Picture Post - Tahu Ata

Here we are on Hiva-Oa, and the clouds have parted revealing the mountain top.  Griffyn insisted I take this picture.

Here he is now, watching harbor operations as a big cargo ship leaves.

And there it goes.  The boat in front of the ship is a French/Belgian boat whose owners we became friends with.

On route to Tahu Ata.  Stunning coastline.

Another boat en route to Tahu Ata alongside Madrona.

What can i say.

Here is the bay we spent over a week in.  Magic place.

Tamsyn was very taken with these clouds.

Here is "our" beach.  The water was like crystal, the beach the perfect place for kid (and grown up kids).

Another view.  We loved the palms.

Each headland was beautiful.  

Here's Tamsyn.

Carrie learned to snorkel here.

I love the lava cliffs.

Griffyn body surfed in waves twice as tall as himself.

Siblings in wonderland.

Did we mention the amazing palms.

The young palms were somehow exquisite.

Looking down the beach.

The surf line is strewn with coral and shells.

The happy chef unveiling her cornmeal, rye, molasses and raisin cake that she made for tea time with friends.  She made it in the pressure cooker.

It tasted even better than it looked.

Our friends Dorte and Frank from S/V Elan.

Always on the lookout for the green flash.  One of these days.

Using the underwater camera.  Harder than I thought to hold still.

We loved these electric blue guys.

Here's one of the Mantas.

A self portrait.

Another Manta.

This fish kept following me around.

These pictures don't do the number and variety of different fish justice.

Lots more pictures to post.  We seem to be running about one island behind photos wise.  We are currently on Nuka Hiva, a beautiful island 82 miles NW of Tahu Ata, and about 100 miles from Hiva-Oa.  We have spent a few days here - the two nights of traditional dancing has been a highlight.  Stunning.

Soon we'll go to Daniel's Bay to get water for our tanks, and may visit the third highest waterfall in the world.  Then we are going to Ahano Bay on the north side of the island to meet the folks from S/V Elan again.  After a few days there we plan on sailing directly for Tahiti.

The boat is dry, our spirits are high, and Griffyn just had his 6th birthday party!  It was a fun affair, made special by having Elias, a boy from S/V Galactic, and his parents there.  We had a delicious spaghetti meal with wine, and for desert we had a cherry-apple chocolate crisp.  

We really enjoy all the comments and emails from friends and family.  Thank you so much.

Owen

Manta Ray in Hana Moe Noe bay, island of Tahu Ata

I hope you enjoy the mantas - we did.  Just after I took this video, I was looking around to find another manta when I had an encounter with a grey reef shark.  He was big and only 20 feet away.  Glad he startled the same time I did.  I swam directly back to the boat.

Drying out,and swimming with Manta Rays

Friday July 8th

During our shakedown cruise across the Eastern Pacific we found a few leaks - by the time we reached the Marqueses - ALL of our clothing was dirty or moldy. The evil substance mold, which we call Moldemort (Harry Potter), thrives in wet, humid places. Add salt water to the mix (when cotton gets wet from salt water - it will not dry out), you can imagine our mountain of laundry. We are in the tropics here during the rainy season (winter - when there are no hurricanes) very slowly drying and bleaching everything on the boat, the clothing, the spaces which held the clothing, the cushions we sleep on, the entire V-berth - mattress too (which was our garage during passage), the walls, the cupboards and almost all of our beloved books. It rains a bit here - so we moved Madrona from the island of Hiva Oa, near the town of Atuona, a very wet anchorage, to another island Tahu Ata, to a beautiful bay that is known for sun, wind, white sandy beaches, and a school of manta rays. Most days have been sunny with a lot of wind - as good as it gets for drying things out. We are slowly recovering our boat: we re-sealed the chain plates (hopefully our biggest source of leaks), chain plates bolt the shrouds (which secure the mast) to the boat - in this boat they go through the deck - which means if the seals fail - a lot of water can seep in through these holes. We buried the rail a lot in the SE trades - and a lot of water seeped in. We will be battling Moldemort for some time, so to enjoy ourselves we have been swimming with a local school of manta rays, (Owen took a ride on one), body surfing, snorkeling around lots of colorful reef fish and coral, enjoying local foods (papelmous - like a sweet grapefruit, limes, bananas, french bread, sardines, and corned beef).

There will be more to come regarding our passage - Carrie has written a short book - once we have wi fi (not here) we will send more details and pics.

The Manta rays have been spectacular - some up to 4 meters wingspan. They pass within feet of us; not a sight you forget with that big open mouth coming right at you. The kids have loved the rays too. Griffyn is still not entirely comfortable snorkeling, but Tamsyn is half fish already. The first thing you see in the luminous azure blue water that surrounds you, is the white mouth of the approaching ray. Then the full form emerges from the blue, and like slow motion aerial monster, and the gentle wings flap, and it glides on by, eating a blizard of plankton. Pretty cool.

The kids have also been in love with the beach; from collecting shells, to hours playing in the surf, and body surfing. This has been a good place for R & R.

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So... we got to this island and... Pictures

Well, we've been here over a week and just now regained some internets.  It seems someone hacked the web hosting service website.  It's still shaky.

In the past week we've gotten in the swing here a bit.  Learned the town, where to shop, and how best to thumb a ride on the two mile walk into town.  It has been raining a bit; well more than a bit. It has in fact rained so much that it's been hard to do our mountain of laundry.

So I'm going to share some of our backlog of pictures.  Now let's remember way way back to a place called Mexico.

Here are the kids doing what they love best when they can't explore, or play with other kids, or eat; well you get the idea.  Here they are watching a movie.

Provisioning.  It's not just a lifestyle - it's an adventure!

More canned goods.  Everything is better with cans.

The morning of our departure from La Paz.  A pretty nice place.

The waters were still as we pulled anchor.

Ah. But then we had to fuel up.  A chance for more play.

Eager to get out of town.

The big day has arrived, and the kids are keyed up.

Coming into our anchorage at the magic hour.

A lovely Mexican beach and anchorage.  That's Madrona out there.

I loved these rocks I saw on the way up a big hill overlooking the beach.

Here are Carrie Tamsyn and Griffyn playing tag with some pretty big waves.

A little perspective.

Lots of tide rips;in fact we rode one out in our dinghy to get past the breakers.

Ah, but we stopped in San Jose del Cabo to get a new Dinghy. Here the kids are doing school work.

Laundry is not Carrie's favorite past time, but she keeps a tight ship.

Finally out in the big blue on our way to the South Pacific.  Here we have our headsail, a staysail, and a reefed mainsail out.  Kind of typical of the first half of the journey.

Sunrise.  Carrie took these on her morning watch.

She also caught these birds that were following us.

Flying fish, their rescue and disposal became part of the daily routine.

Here we approach an ugly looking rain squall.

More rain.  Did I mention it rained.

The sunsets were sometimes glorious.

I love clouds.  These guys were taken looking back towards the ITCZ after we made our escape.

And so after much work, some boredom, and time spent in purgatory, I mean the doldrums, we eventually reached Hiva-Oa.  A really beautiful place.

A had to show this one again.

That's breadfruit hanging up there.  So much fruit grows everywhere.  But each tree is owned by someone, and getting fruit is actually kind of difficult.

And here we are in our anchorage.  Lots of swell here, so we rock and roll a bit.

So I wanted to thank family and friends again for their support.  It means a lot to us.  It took us 39 days to cross - a pretty slow trip.  We spent a week in the ITCZ; so had we crossed that quicker we would have made better time.  Not too much broke on the way.  Did make some repairs on the Monitor windvane when a control line broke.  We replaced a V-belt on the engine, and had other minor things, but basically we did good.

Our biggest frustration has been communications, i.e. internet.

Our friend Steve asked how deep was the deepest bit of water we crossed.  I'm not sure - I'd have to look at our charts but it certainly was over three miles.

I guess I should post this before the internet genie yanks our connection away.  More picture will be coming, and the stories of the crossing will get posted too.  

Owen