 |
| Some fellow sailors took our picture on the way to Rotoava |
After the boatyard, we provisioned and hustled the boat back to our favorite "off the grid" playground, Fakarava. Fakarava is the ideal staging area for a trip East, say to the Gambiers or a closer eastern Tuamotus island. But after some research, the Gambiers trip fell through owing to the fact that Polynesians stop delivering supplies to the Gambiers for a two month period (December and January). We subsequently discovered that Fakarava has no deliveries via boat for a month in this period - tramp steamer workers deserve a vacation too! Given that we'd be battling into the wind and probably using some fuel motoring, there was the very real prospect of arriving in the Gambiers needing fuel and provisions with none to be had. We also had a very tight timeframe to sail the 900 miles there and the longer distance back to Tahiti before mid January. A deal killer.
So, with plans changed, Kirstin has shifted into sewing mode to kill some time. A new cockpit ensemble and the dreaded dinghy chaps projects both beckoned.
 |
| Kirstin letting off some steam during a tough part of the project |
 |
| But it's all worth it.....L'ORIENT looking quite snappy |
With every day being sunny and 85 degrees, holidays sneak up on you. There's nothing in the environment to remind you it's Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. But these little trouble-makers showed up on Halloween and demanded some candy. They're French (we didn't even know they celebrated this). They left a bit disappointed that unlike the typical Americans they took us for, we didn't have piles of Snickers bars just sitting around. How about some yummy carrots, little people ?C'est la Vie!
 |
French trick or treaters, Polynesian style.
|
It's amazing what you see if you just look into the ocean. In our 50 foot deep anchorage spot, there is lots of sea life, but this moment was remarkable. As we were reading in the cockpit, we heard a huge compressed air explosion. Our first thought was that the dinghy had been punctured. Then we saw this.........the head of a whale of indeterminate size. He/she kept almost totally submerged but the blow-holing kept on for 10 minutes as it circled our boat slowly. Really cool moment to see something that big. We later found out that whales enter the atoll to keep their calfs safe from predators like Orcas.
 |
| Head and blowhole of a whale, about 30 ft from our boat |
 |
| Not so subtle hind from Neptune to close the hatches fast- squall approaching |
 |
| North Fakarava "swimming hole" |
 |
| More of our private beach in the far North of Fakarava |
So we've decided to play locally (Toau, Hirifa, and Fakarava's South Pass). As we speak, Kirstin and I are diving every day in the South Pass, seeing hundreds of sharks and other exotic (and sometimes gigantic) fish. The picture below doesn't do the wrasse justice - he is five feet long!
 |
| Some of our aquatic friends- reef shark, unicorn fish, and a huge wrasse |
Because the fish are in a pass, it's necessary to wait for the incoming tide and hang 60 ft below the dinghy via a rope. The tide pushes us through the pass and we are just spectators. Not a bad "booby prize" for not being able to make it all the way down to the Gambiers. The dives continue to amaze us........like a Disneyland excursion.........these packs of sharks swim near you, around you, under you, and do everything but notice you. They seem to have a binary switch that quickly evaluates if you're food or not. As their diet consists of mainly 5 inch fish and we are these huge, hissing, bubbling masses......they distinguish the two quite easily.
 |
| An early full moon over Toau |
The year 2022 has been strange in that we have been "off the grid" for nearly the entire year aside from our haul-out and bottom job. Every place we anchor the boat, the sunset is perfect, there are usually few other boats, and we lose track of the days. Monday becomes Thursday so quickly. We spent most of our time in two of the world's most wild and spectacular sailing grounds - The Marquesas and The Tuamotus. Really the two could not be more different - The Marquesas are lush, mountainous islands which reward you with an extremely interesting culture but challenge you with big sailing conditions, dodgy dinghy landings and, at times, very uncomfortable anchorages. They have Kirstin's vote as her favorite spot in French Polynesia. The Tuamotus are almost the reverse. The islands are flat at sea level with small and spread out populations. The culture is not as obvious and the water is the lure here. Once you figure out navigating passes and keeping an eye out for coral bommies you normally have completely calm anchoring conditions. They have my vote as favorite spot.
 |
| South Pass, Fakarava- one of the world's best dives |
 |
| This guy probably wishes he had anchored vs. used the free mooring- you get what you pay for |
Another highlight of the end of 2022 was Kirstin's father coming out for a visit and an early celebration of his 80th birthday. Kirstin flew from Fakarava to Tahiti to meet her Dad at the airport and they then set off to explore Papeete and Moorea.
 |
| View of the inside of an atoll |
One of the highlights of Papeete was a temporary art fair featuring Marquesan artists and musicians. They saw more artisan crafts in one morning than we saw in five months of sailing the Marquesan islands!
 |
| Lower tiki seems to be influenced by sci-fi |
 |
| No thought to how this gets back to someone's home |
 |
| Herb posing with the tapa artist |
In Moorea Kirstin was able to play tour guide to all of the highlights (previously featured in our blog) - The Belvedere Lookout, Rotui juice factory, beaches, our favorite restaurants. Magic Mountain is a particular favorite of ours and definitely will raise your heart rate regardless of age. Kirstin and her Dad met several Polynesian families on the hike up with her commenting to them that he was celebrating his 80th birthday. When they rounded the corner to the truly spectacular lookout all of the locals starting cheering and applauding his accomplishment - Kirstin described it as a truly fantastic moment.
 |
| Herb after his epic ascent......move over Sir Edmond Hillary |
 |
| The top of Polynesia |
 |
| Deluxe accommodations |
They then flew out to Fakarava to join me on the boat. We were able to take him to all of our favorite places and even on a fast sail down to the beaches at Hirifa. Dad commented that this sailing thing wasn't too bad - particularly when you are doing 8.5 knots over two inches of chop in the lagoon. Ah, we are all so spoiled with these conditions!
 |
| Fun family outing |
 |
| Happy hour on the bow |
 |
| Herb is the most remote reader of the WSJ at this moment |
 |
| Great daddy/daughter moment |
 |
| My fisherman idol- this guy caught 10+ mahi in 4 hours |
The boat is beginning to suffer some real problems.........problems that occur when you're away from legit chandleries for a long time. Some improvised solutions have been used, but there are spare parts piling up in the the US that we've ordered due to using down our once lavish supply of replacement parts. We're not yet in the "Gilligan's Island" place (where the professor makes a telephone out of two coconuts and a banana) but we're not that far from that either.
 |
| Rebuilding scuba regulators.......who needs directions ? |
And the most humiliating moment is coming quickly. Eviction. That's right.........French Polynesia doesn't want our money any more and is kicking us out in early April. While we technically can stay beyond the two years, the boat would be taxed $28,000 if it remained in their waters (and all imported boat parts subject to a 45% tariff). So, we are heading west to American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, or all/some of the above. The kind of shaky aspect of this is that we are technically moving the boat in the cyclone zone during cyclone season. We will be using our crack weather router "Bruce" to keep us safe. And we know he's good........no victim of a cyclone at sea has ever written a bad review of him........although come to think of it, they've never written anything again. Hmmm. Happy New Year!
 |
| I think it was -5 degrees in Wisconsin at this moment |
