinnacle and then we ascended by circling the inside of the pinnacle. There were literally thousands of fish and we felt like we were swimming in a very crowded aquarium. So much fun. While we were diving, Kylie had a massage, and then as mentioned earlier we all went for dinner to the bar where Taylor made us a great steak dinner, Aussie-style.

Dad supervising Taylor making us a wonderful steak dinner

We are heading out shortly to other out islands. We have decided to stay at the closer islands in this group so that we can spend a couple of nights at each place and do snorkeling and hopefully kayaking if Kylie’s knee is up for it.

Dinner is served

Until next week…..enjoy the last days of July.

In memory of Barry Rimmer - Happy Trails!

2011-07-22T09:45:00.000+12:00

This week’s blog is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend, Barry Rimmer who died suddenly on Sunday in Vancouver from a heart attack.

In tribute to Barry:
We have been family friends with the Rimmers for over 20 years. We have spent many memorable weekends with them at SunDance Guest Ranch. Words cannot express how very sad we are. Barry was a legend and he touched the lives of everyone who knew and loved him. It is really remarkable that both our son Danny and Peter - two different generations - thought of him as such a close friend (as did our daughter Kylie and I). He was bigger than life and a man of real integrity and heart. He will live on in our memories as well as the four organ donor recipients that he saved the lives of. (Generous in life – generous in death – no surprise there). We now have a new angel in heaven watching over us...and you can bet he'll be kicking our ass if we don't live every day with love, humour and boundless enthusiasm as he did. He leaves behind a loving wife, Lynn and an amazing daughter Megan (Kylie's age - 23) and a huge number of friends. R.I.P. dear friend. We will miss you.
Peter & Barry spend many, many wonderful Friday nights together around “Pokey’s Post”. They were the dynamic duo and best of buddies. Sadly this was the last Friday night they shared at SunDance a few months ago in May 2011.

Needless to say, Barry’s sudden death overshadowed everything this week. Prior to this terrible news, we had a wonderful continuing visit in Jack’s Bay. We had gone out for dives again Friday and Saturday and I’m thrilled that I seem to have my buoyancy issues figured out (thanks to Scott, who is a certified dive instructor).

In between dives with Scott on Beachhouse

On Monday night, (which is Canada’s Sunday, we went out diving again with Scott in the morning. The dives were amazing – going through swim through caves, swimming with turtles, admiring the amazing White Wall, etc. I am so glad that the diving went so well. Things change in just a moment though, as we all know (but sometimes fail to appreciate).

The island church

After Danny called to say that Barry was in the hospital, I organized for some gals from the other boats in the bay to go in to church on Sunday – first time I’ve actually gone to a church and really prayed. I arranged to meet a local family who walked us to their church. It was a lovely service – all in Fijian. We had a chance to visit the local schoolhouse and to talk to many locals as we passed their homes walking to and from the church. The local family invited us in for tea and cookies, so we ended up with a wonderful day-long experience.

Adorable little 3-year old Stephanie, who came to church with us.

When we got back to the boat, Danny called with the terrible news. I had already organized with Jack to have the village put on a local dinner for the yachties that night. This is one way they can make some money off the boats coming through. We didn’t think we could still go as we were both inconsolable, but we felt committed to following through on the dinner that I set in motion.

Peter & Di with our host Chief Jack, after presenting the traditional Sevu Sevu which is given by the Captain to the Chief (shown above) This is a required custom to be welcomed on land. Upon acceptance of the gift (Kava) this is followed by a blessing for our boat and people aboard by the Chief on behalf of all the villagers. A sacred ceremony that is required on each island. (check out the rainbow in the rear of the photo shown below)

Our female hostess Eleanor wearing the Canada t-shirt we gave her.

We managed to get through this (as Barry would have wanted us to anyway) and then we decided to head out to sea for a few days of quiet reflection and to mourn Barry in our own way. We set sail before dawn and have been cruising towards the mainland ever since.

What was really bizarre is that we haven’t seen a whale since last year in Tonga. They are very rare here, however, as we were sailing out of the pass, as the sun was coming up, we saw a whale right in front of us, frolicking and breeching. I’m not sure I believe in any of this, but I really felt it was Barry’s spirit paying us a final visit in his wild and crazy way. If nothing else, it made us smile and we said our final farewell to a true friend.

Thinking of you Barry

We should arrive in our final destination tomorrow night close to Nadi airport. On the bright side, Kylie and her fiancé Taylor are arriving on Monday night for 10 days and we can’t wait.

On another bright note, our young friends (and surrogate kids) Dave and Lindsay are getting married this weekend at Silver Star. We wish we could be there to celebrate with them. Danny is in the wedding party and being a typical Bruckmann, he managed to cut his lip wide open yesterday on a screwdriver, so is sporting stitches in his lips. I’m sure Lindsay will really love that for the wedding photos. Wishing you both a life full of love, adventure and abundance in everything.

Until next week…..Consider signing up to donate your organs if you haven’t already. I’ve had two friends this year that have given the gift of life to a total of 8 people. Barry being the most recent, and our friend Cindy, late wife of Scott on Beachouse, who died in March of this year.

Barry – at his wild and craziest best! Thanks for being such a special part of our lives. Happy Trails!

Jac'k's Bay Fiji

2011-07-16T08:57:00.000+12:00

Okay, I’m in love with Fiji – maybe even more than Tonga. I’m not sure how it is possible to keep loving every place we sail to even more than the one before, but it seems to be the case.

As in each Polynesian country we’ve gone to the Saturday market brings together the community. We went early in the morning to stock up for the week.

Peter busy picking just the right produce

Later that morning, the gals from Beachhouse (Anja and Sandrine) joined me for a day long excursion by bus to the “big” city of Labasa. It was a 3 hour bus ride there and a 3 hour bus ride back. The scenery was amazing as we went up and down the hills and stopped in all the little villages in the countryside to pick up and drop off people.

At times the bus was jammed full with people and food filling the aisles. What was really funny was that Anja had to go to the bathroom REALLY badly (the bumpy roads and lack of shocks didn’t help any) and so when we stopped to drop off a passenger she asked the bus driver if she could run in to the woods. She ended up in a mud bog, lost one sandal temporarily and got covered in mud up to her knees. Fortunately a very nice young man helped her outside the bus by pouring his water bottle on her legs. I had napkins so that she could finish her clean-up. The entire bus was staring out at her and laughing like mad. I’m sure the crazy “palangi woman” made their day.

Anja making her way over everything in the aisles, to get back on the bus after her nature stop.

Sunday morning, Peter, Anja and Scott went on a hammerhead shark dive. I decided to pass because of the buoyancy issues I had in Tonga. I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of maintaining at 60 feet in water that was 1,000 feet deep with no point of reference – not yet, anyway. They actually swam around for 45 minutes without seeing ANYTHING…then they got lucky when about 20 – 30 hammerhead sharks made an appearance.

As I had a wonderful day to myself, I went walking to find a church. I don’t really have a plan when I do this, I simply walk for a couple of hours until it is church time and then I wander in to one. The one I found was at the top of the hill, deep in the woods. It looked just perfect, and the little sign said “Everyone welcome – English service”. I was a little early for the service so I sat under a tree outside and the pastor came out and welcomed me personally. He explained that they have a prayer session first then the service, but I was welcome to come in and join everything. Always ready to step outside my comfort zone, I followed him in, but was totally unprepared for this “hell and brimstone” type of church. It was a humble church filled with the local villagers, many of whom offered their prayers peppered with “Hallelujah Jesus”, “Praise be to God”, etc.

A different kind of church

On the plus side, they had an amazing full band with three women that were belting it out like a southern Baptist church and I was truly mesmerized by the music. I’ve never heard anything like that up close and personal. On the flip side, I not only heard one sermon, but another by a visiting evangelist who ran up and down on the stage, full of enthusiasm and the “power of the lord speaking through him”. The two pastors then proceeded to do a “hands-on healing” with an old lady, complete with all the screaming and moaning.

I really felt like I was in the twilight zone, but the real kicker came when the pastor moved me to the front row and then called me up to the pulpit. Can you believe it??? He said “God has brought sister Diana, all the way from Canada to bear witness with all of us….come on Sister Diana speak to the good people here and bring the word of God”. Somehow I made it up the stairs to the pulpit and felt like a total fraud. I somehow managed to speak about their lovely country and their wonderful people and may God keep them all safe…blah,blah,blah. At the end of this ordeal, they all stood up and raised their hands, clapped and did a lot more “thank you sister”, “praise be to God”, etc., etc. Finally after two hours we all started leaving the church, where I was hugged and praised by each and every one of the congregation. I did manage to pass on the kind offer of lunch with the church family. Certainly something for the old memory bank.

Kids on the way to school.

On Tuesday morning, we set sail at the crack of dawn (buddy boating with Beachhouse) for a 9 hour motor boat bash against the wind and waves to an amazing bay that I call Jack’s bay. The bay is surrounded by a little village, well-tucked in to the trees and hills so you can only see a couple of homes. This village has no roads, no power or anything. The kids go to school each morning at 7:30 via boat right past QuickStar. I’ll talk more about this magical place next week after I’ve been to the church, the school, gone on a hike with Jack’s wife, etc.

Jack, his niece Eleanor and great-niece Stephanie, who they call the rose of the bay. Eleanor came to our boat to do some sewing for us. One of the few ways the locals can make some money here.

The main reason for coming here was the world-renowned diving. The local head honcho is Jack who is considered the chief of the yachties. He will come along on your boat and take you to the dive sites where he will keep an eye on things on your boat and on your bubbles. He only charges the equivalent of $5 Canadian for each person. We went out for two days with Scott (hence the reason I didn’t get the blog done yesterday). It was awesome, as Anja is a dive master, Peter has years of diving experience and Scott is an instructor. Plus, of course, Scott has all the gear and a compressor on board.

Let’s go diving

I learned a lot and experienced my first ever heavy current dive. When we were ascending the current was ripping through at about 4 knots against us, so for the 3 minute 15 foot safety stop we were hanging on for dear life to the anchor chain. When we were ready to get on the boat, we switched from the anchor line to a floating line that Scott had secured to the bow of the boat and then all we did was hold loosely to that and we literally were “shot” to the back of the boat. It was like a ride at Disneyland. Anyway, I now have a few more dives under my belt, all successful, all challenging but comfortable. I actually got to enjoy seeing the thousands of fish, the colourful coral, small sharks and my all-time favourite – a couple of turtles.

QuickStar in Jack’s Bay with our dinghy on Beachhouse’s mooring while we were out diving.

Sorry this blog is so long – but we had a packed full week including a Skype video call with Oma and Opa – which was their first time ever. Technology is wonderful! Drop me an email when you get a chance…we want to hear what you are up to and how the summer is going for you.

Until next week…..counting down the days until Taylor and Kylie get here…only 9 more sleeps!!!!!

P.S. This blog is dedicated to the memory of Trisha Carlson who died in a car accident July 11, 2010 in her early fifties and to Diane Andersen who should have turned 55 on July 12th but was taken by cancer at 50 years old. Also to my late Father who has been gone for almost 10 years whose birthday was July 11th. R.I.P.

Beachouse here at Jack’s Bay under the full moon last night ending a 10/10 week.

We've arrived in Fiji!

2011-07-08T17:01:00.000+12:00

Bula from Fiji!

As mentioned in my crossing blog, the last day in Tonga was bittersweet. We really loved it there and with all the time I spent on my own I got to know lots of the people. The final day saying goodbye was really tough. Each time I went to say goodbye, they insisted on giving me a gift. Anja was with me so was able to get pictures – not that I would forget any of them anyway.

My favourite market lady was Mary, who I asked to make me a special salt and pepper holder. The great thing is that she made up a whole bunch and was selling them like hotcakes, especially after I bought a salt and pepper shaker and set it up for her in one of the baskets so that people could see what they were used for. (Yes, I love marketing!)

I’m holding Mary’s newest “hot” item – a salt and pepper basket holder (on the right)

We celebrated Canada’s Day one day early because we knew we would be at sea. Had a lovely Chinese themed dinner at the Aquarium, with our hosts Lori and Mike – who have been fabulous to us and our boat while it moored here over the winter.

Crazy Canucks with Lori and Mike - hosts "extra-ordinaire"

The good thing about the long delay getting checked out from Tonga was that we were able to participate in the weekly race again and even managed to move up a spot.

Just check out that there are some boats behind us!

After the race we celebrated with Mike and Lori again and their gang at the Aquarium Cafe. They even picked up the tab, which was much appreciated, but not necessary.

Peter saying his final farewells at the Aquarium Café.

We are now safe and sound in Fiji after a four-day crossing (you can see the day to day sailing log below). We even managed to fly the gennaker on the first day but then the wind turned against us so we motored and beat in to the weather and the winds for the next three days.

Flying the gennaker

It was wonderful having Anja aboard. She was a great sailor and a good companion. On our final day we enjoyed a celebration dinner while we were waiting to come in to the harbor.

Well-done team!

We motored in to Savu Savu, a northern Fiji island just after sunset.

We had been in touch with Scott on BeachHouse all season and during this crossing. He came out to meet us in his dinghy to guide our way in the dark to the mooring ball. It was wonderful to reconnect with him and meet his crew member Sandrine. We spent a lovely evening with them all the next night on BeachHouse, but I must admit it was hard for me, since my dear friend Cindy (Scott's late wife) is no longer with us. I also picked up a bit of an infection on the crossing, so I had that as a valid excuse to go home early and cherish my “Cindy” memories by myself.

Scott and Peter doing dinghy errands

For the last couple of days we have gotten organized for our Fiji stay and done some boat repairs, maintenance, etc. I'm also recovering well from my infection, so should be back to normal in a day or two.

We are thrilled with the low prices of everything here. For a new battery, it was only $85 Canadian – fuel is 70 cents a litre and food prices are approximately half what they are in Canada.

Today, Anja transferred to Scott’s boat Beachhouse where she will become another crew member. She says that she feels so very lucky to have met us and then connected with Scott, because he has all the scuba gear on board, including a compressor, so she will be able to do lots of diving and will also learn lots regarding sailing a larger boat and maintenance, as her dream is to one day have a boat of her own. I’m sure it will work out really well for everyone. Anja couldn’t stop “thanking me” for letting her catch a ride with us here and then hooking her up with Scott – but I did remind her that she “saved” me when we went scuba diving – so I think I actually got the better end of the deal. We both feel lucky that we have all become friends (and also got to sample her awesome German style pancakes).

Saying goodbye to Anja as she transfers to BeachHouse (with Scott and Sandrine)

We will be with them “buddy boating” for the next 10 days or so, doing lots of diving and exploring the northern anchorages.

Until next Friday…Happy Birthday to my older sister Dorothy. Make it a great day!

Day Four - Fiji bound

2011-07-05T08:20:00.000+12:00

Hooray...we are in Fiji waters. We've had a rough crossing, however, last night the wind goddess was in our favour as she turned the winds to a more favourable south west (instead of just west which was dead on our nose). It rained quite a bit last night, but there was enough wind to carry our sails (reefed). When I got up for the 4:00 a.m. shift the wind had died and the rain had subsisted. I did a 4-hour shift hand-steering in the pitch black. A little disorientating, but I came to trust the instruments.

Peter didn't get much sleep as he was on high alert for a reef in the middle of our path. Once we passed it just before I came on shift, he was able to rest easy and get some shut-eye.

If all goes well, we should have a calm day of motoring, under totally overcast skies. It might well rain, but we are only 10 hours from our destination, so even if it does our spirits will remain high.

Our very good friend Scott (from Beachouse) is currently in Sava Sava and we will hail him when we arrive, since it will be after dark. He will assist us coming in through the reef and he has already arranged for us to have a mooring ball, so that prevents us from having to stay offshore floating around for the night.

Anja has been a wonderful addition and it has been great getting to know her and learn about all her many travels around the world. We will all go diving together once we get organized in Fiji.

Thanks for following along with us on this crossing. I'll next update the blog, as always, commencing again this Friday.
Until then....enjoy the beginning of the summer months - laugh, play and build sandcastles.

Day Three

2011-07-04T07:58:00.000+12:00

This will be short and sweet as the conditions are very bumpy and uncomfortable to be below. We made it through the night with just a little excitement when our wind vane broke. Peter managed to fix it hanging off the swim platform, but it took 25 minutes in the pitch dark.

We are currently not in a good position. We only managed less than 4 knots all night...with the motor going. Puts us in to the dangerous reef-laden Lau group AFTER dark tonight. We will maintain an increased vigilance as we draw near to the island group. We are not able to stop there as it is not an official check in point - plus we can't enter it for an anchorage after dark.

We have about 3 metre swells with wind currently 20- 25 knots North West - the Fiji weather report which we just downloaded is showing thunder storms ahead and a change to West winds...which will be dead on the nose. So it may take us two more nights to get there of beating in to the waves and weather.

Should be an interesting 24 hours. Stay tuned tomorrow.

Day Two

2011-07-03T07:38:00.000+12:00

I'm just about finished my 4:00 - 8:00 a.m. shift. No real sunrise this morning as it is 95% overcast. The wind was strong yesterday during the day (up to 25 knots), but at about 1:00 this morning it died off. We started motorsailing just after 4:00. The night watches were totally black, with the cloud cover eliminating any light from the stars or the moon.
We have covered about 100 miles with 300ish left to go. The weather is expected to continue with heavy rain and unpredictable winds.

Anja has proven to be a valuable crew member. We were able to fly the jenneker with her assistance all day yesterday. It also sure helps to have someone else to share the three night watches with, although Peter was up most of the night adjusting sails. We are happy that we put up all the waterproof screens around the cockpit, however, the roof of the bimini is no longer waterproof, so we got a little drenching there.
We haven't seen any boats or wildlife, except for a breeching Hump Back whale just as we left the sheltered islands of Tonga. I, of course, took this as a farewell sign. Peter is just about to go on the Ham radio for another weather update and to say hello.
Until tomorrow....cherish your weekend.

Day One - Tonga to Fiji

2011-07-02T05:58:00.000+12:00

6:00 - Saturday, July 2nd
(Happy Canada Day today to our Canadian family and Friends)

Just a quick update...we didn't leave the harbour yesterday as it took all day to clear customs, immigration, get fuel, etc.

Our new crew member Anja did not have her clearance papers on her. It was the responsibility of her Captain (the Captain from the boat she sailed in on) to turn in her release papers, so that we could take responsibility for her to Fiji. We managed to track him down and get him to customs. Long story short, we got it all worked out, but not until close to 4:00.

We then decided to enter the Friday night race so had Mike and Inky join us with Anja as well. It was a fun race, lots of wind and we managed to move up a position from last week. Not bad with a rookie crew.

It was sad to go around yesterday and say goodbye to everyone. The locals are so
unbelievably generous that they kept giving me gifts of food and weaved goods. For our final night Mike and Lori hosted our group at the Aquarium for dinner, drinks and lots of tequila shots! I almost cried when we said our final farewells. It was just like leaving home. Just love it here and will be back for sure!

In the race, Anja was excellent, so I feel so much more secure on this crossing with the three of us, instead of just the two of us. I think I already mentioned she is both a dive master and a sailing instructor. She is a little worried about sea sickness because on her dreadful crossing over she was sick for the whole 15 days. We'll see how it goes, but both of us have already started with our medication because the seas are moderate to rough, with high swells.

I will update this blog each morning, assuming we are able to get a Ham connection.

Take care and enjoy a wonderful Canada Day long weekend.
Peter, Diana and Anja

Farewell to Tonga...we will miss everyone.

2011-06-30T17:05:00.000+12:00

This is our last day in Tonga, and we are very sad to leave. We have just loved it here. Peter says it is as if I’ve already moved in since I’m able to greet a lot of people by name and they do the same with me. It is truly a magical place!

A water baby!

I’m doing this blog update a day early, since we will be leaving in the morning (on Canada Day in this neck of the woods). We will spend one night at a remote anchorage after checking out, taking on fuel, doing final provisioning, etc. The good news is we have picked up a crew member for this 4 – 5 day crossing, which is reputed to be the most dangerous in the South Pacific. This is because of the multitude of uncharted reefs. Hopefully we won’t be discovering any brand new ones.

Our new crew member is named Anja – she is a German national (about 40) who hitch-hiked a ride over here from New Zealand. Her trip over was the crossing from hell, so we are hoping to improve on that record. I went diving with her one day and we hit it off well. She is not only a dive master , but also a sailing instructor. I can’t wait to learn a few things from her, since Peter isn’t exactly the best kind of teacher for me. Something about not learning from your spouse!

Kids at the feast learning to dance from the sidelines – magical smiles

Last week we had good intentions to spend our final week out at the gorgeous anchorages and do some diving, however, we had a huge storm, so had to come back to the safe harbor. It was fun though to declare a “snow day” where we tucked in and hunkered down for the day while the driving rain and 40 knot winds kept us below. Luckily we didn’t have any problems, but there was quite a bit of damage including the dinghy dock and boats having their anchor drag and moorings breaking loose in the middle of the night.

The boys are equally as photogenic

We entered QuickStar In the Friday harbour race, but unfortunately we missed the start (miscommunication – so Captain Joe don’t let him forget this okay?) so we managed to come across the line with only one other boat behind us. We had Mike (the owner of the moorings here) and a young fellow cruiser join us as crew. It was humbling for Peter, but we had a good time regardless of the finish.

The race crew (notice the one boat behind us)

The highlight on the two days that we were able to be out in the anchorages was having a very traditional Tongan feast. We ate everything with our hands and sampled the real food of the Island (as opposed to the tourist restaurants who cater to a North American appetite).

Peter & I at the Feast

It was delightful, especially the kids who love having their photos taken and love to have the “palangis” play with them.

Hanging out in the bushes

The best thing that has happened this week, happened earlier today. Taylor, Kylie’s fiance got his two year working Visa to come to Canada. YAHOOOOOOO! They have already booked their flights back to Vancouver to come via Fiji for 10 days to stay on QuickStar on July 25th. Lucky, lucky us!

So tonight we will have our final night here in Tonga and are celebrating Canada Day early with friends.

I will update the blog each day while we are out at sea, starting on Saturday from our Ham radio, so if you want to join us for our blue water crossing, we invite you to come along for the virtual ride. Here’s hoping we have smooth seas and following winds.

Until next time….Have a wonderful Canada Day weekend. Celebrate with friends and family!

The table at the feast before we all descended on it.

Peter is back - I'm captain, no more!

2011-06-24T10:49:00.000+12:00

After my day of diving last week, I went out with the owners of Aquarium Café, their employees and about 30 children to the circus. This circus was brought in from Samoa, and was the first time ever that most of the Tongans had ever seen a circus. It was a bit hokey; more of a magical show and acrobatic demonstration, but everyone loved it. The highlight was watching the kids eating cotton candy – something they had never had before.

Ymmmmm - lots of sticky fingers

On Saturday morning I volunteered for my final time at the Library Club, as the kids are now on school holidays. It was very sad to say goodbye to the kids that I’ve read with and come to know so well this past month.

Very keen students, especially for a Saturday morning.

Of course, the high point of this week was having Peter return to QuickStar on Tuesday. After a gruelling 36 hour trip that started in Nanaimo with a car, ferry, another car, the SeaBus, the SkyTrain to Vancouver airport, then 4 flights to get here - ending with us picking him up at the airport. He slept for 12 straight hours but was back to normal the very next day, when we went out for a lovely “Welcome Back” dinner. It was nice to have my first gin and tonic and a glass of wine since Peter left.

Fresh lobster

We had hoped to go diving with Two If By Sea, but they have had a bit of a glitch with their license that hopefully will be resolved by next week, so we can dive for two days before we start heading to Fiji on Friday. We have friends joining us to help crew for the friendly race tonight in the harbor. Peter is still in “race” mode after they finished 5th in their division for the Van Isle 360. He said he loved it – very challenging both physically and mentally and he had a wonderful time with the guys (and all the support crew).

Tomorrow we will be sailing out to the outer islands, hopefully seeing a humpback whale, as they are starting to arrive, and going to a Tongan feast. We will be making the most of our final week here in Tonga, which has been our favourite destination to date (yes, I know I say that about all the countries we've been so grateful to have visited!)

If you need to get in touch with us, we will be checking our Ham radio email daily. Just remember no attachments or graphics, please. VA7UOC@winlink.org

Until next week….Put a smile on your servers face…next time you order a drink ask for diet water!

3 more sleeps till Peter comes back

2011-06-18T07:23:00.000+12:00

Even here in Tonga, the top story this week for Canadians was the Stanley Cup Playoff. I listened to the games from an internet café, and although the outcome wasn’t what we were all hoping for – the Canucks did make it to the 7th game and gave us a great season. I was more disappointed with the “playing” of the fans after the defeat than the actual defeat itself. Doesn’t paint a very good picture of Vancouver with our demonstrated lack of good sportsmanship.

Faithful one-eyed Panda cheering on the Canucks to the end (thanks Ashley for sending this photo from Kamloops).

Well I’m still dinghy-less for this week, but managing fine with the kayak. I’ve figured out how to get in and out on the decrepit dock, although it isn’t graceful! The primer is definitely gone, so luckily I was able to email Peter and he is bringing a replacement part back from Canada. Apart from that, the only other hitch was with the watermaker. As mentioned last week, I had been given detailed instructions on how to run fresh water through it at least once while Peter was gone to keep the membranes moist, etc. True to form, I didn’t pay enough attention and so since I couldn’t reach Peter who was at this point racing on the outside of Vancouver Island, I did what I thought should be done.

When Peter arrived in Ucelet he responded to me with this email: “As far as the watermaker is concerned you need to do what I am about to tell you as soon as possible. Do NOT touch the actual water maker controls, all you need to do is open the valve beside my toolbox with the red handle 90 degrees for 3 minutes the generator should NOT be running. You will hear the fresh water pump come on, this is normal - you are flushing the salt water out of the system. After about 3 minutes close the valve and you are done. PLEASE do this ASAP as you have put salt water in the system when you started the Water maker. Again no need to touch any of the controls. I will e-mail more later and hopefully we can Skype later.” So, I didn’t win any brownie points for this one!

Another beautiful rainbow in the bay

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that there were 25 boats here from New Zealand. They are heading to Fiji for their next leg, so they had their big send off dinner at the Mango with a band, dancing and entertainment. I had a lovely dinner out with friends and enjoyed an excellent lobster dinner (for only $20.00).

Lobster dinner

All week, new boats have been arriving from New Zealand and they have been badly beaten up. A normal transit time might be anywhere between 7 – 10 days. The average for the boats arriving has been 17 days of brutal conditions – 30 – 60 knots winds, right on the nose with swells of 18 feet! One boat had to sit out in the middle of the pounding storm for two days with their sea anchor out until it finally shredded and they had to continue. Lots of war stories being compared.

Had another great Saturday morning reading to the kids at the library. It just amazes me how keen they are to learn. They really enjoy asking “palangi’s” questions and interacting. A Palangi is a term for white person. Unlike, the negative term Gringo in Mexico, a Palangi is a respectful title and we are very well received here.

The “classroom” at the library.

One of my favourite days here is Sunday, because everything closes down. It reminds me of when everyone used to get the day off in Canada, although that seems like a million years ago. I just really like the difference where people aren’t just shopping and rushing around just like every other day of the week. Here, everyone puts on their Sunday best and meets their friends and neighbours in church and then they all go to a big family get together for a lunch and an afternoon of visiting. Call me old-fashioned, but I think if we still had some lazy Sundays and Sunday night dinners together, a lot of people would feel more connected and less lonely, even though they may have a zillion friends on Facebook.

I walked to another village about 1.5 away and went to church there. I get there early to chat with the locals and stay afterwards to talk with them. That’s where you really learn about the culture. I also met lots of the dancers from the Mango dinner and many of the women from the market, so it was nice to chat with them in a casual environment. I had my couple of bottles of water so I kept walking in the country for a couple of hours until I reached the Tongan Beach Resort. Met up with an old friend from last year who runs a business (every day except Sunday) and we spent 5 hours just gabbing away. Kathy kept wanting me to have a beer with her, but I’m taking a break from drinking while Peter is gone. She was too funny. She kept saying “who says you can’t drink” and I said “I just decided not to while he was gone”. She said “well decide you can”. I held firm though and we had a delightful afternoon just talking as women love to do.

I lost track of the time though and when she dropped me off at her house, I still had another hour to walk home. She kept insisting on driving me all the way, but I was a little concerned with her having 6 beers and going in to town. I did forget though how quickly it gets dark and found myself in the middle of nowhere in the pitch back with the sound of the bats getting louder and louder and the prospect of feral dogs a little daunting. I increased my pace and kept moving. Luckily a taxi driver appeared out of nowhere (The Secret at work?) so I got back to the marina bar safe and sound.

Shrimp in the bay

Yesterday, the reason I wasn’t able to blog on my regular day was that I went diving – haven’t been since last September and have never gone on a dive without Peter. Went to two other divers onboard Two if by Sea – a large catermaran run by a wonderful European couple. Very comfortable digs! The first dive was to Shark’s Tooth which is a cave that you have to swim in to from about 40 feet below surface. I had trouble with my buoyancy and didn’t have enough weight. I also started bleeding from my nose, so had to end the dive after we explored the cave and the wall dive outside of it. I was determined to go for the second dive as I though it important to get back on the horse. I had more weight added, but it still wasn’t enough. We did a nice dive in the coral garden but I was fighting to stay down the whole time and had more difficulties with my ears and once again started bleeding so I had to end the dive early. I was disappointed with myself to say the least.

Afterwards when we were reviewing it, we figured out that their weights were in pounds and I was used to diving with kilo’s so I had less than half the weight I needed. That made me feel better. Also, the good thing about it was that I didn’t panic and remained calm, even when I had to have one master diver hold my hand and the other instructor swim right on top of me to keep me from just flying up to the surface. I’ll make the necessary adjustments on the next dive – which will be with Peter when he gets back.

Lunch onboard the dive boat

I’ve been following Peter and gang in the Van Isle race. They’ve certainly had their adventures with collisions at the start, false starts, a grounding, a de-masting, a boat hitting a whale and destroying their rudder and wind hard on the nose for most of the 2 week race. The worst leg was from Winter Harbour to Ucelet which had very rough, cold conditions. Peter says he got about ½ hour sleep in 36 hours. One of their crew members got sea sick (more than half the whole fleet was incapacitated by sea-sickness) and another got hyperthermia. Peter was glad to have two nights in a hotel between legs to catch up on sleep, warm up and get laundry done. He has had a good time visiting with friends along the way, and is currently in Victoria with old friends Shorry and Kim. He has begun the last leg this morning to Nanaimo. He arrives on Sunday morning, takes the ferry to Vancouver and then flies back here that night arriving two days later…Only 3 sleeps till my man comes home to QuickStar. I’ve really enjoyed my time alone, but have really missed him too – so will be nice to have him back.

Until next week…..Have yourself a magical Sunday – perhaps a picnic or a walk in the woods with family and friends.

Band at the Mango

3rd Week all on my own!

2011-06-17T16:17:00.000+12:00

Hi...just a quick note to let you know that I won't have a chance to write this post today...was out diving all day - now heading to the Samoan Circus for the evening with a group of about 25 kids. Hopefully, I'll be able to post tomorrow morning before I head over to read with the Saturday Library Club...otherwise later tomorrow afternoon.
Cheers....

Week Two of independence in Tonga

2011-06-10T13:35:00.000+12:00

Okay, so truth be told – Week Two being on QuickStar on my own wasn’t quite as ducky as my first week of independence. Listening to the Canucks get blown out twice for sure wasn’t a highlight, but I remain optimistic that they will bring home the cup! The week started off with a massive storm that kept me on lock down for over two days. It rained to beat the band – I have NEVER seen rain like this before. I had to bail out the dinghy at least 3 times each day (in a torrential downpour), and each time it was almost overflowing. The good news is I got lots of inside projects done and lots of Spanish lessons completed.

QuickStar dinghy almost overflowing

The wind was gusting up to 42 knots, which kept me on alert most of the two nights, to keep an eye on things – after all I have the privilege of being the Captain for a short time. It was very sweet of some of the boaters and Aquarium Cafe here who would check in with me periodically on the radio. One of the boats in the harbor had their dinghy come loose and it took them two days to locate it on the rocks on the other side of the bay. Our friends on Two If By Sea were out at an anchorage and they said it was the worst night they’ve ever spent in 10 years! They also had their two body boards ripped off from their deck – not to be found.
So I was quite proud of myself for managing during these conditions, and when it ended, I had a fabulous SKYPE video call with Danny, Ashley and Addison (I won’t gush on about how adorable, smart and wonderful Addy is). Anyway, Danny who is a chip off his Dad’s block (we actually call them Chip and Block) said “Mom, be sure to ask if you need help”. Cute, isn’t it when your kids worry about you!

Anyway, ironically the next morning my dinghy engine wouldn’t start. I very reluctantly flagged down Stu from Two if By Sea and he had quite a bit of trouble with it. We figured it was waterlogged from the storm, so he told me to wait 10 minutes. We ended up chatting for that long and when he tried it again it worked, so I was back in business. That was short-lived though and when I tried to start it yesterday morning, it again refused to come to life. Stu was out diving and the other fellow from the Aquarium who keeps checking on me was busy in the village getting the pig roasted for the Feast last night…so I was somewhat stranded. I did take the kayak out for a paddle and checked out the docks to see if I could maneuver them, but they are in such bad repair and high up from the waterline that I would have fallen out while trying to get out. I had to pass on the feast – but it turned out okay because the sky opened up and we had a huge thunderstorm and copious amounts of rain.

While I was out kayaking, I took photos of “Vertigo” – a mega-yacht that is anchored in the bay. It is reputedly the largest sailing yacht ever built in the Southern Hemisphere. It is on its maiden voyage, so it is in pristine shape. I took lots of photos for both Peter and Halldo (who I’m sure will Google it just as you did all the mega-yachts in the Galapagos).

Vertigo in all her glory

One of the responsibilities Peter left me with was turning on the water maker once during his absence (we have all the tanks full, so I don’t need to make water, however, the system has to run every 14 days or else you need to pickle it). Anyway, he showed me how to do it and it was so simple I didn’t pay enough attention. I so wanted to do this 3 ½ weeks without having to ask him anything, but I did send an email just to make sure I was doing it okay. I didn’t get an answer as he is in the VanIsle 360 race (which has been VERY exciting to follow each day – in the race there has been a grounding, a collision at the start, a demasting, a protest, two false starts one day, etc. You can follow it on www.vanisle360.com). So, I decided I better give it a try on my own, so I turned on something and it seems to have worked. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I didn’t wreck anything. I did manage to defrost the freezer without any apparent damage – although I’m not quite sure why the pipe is frozen under the sink in the head – maybe I just never noticed it before…let’s hope.

I did get some great news this week…my nephew Allan and his wife Kathy are expecting a sibling for Grayson in December. My brother-in-law Joe got out of the hospital and is back at home and on the mend. And lastly, I got signed with a book distributor for my book. This means that the book will be available not just online (and through me directly) but also in libraries and bookstores. The major book chains will be a tough nut to crack, but one step at a time.

On Saturday, I wandered through the local flea market. It was interesting to see live lobsters hung from the stalls…some of them had to have a pen put in their claws, since they were aggressive with some of the passer-bys (no wonder!)

Live lobster for sale at the flea market

I had a great experience at the local library. On Saturday mornings they have an active reading group for kids to practice their English skills. I was able to volunteer as a reader and I couldn’t believe how enthusiastic the kids were and eager to learn. This was a Saturday after all! Anyway, I’ll be able to do this for the next few weeks and I went on the radio this morning during the morning net to encourage others to come out, so hopefully there will be lots of helpers tomorrow.

Some of the enthusiastic students hamming it up!

The weather is now back to being sunny and clear so hopefully I’ll be able to sleep in the hammock more this week.

QuickStar under a brilliant rainbow with the hammock calling

P.S. I read a great book – perfect for summer reading – Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

Until next week….carpe diem xoxoxo

A week all to myself!

2011-06-03T17:19:00.000+12:00

Peter left almost a week ago and I’m pleased to report that I’m still alive and the boat remains in one piece. I must admit mastering the dinghy has been a bit challenging, but I’m slowly getting more comfortable with it. I’ve even come home in the dark and managed to find the boat and make an oh, so graceful, landing. I do, of course, miss Peter, but I must admit that I am loving my independence.

Dinner out the night before Peter left for Vancouver

I’ve had a very productive week – getting lots of projects finished up and spending a lot of time on the marketing of my book and communicating with my publicist. The highlight of the week has been sleeping in the hammock on deck each night. It is dark between 6:30 and 6:30, so I’ve gotten in the habit of retiring in the hammock after dinner and reading until well after the stars have come out in all their glory. Peter found the neatest reading glasses for me before we left home that have lights on either side of them and they work like jim dandy!

As the sun rises, I do about an hour of Yoga on the deck and then have been faithfully doing my Spanish lessons. For daily exercise I either go for a long walk or paddle the kayak around the bay. After lunch I head over to shore to the internet café to get some more work done and to visit with the other cruisers. Yesterday, it was just pouring rain, but I was determined to go ashore to listen to the Canucks game on Radio Team 1040 via the internet. I was drenched by the time I got there, but it sure was worth it and what a finish! Go Canucks Go!!!

Afterwards, when I got back in the dinghy there was so much rain that I had to roll up my Capri pants to get in and bale for well over 15 minutes. It truly was a deluge. We are expecting more unsettled weather for the next 4 or 5 days, so it will just give me a chance to get more done, but will likely force me to sleep below decks. We did have another small earthquake this morning, but didn’t even feel it.

Local family walking home from church

Last Sunday, I walked about 45 minutes to the Church of Tonga and was once again the only non-Tongan. It was totally different than the other churches here – more staid and conservative – but the singing was still wonderful. What was very interesting is that all the girls sit on one side and all the boys sit on the other – right at the front. About two rows back, the local matriarch keeps an eagle eye on them and almost every 5 minutes she got up, went over and smacked someone and shook her finger at others for either falling asleep, goofing around or not paying attention. By the end of the service, I’m convinced that she managed to smack each girl and boy at least once. It is interesting that raising children here is very much a village activity and there is always one “head matriarch”.

Following the service, I walked home with Mari & her baby Beni and we had a great conversation. (Made missing my precious grandmunchkin Addison even harder). The Tongans are very literate and most of them welcome any opportunity to practice their English.

Mari & baby Beni – my companions for the walk home from church

Today I spent a wonderful day meandering through the Village and visiting with the locals. I even got a lesson on how to cut up a pineapple properly as I mentioned that I seem to waste too much the way I do it. I learned lots more of the history and tradition here, as the Tongans love to share their heritage and are very open to talking with visitors. Peter would have gone stir crazy, but for me it was a magical day! Just to give you an idea of prices here:

A morning at the outdoor market (prices given in equivalent Canadian dollars)

Large Pineapple $4.00
Large bundle of long beans $1.50
Coconut $.50 cents
Watermelons $.50 cents
3 cucumbers $1.50
5 small tomatoes $1.50
Homemade brown bread $4.00
Small bunch of carrots $1.50
Small bunch of bananas $1,50
Papaya $2.00
Bag of roasted peanuts $1.50
Cabbage $3.00

Everything bought at the outdoor market is fresh from the farm and comes straight from the source. The cabbage is delicious, but full of bugs, so when I cut it up (for coleslaw) it took about an hour just to make sure all the bugs, slugs and earwigs were all removed. My city-mouse girlfriend Lesly will be cringing as she reads this while my country-mouse girlfriend Krys will be saying “how great to be living in a developing country and enjoying all the local flavour”.

Arriving this week were 25 boats from New Zealand in a rally organized by the Island Cruising Association. They all sailed over together for safety in numbers on that notoriously dangerous stretch of water and then from here they stay in smaller groups or go their own way. They will travel onward to Fiji and then return as a group back to New Zealand before the hurricane season arrives. It’s been nice getting to know some of them as they drop by to say hello via dinghy or in the case of Kira and John via their stand-up surfboards. These are very impressive – but more so because they are actually “blow-up” models and can be stored in a knapsack. Kira has offered for me to give it a go, so I may just take her up on it. Everyone has been wonderful about inviting me to join them, because they think I must be lonely, but in fact I am so treasuring my solitude that I’ve politely declined to be more sociable.

Kira and John on their stand-up surfboards

I’ve got to give Peter heck though about his oversight during his many instructions and warnings that he left me with. Although he outlined almost every possible situation that could go wrong, he failed to mention what to do with a problem that two of the cruisers had yesterday. In this harbor there is a huge jelly fish population and it turns out that these two cruisers had their generators shut down instantly – the cause being jellyfish! Actually in fairness to Peter he did say if the generator shut down unexpectedly for any reason – just turn it off and thereafter use the engine for charging the batteries. So, we’ll see if over these three weeks I encounter a jelly fish clog-up.

The weekly Friday evening sailboat race is just about to commence, so I’ll say farewell so that I can go ashore and cheer on the racers and I’ll upload this to the blog while I’m there.

Until next week – just three more wins and the Canucks capture the Stanley Cup!
P.S. Peter begins the Van Isle 360 race on Saturday morning at 10:00. If you want to follow how they are doing check out www.vanisle360.com. Good luck to Joe and crew!

Malo from Tonga

2011-05-27T16:04:00.000+12:00

I’ve been asked frequently about the weather in Tonga, so here it is. It is around 27 degrees and humid – very pleasant with light trade winds. It has been unsettled with a fair amount of cloud cover and occasional rain – plus an earthquake (4.5) a few nights ago. The great thing about rain though is the incredible rainbows that follow.

The best part of a rainshower

We have been hearing that the weather in B.C. has been quite wet, with a good friend saying she will build an arc any day now. Of course, I’m sure no one there is thinking of the weather anymore – with the great win the other night sending the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was so exciting for us to listen to the games over the internet via Radio 1040.

Private beach for us to explore from

Immediately after sunset (6:00 p.m.), it gets pitch black especially on a cloudy night. We were having a gin and tonic in the cockpit a couple of nights ago and the whole ocean seemed to light up. When we stood on the bow to have a closer look, it turns out that the movements of the jelly fish was causing bioluminous in the water. These are fluorescent green “lights” which are created with movement. It was amazing to see hundreds of jellyfish “lit up” surrounding the boat.

Looking out at QuickStar while on our hike

To get us back in to full island mode, Peter has participated in the Kava ritual. Kava is a local drink that looks and tastes like dirty dishwasher. It is primarily drunk by men (sometimes served by women) and with large amounts consumed it creates a buzz. A Kava ceremony is performed any time a business deal is to be concluded, a potential groom asks the bride’s father for her hand, etc., or pretty well any time that an excuse can be found.

Beginning the Kava ceremony

Partaking of the Kava

We headed out sailing to the outer islands where there are endless white beaches, azure seas and gently swaying coconut trees. All clichés, but true. My favourite part though is meeting the locals and the best way to do this is to attend their village church on Sundays. I managed to drag Peter out this past week and for 45 minutes we literally had to climb through the bush and wade through mud on a dirt track to get there. The service is an hour long, all done in Tongan, but the singing is amazing. We were the only “pale-faces” there and the bonus is we spent time talking to one of the church elders. She explained that most of the women and children that live on the island also live on the main island during the week to work and attend school– leaving behind the husbands to tend to the pigs and crops. Sounds like a pretty good system to me.

Di covered with mud on arms, legs and feet (with some new tears in the dress)

Village church

We are now back in the main harbour and re-connected with our friends from the sailing vessel Bubas who had us over for some sundowners on their cat. They left this morning for Fiji. Scott on BeachHouse had a rough 7 day trip to Fiji from New Zealand with 3.5 meter seas right on the beam – however, they are there now safe and sound, with just a few boat repairs to attend to. Oddly enough, although things do happen out at open sea, it is usually the accidents on land or while at anchor that are the most problematic. A couple on a boat here had their 84 year old parents come out for a visit. The mom fell while getting out of her berth, however, the worst for her was falling down a set of cement stairs while on land and hurting both knees, getting a huge black eye and almost cracking her head open. She is okay after being thoroughly checked out at the hospital here (and also at home once she got back). We haven’t had any accidents so far, although we are covered with bumps and bruises, which seem inevitable while maneuvering in small spaces. Doing balancing Yoga poses on a sloped deck while swinging on the mooring adds to these. I also have developed some kind of severe itch – which is mostly annoying and seems to be kept under control with anti-histamines. More drugs…just what I need.

Early dawn Yoga practice

Tomorrow I begin a new adventure as Captain Peter is flying back to Vancouver for just over three weeks. He is going to be participating in the two-week Van Isle 360 race which begins on Saturday, June 4th at 10:30 a.m. – Saturday, June 18th from Nanaimo and goes all the way around Vancouver Island. – hence the name Van Isle 360. (So - Shorry, Ian and Bob – he is heading your way). Peter will be racing on Opus, which is owned by his great buddy Joe DaPonte. Feel free to join me in following their progress on the website www.vanisle360.com.

One of the many incredible views

I am really looking forward to three glorious weeks all to myself. I thrive on solitude and am excited about sleeping outside each night in the hammock under a sky blanketed with the stars of the southern hemisphere. Peter is, of course, quite concerned about me and has been trying to teach me how to run the dinghy (since I’m on a mooring ball and not on land). The kayak is blown up and I anticipate using that mostly for transportation as I find my dyslexia causes the dinghy to go in funny directions, if I’m lucky enough to start the engine (with has a few kinks in it). Okay so being mechanically inclined is not one of my gifts!

All of you that know Peter well, will sympathize with me about the “drilling” he is giving me to ensure that I don’t blow up the boat and that I know how to turn on the water-maker, change the water tanks, run the generator (and how often, and for how long), master the VHF radio, turn on the wind generator, blah, blah, blah. I keep reminding him that I’ve been sailing on this boat for well over eight years - so I can’t help it if I start to drift off when he goes on and on. My girlfriends on the Bowen Lake canoeing circuit may well remember Peter lecturing me before we left about how to change a flat tire and then when it actually happened I did somewhat wish I had paid attention.

Day anchorage

Oh well, I’m sure everything will be fine. I’m looking forward to doing lots of writing, getting back to my daily Spanish lessons, doing my share of daily Yoga and exercise and most importantly, getting to know more of the locals. It will be blissfully peaceful!

Until next week……unless I do indeed blow up the boat....Cheer on the Canucks!

A lazy day sailing

May 19, 2011

2011-05-19T14:08:00.000+12:00

We’re Back…..in Tonga for our fifth cruising season.

Welcome back to the QuickStar blog. Thanks for dropping in!

Here’s our catch up while we’ve been on land for the past six months…We had a wonderful Fall/Winter in Canada starting off with a 6 week road trip across Canada to Ottawa and back through the States touring the National Parks. It was great to connect with so many of our friends who winter at Silver Star, but live elsewhere for the summer months. Thanks so much for your hospitality. It was also wonderful to visit with each of our siblings, in-laws and assorted nieces and nephews.

The highlight of the trip was getting back just in the nick of time to be with Danny and Ashley when they had our first granddaughter. Addison Grace was born a few weeks early, but all was well. We have had an incredible winter spoiling her rotten and volunteering to babysit anytime, anywhere. We will miss her like crazy while we are gone – thank goodness for Skype and webcams.

Adorable and brilliant Addison!

I hadn’t mentioned anything in my blogs from last season, but a great deal of my time both last season and the season prior was spent writing a book. I didn’t want to say anything, just in case I didn’t really have a book in me. However, I got “Financial Fitness for Beginners” – a 12-week training program - published this past December and was able to get a copy for Christmas to each of our kids and our nieces/nephews for whom the book was written. Since then it has taken on a life of its’ own and is selling very well.

The book is designed to be used over 12 weeks to help those who are beginning their independent life with the financial tools to keep them debt-free and in good financial shape. It is also written for those who have strayed off the path, either because they didn’t know the fundamentals of financial management or got caught up in our consumerism culture. While I had anticipated that the market would be for 20 – 40 year olds, what I hadn’t counted on were the many people my age who are buying the books for their adult children and nieces and nephews. I invite you to check out the details and book reviews on www.financialfitnessbooks.com and even buy a copy online if you feel so inclined. If you prefer you can email me directly at svquickstar@shaw.ca and I’ll arrange to have one shipped out to you. I will be working on the second book in the series this cruising season, so stay tuned.

Our daughter Kylie and her boyfriend Taylor came over from Australia for 5 weeks in December. Our whole family had Christmas at Danny and Ashley’s. It is really heartwarming to pass the torch on to the kids to host these major family gatherings. On a sadder note, in early January, just after Kylie and Taylor returned to Australia, I got the bad news that my brother-in-law was in the hospital on Walpole Island, Ontario. I flew out and spent almost a month with my sister and niece going back and forth to the hospital and arranging home care. The good news is, in addition to spending lots of quality time with my oldest sister Debbie and my niece Elizabeth, Joe got to come home and although he is diabetic and on a walker, he is home safe and sound and all is well. Once home, our grandson Kieran flew out for his annual 10 day holiday at Silver Star and we all had a blast.

Just a couple weeks after returning from Ontario, we had some tragic news. My very good cruising friend, Cindy Stolnitz, from BeachHouse lost a battle with depression and died on March 17th while in California. We drove down to L.A. for her memorial. We are still in grief over the whole situation. Hard to find a positive side to this, however, Cindy was able to successfully donate four of her organs, including her heart which went to a Canadian boy in Edmonton. Now that we are back in Tonga, which is the last time we hugged Cindy, it is sad to go in the stores, visit the cafes and go on the hikes that we did together. Her memory is really strong here and I will not forget what a kind and loving person she was. We look forward to meeting up with her husband Scott once we get to Fiji. He is currently on a crossing from New Zealand to Fiji and sending in his daily position reports to us.

Danny, Ashley (my future daughter-in-law), Peter & I at SunDance

We spent our first April in Canada for 5 years and we enjoyed doing some renos on our condo, as well as travelling in B.C. on weekends. We went to two different dude ranches, our highlight being SunDance with Danny, Ashley and Addison. We also went to the coast for Easter where Peter went in a sailboat race with Joe on his boat Opus and we had a family dinner at Donna’s, Ashley’s Mom. It was great to see our son Ryan before we headed off. One weekend in Williams Lake, we watched Danny ride bucking broncos for the last time (I just can’t do it anymore!)

33rd anniversary weekend - wearing my old anniversary dress

The final weekend of April we had a wonderful time at Sparkling Hills resort celebrating our 33rd anniversary. I still get a kick out of wearing my old anniversary dress for one dinner and my old wedding dress for another (thank goodness for Spandex!). I bought it for 19.99 so I guess that works out to about 75 cents a year. Not a bad investment.

A little old and faded...but if the shoe fits..

We took a bit of a milk run to get to Tonga as we flew to Brisbane for a week to watch Kylie graduate from Teacher’s College. We also got to spend our special day together – Kylie’s birthday and Mother’s Day. She was my best Mother’s Day present ever 23 years ago!

We were so thrilled to be with Kylie to watch her graduate from Teacher's College

As if that wasn’t enough, Taylor proposed to Kylie while out at the beach and earned many bonus points with all the well-thought out romantic details including hiding the ring in a shell, covering the walkway with rose pedals and having friends set up a champagne breakfast for all of us including Taylor’s parents. A very special day indeed and we are thrilled to welcome Taylor as our future son-in-law.

"I Do" - Mom lucky to catch this historic moment

Taylor's Mom and Dad - us, Kylie and Taylor and family friends

We were happy that QuickStar survived the cyclone season without any damage. We have spent the past couple of days setting her up again and getting provisioning. It is wonderful to be back here with bright blue skies and smoking hot days. Now that I’ve caught you up to date, my plan is to continue to update the blog each week on Fridays (North American Friday’s) so that you can drop by and visit any time over the weekend. I thank our many loyal followers and appreciate the many emails from your end keeping us in touch. We love to hear from you to help you celebrate your joys, share in your life and lend a virtual hug if needed.

We did just receive a couple of very sad emails. A very good friend of ours from Peter’s college days has been diagnosed with a brain cyst – prognosis unknown at this time. Kylie emailed to let us know that Taylor’s Grandma died instantly of an aneurism while having her morning coffee with his Grandpa and her husband of over 60 years. We were fortunate to have met them last week and are sadly reminded, yet again, that none of us will make it out of this life alive, and we can’t take any days for granted. We have the choice to live a life by design and not by default.
We will be heading out sailing tomorrow to the out islands and I look forward to reporting on life here in the Kingdom of Tonga. This may be one of the poorest nations on earth – but the amazing people are rich in love and totally prioritize the important things in their lives. We could learn a lot from them.
The next update will be coming to you Friday, May 27th and hopefully every Friday thereafter – assuming internet connections, good weather and the other myriad of details that keep the cruising life flexible and spontaneous!

Tonga at Sunset

Until then…..Go Canucks Go!!!!!!

P.S. If any of you die-hard golfers would like to be at the Masters in April, 2012, email me. My very good girlfriend and travel agency owner has organized the trip of a lifetime and you could be part of the excitement!

Last blog of the season

2010-09-16T05:43:00.000+12:00

At the Tongan feast

This blog update is coming to you from Tonga where we have spent the past four weeks.. We will be leaving tomorrow to return to Canada for a month long road trip out East and then up at Silver Star for the ski season. Bye bye palm tress, gin and tonics, cruising friends and the South Pacific.

Local dance troupe

Last week I posted from the Ham Radio and couldn’t add any photos, so there are a few more this week than normal. We met up with our friends (and rescuers from the Bora Bora reef mishap) Jan and Elle from Jenny. We went out with them for dinner and a local dance show at the Canadian-owned bar and restaurant “The Giggling Whale”.

Ellen and Jan from s/v Jenny

We’ve spent the last week out at the anchorages and enjoyed lots of hiking, beach combing and visits with other cruiser friends. The highlight was going to a charity Tonga feast put on by the Lape Island community – which consists of only seven homes, with extended families in each of them.

Di with one of the local cutie-pies

They had their wharf knocked out by the cyclone earlier this season, so they were raising funds to replace it. As mentioned last week, Canada Aid was matching 3 to 1, so they were very pleased to have raised about $1,000 at this event, which will mean $3,000 for them.

Wharf that got wiped out – that will be replaced

This was an authentic Tongan feast (as opposed to one put on for tourists) as all the families contributed food, lei’s, coconuts to drink from and the kids all danced for us. They had a Kava ceremony (which Peter loves) and a weaving demonstration. The pig was roasted by a Tongan turning it on a spit, as you can see.

Roasting the pig

The next morning we went to their church, along with other cruisers who stayed for their event. We donated a number of things to the school and took lots of photos which we put on disc for them. The school got its first computer last week, so the kids will delight in seeing photos of themselves.

Photo of the school teacher Daniel and his family after church

We enjoyed hooking up with Scott and Cindy from Beachhouse. We’ve had lots of good times together and we will miss them over the winter, but look forward to catching up with them next spring..

Peter & Cindy at the feast party

We went for our final dive of the season yesterday and it was awesome. I was a little nervous because with my last dive I had a few issues – but the good news is these last two dives went really well, so I regained my confidence. We did a number of swim through caves, saw lots of soft and hard coral and a huge moray eel hiding out in an underwater cave. We also had a treat of seeing a whale and calf on the trip back to the boat. We had to forego our planned whale-swimming trip on Sunday because of high winds and big seas, so this was a nice bonus.

Large banyan tree

As I’m typing this, Peter is busy securing the boat for our departure – fun things like changing the oil in the generator, pickling the water maker, and other necessary tasks. I’m not able to help him with much – but I was able to help packing up the sails on land. The part that my Captain wasn’t too happy about was when we brought them back on board, I accidently let the dinghy get a bit loose – and you guessed it – the dried and packed sail fell in to the water! I think everyone on mooring balls heard him swearing.

View of the anchorage from the top

It is with mixed emotions that we leave the wonderful "Friendly Islands" of Tonga. Our system of spending six months at sea and six months at Silver Star works out really well as we are always a little sad to say goodbye to QuickStar, but we are excited to be heading back to Canada. We are looking forward to getting back home to see our friends and family. We are quite excited about the pending arrival of our granddaughter in November. Also looking forward to having Kylie back home from Australia, even for just the month at Christmas, and meeting the love of her life. Ryan will be picking us up, so we get to spend some time with him. We'll be seeing Tara, Mark and Kieran in Ontario, along with Peter's parents and our friends back east.

Typical rural house on the sparsely inhabited outer islands

We fly out on Friday – spend a night and full next day in the capital city in Tonga– then fly to Fiji to L.A. and then in to Vancouver. We’ll spend about a week there – then up to Vernon to get our truck fixed and then heading out to Toronto for about a month-long road trip. We are looking forward to visiting with friends and family along the way.

Endless beaches

Thanks for following us on the blog this season as we explored French Polynesia, Niue and Tonga. We plan on coming back in April next year and heading to Australia. I’ll start updating the blog again then.

Peter & I heading out snorkeling on the reef

Until next season……have a wonderful winter and keep in touch!
Hugs … Diana and Peter xoxoxoxoxox

From the Friendly Islands

2010-09-10T07:12:00.000+12:00

Good morning. This blog update is being posted via Ham Radio - hence no photos.
We have spent the week at the outer anchorages, enjoying the different islands. The weather has not been favourable - with high winds and big seas, so we have spent more time hiking on land, than doing water activities. Scott and Cindy from Beachhouse are with us in the anchorages and on Sunday we are going out again on their boat, with a guide, to go whale swimming again. The winds are forecast to die down then.

Tomorrow night we are going to a charity Tongan feast at one of the outer island. Their goal is to raise enough funds to rebuild their wharf, which was destroyed in a cyclone. In a case of "it really is a small world", the Canadian government aid program is matching any raised funds 3 to 1.

This is our last week here in Tonga, as we fly home next Friday. We'll head back to town on Monday to get the boat ready to leave for the season. I'll do the final update next Thursday.
Until then.....have a great weekend.

2010-09-03T07:26:00.000+12:00

Peter and Di celebrating Peter's birthday

Peter’s 56th birthday week was quite a blast. For one of the celebrations we went for dinner with friends to the Giggling Whale (Canadian owned). They have great food and feature a local string band. The tradition is that the band plays until all the Kava (the local moonshine)is gone. Both the band and guests drink out of coconut shells from the communal bowl.

Drinking Kava with the band. I drink a "low-tide" serving and Peter drinks the "high-tide" size.

After closing it down, we went over to Tonga Bob’s to get a taste of the other side of Tonga where they had their famous “Fakaleiti” show – which translated is a transvestite show. The best part was when one of them dragged Peter up on stage for a dance. Gives a whole new meaning to Peter’s favourite dancing song by Shania Twain “Man, I feel like a woman”. We partied on and Peter pulled a SunDance Saturday night where he was a dancing fool. Luckily we only had to dinghy home a short distance.

Peter strutting his stuff with his girlfriend

Peter's actual birthday on Sunday was spent with Cindy and Scott onboard their catarmaran Beachhouse. We hired a local whale guide who spent the entire day with us. The day was crystal clear, with brilliant blue skies and turquoise water. We watched a Mom, her less than month old calf, and her male escort for many hours.

Topside photos:

Mom and escort

Maternal love

Playful calf

That was awesome enough, however, we found another Mom and her baby that were in a very playful mood and we were able to get in the water with them twice and swim for over an hour with them. I can’t describe how awesome it was to get so close and personal with them, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Looking for whales

Di & Cindy getting ready to go swimming with the whales

Under water shots

Our host for the day – Scott getting a good shot - his photos will be a lot more spectacular, as we are only using a little point and shoot.

sharing the water with lots of whale tonnage

swimming alongside us

We ended this birthday day with dinner onboard QuickStar with Scott and Cindy. Great friends! Definitely a birthday to remember.

The famous Swallows cave

On another night we went to a local Tongan feast, where we were joined by the Captain and crew of the French navy who were in port for the day, as well as a couple of local Tongans who very kindly invited us to come for their family lunch on Sunday – however, that was our whale-swimming day. The dance show was local children. Although it was a good show, I wasn’t comfortable with the kids as young as two dancing, and having guests paste money on their oiled skin, which they gave to their Mom’s after they were finished.

local dancers at Tongan feast

The islands within Tonga are wonderful for cruising, kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, restaurants and bar-hopping. We will be spending our final two weeks, before heading home to Canada, enjoying all of it!

Di scaring the fish away with her Austin Powers skinsuit

Until next Friday….happy birthday Caroline

Tonga - Long live the King

2010-08-27T13:04:00.000+12:00

View of church

Peter walking with ladies in traditional dress after church

We spent the weekend in the main town so that we could take in the Saturday morning market and also to go to the catholic church. We had heard that it is an experience not to be missed, and we were certainly glad we went. The church was overflowing with over 3,000 people in the pews, sitting on the floor and standing wherever they could squeeze in. The singing was incredible, and fortunately it lasted for about 45 minutes of the entire one hour service.

Church overlooking the harbour

Traditional church dress for men

Sunday is considered a “holy day” and it is written in their laws that it will be “forever holy”. This means that a Tongan is not allowed to work, go fishing, go swimming, play sports or anything other than attend church services and visit with their family. There are the odd exceptions to this and that is for those few cafes and restaurants that stay open for the tourists.

Saturday Market

This Sunday, for Peter’s birthday we are going whale-watching in a friend’s sailboat (Scott and Cindy on Beachhouse). The nice thing about the Sunday rule is that there won’t be any commercial vessels out, so if we find the humpback whales and the calves we will be swimming with them all by ourselves. What a great way to spend a birthday!

Overlooking the mooring area downtown

Tonga is a Kingdom, and the King has divine rights. All the land is owned by the King. Private citizens lease the land from him. His word is law and it is illegal to say anything negative about the royal family, so it is hard to get a feel for what the locals really think, although there is a movement towards more of a democratic representation rather than appointments. This initiative is actually coming from the King, so it is likely to succeed within the next few years.

Signs throughout the town

The country is quite patriarchal and woman don’t have too many rights. A friend of ours from another sailboat has her PhD in Biology. She and her husband went to a local Kava ceremony and Elizabeth got relegated to serving all the men. I won’t bore you with my feminist rhetoric on this.

In the morning – the full moon still blazing away

On Monday we had a lovely sail to one of the out-anchorages where we spent three nights before coming back to town to take care of some business where we needed to use the internet. We met up with Scott and Cindy from Beachhouse and went for a dive with them. My dive wasn’t as good as normal as I had water pouring in to my mask, but I managed to last the whole dive, although I could hardly see out of my salt-soaked eyes. The colourful coral was the most vibrant since the Tuomotus.

Walking on the beach in one of the anchorages

We are heading to a Tongan feast tonight and then back out to the anchorages tomorrow. There are almost 30 anchorages, all without a few hours of each other so it is easy to rendezvous with friends and also find private anchorages for ourselves.

Peter and Scott getting ready for the dive…don’t tip over

Until next week…..Enjoy the last days of summer.

Malo e Lelei from Tonga

2010-08-21T11:38:00.000+12:00

Rainbow coming in to Tonga

We arrived in the lovely village of Neiafu, in the Kingdom of Tonga, an archipelago of 170 plus islands, shortly after sunrise on Wednesday. Tonga is just west of the international dateline so is the first pacific nation to greet the day!

Putting up the Tonga and quarantine flag

Tonga is one of the poorest country economically in the Pacific because it doesn’t have a parent country (i.e. Cook Islands have New Zealand – Tahiti has France, etc.). The Tongans are, however, rich in culture, family values and community – the more important measurement of quality of life. It reminds me so much of when the kids were growing up and I would tell them “we are rich in love”. The additional upside of Tonga being independent is that most Tongans stay throughout their life, so the island is full of extended families, instead of the other island countries where the young people move as soon as they can to the larger countries, leaving a huge gap in the population.

The main street

In addition to their local language, the people here speak English fluently and are the friendliest of any island we have been to. We have met many Americans who sailed in here in the last decade and never left. They have moved here and started businesses and are active in the community. We can certainly see what the attraction is. We are in the Vava’u group of islands which is considered one of the best cruising areas in the world, because the anchorages are all close together, and the entire area is encircled by a reef so the water is like glass. It reminds of quite a bit of Desolation Sound in B.C. with so many choices of pristine and private anchorages.

School kids walking home

Checking in was kind of an adventure and the first reminder that this is a third world country. We arrived early in the morning after the 2-night sail, so were a little tired. We docked at the fishing pier and were visited by the four different officials – customs, immigration, quarantine and health. Each of them came on our boat over the course of two hours and each one stayed at least long enough to have two beers each (which they repeated on the other 5 boats they were checking in, so they were in rare form by 11:30 in the morning when they were done!). They each asked for a “gift”, which we had already been forewarned about by the cruisers that went ahead of us, so we gave them each a bottle of wine and some frozen tuna that we had caught on one of our crossings. Needless to say this is how they supplement their government earnings.

The government officials….notice the beer cans

The average earning of a Tongan is only about $40 Canadian a week. They don’t drink beer or wine, because it is too expensive for them. Instead they drink Kava, which is a local alcoholic drink that Peter says doesn’t taste too bad! The community all helps one another, and they have successful fund-raisers (the Library just raised $7,000 last week) so there is no “begging”, nor does anyone hassle tourists. The Tongans are a very proud people and even tipping is something that is not encouraged, nor expected.

QuickStar on the mooring

We are currently on a mooring ball outside of the main village, where we will stay until Monday. We’ve spoiled ourselves by going out and visiting with locals and cruisers alike at the many bars and restaurants that are along the waterfront. Prices here are very affordable – we had an incredible lobster dinner, with drinks, while listening to live music for only $40 for both of us. It was great to catch up with Roger and Bobbi-Jo from Hipnautical, who we met in the Sea of Cortez a couple of years ago. They are “playing gigs” as they sail along to keep their cruising kitty topped up.

Bobbi-Jo and Roger from Hipnautical

This is one of the few remaining countries in the world where there are no McDonalds, or any other international chains or franchises of any kind. There is a large outdoor market that runs every day by the local farmers. This morning we spent less than $8.00 on onions, sweet potatoes, mandarins and a coconut. A very nice change from the outrageous prices of Polynesia. We are looking forward to going to a Tongan feast that includes a full floor show and dinner for less than $20 per person.

Aquarium Café – our local hang-out

Cindy, from Beachouse arrives back tonight after two weeks in New Zealand. We’ll be going diving with them over the next couple of weeks to explore the many caves and famous wall dives. The visibility is almost unlimited! The highlight right now in this area is the majestic humpback whales. It is at this time of year that they come here to mate and to calve. We hope to be snorkeling alongside them at the outer islands.

Dinghy dock is a bit sketchy, but it works

P.S. By way of follow up - the sailboat Anna, that capsized, did manage to make its’ way here, so it is no longer a navigational hazard. It was found and claimed by a Canadian named Steve on the sailboat Mary Powell. The owner of the freighter company, who will be taking it back to New Zealand for the insurance claim, is fighting over the salvage rights with Steve, and since this is a “kingdom” run by royal decrees, Steve may not end up winning. It will be interesting to see how it ends up, because it sure would be a nice bonus for him to get all or some of the $300,000 finder’s fee!

Raising a toast for Danny’s birthday

Until next week….wishing Danny a great 26th birthday. Still can’t believe the kids are getting older, when we still feel like teenagers!

Malo e lelei

2010-08-18T06:42:00.000+12:00

We are currently just entering the pass in to Tonga. We had a good sail last night, with a few rain squalls, but other than that, it was a nice crossing all in all. It is now Wednesday here. We'll spend the day with officialdom getting checked in, giving our bribes, (we've been told they like wine and beer) and then grabbing some sleep. Thanks for coming along with us on the ride to Tonga. I'll update the blog, as per usual on Friday.
Cheers...Diana and Peter

Hello from 18.55 South 171 49 West

2010-08-17T06:37:00.000+12:00

Good morning. We left Niue almost 24 hours ago, with a hump back whale breaching and escorting us out of the anchorage. It was the first one I'd seen during our two weeks there. Not more than a hour later we saw another one playing in the ocean. Double bonus! We are having a very pleasant motor-sail and are buddy-boating with Scott on Beachhouse. He is single-handing because his wife Cindy is in New Zealand for two weeks.

Light winds, small seas and almost clear skies. Just before sunset, after a little squall, we were treated to the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. It blazed for almost an hour with QuickStar as the "pot of gold" at the end of one of the arcs. We could almost reach out and touch it! During the night watches, the sky was jet-black with thousands of stars twinkling and one shooting almost every 10 minutes.

Fortunately, is looks like the last 122 miles will be more of the same. I love these calm passages, although it would be nicer to be sailing without the engine - but I'm not complaining.

At some point during the day, we will be crossing the international date line. Then, not only will we be seeing the same southern constellations that Kylie is seeing, but we'll be in the same time zone. (Doesn't make me miss her any less though!).

I'll update the blog tomorrow morning (Wednesday for us - Tuesday back home). We will plan to arrive in Tonga just after sunrise. Cheers...Peter & Diana

Our second week in Niue

2010-08-14T07:39:00.000+12:00

Happy Friday the 13th. Our second week in Niue has been an interesting week of exploring inland, taking care of business and socializing at the Yacht Club.
Cindy and Diana out for lunch

Niue has a population of just over 1,000 and continues to decline due to young people immigrating to New Zealand to make a living and raise their children. The number one employer here is the government, with more than 60% of the population employed in the public sector. They don’t export anything, (with the exception of a small amount of Noni juice and vanilla) and rely on the imports, financial contributions and aid from New Zealand to keep the island going.
One of many caves and tunnels

In another case of “what a small world it is”, I went out for lunch with AnnMarie, who is an Australian expatriate, who works at the New Zealand high commission, and is the cousin of one of our Silver Star neighbours, Faye, who put us in touch with one another. Ann Marie explained that the N.Z. government is working hard to improve the school system and to encourage increased tourism as a major industry, since Niue has so much to offer naturally.
The primary school which was badly damaged by a cyclone. Canadian dollars were donated to help repair it, and the school gratefully announces this fact.

Niue coastline

The island is full of caves, lots of inland walks, magnificent coastlines, small intimate beaches, good diving, etc. and it is a great stop-over for cruising boats with the Yacht Club facility here. The major tourist draw is whale-watching from August – October.
Peter and Di exploring the island

The whales are a little late in arriving this year because the water temperature is about four degrees higher than last year. During the season last year, many cruisers actually complained that the whales and their calves were too noisy in the anchorage, along with the males who were singing their whale songs throughout the night. We’d love to have this problem. Peter did see a humpback breaching, while they were out for a dive (and I had a magical day to myself).
Perfect island look-outs to view whales

There is a crew of whale researchers here, that were meant to go out daily with Anna, the boat that capsized enroute here two weeks ago. Instead, they have been going out with various sailboats here, but they haven’t spotted too many whales yet. We attended a whale information presentation that they put on earlier this week, and it was interesting to learn that each year the whales create a new song and all of them learn it and sing it for the season. We are hearing reports from Tonga that they are there in abundance, so we are waiting for a weather window to get headed that way.
Many caves along the coast with violent waves crashing in

discovering the inland caves

so much to see and do

In the following picture, can you spot what is wrong?

This was a boat that limped in from Tahiti, where they did an accidental jib when they had a preventer line on (meaning that the wind grabbed their main from behind and tried to flip it to the other side). They couldn’t release the preventer fast enough (a preventer holds the boom over to one side, to “prevent” a violent jib -. the boom from being thrown to the other side) and the result was that they broke their boom during the storm. You’ll notice from the picture that there is no boom for the main sail. They have made arrangements to have it repaired in Tonga, but they have to make the sail over there with just their genny (their forward sail).
Did you figure it out?

The anchorage has been rough this week, with heavy swells rolling in right on our beam. Fortunately we can sleep sidewise in the “princess cabin” so that has made sleeping more bearable. We spend most of the days onshore – while those that stay on their boats are taking seasickness pills! The dinghy landing has proved to be a major challenge for bringing the boat in and for getting it back out. I’ve gained more bumps and bruises on my knees, ankles and legs from being caught between the dinghy and the pier as it seems the waves raise the level of the dinghy right at the moment I’m half-way in or out.
Dive boat getting in to the water

they made it in without too many bruises

The winds are forecast to continue to increase for the next couple of days, so we are anticipating that the earliest we can set out will be Monday. We will be sorry to leave Niue as we have thoroughly enjoyed being here. Our sail to Tonga should take two nights and I will update the blog daily while we are underway. The news that we have received is that many cruising boats have had to make some detours to avoid pods of whales. How fabulous is that?
a hiking we will go…

whew…made it to the top

The capsized sailboat Anna, is still floating and is a hazard to navigation, particularly with its dark blue hull (which is all that is above the water). It is expected that Anna will have drifted outside of the path to Tonga though, so we don’t expect it to be a problem. Have a good weekend.
one of several intimate and cozy little beaches

Until next Friday…smile often!

Niue, yacht capsized, poisonous snakes....

2010-08-07T08:06:00.001+12:00

Taking down the Cook Islands flag

We’ve been in Niue a week and have enjoyed many of the outdoor activities this New Zealand protectorate has to offer. When we arrived we thought we got the last mooring ball, but it turned out that the anchorage was full, with a record 27 boats. This meant that we had to anchor and then wait our turn for the first available mooring ball (which came open 3 nights later).

Hoisting the Niue flag

On Saturday night, after a great birthday party onshore with the other visiting yachties, we made it back to our boat, just in time for a huge storm that came out of nowhere. The winds gusted upwards of 30 knots and we had 6 foot swells rolling through the open roadstead anchorage (meaning no coral protecting it like we had throughout the rest of the South Pacific). It was so rough on the boat that we thought we had a couple of knock-downs. Peter tethered himself in to the cockpit and maintained anchor watch all night long, as we had boats on moorings fairly close to us. The sound with the howling wind and our anchor chain was really intimidating as the anchor chain dragged back and forth against the rocky bottom. The boat beside us got its’ genoa sail shredded.

We certainly couldn’t complain too much though, as another cruiser just 120 miles away from us capsized their 57 foot catamaran. Luckily they did everything right for safety purposes. They were able to set off their EPBIRB (which is a devise that immediately alerts emergency stations that they are in trouble). New Zealand sent a plane from one of their bases and they located them and were able to divert the freighter that was coming in to Niue to rescue them. There were two men onboard – when the boat flipped the skipper got thrown in to the open ocean. The crew member was able to get below in the hull. This meant that they were separated. The owner made his way to the dinghy and remained there, cold, wet, and thirsty for 18 hours bouncing around in the rough ocean. The crew member got inside the safety hull (designed for protection when a cat flips over). When they were rescued the crew member inside the boat had to swim through the boat to get out. We met them the morning they were rescued and brought to Niue, and Kelly said the scariest part was having to leave the safety of his airtight bubble and swim through debris (everything was upside down of course) to get out of the boat. The emergency escape hatch could not be opened after trying with hammers, the fire extinguisher, etc. This design flaw may have cost him his life if he wasn’t able to swim through all the debris, sails, etc. to get out. The men were both exhausted and drained when they were brought in, but in relatively good spirits with no injuries. They didn’t have any money, or clothes (other than shorts) or passports, etc. The Niue community welcomed them with open arms and provided everything they needed, including a flight home to New Zealand, which they are leaving on this afternoon. Needless to say a lot of the yachties here have reviewed their safety procedures and checked that their EPBIRB is working properly.

While this is a very sad story for the two men, it also has created a navigational hazard as the boat is still floating somewhere at sea on the direct path to Tonga. This is where everyone is heading from here (a 2 night sail). We’ve been in contact with a couple of boats who have since gone to Tonga, and luckily they did not hit the boat. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to see at night, especially since the hull is a dark blue, which would simply blend in with the ocean. It is also unlikely that radar will pick it up as it doesn’t have that much surface area above the water. We all are just hoping we don’t run in to it on the way to Tonga.

Dinghy dock

The island here is very cruiser friendly. The moorings are owned and maintained by the Niue Yacht club – the biggest little yacht club in the world. They don’t have any local members and no one here has a boat. It is strictly designed for visiting yachts and they certainly take good care of you. They have a little clubhouse with free internet access and a café/bar. When you take your dinghy to the wharf, you need to use a crane to take it out and put it back in. It is a really slick system.

Dinghy dock crane

Because there are so many yachties here, it is quite sociable. You can meet up with others at the club or just wandering through the village. Our friends Rob and Ruth from South Africa invited us for dinner on Albatross II, along with a solo boater who was “bottomless” when we went to invite him aboard and another South African couple, who know our South African friends Ian and Sheri from back home. Very small world.

Birthday Party at Yacht Club - Rob, Scott and Cindy & Peter

We've rented a car for the week with Scott and Cindy. There are lots of walking, trekking and bicycle paths, as well as many caves and chasms throughout the island and we’ve only touched the surface of them.

Lots of oceanside caves where local canoes are stored

We went for a fabulous dive with Scott and Cindy (and the local dive company). The dive is famous for thousands of poisonous sea snakes in all different sizes. These snakes are highly toxic and one bite would kill you. Luckily they aren’t aggressive and they haven’t bitten any divers so far. The coral is alive and well here and making the dive really interesting is the variety of caverns and underwater caves that you can dive in. In between the two dives, when you need to have a necessary surface interval before you can dive again, we went in the dive dinghy to watch the spinner dolphins. There were hundreds of them and we were lucky enough to get in the water with our snorkel gear and swim with them. (Deanna and Shelby you would’ve absolutely loved this – I was thinking of you both the whole time!!!!!) Also, while the dive master drove the dinghy while we held on to the outside, so that we were pulled in the water alongside them as they dodged under the dinghy, swam and dove in front and did lots of playing and spinning on the surface. It was such an incredible experience and most certainly the best surface interval ever! Scott took some great photographs and some video, so I’ll try to post that next week.

A local flower on the ground while hiking

On a sad note, we learned of the passing of Peter’s Uncle Don. We send our love and condolences to the entire McRobert family. Uncle Don was a wonderful man and he will be greatly missed by all of us.

Yeah....fresh lettuce

Until next Friday…..hug someone special.

Our bizarre stay at Palmerston Island

2010-08-06T14:18:00.000+12:00

Palmerston Island is a two-day sail from the mainland Cook Islands and yet it is a million light years different. Palmerston was founded by a European who settled there in 1886 with his three Cook Island wives. There are approximately 65 inhabitants on the island and they are all direct descendants of William Marsters.
(Remember the movie Deliverance?)

The man who started it all

They fiercely protect their island and their heritage, to the point where you are limited in what you can see and who you can talk to. Upon arrival, one of the two designated hosts will meet you at your boat and assist you with mooring. You can not leave the boat unless you are accompanied by your host, who basically organizes your schedule and escorts you wherever they allow you to go.

Heading in for our Stepford Wives experience

Before we barely had time to get organized from our 2-night passage, Edward came and picked us up with everyone else who was aboard the other four yachts. We were taken to his family home, where we all ate a lovely lunch prepared by Edwards wife. Afterwards they entertained us with local folk songs (which seemed somewhat contrived) and then they took us on a walking tour where they introduced us to the families that they are friendly with. There is lots of local feuding going on and you really don’t get a feel for what the island is truly like because your experiences are all manufactured.

Strong Christian influence

What was really interesting is the successful school system. There is a New Zealand principle who is married to a Palmerston man. She has worked hard to develop the school and is quite proud of the fact that all of the children (about 35) all attend school. Because they are all different ages and abilities, they are on the New Zealand home schooling program, so the teachers and the principal basically supervise their work.

The primary classroom

This allows everyone to work at their own pace and provides the answer keys to the teachers, so that everyone benefits. Once the kids grow up they generally move to New Zealand to find a spouse and to make a living, (if they haven't married a cousin locally - another subject they didn't want you talking about).

The highschool set up

Your Palmerston host does not charge you for the mooring, or for entertaining/feeding you during your visit. You are expected to reciprocate by giving them supplies, boat parts, etc. We had already arranged with the store in Aititaki to take a number of supplies for one family, which we were happy to do. In addition we brought our own box of supplies for our host, plus gave them clothes, shoes and items from the work room (that they strongly hinted that they were more in need of after they invited themselves aboard our boat). Some other yachties called them “modern day pirates” for their trading system.

The Main Street - it even looks like a movie set

Palmerston truly had the feel of the “Stepford Wives” since everything that we were shown gave the impression that it was “set-up”. It is also a very male-dominated society. The clincher for me was when our host announced that the next day we were all going to an island – the men would fish and the women would cook the meal. Peter tried hard not to burst out laughing, when he looked over at me and I mouthed “we’re out of here!” I wasn’t comfortable with the “groupie” thing and being scheduled all day, or the idea of being relegated to the cooking and cleaning, so we decided to just spend the one night and we were out of there at first light. We’re really glad we went though, just to experience it. It truly felt like we were leaving the “Twilight Zone” behind when we sailed off.

We've arrived in Niue

2010-07-31T16:03:00.000+12:00

Hooray...after our four day slog we are very happy to tie up to the one and only mooring ball left. The winds are still high and it will be rolly until this front passes in a couple of days - but We are happy to meet up with many of our cruising friends amongst the 17 boats here. We expect to spend at least three weeks exploring all the hikes, dives, caves, etc. that Niue has to offer. I'll update the blog next Friday with pictures of what looks to be like an exciting island. Have a great weekend.

Almost There

2010-07-31T06:19:00.001+12:00

Good morning. We had another gruelling overnight sail, with sloppy, angry seas. To make it a little more interesting we had a few squalls, one of which caused a large wave to break in to the cockpit, drenching everything. Not the stuff that cruising dreams are made of. We have abour 40 miles left to go (at 7:00 a.m. local time) and we will both be very happy to make landfall in about 8 hours. There is high wind warnings in effect and a major storm forecast for Sunday, so many boats are currently hightailing it for Nieu. I will just do a quick update once we arrive and are snug as a bug on a mooring.

Almost There

2010-07-31T06:19:00.000+12:00

Day Three at Sea

2010-07-30T06:18:00.000+12:00

Good news. We managed to thread the needle all day yesterday and all evening, by somehow avoiding most of the squalls. We had the occasional short-lived rainfall, but other than that, we had ideal, cloudy weather, keeping the temperature quite pleasant. The winds were mostly 20 knots, with some gusts to 30. The seas are very high, with lots of rocking and rolling, but QuickStar is sailing well (and I'm not nearly as freaked out as I would have been only a year ago). For the most part, we been able to maintain course on the rhumb line (the direct route to our destinatin) leaving us only 155 miles left to go to Nieu. If all goes according to plan we should arrive before sunset tomorrow evening. Hopefully we'll start seeing whales soon. One of the other boats that we are maintaining radio contact with had a 40 foot whale come and rub up on one of his hulls (he has a catermaran). A little close for comfort. Will check in again tomorrow on our final day at sea.

Pink Sky in Morning...

2010-07-29T06:33:00.000+12:00

....Sailors take warning.

We left Palmerston at first light yesterday. We had planned on staying a bit longer, but it was a bit too weird for us. I felt like we had been plunked down in the Stepford Wives movie set. Everything that we were "allowed" to see wasn't quite as it was. A fabulous experience though and not to be missed. More about this in the blog update on Friday.

Our original plan was to head for Beveridge Reef, which is a two night sail. Yesterday and last night we had a lovely sail; fairly calm seas and consistent, although light winds. It doesn't look like the weather gods are going to be shining on us though, as the forecast calls for higher winds (20 plus knots), squalls and high seas of 3 - 31/2 metres. We have decided to alter course to head straight for Nieu as we suspect Beveridge will be untenable. This will take another 2 days/nights and will most likely test my newfound sailing courage. It has now just started to pour - and so it begins.

A big thank you to Cindy on Beachouse for giving me the tip about napping for 20 minutes at a time while on watch. It does work and I'm not exhausted anymore, which is great considering that we'll need our energy for the conditions that are coming our way. THANKS!!!!

I'll do an update tomorrow morning, weather permitting.

We've just arrived in Palmerston

2010-07-27T07:09:00.000+12:00

With the full moon setting in the West, and the sun rising in the east, we had our first sighting of Palmerston, after another slow, but comfortable overnight sail. Schools of flying fish escorted us in. There are currently five other sailboats here. Upon our approach we received VHF contact from Edward, our designated "host family". He was insistent that we anchor, as he didn't have any moorings left. There were two moorings still available, but they weren't his. As mentioned earlier there are three families and they take turns being your host. The seas are pretty big, with large swells and a very scary looking reef. There is no inside lagoon anchoring, so all boats are on the outside of the reef. As insistent as Edward was about us anchoring, Peter was equally as insistent that we go on a mooring ball. Peter won the "discussion" and we are safely on a mooring ball. Edward said he would go and talk to the owner of the mooring ball and see what he could do, but he emphasized for the time being we are "in his house". So, we've already sparked some politics on this quaint island.

We have a large shipment of supplies for Jock Marsters, and when we advised Edward he said that they were aware of that and he will make arrangements for its' delivery. Not sure if this will also upset the apple cart.

We are now to wait on the boat for "customs" to come out. We are rocking and rolling as if we are still out at sea, so this is not going to be a comfortable stopover while we are aboard. We will stay either one night, or two and then begin our next 3 night passage to Beveridge Reef. Thanks to our Ham contact, Peter in California who Peter checks in with every night while we are underway. We will be in touch when we are ready to leave to set up our next schedule. Thanks again Peter for being there with us on all our passages. To our friends and family back home, I will keep in touch by updating this blog daily once we head off on our next passage to Beveridge. Until then...stay safe and remember to smell the roses.

Underway from Autitaki

2010-07-26T06:04:00.000+12:00

Just as we were about to get underway from Autitaki yesterday morning, a new boat arrived and started coming through the passage. They almost made it, but took the final corner a little too wide and ended up on a reef. We already had our dinghy on the deck, so were unable to render assistance. Two of the other boats in the harbour were also getting ready to leave. We spoke to the new boat on the radio and Peter gave them some local knowledge about how to proceed through the rest of the passage, once they floated free, to make it in to the harbour.

We had one last minute item to do before heading out, and that was accepting a shipment of supplies from a local family to deliver to Palmerston. Once we got loaded up with a box of fresh bread, boxes of fresh fruit and other items, we pulled up our anchor. We had a very small window in which to leave as this was the highest tide in the next two weeks, and due to our draft we needed every extra inch. Even this high tide was 2 - 3 inches less than when we came in. We finished draining our water tanks, by giving the anchors a great fresh water soaking and then we headed out.

As we approached the shallowest part, Peter told me to hold on, as I was on bow look-out. Sure enough we touched bottom, not just once, but eight times. Luckily it is a sandy bottom in this section, so Peter just powered through it. The good news is the bottom of our boat got a good cleaning! So without further drama we made it out to sea. The wind was light and variable all day, which made for a slow and sloppy sail (I was in the prone position for most of the day). Last night we had a good sail because we are one day away from a full moon, so it was like we were sailing in daylight. Our average speed is below 4 knots, so we will not arrive tonight, but hope to arrive tomorrow by lunchtime. With the full moon tonight, it should be magical!
P.S. The other boat that went aground did manage to get off the reef just before we left.

Cook Islands

2010-07-24T07:27:00.000+12:00

A typical view of the lagoon

We have spent 10 wonderful days in Aitutaki and will be sorry to leave tomorrow. We have really loved it here and would highly recommend it as a holiday destination. It is very laid back, the locals all get around on scooters; there are no major hotels or stores, etc. The locals all speak English and are very, very friendly. We love the quaintness of it and have enjoyed buzzing around on our scooter and becoming part of the community.

The way kids ride on the back - Oma would have an absolute fit watching it!

Because this island is remote, they only get a freighter in to deliver supplies every few weeks. There are a number of local growers and small stores on the island, so shopping involves going from one to the other for various items. Quite fun. We order bread, buns from the gas station, we order eggs from a local lady, we get lettuce from a store on the backside, etc. If we were at home, we’d go stark raving mad doing this, but here, it is a treat to drop in and say hello and pick up odds and ends. Right now, as I write this Peter is off in search of a bottle of rum and to pick up our bread.

Large Banyan trees

Here in the little harbour of Aitutaki, it is very interesting and quite challenging. First off, getting in the passage is quite tricky. It is shallow, narrow and not well-marked. We shouldn’t actually be inside as we draw more depth than the channel has, except at very high tide – which is what we came in on. Tomorrow will be a challenge leaving as we will have 3 few inches than we had coming in, but it is the highest tide for the next few weeks. We will use up all our water, so that our waterline will gain a couple more inches.

Leaving the harbour to get to the pass itself is also tricky as it can be windy and the boats are all in here pretty close and personal. When Scott and Cindy left it took a couple of us with our dinghies and almost an hour to get the stern and bow anchor up and fending them off from other boats. The sailboat Bubbles (with three young guys) came in the pass and went aground and had to wait for high tide to float off. When they left yesterday they also went aground. They draw about 6 inches less than we do!

In the anchorage another boat Bubus got in to some trouble as the mooring they were on broke! This meant they drifted back on another boat (with Bernard aboard, who has broken ribs from his passage here). Again, lots of drama to help get him settled and re-anchored. We also required assistance when we re-anchored as the current was stronger than the wind and we decided to move deeper in to the harbour. Makes life quite interesting.

Our turn for assistance

There is also the “outside of reef” anchoring, which is for boats (our size and bigger). It is really rough out there and rolly, but the only option for those boats smart enough not challenge the pass! It is a fun anchorage and very sociable…we have met people from South Africa, two Belgium boats, Germany, Australia, the U.S., etc.

View from the top

The island itself has lots to offer – great snorkeling, great lagoon trips, $20 a day scooter rentals, good walking/hiking areas, lots of great little places to eat and drink. We spent a day going to the top of the hills where you get a 360 degree view. The dirt roadways are a joy to explore. Last night we went to an outdoor buffet and show. We left after it was over and as soon as they started coming for audience participation! ! It was another fun event to go to church on Sunday and listen to the singing, although here the men need long pants and women need long sleeves and a hat. Since I didn’t think my baseball cap would fit the bill, I wore a scarf and a sweater. Peter said I looked like a Mormon or something!

Unique Fruit

The sad thing here is that a major cyclone went through in February with winds in excess of 235 kilometres. It destroyed a number of homes and ripped the roof off many, many more. The banana trees were also badly damaged. Many people are living in tents beside their houses. The community spirit is wonderful though and they all work together to rebuild houses – starting with the elderly and sick. The Cook Islanders are resilient and have taken it all in stride.

The costs of goods here are less than in French Polynesia, but still are about 80% more than in Canada due to the shipping costs from New Zealand. It’s still excellent value and we can’t recommend it enough

On this, our final day, we will do our last minute running around, including getting Peter’s hair cut by the local baker.

Sail Repair

We are off tomorrow morning on the early high tide to head to Palmerston Island. This is a very remote island with only 30 inhabitants (about 4 different families that don’t get along). It is a unique situation because when you arrive, they fight over you and one of them gets to “claim you” and then attach your boat to their mooring, This means they are your host family for the entire duration of your stay. You can’t use your own dinghy, but they are at your beck and call to come and get you and escort you on land. They treat you like an honoured guest. You can’t mix with the other families, or other boats that have been claimed by another family. Our friends that are there now, say it is an experience not to be missed. We are taking lots of items and fresh produce to give them, as well as taking goods from Islanders (boxes of fresh bread, etc) to distribute.

Stocking up as we head into more remote areas

The crossing to get there should be about two nights depending on weather. We are not sure how long we will stay there and then we will continue on for another two night passage to Beveridge Reef – which is simply a reef in the middle of the ocean! If the seas are too high we will have to just sail by and continue on to Niue.

Next week, I’ll try to update the blog via ham radio from wherever we are. Have a great weekend. P.S. We just got some distressing news from home. Uncle Don is quickly failing. We are sending our love and best wishes to Aunt Margaret and the kids at this very difficult time.

We are in the Cook Islands

2010-07-17T13:49:00.000+12:00

The sky during our passage

Coming to you from Aitutaki, Cooks Island.
Temperature 24 degrees, sunny, nice gentle breeze, humidity 78%.

Yeah.....making landfall in the Cook Islands

We survived the crossing, although it was a rough and exhausting one. You can see the previous “daily crossing posts” above if you are interested in talking yourself out of every making a crossing. It was wonderful to make landfall, although we had to stay out in the rough seas outside the entrance for a few hours while we waited for high tide. It was great to reunite with our friends Scott and Cindy on Beachhouse, who we met last year. Scott came out with his dinghy and guided us through the narrow and shallow unmarked channel. They don’t recommend any boats that draw over 1.5 metres to come in. We draw 2 metres, but like living on the edge!

Hoisting the Cook Island and the Quarantine flag

We made it in without incident, but the little harbour was full with 3 cats (or double-wides as we monohulls affectionately call them) and one sloop. We tied up to a barge at the mini-pier, but it turned out they were painting it, so when I jumped off to tie up, I got some nice fresh black paint on my sandals. We spent just one night there, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner aboard Beachhouse, and then we had to move the next day because of a freighter arriving, which requires the use of the barge. So yesterday, we went out to another area, that has minimal depth and it took us over an hour to anchor with both bow and stern anchors, and a lot of help from Scott in his dinghy acting as a bow thruster. The currents are strong here and they win over the winds, so it makes for an interesting, and unsecure holding, amongst lots of coral heads, which doesn’t make our Captain happy. We stayed on board for the afternoon and had Scott and Cindy over for dinner. So great to have outside social contact again.

Scott and Peter making the dry run through the pass

This afternoon we will assist Scott and Cindy and another boat that is leaving on the high tide. Then we will move in to the harbour and stay until next week or however long the mood strikes us. We will rent scooters this afternoon (very affordable at only $20 a day) and then we are going out for dinner with Rob and Ruth from Albatross (a South African couple) who have sailed from South Africa and going to New Zealand to immigrate. The big rugby game (tri-country tournament) follows dinner and tonight it is South Africa against New Zealand. Apparently the New Zealand team has one Cook Island player on it, so it should be quite lively in the bar.

Scott and Cindy from Beachouse onboard QuickStar for the sunset

It is fantastic to be in another country and it seems like we have entered another world. The Cook Islands is part of New Zealand, which means that the locals all speak English in addition to their local language. They are warm, friendly and welcoming. It seems surreal to hear English spoken (with a Kiwi accent). That means that now I can get back to my Spanish lessons, as I couldn’t do it while in the French speaking countries, as I was totally confused!

The little boat harbour

As I write this, we are sitting on the bottom (sand), with the lowest tide in about two weeks. Once we get floating again and get moved over, we’ll head to the major hotel so that I can get internet access and send this. We expect to be here till next Wednesday or Thursday and then we will have a two night crossing (joy, oh joy!) to Palmerston Island, a remote island of the Cook Islands. I will do the next update while underway on the Ham radio.

Until next Friday…..enjoy a magical sunset

Land Ho!

2010-07-15T06:07:00.000+12:00

Good morning. We are within four miles of land. I am very happy about that, especially after another very uncomfortable 24 hours. We are rocking and rolling, and will arrive sporting a few more bumps and bruises. During the night, we had a wave crash over the cockpit, soaking everything, just to add a little bit of humour to things. They say that it takes three days to get in to the blue ocean routine, so we have only been out long enough to stay beyond the comfort zone. I have to admit to being exhausted and grumpy and will be one very happy camper to set down the anchor. This hasn't been an easy crossing, and even singing along with Tom Jones/Diana Ross/Tina Turner and witnessing the shooting stars that flashed out through the dark clouds didn't help my sagging spirit much.
We will be arriving at the outside of the reef by about 9:00 a.m. local time and then will drop the anchor until 11:40 when we will attempt the shallow pass during high tide. It only has a depth of 6 feet and that's what we draw, so we expect to power through the sandy bottom to make it in. Last week a boat got stuck coming out and they had to stay aground overnight, heeling and wait for the next high tide the following day (and help from our friend Scott on Beachouse) who will be keeping an eye out for us and coming out to meet us in his dinghy if he isn't out diving this morning. We will be hoisitng our Cook Island Flag and the quarantine flag shortly. Peter will go to check in with customs and immigation and bring back the health inspector and the food inspector. Once cleared, we are free to leave the boat, although I suspect that for today, we'll catch up on some much needed sleep. Our plan is to stay here a week, where we will do lots of exploring and diving and also do some sail repair and clean-up before the next two day crossing to Palmerston (joy, oh joy!) There isn't easy internet access here in Akitati, so I may keep relying on the ham radio email for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for coming along with us.
P.S. Wasn't able to send it earlier. It is now just past 8:00 a.m. local time and we have the anchor down in 20 - 25 knot winds, in a large sea. Feels like we are still underway. Scott has already made contact with us as we were approaching, so he'll come out shortly in his dinghy to give us the lay of the land and to assist with our transit through the narrow and shallow pass in a few more hours when it is high tide. I sure hope we can make it in as the prospect of spending a night at anchor in these conditions, is far from inviting. Take care.

Day Two

2010-07-14T04:52:00.000+12:00

Good morning. We had a much smoother day yesterday with consistent swells and clear skies. It rained most of the night making the night watches rather damp and miserable, but at least the sea wasn't like a washing machine, as it was the day prior. I have my sea legs now, so that helps also. We have less than 125 miles to go. Right now at daybreak, the sky is 95% overcast, with dark, ominous looking clouds. Don't think we'll need to worry about sunscreen today. We should be hoisting the Cook Island flag about this time tomorrow. Will check in when we make landfall. Have a great day.

Underway to the Cook Islands

2010-07-13T05:06:00.000+12:00

This blog update is coming via our ham radio email. We have almost completed the first 130 miles in 24 hours. As dawn breaks, we still have a very lumpy, bumpy ride with variable winds between 15 - 20 knots and dropping. Neither of us were able to catch more than a little sleep here or there , nor were we able to read, eat or do anything else (except me getting sick over the side of the rail) as the boat was rocking and rolling to beat the band.. The swells are only about 8 - 10 feet with a 1- 2 foot chop, but the sea is confused and coming at us from all quarters. The good news is we did make it out of the narrow pass at Mopelia without incident, so that was a great start. We also didn't have any rain, and that is about the longest stretch since we've been here this season where it hasn't had some rain in a 24-hour period. Here's hoping the next two days won't be quite as rough. I'll check in again tomorrow morning and hopefully have reports of whale sightings! ETA Akitaki, Cooks Islands, Wednesday, July 14th around 11:00 a.m.

Departure Delayed

2010-07-12T05:01:00.000+12:00

Good morning. Happy Birthday to Joe. Today is also a sad day, as it was one year ago that our former employee and friend, Trisha Carlson was killed in a car accident. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.

Just a quick blog post to let you know we've delayed our departure by a day. We had blustery winds yesterday and the weather forecasts predict that the front will diminish today, so we planning on heading out as soon as the sun is directly overhead so that we can pick our way out through the coral heads and the narrow pass. Yesterday two more boats made their way into the lagoon. They made a few aborted attempts and then stood off for a couple of hours, but they ultimately made it in safe and sound. Hope that bodes well for our departure. I'll update the blog tomorrow morning while we are underway.
Cheers...

Bonjour from Paradise

2010-07-10T05:20:00.000+12:00

Tuna caught while underway

Note: It is now July 16, 2010 (Cook Islands, Black Rock Cafe) and I'm updating this post with photos from Maupiti and Mopelia.

Peter trying to get the internet in Maupiti

View of the main village in Maupiti from the motu across the lagoon

Farewell Maupiti - port marker on the way out

The crashing surf as we are leaving

This is being sent to you via Ham Radio from our picture perfect anchorage in Mopelia. We arrived here after an overnight sail last Sunday, and we could stay here forever. It is our kind of Robinson Crusoe island - with only 12 inhabitants divided amongst four families. There are no facilities of any kind and the families live a basic and self-sustaining lifestyle.

Approaching Mopelia...

Made it through

There are two lovely anchorages here. We spent the first four nights in crystal clear water facing the motu with miles and miles of white sandy beaches fringed with coconut trees for as far as the eye can see. I've never seen a nicer beach anywhere in my travels. We moved this morning to the northern anchorage where we'll stay for the next two nights. This gives us easier access to go snorkel the wreck of the Sea Adler. We attempted it today, but the waves were too high, the swell too strong and the current too dangerous, so we had to turn back in our dinghy. Hopefully we can do it tomorrow afternoon. That was the main draw for coming here, but we are so glad we didn't listen to the guidebooks, that basically said it is a narrow and dangerous pass (which it is) and difficult to navigate both in and out.

Isn't this amazing!!!

The pass was quite intimidating as it is very narrow, with unforgiving coral on both sides all the way through. The books go on to say that most people who have ventured in have said it wasn't worth the stress of getting in and out. We think it is a golden jewel and it is our favourite place that we've come across this season (yes, it even beats out our second favourite place of last week, Maupiti, but only because it is so isolated!

Beautiful shells for us to leave for the next people to enjoy

We do hope we'll get out without any problems. One of the ham radio fellows told us that he went aground on the way out and had to kedge off and dig the coral off his hull. He then returned for 4 days to calm down, lick his wounds and try again!

Endless ocean

We went for a long walk around the motu and then crossed through the coconut jungle for the round trip. Can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is here. Next week, when we get to internet range, I'll post some pictures.

Here's some photos - Di walking on the wild side

We did go visit the key family here. The husband is Kamili and he is a big, welcoming guy who speaks a limited amount of English. We had some interesting conversations with hand signals. His sons were busy getting the roasted-in-the-sun coconuts ready in big burlap bags. Once every four months, a ship comes to the pass and collects their harvest, which is their only source of outside income. We'll be here today to see how the transaction takes place.

Kamili's family home

Another gorgeous rainbow

He also showed us his huge coconut crab. When we went snorkeling yesterday on the reef, he came over and taught Peter how he hunts for Oysters and they ate one fresh from the sea. It is wonderful to see pristine coral, alive and well. We haven't seen beautiful coral like this since last year in the Tuamotos and the Marquessa Islands.

Coconut Crab

The plan is to leave Saturday morning (we could leave today, but Peter adheres to the Sailors creed of not beginning any passages on a Friday). I could happily stay here forever, but we must start heading west and there is still so much to see. We will up-anchor on Saturday morning and head toward the Cook Islands. It will be with some sadness that we take down the French flag as well as the Polynesian flag, in readiness to hoist the Cook Island flag.

Taking down the French Polynesian flag

We expect the crossing to take about three days. I admit to being a little nervous as this will be the longest crossing with only Peter and me. One of the cruisers who just arrived in Akitaki (where we are heading) broke his rib on the crossing. Hopefully we'll be a bit luckier.

Heading out of the pass from Mopelia

The weather has been quite unsettled, with squalls and rain, so we expect we'll be weathering some of that. As requested, I will try to post a message on the blog each morning, beginning Sunday morning for the duration of the crossing. There is no guarantee that we can get reception, so if there is not a posting one day - please do not worry. We should make landfall sometime Tuesday.

A little intimidating...but here we come

Hope everyone is well and happy. Although we do love it here, we miss our friends and family and think of you all often.

smiles from the South Pacific

Until Sunday..have a great weekend.

We've died and gone to heaven

2010-07-03T08:16:00.000+12:00

This is a view that you see almost anywhere you look

Wow – we’ve found our favourite place so far in the South Pacific. The tiny island of Maupiti is a well kept secret. There are only three sailboats in the entire lagoon. There is no major tourism here, only the odd small pension, and the locals want to keep it this way. They have successfully resisted all attempts to become the next Bora Bora.

The tricky entrance with breaking waves

The island combines the best of both the atolls of the Tuomotos with the high cliffs of the Marquessa Islands. What keeps it “off the beaten track” is the very tricky pass to get in. With any kind of southern swell, it becomes impassable. We planned accordingly with the weather and arrived at noon last Friday. It was quite hairy coming in, but of course, Peter loved the excitement.

A motu on the left-hand side as you come in to the pass.

We had planned on only staying about four days, but due to high wind and heavy swells, we aren’t leaving until Saturday – although we love it here, so that is no hardship. I’d arranged via email in Bora Bora to go for a dive on Saturday, so the Dive Master Lionel came out to our boat to meet up with make the arrangements.. My main diving goal has been to swim with the Manta Rays, and we accomplished that on Saturday. Yahoo!

It was absolutely incredible. We dove in only about 30 feet of water and we positioned ourselves by the “cleaning” rock. The current was quite strong so we had to hang on, but that is the reason the Manta Ray’s come there. They literally float over the large coral head and open their gills and the many fish come out and “clean” them. Once done, they danced over top of us, making direct eye contact and coming within touching distance. We saw five of them, up close and personal, and it was amazing. A definite diving highlight! We didn’t get any photos as our camera doesn’t work for diving.

All family members are buried in front yards. This is a common burial plot.

That afternoon we walked around the 11 kilometre island. There is hardly any traffic as the locals ride bicycles or scooters. They are very friendly and welcoming to the few tourists that they get here.

The front of the church

On Sunday, we went to church – the first Protestant service that we’ve been to, as most of French Polynesia is pre-dominantly Catholic. Usually when we drop in at church we sit at the back so that we don’t take the spot of regulars. We tried to do the same here; however, a member of the church service moved us to the front row and presented both of us with a live floral lei. The service was all in Tahitian, but one of the speakers spoke directly to us in French and welcomed us to their church. We’re not sure what all she said, but we just kept smiling and nodding. After the service, they shook our hands and thanked us for coming. We felt like honoured guests.

A picture of our beautiful lei’s with the church in the background

The main island is surrounded by a coral reef with three motu's just inside the reef. They are all public, with miles of white, sandy beaches and we have gone for long, leisurely walks around the motu's. We’ve also wandered around and explored the “mari’s”, which are ancient sacred sites.

The most famous sacred site

We had two little girls who were our unofficial tour guides. They talked passionately about the mari and pointed out all the special features – all in French. Again, we just smiled and nodded. I sure wish we could speak French so that we could communicate better with these friendly people.

Our adorable tour guides

We also went for a strenuous hike, attempting to get to the top of the mountain. The trail was very rugged, under and over trees, and we ended up running out of daylight and having to turn back without making it to the top. The views were inspiring though and we got lots of exercise.

View from one of the lookouts to the two false passes

We celebrated Canada Day, by being goofy and wearing our Canada paraphernalia. We were thinking of everyone back home and hope you are all enjoying a nice long weekend.

Wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day

I am updating this blog at the home of one of the locals here. We will go for a last dive this afternoon and then if all goes accordingly to plan we will leave at noon tomorrow for an overnight sail to Mopelia. This island also has a tricky pass, so we may not make it in if the conditions are too rough and then we will just keep on going to the Cook Islands.

At low tide you can walk from the mainland beach out to the Motu

Assuming we make it in, we will stay for a few days and go snorkeling on the sunken World War I German schooner called “Sea Adler” which was used for raiding. Our friends that have gone ahead of us say it is really interesting. The island itself is all but deserted, with only 12 residents remaining on it. There are no services.
Once we leave for the Cook Islands, which will be sometime next week, I’ll update the blog on a daily basis for the four day crossing. This will be the longest stretch that Peter and I have done alone. Wish us luck!

Until next time….celebrate the long weekend.

Bora Bora Week Two

2010-06-25T15:06:00.000+12:00

This is one of the many reasons we are out here....love living outside!!!

This was our view last night from the back of the boat during Happy Hour

This was our view, at the same time, from our bow...a full moon.

As expected from the blog last week, we did get blasted with almost four full days of high wind and lots of rain. For the first time since we left B.C. in 2007, we put the additional rain cover on (that connects the bimini with the dodger) so that helped to give us more outdoor space and also made sure the bimini wasn’t blown off the boat.

We anchored once again in a deep bay (100 feet) and our chain and anchor held us fast and secure, although we skated around and had to maintain anchor watch through the nights. We were anchored with a 200-foot sailboat, a 100-foot motor yacht and a 100- foot 1904 gaff-rigged sailboat named Merry Maid with the original rigging, as well as our friends on Jenny (58- feet). We felt a little dwarfed!

1904 sailboat - The Merry Maid

The first night when the winds exceeded 40 knots, the motor yacht broke its stern line at 2:00 a.m. in the morning and had to re-anchor. It was quite an adventure with the waves, rain and wind. The next day they had to dive for a few hours to recover their anchor.

The views are amazing from every anchorage

We spent Father’s Day tucked in on the boat. Jan and Elle invited us for dinner, but the wind came up too strong in the late afternoon to contemplate leaving QuickStar. Instead I made baked macaroni and cheese – with cheese that you don’t need to refrigerate (just don’t think about that for too long, especially my sister Denise, the cheese-maker), yellow pasta (not sure why it was yellow), powdered milk and of course breadcrumbs (after picking out the weevils). Yum, yum! We called Peter’s Dad from our computer and they shared the fact that they were going to have a lovely family barbeque with Oma’s fantastic cooking and a selection of her fabulous cakes!!! I tried to make a package of chocolate chip cookies for dessert, but alas, no eggs left.

An example of the many over the water bungalows - this is the Hilton

It is really odd being in Bora Bora. This must rate as one of the top ten most expensive destinations in the world. The prices of the over- the- water bungalows start at about $800 a night. Food prices are through the roof, and activities are expensive as well. It is about 50% more expensive than Moorea, which already has the regular high prices of French Polynesia.

One of the closed and decaying bars

What is really sad, is that Bora Bora is like a ghost town. There are 60% less tourists here than before the crash. Hotels and bars are closed and left to just rot. The famous Bora Bora hotel is deserted with the bungalows just falling down on the beach. Lots of shops and activities have closed down as well and those that have remained open scarcely have any customers. They don’t get the whole supply and demand concept here though, and haven’t lowered their prices. Instead they just close down. They also don’t get the concept of cleanliness in paradise, as the roads and public areas are completely litter-strewn. Dogs also roam at will and none of them have been fixed.

Bloody Mary's Restaurant - Jimmy Buffets favourite hang-out here

While here, we went to the famous Bloody Mary restaurant, which has a huge list out front of all the celebrities that have been there. We were the only two in the restaurant – until our friends from Jenny and the owner of Merry Maid came in for a beer.

Check your sandals/shoes at the door

Bora Bora is a fabulous place to sail around though. The scenery is amazing, the water is crystal clear, the diving is fantastic and the long walks on the beach are a treat.

Location of our dive shop - the hotel and restaurant are closed

What is also sad, though, is that the coral is pretty well all dead. What used to be vibrant coral gardens bursting with colour and live coral is now just brown and broken. This has been caused by the Crown of Thorns – photo courtesy of Scott Stoinitz.

The Crown of Thorns has been around for awhile, but was kept controlled by its two predators – the Napoleon Wrasse and also the Triton Trumpet. Since the reef isn’t protected here, the locals overfished both of these natural predators – the Napoleon because it is great to eat and the Triton for their shells, since they fetch upwards of $200 U.S. a piece.

The Crown of Thorns

The Crown of Thorns now ran rampant, and one of them alone can eat and destroy nine square feet of coral a day!!! The coral was almost dead already by February, so when the cyclone came through, it finished it off.

The next island we are going to tomorrow is Maupiti, and it is one of the last Society Islands to have live coral. This is due single-handedly to the dive master there who has killed in excess of 3,000 Crown of Thorns and thereby protected the reef. We are looking forward to diving there on Saturday. This is assuming we are able to shoot the entrance, as it has a very narrow and dangerous pass to maneuver to get in to the lagoon. If it isn’t navigable due to winds and/or swell, we will have to take a miss and carry on to Mopelia overnight.

I’m doing the blog a day early, because we are getting ready to leave “civilization” behind and start heading to the remoter areas…Maupiti (with 1,500 residents), then on to Mopelia (with 12 residents) and then about a four day crossing to the Cook Islands.

We got our final provisioning, fuel and completed all our formalities for check-out, and as I write this Peter is securing our dinghy on the deck for our dawn departure tomorrow morning.

Ouch! That darn Lion Fish

We went for our final dive here this morning and the visibility was amazing. We were lucky to see black tipped sharks, lemon sharks and grey sharks all on the same dive! Our dive master got stung by the very poisonous Lion Fish and his finger blew up to twice the normal size. Hopefully he will be okay and the pain and swelling should go away in a couple of days.

Getting medical attention for the Lion Fish sting

Now that we have finished our three dives in Bora Bora and are leaving, I’ll show you a picture of one of the dive guides, Patrick. (thanks again to Scott for the photo). Patrick got a chunk taken out of his leg by a lemon shark – he tells the public the injury was from a motorcycle accident, as the truth isn’t great for business. He freely admits that it was his error that caused the accident. He was feeding the sharks, by putting out fish heads under rocks and he didn’t realize that one had dropped down and he had it between his legs. The rest is history…the lemon shark just came for the fish head. Patrick no longer “feeds the sharks” and it really is quite safe to swim with the sharks, as no tourist has reportedly been “bitten” here.

Photo of Patrick's shark bite!

We expect to be out of internet range for about two weeks, so I’ll update the blog via the ham radio again next week if I’m able to, and then daily for the crossing to the Cook Islands. As always, if there are any emergencies at home, just send us an email to our Ham Radio, which we’ll check once a day.

QuickStar in the final Bora Bora anchorage

Until next week….Live like a crazy person!

Our first "incident"

2010-06-19T07:55:00.000+12:00

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This great past week, including diving, kayaking, exploring the lagoon around Bora Bora all pales in comparison to our big event yesterday.

One of the challenges of sailing in the lagoons around the Society Islands is the many coral heads and reefs – many of which are not charted. Yesterday, while we were picking our way through the very narrow channel, with me on bow watch, we inadvertently misread a cardinal buoy and –you guessed it – ended up on the reef.

This was even more nerve-wracking than normal as the wind was gusting between 15 – 20 knots and the current was running at about 8 knots – pushing us ever closer to the main reef. Peter responded to the situation quickly and took out our stern anchor in the dinghy to hold the boat from being thrust further onto the reef.

Once back aboard, he was getting ready to deploy our second (main) anchor when I noticed that our dinghy was speeding away all on its own (yes, 2nd mistake, not tying the dinghy – keeping in mind things were a little hairy at this time). Peter then swam off in the water (luckily grabbing a life jacket.he swam like a demon and finally caught up with it and managed to drag himself on board.

At this point I was trying to flag down passing motorboats that were taking hotel customers back and forth, but they went by so quickly, they either didn’t notice we were stuck on the reef, or chose to ignore us. I was quite keen to call for assistance, but Peter was still determined that we could manage to get off the reef by ourselves.

We were continuing to drift further in to the reef, and the tide had already turned from high tide and was moving towards low tide. Not a good situation when you are on a reef. We emptied all our water tanks to raise the waterline, but this still wasn’t enough to lighten us and get us off. As Peter and I were hauling the main anchor to the stern of the boat, I noticed that the dinghy was full of water. When I mentioned it, Peter said “well of course I was soaking wet”. I said “not that wet!” and we realized that the plug had come out of the dinghy and it was in fact sinking! This would be funny if it wasn’t a true story. It was really no big deal as I just hopped in the dinghy, replaced the plug, and bailed it all out.

After all of this, with late afternoon fast approaching, I was able to convince Peter to sound the alarm. He reluctantly called a Pan Pan on the radio (this is one call down from a mayday when life is in danger). No one responded to the first call, which was amazing considering all the hotel boats that were going back and forth. On the second call, we got a response from a fellow cruiser from Norway sailing on a 58' boat. He was fairly close by at anchor and had a big, strong boat so came to our assistance. He couldn’t get close to us, as the channel we were in was less than 15 feet wide and surrounded by coral heads and reef. Instead he anchored out in the deeper water and he (Jan) and his son-in-law (Urwelcum) came over in their dinghy.

Fortunately, just before they arrived, a fast boat went speeding by us, and his huge wake enabled QuickStar to get off the reef! That should have been the end of it, but of course, we still had to bring in both anchors that had been deployed off the stern. The first one was no problem. I kept QuickStar in a slow reverse to hold her off the reef and to compensate for the current, while Peter brought in the anchor. He was pretty exhausted after dealing with this for over three hours.

Our main anchor refused to come up! It was stuck on a coral head.
Another local power boat, with three strong men, came over and offered their assistance. Now we had two boats helping us out.

We rigged up a chain and line to pull up the anchor from the power boat. It still wouldn’t budge. Juan came on board and helped to maneuver QuickStar in the narrow channel as we continued to fight with the chain. Peter was hauling it in and I was tailing it. We weren’t really getting anyway and it looked like the only answer was going to be to cut the anchor (which would mean leaving it there and leaving us without a main anchor and then coming back with a diver and equipment to retrieve it another day – since darkness was less than two hours away at this point). Fortunately, the anchor did shift and we got it loose – ALMOST.

Turned out that it had a full coral head attached to it. At least we were free, so we motored out of the channel, very slowly with this huge coral head attached to the anchor and then we tied up beside Jenny to get the coral head off. This was accomplished by raising the anchor with the halyard and disengaging the coral head.

We all breathed a sigh of relief and then went to anchor in a lovely little bay. We spent about an hour cleaning up the boat – mud everywhere, including ourselves covered from head to toe from hauling anchor chain and adding a few more bumps and bruises. Luckily the damage to QuickStar was fairly minor with only a damaged toe rail and a damaged life rail from the anchor line.

We invited the gang from Jenny over for gin and tonics to thank them for their very valued assistance. Another reminder how important it is for cruising boats to monitor Channel 16 (the distress channel) while in anchorages. You never know if you will need help or can render help to another vessel. We are deeply grateful to Juan and Ella and Benedicta and Urwelcum – with much apology for the spelling of their lovely Norwegian names.

Peter didn’t sleep most of last night, busy beating himself up for the error in navigation. He also popped a couple of Advil this morning as his back is feeling the effects of putting out and hauling in all the anchor chain. To add to our little comedy, we have just checked the weather and there is a warning in effect with hourly warnings being announced on the radio. The wind is going to begin building tomorrow and increase to over 40 knots per hour for the next four days with 100% precipitation called for. We will be moving to a more secure anchorage and probably hunkering down until it blows by. We should be in for quite the ride. (Our departure to Mautipiti is on hold until this passes).

On a more light-hearted note, we sure enjoy the many rainbows. The diving has been fantastic, with our best dive so far this year featuring sea turtles that swan with us, lots of black tipped sharks, moray eels and so much more. We’ve also had time to do some kayaking. The locals here are constantly out in their outrigger canoes (they are all in great shape) and they love to play in our wake.

Sadly, the coral and reefs have all been almost decimated by the Crown of Thorns Starfish and topped off by the cyclone that came through last February. I was going to report on that this week, but our little “incident” upstaged it. Next week, I’ll explain the situation regarding the reef. You can see in this photo that the corral is all but dead beside the black sea urchins.

So, tomorrow we will be heading out of Dodge and back to the Yacht Club where we will probably grab a mooring ball for added safety and wait out the storm in the comfort of their patio bar, with fellow cruisers. (They also televise the World Cup, so it won’t be such a hardship, ha,ha).

Congratulations to Danny and Ashley for getting possession of their new house yesterday. June 17th is quite a day to remember!

Until next Friday……play hard

P.S. While I've been doing the blog Peter went over to visit with Ella and Jan on s/v Jenny. He says she is absolutely beautiful - a 58 foot Hoek Design that Jan (Isaksen) built himself. Also turns out to be the same designer as Erica XII (mentioned last week) and she is actually 175 feet (as opposed to my description of being more than 130 feet). We are going to head over to the Lagoonarium with Ella and Jan to swim with the rays before we head out. Thanks again to the gang on Jenny

P.S.S. Currently there is a mayday on the radio - two people have gone overboard enroute from Raiatea to Bora Bora. Hopefully this will turn out alright!

Bora Bora Bound with a stow-a-way aboard

2010-06-12T13:36:00.000+12:00

A typical Society Island anchorage

Note....have uploaded some photos today from last weeks blog entry below - have a good connection this morning.

Hard to believe another week has gone by so quickly. Most of it was spent sailing throughout the lagoon of Tahaa. We had some wonderful snorkeling and anchored off some motu's all by ourselves. We returned to Raiatea for a couple of nights…one spent at the town dock so that we could do all our provisioning, refuel and go for the famous hike.

We ascended the mountain, which is right downtown, to take in the sunset over Bora Bora. It was a lovely hike, with off and on rain showers, so once we made it to the top, the view was somewhat limited – but truly amazing as we had a 360 degree view and could see the coral reefs very distinctly. Enroute through this Pacific style jungle, we passed all kinds of animals at large…cows, bulls, horses, pigs, piglets, etc.

VIew from the top

Before we left Raiatea, we had one small injury. For those of you who know how much Peter prizes his sandwiches at lunch, you’ll get a kick out of this. Each day when we are in a village we buy a fresh baguette (for only 50 cents – the one true bargain in the South Pacific). Anyway, as he was eating his lunch and going on and on as he does about how much he loves his sandwiches, he somehow managed to dislocate his jaw on the baguette. I thought this was quite funny, but Peter wasn’t too fond of having to eat “soft old people” food for the next two days. All is well now – so steak for dinner tonight!

We motor-sailed the 20 miles over to Bora Bora, with a nice calm sea. We have anchored outside of the Bora Bora Yacht Club where we have spent the last two nights. The first day we walked in to the main town (about 40 minutes each way). We were surprised at how busy the streets were, but even more surprised at how friendly and welcoming the locals were to us. We had some business to take care of, including picking up our boat papers from the Air Tahiti office (thanks Doug we got them!) and doing some scanning. Next year for sure we’ll upgrade our printer to include a scanner as we have had many occasions that we’ve needed one.

The town is beautiful with the mountain as its backdrop. There does tend to be a fair amount of garbage everywhere, as in Tahiti, they do not have garbage containers most places – plus, it reminds me of our culture only 40 years ago where it was quite common and acceptable to just toss garbage from a car, or leave garbage in parks, etc. It would be shocking in Canada to do that now, but it is still very prevalent here.

The Bora Bora Yacht Club is billed as “your home away from home” because almost all sailors who come this way stop in. Unfortunately, the young American couple who own it lost their home this past January in the cyclone, so they are currently living in a little shed on the property, plus the restaurant isn’t open, due to the extensive damage. They have done a wonderful job rebuilding the docks that were also wiped out and the bar is open for business! It is expected to be “the” place to be tomorrow for the World Cup.

The welcoming yacht club

While we are here, Peter and I are getting certified to dive with Nitrox. That is just a different type of air than the more conventional air that is used in scuba diving. It does involve reading a book, doing exercises and writing a test, which we will complete tomorrow. It also requires two Nitrox dives, the first of which we did this morning.

Swimming with the sharks...photo courtesy of Scott Stolinz

The dive was fantastic – we saw lots of large lemon sharks (6 – 8 feet) including some pregnant ones. They are not shy and swim within touching distance. A little freaky the first time one came right for me, with a mouth full of sharp teeth, and then just passed me on the right. We also saw a few different kinds of moray eels, lots of black tipped sharks, jelly fish, and many, many different kinds of fish. After completing the dive, we both remarked that we did, indeed, feel less tired (one of the selling features of Nitrox) than we normally would. (I would like to give special thanks to our sailing buddy – Dr. Scott Stoinitz of sv Beachhouse for these amazing underwater shots – really appreciate you letting me use them).

Medusa Jelly Fish - photo courtesy of Scott Stoilinz

Our next door neighbour in this anchorage is a classic yacht, Erica XII, well over 130 feet. Peter thinks it is an amazing yacht, so he took lots and lots of pictures of it.

We also have a stow-a-way. We have a little gecko that somehow managed to get aboard. We keep seeing it, but have been unsuccessful in catching it and returning it to land. We hope he manages to find enough to eat (I’ve been leaving out a few things, but really not sure what a gecko eats other than bugs, which I’m not catching for him).

We are hopeful that we will be diving with Manta Rays on Sunday, or on one of our dives next week. They are quite famous here, although have been elusive, due to the ongoing construction of new 5 star hotels that are built over the lagoon. So now, I must return to studying. Please feel free to drop us an email and say hello. We love to hear from family and friends. svquickstar@shaw.ca

Until next Friday…..laugh often…..

2010-06-05T09:42:00.000+12:00

Iaora! Welcome from the Society Islands where the weather today is sunny, 28 degrees, humidity 72%, winds 20 km/hr from the East, barometer 1014 and rising, and visibility of 24 kilometres. I’m writing this week’s blog during my morning cup of coffee, after my hour of dawn Yoga, underneath another incredible rainbow. The weather here changes in a blink of an eye…one minute sunny, the next a rain shower. One of our good sailing friends, Chuck (sv Jackaranda) from Mexico prepared us for this weather and he came up with an excellent solution that allows the main hatch to stay open even in a downpour. My second favourite captain, Joe DaPonte built it for me this winter (thanks again) and once we got it stained onboard, we’ve been using it ever since. It’s the best thing ever to permit a cooling breeze, so any of our boating friends that want the info on it, we’d be happy to share it with you.

We were saddened this week to learn from our close friends Diane and Rob, of the sudden death of their beloved 30 year old nephew. Too sad for words. Makes you truly cherish every day. On a much happier note, the circle of life continues. We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Danny and his girlfriend Ashley will be bringing our newest grandchild in to the world around December 22nd. What a fabulous Christmas it will be!

This past week we sailed around Tahaa, a small island with about 4,500 people. We anchored at the head of a mile long bay and were the only boat there. The full moon shone overhead and was a magnificent sight suspended between the two headlands at the entrance to the bay. The photo doesn’t do it justice. On Sunday morning, we planned on going to the little church in this isolated community, but we didn’t make it in time. We (okay maybe just me) really enjoy going to church as the entire village comes out and they dress up in fancy hats and their Sunday best. The singing is amazing and even though we can’t understand the service, which is a combination of the local Tahitian language and French, we love how welcoming the locals are to us.

We hiked 8 kilometres over the mountain from our bay to the bay on the other side of the island. The views were breathtaking. After another night in this anchorage we sailed over to the southern bay where the yacht club is. One major difference between South Pacific cruising and Mexican cruising is the depth of the anchorages. It is very common to anchor in 100 foot depths here. We have 300 feet of chain and another 200 feet of rode (which means nylon anchor line to you landlubbers), so we are able to swing comfortably, while others have to attach to and pay for mooring balls.

While here for a few nights we decided to be more social than usual and went to the bar the first night and then to a special Tahitian buffet and dance show on the beach the following night. We were joined there by about 7 of the 20 Blue Water Rally boats – which is an around the world rally that started in England early this year. We enjoyed kibitzing with these sailors as well as meeting some sailors who have plied these waters for over 8 years – so we got a wealth of knowledge on the countries we will be sailing to this season.

The only downside was that Peter said that we could go to this show, but no matter what he wasn’t going to get up and dance and make a fool out of himself. We had a beachside table and you can guess the rest…..Peter was dragged up (glaring at me as he was led away) and he “shook his booty” in front of the packed house. I was laughing so hysterically that my pictures didn’t turn out very well. Peter was actually a pretty good sport about it.

We returned the day before yesterday to Raiatea to do some routine boat maintenance such as refueling, changing the oil, filling propane bottles, etc. Peter discovered that the impeller in the generator was broken. I made the monumental mistake of asking what it was for. Peter then gave me a dissertation on the function of this water-wheel looking contraption. (Kylie, you can well imagine just how thrilling this was!) The reader’s digest version is that this little $20 piece is essential in cooling the engine to prevent a complete breakdown. It is pretty easy to replace and since we have spares and then more spares on board, it was due to be an easy fix. Turned out not to be the case. The spares that the manufacturer supplied in their kit were the wrong size. After lots of swearing and mature ranting calling them a bunch of “f***ing idiots”, Peter went to the marina to see if they had the part.

No, is the short end of the story, but he was able to order them and have them flown in from Papeete (where he also ordered more oil filters, just in case). They were supposed to arrive in a few days, but to our very pleasant surprise they arrived today – at a mere cost of $250.00 U.S. (for three of them). We are still delayed here though as the propone still has yet to be delivered. Hopefully soon.

Our next stop was going to be Bora Bora, but the winds have intensified and shifted, so that if we went now we would be dead on the wind. Instead we will probably head over to the southern side of Tahaa to snorkel the reef for a couple of days while waiting for the wind to be more favourable (and most likely for the propane to be delivered). Being able to choose to sail with the winds at our back in following seas is just another great benefit of not being on a fixed schedule.

My computer got seawater on it (we left a hatch open for a few minutes, and it managed to destroy my keyboard). We got a new one to hook in to the computer, but of course it is French, so the keys are all marked differently. Makes for some interesting typing. Sadly, our binoculars finally bit the dust. They have a real sentimental value as they were Peter’s Dad’s who was given them on his retirement in 1984. We have used them faithfully for all our sailing, and the new ones we bought won’t be nearly as special. Needless to say we’ll keep the original ones, as well as the special wooden case that was built for them. Another little inconvenience here is weevils. Seems the pesky little things get in to most flour, sugar, breadcrumbs, etc. Really, they are just a little extra protein, but Peter is a real baby about them, so I try to hurry when I’m doing any cooking using these dry ingredients.

Every night we are serenaded by drums playing on the beach. It’s like our own private concert. As I’m finishing this off, Peter is currently putting in the impeller – it is the right size but instead of 6 thingy’s, it has 12. You can tell I’m not the mechanic on board. Hopefully, it will work alright – Peter has just emerged from the work room with a big smile on his face, so he’s a happy camper now. We are good to go.

Until next week…..do something fun and free. Like a picnic!

Best Wishes Jodi & Melissa

2010-05-30T10:24:00.000+12:00

Happy Wedding Day