Get Lost On Purpose

Category: Sailing

  • Trying to stay warm in Raro

    While we’re waiting out this weather (bringing with it temps in the lower 60’s) to pass through Raro we’ve just been enjoying the island via scooter which has included eating more and walking less. So to counteract all the yummy food intake I’ve been pounding the pavements of Raro and giving my running shoes a little action for the first time this trip. It has felt amazing to get some workouts in and come back to the boat with a layer of both sweat and sea salt on my skin. It has reminded me that I want to take just a second to plug a website to our followers, Running With A Purpose.

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    A gal pal of mine from high school, Stefanie Brooks English, is an avid runner and has been for years now. Other than just for her own well being, she’s added another cause to her reasoning and it’s incredible, inspirational, and humbling. Take a moment to check it out and I guarantee you it’s going to tug at a heart string.

    Yesterday we purchased our tickets home for the holidays! For about a week now, in our efforts to find a deal and not having any luck, Drew had almost concluded that he was not going to return home in November. It upset me to no end because I didn’t find it fair for me to go home while he stayed behind and I couldn’t fathom him spending the holidays in another country alone. The cruising world can be a family within itself but I was being selfish and wanted him with me. Cost wise it was proving to be rather difficult and he kept saying “you go, I’ll just stay here.” Ummmm…noooooooooooo…

    Man it was frustrating seeing those numbers pop up every time we searched a flight and I honestly began thinking we might be spending the holidays overseas and just waiting to go home in April for his sister, Kelli, and her hubby to be, Tanner’s, wedding (which we are super stoked about!!!). But a greater power wouldn’t let that be and we managed to snag tickets to get us both home for the same price we were initially finding for just one of us. I was so happy I cried right there in the internet cafe. So come November we’ll be crossing oceans and time changes to spend the holidays with our loved ones and I could not be happier!
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    Despite locating the tickets on our own, beforehand we found the folks at Island Hopper Vacations-Cook Islands to be incredibly helpful. They spent a lot of time with us trying to help us find flights, to work with our budget and time frame, and they were quite humorous and delightful. In response to Drew’s “thanks for your help we really appreciate it,” one fella’s reply back, “ahh it’s bloody fun, isn’t it?” The sarcasm in his voice was a touch of humor to our frustrating day. So we highly recommend them to anyone who passes through here as they are capable of accommodating most of your travel needs here on the island.

  • Reroute to Rarotonga

    Well thanks to our engine, and Drew’s willingness to motor instead of sitting still like a duck in water, we were able to arrive in Rarotonga in a little over a day. There were absolutely NO WINDS to aide in our journey here but of course southerly winds hit us head on early Tuesday morning. So instead of only having four more hours left to the trip we had barely 4 knots pushing us along and another two hours or so tacked onto the trip. Funny, as quickly as we can change our plans and add another island onto our list, the weather can change just as fast. You can follow all the weather charts you want but sometimes, oftentimes, out here you get some stuff you’re not expecting, and all you can do is adjust and push on. We did just that and pulled into Rarotonga, a.k.a. Raro, around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon.

    What did prove dead on was the anchorage here in Raro. Exactly as we had expected, we came in, dropped anchor, and then butt wedged Dosia into a spot. We are tied up to a concrete wharf and could literally reach out and high five our neighbors. Needless to say, there are fenders and lines EVERYWHERE! Two other boats have come in after us so right now there are ten, one of which is a 60+ foot massive catamaran. There isn’t much room left for any more boats and we’ve all got our fingers crossed that no northerly winds or swells come ripping through here or this harbor is likely to turn into a big mess of bumper boats. On a positive note, no outboard dinghy engines are necessary as you can just pull yourself back and forth from your boat to the wharf by all the lines from the boats.

    Instantly once you pull in, your nose is tantalized by the gourmet burger joint across the street and the fish-n-chips hole in the wall off to the right of the harbor. We got Dosia settled, made sure she wasn’t going to be doing the two step with any of our neighbors, and set off to follow our noses to get something to eat. Within half a mile from the boat there are more restaurants than we could possibly eat at in the week we plan to be here, along with several grocery stores, and plenty of shopping. For Tuesday night we chose Trader Jacks, which appears to be a very popular bar and grill here on the island, large enough to possibly entertain the entire population of Aitutaki! Grilled wahoo, seafood pasta, calamari….scrumptious!

    First thing yesterday we rented Junior, our new scooter, and were off to tackle the 32 km that makes up the coastal road around Raro. The largest island, and capital, of the Cooks, Raro is home to more than half the population that makes up this group of islands. Driving here will prove to be a bit more of a test with a lot more traffic than in Aitutaki so we’ll let Drew do most of it. The wharf offers a hot water shower to cruisers (for $10NZ w/a $20NZ deposit) so yesterday I was able to take a LONG shower and didn’t have to worry about turning the water off! So nice. We’ll be able to provision our fridge while here and restock the freezer with fresh chicken and beef and the best part…there is a small movie theater here so tomorrow night we’ll be able to check out the new Transformers movie! Heck yeah!

  • Arrived in Aitutaki, Cook Islands

    Pulling out of Bora Bora on Saturday morning, we knew we were in for a rough ride. I had reached that point where I was ready to leave no matter what. We were 8 days past our “legal” date in French Polynesia, out of French Poly cash and tired of the prices, bored with the food (except that Reuben at Blood Mary’s), and oh so ready to see something new. We were attempting our first passage since last year and of course, Margie’s second ever, so we knew there would be some adjustment time to get used to the movement and life at sea. We had two meals prepared and ready to cook. I set up the blog so we could update by email and keep everyone posted on the 485 mile passage. Three hours after we pulled out of the pass we hit our first rain. Soon after, the random 12-13 foot southern waves started rolling in on our nice 8-10′ southeasterly sets. The wind gusts rose into the 30-35 knot range and by 3:30 we were sitting in the cockpit in our foul weather gear surfing down waves at 8.5 knots thinking hmm…I’m not that hungry any more and let’s just keep that computer where it is. Just after nightfall we finally gave up the cockpit and did watches from below. Those intermittent southerly swells would come out of nowhere, slap the side of the hull, and crash across the entire boat drenching anything in the path. We made 162 miles the first 24 hours which was actually slower than I thought we’d be but I think it was the wave height slowing us down. Sunday came with absolutely no improvement in the weather so we sat below all day, hatch boards in, reading and trying to keep the nausea under control. We did manage to get down a couple of tuna fish sandwiches. Day two put 151 more miles out of the way and by late Monday morning the winds and seas had abated some so I put out the full genoa. That along with the mizzen carried us at 7 knots till late night Monday. Then the wind died all together. We wanted to make it to the pass at Aitutaki with some good daylight on Tuesday so with the help of the engine we came around the northern coast at noon.
     
    Then came the pass. I circled around the front of it saying “is that it?!?” for about 15 minutes before finally dropping anchor on the outside (in the swell) so we could explore it by dinghy first and see what we were up against. It looked like the dinghy was gonna run aground in the pass as I entered so I couldn’t imagine taking Dosia in. I discovered it was dead low as one tide program had suggested (the other, of course, said the exact opposite) and we would have to roll around and wait a couple of hours before we could safely enter on the “big” boat. It was nice being able to dinghy around the anchorage and chose out my spot beforehand without coming in blind. About 4pm we wrestled the anchor off a coral head on the outside and headed in. Dosia’s draft is 5.1″ and the shallowest I saw was 5.8″. I had spent an afternoon in Bora Bora calibrating the gauges just for this pass and I was happy I did. Once inside we headed up the small outer channel into 2 knots of current and dropped anchor. As I write this I have three anchors out. Two off the bow and one stern anchor. At full tidal outflow, the current runs probably three knots and where we’re sitting it tends to push on the starboard side of the boat so I feel more comfortable with some extra protection out. The bottom is rocky in places so you gotta check your anchors and make sure they’re set. I have one bow anchor in sand and the other wrapped around a rocky head. This boat ain’t going nowhere and that’s good cause with our smoking scooter rental (code named “Scoot Scoot”) we don’t plan on spending much time on the boat! Yep, that’s right…we got transport for at least the next week. $100NZ ($65US) for a week cannot be beat. Especially when that was the cost for one day’s rental in French Polynesia. This place is G-R-E-A-T! It is wonderful to be back in a country with some sort of earthly pricing. It’s just as beautiful (if not more in my opinion) and with the same friendly South Pacific people. And here they speak English!
     
    Apparently there was a funeral on the island today and with a mere population of about 600 people, it drew the likes of many of the locals, including those in customs so that was closed. We’ll check in tomorrow and be clear to explore the rest of what we’ve already decided is going to be awesome destination!

  • Arrival to Resort Row

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    The short trip over from the west side of the island is one that can reek havoc on boaters. It would appear that areas of the reef have been blasted away to accommodate the structuring of resort bungalows or what have you. So our nav charts showed reef where there really wasn’t any and then there were twisty, ‘s’ shaped passages lined with jagged coral that had managed to outlive construction. It acquires precise attention because if you went right when you were supposed to go left, you’d find youreslf stuck on a reef before you could say reverse. Unfortunately for our friends Jeff & Julie on Flashback they learned the hard way and we had to go help them winch their boat off the reef. Minimal damage was done, so that was good, and it was a useful experience for Drew and myself seeing how we’d never had to help anyone do that before.

    We managed to avoid a repeat of Teahupoo for Dosia but were still a little on edge navigating her through waters that fluctuated anywhere from twenty to seven feet. Waters so clear and blue it looked like you could just reach your hand in and grab a big handfull of sand. Gorgeous, yes, but a little nerve racking when your boat draws five feet! But we made it and are anchored slap dab in the middle between the Four Seasons and the St. Regis resorts.
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    I really hate it for those who are fortunate to visit Bora Bora and never see this side of the island. The waters here are unlike anything I have ever seen. Miles and miles of nothing but undisturbed aquas sitting atop pads of white sand. I am all too curious to, hopefully, explore the grounds of these prestigious and elusive resorts, such as the St. Regis which drew the likes of Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Eva Longoria, and Tony Parker in its opening weeks back in June of 2006. We’ve heard here and there that most of these places are operating at less than 30% capacity right now. So fingers crossed, due to lack of clientel, they will welcome our business even though we are not shelling out the $900 a night for a room with a view. We already have one of those in Dosia. Instead we’ll just indulge in one of their $20 turkey dogs. Nothing like processed meat to make you feel like you are rubbing elbows with a big wig, huh?!?