Aussie attacks reef!

Visiting yachtsman/surfer after the incident!


NEWS FLASH: HUAHINE: "Australian cruising yachtsman Geoff 'Snake' Sexton today again attacked a local reef at Fare Pass in Huahine. It is reported that yesterday the surfer acted aggressively towards the reef and in the act his leg rope was broken and surfboard thrust towards the reef. Assistance was given to the surfboard and reef by visiting Kiwi University student and a local female surfer offered assistance to Mr Sexton, which he refused. Today, Mr Sexton again surfing on the break threw himself onto the draining reef with no mercy. In the unwarranted attack, Mr Sexton suffered numerous cuts, scratches and bruises. The reef is reported to be a bit broken up by the attack. Locals have commented that Mr Sexton is gaining the nickname of 'Crash' and that if his aggressive behaviour continues they may have to ask him to leave!'





In other news, Christine Foster sister of the above, has landed in Huahine this morning, local rumours are that she has been called in to try and restrain and control her younger brother. Mrs Foster is a teacher in Murgon and has many years experience in handling young children and her experience is considered invaluable in the above circumstances. Mr Sexton's wife is reported to be very embarrassed and is refraining from making any comment to the media in regard to the incidence.





It is hoped by the local Gendarme that the Sextons on their yacht 'Sea Otter' will move anchorage tomorrow and that this should relieve all tension.

Geoff declares "Today was perfect"

One very happy boy!

The afternoon with a awesome cloud street!


He was actually talking about Friday. And I have to agree it was pretty damn nice! It started off with the calmest morning I think we have ever had. Millpond, is probably a good description of the anchorage. You could watch the fish on the bommies 22' below. A cool breeze of no more than about 5 knots was wafting in with just a hint of jasmine and vanilla. The sky was blue and....the surf was ON!

Geoff enjoyed two long surf's yesterday, one in the morning. He started out alone and was joined by a couple of Kiwi Uni students, then a couple of other hot locals and another couple of surfing yachties. About 2' to 3' long easy slow lefts. Just how Geoff likes them. Then we had a lazy quiet day, the odd swim, the odd snorkel, a ham, cheese and tomatoe baguette for lunch, then in the afternoon another surf for Geoff. It was probably another foot bigger by then and even better formed. He returned a VERY happy boy. Declaring that this was his favourite Island and that it was the perfect place, and that he could see himself living here! Pretty big call for Geoff. He stated it had a very good anchorage, was close to beach, was close to surf, was close to shops, but not too crowded and was quiet. He decided to celebrate by drinking his last two moosehead beers...then hit my Canadian Club for a couple and then happily watched the cargo ships come in and out in the evening. Sounds like every boys favourite sort of day.


This morning the surf was much bigger, the wind is up a bit and there is slight movement in the anchorage. Just a hint. The surf was pumping, hollower waves, bigger in size and and more speed. Quite a few more dudes were out before Geoff. He went out and got a few waves. But broke his leg rope and was then dumped on by some big sets. It was pretty hairy, the Kiwi went and rescued his board from being smashed on the reef and he came home to the boat, a little more reserved than yesterday. I'm sure he'll be out there again this afternoon, once he has a new leg rope attached!


Oh by the way, Congratulations to my friend (and supreme hairdresser) Bradley on his wedding yesterday to Mick. Wish we could have been there to enjoy and celebrate with you both. Hope you had a Fab day darl!

Huahine heaven

Our anchorage at Fare, Huahine


We got going from Moorea about 1pm and headed out for our overnight passage to Huahine. As soon as we got out we started to regret it. There was little wind and lots of swell, not just ordinary southerly swell, nope. This was the big southerly 6 foot swell with a wrapped around Moorea Island swell and a easterly wind chop. Then just to make it worse a rebound chop from the islands. We motored the first hour as the sails slatted so bad they felt as if they were going to rip themselves off the mast! It sucked. It felt like being in a big washing machine and no place you sat or stood was comfortable. You had to prise yourself into a secure position and hold on from being suddenly shunted off your seat! Fun hey?





The wind finally came in nicely and we poled out the jib and were doing a nice 5.5 knots, still in rolly crappy waves but at least we were moving. As the evening progressed the wind picked up to ensure we were doing 6 -7 knots, nice cause it steadied the boat down....but this was too fast as it is only 85 nm to Huahine and we didn't want to arrive there till dawn. So sometime during the lumpy, bumpy night we pulled the jib in and went main alone. We rounded the northern end of Huahine and proceeded to the Pass into the main town of Fare. It's a tight little spot off the main town and there were already about 6 boats anchored. We dropped ours closest into the sandy beach in about 20'.





Ahhhh, so nice not to be rolling and bumping all over the place. Though Geoff and I still feel like we've been mugged!! We spent the day napping, snorkelling and just returned from a walk ashore to the little town and big supermarket. My things have changed here a bit in 14 years too. Geoff didn't get a surf as it was too small and was breaking right onto the reef!!! Maybe tomorrow?

Success!

Geoff did it. After about two hours in the engine bay (with no mumbles or swearing) he came out to say it was installed. Nervously Geoff turned the key and pressed the starter button and.... she fired up! Yay. Geoff of course wasn't that certain that it was sorted and said he would try again in the afternoon. Well, later that afternoon he tried it again and solid as, it started up. I of course was congratulating him on being a legend and resolving a big problem. But typical Geoff he just said 'we'll see'





The next step in confirming his confidence, is to let the battery get particularly low and try and start it again this morning. When it is a dead flat battery. I have utter faith it won't be a problem.





It's a beautiful morning here again. Going to be very hard to leave, but this afternoon about 3pm will sail off 85 nm to Huahine, where we will meet Christine on Sunday morning.

Birthday Blow

Birthday morning, just beautiful

The start of my Birthday wearing my new necklace.

Ah, I had such grand plans for my Birthday in Moorea...but what does Buddhism say, expectations lead to disappointment and pain. Well, I can admit to being a little disappointed and I can certainly agree with the pain part. So why you ask? Read on....

It all started out beautifully, Geoff awoke me to a glorious morning in Opunohu Bay, cool around 22 degrees and clear. He made me breakfast of Bacon and Eggs (he'd gone ashore to get a fresh baguette too, but they'd sold out) He made a fresh stove top percolator of coffee and gave me a beautiful necklace of carved pearl shell and a pearl on a black cord. Sounding good hey? After breakfast we then had a frenzied discussion, on the fact that when he went to start the engine it took three attempts and that was worse than ever.

hmm, here starts the part where the day goes off the tracks a bit. We emailed. phoned and researched what we could about Starter motors and solenoids. We knew this was the problem now. But do we get it sent to here from our Yanmar dealer in Alameda or do we pay twice the price and get it from the Yanmar dealer in Papeete? Well, after looking at the costs of the unit, the Fedex charges, the custom agent charges for bringing it into the country and our yacht agents cut....well it would only work out $100 cheaper?! And lots more hassle or so we thought.

We found out the details of the bus to the town on the East coast, where the Ferry to Papeete leaves from, we found out the Ferry times...all looked pretty simple. So by 10.15 am Geoff was off on the bus and I was on the boat to keep a check on everything.

Now this is where my day starts to go pear shaped. I went for a swim and checked the anchor. We were anchored about 10 metres away from the start of the bigger coral bommies and the outlying reef. We were anchored in 3 metres of sand. As the day progressed the wind kept picking up so that at about midday it was blowing a constant 25 knots and gusting to 30 plus knots. The chain was straight out under the load of the boat and wind. I again snorkeled on the anchor and noticed it had dragged about a foot. Not too bad. But the wind picked up a bit more and steadied around 27 knots with more regular 35 knot gusts. Now I was getting nervous. The engine doesn't start good, were close to big bommies and we are only in 3 metres of water. I test started the engine, which kicked over after the third attempt. I snorkeled over the anchor again and now we have definitely dragged more. I snorkeled over the bommies behind us. And when I stood on one my head was above water. I am 5'2" the boat draws 4'9" it was starting to look a bit dodgy.

Geoff kept sending me texts from the Sat phone. He had got the starter motor by midday, but the next Ferry back didn't leave till 2pm. Rats. I kept watch of those three big bommies behind me and measured a distance between us and them. Geoff texted again from the Ferry, it was the slower one and it would take an hour to get back. Rats! Needless to say that I was feeling a tad anxious. So what does a good boating wife do? She bakes herself a Banana Birthday cake!! Oh and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Another text from Geoff, he was at the town but no buses yet. This was now 3.30pm. The wind was howling and the calm lagoon had turned into a scene of white caps and decent sized chop. All the 7 boats were swinging wildly with the bullets that came down from the 3000' mountains. We were the closest to the outlying reef. I had gone through the scenario, if the anchor goes, then I will have to kick the motor on as quickly as possible (that's if it starts) and put it into forward to keep us up off the reef. Then if that doesn't work, I will have to run up and bring up the anchor and then run back to the helm and motor away from the bommies as fast as I could. Hoping that I could do all that before we whacked onto one. Scary thoughts.

Got another text from Geoff at 4.30pm, still no bus. Bloody hell, now it was getting late and the last bus supposedly leaves at 4.45pm. So I hang on and go for another snorkel over the anchor, we've dragged about 10' a nice big plow mark in the sand. I snorkel over the bommies, they are now only a couple of feet from our stern, a little too close. I get prepared for having to motor forward any minute. Now it's 5 pm and no text from Geoff, I'm nervous as it gets dark at 5.30pm. Then at 5.15pm a text that says '5 mins away' I grab the dinghy which I had tied short to the back of the boat as it was trying to flip in the strong wind and scoot ashore and wait. The wind is now starting to back off, typical....will Geoff believe me that it was as strong as my texts were saying? When he arrives I point out the decent sized chop running through the anchorage. I explain whats been going on. Then when he gets on board, he sees the bommies just off our stern, looks at me and says "lets move further away"

So that was my Birthday! We stayed on board, no fancy restaurant, we were both stuffed. Geoff spent 7 hours getting the starter motor and I spent 7 hours worrying. We had a ham and cheese omelette's for dinner and my Birthday banana cake. Which Geoff covered in candles! Yay!

More photo's for you to enjoy!

Photo's from our time in Tahiti.

Downtown Papeete street, with a Le Truck (bus) and outdoor Cafe.

On the Le Truck and the cute Polynesian bebe and mama next to me.

Geoff's surf spot on the Pass at Taapuna Pass just south of Papeete.

Papeete Markets and indoor mix of fruit, veggies, pearls, carvings, pastries, hot food stalls and fresh fish. A true experience!

Photo's of Paradise

Below our boat this morning!!

Robinson's Cove Moorea - Maltese Falcon in distance

Opunohu Bay - Moorea

Another day in Paradise......except for continuing engine starting problems. Bugger.

Magic Moorea!

Motoring into Cook's Bay entrance

Cook's Bay anchorage off the reef

We arrived in Cook's Bay Moorea (yes named after Cpt Cook from his visit in 1777) after a wet, squally sail, it was only 20 miles but maybe being a Friday we should have known that it may present us some challenges. You know the old sailors saying that you never leave port on a Friday! hmmmm We anchored in 12 feet of the clearest, blue water and were able to swim over our anchor to make sure it was set in the white sand. It was calm and cool, a lovely spot to be, at last. Moorea has more of those lovely dramatic volcanic mountains, the tallest being around 3900' It is truly lush and idyllic. A bit of a quiet retreat compared to Tahiti. If I was to recommend which Island to visit in French Polynesia? It would be Moorea or Bora Bora.

Today we have motored a few miles west to the next bay, Opunohu Bay. It was here 13 years ago that I had my Birthday! So this place holds very fond memories for me. I hope it also does for Billy, Linda and Geoff's Dad, who came and spent about two weeks with us. We think of all the great memories from that trip and being here makes them feel not so long ago. But boy it has got busier! There is an internet wifi spot just 400 metres from us ashore! Restaurants, tourists, lots more boats....but still when you are anchored in 10 feet of water and able to snorkel off to the reef just 50 feet away....what tourists?! We find it is like being anchored in a big swimming pool, with your own private stock of tropical fish to view! You really do feel like a millionaire.

We will stay here to celebrate my Birthday, again, before sailing overnight to Huahine about 100 nmiles to the north west.

Just got a phone call from my best friends Michelle, Ian and Brenna for my Birthday!! What a wonderful surprise! Even if it means I'm getting older :/ We may try and find a nice (not too expensive) Restaurant to celebrate both our Birthday's. That could be a toughie considering the prices over here!!!

The Last from Tahiti

The weather gods have decided to give us more respite from wind, swell and rolling. It is another glorious day here in Papeete. Blue skies, light winds, crystal clear water (I can see our anchor in over 40' of water!!) Geoff is off chasing boat bits in town. And I am enjoying some reasonable internet speed! It's hard to ensure a constant connection when your boat keeps swinging around!

Yesterday we headed into town to do more boat bit shopping and me some market crawling. The big undercover markets are a mix of fruit, veggies, carvings, trinkets, pearls, fish, flowers and lunch stalls. It is a mass of colour and sound. Upstairs there is another floor of stalls selling everything from tshirts, pareo's (sarongs) postcards and more pearls. In fact you seem to be able to buy pearls just about every three shops!! However we got ours from the source in Tuamotu's.

We have just heard that Christine is heading our way again for a flying visit on the 28th of June, very exciting news! We will be leaving Tahiti tomorrow and heading 13nm west to Moorea to stay for awhile. It will be nice to be there again. Then off to Huahine (some familiar surfing grounds for Geoff here) where it is likely we will be when Chris visits. Not sure how much internet connection I will be able to get once away from Tahiti. So if there are no blogs, sorry :( I will do my best though to keep it posted with the Sat phone as to where we are.

There is some exciting news at home, we hear our friends Brandon and Christa are in labour right now with a baby girl. Of course our dear friends Ian and Shell are due in October and now we hear other Paragliding friends Mark and Leanne are due for another baby in November!! Wow the Paragliding community is very fertile?!

A Tahiti moto circumnavigation

Our anchorage looking west to Moorea
Papenoo surf spot


Birthday sundowners turned into Birthday dinner on board "Mr John" and it was a lovely night. Plans were laid for the next day's adventure, a moto (car) circumnavigating Tahiti. An early start was needed!


On the dock by 6 am and off to the Airport for our little rental car, a Hyundi Getz 2 door! Trust me if we could have afforded a 4 door we would have got one!! We headed north through the centre of bustling busy Papeete (even at 6.45am there was traffic jams!) Then our first stop was up a beautiful valley into the mountains called Belevedere. Beautiful scenery, though the 2200 metre mountain peaks were in misty clouds. After that we drove along the rugged black sand coast to another famous surf spot "Papenoo" as seen in the photo above. Dragging Geoff away, who probably wished he had his surfboard on top of the car, we headed across the top of the island and down the east coast. It was around here that we noticed that the no wind on the west coast was not exactly true. The east coast was blowing about 20 knots and the seas looked rough and choppy. Phew, glad we are in!!

It was a lovely drive going south along the east coast, past local homes and green lush, mountains. It became duller as we went further south and then started a light rain. By the time we crossed the isimuth to the smaller Tahiti iti, it was very drizzly. We took a while to find our way up to the du Plateau. A lush green grazing area, sort of like Beechmont or Maleny. Thanks to Paula and John (who was driving) we found this peaceful, not one other tourist, spot for a picnic lunch. Baguettes, Brie, local tomatoes and lettuce. Just perfect, with a view north showing both the east and west coasts of the isimuth.

Heading home via the west coast we passed lots of waterfalls and tried hard to venture inland to find the closest positions to their bases. But the rough, wet potholed roads proved too much and we often had to turn back before we became part of the scenery!! It was around 5 pm by the time we hit the area near Taina, where are boats are anchored. A fabulous day, thanks again to the "Mr John's" My keenest memories though may be that this is an island of Church's and speed bumps! :)

Perfect weather for a Birthday

Sunset looking at Moorea, Birthday eve
Birthday morning, surfboard awaits!

Well, at long last we have found the paradise we have sailed over 4000 nautical miles for!! Today broke blue and calmer, yay!! It's sunny, 29 degrees and a light 5 to 8 knot breeze....just perfect. Perfect for a Birthday, yep Geoff, Fur, Furry, the Snake has turned 52 today!! So Happy Birthday's all round.

In fact the day is so lovely, that Geoff is pulling out his surfboard, waxing it up and going to paddle out to the pass just south of us, where dudes are already surfing. This is all thanks to our dear friend Ben who FedEx'd the surfboard (and a secret stash of Nescafe instant Latte's) to us here. Thanks Benny, your a legend!

Not to say that Geoff's day has been all roses. Our engine battery died just a few days out from Monterey and we have been using the house batteries to start the engine. Not Good. Since being here we have sussed out the new battery options and Geoff after his special Birthday brekkie of Bacon and eggs served on toasted Baguette....went off and bought the new battery. Ouch an expensive thing even at a service station, 23900 cpf or $330 Aud. He then spent the next hour struggling to get the old battery out of a particularly tight fitting compartment, then quickly installed the new one, ran the engine and disposed of the old one...all by 11.30am. Time enough for a cool dip in the beautiful blue waters for a surf...or a paddle (if it's still too big)

The swell was so big over the last few days that not only was it busting over the reef and making 200 yachts very uncomfortable, but it wasn't surf-able. Maybe it was at the world famous Teahupoo a few miles further south on this coast, but only the big guns of surfing can handle that! So hopefully after a relaxed rest of his day, we will go over our friends boat 'Mr John' for Birthday sundowner's. Who we last saw in Cyprus 13 years ago and ran into just at Nuku Hiva! Small world in the curising community. Then maybe we will go off to the little Italian Cafe on the waters edge here at the Marina for a nice Pizza? hmmm sounds like a good day. I may even be able to whip up a chocolate cake while Geoff is off surfing?????

Papeete blows!

A happy me on a deserted beach in Fakarava
Sea Otter anchored in Nuku Hiva's Daniel Bay
Our secret spot in Fakarava

Well.... actually Papeete is fantastique as usual, but....typical of the weather we've seen so far in the Pacific, it's not behaving as per normal. It is now blowing 20+ SW!? across the reef behind which we shelter. The swell is over 6 metres so the surf is breaking over the out lying reef and creating some very interesting conditions for all us boats behind the reef! And there is about 200 boats anchored along the few miles of reef south of the town. Large chop, eddies, fast flowing current and small swell. Everybody is bobbing, rocking and rolling about. YUK. So much for escaping the rolly swell at Marquesas and Tuamotu's to the protected Tahiti.

Anyway, it is nice to be here, we are all cleared in, gased up, watered up and fooded up. Though the journey to the Marina dinghy dock is providing some hair raising excitement today. Papeete is a busy city no. Freeways run along the western coast, lots of cars, lots of noise and lots of yachts. The prices are still surprisingly high. Yesterday lunch at McDonald's (trust me it IS a treat after eating cupboard food for over a month) cost us $25 Aud for two chicken burgers, two fries and two drinks!! A six pack of diet coke will set you back 510 CPF or $7.20 Aud!!! Don't ask about some other basic items. I looked at buying cheap fins for snorkeling at the large Carrefour' supermarket (like Target on steroids) but they would have been $45.

Needless to say the night out at a restaurant for Geoff and my birthday's may prove to frightening to actually do!! We think we should go to the local food vendors near the markets on the broad walk and eat a toasted Croque Monsieur (toasted ham and cheese)

We are finding it a bit harder to connect with cruising yachties as we came from Mars (San Fran) not the usual route of Panama...so alot of boats have already got their cliques going. But we luckily have found some yachties we knew from the circumnavigation 13 years ago, so it is very cool to catch up. Plus we have met some lovely Germans who are coming to Brisbane for Cyclone season.

Hope to get our jobs done and escape Tahiti to Moorea and calm anchorages by early next week. We hope. Till the next entry, not sure when or from where???

Photo's of Fakarava

Fakarava, beautiful!

Marquesa's to Tahiti

Nuka Hiva above and Ua Pou left.

Well how do I describe what we've been up to since we arrived in Nuku Hiva??



The Marquesas proved a welcome stop over, to rest our weary bones and refill water, wash our damp salty clothes and get some fresh food. However, the anchorages in the Marquesas are notorious for being very rolly and the constant movement does wear at your nerves a bit. We cleared in using a local agent, this means they post the required Bond that the French Government requires for visiting yachts not from the EU. The Bond for Aussies is about $1300 each and you get a one month visa. However by using the agent we were able to let them do all the paperwork and we could also receive a 2 month extension to the Visa and a Duty exemption for Diesel. It was worth the $$ it cost and in Papeetee in Tahiti, the agent finalises the entry and handles our departure.



Nuku Hiva,is a dramatic volcanic island in the Marquesas, jagged mountains, lush valleys and bare rocky headlands give the islands a brooding ambiance. Clouds regularly sit over the high mountain peaks, though we didn't get much rain from them. It makes for incredible scenery, but not the best anchorages. After doing the necessary jobs in Nuku Hiva we did a day sail south to Ua Pou an even more dramatic island. This one has a 4000' volcanic plug that juts up in the centre of the island surrounded by more volcanic plugs. It's awe inspiring, photogenic and I could picture King Kong roaming the inland of this island. The first anchorage was the tiny main harbour were we had to put out a stern anchor so that we could keep our bow to the swell and fit in. There was only 5 of us here, but that filled the little harbour to capacity. There is a lot more yachts out here cruising the Pacific than there was 13 years ago! Reports we are hearing are saying that 400 yachts will transit the Pacific this year!!!! My God. It's quite busy in some of the more popular anchorages. The final anchorage in Ua Pou was on the west coast, lovely to start off with but the final night was.. nightmarish. A roll set in that had Sea Otter rolling gunwale to gunwale and things below had to be put away lest they fly across the cabin and smack us in the heads. It rained, it blew, it rolled. We got little rest. And the next morning decided that we would be just as comfortable at sea. So we headed off on passage to the Tuamotu's.



We are hopeless with decisions these days and could not decide which Tuamotu atoll to call in to. Should we go to Rangiroa the largest main atoll to the north, or should we go back to Apataki where we stopped for two days 13 years ago? All through the night we ummed and ahhed and looked at the timing for each option. Other yachts already in were raving about Kauehi and it's pearl farms and lovely anchorage, all though Fakarava looked good and in the right place to make the following passage to Tahiti easier. As the night drew on we realised that we were going too fast and would arrive too early.


The Tuamotu's are know as the Dangerous Archipelago for throughout history these low atolls have claimed many a ship and yacht, and still do! The southern coastlines tend to be reefs which cover at high tide or are permanently covered if the sea conditions are bad. The northern ends had lots of motu's (small sandy atolls) which stand out from only a few miles with coconut palms and structures. Risky stuff if you are not paying attention and on lookout. The entrances into the atolls are through breaks in the reefs and these gush the tides in and out of the lagoons at up to 6 knots. So timing to get in and out of the atolls is vital. You need to hit the entrances at slack water or the current, wind and swell can make for dangerous and scary conditions. For us, we bumbled towards Fakarava in the end and hit the 7 nm wide channel between it and the northern atoll Toau late at night. It was scary not being able to see land, but seeing lights and hearing surf. Thank god for the radar! It kept my nerves in check. We decided to keep going, then the wind died out! We motored to get through the final couple of miles of the channel, by dawn we had very little wind. 20 miles past the atoll we realised that the wind was not going to get stronger, in fact radio skeds suggested it was going to get lighter. We contemplated and incredibly turned around and headed back to the channel and the pass into Fakarava north. The though of motoring 230nm to Tahiti in calm was not enticing. Geoff was happy cause he was keen to go in, I was nervous as we were still plagued with a engine alternator belt problem and a dead engine battery. Funny though, even if we hadn't planned on hitting the pass at the right tide, due to the wind being non existent the entry through the pass was sweet. And Geoff beamed at how easy he had pushed Sea Otter though. From the pass it is a 5 mile motor sail to the north eastern corner where the main township of Rotoava.





We anchored in 30' over coral bommies and sand. Rotoava is a small township with two shops, a bakery, police, post office, pearl boutique, toy/gift shop and infirmary. It is bigger than we thought it would be. Our anchor chain immediately wrapped around a bommie so we had to haul it up and relay it with a trip line on the anchor. This would hopefully allow us to pop the anchor free if it got stuck again. What ended up happening when we upped anchor next was that the rope on the trip line had snagged around a bommie!! We stayed here and enjoyed the fabulous baguettes as only the French can make them and at 70 CPF around $1 AUD a true bargain. A slight swell from the south fetched up at the north end was a good reason to motor south along the inside of the atoll to find better protection. As we motored along we passed a huge mega motor cruiser that looked about 100' long. It was called 'BULLISH' and the flag looked Australian? Just as I was looking at it through the binoculars a radio call came in on our VHF from 'BULLISH' When I answered it turned out the Captain of the vessel was an Aussie from the Sunshine Coast and he was excited to see another Aussie flag out in the Tuamotu's! Gordon said that the vessel was owned by an American and spent the year in the Pacific and the Cyclone season in Australia. He offered us water if we needed it as they made 16000 litres a day! It was a nice surprise to chat to an Aussie voice at last and we found out that they were heading to the south anchorage too while filling in time waiting for their next guests to arrive. They passed us pretty quickly about 5 miles on and had an easier time of the squalls and rain than we did. We ended up anchoring in a little nook behind a sandy spit, to receive some protection from the southerly swell. We'd done 14 miles and were not keen on continuing through the reefs and bommies with the squalls. We ended up staying here at our little secret spot for 3 days. Anchored in 20' of crystal clear water with a white sandy beach and bommies to swim over, it was a little paradise. And no one lived ashore, so we had the place to ourselves. FABULOUS!!



After 3 days we decided to head north again, stock up on baguettes and supplies and head off to Tahiti, but..... of course the weather decided to pick up again and a strong ESE blew with more squalls and nasty gusts, with reported biggish seas outsides the atolls, so.... We stayed another couple of days, not hard to do. Gave us a chance to go check out some of those beautiful Black pearls that come from the Tuamotu's.

At last some more photo's for you!

An afternoon on passage
One of the beautiful days!
And a perfect sunset!!

Arrived in Papeetee in Tahiti

At last were here., will post a proper blog shortly!!!