Category Archives: cruising

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”

We arrived to Tahiti at the end of the Heiva Festival. Heiva is a celebration of Polynesian culture. It runs a little over two weeks but we have heard communities practicing for it ever since we arrived in the Marquesas. There are singing and dancing competitions as well as traditional sporting events. Last Saturday weContinue reading “Heiva”

We are anchored near the airport in Papeete. It’s an interesting spot. One must call on the VHF radio for permission from Port Control to enter the harbour. Then, when heading south, any vessels higher than 6 m must have permission to transit the area because the route crosses the airport runway. This means callingContinue reading “Papeete First Impressions”

South Pass, Fakarava Atoll Passes in reefs are how we get in or out of an atoll. They are just breaks in the outer reef that are wide and deep enough for boats to slip through. Some are quite large, others are not. I have mentioned before that they can have strong currents running throughContinue reading “Wall of Sharks!”

I’m not sure why they call them Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUPs). Kneeling Paddle Boards or Lie On Your Belly Paddle Boards or Spend a Lot of Time in the Water Paddle Boards may be more descriptive names. We recently bought one. We bought it from another cruiser when we were still in La Cruz,Continue reading “SUP, Sharks and Blood In The Water”

Please Note: I posted a shortened version of this a few days ago on our tracking page. Here it is with a few more details. We pulled ourselves away from Tahanea a few days ago and are now in the Fakarava lagoon. The passage from Tahanea was short at just 50 nautical miles (90 km)Continue reading “Fakarava Island, Hirifa Anchorage (SE)”

Tahanea Atoll was our first atoll in the Tuamotus and we loved it. If it weren’t for the fact that our visas for French Polynesia will run out in about six weeks, we might still be there. If you aren’t familiar with atolls, they are somewhat circular reefs with an inner lagoon that provides goodContinue reading “Tahanea Atoll”

This passage was tougher than I’d anticipated. It shouldn’t have been or so I thought. After all, we had completed the passage from Mexico to the Marquesas–probably the longest passage we’ll ever have to complete. Our passage from Mexico was a little under 3,000 nm (5,000 km). This one was just over 400 nm (740Continue reading “Passage to the Tuamotus”