Makemo

We arrived to the channel crossing right on time to enter, and two boats were already entering.

We had an easy crossing and were anchored down in no time.

The little town of Makemo.

 Shortly after we arrived a big supply ship came in bringing food, gas, a new boat for someone and other supplies. 

 The water in this remote anchorage is beautiful! As we were anchoring a mini squall came through and a full rainbow was behind us. We swam over to Magic after swimming our anchor and saw Unicorn fish. Rainbows and Unicorns, why should we ever leave?!

Tumbleweed is here!  Douglas and Morgan were kind enough to show us where the grocery stores were.

 This little dachshund mix gets a ride  into town 

The church in town was founded in 1884

I love the door and the insignia above the door. Notice how the anchor is bigger than the cross? Nice.

 Rob and Mike checking out the pier for potential kiteboarding launch site.

The homes here have much more structure than in the Marquesas 

An abandoned home

Gotta love this water!

We did a drift dive of the pass with a few of the boats here and saw black and white tipped sharks and other neon colored fish.  That was a rush!

First Mate Kate

Nuku Hiva- Makemo, Tuamotu

I thought you might enjoy these pics from the passage. No devices were out (except at the departure and the first few hours) to capture the first two days in fear that they would get drenched or knocked overboard.

Shindig heading out of Daniel's Bay

Mike pulling up anchor

Off on another adventure!

A shot of Oa Pou (pronounced Wa Poo)

Sunrise 5/20

Morning glow and calming seas

A new bunch of bananas for the Tuamotus

Afternoon Clouds

Sunset begins

Sailing with storm Jib and main headsail 

Foamy Seas

A gorgeous night

Sunset

Sunrise but with a surprise!

Morning squall=free boat wash!

Full rainbow!

The wind died so we decided it was a perfect time to replace the CPT belt, which is great.  The wind vane needs a decent amount of wind to work well.

Mike quickly took off the wheel and replaced the CPT belt while we were in hove-to position.

 I spent a good hour juicing limes we brought from Nuku Hiva.  1 lime =1 T lime juice.  I have 6 cups of lime juice. This is important as there are no lines in the Tuamotus. There will be no scurvy aboard Pangaea. :-)

Another gorgeous day on the Pacific

I love the big, blue ocean!

Sunset, the last one at sea for awhile.

First Mate Kate, a.k.a. Salty

Crossing to the Tuamotus

We left Nuku Hiva after celebrating the 50th Birthday of our friend Rob on Shindig in Daniel's Bay.

Day 1: We had light winds and confused seas as we departed the Bay. We were able to sail after about an hour from our departure. We encountered numerous short-lived squalls with gusty winds and building seas. Cooking is out of the question. By the evening, winds were between 20-30 knots with 3-4 meter seas and we experienced sustained knots over 27 for 3 hours. We finally took down the main and sailed only by a reefed headsail. I was drenched three times when large waves crashed into the cockpit. At 4:30 am the band of our CPT auto pilot snapped. We replaced steering with Monitor wind vane.

Day 2: Big winds and big seas continued into the afternoon and mellowed to 17-20 by evening. A couple of squalls moved through without much drama. We raised a storm Jib to add to the reefed headsail and are averaging 6 knots. The night was clear and starry with a small moon that came up around 1:30 am. It was a huge relief after last night to have an uneventful watch schedule. I kept cooking to a minimum but was able to step it up from day 1.

Day 3: The winds and seas have calmed to 15-20 knots and 2 meter waves. I even baked banana muffins. The ocean looks so beautiful!

We anticipate that our weather will remain similar to today's and we will shoot for arrival in Makemo on the morning of the 22nd.

Happy to be out on the Ocean again.

First Mate Kate
(a.k.a Salty)

Marquesan Culture

We happen to be in Nuku Hiva with the Oyster Rally; 29 50'+ Oysters doing a circumnavigation as an organized tour.

Their party in the Marquesas happens to be here, so we enjoyed Marquesan dancing and culture today.  Thank you, Oyster Rally!