Monday, August 20, 2018

Fun in Fakarava: Kathy’s Visit 


My dear friend Kathy a.k.a. Mamma Goddess came to French Polynesia for a whirlwind visit! She flew into Fakarava and the adventure began.


We started out in Pakakota after a pickup from the airport from Matthieu from Pakakota Yacht Services and a drink at La Paillote.

We watched a gorgeous sunset from here.

After a stunning sunrise we sailed to the south pass. We got in a quick snorkel in the anchorage and took a walk on the beach.

We decided to go to Hirifa because the weather was cloudy and not ideal for diving the pass. We got there in time to go for a hike and have a margarita on the beach at sunset, complete with beach puppies !


The south pass of Fakarava was next on the agenda, with a drift dive or two in mind. The weather ended up cooperating beautifully; we had two stellar days to dive the pass and adjacent coral gardens. Kathy seemed pretty uneasy about diving with blacktop reef sharks but she did it!

We ended the week back at the north end of Fakarava. We had a great dinner at Chez Elda and then took Kathy to the airport in the dinghy the next day.


Thank you, Kathy! We had so much fun!
First Mate Kate

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Sail back to the Tuomotus

We escaped Papeete along with Kate and Allen on their boat "Itajime" on Tuesday and beat east to weather for four days to arrive in Tahanea yesterday. The trip started out easy with motor sailing due to light winds. By morning we had enough wind to roll out the jib and nicely sail for the day and night. The third day was trying due to strong winds and multiple squalls. We raised the storm staysail as the wind notched up to the twenty's and the seas built. The wind switched to the east which meant that we would have to send the next day tacking back and forth for the final night. We reached the pass into the motu on the fourth morning. The pass was exciting! A 7 knot current against us and 1 meter standing rollers gave our Perkins diesel a good workout. With the anchor down we both agreed that the trip was worth it. The Tuomotus are a special!

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