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2 Shark Dives and 1 Very Angry Frenchman

 We made our final downhill run to Papeete today, and to commemorate the occasion, Frank could not resist playing his theme song for the Pacific section of the trip: Southern Cross, by Crosby, Stills & Nash. It was kind of emotional for me, knowing I would not be back the Tuamotus way for many years most likely. All we have left here in French Polynesia is a trip to Bora Bora in a week or so, and then we’re on our way out…to the Cook Islands and on to New Zealand, the waterborne part of our trip having come to a close. We fly out from Rarotonga in the Cooks…

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Safely Arrived in Fakarava

 So we arrived in Fakarava on an incoming tide after an easy couple of days running downwind. We plan to check out some dive shops after we get Karen safely loaded on a plane back to the U.S. She has some family business to attend to, and we hope to see her back in Tahiti in a week or so.

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Leaving for Fakarava

 We leave for Fakarava tonight, 350 miles to the west-northwest. It should be a quick downwind run. We hope to get there in about 2 days and do some diving in its famous passes—famous for being full of hundreds of reef sharks. I’m excited to get some pics, though our dive housing for the camera seems to have an unidentified leak. If the dive isn’t too deep and the housing holds out, it should be awesome all around.

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Safely Arrived in Hao, Not Amanu

 We finally made it to Amanu yesterday afternoon, after beating and slogging for 5 days nonstop. The moment we hit the lee of the island and the seas calmed, I rushed downstairs to grab my long-awaited shower. Thank goodness I did, because after a few unsuccessful attempts at finding a suitable place to anchor, we gave up and sailed away. The winds were still up and blowing across the length of the lagoon, so there was about 3′ of chop and there was nowhere protected we could go that wasn’t littered with coral heads. None of the crew wanted to have to head out for another sail, but it was…

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Life on Board: Why Gentlemen Do Not Sail to Weather

 It’s been 3 and a half days, and we’re barely halfway. The boat is pitching and bucking and rolling like a 50-ft. mechanical bull. We’ve chafed through our outhaul and a temporary outhaul strap once, and the roller-furling line on the jib is up next after an unfriendly encounter with a 30- to 40-kt squall this morning. Funny thing is, that squall was the one moment of comfort I’ve had in days. I awoke to the sound of raindrops on the cabin ceiling this morning and was in wonder at the smoothness of Tahina’s motion. I thought maybe the wind had died, and we were gearing up to motor. It…

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Guests Come and Gone, Moorea’s Done

 Jason and I have spent our last week far away from computers, hanging out with Tahina’s guests, Patty and Gerard, and tooling around Moorea. We did a half-day ATV tour and visited 3 anchorages on the island. I had the opportunity to play “stingray whisperer” and pet some gregarious rays on Moorea’s northwest corner, and Jason got to refresh some of his dive instructor skills, taking Patty on her first ever discover SCUBA session. Jason and I also got time in for a dive on the west side of Opunohu Bay inside the lagoon, and we had fun meeting other cruisers at a Canada Day potluck and bonfire on the…

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Huahine, a Little Slice of Paradise

 Our quick little sojourn to Huahine turned out to be worth the rush. We didn’t have much time since we had to be back in Tahiti by Friday to prep for Frank & Karen’s friends’ arrival, but we decided to make the trek anyway, and we’re glad we did. It was a lumpy overnight sail from Moorea, and when we arrived just past daybreak, we were the only boat in our anchorage. Before we came, we arranged an all day 4×4 tour with Huahine Land Tours to meet us at the Fare town docks at 8:30 a.m. Our guide Joselito was waiting for us as soon as we came in,…

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Jason Wins a Prize!

 After a night of 30 knot winds, we awoke to a drizzly morning in Moorea. The Puddle Jump folks had a whole day of sports and Polynesian activities scheduled for us, so we made our way to shore in the rain and paired up with another boat to make a team. We did outrigger canoe races, a fruit carrying race (2 full banana stalks strapped onto a bamboo pole like barbell), and a tug of war. Jason took on the banana barbells and out ran every other man who tried today. I was so proud! He ended up winning a heavy carved wood sculpture shaped like Moorea and etched with…

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