SEAYANIKA - Cal Vader 49

SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISING

March 2005 The Crossing On March 28 at 12:00 noon Zihuatanejo time (18:00 Zulu) we left Ixtapa Marina to begin our crossing of the Pacific. On board were Erik, myself and crew member Paul Oman from Tucson. Here are the updates we sent from sea:

UPDATE 1: One week at sea...somehow it seems like forever. They say after a few days it becomes a routine, but I don't think I've hit the routine yet. My favorite time of the day is, well, bedtime, where I can sleep the miles away. Humm! We're about 850 miles from Zihuatanejo and about 2000 miles from our destination. Patience is a virtue. The boys (Erik & Paul) split the night shift allowing me to be the princess, only peering out of the cabin during the light of the day. Paul mostly reads and Erik mostly stares alternately at the sea or the sails. Moments of excitement consist of dolphin sightings (occasionally), ship sightings (very rarely), and boobie chasing (frequently). Those boobies are pests! At first I thought it was nice having them visit Seayanika in the middle of the ocean. That is until I caught a glimpse of the mess of boobie poop on the deck. Yuck. So now Paul and Erik take turns scaring boobies from alighting, either with the mop or with a sling shot loaded with black beans. Now before you call the humane society on us, let me report, that even when we hit those pesky boobies with the black beans they just ruffle their feathers, give us a look that says "is that the best you've got?", and remain perched and pooping just where they were. The wind is coming directly behind our rhumb line and since we don't sail dead downwind very well (no spinnaker and no pole for our asymmetrical) we seem to be doing a lot of tacking (actually gybing). If I plotted our hourly course on a chart it would probably look more like a ping pong ball's track than an orderly progression towards our goal. As for our crew, Paul always seems to be in a good mood, plays a mean classical guitar and pulls his weight on shifts. He also nearly eats his weight daily and I'm afraid my six month's supply of food will be gone by the time we get to the Marquesas. And then, just to add a little spice to this adventure, we all quit smoking (by design) last Wednesday night. We purposely only brought enough cigarettes to get us through the first couple of days. I'm sure that's affecting the food supply also! I was really hoping to make this update more newsy, but it's hard for me to concentrate while I'm being rolled from side to side at the nav station. So, read between the lines. I'm going above to get some air. Seaya! Current position: N 13' 59 W 113' 37

UPDATE 2: Well, we've been at sea for two weeks now. It seems like a lifetime! I guess you could say that I'm finally in the groove of the trip, but I wouldn't want to do this all the time. What am I saying? I guess I'll be doing it quite a bit from here on out. Anyway, most of the days are the same, a few having punctuation marks to distinguish them from the rest. Like today for example. I woke after my 8 hours of beauty sleep to the smell of something burning; a scary thing on a boat! As I walked forward to tell Erik, who was on watch, I noticed that the smell was coming from the engine room. He opened the door and steam came pouring out. Evidently the fan belt on the engine had disintegrated and our high temperature alarm didn't go off. Well, luckily we had a spare fan belt (or 4) and no permanent damage insued, so we were soon on our way again. Stop, you say...why are we motoring? Well, we're in the ITCZ which stands for Intertropical Convergence Zone. This area which straddles the equator is mostly known for rain, thunder and the famous doldrums. I was actually kind of looking forward to the doldrums because I am pretty tired of being thrown around from side to side with all the confused swells we've been encountering. But wouldn't ya know it, no doldrums for me. We are currently located at 03'55N 121'45W. For you landlubbers that's about 1700 miles from Zihuatanejo and about 1300 from our destination in the Marquesas. With a good run, we might make it in another 10 days, but it will more likely be 11 or 12 days. I think we may be crossing the equator tomorrow, which will make us all shellbacks instead of pollywogs...don't ask, it's a strange sailor's tradition. Another tradition, which I'm sure most of you can relate to, involves toasting Neptune when crossing the equator, and giving him a bit of a sip, with the best libation on board. On Seayanika that will be a bottle of champagne we've been saving, to go along with the chocolate chips cookies I've promised to make. There may even be costumes involved - but I guess that depends upon the sea state and how tired we are. Hey, speaking of baking cookies, Mr. Erik has turned into the French Baker. He has voluntarily made homemade bread the past couple of days. We're talking right down to kneading the dough, letting it rise, punching it down again...the whole ball of wax. I thought that was going to be my grusome duty, but he has jumped right in. And now he's talking about making some cinnamon bread for breakfast. Move over Martha! We haven't seen much marine life since the dolphins we saw on our second day out. Just lots of boobies (the avian kind), and flying fish and squid that we find on our deck each morning. My highlight of the day is filling out the log and finding out how many miles we've covered every 24 hour period. So far our low day was 98 miles, the highest at 152 miles, and the average around 135-140 miles. If nothing else, going this slow certainly gives you a good feel for how huge the Pacific Ocean is. More later....

UPDATE 3: Well, we're just starting our 20th day at sea. I'm seeing a lot of sky, clouds, and well...water; same view, different day. Actually most of the sunsets and sunrises are beautiful and it's pretty amazing out here. I suppose if I was more of a yoghurt and granola, hiking-mama, nature girl, that I'd be able to appreciate this big pond a bit more. Oh well, it's just little ol' me here. A couple of scary things have happened since the last update. About three nights ago, while I was attempting to sleep, Seayanika suddenly lurched really far to starboard. Items previously considered well stored came flying out of cupboards and I slid right out of bed, squawking like a chicken. It seems that Erik decided to leave the asymmetrical sail up during the night. I had previously requested that he NOT do this. But men being men (read that boys being boys), they figured we'd have a better (read that faster) ride leaving up the asymmetrical. Well someone wasn't watching the radar very well and we got sucked into a squall. At this point Erik couldn't douse the sail because of the erratic winds. Then just before we got out of the squall the wind grabbed the a-sail and nearly knocked us flat against the water. Ok, ok, maybe we only heeled to 60 degrees, but it was enough to give me a good case of the shakes for the rest of the night. Ever since this episode I've been biting my tongue trying not to say..."I told you so". So far, so good. The other incident happened yesterday. We were putting a well-needed reef in the mainsail and Paul, our crew, didn't clamp the mainsheet in very well. A minute later as he was helping with the reef, the mainsheet let go with a bang, and as I turned around to look I see Paul hanging on to the boom being flung over the railing and out over the water. Of course, being a man-boy, he was laughing like it was some kind of Disneyland E-ticket ride; meanwhile I'm scrambling to the back of the cockpit, madly hauling in on the mainsheet and desperately trying to keep my heart in my chest from the scare. Maybe I just wasn't cut out for this type of "adventure"? Today is one of the good days (so far). We've got about 15-20 knots of wind out of the southeast which allows us to have out asymmetrical sail up and heading almost directly down the rhumbline. The swells are 3 feet or so, and fairly pronounced, so it's not a rough ride. Our best day so far (mileage wise) was 160 miles, and yesterday we put in our second best of 154 miles. Top speed to date (that we've seen, anyway) was 11.4 knots, which with our hull speed of just under 9 knots probably means we were surfing down a wave when the 11.4 recorded. The a-sail is really doing a great job and adding at least a knot and sometimes two when we fly it. Thank you Chip from Point Sails!! I've been a good camper and have been cooking two or three meals a day. This morning's breakfast was pancakes and it's absolutely amazing that they didn't come out looking like doorstops with the angle I had to cook them at. I've made Shepherd's Pie, and pressure cooker roasts, Cerdo with salsa verde, chili, etc. Erik, on the other hand has been a VERY good camper, by keeping Seayanika stocked with home(boat)-made bread. Very tasty!

April 2005 Land Ho On April 20, at 14:35 Zulu Erik and I sighted the island of Ua Huka. Unfortunately, Ua Huka wasn't our landfall, but it was exciting none the less. Nuka Hiva was spotted several hours later and we dropped anchor at Baie de Taiohae on April 21, at 00:35 Zulu. For those of you interested in statistics; total miles covered = 3094.3, total time at sea = 23 days, 6 hours, 35 minutes, best day's mileage = 165 miles, worst day 98 miles, average daily miles = 132.9, average speed overall = 5.54 knots, total engine hours = 145.2. Although we were all tired from the crossing, we were most anxious to set foot on dry land, so as soon as we re-commissioned the dinghy we were racing to shore. It felt very strange to walk on land for the first couple of hours - it was like suffering from motion sickness all over again.
On the left is the faint outline of Ua Huka - our first sight of land. On the right Erik and Katriana with the southeast point of Nuka Hiva in the background preparing to make landfall. Yeah!!

Still April Nuka Hiva We just left Taiohae Bay this morning (where we have been since we arrived in the Marquesas), and came around to the other side of the island to Anaho Bay (about 20 miles). It's really beautiful here, but right now it's pretty windy. Tomorrow we'll go snorkeling over the reef and maybe this afternoon see what's on shore - probably not much - just a few houses - no village. The coolest thing on the way over here - and a common occurance evidently - on the east side of the island we came across hundreds and hundreds, or maybe thousands of pigmy whales, also called melon-head dolphins. They swam with Seayanika for about 20 minutes and the entire ocean was turbulent with all of them. It was pretty amazing. On finances, except for fuel (which is almost $5.00 a gallon), we should be able to keep our finances down. Everything is so expensive that we're being very conservative in what we buy. Does that make sense at all?? Last Friday I took a Marquesan dancing class and it was a hoot! I haven't shaken my bum as much since dancing the samba in Brazil. The class was for a group that puts on local performances so I was able to learn one of their dances. Unfortunately, after the hour class, my back was really sore, but it was well worth it. Funnily enough, and I'm not sure why, but we were able to get our 3-month visa without the bond. I think they made a mistake at the Gendarmerie (Police). Once we get to Papeete, I'm sure we WILL have to get the bond, and they will probably be mad at us for getting that far without it. But it should only be around $600-$700 each from there. The cost of the bond is based upon the price of a one-way airline ticket back to your country of origin, so at least it should be less expensive in Papeete. Needless to say, we're really happy that the police here let us slip through the cracks.
The photo on the left is one of the Tiki's at the edge of Taiohae Bay...just like walking through an open air museum. On the right is a photo of Anaho Bay we took on a climb up the mountains towards Hatiheu. As you can see, the view was spectacular.

May 2005 Fatu Hiva If ever there was a picture postcard place that epitomized the Marquesas, Hanavave is it. Located on the farthest south, and least visited island, Fatu Hiva, it's like stepping onto the set of Jurassic Park. The island erupts out of the sea in forbidding cliffs with huge rock spires, shrouded in mist, jutting out of the tropical abundance. Ooh...how poetic! Anyway, we arrived here yesterday after a 28-hour slog through head winds and swells from Oa Pou. We weren't planning on coming here for a least a week, but when our intended anchorage turned out to be too small, our choices were to continue on to the island of Tahuata and arrive at night, or come all the way here to Fatu Hiva. So here we are. We'll catch Tahuata before heading off to the Tuamotus. As in most of the anchorages we've visited in the Marquesas, there's not much to do here. There is a small village with a church, school, and a very small store which sells some basics like flour, noodles, crackers, cleaning supplies and mosquito coils. There's a waterfall about an hour and a half walk from here which we're going to try and find tomorrow. A nice English woman on a catamaran (unfortunately I don't know her or her boat's name), drew us a map of how to get there and it's quite comical....over pebbly road, right at rock with carving on it, over two rivers...etc. I'm going to feel like we're on a scavenger hunt. Today I went to the village to see if I could trade some goodies for some grapefruit, bananas, breadfruit and papayas. I must have gone during the wrong time because I only managed to find some grapefruit - 5 huge ones in fact, in exchange for a t-shirt and a used fish knife. Originally he wanted $2.00 per grapefruit (ouch), but when I told him I wanted to trade, and showed him what I had, he was thrilled and actually wanted to give me more grapefruit. But, I figured 5 was plenty, especially considering that I bought both of my trading items at a garage sale for less than $1.00. I'm sure glad I brought a lot of items to trade! It looks like our Cabin Boy Extraordinaire (a.k.a. David, a.k.a. JR), who crewed with us on the Baja HaHa, will be joining us in Rangiroa in the Tuamotus on May 28th. I'm not sure what his plans are or how long he'll be with us, but it will be fun to have him back aboard. Watch out Tahitian vahines! Also, Erik's dad will be joining us for a week in Tahiti, and hopefully my wonderful daughter and great sister will also be able to fly over for a visit. All in all the Marquesas is a beautiful, awe-inspiring place. But it's pretty remote and expensive and supplies and services are difficult to find even in the largest 'town' on the main island. I think I'm about ready for a bit more civilization. We'll probably be leaving for Tahuata day after tomorrow (May 8th) and spend about 4 days there. Then we have our 3-day/3-night passage to Manihi Atoll in the Tuamotus. Maybe I'll be able to post photos and another update when we get to Rangiroa?
The photo of Seayanika shows her strategically placed near the rocky towers of Bay of the Virgins, Havavave, Fatu Hiva. On the right are some of the village children doing a dance presentation for the Minister of the Marquesas who came for a visit via helicopter.

Still May Tuamotus We left the Marquesas - ah...a while ago, I think about two weeks or so. What I thought was going to be a three day passage turned into a 5 day gruel-a-thon. With little or no wind the entire way, we creeped our way forward mostly with the aid of our engine at very low rpm's. I think we may have averaged 3 knots the entire way. Where we originally wanted to make landfall (Takaroa) turned out to be not such a sure thing, so along with a few friends on other boats (Carmelita, Caliope and Scud) we decided to head for Apataki. Apataki has an easy pass to go through and is a beautiful atoll - I wish we could have seen more of it. But after three days of fighting high winds, tall choppy seas (because the wind was coming from the unprotected south), feeling jerks and hearing cracks (because the anchor chain was wrapped around a coral head), we finally gave it up, split up the group, and Seayanika headed for Rangiroa. So now we're in Rangiroa - another beautiful atoll - and this atoll even has a couple of small towns to check out. In fact, day before yesterday, Erik and I got out our folding bicycles and pedaled from one town to the other, about 10 kilometers. Yesterday we were finally able to get fuel for Seayanika, which was a good thing seeing as how we were practically running on fumes. We also went snorkeling near Tipotu Pass which was great. Tons of very friendly fish - some I've never seen before like one that looks like a unicorn - and some good sized white tip sharks - just to keep the adrenaline going. I was hoping to see a Napoleon Wrasse because they look really funny with big lips. Maybe next time. I also want Erik to do one of the 100-ft deep drift dives through the pass where there are supposed to be hundreds of sharks including hammerheads. (I think I'll pass on the pass, thank you.) But wouldn't you know it, the weather has not been all that great here either! Yesterday during our walk it started pouring rain - which put an end to our walk - and we raced back in the dinghy to the boat. Today, we never even left Seayanika because the winds were howling between 25-35 knots, the seas inside the lagoon were getting steeper, and we needed to make sure that our anchor held. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. On the 29th, our friend and crew extraordinaire, David, should be flying in here to Rangiroa. Then we will take off for Papeete - hey if the weather is good we might even stop in at the atoll of Tikehau on the way. More later...probably from Tahiti.
Here are the beautiful waters of Rangiroa Lagoon. On the right is Erik at our favorite over the water snack bar near Tiputa Pass - ok - the ONLY snack bar near Tiputa Pass.

June 2005 Tahiti/Moorea Arrived here in Tahiti on May 30th after a fast passage from Rangiroa. We're settled in behind the fringing reef between the Maeva Beach Hotel and Marina Taina. Finally, the flat protected water we were expecting in the Tuamotus. A lot of our friends from Zihuatanejo are here (Carmelita, Tin Can, Pegasus, Redwood Coast, Andril, Suka and Grasal) and some of our newer friends as well (Caliope, Cisnecito, Celtic Castle). Moana hasn't shown up yet but they should be here any time. David (a.k.a. Cabinboy) will be arriving here tonight. More later! Continuint right along...David arrived from Hawaii and fell right into the groove. We then left the Maeva Beach area and went to the Quay in Papeete. It was interesting being right downtown with all the tourists, locals and locos passing by Seayanika. Moana showed up (finally!) so we stayed an extra couple of nights at the Quay. Next we were off to Moorea and spend 4 or 5 nithts in Cooks Bay. It's a beautiful bay and a beautiful island. We took many bike rides around so we saw the entire north and east side of Moorea. After Cook's Bay we anchored at the reef outside of Opunohu Bay where the water is as clear and as turquiose as can be. Many of our Zihuat cruiser buddies were there at Opunohu and Moana caught up with us again. We took two trips up to the lookout called Belvedere (once on my birthday) but the highlight of our time on Moorea had to have been the two trips we took to visit the stingrays. In a large sandy patch inside the lagoon, in about 4 feet of water, there are hundreds of stingrays that hang around to be fed. Most of the rays have a wing span of about 3-4 feet and if you have food in your hand that they want they will climb up your body and 'hug' you with their wings. It's pretty eerie the first time they do it! They are really soft (slimy) to the touch and their mouths are on the underside - watch out for their teeth! David and Ian & Becky from Tin Can got some really good photos and video of the rays.
The photo on the left is of Seayanika at the Quay in Papeete. It was pretty awesome having a large town right behind our stern - pretty odd too having people walk by on the sidewalk and peer into the boat. The photo on the right is just another gorgeous view of Moorea. There were so many!

June 2005 Leeward Islands From Moorea we did an overnight passage to the island of Huahine in the Leeward Islands. We decided to anchor in the very south part of the island at Avea Bay where most of our friends already were. After three days there and a few bike rides we went north to the town of Fare, capital of Huahine. We found our first South Pacific happy hour bar in Fare, where the beer and drinks were half price for exactly an hour, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm . So the $5.00 beers were $2.50 and the $9.00 mixed drinks were $4.50. Our first reasonable cocktails off the boat! More bike riding then off to the island of Raiatea, just 20 miles away. Raiatea and Taha'a share the same reef and are only 3 miles apart. Since we arrived here we've been bouncing around alot of anchorages. First we went to Motu Naonao, which was windy but pretty. Then we stayed two nights in Faaroa Bay on a Sunsail Mooring. While we were there it rained alot but we took a cool 'jungle' ride up French Polynesia's only navigable river. Next we stayed the night at the public dock in Uturoa, capital of Raiatea, where it was fun and easy to provision at the local Champion grocery store. Tin Can rafted up to us at the dock and we had a pot luck chicken dinner abord Seayanika. Becky made some killer bread pudding that stuffed us all. The next day we moved over to the island of Taha'a and stayed the night off Motu Mahaea. In the morning we snorkeled Toahotu Pass which had a great coral wall, then proceeded farther north to Motu Tuuahine, where there are 'free' moorings provided by the exclusive Vahine Resort. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating with us and the past few days had been windy and rainy so the next morning we backtracked to Haamene Bay for some shelter from the wind. We're still in Taha'a, now on the west side and will be leaving for Bora Bora in the morning (7/11/05). It's about 20 miles away so it should be a nice short little trip. More updates later.
Group shots - why not! On the left is a photo of some kids that Erik and I ran into in Maeva, a small village on the island of Huahine. They were mesmerized with our bikes so Erik showed them how they folded up. On the right is an impromptu gathering/potluck at Avea Beach in Huahine, with a bunch of our boat pals.

July 2005 Bora Bora What is there to say about Bora Bora? I've been meaning to go there for at least 10 years and finally my time has come. Did it live up to my expectations? Mostly yes! An extra bonus for us was that our arrival coincided with the final few fantastic days of the Heiva Festival. Almost every night we dinghied into town to watch the shows with singers and dancers from around the island. Sometimes there would be 50 or more dancers at one time, with great costumes and wild, jungle-like drum beats. Also, there were a lot of stalls and restaurants set up in the festival area. It was like a giant party every night. Our first few days we anchored off Motu Toopua, which was beautiful but a long dinghy ride across the lagoon to town. We then moved closer to town for the last couple of nights of Heiva, and our final few days were spent at the anchorage near Bloody Mary's Restaurant. A highlight of our stay was swimming with the manta rays (totally different than the stingrays we saw in Moorea) off the dock at Hotel Bora Bora. We actually got in trouble for doing it. Both Erik and Sally (Moana) accompanied me on bicycle rides around most of Bora Bora, including a couple of obligatory stops at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. The day we were leaving left us with a bit of a sour taste in our mouth -- the lady at the fuel station was pretty rude -- but we were off to the Cook Islands and weren't bothered for long.
On the left we have a photo of one of the dance groups. They were spectacular! On the right, obviously a photo of yours truly at the Bora Bora Yacht Club.

July 2005 Cook Islands It took about 3 1/2 days to sail to Aitutaki, a beautiful atoll in the Cook Islands. This is another of those places I had been dying to see. The population is around 2,500 people and everyone we met was very nice. It was interesting getting in and out of the pass because it is only 6 feet deep at the highest tide. Luckily we came in during the time of a full moon but when we left during the new moon phase we were scraping bottom on the way out. Oh well, it was only sand. We spent two weeks in Aitutaki tied up to the wharf, some of it at the Blue Nun watching Cook Island dances and drinking reasonably priced rum cokes and beer, or riding around on our rented scooter or on our bikes. It was a wonderful, relaxing two weeks. We also took a day trip out on the lagoon to some of the motus. They were stunning! Our next stop was tiny Palmerston Atoll

We have so many good photos of Aitutaki and Palmerston, that it was hard to choose which ones to include. So, I chose four. At the top is a street sign on Aitutaki and on the right a view of Maina Island from Honeymoon Island. Kinda perfect, huh! The bottom row of photos are from Palmerston, a view of the beach on the left and the entire island (almost) during the sports day party.

Aug. 2005 Niue Niue is a small island nation that most people have never heard of. It's a large upraised atoll and is surrounded by many cliffs, caves and grottos. We knew that with the open anchorage we could only stay in Niue while the weather was good and coming from the south or east. But even so, we were lulled by the calm weather of the first five days, and put off renting a motorscooter to see the other side of the island until it was too late and the weather forced us to leave. However, the short time we were there, and things we did see in Niue, made it memorable. We took several bicycle trips both north and south of the harbor and discovered some beautiful caves and small coves. The most awesome experience was when we saw a mother whale and her calf in the anchorage area. We jumped in the water and were able to watch them while snorkeling. It was really fantastic, and not scary at all like I thought it would be. Also, in Niue we found our first reasonably priced Internet Cafe, and I was able to do some website updating while there.
On the left is a photo of an amazing cave and lagoon area. Not even one of the best on the island, the colors were spectacular. It was a magical place. On the right is an example of the destruction caused by a huge cyclone last year.

Sept. 2005 Tonga It just keeps getting better and better. Arriving in Neiafu in the Vava'u Group of Tonga was wonderful. There were a few grocery stores, several bars and restaurants, and an Internet Cafe, all of which were very reasonably priced. What more could one ask for? There were also about 75 cruising boats in the large harbor, many of whom we knew. We spend about a month in the Vava'u Group and visited many of the offshore islands. Our favorite was probably Nuku where we also had a get together with all the Mexico Puddle Jumpers who happened to be in Vava'u at that time. Of the 15 boats that left from Zihuatanejo, amazingly enough 10 of them attended the get together. After the Vava'u Group we left for the Ha'apai Group but were immediately beset with high winds and cloudy/rainy weather. Bummer! After about 10 days of hunkering down trying to get protected from the wind behind flat atolls, the sun finally came out so we could do some exploring. We were also waiting for our friends on Moana to show up who had been stuck in Vava'u for the bad weather. We finally caught up with them, or visa-versa, in an anchorage at, get this....Uonukuhahaki Island. Our friends Phil and Laura on Gunner Too were there too. We celebrated Sam's 31st birthday on the beach with crab races, horseshoes and frisbee, and wonderful pizzas on Seayanika. But...the fun had to stop because we had to get to Tongatapu and prepare for our crossing to Fiji. On our way south we stopped at two of the most beautiful islands in the southern Ha'apai group, Telekivava'u and Kelefesia. Finally, paradise found! We just arrived in Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu (the capital of Tonga) and have tied up to Queen Salote Wharf in town. We leave Friday (October 14th) for the 3 1/2 day crossing to Fiji. (I am really getting tired of offshore passages!) More later.
The photo on the left is Erik with his little kid buddies in Matamaka. Isn't he sweet holding hands with the girls! On the right is a photo I took from the dinghy of an area of Kapa Island. The water color was spectacular.

Oct/Nov 2005 Fiji The crossing from Tonga to Fiji wasn't too bad. The first day the seas were pretty confused, but the second and third day were progressively better. We had to slow down a bit so we wouldn't arrive in Suva in the middle of the night. Once we had the hook down in front of the Royal Suva Yacht Club, we went into town to do our check in precedure. A little more run around than necessary, but not horrible. Suva was great as expected...wonderful provisioning, fruits and vegetables of every kind, and even funky secondhand clothing shops with Australian clothing so I could refresh my wardrobe. However, Suva does not have any travelifts (only slipways), and since we needed to haul Seayanika out to do some bottom work and shorten the prop shaft, we decided to head for the western side of Viti Levu. Vuda Point Marina was chosen and was reasonably priced. The haul and relaunch was approximatey $240 and the lay days were around $20/day. A lot cheaper than stateside prices! We were on the hard for about 5 days and then stayed in the marina for a few days afterwards before heading out to the Mamanuca Islands. Unfortunately, after about a week at Malololailai Island (Musket Cove) we were informed about a low forming and a possible tropical depression, so we decided to head back to Vuda Point Marina until the unsettled weather passed. More later.
On the left is a wonderful woman I met while on a bike ride on the island of Lifuka in the Ha'apai Group of Tonga. She invited me to her house for a juice after my hot 20 kilometer ride. On the right is Seayanika being hauled out at Vuda Point Marina.

Nov-Apr 2006 Fiji Ok, so many, many months later I will attempt to recap the rest of the Fiji adventure and subsequent decisions. One of our favorite destinations on the western side of Fiji was Malololailai Island, better known as Musket Cove. This is a very "yachtie" friendly island that has a safe anchorage for nearly any type of weather (cyclones not included). They also have set aside a small man-made island with a relatively inexpensive bar, bbq´s, all the plates, silverware and condiments that one might need, and picnic areas just for the yachties. Also nice is that it is just a short trip from the mainland (Viti Levu) to get there. Erik and I took several trips to several nearby islands in the Mamanuca group, among them Beachcomber, Daydreamer, Navadra, and a few others. I left Seayanika for six days to travel to Nananu-I-Ra Island to take a dive course (finally!) Something I should have done sooner.

Fiji is a decision place for many a cruiser. One has to decide whether to go southwest to New Zealand or Australia and possible continue around the world, north to Kiribati and the Marshalls, or return eastward to Tonga, Niue, Cooks and French Polynesia. After much discussion we decided to bring the boat back to California to cruise more in Mexico.

Apr-Aug 2006 Return I really didn´t feel up to the task of bringing Seayanika back across the Pacific so I flew back to California to arrange crew for the passage. Luckily it wasn´t too difficult! Lot´s of people answered the call to adventure and I quickly signed up six brave souls for the three leg trip. Our good friend and Baja HaHa crew, Dirk Rush, and his father John decided to help with the first leg. They (minus John at this point) have just arrived in Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Since I wasn´t along for the ride I don´t know exactly how they fared, but I do know that they got beat up a bit between Niue and the island of Aitutaki in the Cook´s. One gale they hit had them reduced to bare poles in 40-60 knot winds and big seas. Also, after having just left Tonga, an 8.0 earthquake struck with an epicenter about 70 miles from where they were. Erik and Dirk were pretty concerned because they thought they had hit something, but found out later that something had actually hit them....the earthquake. I´ll be flying to Tahiti next week for a couple of weeks to catch up with them and help with the change of crew and reprovisioning for the next leg, Tahiti to Hawaii. Then I´ll be off to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and Australia for a couple of months. I won´t be able to post more photo until I return to California which will be some time in early August. Erik should be arriving back in California about that time too.

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March 2005	The Crossing	On March 28 at 12:00 noon Zihuatanejo time (18:00 Zulu) we left Ixtapa Marina to begin our crossing of the Pacific. On board were Erik, myself and crew member Paul Oman from Tucson. Here are the updates we sent from sea:
		UPDATE 1: One week at sea...somehow it seems like forever. They say after a few days it becomes a routine, but I don't think I've hit the routine yet. My favorite time of the day is, well, bedtime, where I can sleep the miles away. Humm! We're about 850 miles from Zihuatanejo and about 2000 miles from our destination. Patience is a virtue. The boys (Erik & Paul) split the night shift allowing me to be the princess, only peering out of the cabin during the light of the day. Paul mostly reads and Erik mostly stares alternately at the sea or the sails. Moments of excitement consist of dolphin sightings (occasionally), ship sightings (very rarely), and boobie chasing (frequently). Those boobies are pests! At first I thought it was nice having them visit Seayanika in the middle of the ocean. That is until I caught a glimpse of the mess of boobie poop on the deck. Yuck. So now Paul and Erik take turns scaring boobies from alighting, either with the mop or with a sling shot loaded with black beans. Now before you call the humane society on us, let me report, that even when we hit those pesky boobies with the black beans they just ruffle their feathers, give us a look that says "is that the best you've got?", and remain perched and pooping just where they were. The wind is coming directly behind our rhumb line and since we don't sail dead downwind very well (no spinnaker and no pole for our asymmetrical) we seem to be doing a lot of tacking (actually gybing). If I plotted our hourly course on a chart it would probably look more like a ping pong ball's track than an orderly progression towards our goal. As for our crew, Paul always seems to be in a good mood, plays a mean classical guitar and pulls his weight on shifts. He also nearly eats his weight daily and I'm afraid my six month's supply of food will be gone by the time we get to the Marquesas. And then, just to add a little spice to this adventure, we all quit smoking (by design) last Wednesday night. We purposely only brought enough cigarettes to get us through the first couple of days. I'm sure that's affecting the food supply also! I was really hoping to make this update more newsy, but it's hard for me to concentrate while I'm being rolled from side to side at the nav station. So, read between the lines. I'm going above to get some air. Seaya! Current position: N 13' 59 W 113' 37
		UPDATE 2: Well, we've been at sea for two weeks now. It seems like a lifetime! I guess you could say that I'm finally in the groove of the trip, but I wouldn't want to do this all the time. What am I saying? I guess I'll be doing it quite a bit from here on out. Anyway, most of the days are the same, a few having punctuation marks to distinguish them from the rest. Like today for example. I woke after my 8 hours of beauty sleep to the smell of something burning; a scary thing on a boat! As I walked forward to tell Erik, who was on watch, I noticed that the smell was coming from the engine room. He opened the door and steam came pouring out. Evidently the fan belt on the engine had disintegrated and our high temperature alarm didn't go off. Well, luckily we had a spare fan belt (or 4) and no permanent damage insued, so we were soon on our way again. Stop, you say...why are we motoring? Well, we're in the ITCZ which stands for Intertropical Convergence Zone. This area which straddles the equator is mostly known for rain, thunder and the famous doldrums. I was actually kind of looking forward to the doldrums because I am pretty tired of being thrown around from side to side with all the confused swells we've been encountering. But wouldn't ya know it, no doldrums for me. We are currently located at 03'55N 121'45W. For you landlubbers that's about 1700 miles from Zihuatanejo and about 1300 from our destination in the Marquesas. With a good run, we might make it in another 10 days, but it will more likely be 11 or 12 days. I think we may be crossing the equator tomorrow, which will make us all shellbacks instead of pollywogs...don't ask, it's a strange sailor's tradition. Another tradition, which I'm sure most of you can relate to, involves toasting Neptune when crossing the equator, and giving him a bit of a sip, with the best libation on board. On Seayanika that will be a bottle of champagne we've been saving, to go along with the chocolate chips cookies I've promised to make. There may even be costumes involved - but I guess that depends upon the sea state and how tired we are. Hey, speaking of baking cookies, Mr. Erik has turned into the French Baker. He has voluntarily made homemade bread the past couple of days. We're talking right down to kneading the dough, letting it rise, punching it down again...the whole ball of wax. I thought that was going to be my grusome duty, but he has jumped right in. And now he's talking about making some cinnamon bread for breakfast. Move over Martha! We haven't seen much marine life since the dolphins we saw on our second day out. Just lots of boobies (the avian kind), and flying fish and squid that we find on our deck each morning. My highlight of the day is filling out the log and finding out how many miles we've covered every 24 hour period. So far our low day was 98 miles, the highest at 152 miles, and the average around 135-140 miles. If nothing else, going this slow certainly gives you a good feel for how huge the Pacific Ocean is. More later....
		UPDATE 3: Well, we're just starting our 20th day at sea. I'm seeing a lot of sky, clouds, and well...water; same view, different day. Actually most of the sunsets and sunrises are beautiful and it's pretty amazing out here. I suppose if I was more of a yoghurt and granola, hiking-mama, nature girl, that I'd be able to appreciate this big pond a bit more. Oh well, it's just little ol' me here. A couple of scary things have happened since the last update. About three nights ago, while I was attempting to sleep, Seayanika suddenly lurched really far to starboard. Items previously considered well stored came flying out of cupboards and I slid right out of bed, squawking like a chicken. It seems that Erik decided to leave the asymmetrical sail up during the night. I had previously requested that he NOT do this. But men being men (read that boys being boys), they figured we'd have a better (read that faster) ride leaving up the asymmetrical. Well someone wasn't watching the radar very well and we got sucked into a squall. At this point Erik couldn't douse the sail because of the erratic winds. Then just before we got out of the squall the wind grabbed the a-sail and nearly knocked us flat against the water. Ok, ok, maybe we only heeled to 60 degrees, but it was enough to give me a good case of the shakes for the rest of the night. Ever since this episode I've been biting my tongue trying not to say..."I told you so". So far, so good. The other incident happened yesterday. We were putting a well-needed reef in the mainsail and Paul, our crew, didn't clamp the mainsheet in very well. A minute later as he was helping with the reef, the mainsheet let go with a bang, and as I turned around to look I see Paul hanging on to the boom being flung over the railing and out over the water. Of course, being a man-boy, he was laughing like it was some kind of Disneyland E-ticket ride; meanwhile I'm scrambling to the back of the cockpit, madly hauling in on the mainsheet and desperately trying to keep my heart in my chest from the scare. Maybe I just wasn't cut out for this type of "adventure"? Today is one of the good days (so far). We've got about 15-20 knots of wind out of the southeast which allows us to have out asymmetrical sail up and heading almost directly down the rhumbline. The swells are 3 feet or so, and fairly pronounced, so it's not a rough ride. Our best day so far (mileage wise) was 160 miles, and yesterday we put in our second best of 154 miles. Top speed to date (that we've seen, anyway) was 11.4 knots, which with our hull speed of just under 9 knots probably means we were surfing down a wave when the 11.4 recorded. The a-sail is really doing a great job and adding at least a knot and sometimes two when we fly it. Thank you Chip from Point Sails!! I've been a good camper and have been cooking two or three meals a day. This morning's breakfast was pancakes and it's absolutely amazing that they didn't come out looking like doorstops with the angle I had to cook them at. I've made Shepherd's Pie, and pressure cooker roasts, Cerdo with salsa verde, chili, etc. Erik, on the other hand has been a VERY good camper, by keeping Seayanika stocked with home(boat)-made bread. Very tasty!
April 2005	Land Ho	On April 20, at 14:35 Zulu Erik and I sighted the island of Ua Huka. Unfortunately, Ua Huka wasn't our landfall, but it was exciting none the less. Nuka Hiva was spotted several hours later and we dropped anchor at Baie de Taiohae on April 21, at 00:35 Zulu. For those of you interested in statistics; total miles covered = 3094.3, total time at sea = 23 days, 6 hours, 35 minutes, best day's mileage = 165 miles, worst day 98 miles, average daily miles = 132.9, average speed overall = 5.54 knots, total engine hours = 145.2. Although we were all tired from the crossing, we were most anxious to set foot on dry land, so as soon as we re-commissioned the dinghy we were racing to shore. It felt very strange to walk on land for the first couple of hours - it was like suffering from motion sickness all over again. On the left is the faint outline of Ua Huka - our first sight of land. On the right Erik and Katriana with the southeast point of Nuka Hiva in the background preparing to make landfall. Yeah!!
Still April	Nuka Hiva	We just left Taiohae Bay this morning (where we have been since we arrived in the Marquesas), and came around to the other side of the island to Anaho Bay (about 20 miles). It's really beautiful here, but right now it's pretty windy. Tomorrow we'll go snorkeling over the reef and maybe this afternoon see what's on shore - probably not much - just a few houses - no village. The coolest thing on the way over here - and a common occurance evidently - on the east side of the island we came across hundreds and hundreds, or maybe thousands of pigmy whales, also called melon-head dolphins. They swam with Seayanika for about 20 minutes and the entire ocean was turbulent with all of them. It was pretty amazing. On finances, except for fuel (which is almost $5.00 a gallon), we should be able to keep our finances down. Everything is so expensive that we're being very conservative in what we buy. Does that make sense at all?? Last Friday I took a Marquesan dancing class and it was a hoot! I haven't shaken my bum as much since dancing the samba in Brazil. The class was for a group that puts on local performances so I was able to learn one of their dances. Unfortunately, after the hour class, my back was really sore, but it was well worth it. Funnily enough, and I'm not sure why, but we were able to get our 3-month visa without the bond. I think they made a mistake at the Gendarmerie (Police). Once we get to Papeete, I'm sure we WILL have to get the bond, and they will probably be mad at us for getting that far without it. But it should only be around $600-$700 each from there. The cost of the bond is based upon the price of a one-way airline ticket back to your country of origin, so at least it should be less expensive in Papeete. Needless to say, we're really happy that the police here let us slip through the cracks. The photo on the left is one of the Tiki's at the edge of Taiohae Bay...just like walking through an open air museum. On the right is a photo of Anaho Bay we took on a climb up the mountains towards Hatiheu. As you can see, the view was spectacular.
May 2005	Fatu Hiva	If ever there was a picture postcard place that epitomized the Marquesas, Hanavave is it. Located on the farthest south, and least visited island, Fatu Hiva, it's like stepping onto the set of Jurassic Park. The island erupts out of the sea in forbidding cliffs with huge rock spires, shrouded in mist, jutting out of the tropical abundance. Ooh...how poetic! Anyway, we arrived here yesterday after a 28-hour slog through head winds and swells from Oa Pou. We weren't planning on coming here for a least a week, but when our intended anchorage turned out to be too small, our choices were to continue on to the island of Tahuata and arrive at night, or come all the way here to Fatu Hiva. So here we are. We'll catch Tahuata before heading off to the Tuamotus. As in most of the anchorages we've visited in the Marquesas, there's not much to do here. There is a small village with a church, school, and a very small store which sells some basics like flour, noodles, crackers, cleaning supplies and mosquito coils. There's a waterfall about an hour and a half walk from here which we're going to try and find tomorrow. A nice English woman on a catamaran (unfortunately I don't know her or her boat's name), drew us a map of how to get there and it's quite comical....over pebbly road, right at rock with carving on it, over two rivers...etc. I'm going to feel like we're on a scavenger hunt. Today I went to the village to see if I could trade some goodies for some grapefruit, bananas, breadfruit and papayas. I must have gone during the wrong time because I only managed to find some grapefruit - 5 huge ones in fact, in exchange for a t-shirt and a used fish knife. Originally he wanted $2.00 per grapefruit (ouch), but when I told him I wanted to trade, and showed him what I had, he was thrilled and actually wanted to give me more grapefruit. But, I figured 5 was plenty, especially considering that I bought both of my trading items at a garage sale for less than $1.00. I'm sure glad I brought a lot of items to trade! It looks like our Cabin Boy Extraordinaire (a.k.a. David, a.k.a. JR), who crewed with us on the Baja HaHa, will be joining us in Rangiroa in the Tuamotus on May 28th. I'm not sure what his plans are or how long he'll be with us, but it will be fun to have him back aboard. Watch out Tahitian vahines! Also, Erik's dad will be joining us for a week in Tahiti, and hopefully my wonderful daughter and great sister will also be able to fly over for a visit. All in all the Marquesas is a beautiful, awe-inspiring place. But it's pretty remote and expensive and supplies and services are difficult to find even in the largest 'town' on the main island. I think I'm about ready for a bit more civilization. We'll probably be leaving for Tahuata day after tomorrow (May 8th) and spend about 4 days there. Then we have our 3-day/3-night passage to Manihi Atoll in the Tuamotus. Maybe I'll be able to post photos and another update when we get to Rangiroa? The photo of Seayanika shows her strategically placed near the rocky towers of Bay of the Virgins, Havavave, Fatu Hiva. On the right are some of the village children doing a dance presentation for the Minister of the Marquesas who came for a visit via helicopter.
Still May	Tuamotus	We left the Marquesas - ah...a while ago, I think about two weeks or so. What I thought was going to be a three day passage turned into a 5 day gruel-a-thon. With little or no wind the entire way, we creeped our way forward mostly with the aid of our engine at very low rpm's. I think we may have averaged 3 knots the entire way. Where we originally wanted to make landfall (Takaroa) turned out to be not such a sure thing, so along with a few friends on other boats (Carmelita, Caliope and Scud) we decided to head for Apataki. Apataki has an easy pass to go through and is a beautiful atoll - I wish we could have seen more of it. But after three days of fighting high winds, tall choppy seas (because the wind was coming from the unprotected south), feeling jerks and hearing cracks (because the anchor chain was wrapped around a coral head), we finally gave it up, split up the group, and Seayanika headed for Rangiroa. So now we're in Rangiroa - another beautiful atoll - and this atoll even has a couple of small towns to check out. In fact, day before yesterday, Erik and I got out our folding bicycles and pedaled from one town to the other, about 10 kilometers. Yesterday we were finally able to get fuel for Seayanika, which was a good thing seeing as how we were practically running on fumes. We also went snorkeling near Tipotu Pass which was great. Tons of very friendly fish - some I've never seen before like one that looks like a unicorn - and some good sized white tip sharks - just to keep the adrenaline going. I was hoping to see a Napoleon Wrasse because they look really funny with big lips. Maybe next time. I also want Erik to do one of the 100-ft deep drift dives through the pass where there are supposed to be hundreds of sharks including hammerheads. (I think I'll pass on the pass, thank you.) But wouldn't you know it, the weather has not been all that great here either! Yesterday during our walk it started pouring rain - which put an end to our walk - and we raced back in the dinghy to the boat. Today, we never even left Seayanika because the winds were howling between 25-35 knots, the seas inside the lagoon were getting steeper, and we needed to make sure that our anchor held. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. On the 29th, our friend and crew extraordinaire, David, should be flying in here to Rangiroa. Then we will take off for Papeete - hey if the weather is good we might even stop in at the atoll of Tikehau on the way. More later...probably from Tahiti. Here are the beautiful waters of Rangiroa Lagoon. On the right is Erik at our favorite over the water snack bar near Tiputa Pass - ok - the ONLY snack bar near Tiputa Pass.
June 2005	Tahiti/Moorea	Arrived here in Tahiti on May 30th after a fast passage from Rangiroa. We're settled in behind the fringing reef between the Maeva Beach Hotel and Marina Taina. Finally, the flat protected water we were expecting in the Tuamotus. A lot of our friends from Zihuatanejo are here (Carmelita, Tin Can, Pegasus, Redwood Coast, Andril, Suka and Grasal) and some of our newer friends as well (Caliope, Cisnecito, Celtic Castle). Moana hasn't shown up yet but they should be here any time. David (a.k.a. Cabinboy) will be arriving here tonight. More later! Continuint right along...David arrived from Hawaii and fell right into the groove. We then left the Maeva Beach area and went to the Quay in Papeete. It was interesting being right downtown with all the tourists, locals and locos passing by Seayanika. Moana showed up (finally!) so we stayed an extra couple of nights at the Quay. Next we were off to Moorea and spend 4 or 5 nithts in Cooks Bay. It's a beautiful bay and a beautiful island. We took many bike rides around so we saw the entire north and east side of Moorea. After Cook's Bay we anchored at the reef outside of Opunohu Bay where the water is as clear and as turquiose as can be. Many of our Zihuat cruiser buddies were there at Opunohu and Moana caught up with us again. We took two trips up to the lookout called Belvedere (once on my birthday) but the highlight of our time on Moorea had to have been the two trips we took to visit the stingrays. In a large sandy patch inside the lagoon, in about 4 feet of water, there are hundreds of stingrays that hang around to be fed. Most of the rays have a wing span of about 3-4 feet and if you have food in your hand that they want they will climb up your body and 'hug' you with their wings. It's pretty eerie the first time they do it! They are really soft (slimy) to the touch and their mouths are on the underside - watch out for their teeth! David and Ian & Becky from Tin Can got some really good photos and video of the rays. The photo on the left is of Seayanika at the Quay in Papeete. It was pretty awesome having a large town right behind our stern - pretty odd too having people walk by on the sidewalk and peer into the boat. The photo on the right is just another gorgeous view of Moorea. There were so many!
June 2005	Leeward Islands	From Moorea we did an overnight passage to the island of Huahine in the Leeward Islands. We decided to anchor in the very south part of the island at Avea Bay where most of our friends already were. After three days there and a few bike rides we went north to the town of Fare, capital of Huahine. We found our first South Pacific happy hour bar in Fare, where the beer and drinks were half price for exactly an hour, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm . So the $5.00 beers were $2.50 and the $9.00 mixed drinks were $4.50. Our first reasonable cocktails off the boat! More bike riding then off to the island of Raiatea, just 20 miles away. Raiatea and Taha'a share the same reef and are only 3 miles apart. Since we arrived here we've been bouncing around alot of anchorages. First we went to Motu Naonao, which was windy but pretty. Then we stayed two nights in Faaroa Bay on a Sunsail Mooring. While we were there it rained alot but we took a cool 'jungle' ride up French Polynesia's only navigable river. Next we stayed the night at the public dock in Uturoa, capital of Raiatea, where it was fun and easy to provision at the local Champion grocery store. Tin Can rafted up to us at the dock and we had a pot luck chicken dinner abord Seayanika. Becky made some killer bread pudding that stuffed us all. The next day we moved over to the island of Taha'a and stayed the night off Motu Mahaea. In the morning we snorkeled Toahotu Pass which had a great coral wall, then proceeded farther north to Motu Tuuahine, where there are 'free' moorings provided by the exclusive Vahine Resort. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating with us and the past few days had been windy and rainy so the next morning we backtracked to Haamene Bay for some shelter from the wind. We're still in Taha'a, now on the west side and will be leaving for Bora Bora in the morning (7/11/05). It's about 20 miles away so it should be a nice short little trip. More updates later. Group shots - why not! On the left is a photo of some kids that Erik and I ran into in Maeva, a small village on the island of Huahine. They were mesmerized with our bikes so Erik showed them how they folded up. On the right is an impromptu gathering/potluck at Avea Beach in Huahine, with a bunch of our boat pals.
July 2005	Bora Bora	What is there to say about Bora Bora? I've been meaning to go there for at least 10 years and finally my time has come. Did it live up to my expectations? Mostly yes! An extra bonus for us was that our arrival coincided with the final few fantastic days of the Heiva Festival. Almost every night we dinghied into town to watch the shows with singers and dancers from around the island. Sometimes there would be 50 or more dancers at one time, with great costumes and wild, jungle-like drum beats. Also, there were a lot of stalls and restaurants set up in the festival area. It was like a giant party every night. Our first few days we anchored off Motu Toopua, which was beautiful but a long dinghy ride across the lagoon to town. We then moved closer to town for the last couple of nights of Heiva, and our final few days were spent at the anchorage near Bloody Mary's Restaurant. A highlight of our stay was swimming with the manta rays (totally different than the stingrays we saw in Moorea) off the dock at Hotel Bora Bora. We actually got in trouble for doing it. Both Erik and Sally (Moana) accompanied me on bicycle rides around most of Bora Bora, including a couple of obligatory stops at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. The day we were leaving left us with a bit of a sour taste in our mouth -- the lady at the fuel station was pretty rude -- but we were off to the Cook Islands and weren't bothered for long. On the left we have a photo of one of the dance groups. They were spectacular! On the right, obviously a photo of yours truly at the Bora Bora Yacht Club.
July 2005	Cook Islands	It took about 3 1/2 days to sail to Aitutaki, a beautiful atoll in the Cook Islands. This is another of those places I had been dying to see. The population is around 2,500 people and everyone we met was very nice. It was interesting getting in and out of the pass because it is only 6 feet deep at the highest tide. Luckily we came in during the time of a full moon but when we left during the new moon phase we were scraping bottom on the way out. Oh well, it was only sand. We spent two weeks in Aitutaki tied up to the wharf, some of it at the Blue Nun watching Cook Island dances and drinking reasonably priced rum cokes and beer, or riding around on our rented scooter or on our bikes. It was a wonderful, relaxing two weeks. We also took a day trip out on the lagoon to some of the motus. They were stunning! Our next stop was tiny Palmerston Atoll We have so many good photos of Aitutaki and Palmerston, that it was hard to choose which ones to include. So, I chose four. At the top is a street sign on Aitutaki and on the right a view of Maina Island from Honeymoon Island. Kinda perfect, huh! The bottom row of photos are from Palmerston, a view of the beach on the left and the entire island (almost) during the sports day party.
Aug. 2005	Niue	Niue is a small island nation that most people have never heard of. It's a large upraised atoll and is surrounded by many cliffs, caves and grottos. We knew that with the open anchorage we could only stay in Niue while the weather was good and coming from the south or east. But even so, we were lulled by the calm weather of the first five days, and put off renting a motorscooter to see the other side of the island until it was too late and the weather forced us to leave. However, the short time we were there, and things we did see in Niue, made it memorable. We took several bicycle trips both north and south of the harbor and discovered some beautiful caves and small coves. The most awesome experience was when we saw a mother whale and her calf in the anchorage area. We jumped in the water and were able to watch them while snorkeling. It was really fantastic, and not scary at all like I thought it would be. Also, in Niue we found our first reasonably priced Internet Cafe, and I was able to do some website updating while there. On the left is a photo of an amazing cave and lagoon area. Not even one of the best on the island, the colors were spectacular. It was a magical place. On the right is an example of the destruction caused by a huge cyclone last year.
Sept. 2005	Tonga	It just keeps getting better and better. Arriving in Neiafu in the Vava'u Group of Tonga was wonderful. There were a few grocery stores, several bars and restaurants, and an Internet Cafe, all of which were very reasonably priced. What more could one ask for? There were also about 75 cruising boats in the large harbor, many of whom we knew. We spend about a month in the Vava'u Group and visited many of the offshore islands. Our favorite was probably Nuku where we also had a get together with all the Mexico Puddle Jumpers who happened to be in Vava'u at that time. Of the 15 boats that left from Zihuatanejo, amazingly enough 10 of them attended the get together. After the Vava'u Group we left for the Ha'apai Group but were immediately beset with high winds and cloudy/rainy weather. Bummer! After about 10 days of hunkering down trying to get protected from the wind behind flat atolls, the sun finally came out so we could do some exploring. We were also waiting for our friends on Moana to show up who had been stuck in Vava'u for the bad weather. We finally caught up with them, or visa-versa, in an anchorage at, get this....Uonukuhahaki Island. Our friends Phil and Laura on Gunner Too were there too. We celebrated Sam's 31st birthday on the beach with crab races, horseshoes and frisbee, and wonderful pizzas on Seayanika. But...the fun had to stop because we had to get to Tongatapu and prepare for our crossing to Fiji. On our way south we stopped at two of the most beautiful islands in the southern Ha'apai group, Telekivava'u and Kelefesia. Finally, paradise found! We just arrived in Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu (the capital of Tonga) and have tied up to Queen Salote Wharf in town. We leave Friday (October 14th) for the 3 1/2 day crossing to Fiji. (I am really getting tired of offshore passages!) More later. The photo on the left is Erik with his little kid buddies in Matamaka. Isn't he sweet holding hands with the girls! On the right is a photo I took from the dinghy of an area of Kapa Island. The water color was spectacular.
Oct/Nov 2005	Fiji	The crossing from Tonga to Fiji wasn't too bad. The first day the seas were pretty confused, but the second and third day were progressively better. We had to slow down a bit so we wouldn't arrive in Suva in the middle of the night. Once we had the hook down in front of the Royal Suva Yacht Club, we went into town to do our check in precedure. A little more run around than necessary, but not horrible. Suva was great as expected...wonderful provisioning, fruits and vegetables of every kind, and even funky secondhand clothing shops with Australian clothing so I could refresh my wardrobe. However, Suva does not have any travelifts (only slipways), and since we needed to haul Seayanika out to do some bottom work and shorten the prop shaft, we decided to head for the western side of Viti Levu. Vuda Point Marina was chosen and was reasonably priced. The haul and relaunch was approximatey $240 and the lay days were around $20/day. A lot cheaper than stateside prices! We were on the hard for about 5 days and then stayed in the marina for a few days afterwards before heading out to the Mamanuca Islands. Unfortunately, after about a week at Malololailai Island (Musket Cove) we were informed about a low forming and a possible tropical depression, so we decided to head back to Vuda Point Marina until the unsettled weather passed. More later. On the left is a wonderful woman I met while on a bike ride on the island of Lifuka in the Ha'apai Group of Tonga. She invited me to her house for a juice after my hot 20 kilometer ride. On the right is Seayanika being hauled out at Vuda Point Marina.
Nov-Apr 2006	Fiji	Ok, so many, many months later I will attempt to recap the rest of the Fiji adventure and subsequent decisions. One of our favorite destinations on the western side of Fiji was Malololailai Island, better known as Musket Cove. This is a very "yachtie" friendly island that has a safe anchorage for nearly any type of weather (cyclones not included). They also have set aside a small man-made island with a relatively inexpensive bar, bbq´s, all the plates, silverware and condiments that one might need, and picnic areas just for the yachties. Also nice is that it is just a short trip from the mainland (Viti Levu) to get there. Erik and I took several trips to several nearby islands in the Mamanuca group, among them Beachcomber, Daydreamer, Navadra, and a few others. I left Seayanika for six days to travel to Nananu-I-Ra Island to take a dive course (finally!) Something I should have done sooner. Fiji is a decision place for many a cruiser. One has to decide whether to go southwest to New Zealand or Australia and possible continue around the world, north to Kiribati and the Marshalls, or return eastward to Tonga, Niue, Cooks and French Polynesia. After much discussion we decided to bring the boat back to California to cruise more in Mexico.
Apr-Aug 2006	Return	I really didn´t feel up to the task of bringing Seayanika back across the Pacific so I flew back to California to arrange crew for the passage. Luckily it wasn´t too difficult! Lot´s of people answered the call to adventure and I quickly signed up six brave souls for the three leg trip. Our good friend and Baja HaHa crew, Dirk Rush, and his father John decided to help with the first leg. They (minus John at this point) have just arrived in Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Since I wasn´t along for the ride I don´t know exactly how they fared, but I do know that they got beat up a bit between Niue and the island of Aitutaki in the Cook´s. One gale they hit had them reduced to bare poles in 40-60 knot winds and big seas. Also, after having just left Tonga, an 8.0 earthquake struck with an epicenter about 70 miles from where they were. Erik and Dirk were pretty concerned because they thought they had hit something, but found out later that something had actually hit them....the earthquake. I´ll be flying to Tahiti next week for a couple of weeks to catch up with them and help with the change of crew and reprovisioning for the next leg, Tahiti to Hawaii. Then I´ll be off to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and Australia for a couple of months. I won´t be able to post more photo until I return to California which will be some time in early August. Erik should be arriving back in California about that time too.