Arrived safely in Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands at about 5.30pm yesterday, so still plenty of daylight. It was quite a fast journey, just as well, as the seas were large and uncomfortable. Not too bad when sitting still or lying down, but exhausting when walking around. The harbour, and only safe haven, is quite small here, and boats have to put an anchor out then reverse to the dock wall to tie up. Luckily we had plenty of help from other boats as there was a lot of wind and slop and it wasn't easy. (Old acquaintances from Galapagos among the boats here, and one little Aussie boat came in this morning having sailed all the way from Galapagos non-stop, 6 weeks at sea)
The surge in the harbour is pretty bad at the moment, so a lot of boats have left, but the wind should swing over the next 24hrs making it more comfortable. We are well away from the dock wall because of this, so have the dinghy tied to boat and wall and have to pull ourselves across - getting in and out of the dinghy in a 3ft swell isn't easy, and a flying leap landing in a heap is the safest if not the most elegant method.
It is very nice being back in an English-speaking environment, and rather strange hearing NZ-accented English being spoken by Polynesians. They are all very friendly and helpful, and pretty laid back. Written instructions about paying overtime rates if checking in between 4pm and 8am, having to have the boat sprayed for insects, and dumping all tropical fruit are just writing. The officials just aren't around for out of hours check-in, and they are not prepared to risk life and limb climbing onto rocking boats.
This is the main island of the Cook Island group, and Avatiu where we are is the largest town. However it is no more than a large village spread along about a mile of seashore, similar to towns in French Polynesia except that there's a fish and chip shop just down the road, and I had a hair cut for about seven pounds today (but you did a grand temporary job P).
Rarotonga is one of the newer volcanic islands of the Pacific, but a bit older than the Marquesas as it has a fringing reef but no lagoon between reef and land. 32 km round so we are going to try and cycle it, trying to remember to ride on the left. There are supposed to be some good walks up into the mountains, though we hear they are unsigned so hard to find. A familiar story eh P? And the properties we have wandered into to find someone to ask always seem to have a 'chien mechant' (not sure of the spelling of that one).
More news when we have explored a bit. G is busy mending a leaking salt water pump at the moment, always something to be done. But we have found the problem with the toilet pump P, it jammed up completely yesterday so had to be taken apart again, and a little metal washer thing had come adrift. All is now in good working order, sorry you had to struggle with it.
August 27, 2008
Position report Tuesday
We are making good progress and as of 11:00 local time (2:00 GMT), we are at 20deg 50.24min S and 159deg 06.57min W. We have 44nM to go so should be in by nightfall. Winds about 20kts and the good ship is doing about 7kts poled out. No fish - no good lures left.
Thanks for info about the southern cross P, when the boat stops rolling around we'll put it to the test. Hope you've caught up on your sleep.
Thanks for info about the southern cross P, when the boat stops rolling around we'll put it to the test. Hope you've caught up on your sleep.
August 26, 2008
Position Report Monday
At 09:30 local time (GMT 19:30)we are at 19deg 16.38mn S; 156deg 16.25min W. Wind 15-20kts from east. 229nM to go to so more than half way to Raratonga. Seas lumpy. No Fish.
Position report Sunday
As of 12:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Sunday 24th August, we are romping along in 20-25 kts wind at about 7kts. Position 17deg 54.49min S, 145deg 05.05min W. Fish caught 0, lures lost 2.
August 11, 2008
Hello from Huahine
This morning we have been for an interesting dinghy ride through shallow water between Huahine and the outer reef to a motu (little islet forming part of the reef). Forgot to take shoes, so had a rather painful but lovely walk along the rough beach, finding quite a few shells. Gorgeous water colours. Now P is busy making some savoury muffins for lunch, as she says she is tired of baguette!
We had a very pleasant few days in Moorea. Went to a spot where stingrays come to be fed. A bit touristy (the rays have their stings cut off), but the rays come right up to you and take bits of fish from your hand. We didn't take food for them, but there were enough people around who had, tinned sardines seemed just as welcome, so we had a close-up view.
Left the island with a good supply of small sweet pineapples which grow so well on the volcanic soil of Tahiti and Moorea. It was a night sail to Huahine, about 80 miles. We chose a rough night, winds 25 knots which wasn't too bad, but the seas were big and we were running with the wind so rolling like mad. Everything rattling and banging and none of us got much sleep, it was so nice to get into the calm shelter of the island early in the morning.
Huahine is really two islands very close together and connected by a short bridge. We hired a bike for P and spent a day cycling around the northernmost island. Very scenic and the coastal road was quite flat except for one very steep bit with a look-out at the top, and an even steeper downhill the other side. I didn't trust my brakes and walked both up and down! Along the way we filled our rucksacks with a tasty fruit called 'star apples' (not star fruit) bought at the roadside, and also some mangoes picked from a wayside tree so were fairly heavily laden for much of the day.
There were plenty of stops en route - a huge complex of ancient 'marae' or religious sites consisting of stone platforms and upright slabs of stone. Some were beside the sea, and some up steep paved tracks through thick forest - plenty of mosquitoes.
There was a vanilla farm to visit, and we hadn't realised that the pods grow on a sort of vine. Only one harvest a year, then the pods are dried in the sun for 3 hrs a day for 3 months, so no wonder they are quite expensive to buy. We've seen the pods used to make sweet-smelling bracelets, and also as a sauce for fish. Don't fancy the latter. Another stop to take a short boat ride out to a pearl farm in the middle of the lagoon. Demonstrations of how the oysters are prepared, but it was mainly a little shop selling locally made pottery, and pearl and mother-of-pearl jewellery. The final stop was to see some sacred blue-eyed eels that live in a small river. Big fat things about 6ft long, and again fed by the tourists (and local children) so they are quite tame. There's a taboo ('tapu') on eating them.
We had hoped that there would be some dancing for P to see while here, so were pleased to see that there was a local 'soiree' in the little town. Actually it was a 20 min walk out of town, very dark and no pavement but luckily not very much traffic. A large marquee had been erected with lots of food stalls and a bouncy castle around it. It looked as though the whole town was there, and all evening people were coming and going into the marquee with food, and children were playing around, a real local event, not put on for tourists which was nice. Many women were dressed in traditional brightly coloured mumus with coronets of flowers on their heads, and the men with necklaces of shells and sharks teeth and coronets of leaves and bark. The dancing was great fun, lots of hip swinging and foot stamping to drums and guitars. As we noticed before in Papeete, the dancers are all sizes, and those with rolls of fat dance as enthusiastically as the skinny ones, it's just not considered important. We have some nice photos and a couple of videos on the computer, passed on by some people from another boat so hope we can show them to you some time.
We had a very pleasant few days in Moorea. Went to a spot where stingrays come to be fed. A bit touristy (the rays have their stings cut off), but the rays come right up to you and take bits of fish from your hand. We didn't take food for them, but there were enough people around who had, tinned sardines seemed just as welcome, so we had a close-up view.
Left the island with a good supply of small sweet pineapples which grow so well on the volcanic soil of Tahiti and Moorea. It was a night sail to Huahine, about 80 miles. We chose a rough night, winds 25 knots which wasn't too bad, but the seas were big and we were running with the wind so rolling like mad. Everything rattling and banging and none of us got much sleep, it was so nice to get into the calm shelter of the island early in the morning.
Huahine is really two islands very close together and connected by a short bridge. We hired a bike for P and spent a day cycling around the northernmost island. Very scenic and the coastal road was quite flat except for one very steep bit with a look-out at the top, and an even steeper downhill the other side. I didn't trust my brakes and walked both up and down! Along the way we filled our rucksacks with a tasty fruit called 'star apples' (not star fruit) bought at the roadside, and also some mangoes picked from a wayside tree so were fairly heavily laden for much of the day.
There were plenty of stops en route - a huge complex of ancient 'marae' or religious sites consisting of stone platforms and upright slabs of stone. Some were beside the sea, and some up steep paved tracks through thick forest - plenty of mosquitoes.
There was a vanilla farm to visit, and we hadn't realised that the pods grow on a sort of vine. Only one harvest a year, then the pods are dried in the sun for 3 hrs a day for 3 months, so no wonder they are quite expensive to buy. We've seen the pods used to make sweet-smelling bracelets, and also as a sauce for fish. Don't fancy the latter. Another stop to take a short boat ride out to a pearl farm in the middle of the lagoon. Demonstrations of how the oysters are prepared, but it was mainly a little shop selling locally made pottery, and pearl and mother-of-pearl jewellery. The final stop was to see some sacred blue-eyed eels that live in a small river. Big fat things about 6ft long, and again fed by the tourists (and local children) so they are quite tame. There's a taboo ('tapu') on eating them.
We had hoped that there would be some dancing for P to see while here, so were pleased to see that there was a local 'soiree' in the little town. Actually it was a 20 min walk out of town, very dark and no pavement but luckily not very much traffic. A large marquee had been erected with lots of food stalls and a bouncy castle around it. It looked as though the whole town was there, and all evening people were coming and going into the marquee with food, and children were playing around, a real local event, not put on for tourists which was nice. Many women were dressed in traditional brightly coloured mumus with coronets of flowers on their heads, and the men with necklaces of shells and sharks teeth and coronets of leaves and bark. The dancing was great fun, lots of hip swinging and foot stamping to drums and guitars. As we noticed before in Papeete, the dancers are all sizes, and those with rolls of fat dance as enthusiastically as the skinny ones, it's just not considered important. We have some nice photos and a couple of videos on the computer, passed on by some people from another boat so hope we can show them to you some time.
August 1, 2008
the dinghy saga
P has arrived safely, and we left Taihiti yesterday afternoon and had a very good fast sail to Moorea. Today we've had a good long walk up to a look out, and also round an agricultural research centre where there is a labeled walking route round plantations of pineapples and areas where other tropical fruits are being grown - mostly not new to us, but we saw lichees and a couple of unknown fruits for the first time. Cooled down with a snorkel when we got back, in lovely clear water.
The dinghy saga has ended more or less well for us, or at least better than expected. On Saturday we reported the theft to the police, then on Sunday had a look at the guard's report book and found that at 4.30am on Sat a young American and girlfriend had taken a dinghy and driven off. We told the police who said that maybe therefore it was somewhere local and they took us for an hour and a half search in their launch round all the nooks and crannies of the coast, into the marinas and round the anchorages. Nothing. On Sunday the Fri night guard was back on duty. He described the lad, and said that he had been on a boat 'Astra' that had been at our dock on Thursday, and who had been visiting another boat on the dock on Friday. So we then asked around the dock, and found out that Astra was in a marina as the owner had gone back to Britain, and the crew were still on board. He called the lad, A, on the radio, and A said he would go and get the dinghy and come straight over with it.
Well, he didn't arrive, so in the afternoon we decided to go back to the police and get them to go with us to the marina. I left G waiting at the police station and went back to the boat to find the A waiting for us. Full of apologies. The dinghy had disappeared, and he was willing to buy us a new one. Evidently he was drunk on Friday evening, tried to hitch a lift back to the marina unsuccessfully, and 'borrowed' our dinghy instead. Then he didn't do anything about it all weekend, and of course by the time he went to look for it on the bit of beach where he'd left it it was gone. The police gave him a good talking to, but left it to us to sort things out. Mrs from Astra was still on board, and insisted that our dinghy had to be replaced, and was willing to fund it. So by Monday evening we'd found replacements, and on Tuesday it was all delivered to the dock. It appears that 20-yr old (British) A has been in trouble with the police before, and Astra offered to take him on their planned round-the-world trip to try and sort him out. He is well-educated with a degree, and knows a lot about sailing, goodness knows why he did such a stupid thing. He now has a debt of over 3,000 pounds, an expensive taxi ride.
Not very much choice of dinghy in Papeete, so it's not nearly as good as our old one, and a bit smaller. We have got exactly the same motor though, (which has to be run in). So apart from the stress and strain and agro, it has cost us a full tank of fuel (UK prices here), a dinghy cover and a cover for the engine, having to stay for 3 or 4 extra days at the dock instead of free anchorage, and a good tip for the guard who helped us identify the boat and described the guy. At least though we didn't have to fork out for a new dinghy ourselves. What a saga.
The dinghy saga has ended more or less well for us, or at least better than expected. On Saturday we reported the theft to the police, then on Sunday had a look at the guard's report book and found that at 4.30am on Sat a young American and girlfriend had taken a dinghy and driven off. We told the police who said that maybe therefore it was somewhere local and they took us for an hour and a half search in their launch round all the nooks and crannies of the coast, into the marinas and round the anchorages. Nothing. On Sunday the Fri night guard was back on duty. He described the lad, and said that he had been on a boat 'Astra' that had been at our dock on Thursday, and who had been visiting another boat on the dock on Friday. So we then asked around the dock, and found out that Astra was in a marina as the owner had gone back to Britain, and the crew were still on board. He called the lad, A, on the radio, and A said he would go and get the dinghy and come straight over with it.
Well, he didn't arrive, so in the afternoon we decided to go back to the police and get them to go with us to the marina. I left G waiting at the police station and went back to the boat to find the A waiting for us. Full of apologies. The dinghy had disappeared, and he was willing to buy us a new one. Evidently he was drunk on Friday evening, tried to hitch a lift back to the marina unsuccessfully, and 'borrowed' our dinghy instead. Then he didn't do anything about it all weekend, and of course by the time he went to look for it on the bit of beach where he'd left it it was gone. The police gave him a good talking to, but left it to us to sort things out. Mrs from Astra was still on board, and insisted that our dinghy had to be replaced, and was willing to fund it. So by Monday evening we'd found replacements, and on Tuesday it was all delivered to the dock. It appears that 20-yr old (British) A has been in trouble with the police before, and Astra offered to take him on their planned round-the-world trip to try and sort him out. He is well-educated with a degree, and knows a lot about sailing, goodness knows why he did such a stupid thing. He now has a debt of over 3,000 pounds, an expensive taxi ride.
Not very much choice of dinghy in Papeete, so it's not nearly as good as our old one, and a bit smaller. We have got exactly the same motor though, (which has to be run in). So apart from the stress and strain and agro, it has cost us a full tank of fuel (UK prices here), a dinghy cover and a cover for the engine, having to stay for 3 or 4 extra days at the dock instead of free anchorage, and a good tip for the guard who helped us identify the boat and described the guy. At least though we didn't have to fork out for a new dinghy ourselves. What a saga.
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