Month: June 2019

Rough Passage

We left Maupiti en route to Penrhyn in the Cook Islands on a beautiful day with perfect wind. Penrhyn is northwest of Maupiti and the eastern trade winds put the wind just aft of the beam. If the wind stayed this way the whole passage, we were in for an easy, fast, four day sail.

We got into passage mode pretty quickly, alternating our shifts overnight. We had consistent wind and hardly any squalls. I had pre-made food that made dinners easy to prepare. And, our average boat speed was pretty good for this old boat. It had all the makings of a great passage.

That all changed after a couple of days. As I was on watch, suddenly the mainsail came sliding down the mast and I hollered out to Mike as loud as I could to wake him up. We had lost the main halyard. (For non-sailors, that is the line that is used to raise our mainsail.) Mike came out and looked at me like I must have been joking until he turned around and saw the sail falling off the boom and onto the deck. I think there were a few expletives coming out of his mouth at that point.

A month earlier back in Tahiti we had noticed some chaff on the line just above where the line attaches to the sail. Mike went up the mast and thought he could see where it was chaffing at the top of the mast and came up with what he thought would fix the problem. At this point we realized that it didn’t work. We didn’t have a way to run another main halyard while at sea. In order to do that, Mike would have to climb to the top of the mast and figure out a way to run a line inside the mast that I could fish out of a hole toward the bottom. We had close to 20 kts of wind and at least a 2 meter swell that would make that impossible to do here.

We started brainstorming what we could do to try and use our mainsail. If we couldn’t use the sail, we would be sailing with just our jib which would slow us down at least a day and make it a rolly, uncomfortable ride. We have a spinnaker halyard that comes off the top of the mast, but the front of the mast, not the rear like the main halyard. Mike decided we could try and use that, but he would have to go up the mast to the spreaders to move it. I watched below helping hold the line while he put his harness on and climbed up the mast in the rolling, pitching sea.

Because the line came out the mast at the front and would have to wrap around to the rear, we weren’t going to be able to pull the mainsail to its full height. So, we got it up to the second reef point and turned back toward Penrhyn.

A day later the winds started to back off, and with our reefed mainsail we just weren’t getting enough speed. We wanted to make it to Penrhyn in daylight on Thursday. If we didn’t make it in before the sun was down, we would have to wait at sea overnight to go in through the pass on Friday morning. We were both pretty motivated to get there at this point.

Mike looked at the spinnaker halyard and thought we might be able to get the sail up to the first reef point, which would get us more sail and help us move a bit faster. We turned up into the wind and raised the sail, tightening down the first reef line. When we had turned back the direction we needed to go, we realized the foot of the sail looked a bit baggy. We don’t use the first reef point very often and decided the car needed to be moved back a bit to get a better sail shape. To get the most power out of your sail, you’ve got to have the shape of the sail right.

So, a plan was made to turn back up into the wind, release the reef line, move the car back, re-reef and then head back in the right direction. When we reef the mainsail on Adagio, we have to tie the excess sail down to the boom so it doesn’t hang down on the deck. When we turned back into the wind to fix the baggy foot of the sail, Mike released the reef line before taking the sail ties off the excess sail being held down to the boom. This was a big no-no as immediately two large tears opened up in our mainsail.

Mike realized his mistake immediately. He knows better, but mistakes can happen when you’re trying to do a bunch of things at once on a moving, rolling boat. We both screamed out when it happened, a bit in shock. Our sails are only a little over three years old and to rip big tears in them is a bit heartbreaking. Feeling a bit dejected, we put the mainsail back at the second reef point and headed toward Penrhyn.

Now, were were really ready to get there, both of us in a bit of a foul mood about the passage. We headed more up wind to try and get more speed and made it to Penrhyn just before sundown on Thursday. Luckily, after we arrived in Penrhyn, we had numerous friends offer to help us with the repairs. The main halyard was easily rerun through the mast, and we had friends on other boats willing to give us sail cloth to repair the tears in the sail.

Locals in one of the villages gave us a big, covered space we could spread the sail out to repair it. Two of our friends from other boats, Ken and Tuomo had experience repairing sails. Tuomo even worked for a sail maker in Finland. We lugged our sewing machine, sail and generator to shore and four of us worked for several hours to patch and sew the sail. I never thought I’d be sitting on a dirt floor with my sewing machine on the ground, sitting sideways so one foot could work the pedal, and be sewing a giant sail! It took all four of us to work the sail through the machine, but afterwards our sail looked good as new. The patches are hardly noticeable and really strong. Afterward, we all celebrated back on Adagio with a cold beer. Whew! Time to have some fun!

~katie

Best for Last

After a little over a year, it was finally time for us to check out of French Polynesia and head west. We definitely had mixed feelings about leaving. There were still islands and atolls we hadn’t seen in French Polynesia, but there is more to the South Pacific to explore going west.

We headed to Bora Bora to check out of the country, as it is the furthest port west where you can check out. We were feeling grateful that we had spent some time in Bora Bora last year before new regulations came into place this year restricting where private boats can anchor. Apparently the high end resorts that cater to honeymooners didn’t like sailboats anchoring out in front of their hotels. I’m really not sure why were so offensive! So, sailboats are now restricted to certain spots away from the hotels, and some of those anchorages are pretty deep requiring you to use a mooring which they will gladly charge you $20/night to use. This time, we were going to make our visit short.

Even though Bora Bora is the last place you can check out with the officials, there are some islands that are part of French Polynesia further west. One of those is Maupiti, only 27 miles from Bora Bora. The officials (unofficially) look the other way if you check out in Bora Bora and stop over in Maupiti for a few days before leaving the country.

We really wanted to visit Maupiti, but the prospects weren’t looking good. There is only one pass into the lagoon in Maupiti on the south side. When there is a large south swell running, the pass can be completely closed out not allowing any boats in or out. We were carefully watching the weather with our friends on Allora and hoping that we would get the chance to go.

We finished the checkout process with the officials and got our exit paperwork. Some final provisions were done at the local magazins, and our fingers were crossed for Maupiti. There was still a south swell, but it was a lot less than it had been for the last two weeks. Our friend Diana contacted a local on the island who said that the next day looked doable, not ideal, but possible. We decided to go for it.

We pulled up anchor before the sun was up and headed through the pass in Bora Bora. There was little to no wind but we could see the long, slow rollers of the south swell. Allora, as always, is faster than us. So, we knew they would go through the pass first. We saw them lining up to go in and waited to get a report on the VHF. They have been in FP for two years and are not shy or hesitant to go into sketchy anchorages. So, when I heard Diana on the radio say the pass was “lively” with excitement in her voice, with a warning just not to look back once we decided to go for it, I knew we were in for something different.

We lined up to go in the pass based on the heading set out on our charts and held our breath as we started toward the narrow pass with large waves breaking on the reef on either side of us. The current coming out of the pass was immense. The current was 4-5 kts against us – easily the most current we have ever had in a pass. Mike gunned it and we both prayed our engine wouldn’t die, or we would be up on the reef in no time. We pushed it to 2500 rpms, and I watched the engine temp tick up over normal. Despite the engine working as hard as it could, we were barely making 2 kts over the ground. Mike had so little steerage between the current and the waves that I could see him working harder than I’ve ever seen on the wheel to steer the boat. I just tried to stay out of the way.

But, before we knew it, we were inside. We had made it! What awaited us inside the lagoon was amazing. There are fringing reefs and motus on the outside of the lagoon and a beautiful island in the middle with large rock faces on one side and the rest covered in green. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in French Polynesia. It definitely made me think that this is what Bora Bora must have been before tourism came there.

We navigated the marked channel to the anchorage and set the hook. Then, we were off to explore. I think I said over and over that we had saved the best of French Polynesia for last. We biked all around the island, hiked up to the top of the mountain and swam with manta rays inside the lagoon. We went fishing and snorkeling and stared at the beauty of this magnificent place. We played around with local kids on the dock and laughed as they tried out the few words in English they knew and asked us silly questions like, “Are you a peanut?”

But, it was time to move on and the weather looked right for the four day passage to Penrhyn in the Cook Islands. We raised anchor and said goodbye to French Polynesia as we sailed out the pass and headed west.

~katie


The Pull of the Ocean

When we left Rangiroa, we had a 36 hr sail back to Tahiti. It was the best sail we have had this year with 15 kts of wind on the beam and calm seas. We barely had to touch the sails as the consistent eastern trade winds pushed us back to Tahiti. The nights were clear without any squalls, and the stars gave us plenty to ponder when alone in the cockpit overnight. I needed a sail like that. We had had a few uncomfortable passages this year, one in which I was sick the whole time. I was beginning to dread being on passage again, but this sail brought me back to the joy of just gliding on the ocean.

We arrived back in Tahiti before dawn and tied up to the dock at the downtown marina. We had planned for one week in the marina to do a bunch of boat chores and provisioning before heading out again. We finally were starting to wrap our heads around the fact that we were going to be leaving French Polynesia after a year. Our last time to pull into Tahiti was bittersweet. But, after a week of hard work, we headed out west again for Huahine.

Huahine was probably our favorite island in the Societies that we visited last year. And, it is the place that Mike really got his surf groove on. He had done a little surfing before that, but not much. Just outside the entrance to the pass was a great wave that Mike got out on almost every day for two months last year. And, as we were departing Tahiti, Mike checked the surf forecast to see that the surf report looked good for the next week.

We arrived in Huahine to find a couple of boats that we knew and quickly met others in the anchorage. There was a fleet of about six other boats, all families with kids, who were going to be traveling to the Cook Islands at the same time as us. So, we’re going to have lots of company.

As soon as we dropped anchor, Mike grabbed the surf board and hit the waves. It had been awhile since he was able to surf, so the first couple of days he was a bit sore getting those paddling muscles back in shape. But, he was determined to get as much time on the waves as possible.

Our friends Ken and Edith on Alondra wanted to go check out the surf and get some pictures of the surfers. Edith has a nice long lens on her camera (better than mine) and thought we could get close enough to get some good pictures. Ken volunteered to drive the dinghy, which took some skill to get inside the waves but then get out of them in time before they were breaking. We didn’t want to get caught inside and roll the dinghy!

We had so much fun for two days capturing Mike and the other surfers catching waves, missing waves, getting pummeled by waves and generally having a good time. I was so impressed by how well Mike was surfing. Its not easy to pick up a new sport at age 50, but his determination and strength have paid off. He was catching more waves than most of the other surfers and actually looked like he knew what he was doing!

After seeing him surf up close, I really started to understand the draw of surfing. The power of the ocean is most evident by the visual of the large waves breaking down on the coral reef. Sitting and waiting for the perfect wave in the clear blue ocean where you can look down and see the coral and fish below as if you could reach down and touch them makes you feel how tiny you are in the vast ocean.

That pull of the ocean, what drives us to spend our days sailing, surfing, diving and swimming is something that feels so raw and natural. It is the opposite of living in the concrete jungle of the cities and spending your days immersed in the online world. Its something I wish I could capture in a bottle and take with me to give to anyone who has never been to the ocean. I think if we could spread that feeling around the world, we’d all live in a better place. A world that appreciates and reveres our environment, is kind and generous and finds exhilaration in the little things in life that make up this wonderful world.

~katie