Wks 98-99: Moorea to Tahiti (25nm)

Two fun weeks punctuated by a rendezvous with fellow Puddle Jumpers in Moorea and final preparations for our impending passage to Fiji (including a stressful last minute rig fix and vast quantities of paperwork!). Read on for deets on how to keep in touch while we’re at sea!

Captain and First Mate’s Logs

FROM THE CAPTAIN:

Tuesday 21st July: Whilst reports from other cruisers were that they were being battered by high winds, we were experiencing the wonderful peace thanks to Moorea being in Tahiti’s wind shadow, and so took advantage by getting started on our various passage preparations. Laura went up the mast to check the rig (broken strands now appear to be a thing of the past) [Editor’s note: FORESHADOWING], we unrolled the sails to look for chafe, and I went round the deck tightening up all the various fittings. Highlight of the day was Laura’s Middle Eastern-inspired lunch of smashed chickpeas and baba ganoush, which provided enough energy that we were even able to solve the fiddly repair to our previously written off drinking water tap in the afternoon. Nights are actually starting to get cold now as it is mid-winter here, so we find ourselves huddling with cups of tea in the evening, which is a first for the tropics.

Wednesday 22nd July: Kept up on the jobs including the next range of sewing improvements to the dodger and bimini – Laura added a connecting strip between the two to help protect more of the cockpit from rain and sun, whilst I moved the mounting points for the dodger straps to improve the tension. Our friends on Catherine Estelle got their clearance to leave for Fiji, so we bid them fair winds over the phone. Found some avocados for the first time in months and so celebrated with some Mahi fish tacos.

Thursday 23rd July: Woke up to some worrying news that Catherine Estelle had nearly lost their rudder and were trying to find a safe port where they could put in for repairs. Aaron and I debated options over text message, and whilst I was pushing him to consider trying to come back upwind towards civilisation he ended up deciding to keep going towards the almost uninhabited island of Maupihaa, (which has a crazy narrow pass) and so now all we can do is wait and hope they get there safely for tomorrow morning. We distracted ourselves for the rest of the day with adding some window covers for the dodger and getting a pizza in the evening.

Friday 24th July: Discovered that Aaron, Nat and Malvo had made it safely through the crazily narrow pass at Maupihaa despite having a rudder only attached by a piece of string, and breathed a sigh of relief as they got the boat parked in a place where they could safely make the repairs. Helped in the limited way we could by sharing weather information, and then kept making progress through our own repairs list (thankfully with nothing as critical as steering). Laura’s dodger window covers have added a cave like element to our cockpit which we’ve decided as shade lovers is a massive plus and I suspect we will now be spending far more time above decks.

Saturday 25th July: Moved round just one bay to where the Puddle Jump Rally was hosting a Rendezvous for all the boats that had managed to make the crossing this year – the official plan was to start in Tahiti and race across, but that sounded like a lot of effort given we were already in Moorea. We picked a prime spot in the anchorage and then enjoyed watching all the boats sail in, including friends on Painkiller, Venture Lady, Wind Dragon and Tintamarre – the latter two boats we hadn’t seen since Panama so it was a fun reunion. We then got to watch a wonderful display of Polynesian dancing (that involved a lot more fire than I was expecting) before sitting down for a tasty buffet, the only downside of which was the lack of forks.

Sunday, 26th July: Another fun day with the Rendezvous where we got to partake in some traditional Polynesian activities, the highlight of which was the canoe races.. Then the rain came in and so we spent the rest of the day back on Serenity, where Laura’s new sewing projects did a wonderful job at keeping the cockpit nice and dry. Found a recipe for curried fish pie as a way to add some variety to our Mahi heavy diet, which was a tasty accompaniment to a evening in front of some easy to watch TV.

FROM THE FIRST MATE:

Monday, 27th July: The Puddle Jump Rendezvous was officially over, but we all decided to hang around another day to have more time to catch up. Plus, I needed to get my tattoo fixed because it had faded badly over the last two months. I trekked over to the NW corner of the island in the morning to meet with Taniera, who was beside himself that the tattoo had faded (even though I think the foot is notorious for tattoos fading and I probably went swimming too soon). He pretty much redid the entire thing, and went over it several times, to be completely sure it would still this time. A lovely guy and I was grateful for his dilligence (even if it HURT). In the evening, we joined Venture Lady and Barracuda of Islay for dinner aboard Tintamarre. We went through the Panama Canal with Venture lady and had spent time with Tintamarre in Panama, so it was great to catch up on everyone’s adventures since then (and meet new friends from Barracuda). Unfortunately, towards the end of the night, Alec started feeling really unwell, so we had to decamp pretty early to Serenity to get him to bed. Not sure what is going on, but seems like food poisoning?

Tuesday, 28th July: Up early for a brisk sail to Tahiti, even though Alec and I spent all night being ill. We now think it is probably food poisoning from the cured fish we’ve been eating. But, we soldiered on. Luckily, we had extra hands for the sail, as Graham from Barracuda and Andy from Venture Lady were catching a ride with us. Interestingly, Andy hadn’t felt well in the night either, so we now wonder if maybe we all caught something at the Rendezvous event? We were glad to have Graham aboard as he spotted some broken strands on one of our rig wires – so glad to have caught it but immediately feeling heartbroken. This is not what we need right before a 2,000nm sail to Fiji! Made it to Tahiti and then had a very tough park at Marina Taina in a strong crosswind – really glad we had two extra people on board to help! I immedaitely jumped into a taxi into town to seek a number of little parts we have been needing. Took visits to 7 different stores, but I did clear the list! We were both still feeling pretty rotten so it was an early night for us.

Wednesday, 29th July: Decided we need a quiet day today because we’re still not quite right. I’ve got a headache now as well as my funny tummy, while Alec’s fever sweats might be getting worse. But, then, we’re sometimes not very good at quiet days… I spent the morning on laundry and my next blog post while Alec worked on the batteries (still trying to save them!). In the afternoon, we started on filling our gas bottles with our brand new gravity filling set up, with startlingly good results. Then, Alec spoke to every rigger in Tahiti and by some miracle managed to find sources for all the parts needed to replace our broken stay! By dinner time we were running on fumes, so rewarded ourselves with pizza from the marina restaurant.

Thursday, 30th July: Woke up with energy so got straight to work. We finished filling our gas bottles, while at the same time Alec ran the next round of tests on the batteries. Then, we removed the old, broken stay to take a final measurement on the wire and prep for the replacement. I then finished some blog work while Alec continued sorting rigging and battery admin. Next was weather (both for us and our friends on Catherine Estelle) and then our regular book club meeting (over video call of course!). Voted for another round of pizza for dinner, followed by an evening of admin. We are ticking lots of things off and its feeling suprisingly under control for the week before a big passage!

Friday, 31st July: Well, our good luck seems to have run out. One of the new stay fittings fit perfectly (see pictures below) but for the other one, it turns out the guy who sold it to us, in addition to being one of the rudest people we’ve ever met, also not up on his sizing. One of the internal parts of the fitting was for 3/8″ wire, while ours is 10mm – he claimed it was interchangeable but it turns out it is NOT. Ugh. We have started contacting everyone we know to see if we can find this part in the correct size but not feeling very hopeful at this stage. Also discovered a small gas leak and struggling with confusing weather next week to try to plan a departure in. On the positive side, we went for our health checks (a requirement to be allowed to get a COVID test – which we need in order to be able to leave for Fiji) which were all good. Neither of us were feeling very well – a combo of not quite being over whatever our illness was and working really hard the last few days – so it was bedtime super early. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Saturday, 1st August: I went into Papeete in the morning to check at all the chandleries for this missing part we need for the rig stay replacement. No luck. Also checked in at the Papeete marina to see if we could move the boat up there, because it is much cheaper and more convenient now that we’re done with our Taina chores. But, it was completely rammed. People were parked in every nook and cranny and on walls I’m not sure were ever meant for boats. Definitely no space for us! Returned to Serenity feeling a bit defeated and then discovered the marina we are in now (Taina, about 5nm S of Papeete) needs our spot back early Monday morning. So now we begin the process of begging for another spot! A small bright note was we fitted our new solar panels, and they are definitely a huge improvement on the previous ones – so that at least is done and working! Still, not a terribly successful day all around and we went to bed feeling deflated.

Sunday, 2nd August: By some miracle, one of the riggers in Tahiti texted us to say he found the part we need hidden in the bottom of his box!! What amazing luck!! He even was willing to come by the boat right away to drop it off. Perhaps our luck is finally turning? Decided to get it done straight away and within a couple of hours had a complete rig again. Hallelujah! The marina couldn’t give us another dock berth, but did find a spare buoy for us, so we moved Serenity just across the channel and are glad to at least have a confirmed place for the rest of our time here. In the evening, went to visit our friends on Hoodoo, who have just arrived in Tahiti – we haven’t seen them since Panama! It was great swapping stories and hearing how they’ve been since we parted ways. Then, made an Indian version of shakshuka eggs for dinner, which was delicious, and went to bed about 100% less stressed than yesterday!

Monday, 3rd August: Well, its official – we’ll be leaving for Fiji on Wednesday. This morning we went into Papeete to get our COVID tests done (wow – that was uncomfortable! Didn’t realise you could get something that far up your nose…), which starts the clock on our departure (we have to leave within 72 hours of taking the test). At the testing place, we ran into three other boats who all happen to be leaving on Wednesday for Fiji too – what are the odds of that?? So, great news, we now have a little rally to travel with, which feels amazing. So nice to know other people are close by in case anything goes wrong, and fun to have people to chat to each day to keep spirits up. By early evening we had our results back, which were negative as expected :). Then, our friends on Hoodoo came by for dinner and a last catch up / goodbye, which was a lovely send off.

Tuesday, 4th August: One last day to prepare ourselves! I went into shore to get some fresh fruits and veggies for our trip and return our now empty crate of beer. Alec stayed behind to finalise Fiji paperwork and put the battery compartment back together.

We’re off to Fiji!

Well, if you didn’t know before, now you do – we’re headed for Fiji! They have recently opened up for visiting yachts (no flights still, but you can sail in!) and that gets us one step closer to our final destination in Australia (and gives us an exciting new cruising ground to explore). Normally, you can stop at a number of places between here and Fiji (the Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa) but they all remain closed – so we have to go direct. Its a 2,000nm journey, which is partially extended by having to go all the way to the Western side of Fiji to check in at Port Denerau (its the only port open).

We leave on Wednesday (August 5th) and plan to take 14 days for the journey. I deliberately say “plan.” We need it to take at least 14 days as then means we don’t have to pay to quarantine on arrival to Fiji (we like not having to pay!!). So, we should be getting in on approximately the 19th of August :).

Please keep in touch!

As always, we would love to hear from you while we’re underway – news, jokes, musings, anything! Communications with friends and family really help keep morale high. So please find our updated contact details below (they remain the same as for our Pacific crossing).

Follow our progress: We have reactivated our sat phone which will update our position on this map each hour. We can also post text updates to this page as we go and so we will add some captain’s log entries to let you know how we are getting along, as we did on our Pacific crossing.

Send us an email: We will be able to check our normal emails (joint and personal) on a daily basis and find that this tends to be the easiest way of reaching us, provided you aren’t expecting a quick reply. The message in a bottle from our website also gets to us this way.

Send us a text message: Our satellite phone can also send and receive texts; the number is +8816 5243 1583. If you want to save money on the texts, you can send your message from this page. It makes a noise on the boat when we get a text so you will probably get a quicker reply than via email (assuming your desired recipient is awake).

Our experiences on the Atlantic and Pacific showed how very important hearing from our loved ones was on a day to day basis, and so we are really looking forward to hearing from those of you that have the time over the next couple of weeks. Jokes, brain teasers, trivia are all much appreciated, or just a digital hug!

Parting Thoughts: A casual 2,000nm

I think if you told me two years ago that we would casually be heading off on a 2,000nm sail, just the two of us, only a few months after crossing the Pacific, I would have fallen off my chair. But, even though I’m a little nervous, it feels shockingly less daunting than expected. I mean, we’re about to “cross the Atlantic” (in terms of distance) again, without crew! It goes to show how far we have come in our sailing ability and our confidence in ourselves and the boat. This will be our longest sail on Serenity double-handed, and I’m already proud of us for taking it on!