Why knot?

Home, Sweet Home, Sydney Australia!

2014-03-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

WOW - it's been a long time since we last updated our blog. Everything after our last port of New Caledonia is a bit of a blur. Here's a quick update on what we've been doing and where we've settled.

After setting off from Isle de Pines in New Caledonia, we pushed through some challenging weather and sea conditions to arrive in Brisbane 6 days later on the eve of Halloween. After completing a relatively painless quarantine and customs exercise, we had minimal time to get Lazy Bones spruced up as we had several interested buyers wanting to view her immediately - great news for us!

A thorough clean-up had her looking as good as new, which the prospective buyers also thought as it only took 4 weeks from the date we arrived to signing the 'bill of sale'.

It was bitter sweet for us. We had poured everything we had into the past 12 months and loved our time aboard but the lure of life on land called and we were pretty excited about the adventure ahead.

What we're up to now:

Megan is back at work for Cisco in their marketing team and is really enjoying it. She's also back enjoying yoga at her favourite studio and has a renewed love for walking!

Mike has bought another Laser and is back dinghy sailing at the Double Bay Sailing Club, as well as crewing on some 'big boats'.

We have rented a great apartment in our old stomping ground of North Bondi, a 5 minute walk to the beach has us looking at the view above. We feel really lucky to live here. After all of the traveling we've done and all of the places we've visited along the way, we both agree that Sydney offers a truly incredible balance of beach/lifestyle/big city like nowhere else.

Though ... we do already miss our time on Lazy Bones!

New Caledonia - Tres Bon!

2013-10-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

After what was arguably one of our worst passages to date with 35 knot winds on the nose and short steep seas, we finally arrived in Ouvea, a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. It lies about 110nm east of the mainland and was reported to have the nicest beaches in all of the Pacific - we'll be the judges of that!

On our 2 night passage Megan didn't have much enthusiasm for fishing given the winds and sea state but unable to resist the lure, Mike oddly reeled in this squid at dawn.

Our on-board cookbook suggested slicing it into rings, battering it with flour, eggs and seasoning it with sea salt and frying it. We whipped up a quick side of aioli for dipping and served it with fresh lemon for lunch. The result was a bit chewy and could have used a bit more tenderising. We'll know for next time but full points for effort!

Ouvea is not an 'official' port of entry into New Caledonia but since it was 'on the way' to the capital of Noumea we couldn't resist stopping off to enjoy this amazing atoll. We took our chances that the officials wouldn't notice us and anchored here for 4 excellent days of rest and relaxation. Worth every bit of risk. It was AMAZING!

25 kms of uninterrupted, white sand beach. Out of all the beaches we've seen on this trip - Ouvea takes the cake as number 1 for beauty!

We only saw 3 other boats during our time in Ouvea. A cruiser's paradise.

Ouveau is a very traditional Melanesian island, which is occupied by the indigenous group known as the 'Kanaks'. They are quite insular and are resistant to any exterior influences or change. There is only 1 hotel on the entire island and all water activities are regulated - jet skis and kiteboarding are not permitted anywhere. They want to maintain a peaceful and traditional existence.

Wishing we could stay in the Loyalty Islands for at least another week or two, we had to press on to meet our friends Rob and Nicola who were joining us in Noumea for a week of sailing in the southern islands, followed by our final passage to Brisbane.

Rob Fynn was our private safari guide in Zimbabwe when we hired a catamaran and sailed on Lake Kariba back in July of 2012. View our blog post of Zimbabwe here. Being such a wonderful guy who has lived an incredible life and is a fabulous story teller, we invited him to join us for a portion of our trip.

We began with a fast sail to the Baie of Prony in the far south of Grande Terre. It was an old penal colony with crumbling buildings and evidence of the areas dark past is still present.

Another random solar powered phone booth in the middle of nowhere!

The old prison.

The trees were literally growing over the buildings.

Even the dogs were a little depressed at their surroundings

The building where convicts were sent for solitary confinement.

We continued to an uninhabited island in the Baie of Prony called Isle Casy. A very small but beautiful island with interesting topography and great walking trails.

The resident dog 'Moose' escorted us on our first walk around the island. After we knew our way he left us to take care of new arrivals. What a host!

Views out over the Baie de Prony.

Outdoor Jenga!

We enjoyed sundowners with a beachside fire and new friends on s/v Al Fresco!

What a boy scout!

Nicola and Rob were wonderful guests and really helped with their share of the cooking and cleaning up. We had great meals and great conversation!

We then sailed to the southern island of Isle de Pines for 4 days of exploring. We anchored in picture perfect Kuto Bay.

View of the outer islands from the look out Pic Nga. Only a 45 minute climb to the top but amazing views of the surrounding lagoon!

This is our final stop before we head off on our 6 day passage to Brisbane, Australia where our sailing trip will come to an end...

Kabooommmm - Volcanic Explosion in Vanuatu!

2013-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

We had another long passage to tackle – this time on our way to the island of Tanna in southern Vanuatu. 460nm should have seemed like a breeze after all of the miles we’ve clocked up but with inconsistent winds it took 3 long days and 4 nights before we spotted Mt Yasur – the forever erupting volcano offshore just as the sun rose.

Enjoying the beautiful sunrise as we wait for more light to enter Port Resolution.

Shortly after arriving we were greeted by Stanley who works on behalf of the Port Resolution Yacht Club. He greets all of the incoming boats and provides information on what to see and do in the area. Most importantly he arranges transport to Mt. Yasur – the world’s most accessible active volcano, where visitors can get as close to 150m to the rim of the crater. With no safety lines or gates we were super excited to get up close and personal with Mt. Yasur.

We were collected at 3:30pm along with our friends from Lateral Thinking and made the 1 hour drive to the base of the volcano.

For some bizarre reason, there is a working letterbox at the top of the volcano, Megan couldn’t resist – this one’s for you Julieanne!

As the sun started to set, we made our way up the path to the crater’s rim and immediately heard, felt and saw the amazing power of Yasur.

We were a few days late but the original idea was to celebrate Megan’s 35^th b-day on top of the volcano – memorable!

We were prompted to climb even higher for a better look into the smoky cauldron.

After another 20 minute vertical climb we were literally looking down into two vents that were taking turns spitting rockets of red molten rock and smoke up into the air before us. We could feel the ground shaking every few minutes and then bright red boulders as big as trucks were launched into the air in front of us. The only way to describe it was a natural firework display and it was awesome!!!!

Here's a quick video while it's still light out to show you how close we were to the rim of the crater

A quick video showing the spectacle at night with sound and everything!

After ticking off a major bucket list activity, we were free to explore the east side of Tanna for a few days, including the village of Port Resolution where time has literally stood still. There are no stores, no Internet and the village functions as it has for hundreds of years.

Trading and sharing information with the visiting yachts has become an important part of the social dynamic here and so Stanley was quick to offer some fresh bananas, papayas and breadfruit in exchange for some rice, fishing lures and canned vegetables we had on board.

Looking at photos in a geography book with Stanley and his family.

We were also given permission to walk freely around the village and to observe daily life. These are subsistence farmers who live completely off of the land so most of their time is spent managing their pigs and tending to their root vegetable crops.

Stanley's sister Miriam preparing the evening meal of root vegetables and suckling pig - all which were steamed in an earth oven for the afternoon.

And once the day's chores were done the children would spend time at the beach, learning to surf on whatever the ocean had dragged in or what visitors had left. We spent two great afternoons watching the fun!

Or they would play with whatever they could make, like this boy who used two old fish cans, a nail and a long piece of wood to create a fun toy he drove up and down the beach!

And for the adults, as we’ve seen almost everywhere in our travels – soccer still proves to be the sport of the world.

We wanted to support the local community's efforts so we made a reservation at Leah’s restaurant for a lunch of local fare. This is the only ‘restaurant’ in the village and it caters solely to the yachting community. Leah established the restaurant to help fund her children’s school fees.

We invited Leah to join us for the meal so we could gain a better understanding of life on Tanna. She was very forthcoming about village life and her food was delicious.

On the menu - omelets served with papaya salsa, 3 root vegetables dressed with homemade coconut milk, snake beans and bananas for desert.

Lunch was served on homemade plates made out of banana leaf - talk about sustainable practices!

After stuffing ourselves at Leah's, we set off on a 10km return walk to the next village which had great views over the ocean, including a bay of resident yellow reef sharks.

It's difficult to see but there are a dozen sharks swimming in the shallows in the picture above.

Mike taking Stanley's canoe out for a spin. These canoes are handmade and can last up to 10 years if taken care of properly.

While our time in Tanna was short and we only saw a fraction of the island, we were absolutely taken with the locals - their warmth and hospitality was a highlight. This was by far the closest we've come to interacting with locals in an authentic setting.

Up next - New Caledonia and our last country before we land in Australia in early November.

Bula, Bula from Fiji!

2013-09-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

After one of our best sails ever from Tonga to Fiji we cleared into the lush town of Savusavu on the northern island of Vanua Levu where we planned to spend a few days re-provisioning and feasting on the delicious curries we'd heard so much about! There is a large Indo-Fijian population who are mostly descended from the indentured labourers brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers in the late 1800's to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations.

We loved our week in Savusavu - eating out, doing boat work and generally relaxing but unfortunately one of the downsides to Savusavu is the amount of precipitation - it rained non-stop, cats and dogs for 6 whole days! This was not turning out to be the sunny paradise we were expecting so it was great that the 5 star Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort was only a few miles down the road!

Enjoying fresh fruit cocktails poolside after a long dip in the local mineral baths.

The rain didn't stop the beautiful sunsets.

Fiji has some of the best diving in the world and is particularly renowned for its soft corals located in the Somosomo Straight between Taveuni and Vanua Levu Island. The Great White Wall (part of Rainbow Reef) has been pegged as one of the world's top 10 dive sites so Megan was eager to get under the water! It was fantastic - at a depth of 28 meters there is a near vertical wall of mostly white coral, something truly unique! Watch the video here!

After 2 nights we had to press on as we were meeting good friends in the Yasawa Islands on the western side of Fiji. Fijian waters are known for their unchartered reefs so moving between the island chain needs to be carefully planned and only attempted during daylight. It would take 4 days of sailing to get to the Blue Lagoon Resort on Nacula Island.

On passage we caught another fish for the tally board! This time a Spanish Mackeral or 'Walu' as they're known in Fiji. We made a spicy but delicious laksa with the meat.

The beautiful beaches of Nacula.

This was the perfect place to anchor for a week - protected from most sides and very shallow, clear water.

Views of the beach from the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort

Our friend's Sam and Julieanne were joining us in Fiji for 6 days and they were bringing with them 5 month old Lucy who we hadn't yet met. We were SO excited!!!!

Fijian/Lazy Bones welcome - fresh drinks and a blow of the emergency air horn!

Introductions!

Reunions!

The women at the resort were so wonderful with Lucy - they loved to hold and dote on her.

Fun times in the outdoor shower!

One of the impressive things about cruising in Fiji is the amount of islands and potential anchorages. Throughout our time in the Caribbean and the Pacific we had always shared anchorages with numerous other boats but in Fiji it was rare for there to be more than 2-3 boats at any one time. Blissfuly private!

Julieanne, Sam and Lucy decided early on that they would spend their time on land in the resort as Julieanne was not great on boats so we used the opportunity to treat ourselves to meals and activities ashore with them - including the welcome kava ceremony.

Enjoying a traditional Fijian 'meke' of song and dance before dinner one night.

Julieanne and Sam scored a great 2 bedroom villa with a hammock and fantastic day bed - perfect for chillaxing and catching up.

First time in the pool and someone loveeedddd it!

Also first time in the ocean - it was a big week of 'firsts' for Lucy!

Shade anyone? What service Mr. Gentry!

We were keen to explore some of the local area and decided to take a morning trip to the Sawa-I-Lau caves, which involved a deep swim through into total darkness. Good thing Chilli Cat brought their underwater torches. It's reported that the caves run all the way underwater to the Lau Group of Islands 150 miles away. It's possible to scuba dive them as well, which sounds horrifically scary to Megan.

Inside of the caves - not great light for taking pictures!

Our 6 day visit with the Collins family flew by and it was again time to make our way down the Yasawa Island chain. We stopped along the way at a few nice anchorages and had what was probably our last swim with a manta ray. We also indulged in another 3 nights anchored off the Octopus Resort on Waya Island and enjoyed dinner ashore, sunrise yoga and a couples massage.

The Fijian 'resorts' we visited were a real treat as they were casual and not too developed - usually accommodating no more than 70 guests. The snorkelling right off the beach was some of the best we encountered on the whole trip and there were always hikes or visits to the village available. We would definitely recommend the Yasawa Islands as a land based destination and we hope to return one day as guests!

Whale Videos - Vava'u, Tonga

2013-08-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

These are a few underwater video delights which we took while in Tonga. It's a mixture of swimming with the whales, the audio track of a 'male's whale song' and finally some neat footage of the caves we visited. Enjoy!

This is a video of our swim with a mother, calf and chaperone. It's difficult to get a sense of their sizes but they were huge - at least up to 15m in length. The calf was trying to feed several times near the end of the video.

This calf was so inquisitive - amazing!

This is the audio that I recorded from a male whale which was 15 meters below me. The sound was so strong I could feel it vibrating through my body

These are two videos of my swim in Swallow's Cave - a beautiful place in Vava'u which if you time the afternoon lighting correctly is magnificent!

A 'Whale' of a Time in Tonga!

2013-08-29T16:41:00.000-07:00

After another tiring 6 day/night passage from Suwarrow in the Cook Islands, we entered Neiafu Harbour in Tonga after sunset. Thankfully our friends on Chilli Cat and Maloo were on hand to guide us through the narrow channel. After securing a mooring and catching up over a bottle of wine and a few beers we were ready for a full night’s sleep.

The Vavau Group of islands in northern Tonga has built itself a reputation of being one of the premier cruising grounds in the world. With sheltered waters, over 90 anchorages as well as being a breeding ground for humpback whales, we were excited to get out of town and explore!

During the months between June and November hundreds of humpback whales migrate from the cold waters in the Antarctic to breed and calf in the Tongan waters and Vavau is one of only a handful of places in the world where you can get in the water and swim face to face with these giant mammals and we weren't about to miss out. As Sunday is a strictly observed day of Sabbath, tours are not allowed to operate so we decided to make the most of the tourist free waters by taking Lazy Bones out and trying our luck with the whales - and what luck we had! After 45 minutes of cruising along, we spotted a mother, her calf and a large chaperone in the calm waters off one of the islands. Not wasting a minute, Megan suited up and jumped in the dinghy and headed out to see if they would be relaxed enough to let her swim with them... they were!

This calf was so gentle and inquisitive! He/she was about 3 meters long.

The calf was continually diving down and feeding from the mother

We spent all morning with these amazing animals. It was truly the most incredible experiences of the trip so far.

Our friends from Chilli Cat joined us as well.

This is a picture Chilli Cat took from their boat - look how close they come to the boats!

Mike was unable to swim with us due to his perforated eardrum so he was our whale spotter and boat support!

He did get some amazing pictures from above the water!

Other than swimming with whales, there are loads of interesting snorkeling opportunities in Vavau, including Swallows and Mariner’s cave. In waters too deep to anchor in, Mike waited on the boat while Megan jumped out and explored on her own.

Timing is important to enjoy the caves properly. Luckily all of the tour groups had left and the afternoon sun provided beautiful lighting for the thousands of small fish.

Just as stunning, Mariner’s Cave can only be accessed by diving down and through a large opening. Having Charles and Luca from Chilli Cat on hand, provided some great picture opportunities!

Beautiful, uninhabited islands. We anchored here for a night.

We also spent several days anchored off the small island of Lape, which is home to a village of only 26 people. In an effort to raise money for community projects, the villagers host a Tongan feast every second weekend for all of the yachties in the anchorage.

We were warmly greeted on the wharf with fresh flower leis and the hearty Tongan smile of Coolio – our host for the evening. We spent an hour walking around the island while Coolio gave us explanations of how they live day to day. We met several children, saw the school and the simple methodist church and finished with a coconut husking demonstration. All while dinner was being roasted on an open fire. In addition to the suckling pig, there were numerous local fish dishes and a variety of salads. Plenty of food for all 30 of us!

After waiting in the outer islands for a weather window, we set sail for Savusavu in Fiji, which is approximately 400nm. This was THE best passage we've ever made. Consistent winds of 15-20 knots, calm seas and a lot of bites on the lures kept us happy.

Our very first yellowfin tuna. This fish has been elusive to us until now and we caught two in one day.

Poisson cru and sashimi were on the menu for dinner.

Not wanting to disrupt our winning streak, we put out a few more hand lines and were rewarded with this huge sucker. This is the biggest bull mahi mahi we've ever caught and our freezer is now full.

We were sailing in close proximity with friends of ours on Bella Via, who were able to take some great shots of us while underway with our spinnaker flying.

We arrived safely in Fiji after a great 3 day/night sail and are looking forward to the next chapter in our journey. Bula!

"An Island to Oneself" - Suwarrow, Cook Islands

2013-08-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

We were sad to leave French Polynesia after having spent 2 months there but it was time to move on. We set sail from Bora Bora and headed to the atoll - Suwarrow, which belongs to the Cook Islands and it is their only national park. It was made famous by New Zealander named Tom Neale who lived on the isolated island for many years of his life. He even wrote a book about it called An Island to Oneself.

We left during the peak of the winds and had 30knots from behind pulling us along with 4-5 meter swell – not pleasant. It was the first time both of us really felt seasick and it lasted for most of our 700nm trip. Arriving in Suwarrow 5 days later was a great relief.

Suwarrow can only be accessed by private boat so Megan wasn’t about to give up this opportunity. The two caretakers who are currently managing the park are Harry and Charlie. They live on the island in modest accommodation between the months of May and November. They are given one palette of provisions including the diesel and gasoline they need for the 6 month period, so rationing is important. They rely on the kindness of yachties to replenish their fresh food supplies but essentially they live off the land with fishing as a staple activity.

The Suwarrow 'Yacht Club'

Some of the colourful flags visiting boats have left over the years.

Suwarrow has become far more regulated in recent years as the Cook Island government is taking steps to protect the bird nesting areas and marine life. As such we were only allowed to anchor in one designated area and had to use the park rangers for all activities. The main island itself is pretty small – we easily walked around it in 30 minutes!

Stretching the legs after 5 days at sea!

Wanting to see as much of this isolated paradise as possible, we got a group together and for $10 each, Charlie took us out exploring. First stop was ‘Bird Island’.

This island is an important nesting ground for sea birds like frigates, boobies and terns. There were thousands of birds and many young ones that ranged from a few days to weeks to months old.

Our tour continued to beautiful ‘Seven Island’ where there is an abundance of coconut crabs. This island was stunning with a pink sand beach and nothing on it other than palm tress, coconuts and local wildlife.

Lucky for us we found two good sized coconut crabs to BBQ at the onshore pot luck dinner that night!

And what’s a beach BBQ without hermit crab races?! This was my lucky guy –bringing it home!

Nothing beats fresh coconut water and rum for sundowners!

Charlie also supplemented the meal with freshly caught wahoo and tuna. These shore BBQs are a great way to meet other cruisers and sample some interesting recipes – especially desert as Megan does not bake!

These puppies were delish!

Similar to the Tuamotos, there were a lot of sharks in the lagoon. At any one time we had between 8-12 sharks hanging out behind the boat. They also cruised the shallows near shore – great to watch!

We went spear fishing a few times in the pass and it was intense given the amount of sharks in the area…. As soon as Mike shot anything he would have to bolt to the surface with the spear held high out of the water to keep the circling sharks at bay. Megan was snorkeling and watching all of this from afar. If he wasn’t quick enough, the sharks would rip the fish right off of his spear. Amazing to watch!

Of course we also had a fantastic manta ray experience. Check out the size of these bad boys!!!

We had a few very still days in the anchorage and took the opportunity to get some nice shots of Lazy Bones for our For Sale Ad - Lazy Bones is officially on the market! Check out more details on our For Sale Page.

We enjoyed 10 days in Suwarrow while waiting for the winds to pick up so we could continue the next 700nm leg of our trip to Vavau, Tonga!

Lazy Bones Welcomes 'KK' to French Polynesia!

2013-07-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

After a delightful 2 weeks in the Tuamotos it was time to again move. We had an uneventful 2 night sail towards Tahiti, where we had agreed to spend a much needed week doing boat work and preparing for our friend Kathy to join us aboard Lazy Bones for 10 days of sailing around the Society Islands.

When we enetered the harbor in Papeete, we were greeted by a flotilla of outrigger canoes who were competing in the local Heiva festival. Great first impression!

Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia felt quite cosmopolitan after our previous three months in remote locations - it was a dream to pick up relatively quick (but $$) Internet again; back to civilization!

Armed with a lengthy list of ‘to-dos’ and a very short timeframe, we got to work quickly. Boat jobs included: replacing the rudder pins we had sent from France, installing the new motor for the windlass, oil and filter changes on both engines, replacing the gasket on the port engine, having the mainsail taken off and patched in several places, servicing the generator and re-stocking our depleted spares inventory. ‘Other’ jobs included: laundry, propane refilling, restocking of food and beverage provisions, cleaning of the boat, blog posts and general admin. We were pooped.

Not wanting our time in Tahiti to be all work and no play, we rented a car with our friends on Chilli Cat and spent the day touring the island. Unfortunately the ‘sights’ weren’t that numerous or exciting but an unplanned lunch stop had us joining a senior citizens luncheon! Everyone was in colourful clothes, all the women had fresh flower leis, there was a ukulele band. It was really festive and the food was delish!

Our good friend Kathy from Sydney arrived on time and after a quick trip to the Carrefour (European grocery store), we were very well stocked for the next 10 days. We set sail immediately for Moorea – 20nm and arrived by mid afternoon. Just in time for an afternoon swim!

We based ourselves on the north coast and kept ourselves busy for three days by:

Swimming with sting rays and sharks

Enjoying the views and (free Internet) at the Hilton, Moorea

And of course eating and drinking! Kathy, who is a big lover of food helped prepare some great meals aboard.

We also prepared a freshly speared sole (a.k.a. flounder]. Unfortunately it was more bone than anything else, but she persevered!

After three days, we pulled up the anchor and set off for our 80nm, overnight sail to Huahine - a small and much less developed island with a population of 6500 people.

We arrived in Huahine mid-morning, which gave us just enough time to walk around the town before we met up with our friends and enjoyed sunset happy hour Mai Tais on the waterfront.

July is the month of the Heiva festival where traditional dance competitions are held in the local towns. The festival culminates in Bora Bora at the end of the month with all of the winning groups. We were lucky enough to score some tickets in Huahine to see the dancing. What hips!

We heard the weather was due to change with increased winds and big seas. Wanting our passages to be as comfortable as possible for Kathy, we revised our plan and left Huahine early the next day and set sail for Bora Bora with a lunch stop planned at Raietea and an overnight stop at Tahaa. This really was the whistleblowers tour of the Society Islands.

Arriving in Bora Bora the next day, we had high winds and choppy seas. Blessed with the protection of the surrounding lagoon, we anchored behind the Motu Toopua for 2 nights, which was pure bliss and very sheltered. We explored the deserted Motu Tapu.

The Heiva festivities continued in Bora Bora and Kathy and I were lucky enough to catch the end of the fruit carrying contest where the local men carry loads of bananas and run with them. Feeling pretty strong ourselves we had a go at lifting them – light as a feather! Great picture opps too!

The afternoon was full of festivities – bingo, a local version of roulette (that raised some suspicion…) and foosball.

Kathy’s good friend Moana has parents who live in Bora Bora and they wanted to show us around the island and then have us back to their place for lunch. What a treat! They have a great home high on a hill overlooking Matira beach.

Miriama – Moana’s mother put on a beautiful spread of sashimi, salads, tuna skewers, fresh bread and wine. We enjoyed a long lunch with them, followed by an afternoon swim at the beach.

We finished the day with a huge meal at Mai Kai restaurant to celebrate Kathy’s last night. We are officially full!

After a busy but great 10 days, we said goodbye to Kathy :( Keeping a close eye on the weather, we decided to stay in Bora Bora for another week – waiting for a good weather window to make the 680nm passage to Suwarrow, in the Cook Islands. Light breezes and a full sun made it an easy decision to book a last minute helicopter ride over the lagoon.

That's Lazy Bones!

After the helicopter dropped us at the St Regis, we had a quick look around the very luxurious grounds.

Looks like a nice place to put my feet up!

Pig roast anyone?

It was awesome having Kathy join for a tour of the Society Islands. She was a fantastic guest and it was nice to have an on board chef! You're welcome back anytime KK

South Pacific Dreamin'

2013-06-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

With another 4 day/night sail under our belts from the Marquesas to the Tuamotos we were ready to get back in the water for some beach action.

The Tuamotos are an archipelago of atolls that would be our cruising grounds for the next 2 weeks.

Entering and exiting atolls can be tricky business as there is usually only 1 or 2 passes which all of the tidal water needs to flow in and out of 4 times a day. Passes can be quite narrow so the current’s surge can be strong, posing problems for boats trying to enter and exit. It’s recommended to time your entrances and exists at slack tide – i.e. just when the tide has turned. Essentially timing is everything so we choose a series of atolls that are known to be relatively easy to navigate - Kahuei and Fakarava.

Our first stop was the secluded SE anchorage in Kaheui, a beautiful stretch of clear water and coral sand. It was bliss and the perfect antidote after a 4 day sail.

We had caught a large wahoo just as we entered the pass and invited our buddy boats Chilli Cat, Maloo and Lateral Thinking over for a fish BBQ with of course freshly speared octopus as an appetizer. Having learned the importance of tenderizing, Mike spent a good half an hour on shore pounding it with a mallet to get a softer consistency. We then boiled it so we could easily remove the skin.

We then cut it into morsels and lightly pan-fried it with olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs. Tasty!

Our friends Charles & Heather off Chilli Cat

Our days were spent lazily snorkeling in the crystal waters and of course spearfishing! After speaking with a local fisherman who assured Mike that the grouper were safe to eat here, he went out and caught a huge coral trout, egged on by Brian off Lateral Thinking who claims these are the best tasting fish you can eat! Still, having read countless stories about the frequency and nastiness of ciguatera (a toxic algae that grows on coral) in the reef fish, we were a little hesitant to eat it. In the end we survived but, two days later when we bumped into the same fisherman and showed him the photo, he told us "no no, that is not [tahitian word for Grouper], that is [some other tahitian word for special kind of grouper that will kill you]". BLAH! Guess we got lucky on that one.

We were also lucky enough to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in this idyllic paradise, with a chocolate cake to boot!

It was nice to stretch our legs on land by beach combing the windward side of the island where we found lots of unusual debris, including numerous fishing rafts, which we quickly pillaged for some rope and floats and a huge amount of discarded fishing balls, which Mike was quick to grab and add to our storage lockers.

Mike thought the locals would be appreciative if we collected a few extra for them but after a few more trips ashore we found that they had stock piles all over the island... pretty sad how much junk ends up on the windward side of islands the world over!

We had been told that the Sunday church services were not to be missed as the singing and ukulele playing were really something special. So we pulled up the anchor, navigated our way through the uncharted waters and ended up in the town of Kahuei – population 200.

The church service was beautiful and conducted all in Tahitian. Most women had fresh flower leis in their hair and wore bright, colourful dresses and the men mostly wore tiki shirts - all very relaxed. The service was only an hour with a lot of music and singing. What a great experience!

The Tuamotos are famous for their black pearl harvesting and up until a few years ago it was a thriving business before the government imposed severe taxes. We were lucky enough to meet James (the fisherman mentioned above) who worked on one of the pearl farms and who generously spent half a day showing us the various stages of pearl farming. Talk about labour intensive!

These are the beads, made from oyster shells, that are inserted in the oyster to form the nucleus of the pearl.

There’s a portion of the mantle which the locals eat. James kindly opened up an oyster for us to try it!

Salty!

And then of course you have the end result, which is thousands of pearls! All different shapes, sizes and colours. Even though Megan isn’t a ‘pearl’ kinda girl, there was no harm in looking!

These atolls are really isolated and rely on the supply ship from Tahiti, which visits them every two weeks, delivering provisions, cars, building materials, etc. We were lucky enough to be in town when it arrived. What a gathering! EVERYONE comes down to the wharf to watch the unloading of the goods.

You can also place vegetable and fruit orders with the captain.

Fresh cakes for sale!

Local ladies chatting the day away - maybe our cultures aren't too different after all!

After a great week in Kahuei, it was time to move on to the atoll of Fakarava. We picked up the anchor and set sail for the 35nm journey to the south pass. With only 3 full time families living on land around the south pass it was a real 'castaway' experience.

The diving in the south pass is some of the best in Pacific. Renowned for its shark population, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get in the water. Luckily, we arrived just in time for the annual spawning of the grouper, where thousands of groupers from all over the atoll congregate in the pass during the full moon to lay their eggs during the outgoing tide. The sharks (black and white tip) are quick to realise that a meal is easier at this time and hundreds of sharks hunt the groupers. We had 1st class tickets at 24m to watch the show. It was amazing! In order to be able to stay at such a depth for 30+minutes we had to dive with enriched air - Nitrox. A first for us but definitely worth it. We have some amazing video footage but the Internet connection is too slow to upload :(

Luckily the wind died completely and a real stillness fell on the anchorage for 2 days. The water was the calmest and clearest we've seen yet. Mike took the opportunity to go to the top of the mast to take some amazing pictures of our surroundings.

That's Megan in the middle of the picture!

See the shark Megan's trying to swim towards...

There are A LOT of sharks in these anchorages, at any one time we would have 3-4 black tip reef sharks hanging out behind the boat. Awesome.

Beautiful sunrises

And sunsets

Mahini - the owner of a local pension hosted our group for lunch. On the menu - poisson cru in coconut milk and pan fried parrot fish. Tres Delicieuse!

We LOVED our time in the Tuamotos and ultimately wished we had allowed ourselves more time there. It really was the idyllic South Pacific destination. It's going to be hard to top that!

Our First Stop in French Polynesia - The Marquesas!

2013-06-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

“The Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia is our next destination after the Galapagos” is what I would tell friends and family when they asked where we were headed next. ‘The what islands?” was the typical response. And fair enough, before researching this trip I hadn’t heard of them either except vaguely remembering that a series of the reality T.V. show ‘Survivor’ was filmed there. 750nm NE of Tahiti, the Marquesas are remote, difficult to get to and off the beaten track for most visitors. The Marquesas are a mountainous archipelago of 15 islands (6 of which are inhabited) with a total population of 9000 people. Culturally rich, stunningly beautiful and with a history steeped in ceremony and tradition we couldn’t wait to discover the islands and meet the local people.

After three weeks of not having slept for more than 4 consecutive hours we couldn’t wait for a night of uninterrupted sleep after our arrival in Fatu Hiva. but … within an hour after we arrived we were invited to a lunch put on by the village at the local church, and to watch a “festival” that night! We both made it to the lunch … only Mike was able to push on through for the festival, which was a sketch comedy send up of the local villagers making fun of themselves (from what he could understand … it was all in Marquesan!)

The “Bay of Virgins” in Fatu Hiva is a scenic, though somewhat difficult, anchorage. With 20 something boats in the relatively small, narrow and quickly deepening bay and a number of boats dragging due to the depth or relatively poor holding in the middle part of the bay where a river exits, it wasn’t the most relaxed anchorage we had ever been to … but we were still really happy to have the ‘pick’ down and be able to sleep for 15 hours straight!

After a few days we felt rested and with our minds and spirits back on track we enjoyed some landfall celebrations with our buddy boats and began to explore the village of Hanavave.

The local church

Women preparing decorations for the local festival

This is one of the most difficult islands to reach in the Marquesas as there is no airport so its remoteness and lack of tourist infrastructure is something not easily found. Generally the only visitors are those of us on yachts and the welcome is warm.

The supply ship comes once every three weeks from Papeete, bringing with it staples such as flour, rice and sugar, canned goods, fresh vegetables, eggs and frozen meat. These items are purchased quickly and the store shelves and freezers are reportedly bare by noon the same day. Other than locally tended crops of root vegetables and a plethora of fruit trees – bananas, mangoes, pamplemouse (local grapefruit) and limes there is very little in the way of agricultural subsistence.

This is one of the most dramatically beautiful anchorages we’ve been in with towering black basalt rocks set against the lush, tropical vegetation. The town of Hanavave has a population of 500 or so residents where everybody is loosely related to each other. There is no bank or ATM and many locals prefer to exchange goods such as soap, shampoo, children’s games and fishing lures and line for fruit or their local handicrafts.

We were in the market for some bananas and a carved wooden Tiki. Luckily we happened upon Temo – a local carver and artisan who invited us into his home for the afternoon to look at his work. Prices here weren’t cheap but Megan snagged a great wooden, carved tiki for the boat!

Having had limited use of our legs during the passage we took the opportunity to stretch them and to see some of the island’s beautiful interior by trekking to the local waterfall for a dip in its freshwater pool.

There are no restaurants in the village and after 21 days of cooking on board we were keen for a night out and a break from the galley. Kati – a local woman has been hosting cruisers in her home for years. We quickly jumped at the invitation and at $15pp for a buffet of fresh yellow fin poisson cru, beef and chicken curry, rice, papaya salad and dried bananas with coconut shavings we were in culinary heaven. Hands down this was the best local meal we’ve had in a long time. We brought a bottle of wine and met other cruisers who had recently done the passage. We swapped war stories and got a sense of where many cruisers were headed – mostly NZ or Australia but few were on our aggressive timeline to get there this season!

After 5 days of sleeping, eating and relaxing we decided to pick up the anchor (by hand as the windlass still wasn’t working... ugh … 130m of chain is HEAVY!!!) and head north to Hanamoenoa Bay on the island of Tahuata where the cruising guide promised a shallow, sandy anchorage with a nice beach and resident manta rays - perfecto!

On arriving a neighboring boat mentioned that manta rays were in residence and would usually appear in the bay at about 7am to feed on the plankton. Not letting this opportunity pass her by, Megan was in the water by 6:30am, swimming out to the opening of the bay in hopes of finding these gentle giants. As predicted - on cue at 7am out of the depths, 3 medium sized mantas gracefully swam by with their mouths wide open, focused on feeding. We stayed with them as they fed in a circuitous manner for almost 2 hours. This became our morning ritual at Hanamoenoa Bay and one of the best experiences we had in the Marquesas. To be allowed unhurried time alone with these amazing creatures will stay with us forever.

Having been deprived of any spearfishing in the Galapagos, Mike was excited to get in some practice shooting with his new spear gun and hopefully spear us some lunch. However, instead of hunting the usual pelagic or reef fish, he had his sights set on something new – octopus.

The visibility in Hanamoenoa (and generally in the Marquesas) wasn’t great - due to heavy rain and lots of plankton on the surface layer so seeing anything at the 'hunting level' - around 10m was a challenge. Mike found an octopus hiding in some corral, and after a few attempts to get him by hand, came back to the boat for the spear gun and was set on octopus curry for lunch!

Octopus aren’t the easiest prey to shoot with a spear gun – once shot, they pull back into their crannies in the reef, and the strength of the tentacles of even a small octopus is amazing! (And the small ones are the ones you want, since they aren’t as ‘rubbery’ as the bigger guys).

After a long ‘hunt’ and struggle to get him out of his hole, Mike emerged to the surface with the octopus wrapped around his arm!

Since this was our first time preparing fresh octopus (and knowing that octopus is notoriously difficult to do right), a bay wide VHF radio transmission asking for advice was sent out over the airwaves. Within 10 seconds we had 5 boats responding with offers of pressure cookers, tenderizing methods and recipes. Oh … and of course expressions of interest to join us! Thankfully, our friends on Chilli Cat had seen another octopus that morning, so Mike went out and caught another one to make enough for everyone!

We decided on a curry-based recipe using a pressure cooker. This would a) tenderize the meat and b) feed all 10 people who were now coming for lunch! Megan jumped in the dinghy and with a quick 5-minute lesson on how to use a pressure cooker from neighboring boat Dolphin of Leith we were set.

A disbeliever from the outset – Megan was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. Some of the thicker pieces were still too tough and could have been cooked longer (or more thoroughly tenderized first), but the tentacles were soft and delicious!

As the wine continued to flow, our plans to leave the bay that evening quickly changed and the festive mood turned into a bit of a party on Lazy Bones and lunch then extended into a sunset potluck dinner.

After another day spent nursing our hangovers, we pulled anchor at 3pm and set out on a 95nm overnight sail to Nuka Hiva in the northern group of islands. Unfortunately there was minimal wind and we had to motor a large majority of the way. About an hour after leaving we had a few fishing lines in the water and as soon we sat down to dinner our line snagged a shark. A big shark … so big Mike disappointingly had to cut it loose as there was no hope of retrieving the lure from its jaws or getting it on deck! (Sorry, no picture – we were rushed as dinner was getting cold!)

Arriving at Taiohae Bay in Nuka Hiva at sunrise we were now entering the ‘big smoke’ of the Marquesas. Fresh food, French baguettes, ‘grocery stores’, Internet and laundry services were a stone’s throw away - luxuries we hadn’t seen in almost 5 weeks!

We spent our first two days doing admin jobs such as visiting the gendarmerie to officially ‘clear-into’ French Polynesia, having our cooking gas bottles filled, having our laundry sent away ($15 per load…), buying (and eating) as much fresh food as our fridges could hold, stocking up on the local funny money, which is the CFP (Cour de Franc Pacific) and just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere of this sleepy town.

Isn't the money pretty?!

Megan going a little overboard with the fresh bread!

Back in Tahuata we met a lovely young British couple named Jess and Duncan who were traveling on Alliance and who are also heading to Australia. Jess’ dad – has been crewing with them since Panama. We agreed it would be great to share a hire car for the day to explore some of the island and to scope out possible anchorages on the north coast.

We worked in a counter-clockwise direction around the island, starting in Taipivai to visit the Paeke archeological site to look at some original tikis as well as petroglyphs.

The landscape on Nuka Hiva is incredibly diverse. Throughout the day we had variations in terrain from tropical vegetation to desert scrub, to alpine forests to pastoral valleys similar to Switzerland!

We made our way to the north of the island and to the quiet seaside village of Hatiheu where we were the only visitors. We strolled the ‘street’ and browsed the local museum, which has a pretty comprehensive display of archeological artifacts, the documented history of tattooing, and many carvings, etc.

We then stopped at Chez Yvonne for a nice lunch of fresh, mixed seafood and a cold Hinano beer followed by a swim!

Continuing on there were vistas after vistas. The views over Hatiheu Bay from the Teavaitapuhiva Pass

Continuing west on the coastal road we were getting into some seriously rugged 4x4 driving, faced with huge boulders that had fallen onto the road, new detours had to be found. We stopped in what we hoped was the settlement of Pua for a rest and a snack of coconut flesh and milk.

With no road signs to guide us, we knew we needed to head in the direction of the airport. Unsure if we had taken a wrong turn along the way, our worries were alleviated when we saw the classic island airport ‘sign’ J

After three days in the town we had to keep moving and pulled up the anchor at first light to set off around the east side of Nuka Hiva, heading for the highly raved about anchorage of Anaho in the north. Anaho Bay, which is accessible only by boat or by horse/foot over the mountain, is a really unique spot, which reminded us how fortunate we were to be able to get to such places in the comfort of our “home” on Lazy Bones.

After 5 hours of motor-sailing and accompanied by some bottlenose dolphins on the way, we turned into the bay of paradise.

This bay has it all – good protection from the wind and swell, shallow water for anchoring and a decent reef with of course – manta rays!

We spent 3 days here swimming, walking the beaches and socializing with other cruisers.

We also walked over the ridge to the local farm to stock up on fresh produce. Green tomatoes, mangoes, pamplemouse, bananas and cucumbers were on offer. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to communicate with the locals in French and are definitely given a deeper insight into their lives and communities because of it.

The plan was to head directly from Anaho for the Tuamotos – a 5 day sail but as our day of departure drew near, the winds were just too light to justify leaving so we took the opportunity to continue our circumnavigation of the island and headed for the west coast.

We’d read that the west coast was serious territory for wahoo fishing and after snagging this guy, we believe it!

Almost 5ft long and probably 50lbs this was the biggest fish we had ever landed. After cleaning and fileting it, we had enough for 3 fresh dinners, 5 frozen dinners and we gave away fully half of this beauty to other cruisers in Daniel’s Bay.

The main reason to come into Daniel’s Bay, or locally known as Hakatea Bay, was to hike into the Hakaui Valley and to the basin of the 350m Vaipo Waterfall – the 3^rd tallest in the world.

What an AMAZING hike! We passed through a small settlement with currently 10 inhabitants and a solar powered pay phone, which actually had a dial tone!!

The trail had us crossing rivers and cutting through dense vegetation.

The reward was a dip in the fresh (read: very cold) water in the pool below.

The only downside to this bay and the beaches in general in the Marquesas are the presence of nonos, a small, aggressive biting fly – hence the unattractive clothing on our walks!

Huge Pomplemouse (grapefruit) ripe for the picking

Along the way coconuts abound!

Given our proximity to Taiohae, we decided to duck in there for a one last day to stock up on food (again), some diesel, catch up on Internet and do some laundry – not able to stomach the cost this time we schlepped our clothes down to the public wharf and washed everything by hand using the town’s water!

With the winds still light, but forecast to increase, we pulled anchor at midday and sailed out of Taiohae for our next destination – the Tuamotos. It’s as if the manta rays knew we were leaving and wanted to give us a fab farewell. As we sailed through the opening of the bay two huge schools (20-30) appeared alongside our boat. Unable to contain herself, Megan grabbed her snorkel and jumped in for a last encounter with her new BFFs. What an amazing send off from the Marquesas.

All in all, we wish we could have spent many months exploring the various islands of the Marquesas, and can’t wait to come back on our next trip! Up next - the Tuamotos!

3000nm – 21 Days Across the Pacific!

2013-05-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

We weren’t really ready to leave for our Pacific crossing, but a 7am visit from the port captain and our agent in Isabella telling us we had to leave by 8am (thanks for the ample warning guys!) kicked us into gear. After a quick good-bye cuppa with our buddy boats we were off!

We had been talking about this passage for a long time – it’s a pretty monumental thing to sail non-stop across 3000nm of open sea. Megan was pretty anxious about this leg, and we had explored taking crew with us, but in the end decided to go alone. In hindsight, it was totally the right decision, despite all the challenges we had… (see EMERGENCY! below).

Leaving the Galapagos was both breathtaking and a bit sad as we loved these islands. We cruised along the coast of Isabella and saw loads of manta rays jumping and performing flips in the air. We also saw normal rays doing the same, heaps of turtles and of course dolphins!

Mike also got the lures in and we were reeling in our first catch of the trip in no time (a small Spanish mackerel).

The first 8 days of our passage were wonderful – we had great sailing and were really enjoying ourselves. Our 4 hour watch system was working well, and our fishing success rate was phenomenal (a really pleasant surprise); we ended up only putting out one lure at a time (winner was definitely a blue & white squid lure), and only when we had finished eating all of the last catch, as we were landing a Mahi Mahi (aka Dorado or Dolphin Fish) basically whenever we wanted.

We ate Mahi Mahi each day for the first 12 days of our voyage! Megan was quite the culinary wiz: fish tacos, fish curry, fish kebabs, fried fish, grilled fish (a fave) and … after a few days off since we got a bit fished out … a lovely fish pie.

Whoops! Even in a catamaran leaving a glass plate on a counter top in big swell can be a mistake (how complacent we become about how easy it is to live & sail on a cat!) … at least we had one piece each.

We also spent time doing minor maintenance: daily rig inspection, chafe inspection, cleaning dead squid & flying fish from the deck (so many each morning it was like ritual suicide!) and of course, our daily position updates and letting friends & family know we were ok!

The satellite phone was a real godsend, and we were very glad to have it aboard. While at first we were happy to provide and receive daily position updates to our buddy boats and shore crew (i.e. worried parents), when disaster struck is was a real lifeline to have onboard.

EMERGENCY!!!

Before we left, we had talked through our worst case scenarios, both in terms of problems and location. Basically, 1000nm from Galapagos was the point of no return – so far downwind that it makes more sense to keep sailing the remaining 2000nm to the Marquesas than to turn back.

Well, at almost exactly 1000nm (and 8 days) from the Galapagos one of our worst fears was realized – in one instant we lost all steering and our autopilot failed. At 4am Mike was on watch, and as he came back downwind after putting in a reef the autopilot started playing silly buggers. Taking the helm, he knew immediately something was wrong and called for Megan.

It’s a bit of a blur what happened next, but in short order we had realized that our port rudder was no longer connected to any steering mechanism! With the port rudder flailing around at will, the starboard rudder couldn’t control the boat.

Next to a fire or holing the boat, this was our worst fear realised! After dropping the sails, we drifted for about 4 hours while Mike tried to come up with a repair. The problem was a sheared pin. A single pin connects the rudder quadrants to both the steering arm and (on the port side) to the autopilot ram.

This unique piece (see below) is threaded through the rudder quadrant (14mm thread), then has a spacer washer & goes through the steering arm ball joint (20mm), then has a built in tightening nut, followed by another smooth section that goes through the ball joint of the autopilot ram (15mm), topped off with a split pin. The port piece had sheared off just below the rudder quadrant!

Mike quickly switched the same pin from the starboard side to the port side, so that we could use the autopilot, and then worked on a jury rig for the starboard side pin. This obviously isn’t a piece that we keep in the spares kit … in fact, we don’t have any 14mm bolts in the kit at all! Somehow Mike remembered that the nuts on the bolts holding the bimini pillars in place were the same size as the nuts on these pins, and we were relieved that these bolts were the right width (14mm) to go through the rudder quadrant.

With Megan using the emergency tiller to hold the rudder as still as she could (the passing 3m swell really kicked the rudders around a lot without anything controlling them), Mike was able to put the bolt in place, and stuff the space around the control arm ball joint with cut up pieces of fuel hose.

With fingers crossed, we started motoring along to see if the fix would hold. And hold it did. For the next few days we sailed with the rudders locked off, using only sail trim to keep us headed roughly on track (though we did weave quite a bit and covered significantly less ground – catamarans are definitely harder to steer using only sail trim than a ketch would be!).

Through all this, we were able to use our sat phone to stay in contact with our friends, and more importantly our dedicated shore crew (Mike’s Dad). Rod was able to coordinate with Lagoon getting replacement pins underway while we were still at sea. Thanks again to Rod for being an awesome shore crew for our passage!

After a few days, we started to judiciously use the autopilot again, until finally we started to have real confidence in the fix we had come up with. (It worked all the way to the Marquesas and, after taking apart and inspecting how it held up, we will be counting on it again until we get replacement pins in Tahiti).

Unfortunately, the breakage really messed with our enjoyment of the trip. Up until that point, we had really been having a wonderful time. The boat had been sailing really well, we had both felt good (and rested), and we were amazed at how awesome our lives were!

After the breakage, we were both on edge. Megan had a lot of trouble sleeping for a few days in our room, as each noise the autopilot made (which is behind our heads in bed), would wake her in fear that it had broken again. Each time one of us woke the other to change shifts, we would immediately jump up thinking that something else had gone wrong. Stress levels were high … thankfully, at least we had other sleeping options … but still, we were both pretty affected by the reality of how far from land we were, and how quickly things could go wrong.

After a few days, things started to level out and we continued with our trip – though we did encounter a few more minor problems along the way: chaffed through 1^st reefing line & topping lift, separating tack on our gennaker, broken impeller in generator, etc. Basically, Mike had a lot of fun doing repairs while underway.

And of course, we did enjoy ourselves again … nothing like a cup of hot coco at sunrise!

Or a bottle of wine and some brie to celebrate Mike’s 35^th birthday!

But finally, after 21 days, we saw our landfall – Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas!

We had slowed down during our last day so that we would arrive at daylight, and the timing was just right. It was a spectacular thing as the darkness began to lift at daybreak for a huge mountain of blackness to remain in front of us, and gradually take shape into a marvelous, jagged island!

Approaching Hanavave, our anchorage of choice in Fatu Hiva, at daybreak was awesome. This anchorage is really stunning!

Unfortunately, our arrival wasn’t as straight forward as we'd hoped! We came in and dropped our anchor, only to drag. This anchorage was quite crowded (18 boats) when we arrived, and the river mouth must wash away any holding directly in the centre part of the bay (multiple boats dragged when trying to anchor here).

But … when we went to lift our anchor, our windlass motor died!

This was really the straw the broke the camels back – all we wanted after our 21 days at sea was to anchor & have a cup of coffee while admiring the view, but we ended up dropping our anchor by hand in 25m and putting out all our chain (130m) … then Mike was right back into trying to fix the motor (removing brushes, sanding back commutator, etc.).

Ah … well, that’s owning a boat!

All in all, we had a great trip despite all our challenges. We are really happy that we accomplished this part of our adventure on our own, together in all the ups and downs and are excited about the rest of our time in French Polynesia!

Isabela - Last Stop in the Galapagos!

2013-04-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Isabela - one of the northern islands in the Galapagos was our last stop before our epic Pacific crossing. It had a very different feel to it than the other islands as it doesn't receive too many visitors outside the usual boat tours. The beaches and wildlife were abundant and the marine life (again) was amazing. We only had a handful of days here so we decided to organise a boat tour with our friends on Chilli Cat and Maloo to 'Los Tuneles' a series of volcanic tunnels and outcrops which could only be reached by speedboat and locals 'in the know'. Snorkelling in crystal clear water with turtles, sea lions and manta rays was the order of the day - we are so spoilt.

On the way back to our boat we spotted dozens of manta rays along the coast. The speed boat operator slowed down and allowed those who could keep up, time in the water with these graceful giants. This was a major highlight of our overall time in the Galapagos. They are majestic!

The Galapagos penguins would hang out and sun themselves on the rocks near our boat.

These guys are everywhere - it was so easy to pass the day just hanging out with them on the beach.

The blue footed boobies were another delight to watch. They dive into the ocean from a great height and swim underwater in pursuit of their prey. I loved sitting on the bow of our boat, enjoying a morning coffee and watching them plunge into the water around us. They are distinctive with their bright blue feet which is a sexually selected trait. Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting one and then the other up while strutting before the female.

Although our time in the Galapagos was rushed and a little stressful as we didn't follow the proper protocol for legally being there we were both surprised at to how much we enjoyed the islands. The wildlife and serenity of the islands was amazing and definitely put the Galapagos on our top 3 places we've visited so far on this trip. With our time on land behind us we now have to mentally prepare for the challenge ahead - a 2895nm sail to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.

Underwater Bliss in the Galapagos!

2013-04-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

After our great time in San Cristobal – we set sail for Santa Cruz where diving was high on the priority list. Given the lack of coral but the mixing of ocean currents and temperatures we were told that diving in Galapagos was second to none for big fish. Heading out at the crack of dawn we motored into the wind for 45 minutes to arrive at Gordon Rocks. A legendary sight famous for hammerhead sightings. Mike and I have seen our fair share of shark activity but hammerheads have always eluded us so we were pretty stoked to see what was on offer. Unfortunately it wasn't in the cards for us that day but we did see plenty of other biggies!

White tip reef sharks having a snooze

The currents coming in and out between the rocks made for some of the most challenging diving we have done, at times we were literally holding onto rocks for fear of being swept away with the current.

The visibility was pretty poor but there was lots of activity underwater – including sealions, white tip reef sharks and more turltes than we could count.

Spotted Eagle Ray

and finally for an amazing finale to our second dive…. A whale shark appeared out of the depths. It was a juvenile - maybe 4 meters in length, SO incredible! Watch the video here. Whale shark sightings are not that common in these waters, Academy Bay Diving said they’d be lucky to have one a year – I guess luck was on our side. Such an amazing experience to have 5 minutes with this ocean giant.

Not quite having her fill of underwater encounters - Megan signed up for another day of diving and snorkelling out at Florianna where the fish were abundant and sea lions were the main feature! They were very curious about us and came super close - almost too close...

Karline - my dive buddy!

At one point everything was dark because there were so many fish in front of me. I was literally pushing them out of the way to swim forward.

We loved our time in the water but we have to keep pressing on - up next is our last stop in the Galapagos Island chain - Isabella!

Darwinian Bliss - Galapagos!

2013-04-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Galapagos - the "home of evolution" - is all about the wildlife and you can't get much closer to nature than on San Cristobal where sea lions co-exist with villagers on a daily basis and giant tortoises roam the island.

The Ecuadorian authorities don't make it easy or cheap for cruising boats to visit. There is a lot of expense and bureaucratic paperwork involved in cruising here. The ideal situation is to be organised enough to arrange an 'autographo' 2 months ahead of time with an agent. We found it very hard to find the details on this ahead of time, but currently (April 2013) an autographo allows the typical cruiser 120 day stay as well as the ability to stop in the three major islands.

Unfortunately, we left things a little late and weren't able to obtain the correct paperwork, however we found an agent who was willing to help us (for the right price...) gain access to the three island we wanted to visit - San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabella. We paid $860 in fees ($100 per person in park fees then a range of clearance/port fees and $400 in agent fees) - this was the same as our buddy boats who got the autographo, but so far (writing this in Santa Cruz) we've been able to go to the same places on a dodgy basis.

The hassles and cost make the Galapagos a destination some cruisers avoid, but for us it's been worth it to see the amazing wildlife here.

Sharing the benches at the water taxi dock.

A true highlight was sharing our boat with the many sea lions in the bay. They would jockey and argue with each other over who was getting which step. We had up to 3 on our boat at any one time. Even after building up a big defence of fenders and a large cooler box they managed to break through and were almost in our cockpit before we politely asked them to leave :)

Enjoying the sun and tranquility on Lazy Bones.

The big downside to the seals on board is that a) they are noisy and b) they aren't toilet trained, so leave quite the mess!

In order to see a bit of the island,we shared a taxi for the day with our buddy boats - at $7pp for 8 hours it was cheap as chips! How many Aussies can you fit in a ute?

First stop was the El Junco Lagoon - a freshwater lake 700 meters above sea level and one of the few permanent fresh water bodies in the Galapagos.

The lagoon was supposed to be teeming with birds but it was pretty quiet...

Next up - Galapaguera to see the giant land tortoises.

Not all of the Galapagos tortoises are the same. They belong to 11 different species that evolved as a result of geographic isolation.

Most of the tortoises are reared in captive breeding programs to ensure their survival. They are weighed and measured each month to ensure they are healthy before being released back into the wild at age 5.

A little one being weighed and measured.

We were also lucky enough to see two tortoises mating on their own - not sure why but we seem to have great luck at catching wildlife doing the dirty!

Amazing local cacti trees called Opuntia - are only found in Galapagos

Last stop for the day was Puerto Chino - a beautiful white sand beach on the east coast. Great for body surfing!

The next day we left for Santa Cruz island. Along the way, we stopped at Barrington Island (or Santa Fe Island). There were four mooring balls here for the large tourist cruises, but the local park ranger waved us in ... so who are we to complain!

We had a fantastic lunch break swimming with sea lions & turtles on this isolated island ... before the rangers wised up and asked Charles on Chilli Cat for his permits. Since we didn't have any, he quickly changed his tune and told us we were there illegally and had to leave ASAP.

Sea lions - so energetic under water and very curious!

There were huge green turtles as well!

After this fantastic afternoon stop, we continued on to Santa Cruz. Since we weren't supposed to clear in until Monday, we were able to do a little sight seeing on the weekend.

Santa Cruz is known for the Darwin Research centre, where you can see more tortoises and land iguanas.

A Galapagos Land Iguana, which is endemic to the Islands and found nowhere else on earth.

Colorful crabs!

The marine iguana is an iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands that has the ability to live and forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The iguana can dive over 9m into the water!

Up next - some diving on Santa Cruz before we head off for Isabella!

Crossing to the Galapagos!

2013-04-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

With 845 nm to cover and very little wind in the first few days we were unsure how long the trip would actually take. We had read that many boats average between 9-15 days - we figured we could do better! We motored-sailed for the first 2 days, trying to keep an average of 4 knots so that we'd arrive within 8 days but at $4/gallon for diesel we tried to be conservative with our fuel use.

With calm seas in the beginning we were able to enjoy some wildlife viewing and time on deck. We saw several hammerhead sharks cruising the surface as well as dozens of jumping rays and pods of dolphins.

The birds were cute to watch - seeking refuge on a floating log.

Enjoying a good book while on watch. We have a 4 hour watch system in place, which works well for us, although when Megan gets pretty tired Mike lets her have a few extra hours - she's always needed A LOT of sleep! Many movies and TV shows were watched to pass the time. Dexter is a new favourite!

Passing the time fishing! We had 5 lines out at a time.

This was a big sucker - didn't taste all that great though. We're still for a yellow fin tuna to bite!

We had one set-back. At about 10pm on day 2, Mike called down to wake me up saying we had an "emergency". Never good words to hear when at sea. Seems we had hit a log of some sort, which was wedged in our starboard rudder. Unsure of the damage done, we quickly lowered the dinghy, got the spotlight out and had a look. It was a 20ft bamboo pole and we were dragging it along, thankfully at a snails pace. With some force Mike was able to dislodge it, a little unnerving after seeing so many sharks that day... Thankfully after an inspection when the sun came up it didn't seem to have done any damage. Crisis averted!

On day 7 at 8pm we officially crossed the equator and into the Southern Hemisphere. Superstition says that a bottle of champagne should be offered to neptune. We made do with a piccolo and some brie to celebrate!

Crossing the equator!

A few drops for Neptune!

Beautiful sunsets!

At day break on day 8 we approached San Cristobal Island. Relieved to have arrived safely and without major incident we looked forward to some well deserved sleep! Overall the crossing was uneventful (a good thing) and we were able to get into a decent routine. The weather fluctuated from still seas to high wind and big waves, which made 2 of the 8 days very uncomfortable. This was a great trial run for our upcoming 20+ days at sea when we head off for the Marquesas. But for now - it's time to play with sea lions and enjoy everything that Galapagos has to offer.

Getting Ready for the Pacific!!

2013-04-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

After successfully transiting the canal and exploring Panama City, our focus turned to preparing for our next milestone - the Pacific crossing. Although we have a 7 month weather window to get to Australia, we have over 7000 nautical miles to cover and the islands we plan to visit are some of the most expensive cruising grounds in the world in terms of boat repairs and food provisioning. We heeded the advice of other travelers and decided to spend time in Panama working on our never ending list of boat projects while also stocking up on dry food for the entire trip - a little overwhelming.

Where to start? We calculated we would need supplies for 32 weeks, did a rough menu plan for 1 week and multiplied that number. We have 2 bar sized fridges on board and a 50ltr 12v freezer we bought in St Martin. Our aim was to leave with all three full to the brim. We hope to catch at least 3 fish a week and buy local fruit and vegetables as much as possible. We've heard that meat is very hard to come by on most islands.

It took $3000, three grocery stores, 15 full shopping carts and a patient taxi driver to have us back on Lazy Bones with the following:

Basics:

30 boxes cereal

60 1lt cartons of milk

16 sleeves of spaghetti

4 packages of spiral pasta

30 cans of pasta sauce

3 jars of pesto

4 boxes of cous cous

100 cans of assorted vegetables

20 cans of soup

20 cans of coconut milk
4 bottles of lime juice

10 cans of olives

5 bags of rice

3 packs of sun dried tomatoes
4 bags of flour
Large assortment of spices and curry paste
Large assortment of condiments for fish marinades

2 jars of minced garlic

60 boxes of Kraft dinner

5 boxes of pancake mix

5 bottles of syrup

30 packets of instant oats

60 packets of ramen noodles

40 cans of tuna

3 cans of crab meat

200 assorted flavour tea bags

1 cake mix with icing - for Mike's b-day

1 peanut butter cookie mix4 jars of instant coffee
3 bags of raw sugar
2 boxes of sweet and low sachets
4 bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and relish
2 bottles of soy sauce
6 taco dinner kits
5 packs of tortillas
10 packs of sandwich wraps
5 jars of pickles

2 cans of Pam non stick spray

4 bottles of olive oil

4 boxes of laundry detergent
Countless sponges and bottles of bleach and cleaning products
50 garbage bags
3 rolls of cling wrap and aluminium foil

15 rolls of paper towel

100 rolls of toilet paper

4 boxes of matches

Snacks:

6 boxes of granola bars

16 packets of oreos

6 jars of peanuts

4 boxes of raisins

16 boxes of crackers

16 cans of pringles

10 jars of salsa

10 bags of nachos

10 jars of nutella

10 packets of jello

Drinks:

8 cases of beer

3 cases of Gatorade

10 cases of coke zero

30 1ltr cartons of assorted juice

24 bottles of wine

2 bottles of rum

Fresh:

24 beef patties

12 chicken breasts

10 packs of sausages

10 packs of hot dogs

2 packs of bacon

5 containers of deli meat

4 kg of minced beef (the butcher vacuum packed all our meat)

2 bags of onions

2 bags of potatoes

2 bags of carrots

1 tray of green peppers

3 trays of tomatoes

4 heads of lettuce

10 bananas

1 pineapple

1 rock melon

1 tray of kiwi fruit

3 dozen eggs

2 heads of cabbage

10 bricks of assorted cheese

7 jars of feta

4 tubs of yogurt

4 packets of butter

24 hamburger buns

Next was finding a place to store everything. Good thing Lazy has A LOT of storage space!

In between the shopping, we spent a lot of time looking for a potential crew member to join us from Panama to the Marqueses - a 6 week commitment at the very least. The hope was to have an additional person to help ease our 4 hour watch system so that we would be more rested. We found a nice guy from Chicago but after a 4 day stint with him in the Las Perlas archipelago, we decided the fit wasn't right and that we would be more comfortable doing the trip solo.

Mike was also super busy working on a few boat projects. Even in a city the size of Panama with all of the boat traffic, spare parts were hard to come by so we enlisted the help of Marine Warehouse (marine warehouse.net) and had 2 new toilet pumps and a VHF radio with built in AIS (Standard Horizon GX2500) shipped in from the USA.

Our depth and wind instruments also failed on the trip back from Las Perlas but we were lucky enough to find a Raymarine dealer who had a new joint in stock which fixed the problem. (Mike: T-joint in sea talk NG cabling connecting transducer to the sea talk backbone had become corroded and all data in the system was being corrupted, but a new joint solved what might have been a big problem!)

After being in and out of the lack luster anchorages of Panama City for two weeks, we were ready to head off and enjoy a few more days in Las Perlas with our buddy boats. We had experienced some great fishing and spear fishing on our first visit to Las Perlas, and weren't disappointed the 2nd time - again catching some lovely fish!

The Las Perlas islands are a really fantastic cruising ground - it was lovely to find isolated anchorages that were basically untouched.

We had heard that there was a bay in the anchorage of Isla Esperitu Santu that was popular for catamarans to 'dry out' - a process whereby you enter at high tide, tie the bow of the boat off to the mangroves, set a stern anchor and wait for the tide to drop, with the end result being a free haul out. Lazy was fitted with 2 smallish 2-blade propellers and Charles from Chilli Cat had a spare pair of props (same size, but greater pitch), which would increase our motoring speed significantly at reduced RPMs - hopefully reducing our fuel usage. So, we decided to dry out, scrub down the anti-foul, barnacles, sand back & re-paint the sail drives (existing anti-foul wasn't working) and replace the propellers - all of which was much easier to do out of the water.

With approximately 5m of tidal change, we dried out on the afternoon tide. With 6 hours of sunlight, we had an army of friends from our buddy boats help us to scrub away all the gunk that had latched onto the boat in the rich waters off Panama, change the propellers and generally clean up. Of course, no army works for free ... payment in stubby's of beer was in order! We enjoyed our last night on a secluded beach at Isla Canas before heading off on our 8 day journey to the Galapagos!

The Panama Canal Crossing!

2013-03-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

After a week of preparations in Shelter Bay marina in Colon we were all set for our canal transit. We decided to use an agent to help expedite the process, which was money well spent. He did all of our paperwork, arranged for an admeasurer to measure the boat, provided the 4 x 138ft lines required as well as the 10 tires to protect our boat and corresponded directly with canal authorities on our behalf. That was $350 well spent. In total it cost a boat of our size $1300 to transit the canal, which took 2 days.

Like most cruising boats, we were rafted up with another boat to go through the canal behind a commercial vessel. We weren't too happy when a small tug came flying past us to sneak into the locks ahead of us RIGHT when we were rafting up!

Each boat needs four "line handlers" to release or pick up the tension in the control lines holding the boat steady while the water level rises or falls. Our friends from Chilli Cat & Maloo were happy to help out - a great way to get some experience before they went through themselves. Since our buddy boat line handlers were kinda slack about their jobs, we were happy to have Charles working hard to keep us from hitting the walls!

There are three steps to the first set of locks, which raise boats 26m above sea level

View when the lock was full

We transited on the centennial year of the canal!

The local line handler who throws the monkey ball, which then acts as a lead line for our main control lines.

After the first three locks, we tied up to a buoy in Lake Gatun to stay overnight. The boys were pretty happy to have gotten through the stress of the first set of locks - it really wasn't that hard, but being constantly on edge takes its toll.

Sunrise at Lake Gatun - we had a great night here (with a quick swim since the lake is known to be home to crocodiles). Up at 6am with a new set of advisors, we were off to reach the final set of locks at the other end of the lake.

We made it!!!! It was an amazing feeling to pass into the Pacific - punctuated by a marked change in temperature just as we left the final set of locks. While we are really only at the beginning of our journey in terms of sea miles, passing through the canal was a major milestone for us mentally - we are now "on our way home!"

Having passed through the canal in front of our buddy boats, we had a few days of waiting and exploring Panama (and trying to get final repairs/jobs ticked off the list) while we waited for Maloo & Chilli Cat to come through.

Cosmopolitan Panama City

Megan enjoyed some exploring while Mike worked on a few things - the beautifully restored buildings in the Casco Viejo - Spanish for Old City were quite special - though the crime undercurrent was very prevalent. The old city was settled in the late 1600s and is literally crumbling in places. It is undergoing a huge restoration and has a similar feel to other colonial cities like Cartagena.

Church and Convent of Santo Domingo: The Flat Arch

San Francisco Church

The Metropolitan Cathedral - the main Catholic temple in Panama City

With the crossing out of the way - we now are focused on final provisioning, repairs & helping our friends cross before we head off for the Galapagos!

Kuna Yala - Panama!

2013-03-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

After a great city sojourn in Cartagena we were back on the water; destination - The San Blas Islands. The San Blas is an archipelago comprising approximately 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama and they are home to the Kuna Indians.

After a 2 day sail with high seas and rough winds, we were relieved to finally arrived in the Hollandaise Cays with our buddy boats - Chilli Cat and Maloo. We anchored in the protected waters of 'swimming pool anchorage' and did very little for 5 days except swim, eat and relax.

After months of searching, Mike finally found a speargun in Colombia. We're hoping this bad boy is going to supplement our diet with fresh fish in the Pacific.

(small) success!

With some practice Mike speared a decent size barracuda! Until now we've been hesitant to eat barracuda because of the ciguatera they generally carry- ciguatera is a food borne illness caused by eating certain reef fish whose flesh contains toxins. After speaking with the locals and many cruisers who have been eating the barracuda in these waters for years we decided to get out the curry powder and frying pan cook this sucker up. It was tasty!

We joined in a cruisers rubbish burn one afternoon - you can learn a lot about fellow travellers from their trash!

Megan and Heather from 'Chilli Cat'

Captain Charles of 'Chilli Cat'

The boys enjoying some cold beers

The Kuna are famous for their bright molas, a colourful textile art form made with the techniques of appliqué. Mola panels are used to make blouses of the Kuna women's national dress, which is worn daily by many Kuna women. Each mola is unique and they usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals and marine life.

A Kuna woman selling her molas.

After 5 days at anchor we were ready for a change of scenery and headed west. We spent 2 nights in the west Hollandaise Cays - very beautiful.

The islands are very small and can typically be walked around in 30 minutes or less.

We had a few days of dark clouds and rain so Megan decided to tackle her 500 piece fish puzzle. Good times!

Freshly caught lobster we bought from a local Kuna. He paddled around in his "ulu" - dugout canoe to all the boats. They were small but $10 for 4 was the right price! Mike and Mark took care of the dirty work off the back of the boat and then we BBQ'd them quickly and served them with butter and garlic - delish!

We had a great time relaxing in the San Blas and really enjoyed socialising with our cruiser friends. Although the islands are beautiful, we were saddened to see how much rubbish - mostly plastics have washed up ashore. A real reminder of the effects western living has on small communities. It will be interesting to see if the Kunas can retain their traditional way of life or if they'll succumb to modern conveniences. Up next - our transit of the Panama Canal to the Pacific ocean.

Colorful Colombia!!

2013-02-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

After a week of family fun in Aruba - Mike and I decided to change our plans and stop in Colombia en route to Panama - awesome decision! We met up with two other boats - Chilli Cat and Maloo - who are also heading to Australia via the same route and timeline.

The waters along the Colombian coast are reputed to be some of the roughest in the world - rated by Jimmy Cornell as one of the fifth worst passages in the world - with strong winds and steep seas. We set off with a bundle of nerves and a prayer that the weather gods would be forgiving. Passage planning proved fruitful and we made the trip in just under two days - arriving literally at the same time as Chilli Cat - with typical trade winds but nothing Lazy didn't take in her stride. All three boats were very relieved to arrive in Santa Marta, Colombia!

Santa Marta - on the northern coast of Colombia was a real treat with lane ways full of cheap restaurants and bars.

Sampling the local street food. Fried empanadas with beef and potato filling served with jalapenos - delish and at $0.50 a pop it made a bargain meal out!

Mike and I seriously indulged - particularly on mojitos, which every bar claimed as their speciality!

After spending a few days in Santa Marta we hopped on a four hour bus ride with the crew of Cilli Cat and Maloo for a three night sojourn in Cartegena, which has now been ranked as our number one city on this trip!

We opted to stay at The Blue House Hostel in the Old City. For $70/night we had a private room with bath, A/C (essential), a balcony and breakfast, and were smack dab in the middle of all the action.

Cartagena is really charming with loads of character - it's full of colonial architecture, packed with churches, monasteries, plazas, palaces and mansions with their overhanging balconies and shady patios.

The famous 'fat lady statue' in Santo Domingo Square.

Church of Saint Peter Claver

Canadians - remember these Colombian coffee ads from the 80s!!!! Juan Valdez is a chain - the Colombian equivalent of Starbucks.

There were beautiful mosaics on random city walls, and all of the old wooden doors were adorned with beautiful knockers.

The old town is surrounded by Las Murallas, the thick walls built to protect it againt enemies. Construction began towards the end of the 16th century and took two centuries to complete due to repeated damage from both storms and pirate attacks.

Although our hostel was great, it lacked a very important feature - the plunge pool! Thankfully the crew from Maloo invited us up to their hotel's rooftop lounge to enjoy some mojitos and a dip. Afternoon temperatures were easily in the mid 30s - siestas were mandatory.

When not walking around enjoying the streets, we spent the rest of our time eating and drinking in the many cute cafes and restaurants.

This became our go-to for lunch - $5.00 for a massive plate of local food

Ceviche - which is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in cirtus juices, such as lemon or lime and spiced with chili peppers is a very popular menu item.

Fresh OJ to cool off

We stumbled across Mila - a delightful bakery with A/C. We couldn't resist indulging - soooooooo good! Mike rated this the best chocolate cake he had ever eaten!

We really enjoyed our three night city break in Cartagena and took full advantage of the festive Colombian atmosphere. Not sure when we'll be able to eat/drink this well again... Up next - the remote San Blas Islands of the Panama coast.

Family Fun in Aruba!

2013-02-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

After our friends left us we arranged a marina slip for Lazy Bones in Oranjested while we had a week on land with the family at the all-inclusive RIU Palace at Palm Beach Aruba.

Stunning views from our room!

We loved our play time in the pools

and our new underwater camera!

Tough life!

Getting a bit of daily exercise

Pina colada was the drink of the week!

The ladies!

The beard comes off this week!

About to set sail for the day on Lazy Bones MM

Sleepy head

Lots of star fish

Skipper Emerson

Iguanas getting some sunshine

Eden enjoying a virgin pina colada before the flamingo limbo show!

"How low can you go... how low can you go..."

Beach time!

Lots of Canadians in Aruba, eh!

Afternoon walks on the beach

Joanie with Emerson

Friendly lizards

Enjoying the different restaurants

We had a great time with the family in Aruba and it was so nice to be able to sail with them on Lazy Bones. We have a few more days here to provision and get ready for our three day sail to Santa Marta in Columbia, where we plan to spend a week before heading to the San Blas Islands in Panama!

Lazy Bones Welcomes Friends Aboard!

2013-02-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

After a pretty nice three day sail from Grenada, we arrived in Bonaire at 4am. The passage across was very chill - we caught a few fish along the way (tossed back the barracuda, kept the tunas).

The only hiccup was when we accidentally jibed under main alone. With the traveller fully over, we weren't able to jibe back immediately and rounded up to the wind instead ... no issue, other than the fact we had four lines out and they wrapped around the port rudder & sail drive. With the sun setting, we dropped the main, put out the sea drogue to slow down and Mike hopped into the sea (with a harness and line on) to untangle the lines. Definitely added a bit of stress for Megan!

We arrived at 4am, and coming into the harbour of Kralendjik was a little stressful as the lights on our charts bore little resemblance to the actual lights we were seeing. We picked up one mooring in the dark, and waited for morning.

The one thing about Bonaire that makes it a bit tricky for cruising is that there is no anchoring anywhere on the island. There are a number (~50) moorings along the harbour front in Kralendjik that cruisers must pick up for $10.60 a night. They seem to be pretty well maintained, and each mooring block has two separate lines to tie off in a bridle arrangement.

We spent our first day in Bonaire recovering from the passage & checking in. The next couple of days we rented some diving gear to explore some of the 90 named dive sites. The diving on Bonaire is some of the best in the Caribbean as the entire island is ringed by coral reef. Conservation efforts started by the government in the 70s have seriously paid off with no anchoring allowed anywhere on Bonaire, thereby allowing the reefs and fish life to flourish. It's cheap too - 'all you can breathe' for a week packages are available and it works out to $30 per dive, including equipment rental. We loved the freedom of being able to dive alone and at our own pace without a guide or large groups. Out of all the dives we did, we only saw three other people - amazing!

After some serious time underwater, we started getting ready for our friends - Greg, Lisa, Oskar & Crystal, who were joining us for a week aboard. When they arrived, it was a bit of a trip getting everyone & their bags ashore - with our little dinghy, it took a couple of trips (first was baggage and the girls!)

After a quick boat briefing, we started to relax and enjoy the island ... first stop was Karel's Bar.

Blue drinks were the theme of our first lunch ... yum!

Who was tipsy by noon?!

The Venezuelan fruit market in downtown Krajlendijk

Lisa and Greg in front of the mooring field

Windsurfing trio at Lac Bay

Then the girls got their shot ... I think they may have picked it up faster!

You can see how shallow and calm it is inside Lac Bay, compared to the waves breaking on the outside reef.

We then drove around the bottom of the island. There remains some slave huts from the days when salt was harvested by hand. These huts are barely bigger than a doghouse - you must crawl to enter & one person can touch all four corners lying down.

Bonaire's salt industry is still thriving - apparently watching salt being loaded on freighters is one of the fifty top things to do in Bonaire! (So, yeah, basically it's diving and windsurfing).

2 of the 400 wild donkeys found on Bonaire. A donkey sanctuary is also a tourist destination, but at $7 pp, we decided the free ranging ones were good enough.

These pelicans wait for the fisherman's daily catch to arrive in hopes of getting the scraps.

Carribean flamingos!

We had a great time in Bonaire - lots of poker games - Crystal cleaned up, winning all the peanuts!

Our friends also spoilt us with fantastic meals ashore, including a great meal out at "It Rains Fishes" - delicious!

How many Canadians does it take to pick up a mooring?!!

A quick 'pre snorkel' to see what's on offer below.

While not allowed to anchor outside of the main city, there are moorings that can be picked up for diving (provided your boat is less than 45 feet). On our last night, we decided to stop and have a snorkel at the northern tip of Bonaire in the Washington-Slagbaai National Park.

And then a huge spaghetti dinner before we got underway (many of the crew later regretted how big a meal it was!)

Oskar trimming the gennaker sail

The beginning of our 90nm, overnight sail to Aruba. Bring on the 4 hour watches!

We had a great sail across to Aruba from Bonaire - and timed it just right to arrive at Haven Barcadera to clear in around 10am. Once cleared in, we moved up to the "airport" anchorage - one of the handful of places to anchor in Aruba.

Downtown Oranjestad - the capital and cruise ship hub of Aruba.

The Dutch influence is still very strong.

While Aruba is safe and clean with beautiful long beaches, it's not an ideal destination for cruising as the overnight anchorages are very limited.

Lots of these guys around sunning themselves.

We did have a nice day trip up to the north west end of the island with great snorkelling and loads of huge turtles seen sailing up the coast.

Plenty of time to relax on board.

Any opportunity for a photo bomb....

Enjoying cocktails at Nikki Beach Club, Aruba (just in front of the airport anchorage).

The gang treated us to an amazing last meal meal at Barefoot Restaurant. We had a great time with our friends on board - it was really a very special week and we were sad to see them go!

Next up for us is some time off the boat with Megan's family at an all inclusive here in Aruba, then off to Panama (or maybe Colombia).

Grenada Marine - Trading Views...

2013-01-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

While we did enjoy a few days touring around Grenada, we spent the bulk of our time there doing boat work.

We had noticed a bit of play in our starboard rudder and after talking to numerous people about it we decided to slip the boat at Grenada Marine and address a number of items on our 'fix it' list before heading into the Pacific.

We anchored in St.David's Harbour upon arrival in Grenada. The harbour is quite deep and the bottom foul, diving on our anchor in about 10m I was a bit scared we would be fouled when we tried to raise it and would recommend using one of Grenada Marine's moorings next time.

We were amazed throughout our experience by how quickly we were helped by Grenada Marine. Without any reservations, we were hauled out the day after we arrived!

Immediately after being hauled, we removed the rudders. It was somewhat reassuring news to confirm that the bearing had slipped - so we didn't slip the boat for nothing!

The rudders on our Lagoon 420 are fiberglass, with the stocks located inside a fiberglass casing that runs well above the waterline. I've been told that the rudders float and can be removed while in the water ... but we wouldn't have been able to fix our bearing issue in the water!

The rudder stock has two stainless steel rings, which rotate inside of brass casings which are bonded into the hull.

This is the stainless steel ring built into the rudder stock. There are also small plastic washers on the bottom of the rudder and rings at the top (probably Delrin or similar).

The brass ring is sitting around the stainless in this photo and the one below.

The brass ring on the starboard side had broken the bonds with the hull and was allowing the rudder to have some play and rub ... probably not a fatal issue, but over time it would have deteriorated the brass and allowed more and more play ... so we were glad to be able to fix the issue.

We engaged the fiberglass specialists of Grenada Marine to fiberglass the brass bearing closed around the stainless ring for a nice tight fit, then bonded the brass bearing back to the hull.

While fixing the rudder bearing was our primary purpose, we also addressed a number of other fix it issues. We changed the seals & oil in the sail drives and engines (more quickly than required, but we did not have maintenance records from the prior owners and are taking as many precautions as possible to ensure Lazy Bones stays in great shape!).

Grenada Marine is a full service yard, with mechanical, fiberglass & electrical specialists (though the last were unable to help us with an issue we are having with our radio).

We decided to also take advantage of the great labour prices here to have the hulls compounded, waxed & polished. Where the stickers had been on the hull the gelcoat had not weathered as much as the rest, but the guys did a great job and the hull looks good as new!

They also removed the paint over the windows (which you can see above was not the prettiest from the stickers). There were also some scrapes in the gelcoat along the port side of the hull - and I'm glad to say that the gelcoat work was done to such a good degree that we couldn't even tell where the scratches were once the new gelcoat hardened!

While not part of the Grenada Marine company, there is also a sailmaker on premises - Martin Brown of Turbulence sails. We took the opportunity to have our mainsail tidied up as there was some stitching that had come loose near the head of the sail - and we want her in the best condition possible before heading for the Pacific & Australia.

Martin's team were able to do a great job tidying up the sail, and we also engaged them to build us a new sun awning for the back of our boat (pics to come on that, but we think they did a great job for a great price!).

We also took the time to cross off most of our outstanding 'to do' list items. We replaced the bridle for our anchor (Mike had a full afternoon of splicing fun!)

And we wired a new 12 volt plug onto the port side of the boat so that we could move our portable freezer out of the main cabin. Mike's electrical skills are definitely getting up there!

And of course ... the requisite toilet work ... there seems to always be something to do with toilets!

All in all, we managed to smash our jobs list while at Grenada Marine. We know it was low season for them, which probably goes to explaining our great turn around on work, but in the five days we spent on the hard we managed to get through a long list of items and were ready to head off for Bonaire feeling confident that all the major issues we knew about were taken care of!

The Grenada Marine yard was also an interesting place to stay aboard. There were a number of other cruisers getting work done, and we met a great Australian family on a Lagoon 440 who we hope to bump into again as they'll be crossing the Pacific with us this season.

The yard had a market on Saturdays, and a nice little restaurant where we had some drinks with our new friends.

And of course, the goats walking through the yard added to the experience!

But ... we were very excited to get back in the water and head off to enjoy the rest of our time in Grenada and get ready to sail across to Bonaire.

Grenada - The Spice Island!

2013-01-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

Grenada - our last stop in the Windward Islands was a very busy time. Knowing that we were heading into longer stretches at sea across the Pacific, we decided to haul out our boat and have some major work done. Separate post on the haul-out to follow. But, before the work started - we were able to enjoy some highlights of the island.

Carriacou (part of the nation of Grenada but a separate island to the north) was our first destination.

A lunchtime stop at beautiful Sandy Island!

We had the sliver of beach to ourselves!

A night out on the town in Tyrell Bay (pop 750), Carriacou. To kick things off - rum punch with

freshly grated nutmeg.

Then a few Caribs ... brewed locally in Grenada.

Local steel pan at the 'Lambi Queen' restaurant.

Starters; Callaloo fritters with tzaziki and salad. Delish!

Mains: Curried lambi - which is the local name for conch

Followed by a West African drumming session

After Carriacou, we sailed down the west side of Grenada and stopped at St.David's Harbour where we hauled out at Grenada Marine.

Following 5 days on the hard doing boat work, we headed for St. Georges - the capital of Grenada

Local fishing boats

The renovated Grenada Public Library - first opened in the mid 1800s!

After a day walking around the Carrenage (central St.Georges' harbour), we took a tour of some of the island's tourist destinations. Starting with an encounter with the Mona Monkeys in Grand Etang National Park

Greedy little suckers

We followed up the monkeys with a refreshing swim at Annandale Falls.

We then ended our time touring Grenada with a snorkelling session at the underwater marine garden at Moliniere Point. This marine park is full of statues that have been created and sunk amongst the coral. Very beautiful and definitely worth a stop-over dive ... unfortunately our underwater camera bit the bullet a few weeks back so ... no pictures, but trust us it was cool!

Now we head off for our first long passage, from Grenada to Bonaire - 380nm at sea here we come!

Island Hopping: The Grenadines

2013-01-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

After a few set backs with the boat, we were ready to shift gears and get back into the enjoyment of our trip. Queue - The Grenadines!

There are 31 islands that make up the Grenadines in total and each is more tranquil and idyllic than the last. White sand beaches, deserted islands, sky blue water and great underwater activities made our time exploring here one of our trip highlights so far. This does attract quite a few boats though!

Admiralty Bay - Bequia

Catching up on world news in Bequia

Fresh seafood is a staple here - we have fisherman approaching our boat every day selling their latest catch of snapper, lobster and mahi mahi.

Views over Spring Bay on Bequia

Enjoying drinks and a lazy afternoon at boutique hotel - Sugar Reef

Charlestown Bay - Canouan

The beautiful reefs at Canouan

A little friend we met a long the way

The view from our boat at Saltwhistle Bay, Mayreau

Sublime - The Tobago Cays

Swimming with loads of turtles in the Tobago Cays

Conch - a very popular local dish. Beady little eyes!

Iguana's abound on the islands!

A little lunch and relaxation at the exclusive and privately owned Palm Island

Union Island - Clifton Bay anchorage

Best vegetable market we've come across - all local and organic!

Fresh kingfish

Union Island is very popular with kite boarders

View from our boat in Union Island - perfect for rum and coke sundowners!

We really enjoyed our time in the Grenadines. The Tobago Cays were excellent, with loads of snorkelling and (Megan's favourite) many, many turtles.

We were a bit sad to head off for Carriacou and Grenada, but we have to keep moving forwards ... soon we'll be heading for our first long offshore passage to Bonaire where we're excited to meet our friends who are coming to join us for a week!

It ain't all Rum Punches - PART DEUX!

2013-01-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

SNAP!

I am convinced Megan jinxed us.

Posting about our prior issues betrayed the sacred trust we've developed with "Bones" - she must not have been pleased that we embarrassed her by telling about all her pimples and warts!

Why do I think this? Well ... because we had a very very traumatic experience only a few days after our last post!

We were anchored in Charleston Bay, Canouan, on 10 January. It was a fairly windy night, with gusts up in the 30knot range. Charleston Bay is known as a gusty anchorage, but we had out ample chain at 10:1 scope and had dove on our anchor (as we always do) to ensure it was well bedded in.

As with many of the anchorages in the Grenadines, multiple boats on moorings were around us, but we felt like we had enough space and went to sleep. These winds were not something that we should have had to be worried about ... but ...

I (Mike) was awoken a few times during the night by the howling winds, and then again around 4am by a sharp "jerk". For whatever reason, my subconscious detected that jerk & the changed motion of the boat and I was up on deck before I was even really awake.

And once on deck, I was fully awake instantly! We were about 10 feet upwind of the boat that had been moored behind us - bearing down fast.

I shouted for Megan while running to the helm station and starting our engines. I was just able to get them started in time to spin the bow away from the catamaran (we were drifting side on by this point) - narrowly missing being t-boned by the other catamarans bow! We were fortunate that neither prop caught on a line, as the mooring ball for that boat was already under our starboard hull!

Once we were clear of the other boat, Megan went up to the bow to start hauling in the anchor. We thought we had just started dragging very badly - but the shock Megan experience when only chain came up on deck - without any anchor attached - was tremendous!

Thankfully, the "Moorings" charter service had a large fleet of moorings in Charleston Bay, and we were able to motor up to one of them and tie on for the rest of the night. Naked and freezing (it was raining as well as windy), we both had a cup of coffee & rugged up while trying to get our bearings about us. Needless to say, we didn't get back to sleep.

Anchor dragging is something I am constantly on watch for - but for our anchor chain to have snapped really shocked me.

Once it was light enough, we took the dinghy back over to where we had anchored and I snorkelled around looking for the chain & anchor. We had been in around 5m of water, and with all the wind it was quite murky from stirred up sediment, but after about 15 minutes I located the anchor & chain.

Once we had tied it off to a fender, I dove to the "broken" end of the chain (opposite from the anchor) and found the culprit: a "quick-link" type chain connecter!

I managed to recover about half of it (the other half fell away as I rose to the surface). After that, we pulled up the anchor & remaining chain (there was still 30m attached to the anchor).

We then inspected all of the chain - each and every link - to see the condition. There were no other connectors like the one that had snapped, but we have decided to either re-galvanize the existing chain or buy new chain when we arrive in Grenada in a week or so.

In the meantime - we spliced the chain back together using allen key shackles.

In hindsight - we got away from this 'scare' about as lucky as we could have. This could have happened any time we left the boat to go ashore for the day, or it could have happened in a location where we had a lee shore or difficult anchorage to navigate. So ... we are glad that we got away from what could have been a catastrophic accident without any serious damage to the boat or ourselves.

At least no physical damage to ourselves. We are both fairly psychologically affected from what seems to be another in a string of mis-haps lately. Since that night, I have had a lot of trouble sleeping: every time I wake due to a larger than normal wave slapping the hull, or some other noise, I'm on guard and keep finding myself getting up and checking the boat throughout the night.

Even worse is that I have to take responsibility for not making the right call. I had noticed that the link which snapped was corroded (and in hindsight that it was slightly smaller than the rest of the chain), but had decided that it would hold until we got to Grenada where we were planning on doing a bunch of boat work.

That lapse in judgement is now making me second guess lots of other decisions I've been making - and every little problem on the boat (of which there are always a few things to work on) I'm now going over again to make sure that things that are on the "to fix" list shouldn't be on the "to fix before we do anything else" list.

It's been almost a week since that night as I write this, and we have had some marvellous times in the Grenadines which we will post about soon ... so there are definitely rum punches and good times ... but this adventure is also very very real!

Friends & family, please don't worry too much reading this - we are sharing since it's part of our adventure - but for those thinking that cruising is just one paradise after another, just remember that it is not all rum punches!