Author Archives: Rob

We did an overnight sail from the Va’vau Islands to the Ha’apau Islands. We arrived at Foa Island shortly before dawn and had to wait for the sun to rise so we could see our way past the coral heads and into the anchorage. While there, we enjoyed a BBQ on the beach with otherContinue reading “Foa Island”

We took part in the Vava’u Blue Water Festival two weeks ago. It was a busy week though we don’t have a lot of photos to show for it. There were several seminars with information about sailing to and around New Zealand. Also, there were a couple of fun races. Until coming to Tonga IContinue reading “Blue Water Festival Week Update”

Our first few weeks in Tonga have flown by and we’re loving it here. The people are wonderful. The cruising is easy. Distances to anchorages are short. I have found a place that does a great flat white. Life is good. Here are some photos of our time in Tonga so far. Approaching Tonga andContinue reading “Tonga: First Two Weeks in Photos”

A friend emailed the other day to make sure we were okay. He pointed out that we hadn’t posted to our website or tracking page since September 5th. That’s crazy! Where has time gone? We’re fine but we have been neglecting the site. Time has just slipped by. You will notice I did a quickContinue reading “American Samoa”

Wow, wow and wow! We are thoroughly enjoying our time in Tonga. We are currently in the Vava’u group. There are three main island groups. The Vava’u group is to the north of the other two groups. It reminds of us the Gulf Islands. Beautiful islands, close together and many safe anchorages from which toContinue reading “Tonga: First Impressions”

Bora Bora Our time in Bora Bora was overshadowed by the problems we had with the watermaker. We didn’t get out and see as many things as we’d have liked but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We were under the gun to get things fixed and get on our way before our visas ranContinue reading “Bora Bora and On to Suwarrow”

As I write, we are a few hours away from departing Bora Bora and French Polynesia. We’ll have a busy day of getting the boat passage ready. In addition to things like stowing the dinghy on the fore-deck and running lines that have been put away, we also have to look around to see whatContinue reading “Bora Bora: Final Countdown”

We arrived in Bora Bora a few days ago with the plan to checkout of the country and then relax and play tourist for a few days before we leave for places to the west–likely Tonga. Things didn’t go to plan. The checkout process here takes several days. To checkout, one reports to the Gendarmerie–theContinue reading “Bora Bora: Not According to Plan”

Late one afternoon while in Rotoava, we went ashore for a walk. Rotoava is on Fakarava in the Tuamotus. We happened upon a commemoration ceremony of the 193 Association. The 193 Association strives to remember those that have died from radiation poisoning caused by the 193 nuclear tests the French Government conducted on remote TuamotusContinue reading “193”

We managed to get our jobs done and leave Papeete, Tahiti. In an earlier post I said we’d hoped to be done our jobs in a week but it would likely be ten days to two weeks before we got everything done. It was 16 days. We enjoyed Papeete but while we were there weContinue reading “Papeete: Breaking Free”