Hot News

June 1, 2001 ~ June 15, 2001

June 15, 2001

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHINA!!!! A very special #21!!!! We hear that you had a special celebration a few days before this!!!

Welcome to Maui....Jay, Theresa, and John!! We wish we were there to windsurf with you! Enjoy Maui!

We were up early (NO surfing again, we understand that the surf is down!)and arrived at the Polynesian Museum via le truc, before they even opened! What a wonderful museum!!! Very very educational! They also have a photographic display of photographs taken by Conte Rudolphe Festetics and his bride who traveled from San Francisco to Sidney, Australia from 1893 to 1898 on their honeymoon! Included in this display are photos of Manihi Salmon's (from Fakarava) ancestors!

We then walked from there to the Ariki Boutique, which manufacturers: colas, candies, beer, whiskey, fruit juice, noni, etc. We had a tour and sampled chocolate covered pineapple (wonderful and loaded with vitamin C!) and macadamia nuts, vanilla liquer, beer, and vanilla ice cream! Julie and I spilt a chicken for lunch with french fries and potato salad, the guys had a cheeseburger and a coke! We also met Russell Kaaa from Waiehu, Maui and his nephew, Jason, who just graduated from Baldwin! I know....but it is definitely a SMALL SMALL world!! We arrived home about 3pm and Eric went diving. Julie, David and I went snorkeling for about an hour...lots of fun, neat coral, and NO sharks!!!

We had a quick dinner of tuna salad before picking up Tamera and Kelly and then following *Cherokee* into the dinghy dock at the Beachcomber Hotel to watch their magnificent Tahitian show while we were enjoying a beer at the bar!!! They had quite a production with fire dancers and fishing and canoes in the pool (Actually very similar to productions which we had at our house!). Very nice!

We are going to update this site at the internet place tomorrow. We are enjoying having Julie here with us, but we are finding it difficult to leave Maeva Beach. However, we will probably leave for Moorea for a few days on Tuesday or Wednesday and then to Raiatea/Bora Bora. Julie unfortunately returns to Denver on June 27 from Raiatea. We are also expecting the arrival of David's Aunt Bernice and Uncle David on June 30....so we will be very tired trying to keep up with them!!! They are 80+ and still going strong! We look forward to hearing from all of you via our email address directly to the boat!!! Love to you all!

June 14, 2001

HAPPY FLAG DAY, USA!

We spent the morning looking through mail (nobody had the energy to wake up early to surf!) and the many items which Julie had brought!!! Christmas in June!!!! It was sooooo much fun to have Julie here! David realized that he needed more tax information, so we went into the marina to send a fax, had a tour of *Rover* and visited with *Lady Samanta.* We had a squall go through just about the time that Eric was going diving with Tamera and Kelly, so no diving or snorkeling! We had a delicious dinner of mahi mahi with Sam Choy wasabi dressing (which Julie brought), rice, French bread with New Zealand butter, mixed vegs, and rasberry pastries! We celebrated with Sambuca!!!

Besides having to deal with our taxes and the IRS, our health insurance is being cancelled for all of us, and problems with our credit card. There was a time when I loved getting mail....now...all we get are bills! We only had one real letter from my Aunt Kay and Uncle Dick in Oregon!!! Thank you! And thanks for the nice pictures!

June 13, 2001

HAPPY HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, JULIUS on *Argonauta, NY*....Why are you still in the Tuamotus? We are all here waiting for you to celebrate in Moorea on THIS date!!!???

Eric went surfing at 5:30am to avoid the crowds!!! He and Eric spent the morning visiting with Kelly and Tamera, aboard *Saiorse* enjoying lattes from their expresso machine! David went snorkeling and I worked on this website, which I continued during the afternoon after we went shopping for bread and checked out the marina for diesel and for docking the dinghy tonight when we went to the airport to pick up Julie.

We had a delicious fish dinner and left the boat about 8:30pm, dinghied to the marina, walked back to the hotel to catch a Le Truc and arrived at the airport about 9:10pm. John and Gail (*Rover*) were heading back to Denver on the Hawaiian plane on the return flight of Julie's plane. They will do the opposite in two weeks when Julie leaves on June 27!) Barrett, the son of Ken and Wendy on *Someday is Here* was also arriving, so they were there waiting also. There were many celebrities aboard, because there were dancing girls, a band, and photographers waiting!!! We must be getting old, since we didn't recognize them! Either a surfer star or a reggae band!!! We didn't stay to long...grabbed a taxi, which cost 3000CFP for 5 of us and all Julie's bags! She and Rod were really sweating it while waiting in line to check in on Maui with her three bags, weighing 70 lbs each. A very nice agent (who was eyeing her!) in First Class check in line motioned her over, checked all her bags (never even went on the scales!) through to Tahitiand he gave her a bulk head seat from Honolulu to Papeete, so she was one of the first to deplane! Thank you very much. Julie and Rod did an excellent job of purchasing and the packing of ALL the items that we had requested!!! Thank you both lots and lots!

June 12, 2001

Eric went surfing again this morning with Nic, even though they didn't get home until after 11pm! He still managed to get up at 6am! We were all set to run the generator and do a load of wash (the boys sheets which need to be done during the day time...) at 7:30am, but the water was full of stuff so we couldn't run it until about 9:30am. I cleaned all the baths and David put muriatic acid in the heads. David painted the boomvang attachment while Eric sharpened knives, especially his fishing knife, and hopefully, fixed the leaking hose on the stern water shower. I have been doing the washing and working on the website. I am almost finished, but still need to add Ports of Call and the title page. We are hoping to post this tomorrow. This will be our first update using the cd on our new web page, which you obviously know by now has been changed to peaceandaloha.com.

Chris, Julie's fiance, has taken it over and will be webmaster and we are leaving maui net because it was much too expensive and we couldn't connect with them. We are very busy trying to finish all our work before Julie arrives tomorrow evening at 10:45pm from Maui. We want to be able to spend lots of time enjoying Tahiti with her. We haven't seen her since last August in Grenada. We are all really excited!!!!

We want to thank you for your Christmas cards and your emails and your patience for my answering them! Please remember that is our ONLY link with our family and friends. Please continue to write your emails and mail your cards and letters, too. We especially appreciate the pictures. We miss you all and truly wish that you could be experiencing the absolutely incredible beauty of the South Pacific Islands! God bless!

June 11, 2001

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSANNE!!! We wish we were there to help you celebrate your special day!

I spent the entire day working on updating this website since I had gotten so far behind and we had accomplished so much. Eric went surfing in the morning again with Nic (he needs to take advantage of this special place because most of the time, we are not anchored any where near good surf....for obvious reasons! Then he worked on fixing the halyards on all the sails, the boom vang, and then he and Jason took in all the garbage and went to the supermarket to get bread, etc. David worked on sewing the sail, cleaned all the teak in the cockpit (the back seat was looking rather gross after cutting up all the fish!) and then went for a snorkel. Jason, Eric, and Nic were invited by Kelly and Tamera for apple crisp and expresso last night after dinner and then they played Pictionary - Eric and Jason won!!! David and I stayed home and did another load of wash!!!! FUN!!!

June 10, 2001

Another work day!!! We tried to use the sewing machine to sew up the rip in the genoa which happen on our way here, but we couldn't use the thread Ullman Sails gave us. It has a coating on it and it won't go smoothly through the machine. So, David and Eric starting sewing by hand. I had to work/knead Herman into a loaf and put him in a warm place. Jason worked out all afternoon. I made clam chowder and cooked the sourdough bread for dinner after we returned from "sundowners' aboard *Gray Wolf* with Kelly and Tamera. We enjoyed seeing their brand new boat...but they have had too many problems and are going to hire a captain to sail it back to St. Thomas and keep it there unless they can sell it first (it is already on the market!). I can understand their frustration having been there; however, when they told us that they had NOT stopped at the Galapagos, the Marquesas, or the Tuamotus....I can't understand that???? It is always interesting to see other boats and to meet other cruisers and hear about their past lives, etc. We had to do another wash after dinner. We need to have a nice clean boat when Julie arrives on Wednesday!

June 9, 2001

A stay-at-home-WORK-on-boat day!!! I fed Herman and made a loaf, made brownies, did a load of wash, cleaned out our closet, cleaned the boat, and wrote emails. Eric and David fixed the boom vang (after Jason and Eric got up about 10:30!!!). Eric changed the oil in the generator. David covered the sanitation hoses in our closet and Jason's closet with aluminum foil to see if he could contain the smell until we can replace it with PVC or other hose in New Zealand.

June 8, 2001

Eric went surfing again with Nic at 6:30am and unfortunately, Nic broke his board. Luckily, he has another...

We stopped by *Gray Wolf* to meet Dale, Flo and their sons, Eric (12) and Ryan (10) from Michigan. *Gray Wolf* is a brand new Swan 44, which they had built in Finland and sailed from there last October!!!

We then dinghied across to pick up our welded part. Bad idea! The wind was blowing 20+ and it was against the current in the harbor, so we got VERY wet. The good news was that Bernard had it completed and the charge was only 12359 CFP instead of 21800 CFP. We were happy! It looks like he did an excellent job. Let's hope that #3 weld does the trick! We dinghied over to the quai where many sailboats are parked stern-to and locked it up. We purchased the same sandwiches and some pomme (apple) pastries for dessert at the market. We went to a different internet cafe and purchased more vegetables at the market (the pastries were all gone!) We visited with *High Drama* and *Giselle* (Pete and Gay from England) at the market. It took us another hour to return home by dinghy, but we were going downwind, so we didn't get wet.

Eric worked some to fix the fresh water pressure pump when we arrived home, so that we could have showers. Then he, Jason, Nic, Kelly and Tamera from *Saiorse* (Gavin and Wayne left last night for USA to make some money and will return in two months), plus others took le truc into town, had dinner, did the night scene....arriving home at 4AM!!! They left us old folks home....David wasn't feeling well, otherwise, we would have gone to the dance show at the Beachcomber or Maeva Beach Hotel. Maybe next week!

June 7, 2001

Eric was up bright and early and off to surf the pass break with Nic from *Shakti* whom he had surfed with in Wreck Bay, The Galapagos. He returned about 9am, just in time for us to head to Papeete in le truc (120CFP/person/each way)and went back to Banque de Tahiti, where they ran our Otto card through the manual machine and charged us a commission to exchange the money. Then we walked about ten miles out to Techni Marine, which is out on the breakwater as one enters the harbor. Paul on *Renegade* was hauled out there for bottom work and he discovered that they could weld our boom vang attachment. So, he had contacted us several days ago via SSB to tell us where to go. Bernard said that he would have it finished on Monday afternoon and it would cost 21800 CFP, including 9% tax. We thought that was really high, but we didn't have any choice...Then he said that it would be finished tomorrow at noon.

We walked back into town (45 minutes) and bought panache sandwiches (really good with egg, turkey, lettuce, and tomatoes and only 220 CFP each) at the huge downtown marketplace. We ate on the waterfront where the Rennaissance Cruise Ship *Four* was docked. We were very tempted to sneak aboard!!! We ran into *Suvarro II,* *Beacon,* *Rover,* and *Bow Bells* while we were at the internet cafe and then back at the market purchasing some fruits and vegetables and bread for dinner.

We are a little concerned about dengue fever which seems to be everywhere. There is no preventative except insect repellant and not being bitten by the daytime mosquito! There are several cruisers who have gotten the disease. William, Claire and Jonathon on *Attitude* (England) all have gotten it. Their daughter, Hannah, broke her arm in Nuku Hiva, so they have had quite a time of it!

June 6, 2001

Last night was a little calmer, but we found ourselves going too fast, so by the time Eric woke me up for my watch at 4am we were off Point Venus Lighthouse on Tahiti about 10 miles. We had talked with *High Drama* on the nets the last two nights, because they were also sailing to Tahiti, but from Rangiroa, which gave them a little better angle on the wind. We could see them on radar. Eric went to sleep and David and I were on watch and we were moving about 2 knots under bare poles in the current and waves. Finally it was light enough to make out the harbor entrance to Papeete (it is well lighted and you could enter during the night) and we called the Port Control on VHF #12 at about 6:30am asking for permission to enter Papeete Harbor. She informed us that there was a ferry and another sailboat leaving and then we could proceed. After we were inside the harbor (we do not need to pay close attention to the currents in the passes here like we did in the Tuamotus), we motored west down the channel on the inside of the reef to anchor off Maeva Beach. We needed to call Port Control twice more for permission to pass both ends of the airport runway. We were cleared and were greeted by *Cherokee* in the anchorage. They gave us lots of tips about where to anchor, but it took us a long time to find that "right" spot to anchor. We were anchored in 55 feet on the right hand side of the channel almost over the beginning of the reef. It is absolutely beautiful here.....we have a view of Tahiti and across the reef and the breaking surf is Moorea. It doesn't get much better than this! (I know you are really tired of how beautiful every place is....but it is true! I just need more words to describe places!) There are about 50 boats here now, with many of our friends: *Cherokee,* *Lady Kathyrn,* *La Boatique,* *Bow Bells,* *Aldebaran Milwaukee,* *Silver Fin,* *Suvarro II,* *Liberator,* and *Saoirse.*

We put the boat back (took up the anti skid, made beds, unmade beds in the main cabin, cleaned the baths, put out all our treasures and altar, washed all the dishes, etc. etc) and had an early lunch. Julie and Barry on *Cherokee* were heading in to Papeete, so they offered to show us the way....into the "free" dinghy dock (at Maeva Beach Hotel, the Marina Taina is charging 500 CFP/day to leave your dinghy at their dock), where the stores are, how/where you get a le truc (their buses), where the internet cafe is located, etc. etc. We checked in with Immigration, Customs and the Port Captain. We were already in a little purple file folder on their desks...they keep tabs on every vessel here! We tried to locate an ATM machine that would take our Otto card or Otto check card, but none would, even though it has MC and Cirrus on it. We still don't understand. We tried the Banque de Tahiti which is connected with Bank of Hawaii, but that didn't work either. We did buy a phone card (1000 CFP for 10 minutes) and David called his mother, who is having a really rough time, since Dad Ernisse went into Canterbury House, a nursing home for Alzheimer's. We then went to the HUGE supermarket....just like a Walmart....we can buy anything and everything....just at about 4-5 times the cost in the USA!!! We were having culture shock after being away from everything for months! We purchased some fruits and vegetables and four French baguettes (we can afford them at 40 CFP/each!). There seems to be no shortage of money here!!! France takes very good care of these islands and their people! We also ran into Susan *La Boatique*, Georgio from *Lady Samantha,* the crew from *Rover,* and saw Nic from *Shakti* in a le truc!!

We had a delicious dinner of wahoo/ono (in spite of Brendon on *Mayling* saying that wahoo could have ciguatera!!!!), rices, fresh beans, french bread and cookies. We obviously went to bed very early and slept very well in this beautifully calm and very protected anchorage!

June 5, 2001

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER!!! We hope that you had a nice day!

Thankfully, it calmed down enough during the night that we were all able to do our watches and didn't have to double up. Today the wind was a little lower, but it was so gusty...blowing like stink during the squalls and then afterwards, it dies to nothing and the boom and the sails bang. We also had to contend with large swells coming from all different directions, mostly on the beam, which causes the non-stop rolling! Not a good situation. To break the monotony of trying to sail fast, but not too fast, since we did not want to arrive after dark....we caught a large mahimahi, which gave us 5 dinners. Very much appreciated with Julie arriving soon!

We decided that we needed to put up the "batwings" (Jason's nautical term) or our downwind rig, since we had gone so far south during the squally winds of yesterday and last night and the wind was also coming from the east now. We needed to go west! It wasn't as bad as we had thought, however, the seas continued to built all afternoon and it was getting pretty uncomfortable, but we were progressing in the right direction.

We were pulling in our fishing lines because of a crazy baby booby bird who was very intent on eating one of our lures and we discovered we had a fish! We had a BIG fish! We had a HUGE wahoo/ono of 60" and probably 70-80 lbs. Eric was cutting up fish until after dark! The fish gave us 17 dinners...just perfect for Julie and other company, if anyone comes to see us!

June 4, 2001

We decided after looking at many many weather faxes that it was all right to leave to go to Papeete. *Saiorse* had made it in one night, but they were able to leave the pass early in the morning and they had good strong winds! We made the boat ready for two overnights and I made lunches. We pulled up the anchor at 9:30am and went out the pass about 10:30 am with no problems, since the current had already started to come in. We just didn't want the wind against the current. The seas were VERY lumpy and confused and the winds were blowing over 20 knots. We had to motor south along the coast to be able to put up the sails and be free of the lee shore. We passed *Adelie* sailing to Toau from Fakarava. They couldn't sail to the south side of Fakarava in these strong SE winds, so they decided to sail to Toau and spend some time with Mark and Dorothy.

We had a really rough day and night with many squalls, where the winds were gusting to 51 knots (and we had the main sail completely up....that was NOT fun!!!). I tried to write on this computer, but I lost my lunch, so I gave up. I thought I was supposed to get over this....????? So, I decided not to eat dinner, but the guys had some rotis and brownies.

June 3, 2001

We went over to snorkel the pass with Mark and Dorothy about 9:30am and found that the tide was already coming in. We drift snorkeled one side and then crossed over the pass and drift snorkeled that other side, which seemed better. We saw many fish and LOTS of sharks, but definitely did not begin to compare with Fakarava. Eric waited until late in our snorkel to spear fish some parrot fish, but we came away empty handed with no dinner after an hour and half. There were just too many sharks and they were always lurking nearby. So, we went home for lunch!

Dorothy and Mark joined us for "sundowners!" and we saw an incredible green flash...but Mark did NOT. He is one of those non-believers!!! Dorothy brought me "Herman"....so I now have another male aboard...to take care of! Herman is a sourdough bread starter....I have to feed him every 3-5 days (and make bread or cinnamon rolls) or he will die!!! We thank her very much...my guys will appreciate good bread and cinnamon rolls! Got to keep the crew happy and fed!

June 2, 2001

We were up bright and early and pulled up our anchor at 7:15 am to sail to Toau, another atoll in the Tuamotus about 13 miles across Chenal de Fakarava, which is the most direct route through the archipelago from the Panama Canal to Tahiti. *Saoirse* left and headed to Papeete. We arrived and were anchored near *Dirty Dottie* (Mark and Dorothy from near Ft. Lauderdale in Florida) about lunch time. We were anxious about going through Passe Otugi after reading someof the cruising guides, however, we had the wind WITH the current going in, so we went in several hours before our calculated time of slack water.

We had lunch, put the boat back in order and then went snorkeling/spear fishing over the reef. Eric shot one parrot fish, but we were scared away by the sharks, which seemed even more agressive than in Fakarava, which is surprising since no one lives down on this part of the atoll. We were only in the water for about 30 minutes, but the wind was blowing hard at 20-25 knots.

We had a delicious dinner of the parrot fish, corn, rice and brownies, before we watched "Still Breathing" which we really enjoyed. Another very different movie but good!

June 1, 2001

We listened to the nets, informing other cruisers that Kelly and Gavin had been found and were safe. Unfortunately, it was a very rainy and windy (20+) morning. It finally cleared off some and we went into the village about 9:00 am in search of black pearls (from Manihi's cousins) and bread. We stopped at the dive shop (now that Paul on *Adelie* told us where it is located) and spoke with Jean Christoff about pearls (he had some, but didn't know the prices and his girl friend would return in two hours and his neighbor who also sells pearls was not at home), about bread (he said that we could maybe get some between 10:30-11 from the big store) and about the fish that we could spear on Toau (he showed us in his book). One out of three questions isn't too bad! He told us that Jean and Ato Lissant (Manihi's cousins) live about 7-10 km out of town! So we checked the store for bread (No luck...will have to make my own!) and walked!!!

We noticed the fellow who had directed us around in buoys when we were sailing into town yesterday. He told us to walk down the road and he would sell us some pearls. We bought two inexpensive ones from him and were told to go to the next place and they would have some high quality ones. They were not home either. So, we walked and walked and walked. We finally flagged down a truck and asked them where Jean or Ato lived and they gave us a ride to Ato's home. He also had bungalows on the beach like Manihi and he had quite a few guests. His wife gave us some juice, which was much appreciated. It was still slightly cloudy, but very warm. We looked at his pearls and were told that most of the pearls are in Papeete being sold to brokers. (just our luck..perfect timing!) His prices were VERY high...He said that he had sold a pearl similiar to his very large perfect round green one to Kelly Slater! He also had pairs of different colored ones: white, purple, pink, green/blue....all very beautiful! But we couldn't afford his prices! So, we graciously left with directions to his brother's home down the beach passed the new hotel that they are building.

We FINALLY arrived and met Jean at about 1pm. He was at the home of Patrick and Flora (also Manihi's cousin) and THEY had pearls. Jean's wife, Poema, was in Tahiti with all of theirs. We looked through everything and purchased several nice ones...we were pleased. They gave us drinks: beer for the boys (great on an empty stomach!) and perrier for David and myself. We also asked about what they did with the oyster meat...Flora gave us one with lime and salt on it.....Very very delicious! She also gave us some of the shells. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to see how the entire process works, like many of the other cruisers on different atolls. We will just have to return to the pearl farm in Tahaa and have another tour (Eric missed that one since he had to remain on our Moorings charter boat because it was blowing so hard). We were treated to their family photo album....Flora and Patrick also have a beautiful daughter living in Papeete. They didn't give the boys her phone number, either!!!!

Flora gave us a ride back into town (Boy...it was a LONG way!) and we saw Manihi for a short visit, and also stopped by *Adelie*. We had a nice quiet evening at home and went to bed early!!! Enough excitement and exercise for us old folks the last couple of days!!! But we were happy, we finally had some beautiful black pearls!