Aloha, Family and Friends,
Almost a month has gone by since I wrote an update! Who knows
where the time goes! Please remember to make address changes:
1. WEBSITE: www.peaceandaloha.com
2. SNAIL MAIL: 6178 Habitat Drive #1068
Boulder, CO 80301
phone: 1-303-527-0423 (Julie's)
The website has been updated to July 17, we hope! Please let us know if you
are having problems so that we can rectify them as soon as possible.
Aunt Bernice and Uncle David flew from Bora Bora to Huahine on July 5 to continue their tour of Tahiti. Unfortunately, we received word from Aunt Bernice's brother that she fell in the shower at the hotel in Moorea and broke her leg very close to the hip. They were taken by ambulance to the hospital in Moorea, then by helicopter to the hospital in Papeete. Somehow they were transported back to the Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles, where pins/plates were inserted in a very lengthy and complicated surgery. We understand that they are now home in Sun Valley. We have not been able to contact her because she was in the process of changing servers when they left and her new address is not functioning. We are so sorry that they had such a miserable end to their wonderful Tahiti adventure. We are hoping that they enjoyed their sailing (although we had no wind and had to motor to Bora Bora!) with us. We are also praying for her complete and FAST recovery! Our parents have also been having their difficulties. We wish that we were around to be of help to all of them! We wish you well!
We stayed on Bora Bora at two different anchorages, one on the south east side and the other at Topua Motu until July 24. We enjoyed absolutely incredible snorkeling with magnificently colored clams, rays, and many beautiful reef fishes. Unfortunately, there is nothing to spear for dinner! While we were anchored of Topua Motu near the town of Vaitape, we thoroughly enjoyed the dance contests, fruit carrying races, canoe races, etc. during the Bastille Day/Heiva 2001 Festivities which last for almost a month in French Polynesia. See website for details.
David was sick with congestion over Jasons' Birthday on July 12, but we had a small little celebration, and then prepared to sail to Suvarov in the Northern Cook Islands on about July 18. We were ready to go with good winds, when Jason came down with a fever and congestion. We were concerned that he might have dengue fever, so we did not leave until after his fever broke on July 24.
We had strong winds, big seas with squalls during our 4 day 4 hour passage (the other boats were taking 6 days! Thank heavens for our fast boat) so I was not able to catch up on all of your nice emails that have been waiting forever to be answered! Please be patient! But please continue to keep in touch! I think the main problem was my "sea legs" were left behind in Bora Bora! We arrived about noon on July 28 and were anchored with 11 other boats behind Anchorage Island, Suvarov, Northern Cook Islands. We spent another night up on anchor watch with 39 knot winds with 3-4 foot choppy waves in the anchorage with water coming over the bow! Yesterday we moved over behind Seven Islands on the eastern side of the atoll and have more protection from the swell, so we are busy doing boat projects to make her ready to sail to Samoa (we are not sure if we will stop in American Samoa or not....if anyone has good information about Pago Pago we would definitely appreciate it!!) We will travel to Western Samoa and then to Tonga. We will be in Tonga until the end of October when we will travel to New Zealand. Tonga is a possibility for guests to visit us!!!! We understand it is beautiful, equal to French Polynesia (but no French baquettes...we are having withdrawal now!). Let us know if you are interested and we can find out about airports, etc.
We just returned from two fantastic snorkel trips here in Suvarov (also spelled Suvorov or Suwarrow) which is a Nature Reserve with no inhabitants except two rangers. If you are interested, find a copy of "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale who lived here as a hermit for almost 16 years. We have never seen such clear water, coral pinnacles rising from 65 feet, colorful clams, sharks, rays, and fish. We desperately need an underwater camera to share this indescribeable beauty with you! Eric speared two parrot fish and a grouper for two dinners!
We will be checking in with the Pacific Seafarer Net again as
we complete our next passages between these islands, so if you want to check
the internet at:
(1) http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KH7JL (2) www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps
give KH7JL
you can follow our progress on the chart as we cross the ocean. Also if you
have a HAM radio license, we could also communicate with you via our SSB radio.
We hope that you will check the website for pictures, hot news and details to July 17. We wish you well and hope that you are enjoying a wonderful summer of fun and relaxing! Take care and keep in touch. We wish that you could be here to share our adventures in the beautiful South Pacific. We love you all and miss you lots! God Bless!
Love and aloha,
Ellen, David, Jason, and Eric
S/V PEACE AND ALOHA
July 30, 2001
Seven Islands, Suvarov, Northern Cook Islands