Get Lost On Purpose

Category: Moorea

Headed to Huahine

This afternoon we dinghied over to say hello/farewell to our buddies, the rays and the black tips. Like clockwork we pulled up and they surrounded us ready to feast but their interest in us lasted all of five minutes when they realized we weren’t equipped with rotting oyster meat like the last time we’d visited. We splashed around with them for a while, made a stop by the Moorea Intercontinental because they had French Mother’s Day festivities going on, and headed back to Dosia to prep.

Another short lived weekend in Moorea and we’re to set sail at dusk to head for Huahine. My first overnighter of the trip. I’ve whipped up a tuna casserole for an early supper to eliminate any need of cooking once underway. The whole concept of cooking on a stove that moves with the motion of the waves and makes a pot of boiling water look like it’s flying at my head is not one I’ve made friends with just yet. Being one that is prone to accidents on the boat, I eradicate all possibilities of a potentially harmful situation when given the opportunity. I’ve taken some pretty bad spills in the past week or so (hence the pic below). The swelling in my leg has just now subsided from a not too graceful fall I took in the cockpit trying to give Dosia her last fresh water bath back in Papeete. Oh my gosh did that crap hurt…

BUT I’m taking my bumps and bruises and an optimistic attitude and heading west. It shouldn’t take us more than ten hours or so to get there so we’ll probably pull into anchor late tomorrow morning. Since it’s a short trip, Drew and I will both sleep in the cockpit and he usually assumes most of the watch duties. On longer trips we do rotations, starting at 8 p.m., three hour shifts, you both get two shifts in a night, and it all ends at eight in the morning. It’s a system that works out well for us although each cruising vessel has their own way to get them through the nights. So with full bellies we’re ready to get underway. See you in Huahine!

June 7, 2009
Memorial Day in Moorea

Over here in French Polynesia we tend to completely forget about the good old American holidays. We could go diving on a Wednesday, hiking on a Monday, and then end up spending an American holiday like yesterday pulling apart the alternator after discovering the engine compartment filled with grey smoke. For our friends and family who don’t know much about boats, we run the motor (of the little Honda generator) every 2-3 days to charge the batteries that give us lights, refrigeration, etc. When we use the main engine to charge, we have a high output alternator that increases the rate of charge and allows us to refill the large house battery bank in a shorter amount of time. It appears my 150 amp Balmar alternator has finally crapped out.

I can’t really complain. I’ve asked a lot of that little piece of machinery. It’s worked flawlessly for 4 years on a single belt setup that I ruthlessly tension every couple of weeks. The reputation of Balmar alternators out here is dismal to say the least but I don’t really know whether Balmar itself is the problem or cruisers expecting way too much of their products. Regardless, two things make me very happy. One, I have a rebuild kit on board. I don’t actually have the correct tools to complete the rebuild myself (who carries a E-5 Torx socket and a Hi-Temp Soldering Iron) but at least I won’t have to order in the parts. Two, I’m happy I carry a spare alternator. It’s the original one that came with the boat. I had it rebuilt in the states before I left, wrapped it in bubble wrap, plastic bags, and duct tape, and stuck it in a deep, dark storage hole where it’s sat for 5000+ miles. It only puts out 40 amps and doesn’t have a dedicated negative but with the wacky winds we’ve been having over here, I think we’ll like having the engine to get back to Papeete. Plus, with a spare on board, we didn’t have to rush back to town for a repair and miss the potluck party on board Zen last night. They invited the whole anchorage over so there musta been 15 people on board. Margie’s salmon cakes were a hit. She was especially happy about that since it was her first cruiser potluck and the first time she’s made her new specialty for an audience other than myself. It was great meeting everyone and marveling over the engineering feat that is Zen, a brand new Atlantic 48 catamaran. Tom, Monique, Cammi, and Cole were gracious hosts and we hope to meet up with them again farther on down the road. As for the rest of today, we’re taking the dinghy down to the western corner of Moorea to feed the stingrays and sharks. I do believe Margie is in for quite a shock!

May 25, 2009
Always something broken on a boat

Last night I decided we need a logo. Not a crappy logo either. I don’t want it ending up on this site. I’m in the market for someone who can turn the pic you see to the right into a basic logo design. If you know any good graphic designers, send me an email.

I measured the output of the watermaker yesterday. It’s supposed to make around 1.5 gallons an hour. I’m getting six cups an hour. Now I’m no expert but I’d say the thing is broke. The Katadyn Powersurvivor 40 is the purchase I regret most of anything on the boat. I’ve hated that thing since the first time I turned it on and saw it dribbling water like grandpa at the urinal. It doesn’t make sense to have a watermaker that produces that little amount when I could have bought one that makes 30 gallons an hour. Yes, the small Powersurvivor only uses a fraction of the electricity but I would rather run the engine for a couple of hours and almost fill up the tanks with a big power hog. Next time, next time. I took it apart for the fourth time in a year to see if I could fix it and once it was back together I was up to 6.5 cups per hour. That’s with the brand new membrane I brought back to Tahiti with me. I’ve checked and double checked everything so I sent off an email to Katadyn this morning.

I did a few searches and there are barely any cruising boats using Twitter. Others ought to look into it. I set up an account that will allow us to email Tweets (updates) from anywhere, even the satellite phone. It’s a great way to follow a cruising yacht in real time as they move about the globe. Not to mention, I get constant updates from the marine industry on news, products, sales, etc. Yeah, it’s one more thing to monitor and take care of but it’s also one more way to stay in touch with family and friends. And I’ve yet to meet a boat where that wasn’t important.

Almost one week has passed since I moved over to Moorea and the only cash missing from my pocket was spent on a horrible meal at a roulotte. I’m determined to eat all the Ecuadorian food on this boat before I buy anything new and the selection is getting sparse. The one thing from Ecuador I’m truly sad to see dwindling is the peanuts. The crunchy coated peanuts from there have become my favorite snack on board. I wish I would have bought 50 cans. I’m sure I could have found somewhere to store those and about 25 more rolls of paper towels. I need to sit down and write an article. “What to overload your boat with before you cross the Pacific.” Peanuts and paper towels. There. The article is finished. I would like some fresh meat though and I may have to wander over to the store today. That grill is dying to be cranked up. It is Easter so I’m sure the picking will be slim. Hopefully I don’t get over there and find a sign like this on the door.

April 10, 2009
Sailed to Moorea

It seems I am safe over here in Moorea from the worsening Dengue Fever outbreak in French Polynesia. It’s not like I can be concerned with it anyways since apparently I’m only one of 2.5 billion people living in “at risk” areas. It’s epidemic in over 100 countries. I pulled out my old WHO International Certificate of Verification to see what I’d actually been vaccinated against a few years ago when I had the shots. Hmmm…let’s see Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio, Typhoid, and Hepatitis B. Well, I’ve managed not to stab myself with any metal objects while traveling so that’s good. No need for the Tetanus. I’ve hopefully avoided food and water laced with Typhoid infected feces (although I certainly ate some questionable things at Carnival in Salvador, Brazil) so no such need for the Typhoid shot. As for Hepatitis B, I’ve managed to steer clear of whores on my journey, short of one who wasn’t even foreign, so I think I could have done without that one as well. It seems Dengue is the only disease I’ve come close to out here and there isn’t even a vaccine for it! Next time, I’ll skip the shots. After all, you could compare them to insurance and I’m out here without a lick of that (health, boat, or otherwise), so why be concerned with it?

In my opinion, Moorea is the most beautiful of all the Society Islands and so far, this anchorage at the mouth of Opunohu Bay is the best. I’m anchored in 12′ of water so clear it looks like you can reach out and touch the bottom from the bow. The reef is to my left and a small public beach is to my right.

I spent the first night in Cook’s Bay. It’s gorgeous in there and I would have loved to spend a couple more nights but alas, the real world calls and I needed the internet to get some work done.

I planned to come to Moorea first thing on Saturday morning but at 6:30am a massive Va’a race flew past the mooring field at Maeva Beach in Tahiti. Va’a, outrigger canoe racing, is every bit as important to the people of Polynesia as Georgia football is to Athens, Ga. I’d estimate that between 6:30 and 8 o’clock, fifty race boats and 300+ support and cheering boats passed by on their way out the pass to Moorea. The “follower” boats were loaded down with spectators flying the flag of the team they support and cheering them on. I assume they start racing that early in hopes of finishing before the tradewinds kick in sometime between 10am and noon. I left the mooring around nine to cross the Sea of Moons to Moorea, about a ten-mile trip, and by eleven all the boats were passing me on the way back to Tahiti. Those guys are nuts.

April 6, 2009